ABSTRACT
When Lia now fell silent, all the ladies had spoken; and having happily lent his ear to her, Ameto silently gazed upon her, commending his fires of love as righteous. He remained there, not knowing what more was to be done, and with apprehension at every moment he expected then to say: “Let us depart.” The day was no longer hot, and since all the ladies were in doubt as to where they should proceed, they waited for Lia to order them to either speak further or to depart. However, a new concern turned their eyes from this to the sky, where they saw flying toward them seven white swans and as many storks, 1 which had perhaps arisen from the nearby shores; halting there above, they troubled the sky with loud noise. And when the ladies considered the birds with a more discerning eye, they noticed that they were divided into seven and seven, and that over their heads they fiercely fought each other with beaks, breasts, and clawed feet; indeed the air was filled with feathers, and they saw it flaked, as with white snow, not unlike the time when the nurse of Jove 2 holds Apollo; then, after a long battle they saw the storks go off.
