XXIII. LE SATYRE ET LA FLÛTE.

L. 1. _Toi, de Mopsus ami!_ Ironical. 'That thou never wast!' This beginning shows that these lines were meant as part of an eclogue: the subject to be two shepherds disputing the prize of singing. Mopsus is an excellent singer and poet mentioned in Virgil, _Ecl._ v. Berecynthus is a mountain in Phrygia on which the mysteries of Cybele were celebrated.

L. 3. _Hyagnis._ According to Apuleius, _Flor._ iii, Hyagnis was the father and teacher of Marsyas, the flute-player.

L. 4. _énervé_, emasculate. '_Semiviro_ Cybeles cum _grege_ iunxit iter,' Martial, iii. 91.

L. 7. _dans ce bui._ _Bui_ is spelt thus in order to rhyme for the eye with _lui_. 'Buis' for 'flute'; a metonymy.

L. 15. _des chiens même._ In poetry the adjective _même_ often remains uninflected. 'Les immortels _eux-même_ en sont persécutés,' Malherbe, i. 279, 26, _Éd. des Grands Écrivains_. 'Un éclat qui le rend respectable aux dieux _même_,' Racine, _Esther_, II. vii. 678, same edition. Haase, § 53, C.