Aelian, Characteristics of Animals

ToposText · Aelian · 800 sections

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§ 2.40 It seems that Eagles are full of affection even towards their keepers; witness the Eagle that belonged to Pyrrhus, which (they say) on the death of its master abstained from food and died too. And there was once an Eagle reared by a private citizen which threw itself on to the pyre where its master's body was burning. Some say that it had been reared not by a man but by a woman. The Eagle is appar-ently the most jealous guardian of its young. At any rate if it sees anyone approaching them, it does not allow him to depart unpunished, for it beats him with its wings and lacerates him with its talons; and the punishment it inflicts is moderate, for it does not use its beak.
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§ 2.41 The Red Mullet is of all sea animals the most gluttonous and indisputably the most unrestrained in tasting everything it comes across. And some of them are known as'roughs,' deriving their name from places where there are rough rocks full of holes and thick growths of seaweed in them, and where there is a bottom of mud or sand. A Red Mullet would eat the dead body of a man or of a fish, and its special delight is in filthy, ill-smelling food.
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§ 2.42 Falcons are excellent at fowling and are no Tt whit inferior to eagles; they are by nature the tamest of birds and the most attached to man; in size they are as large as eagles. And I am told that in Thrace they even join with men in the pursuit of marsh-fowl. And this is how they do it. The men spread their nets and keep still while the Falcons fly over them and scare the fowl and drive them into the circle of nets. For this the Thracians allot a portion of their catch to the Falcons and find them trusty friends; if they do not do so, they at once deprive themselves of helpers. Now the full-grown Falcon will fight both with a fox and with an eagle; with a vulture it frequently fights. But a Falcon will never eat the heart, thereby presumably fulfilling some mystic rite. If a Falcon sees the dead body of a man (so it is said), it always heaps earth upon the unburied corpse, though Solon laid no such injunction upon it, and will never touch the body. And it even refrains from drinking if a solitary man is engaged in leading off water into a channel, feeling sure that it will cause damage to the man who so labours if it purloins the water which he needs. But if several men are engaged in irrigating, it sees that the stream is abundant and takes its share from the loving-cup, so to speak, which they offer, and is glad to drink.
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§ 2.43 There is a species of hawk known as the Kestrel which has no need whatever to drink. Another jj-jj species is the Orites Hawk. Both species are remarkably addicted to the female bird and pursue it after the manner of lovesick men and never cease from the pursuit. But should the female chance to disappear without the male noticing it, he is overcome with grief and cries aloud and is like one in the depths of woe from love. When Hawks are troubled with their eyesight they go straight to some stone wall and pull up some wild tro lettuce and then holding it above their eyes allow the bitter, astringent juice to drip in; and this restores their health. And men say that doctors use this drug for the benefit of those whose sight is affected, and the remedy derives its name from these birds. And men do not refuse to be called the disciples of birds; rather they admit as much. It is said that once upon a time a Hawk at Delphi proved a man guilty of sacrilege by swooping upon him and striking his head. It is also believed that Hawks are bastards, if they be compared with the various kinds of eagles. At the beginning of spring the Hawks of Egypt select two from all their number and despatch them to reconnoitre certain desert islands off the coast of Libya. When they return they act as leaders to the rest in their flight. And their arrival is the occasion of rejoicing on the part of the Libyans at their sojourn, for they do no damage whatever. And having reached the islands which the original scouts decided were the most suitable for them, they there lay and hatch their eggs in complete security and peace; and they hunt sparrows and pigeons and rear their young in an abundance of food. Then when these have grown strong and are able to fly, they take the young birds with them back to Egypt as though they were going to their own homes, that is to their haunts in regions they have grown to know.
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§ 2.44 Rainbow Wrasses are nurslings of rocks, and Th? their mouth is full of poison, and whatever fish they touch they render uneatable. Indeed if it should happen that fishermen, coming upon a half-eaten prawn and fancying that their catch is unsaleable, should taste it, they are assailed by convulsions and torments in their stomach. And the Wrasses also molest those who dive and swim in pursuit of fish, falling upon them in great numbers and biting them, exactly like flies on land; so that one must either beat them off or be tormented by being eaten up. But while one is busy beating them off, there is no time to attend to one's work.
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§ 2.45 The Sea-hare when eaten has often been the Tin cause even of death; in any case it causes pains in the stomach. It is born in the mud and is not infrequently caught along with sprats. In appearance it is not unlike a snail without its shell.
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§ 2.46 The Vulture is the dead body's enemy. At any rate it swoops upon it as though it were an adversary and devours it, and watches a man who is in the throes of death. Vultures even follow in the wake of armies in foreign parts, knowing by prophetic instinct that they are marching to war and that every battle provides corpses, as they have discovered. It is said that no male Vulture is ever born: all Vultures are female. And the birds knowing this and fearing to be left childless, take measures to produce them as follows. They fly against the south wind. If however the wind is not from the south, they open their beaks to the east wind, and the inrush of air impregnates them, and their period of gestation lasts for three years. But the Vulture is said never to make a nest. The Aegypius however, Th( which is on the border-line between the vulture and the eagle, is both male and female, and is black in colour, and I am told that their nests are pointed out. But I have been informed that Vultures do not lay eggs, but that in their birth-pangs they produce chicks, and that these are feathered from birth I have also heard.
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§ 2.47 There is no limit to the robberies of the Kite. The If they can manage pieces of meat on sale in the market, they pounce upon them and carry them off; on the other hand they will not touch sacrifices offered to Zeus. But the Mountain Kite pounces upon birds and pecks out their eyes.
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§ 2.48 The Ravens in Egypt which live beside the Nile at first appear to be begging of the people sailing on the river, soliciting to be given something. And if they are given, they stop begging; but if their solicitations fail, they fly in a mass and perch on the sailyards of the ship and proceed to eat the ropes and to cut the cords. But the Ravens of Libya, when men through fear of thirst draw water and fill their vessels and place them on the roof so that the fresh air may keep the water from putrefying, the Ravens, I say, help themselves to drink by bending over and inserting their beaks as far as they will go. And when the water gets too low they gather pebbles in their mouth and claws and drop them into the earthenware vessel. Now the pebbles are borne down by their weight and sink, while the water owing to their pressure rises. So the Ravens by a most ingenious contrivance get their drink; they know by some mysterious instinct that one space will not contain two bodies.
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§ 2.49 Aristotle asserts that Ravens know the difference between a prosperous and a barren country, and in one that produces all things in plenty they move about in flocks and great numbers, but in a barren and unfruitful country in pairs. As to their young ones, when fully grown, every Raven banishes them from its nest. For that reason they seek their food (for themselves) and neglect to care for their parents.
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§ 2.50 Among fishes the Goby, the Weever, and the Flying Gurnard emit poison when they prick one; not that they are deadly; whereas the Sting-ray with its barb kills on the spot. And Leonidas of Byzantium tells how a man who knew nothing of fishes and could not distinguish them, stole a Stingray from a fishing-net — the poor fellow must have taken it for a flounder — took it and put it in his bosom and walked off as though he had found something good, some spoil whose sale would be profitable to him. But the Sting-ray hurt by the pressure, struck and pierced him with its sting, causing the wretched thief's bowels to gush out. And there the thief lay dead beside the Sting-ray, clear evidence of what he had done in his ignorance.
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§ 2.51 Of the Raven you might say that it has a spirit no less daring than the eagle, for it even attacks animals, and not the smallest either, but asses and bulls. It settles on their neck and pecks them, and in many cases it actually gouges out their eyes. And it fights with that vigorous bird the merlin, and whenever it sees it fighting with a fox, it comes to the fox's rescue, for it is on friendly terms with the animal. The Raven must really be the most clamorous of birds and have the largest variety of tones, for it can be taught to speak like a human being. For playful moods it has one voice, for serious moods another, and if it is delivering answers from the gods, then its voice assumes a devout and prophetic tone. Ravens know that in summer they suffer from looseness of the bowels; for that reason they are careful to abstain from moist food.
