Vertumnus

Vertumnus changed his shape again and again as he sought Pomona, the orchard goddess. He became a young woman in fine clothes, then a man in a toga. He took a sickle and pressed twisted hay around his forehead, so that he looked like a reaper. He appeared as a charioteer, and as a man who shifted himself from one horse to another. He also became a fisherman with a rod beneath his cap, a neat pedlar with his tunic trailing, a shepherd with a crook, and a bearer of roses in baskets.

He came among Pomona's trees in each of these forms. He carried or wore the fruits and flowers that marked his power. Grapes changed colour beneath his care. Ears of corn swelled with fruit, cherries sweetened, plums ripened in autumn, and mulberries reddened in summer. Cucumbers, gourds, cabbages, and flowers also belonged to him. Yet Pomona did not accept his love.

At last Vertumnus took the form of an old woman. He covered himself with an old wrap and a worn tunic, then approached Pomona and spoke to her about love. He warned her against the many men, gods, half-gods, and fairies who desired her. He told her to reject ordinary matches and choose Vertumnus as her husband. He offered himself as her pledge and said that Vertumnus lived in the country nearby rather than wandering through the world.

The old woman said that Vertumnus did not cast his love before every person he saw. He had chosen Pomona as the first and last person to receive it. He had vowed himself to her alone. After persuading her, Vertumnus abandoned the disguise and revealed his true form. Pomona accepted his love, and Vertumnus won her as his wife.