Where stone was stacked upon stone
the demon queen Eišeth Zēnunīm
was sitting on a stone.
Then came her son
the ugly dwarf Nemesōth,
who had just been blasting
the fields and wasting the cattle
of their neighbor, the poor
but hard-working Georgikos.
“Oh, audacious mother,
are you sleeping there,
or just resting on those rocks?”
“Oh, my envy-inducing son,
I neither sleep or rest.
While you were out troubling
the neighbors, I had a short sleep
and dreamt a terrible dream.
In the dream you were damaging
the vineyards of NN, the servant
of the Lord Dionysos.
They prayed to him for assistance
and immediately he appeared,
the mighty son of Zeus
who is a terror to us wicked spirits.
You ran, but were caught by the cruel God,
and his even crueler companions.
They tortured you worse
than you torture your victims.
They burned you with fire,
and cut you with steel,
and ripped your arms and legs off,
and cut your screaming head from your body.
While the companions of Dionysos
carried the pieces of you far and wide,
so that they could never be joined together again,
Dinysos reached down with his healing hands
and crushed your evil eyes, my son.
Then the fingers of each hand became
a Lion, a Scorpion, a Snake, a Wasp, and a Spider
which crawled into your empty sockets and caused
tremendous torment to your pitiful head.”
The dwarf Nemesōth cried, “Oh no! Mother, your dream
frightens me so.” As he stood there trembling by the rocks,
Eišeth Zēnunīm said, “Now listen to me, boy, you leave NN
and everything that belongs to NN alone; don’t provoke
that one’s God against us, or not only you, but our entire
family will regret it.” And Nemesōth solemnly agreed.