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§ 2.52 Aristotle tells us that some animals are viviparous, others oviparous, that others again produce grubs. The viviparous are man and all other creatures that have hair, and among marine animals the cetaceans. And of these some have a blow-hole but no gills, like the dolphin and the whale.
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§ 2.53 In Moesia the Oxen draw loads and are horn-less. And I maintain that it is not due to the cold that herds are to be seen without horns, but that it is due to the peculiar nature of the Oxen. And the proof is to hand, for even in Scythia there are oxen not destitute of the glory of horns. And I have learnt from one who records the fact in his history that there are even Bees in Scythia and that they do Bees not mind the cold at all. And what is more, the Scythians bring and sell to the Moesians honey, which is no alien produce but native, and honeycombs of their own country. If I contradict Herodotus, I hope he will not be angry with me, for the man who reported these things vowed that he was presenting the results of his own enquiry and not merely repeating what he had heard and what we could not verify.
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§ 2.54 I learn that of saltwater fishes the Parrot Wrasse alone regurgitates its food and eats it afterwards, as sheep do, which are said to chew the cud.
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§ 2.55 The Shark brings forth its young through its mouth in the sea and takes them back again and then disgorges them by the same channel alive and unharmed.
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§ 2.56 The liver of the Mouse has the most astounding and unexpected habit of growing a lobe day by day as the moon waxes, up to the middle of the month. Then again in proportion as the month declines, so the lobe gradually dwindles until it loses its shape and disappears into the body. And I am told that when it hails in the Thebaid, mice are to be seen on the earth, and one part of them is still mud while the other is already flesh. And I myself on a journey from Naples to Dicaearchia encountered a shower of frogs, and the forepart of them was crawling, supported by two feet, while the other part trailed behind, still formless, seeming to consist of some moist substance.
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§ 2.57 Oxen are after all the most serviceable creatures. At sharing the farmer's labours, at carrying loads of various kinds, at filling the milk-pail — at all these things the Ox is excellent. He Graces the altars, gladdens festivals, and provides a solemn banquet. And even when dead the Ox is a splendid creature deserving our praise. At any rate bees are begotten of his carcase — bees, the most industrious of creatures, which afford the best and sweetest of fruits that man has, namely honey.
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§ 3.1 BOOK III A Lion will accompany a Moor on his journey and will drink water from the same spring. And I am told that Lions even resort to the houses of Moors when they fail to find any prey and are overtaken by the pangs of hunger. And if the master of the house happens to be there, he keeps the Lion off and drives him away, pursuing him vigorously. If however he is out and his wife is left all alone, then with words that put the Lion to shame she checks his approach, restrains him, and admonishes him to control himself and not to allow his hunger to incense him. The Lion, it seems, understands the Moorish tongue; and the sense of the rebuke which the woman administers to the animal is (so they say) as follows.'Are not you ashamed, you, a Lion, the king of beasts, to come to my hut and to ask a woman to feed you, and do you, like some cripple, look to a woman's hands hoping that thanks to her pity and compassion you may get what you want? You who should be on your way to mountain haunts in pursuit of deer and antelopes and all other creatures that lions may eat without discredit. Whereas, like some sorry lap- dog, you are content to be fed by another.' Such are the spells she employs, whereupon the Lion, as though his heart smote him and he were filled with shame, quietly and with downcast eyes moves off, overcome by the justice of her words. Now if horses and hounds through being reared in their company understand and quail before the threats of men, I should not be surprised if Moors too, who are reared and brought up along with Lions, are understood by these very animals. For the Moors profess to treat lion -cubs to the same kind of food, the same bed, and the same roof as their own children. Consequently there is nothing incredible or marvellous in Lions understanding human speech as described above.
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§ 3.2 Concerning the Libyan Horse this is what I have learnt from accounts given by the Libyans. These Horses are exceedingly swift and know little or nothing of fatigue; they are slim and not well-fleshed but are fitted to endure the scanty attention paid to them by their masters. At any rate the masters devote no care to them: they neither rub them down nor roll them nor clean their hooves nor comb their manes nor plait their forelocks nor wash them when tired, but as soon as they have completed the journey they intended they dismount and turn the Horses loose to graze. Moreover the Libyans themselves are slim and dirty, like the Horses which they ride. The Persians on the other hand are proud and delicate, and what is more, their Horses are like them. One would say that both horse and master prided themselves on the size and beauty of their bodies and even on their finery and outward adornment. And here is a point which occurs to me to note in connexion with Hounds. The Cretan Hound is nimble and can leap and is brought up to range the mountains. Moreover the Cretans show the same qualities, such is the common report. Among Hounds the Molossian is the most high-spirited, for the men also of Molossia are hot-tempered. In Carmania too both men and Hounds are said to be most savage and implacable.
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§ 3.3 The following also are examples of the peculiarities of animal nature. Ctesias reports that neither pigs the wild nor the domestic Pig exists in India, and he says somewhere that Indian Sheep have tails one cubit in width.
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§ 3.4 The Ants of India which guard the gold will not cross the river Campylinus. And the Issedonians who inhabit the same country as the Ants... they are called, and so they are.
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§ 3.5 If a Tortoise eats part of a snake and thereafter some marjoram, it becomes immune from the poison which was bound to be quite fatal to it. I have heard people say that the Pigeon is of all birds the most temperate and restrained in its sexual relations. For Pigeons never separate, neither the female bird unless by some mishap she is parted from her mate, nor the male unless he is widowed. Partridges on the other hand are unrestrained in their indulgence. For that reason they destroy the eggs that have been laid, in order that the female birds may not be too busy with nursing their chicks to have time for sexual intercourse.
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§ 3.6 When Wolves swim across a river Nature has devised for them an original safeguard to prevent them from being forcibly carried away by the impact of the stream and has taught them how to escape from difficulties, and that with ease. Fastening their teeth in one another's tails they then breast the stream and swim across without harm or danger.
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§ 3.7 It is said that Nature has not bestowed the power of braying upon she- Asses. Nature too has enabled Hyenas to stop hounds from barking. The fragrance of perfumes causes death to Vultures; hemlock is the bane of Swans; Cyrus and Croesus learned how Horses dread camels, so the story goes.
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§ 3.8 When Mares desert their foals and leave them, like orphans, before they are fully weaned, other Mares take compassion on them and bring them up with their own foals.
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§ 3.9 Crows are exceedingly faithful to each other, and when they enter into partnership they love one another intensely, and you would never see these creatures indulging freely in promiscuous intercourse. And those who are accurately informed about them assert that if one dies, the other remains in widow-hood. I have heard too that men of old used actually at weddings to sing'the Crow' after the bridal song by way of pledging those who came together for the begetting of children to be of one mind. While those who observe the quarters from which birds come and their flight, declare that to hear a single Crow is an evil omen at a wedding. Since the Owl is an enemy of the Crow and at night has designs Owl upon the Crow's eggs, the Crow by day does the same to her, knowing that at that time the Owl's sight is feeble.
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§ 3.10 Nature has made the Hedgehog prudent and experienced in providing for its own wants. Thus, since it needs food to last a whole year, and since every season does not yield produce, it rolls among fig-crates (they say), and such dried figs as are pierced — a great number become fixed upon its prickles — it quietly removes, and after laying up a store, keeps them and can draw from its nest when it is impossible to obtain food out of doors.
