ABSTRACT
Ameto fell silent, for the late hour urged the shepherds toward their houses with their sheep, and the gay birds kept still, taking their shelter among the thick branches and leaving the open fields to the bats, which were already darting about the dark sky. One could no longer hear the cicadas; instead, the strident crickets were beginning to make themselves heard through the breakings of the dry ground; and one could already see Hesper seeking the horizon among the rays of Phoebus, and together with him the tired winds sought repose. Then each nymph gathered up her garments, the garlands, the bows and the arrows, and, leaving the fields and kindly bidding farewell to Ameto, they went off as they had come, and in the cool evening air they sought their homes.
