Excerpted from "Metamorphoses" by Mary Zimmerman, p. 82
HERMES: Old man, old woman, ask of us what you will. We shall grant whatever request you make of us.
[BAUCIS and PHILEMON whisper to each other.]
BAUCIS: Having spent all our lives together, we ask that you allow us to die at the same moment.
PHILEMON: I'd hate to see my wife's grave, or have her weep at mine.
NARRATOR TWO: The gods granted their wish. Arrived at a very old age together, the two stood at what had been their modest doorway and now was a grandiose facade.
ZEUS: And Baucis noticed her husband was beginning to put forth leaves, and he saw that she, too, was producing leaves and bark. They were turning into trees. They stood there, held each other, and called, before the bark closed over their mouths,
PHILEMON AND BAUCIS: Farewell.
NARRATOR ONE: Walking down the street at night, when you're all alone, you can still hear, stirring in the intermingled branches of the trees above, the ardent prayer of Baucis and Philemon. They whisper:
ALL: Let me die the moment my love dies.
NARRATOR ONE: They whisper:
ALL: Let me not outlive my own capacity to love.
NARRATOR ONE: They whisper:
ALL: Let me die still loving, and so, never die.
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