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§ 3.11 It is a fact that the fiercest of animals will, when the need arises, lay aside their natural savagery and be peaceful and gently disposed towards those that can be of service to them. For instance, the Crocodile swims with its jaws open; accordingly leeches fall into them and cause it pain. Knowing this it needs the Egyptian Plover as doctor. For ana t when it is infested with leeches, it moves to the bank and opens its jaws to face the sun. Whereupon the Egyptian Plover inserts its beak and draws out the aforesaid creatures, while the Crocodile endures this service and remains motionless. So the bird gets a feast of leeches, while the Crocodile is benefited and reckons the fact that it has not injured it as the bird's fee.
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§ 3.12 The inhabitants of Thessaly, of Illyria, and of Lemnos regard Jackdaws as benefactors and have decreed that they be fed at the public expense, seeing that Jackdaws make away with the eggs and destroy the young of the locusts which ruin the crops of the aforesaid people. The clouds of locusts are in fact considerably reduced and the season's produce of these people remains undamaged.
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§ 3.13 Cranes have their birthplace in Thrace, which is the most wintry and the coldest region that I know of. Well, they love the country of their birth, but they love themselves too; so they devote part of their time to their ancestral haunts and part to their own preservation. In summer they remain in their country, but in mid-autumn they leave for Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia, appearing to know the map of the earth, the disposition of the winds, and the variations of the seasons. And after spending a winter like spring, when again conditions are becoming tolerably settled and the sky is calm,. they return. To lead their flight they appoint those that have already had experience of the journey; these would naturally be the older birds, and they select others of the same age to bring up the rear, while the young ones are ranged in their midst. Having waited for a fair and favouring wind from behind, and using it as an escort to speed them forward, they then form their order of flight into an acute-angled triangle, in order that as they encounter the air they may cleave it with the least difficulty, and so hold on their way. This then is how Cranes spend their summer and winter. (But mankind regards as marvellous the Persian king's comprehension of temperature, and harps on Susa and Ecbatana and the repeated stories of the Persian's journeyings to and fro.) When however the Cranes observe an eagle bearing down upon them, they form a circle and in a bellying mass threaten him with attack; and he retires. Resting their bills upon each other's tail-feathers they form in a sense a continuous chain of flight, and sweeten their labour as they repose gently one upon another. And in some distant land... when they light upon some water-spring they rest for the night and sleep, while three or four mount guard for all the others; and in order to avoid falling asleep during their watch they stand on one leg, but with the other held up they clutch a stone firmly and securely in their claws. Their object is that, if they should inadvertently drop off to sleep, the stone should fall and wake them with the sound. Now the stone which a Crane swallows to give itself ballast is a touchstone for gold when regurgitated by the Crane after it has, so to say, come to anchor and reached land.
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§ 3.14 If a pilot observes on the high seas a nock or Cranes turning and flying back, he realises that they Sm! have refrained from advancing further owing to the assault of a contrary wind. And taught, as you might say, by the birds he sails home again and preserves his vessel. So the pilot's art, being a lesson and a discipline first acquired by these birds, has been handed on to mankind.
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§ 3.15 In cities Pigeons congregate with human beings; they are extremely tame and swarm about one's feet; but in lonely places they flee away and cannot endure human beings. For it is crowds that give them courage, and they are well aware that they will be unmolested. Where however there are bird-catchers, nets, and schemes to take them,'they dwell' no more'without fear,' to quote what Euripides says of those same birds.
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§ 3.16 When Partridges are about to lay they make themselves what is called a'threshing-floor' (i.e. and it nest) out of dry twigs. It is plaited, hollow, and well-suited for sitting in. They pour in dust and construct as it were a soft bed; they enter and after screening themselves over with dry twigs so as to avoid being seen by birds of prey and by human hunters, they lay their eggs in complete tranquillity. Next, they do not entrust their eggs to the same place but to some other, emigrating as it were, because they are afraid that they may perhaps be detected. And when they hatch their young they impart heat to them, being callow, and warm them with their wings, enveloping them in their feathers, as it might be swaddling-clothes. They do not however wash them, but render them more sleek by putting dust on them. If a Partridge sees someone approaching with evil intent against itself and its young, it thereupon rolls about in front of the hunter's feet and fills him with the hope of seizing it as it moves this way and that. And the man bends down to catch his prey, but it eludes him. Meantime the young ones slip away and get some distance ahead. So when the Partridge is aware of this, it takes courage and releases the bird-catcher from his fruitless occupation by flying off, leaving the man gaping. Then when the mother-bird is secure and advantageously placed, she calls her chicks, and they recognising her voice flutter towards her. The Partridge when about to lay her eggs endeavours to hide from her mate for fear that he may crush them, because he is lustful and tries to prevent the mother from devoting her time to rearing her young. So incontinent a creature is the Partridge. When the females leave the males and brood their eggs, the male birds of set purpose provoke one another to anger and deal and receive the most violent blows; and the vanquished bird gets trodden, the victor performing unsparingly, until he in his turn is vanquished and is caught in like clutches.
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§ 3.17 Euripides says that jealousy is an accursed thing. It seems that there are certain animals in which this quality resides. For instance, the Gecko, according to Theophrastus, when it has sloughed its skin, turns and makes away with it by swallowing it. It seems that the slough of this creature is a remedy for epilepsy. And the Deer too, knowing that its right horn serves many purposes, goes so far as to bury it and secrete it out of jealousy lest anyone should benefit thereby. The Mare also knows that with the birth of a foal she is producing love-spells; and that is why the moment the foal is born, the Mare bites off the piece of flesh on its forehead. Men call it'mare's-frenzy.' And wizards maintain that such things produce and excite impulses to unrestrained sexual intercourse and a lecherous passion. So the Mare does not wish men to have any of this spell, as though she grudged them a boon beyond compare. And is it not so?
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§ 3.18 Leonidas of Byzantium asserts that there occurs in the Red Sea a fish of exactly the same a size as a full-grown goby: it has neither eyes nor mouth after the manner of fishes, but grows gills and a kind of head, so far as one can guess, though its form is not perfectly developed. But lower down beneath its stomach is a slightly indented depression which emits the colour of an emerald; and this, they say, is both its eye and its mouth. But anyone who eats it has fished to his own undoing. And this is how he is destroyed: the man who has eaten it swells up; then his stomach bursts and he dies. But the fish itself when caught pays for it, for first, when it is out of the water, it swells, and if one touches it, it Swells even more; while if one continues to handle it, it turns to corruption and becomes quite translucent, like a man with dropsy, and finally bursts. If however one is prepared to return it still alive to the sea, it swims on the surface like an inflated bladder. Leonidas says that in consequence of this property men call it the'inflater.'
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§ 3.19 The Seal, I am told, vomits up the curdled milk from its stomach so that epileptics may not be cured thereby. Upon my word the Seal is indeed a malignant creature.
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§ 3.20 Pelicans that live in rivers take in mussels and then swallow them, and when they have warmed them deep within the recesses of their belly, they disgorge them. Now the mussels open under the influence of the heat, just like the shells of things when cooked, and the Pelicans scoop out the flesh and make a meal. So too Sea-mews, as Eudemus observes, lift snails into the air and carry them high up and then dash them violently upon the rocks.
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§ 3.21 Eudemus records how on mount Pangaeus in Thrace a Bear came upon a Lion's lair which was unguarded and slew the Lion's cubs, they being small and unable to protect themselves. But when the father and mother returned from hunting somewhere and saw their young ones slaughtered, they were naturally filled with grief, and set upon the Bear. She in terror ran up a tree as fast as her legs could carry her and sat there trying to escape their fell design. But as they came there with the intention of wreaking vengeance upon the murderer, the Lioness did not relax her watch but sat down beneath the tree-trunk, lying in wait and gazing upward with a look that meant blood. Meantime the Lion in anguish and distraught with grief roamed the mountains and came upon a woodcutter. The man was terrified and dropped his axe, but the animal fawned upon him and reaching upwards greeted him as well as it could, stroking his face with its tongue. And the man took courage, while the Lion, wrapping its tail around him, led him on and would not permit him to leave the axe but signified with its paw that he was to pick it up. But since the man failed to understand, the Lion took it in its mouth and offered it to him; the man followed and the Lion led him to the lair. As soon as the Lioness saw him she too came up and began to fawn upon him with a piteous expression as she looked up at the Bear. So the man grasped their meaning and guessing that they had been somehow injured by the Bear, began to fell the tree with all the strength of his hands. And the tree was overturned and the Bear brought down and the Lions tore her to pieces. As for the man, the Lion brought him back untouched and unscathed to the spot where it first met him and restored him to his original task of cutting wood.
