Then Bellaria thus evoked Mercury:
“Mercurio mio, bel Mercurio,
Per quell’ acqua corrente,
E cel (cielo) splendente,
E tu risplendi, risplendi amor
Di bellezza, e come il vento,
Come il fulmine lesto siei,
Io sono stata
Scongiurata,
Scongiurata pel mio splendor,
Per infiammarti
Del mio calor
Che tu scenda in terra
Che vié Giovanni
Gian di Bologna,
Primo scultore, vuol prendere da te
Il modello,
Ti prego di scendere
Come un baleno
Perche fino che non sarai sesato,
Ne pure a me tornerebbe
La mia pace perche
Mi hanno scongiurata per te;
Se questa grazia mi farai
Non per me, ma per Giovanni,
Tre segni mi darai—
Lampo, tuono e fulmine
Se questa grazi mi farai,
I tre seguali mi darai!”“Mercury, beauteous God!
By the rushing water!
By the glowing heaven!
As thou shinest, reflecting again
Their beauty, and as the wind
Or the lightning thou art fleet.
Even so am I
Conjured and compelled
Even by mine own splendour
To inspire, inflame
Thee by mine own heat!
That thou descend to earth,
That Giovanni, born
In Bologna, may
As sculptor copy thee!
I pray thee to descend,
Even like lightning’s flash,
Since till thou art measured,
I shall not be in peace,
Being myself invoked.
If thou wilt grant this grace,
Yet not for me but Gian,
Accord to me three signs:
The flash, the crash and bolt;
Even as lightning comes,
I pray thee grant me this!”
And in an instant there came all together in one the flash and roar and thunderbolt, and Giovanni di Bologna beheld Mercury flying in the heaven, and said:
“E troppo leggiadro, troppo bello!
Non posso dipingere una Stella
Ne il vento, ne un balén,
E finito la mia speranza. Amen!”“Thou art too little and light, by far!
I cannot paint a shining star,
Nor the wild wind or lightning—then
All hope is lost, ah me! Amen!”
Then the beautiful Bellaria said:
“If thou canst not depict Mercury flying through the air, it may be that thou canst make him passing over the waves, for then his speed is not so great.” [So she invoked Mercury again, and he was seen flitting over the ocean.] [158]
But when Giovanni di Bologna beheld Mercury leaping from wave to wave like a dolphin, he cried:
“Bel Mercurio, sempre vale!
Io non sono che un mortale,
Io non posso tanto fare,
Ne le tue grazzie combinare.”“Farewell, fair Mercury, all is o’er,
I’m but a mortal and no more,
I cannot give again thy face,
And least of all thy wondrous grace.”
Bellaria said to him:
“Thou hast asked too much; it is not possible for thee to make fire and water to the life. Yet be at ease, for what may not be done in water or in air may come to pass with ease upon the earth.”