A SHARP LOOKOUT 



that is doubtless intended to embody a simi- 

 lar observation, though none of his trans- 

 lators seem to have hit its meaning accu- 

 rately : 



" Saepius et tectis penetralibus extulit ova 

 Angustum formica terens iter : " 



" Often also has the pismire making a nar- 

 row road brought forth her eggs out of the 

 hidden recesses " is the literal translation of 

 old John Martyn. 



" Also the ant, incessantly traveling 

 The same straight way with the eggs of her hidden store," 



is one of the latest metrical translations. 

 Dryden has it : 



" The careful ant her secret cell forsakes 



And drags her eggs along the narrow tracks," 



which comes nearer to the fact. When a 

 storm is coming, Virgil also makes his swal- 

 lows skim low about the lake, which agrees 

 with the observation above. 



The critical moments of the day as re- 

 gards the weather are at sunrise and sunset. 

 A clear sunset is always a good sign ; an 

 obscured sun, just at the moment of going 

 down after a bright day, bodes storm. 

 There is much truth, too, in the saying 

 that if it rain before seven, it will clear be- 

 187 