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§ 3.22 A battle between two animals of Egypt, the Asp and the Ichneumon.... The Ichneumon does not attack his adversary without deliberation or rashly, but like a man fortifying himself with all his weapons, rolls in the mud and covers himself with a hard coating, thereby obtaining, it seems, an adequate and impenetrable defence. But if he is at a loss for mud, he washes himself in water and plunges still wet into deep sand — a device which secures his protection in difficult circumstances — and goes forth to battle. But the tip of his nose, which is sensitive and somewhat exposed to the bite of the Asp, he protects by bending back his tail, thereby blocking the approach to it. If however the Asp can reach it, the snake kills its adversary; otherwise it plies its fangs against the mud in vain, while the Ichneumon on the other hand makes a sudden dash, seizes the Asp by the neck, and strangles it. And the victory goes to the one that gets in first.
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§ 3.23 When their parents have grown old, Storks tend them voluntarily and with studied care; yet there is no law of man that bids them do so; the cause of their actions is Nature. And the same birds love their offspring too. Here is the proof: when the full-grown bird is in want of food to give to its still un fledged and tender chicks, some accident having occasioned a shortage, the Stork disgorges its food of yesterday and feeds its young. And I am told that Herons do the same, and Pelicans also. I learn further that Storks migrate along with Cranes and all together avoid the winter. But when the season of frost is over and both Storks and Cranes return to their own homes, each kind recognises its own nests, as men do their own houses. Alexander of Myndus asserts that when they reach old age they pass to the islands of Ocean and are transformed into human shape, and that this is a reward for their filial piety towards their parents, since, if I am not mistaken, the gods especially desire to hold up there if nowhere else a human model of piety and uprightness, for in no other country under the sun could such a race continue to exist. This is in my opinion no fairy-tale, otherwise what was Alexander's design in relating such marvels when he had nothing to gain from it? Anyhow it would have ill become an intelligent man to sacrifice truth to falsehood, be the gain never so great, still less if he was going to fall into an opponent's grasp, from which act nothing whatsoever was to be gained.
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§ 3.24 Whenever there is plenty of mud the Swallow brings it in her claws and builds her nest. If however mud is lacking, as Aristotle says, she souses herself in water and plunging into dust befouls her feathers. Then when the mud has stuck to her all over, she scrapes it off by degrees with her beak and constructs her proposed dwelling. And as her young are tender and unfledged, she knows full well that if she lets them rest on bare twigs, they will suffer and be in pain. Accordingly she settles on the backs of sheep, plucks some wool, and with it makes their bed soft for her offspring.
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§ 3.25 The mother Swallow trains her young ones to be just by carefully distributing food in equal portions. So she does not bring one meal for all, because she is not able to do so, but brings small objects and a few at a time; she feeds the first-born first, after it the second, thirdly her third offspring, proceeding as far as the fifth in the same way; for the Swallow neither conceives nor hatches more than five. She herself only consumes as much food as she can obtain in the nest, that is, anything that is dropped beside it. Her young are slow to open their eyes, in the same way as puppies. But she collects and brings a herb, and they by degrees gain their sight; then after remaining quiet for a while, when able to fly, they leave the nest to seek for food. Men long to possess this herb but have not yet obtained their desire.
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§ 3.26 Among birds Hoopoes are the most savage; and in my opinion it is due to the recollection of their former existence as human beings and more especially from their hatred of the female sex, that they build their nests in desolate regions and on high rocks; and to prevent human beings from getting near their young they smear their nests not with mud but with human excrement, and by dint of its disgusting and evil smell they repel and keep away the creature that is their enemy. It happened that this bird had raised a family in the deserted part of a fortress, in the cleft of a stone that had split with age. So the guardian of the fortress, observing the young birds inside, smeared the hole over with mud. When the Hoopoe returned and saw itself excluded, it fetched a herb and applied it to the mud. The mud was dissolved; the bird reached its young, and then flew off to get food. So once again the man smeared the spot over, and the bird by means of the same herb opened the hole. And the same thing happened a third time. Therefore the guardian of the fortress, seeing what was done, himself gathered the herb and used it not for the same purpose; instead he laid open treasures that were none of his.
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§ 3.27 The Peloponnese does not breed Lions, and Homer (as you would expect) with his trained intelligence realising the fact, says in singing of Artemis and her hunting there that she passes over Taygetus and Erymanthus And since these mountains are destitute of Lions he was quite right not to mention them.
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§ 3.28 There occurs in the Red Sea a fish, and, so far as I know, the people there have given it the name of Perseus. And the Greeks call it so, and the Arabians in like manner with the Greeks. For they too call Perseus the son of Zeus, and it is after him that they declare the fish is named. Its size is that of the largest anthias; in appearance it is like a basse; its nose is somewhat hooked, and it is dappled with rings as it were of gold round its body, and these rings begin at the head at right angles to it and cease at the belly. It is armed with large teeth set close. It is said to surpass other fish in the strength and power of its body, neither is it wanting in courage. How to fish for it and how to catch it I have explained elsewhere.
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§ 3.29 The Pinna is a marine creature and belongs to the class of bivalves. It opens by parting the shells that enclose it, and extends a small piece of its flesh like a bait to fish that swim by. The Crab however remains by its side, sharing its food and its feeding-' ground. So when some fish comes swimming up, the Crab gives the Pinna a gentle prick, whereat the Pinna opens its shell wider and admits the head of the approaching fish — for it lowers its head to feed — and eats it.
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§ 3.30 It seems after all fitting that an educated man should be acquainted with these facts as well. The Cuckoo is extremely clever and most adroit at devising ingenious solutions to difficulties. For the bird is conscious that it cannot brood and hatch eggs because of the cold nature of its bodily constitution, so they say. Therefore, when it lays its eggs, it neither builds itself a nest nor nurses its young, but watches until birds that have nestlings are flown and abroad, enters the strange lodging, and there lays its eggs. The rascal does not however assail the nests of all birds, only those of the lark, the ring-dove, the greenfinch, and the pappus, knowing as it does that these birds lay eggs resembling its own. And if the nests are empty, it will not go near them, but if they contain eggs, then it mixes its own with them. But if the eggs of the other bird are numerous, it rolls them out and destroys them and leaves its own behind, their resemblance making it impossible to know them apart and detect them. And the aforesaid birds hatch the eggs which are none of theirs. But when the Cuckoo's young have grown strong and are conscious of their bastardy, they fly away and resort to their parent. For directly they are fledged they are recognised as alien and are grievously ill-treated. The Cuckoo is seen only at one season, and that the best, of the year. For it is actually visible from the beginning of spring until the rising of the Dog-star; after that it withdraws from the sight of man.
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§ 3.31 The Lion dreads a Cock, and the Basilisk too, they say, goes in fear of the same bird: at the sight Lion a: of one it shudders, and at the sound of its crowing it is seized with convulsions and dies. This is why travellers in Libya, which is the nurse of such monsters, in fear of the aforesaid Basilisk take with them a Cock as companion and partner of their journey to protect themselves from so terrible an infliction.
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§ 3.32 Crete is exceedingly hostile to wolves and reptiles; and I learn from Theophrastus that there are places on Macedonian Olympus where wolves do not go. Goats in Cephallenia go without drinking for six months. Among the Budini, they say, you will not see a white sheep: they are all black. It seems that one peculiarity that distinguishes animals consists in this: some bite and inject poison from a fang, while others are given to striking, and having struck also inject a like deadly substance.
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§ 3.33 The Libyan Asp, I am told, blinds the sight of the man who faces its breath. But the other kind does not indeed blind but kills at once. It is said that the Cows of Epirus give a most copious supply of milk, and the Goats of Scyros a far Goat more generous yield than any other goats. And there are Goats in Egypt that produce quintuplets, while most produce twins. The Nile is said to be the cause of this, as the water it provides is extremely progenitive. For that reason shepherds who like fine flocks and devote much care to them have a device for drawing as much water as is possible from the Nile for their herds, especially for animals that are barren.
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§ 3.34 They say that a horn was brought from the Indies to Ptolemy II, and it held three amphorae. Imagine an ox that could produce a horn of that size.
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§ 3.35 You would never hear the same note from all Partridges, but they vary. At Athens for instance those on the far side of the deme Corydallus emit one note, those on this side another. What names these notes have Theophrastus will tell us. But in Boeotia and on the opposite shore of Euboea they have the same note and, as it were, the same language. In Cyrene the Frogs are completely dumb; in Macedonia, the Pigs; and there is also a kind of Cicada that is dumb.
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§ 3.36 There is a kind of Spider which they call the'Grape- spider,' either because it is dark and does in fact resemble a grape in a bunch — it has a somewhat spherical appearance — or for some other reason. It occurs in Libya and has short legs; it has a mouth in the middle of its belly, and can kill in a twinkling.
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§ 3.37 In Seriphus you will never hear the Frogs croaking at all. If however you transport them elsewhere, they emit a piercing and most harsh sound. On mount Pierus in Thessaly there is a lake; it is not perennial but is created in winter by the waters which flow together into it. Now if one throws Frogs into it they become silent, though vocal elsewhere. Touching the Seriphian Frogs the people of Seriphus boast that Perseus arrived from his contest with the Gorgon after covering an immense distance, and being naturally fatigued rested by the lake side and lay down wishing to sleep. The Frogs however worried the hero with their croaking and interrupted his slumbers. But Perseus prayed to his father to silence the Frogs. His father gave ear and to gratify his son condemned the Frogs there to everlasting silence. Theophrastus however upsets the story and relieves the Seriphians of their imposture by asserting that it is the coldness of the water that causes the aforesaid Frogs to be dumb.
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§ 3.38 In moist places and where the air is excessively damp Cocks do not crow, according to Theophrastus. And the lake at Pheneus produces no fish. It is because Cicadas are constitutionally cold that, when warmed by the sun, they sing, says the same writer.
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§ 3.39 It seems that the Goatsucker is the most audacious of creatures, for it despises small birds but assails goats with the utmost violence, and more than that, it flies to their udders and sucks out the milk without any fear of vengeance from the goatherd, although it makes the basest return for being filled with milk, for it makes the dug'blind' and staunches its flow.
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§ 3.40 Many people sing the praises of the son of Arete, the sister of Aristippus, as being taught by his mother. Aristotle says that he has with his own eyes seen the young of the Nightingale being instructed by their mother how to sing. It seems that the Nightingale passionately loves its freedom, and for that reason when a mature bird is caught and confined in a cage, it refrains from song and takes vengeance on the birdcatcher for its enslavement by silence. Consequently men who have had this experience let them go when they are older and do their best to catch the young.
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§ 3.41 India produces horses with one horn, they say, and the same country fosters asses with a single horn. And from these horns they make drinking-vessels, and if anyone puts a deadly poison in them and a man drinks, the plot will do him no harm. For it seems that the horn both of the horse and of the ass is an antidote to the poison.
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§ 3.42 The Purple Coot is the most beautiful and the most appropriately named of creatures, and it delights to dust itself, and it also bathes just as pigeons do. But it does not devote itself to the dusting-place or to the bath until it has walked a certain number of paces to satisfy itself. It cannot bear being seen feeding, and for that reason it retires and eats in concealment. It is violent in its jealousy and keeps a close watch on the mated female birds, and if it discovers the mistress of its house to be adulterous, it strangles itself. It does not fly high. Yet men take pleasure in it and tend it with care and consideration. And apparently it is either a pet in a sumptuous and opulent household, or else it is admitted into a temple and roams unconfined, moving about as a sacred creature within the precinct. The Peacock on the contrary, which is a beautiful bird, is killed and eaten by voluptuaries. The feathers of this bird are a decoration, though its body is of little or no account. But I never heard of anyone killing a Purple Coot for a meal, not Callias nor Ctesippus the Athenians, not Lucullus nor Hortensius the Romans. I have named but a few out of many who were luxurious and insatiate in other ways but especially where their bellies were concerned.
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§ 3.43 When the Raven on reaching old age can no longer feed its young, it offers itself as their food; and they eat their father. And this is alleged to be the origin of the proverb which says'A bad egg of a bad raven.'
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§ 3.44 Ringdoves are celebrated as the most continent of birds. For instance, when once the male and the female have paired and are, so to say, of one mind to wed, they cling to one another and are continent, and neither bird would touch a strange bed. If however they cast amorous glances at other birds, the rest gather round them and the male is torn to pieces by those of his own sex, the female by the females. This then is the law of continence which extends to doves and remains unchanged, except that they do not put to death both birds: when they kill the male they take compassion on the female and leave her unharmed; and she goes about, a widow.
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§ 3.45 Aristotle says that male Pigeons share the birth-pangs of the females, and if they wander from the nest the males will push and drive them in; and when they have laid their eggs the males will force them to brood them. But the male birds also keep the chicks Warm and help the females to feed them, according to the same writer. And to prevent the chicks from being underfed the parents begin by giving them saline earth, so that when they have tasted it, they then readily eat the rest of their food. It would seem that there is a treaty of peace between Pigeons and such others as are birds of prey, but they are said to live in fear of sea- eagles and falcons. But their method of dealing with hawks is a tale worth hearing. When the hawk, which is accustomed to soar high in the air, gives chase, the Pigeons glide and sink lower and attempt to reduce their flight. When attacked however by some bird which by nature flies at a lower level than they, the Pigeons mount up and travel through the sky, and flying overhead they have no fear, because the other cannot harry them from above.
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§ 3.46 An Indian trainer finding a young white Elephant took and reared it during its early years; he gradually tamed it and used to ride upon it and grew fond of his chattel, which returned his aifection and recompensed him for his fostering care. Now the king of the Indies hearing of this, asked to be given the animal. But the trainer in his affection was jealous and even overcome with grief at the thought of another man being its master, and declined to give it up; and so, mounting the Elephant, he went off into the desert. The king in his indigna-tion despatched men to take the Elephant away and at the same time to bring the Indian to judgment. When they arrived they attempted to apply force. So the man' struck at them from his mount, and the beast helped to defend its master as he was being injured. Such was the beginning of the affair. But when the Indian was wounded and fell, the Elephant bestrode its keeper after the manner of armed men covering a comrade with their shields, slew many of the attackers, and put the remainder to flight. Then, winding its trunk round its keeper, it raised him and brought him to its stable and stayed by his side, as one trusty friend might do to another, thus showing its kindly nature. Wicked men, for ever busy (?) about the table and the clash of frying-pans and dancing to your lunch, but traitors in the hour of danger, in whose mouth the word'Friendship' is vain and of no effect.
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§ 3.47 In the name of Zeus our father, permit me to ask the tragic dramatists and their predecessors, the inventors of fables, what they mean by showering such a flood of ignorance upon the son of Laius who consummated that disastrous union with his mother; and upon Telephus who, without indeed attempting union, lay with his mother and would have done the same as Oedipus, had not a serpent sent by the gods kept them apart, when Nature allows unreasoning animals to perceive by mere contact the nature of this union, with no need for tokens nor for the presence of the man who exposed Oedipus on Cithaeron. The Camel, for instance, would never couple with its mother. Now the keeper of a herd of camels covered up a female as far as possible, hiding all but its parts, and then drove the son to its mother. The beast, all unwitting, in its eagerness to copulate, did the deed, then realised what it had done. It bit and trampled on the man who was the cause of its unlawful union, and kneeling on him put him to an agonising death, and then threw itself over a precipice. And here Oedipus was ill-advised in not killing himself but blinding his eyes; in not realising how to escape from his calamities when he might have made away with himself instead of cursing his house and his family; and finally in seeking by an irremediable calamity to remedy calamities already past.
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§ 4.1 BOOK IV Partridges are the most incontinent of birds; that is the reason for their passionate love of the female birds and for their constant enslavement to lust. So those that rear fighting Partridges, when they egg them on to battle with one another, make the female stand each by her mate, as they have found this to be a device for countering any cowardice or reluctance to fight. For the Partridge that is defeated cannot endure to show himself either to his loved one or to his spouse. He will sooner die under the blows than turn away from his adversary and dare in his disgrace to look upon her whose good opinion he courts. The Cretans also have taken this view regarding Cretan lovers. For I have heard that a Cretan lover, who had beside other qualities that of a fine soldier, had as his favourite a boy of good birth, conspicuous for his beauty, of manly spirit, excellently fitted by nature to imbibe the noblest principles, though on account of his youth he was not yet called to arms. (I have elsewhere given the name of the lover and of the beautiful boy.) Now the Cretans say that the young man did acts of valour in the fight, but when the enemy's massed line pressed him hard, he stumbled over a dead body that lay there and was thrown down. Whereupon one of the enemy who was nearest, in his eagerness was about to strike him in the back. But the man turned and exclaimed'Do not deal me a shameful and cowardly blow, but strike me in front, in the breast, in order that my loved one may not judge me guilty of cowardice and refrain from laying out my dead body: he could not bear to go near one who so disgraces himself.' There is nothing wonderful in a man being ashamed to appear a coward, but that a Partridge should have some feeling of shame, this is a truly impressive gift of Nature. But Aristodemus the timid, and Cleonymus who threw away his shield, and Pisander the craven, had no reverence for their country or for their wives or for their children.
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§ 4.2 At Eryx in Sicily there is a festival which not only the people of Eryx but everybody atel throughout the whole of Sicily as well call the'Festival of the Embarkation.' And the reason why the festival is so called is this: they say that during these days Aphrodite sets out thence for Libya. They adduce in support of their belief the following circumstance. There is there an immense multitude of Pigeons. Now these disappear, and the people of Eryx assert that they have gone as an escort to the goddess, for they speak of Pigeons as'pets of Aphrodite,' and so everybody believes them to be. But after nine days one bird of conspicuous beauty is seen flying in from the sea which brings it from Libya: it is not like the other Pigeons in a flock but is rose-coloured, just as Anacreon of Teos describes Aphrodite, styling her somewhere'roseate.' And the bird might also be compared to gold, for this too is like the same goddess of whom Homer sings as'golden'. And after the bird follow the other Pigeons in clouds, and again there is a festal gathering for the people of Eryx, the'Festival of the Return'; the name is derived from the event.
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§ 4.3 The Wolf and the she- Wolf feed together, likewise the Horse and the Mare; the Lion and the Lioness however do not, for the Lioness and the Lion do not follow the same track either hunting or when drinking. And the reason is that both derive confidence from their bodily strength, so that neither has need of the other, as older writers assert.
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§ 4.4 Wolves are not easily delivered of their young, only after twelve days and twelve nights, for the people of Delos maintain that this was the length of time that it took Leto to travel from the Hyperboreans to Delos.
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§ 4.5 Animals hostile to one another: the Tortoise and the Partridge; the Stork and the Corncrake to the Sea-gull; the Shearwater and the Heron to the Sea-mew. The Crested Lark feels enmity towards the Goldfinch; the Turtle-dove disagrees with the Pyrallis; the Kite too and the Raven are enemies; the Siren and the Circe; the Circe and the Falcon have been found to be at variance not only in the matter of sex but in their nature. The Sea-perch is the most lecherous of fishes. In Pheneus in Laconia one may hear tell of white Ants.
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§ 4.6 Men skilled in the breeding and care of Horses agree that Horses are most fond of marshy ground, meadows, and wind-swept spots. Hence we find Homer, who in my opinion had a remarkable knowledge of such matters, saying somewhere.'For him three thousand mares grazed along the water-meadow.' And horse-keepers frequently testify to Mares being Mares impregnated by the wind, and to their galloping by the against the south or the north wind. And the same poet knew this when he said'Of them was Boreas enamoured as they pastured.' Aristotle too, borrowing (as I think) from him, said that they rush away in frenzy straight in the face of the aforesaid winds.
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§ 4.7 I am told that the King of the Scythians (his name I know but suppress, for I have nothing to gain by it) possessed a mare remarkable for every excellence which is expected of horses and for which they are displayed; and that he possessed also a foal of this same mare which surpassed all others in its excellence. Being unable to find either another worthy mate for the mare or another mare fit to be impregnated by the foal, he therefore put the two together for that purpose. They caressed each other in various ways and were friendly disposed, but refused to couple. So as the animals were too clever for the Scythian's scheme, he blindfolded both mare and foal with cloths, and they accomplished the act so contrary to law and morality. But when the pair realised what they had done, they atoned for their impious deed by death and threw themselves over a precipice.
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§ 4.8 Eudemus records how a groom fell in love with a young mare, the finest of the herd, as it might have Mare been a beautiful girl, the loveliest of all thereabouts. And at first he restrained himself, but finally dared to consummate a strange union. Now the mare had a foal, and a fine one, and when it saw what was happening it was pained, just as though its mother were being tyrannically treated by her master, and it leaped upon the man and killed him. And it even went so far as to watch where he was buried, went to the place, dug up the corpse, and outraged it by inflicting every kind of injury.
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§ 4.9 The majority of Fishes are eager for sexual intercourse throughout the springtime, and withdraw seasoi for choice to the Black Sea, for it contains caverns and resting-places which are Nature's gift to Fishes. Besides, its waters are free from the savage creatures which the sea breeds. Only dolphins roam there, and they are small and feeble. Moreover it is devoid of octopuses; it produces no crabs and does not breed lobsters: these are the bane of small fishes.
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§ 4.10 I am informed that when the new moon begins to appear, Elephants by some natural and unexplained act of intelligence pluck fresh branches from the forest where they feed and then raise them aloft and look upwards at the goddess, waving the branches gently to and fro, as though they were offering her in a sense a suppliant's olive-branch in the hope that she will prove kindly and benevolent to them.
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§ 4.11 I have heard that Mares are the only animals which when pregnant allow the male to have intercourse with them. For Mares are exceedingly lustful, and that is why strict censors call lecherous women'mares.'
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§ 4.12 Partridges while still in the egg and confined by the shell that has formed around them do not wait for their parents to hatch them out, but alone and unaided, like house-breakers, peck through the eggs, peep out, and then lever themselves up, and then after cracking the egg-shell begin at once to run. And if half the shell is clinging to their tail they shake it off and cast it from them; and they hunt for food and dart about at great speed.
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§ 4.13 Partridges that utter clear, musical tones are confident in their vocal skill. So too the fighting birds which compete feel certain that when captured they will not be regarded as merely fit for sacrifice. And that is why when caught they struggle less against their pursuers in order to avoid capture. But the rest, and especially the partridges of Cirrha, conscious that they possess neither strength nor ability to sing, and knowing full well that if caught they will furnish a meal for their captors, do their utmost, prompted by some natural intelligence, to render themselves unfit for eating. And they abstain from other food which delights and fattens them and feed most eagerly upon garlic. Hence those who are already aware of these facts have willingly agreed that they should be immune from pursuit. Whereas a man who has not previously chanced to hunt them, if he catches and cooks them, has wasted his time and his pains over them, when he finds their flesh disgusting.
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§ 4.14 The Marten is an evil creature, and an evil creature is the Snake. And so when a Marten means to fight with a Snake, it chews some rue beforehand and then goes out boldly to battle, as though fortified and armed. The reason is that to a Snake rue is utterly abhorrent.
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§ 4.15 The Wolf when gorged to satiety will not thereafter taste the least morsel. For his belly is distended, his tongue swells, his mouth is blocked, and he is gentle as a lamb to meet, and would have no designs on man or beast, even were he to walk through the middle of a flock. Gradually however and little by little his tongue shrinks and resumes its former shape, and he becomes once more a wolf.
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§ 4.16 Cockerels all tread a newcomer to the flock, and tame Partridges do the same to the latest arrival as yet untamed. And Partridges even requite their own parents by decoying those that are free and wild, acting in this respect just like pigeons. Now this is the way in which the Partridge draws them to him and displays the arts of a Siren to allure others. He stands uttering his cry, and his tune conveys a challenge, provoking the wild bird to fight; and he stands in ambush by the springe. Then the cock of the wild birds answers back and advances to do battle on behalf of his covey. So the tame bird withdraws, pretending to be afraid, while the other advances vaunting as though he were already victorious, is caught in the snare, and is captured. Now if it is a cock bird that falls into the trap, his companions attempt to bring help to the captive; but if it is a hen, one here and another there beats the captive for allowing her lust to bring her into slavery. And here is a point that I will not omit, for it deserves attention. If the decoy-bird is a hen, the wild hens, in order to prevent the cock from falling into the trap, counter the challenge with their cries and rescue the cock that is about to be trapped, for he is glad to stay with those who are his mates and more numerous, seeming to be drawn by some spell that is in truth love.
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§ 4.17 The Hedgehog too is believed to be one of the animals that show spite. Thus, when it is caught it immediately makes water on its skin, so rendering it unfit for use, though it is thought to serve many purposes. The Lynx too hides its urine, for when it hardens it turns to stone and is suitable for engrav-ing, and is one of the aids to female adornment, so they say.
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§ 4.18 If a Lion eats a Lion's-bane, it dies. And insects are destroyed if one drops oil on them. And to ce perfumes are the death of Vultures. Beetles you will extirpate if you scatter roses on them.
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§ 4.19 The Hounds of India are, reckoned as wild animals; they are exceedingly strong and fierce-tempered, and are the largest dogs in the world. All other animals they despise; but an Indian Hound will engage with a lion and resist its onslaught, barking against its roar and giving bite for bite. Only after much worrying and wounding of the lion is the Hound finally overcome; and even a lion might be overcome by an Indian Hound, for once it has bitten, the Hound holds fast with might and main. And even if you take a sword and cut off a Hound's leg, it has no thought, in spite of its pain, of relaxing its bite, but though its leg has been cut off, only when dead does it let go and lie still, forced by death to desist. What more I have learned I will recount elsewhere.
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§ 4.20 Men and Dogs are the only creatures that belch after they have eaten their fill. A man's heart creatun is attached to his left breast, but in other creatures it is fixed in the centre of the thorax. Among birds of prey there is not one that drinks or makes water, or even gathers in flocks with others of its kind.
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§ 4.21 There is in India a wild beast, powerful, daring, as big as the largest lion, of a red colour like cinnabar, shaggy like a dog, and in the language of India it is called Martichoras. Its face however is not that of a wild beast but of a man, and it has three rows of teeth set in its upper jaw and three in the lower; these are exceedingly sharp and larger than the fangs of a hound. Its ears also resemble a man's, except that they are larger and shaggy; its eyes are blue-grey and they too are like a man's, but its feet and claws, you must know, are those of a lion. To the end of its tail is attached the sting of a scorpion, and this might be over a cubit in length; and the tail has stings at intervals on either side. But the tip of the tail gives a fatal sting to anyone who encounters it, and death is immediate. If one pursues the beast it lets fly its stings, like arrows, sideways, and it can shoot a great distance; and when it discharges its stings straight ahead it bends its tail back; if however it shoots in a backward direction, as the Sacae do, then it stretches its tail to its full extent. Any creature that the missile hits it kills; the elephant alone it does not kill. These stings which it shoots are a foot long and the thickness of a bulrush. Now Ctesias asserts (and he says that the Indians confirm his words) that in the places where those stings have been let fly others spring up, so that this evil produces a crop. And according to the same writer the Mantichore for choice devours human beings; indeed it will slaughter a great number; and it lies in wait not for a single man but would set upon two or even three men, and alone overcomes even that number. All other animals it defeats: the lion alone it can never bring down. That this creature takes special delight in gorging human flesh its very name testifies, for in the Greek language it means man-eater, and its name is derived from its activities. Like the stag it is extremely swift. Now the Indians hunt the young of these animals while they are still without stings in their tails, which they then crush with a stone to prevent them from growing stings. The sound of their voice is as near as possible that of a trumpet. Ctesias declares that he has actually seen this animal in Persia (it had been brought from India as a present to the Persian King) — if Ctesias is to be regarded as a sufficient authority on such matters. At any rate after hearing of the peculiarities of this animal, one must pay heed to the historian of Cnidos.
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§ 4.22 The Sea-scolopendra bursts, they say, when a man spits in its face.
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§ 4.23 If one crushes the fruit of a Willow-tree and gives it to animals to drink, they suffer no injury at all, rather they thrive on it. But if a man drinks it, his semen loses its procreative strength. And I fancy that Homer had explored the secrets of nature when he wrote in his verses'and willows that lose their fruit,' and that he was making a cryptic allusion to this. And if a man drink Hemlock, he dies from the congealing and chilling of his blood, whereas a hog can gorge itself with Hemlock and remain in good health.
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§ 4.24 The Indians have difficulty in capturing a full-grown Elephant. So they resort to the swamps by a river and then capture the young ones. For the Elephant delights in moist places where the ground is soft, and loves the water, and prefers to pass his time in these haunts: he is, so to say, a creature of the swamps. So having caught them while tender and docile, they look after them, pandering to their appetites, grooming their bodies, and using soothing words — for the Elephants understand the speech of the natives — and, in a word, they foster them like children and bestow care upon them, instructing them in various ways. And the baby Elephants learn to obey.
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§ 4.25 In the threshing season when the oxen move round the threshing-floor and the space is filled with tSeeo! sheaves, in order to prevent the oxen from eating the ears, the men smear their nostrils with dung — a device which they have hit upon and which serves them well. For this animal is so disgusted at the aforesaid smearing that it would not touch any food, even though it were assailed with the fiercest hunger.
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§ 4.26 This is the way in which the Indians hunt Hares and Foxes: they have no need of hounds for the chase, but they catch the young of Eagles, Ravens, and Kites also, rear them, and teach them how to hunt. This is their method of instruction: to a tame Hare or to a domesticated Fox they attach a piece of meat, and then let them run; and having sent the birds in pursuit, they allow them to pick off the meat. The birds give chase at full speed, and if they catch the Hare or the Fox, they have the meat as a reward for the capture: it is for them a highly attractive bait. When therefore they have perfected the birds' skill at hunting, the Indians let them loose after mountain Hares and wild Foxes. And the birds, in expectation of their accustomed feed, whenever one of these animals appears, fly after it, seize it in a trice, and bring it back to their masters, as Ctesias tells us. And from the same source we learn also that in place of the meat which has hitherto been attached, the entrails of the animals they have caught provide a meal.
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§ 4.27 I have heard that the Indian animal the Gryphon is a quadruped like a lion; that it has claws and ti of enormous strength and that they resemble those of a lion. Men commonly report that it is winged and that the feathers along its back are black, and those on its front are red, while the actual wings are neither but are white. And Ctesias records that its neck is variegated with feathers of a dark blue; that it has a beak like an eagle's, and a head too, just as artists portray it in pictures and sculpture. Its eyes, he says, are like fire. It builds its lair among the mountains, and although it is not possible to capture the full-grown animal, they do take the young ones. And the people of Bactria, who are neighbours of the Indians, say that the Gryphons guard the gold in those parts; that they dig it up and build their nests with it, and that the Indians carry off any that falls from them. The Indians however deny that they guard the aforesaid gold, for the Gryphons have no need of it (and if that is what they say, then I at any rate think that they speak the truth), but that they themselves come to collect the gold, while the Gryphons fearing for their young ones fight with the invaders. They engage too with other beasts and overcome them without difficulty, but they will not face the lion or the elephant. Accordingly the natives, dreading the strength of these animals, do not set out in quest of the gold by day, but arrive by night, for at that season they are less likely to be detected. Now the region where the Gryphons live and where the gold is mined is a dreary wilderness. And the seekers after the aforesaid substance arrive, a thousand or two strong, armed and bringing spades and sacks; and watching for a moonless night they begin to dig. Now if they contrive to elude the Gryphons they reap a double advantage, for they not only escape with their lives but they also take home their freight, and when those who have acquired a special skill in the smelting of gold have refined it, they possess immense wealth to requite them for the dangers described above. If however they are caught in the act, they are lost. And they return home, I am told, after an interval of three or four years.
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§ 4.28 The head of a Turtle, after it has been cut off, sees and closes its eyes if one brings one's hand near; and it would still bite if you brought your hand too near. It has eyes that flash a long way off, for the pupils are the purest white and very conspicuous, and when removed are set in gold and necklaces. For ■ that reason they are greatly admired by women. These Turtles, I learn, are natives of what is commonly called the' Red Sea.'
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§ 4.29 The Cock, they say, at moonrise becomes possessed and jumps about. Never would a sunrise pass unnoticed by him, but at that hour he excels himself in crowing. And I learn that the Cock is the favourite bird of Leto. The reason is, they say, that he was at her side when she was so happily brought to bed of twins. That is why to this very day a Cock is at hand when women are in travail, and is believed somehow to promote an easy delivery. If the Hen dies the Cock himself sits on the eggs and hatches his own eggs in silence, for then for some strange and inexplicable reason, I must say, he does not crow. I fancy that he is conscious that he is then doing the work of a female and not of a male. A Cock that has been defeated in battle and in a struggle with another will not crow, for his spirit is depressed and he hides himself in shame. On the other hand if he is victorious, he is proud and holds his head high and appears exultant. Here too is a most astonishing trait, I think. As he passes beneath a doorway, no matter how high, the Cock lowers his head — a most pretentious action, done apparently to protect his comb.
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§ 4.30 Jackdaws are devoted to their own species; and this it is that often causes their destruction. And it happens in this way. The man who intends to hunt Jackdaws adopts the following plan. In the how place where he knows that they feed and where he sees them gathering in flocks he arranges basins full of oil. Now the oil is transparent and the bird is in-quisitive, and it comes and perches on the rim of the vessel, bends down, and sees its own reflexion, and supposing it to be another J ackdaw, makes haste to go down to it. So it descends, flaps its wings, and scatters the oil all over itself. Being quite unable to fly up again the bird remains, so to speak, fettered, though neither net nor trap nor snare is there.
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§ 4.31 The Elephant has what some call protruding tusks, what others call horns. On each foot he has five toes; their growth is just visible although they are not separate; and that is why he is ill-adapted for swimming. His hind legs are shorter than his forelegs; his paps are close to his armpits: he has a proboscis which is far more serviceable than a hand, and his tongue is short; his gall-bladder is said to be not near the liver but close to the intestines. I am informed that the duration of the Elephant's pregnancy is two years, although others maintain that it is not so long, but only eighteen months. It bears a young one as big as a one-year-old calf, which pulls at the dug with its mouth. When it is possessed with a desire to copulate and is burning with passion, it will dash at a wall and overturn it, will bend palm-trees by butting its forehead against them, as rams do. It drinks water not when clear and pure but when it has dirtied and stirred it up a little. But it sleeps standing upright, for it finds the act of lying down and of rising troublesome. The Elephant reaches its prime at the age of sixty, though its life extends to two hundred years. But it cannot endure cold.
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§ 4.32 It is worth while learning the nature of the flocks that belong to the Indians. I have heard that their Goats and their Sheep are larger than the largest asses, and that each one gives birth to quadruplets; anyhow no Goat or Sheep in India would ever give birth to less than three at a time. The Sheep have tails reaching down to their feet, while the Goats have tails of such length as all but touch the ground. The shepherds cut off the tails of the ewes which are good for breeding so that the rams may mount them, and they press oil out of the fat contained in them. In the rams' tails also they make an incision and extract the fat and sew them up again. And the cut joins up once more and all traces of it disappear.
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§ 4.33 Alexander of Myndus declares that the Chameleon annoys snakes and makes them go hungry in this way. Taking in its teeth apiece of wood, broad and solid, it turns about and goes to face its enemy. But the Snake is unable to seize it as its jaws cannot compass the width of the wood; and so the Snake goes without a meal as far as the Chameleon is concerned, for although it may bite the rest of its body it gains nothing, since the Chameleon has a solid hide and cares not at all for the fangs of the Snake.
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§ 4.34 The neck of a Lion consists of a single bone and not of a number of vertebrae. And if a man cuts through the bones of a Lion fire leaps forth. But they are devoid of marrow, nor are they hollow like tubes. There is no season of the year in which it abstains from coupling, and the Lioness is pregnant for two months. Five times does she give birth, at the first birth to five cubs, at the second to four, after that to three, after that to two, and finally to one. The cubs when new-born are small and, like puppies, blind, and they begin to walk when they have completed two months from birth. But the account which says that they scratch through the womb is a fable. To encounter a Lion when famished is dangerous, but when he has eaten his fill he is extremely gentle; they even say that at that time he is playful. A Lion will never turn his back and flee, but withdraws, looking you straight in the face, and by degrees. But when he begins to age he visits folds and huts and spots where shepherds lodge in caves; which,is to be expected, because he no longer has the spirit for hunting on the mountains. He has a horror of fire. Any Lion that inclines to roundness and a compact figure, and that has too shaggy a mane, appears to be lacking in spirit and daring; whereas the beast that attains a good length and has a straight mane is regarded as bolder and fiercer. Possessing a ravenous appetite he will, they say, devour and swallow whole limbs. So when he has taken his fill of them he will often not eat for the space of three days until his former meal has been gradually absorbed and digested. He drinks but little.
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§ 4.35 A domesticated Ox will never forget the man who strikes and chastises him, but he remembers and takes his revenge even after a long interval. For being under the yoke and in a certain degree confined, he is like a prisoner and keeps still; but when he is let out he has often kicked and broken some limb of his herdsman; often too he has put passion into his horns and has fallen upon a man and killed him. After that he is gentle to others and goes quietly to the fold, for he is not savage towards those against whom he has no ground for anger.

Via ToposText (topostext.org), a project of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation created by Brady Kiesling. Translated by Alwyn Faber Scholfield (1884-1969). Composed ca. 234 CE. Licence: Copyright Harvard University (Greek text CC license). Source.