Aelian, Characteristics of Animals

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§ 4.36 Historians say that India is rich in drugs and remarkably prolific of medicinal plants, of which some save life and rescue from danger men who have been brought to death's door through the bites of noxious creatures (and there are many such in India ); while other drugs are swift to kill and destroy; and to this class might be assigned the drug which comes from the Purple Snake. Now this snake appears to be a span long; its colour is like the deepest purple, but its head they describe as white and not purple, and not just white, but whiter even than snow or milk. But this snake has no fangs and is found in the hottest regions of India, and though it is quite incapable of biting — for which reason you might pronounce it to be tame and gentle — yet if it vomits upon anyone (so I am told), be it man or animal, the entire limb inevitably putrefies. Therefore when caught men hang it up by the tail, and naturally it has its head hanging down, looking at the ground. And below the creature's mouth they place a bronze vessel, into which there ooze drops from its mouth; and the liquid sets and congeals, and if you saw it you would say that it was gum from an alnaond-tree. So when the snake is dead they remove the vessel and substitute another, also of bronze; and again from the dead body there flows a liquid serum which looks like water. This they leave for three days, and it too sets; but there will be a difference in colour between the two, for the latter is a deep black and the former the colour of amber. Now if you give a man a piece of this no bigger than a sesame seed, dropping it into his wine or his food, first he will be seized with convulsions of the utmost violence; next, his eyes squint and his brain dissolves and drips through his nostrils, and he dies a most pitiable death. And if he takes a smaller dose of the poison, there is no escape for him hereafter, for in time he dies. If however you administer some of the black matter which has flowed from the snake when dead, again a piece the size of a sesame seed, the man's body begins to suppurate, a wasting sickness overtakes him, and within a year he is carried off by consumption. But there are many whose lives have been prolonged for as much as two years, while little by little they died.
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§ 4.37 Although the Ostrich lays a number of eggs it does not hatch all of them but sets aside the sterile ones and sits upon those that are fertile; and from these it hatches its young, giving them the other, rejected eggs to eat. And if one chases the Ostrich it does not venture to fly but spreads its wings and runs. And if it is in danger of being captured it slings the stones that come in its way backwards with its feet.
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§ 4.38 Sparrows, conscious that their weakness is due to the small size of their bodies, build their nests upon those twigs of branches which are strong enough to support them, and so generally escape the machinations of bird-catchers who cannot climb the branch: it is too slender to bear them.
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§ 4.39 Foxes pass an oounds in their mischievousness and trickery. When they observe a thriving Wasps' nest they turn their back upon it and avoid the hole so as to protect themselves from being stung. But their tail, which is very bushy and long, they let down into the hole and shake up the Wasps. And these fasten on the thick hairs. But when they are entangled in them the Foxes beat their tail against a tree or fence or stone wall, and the Wasps are killed by the blows. Then the Foxes return to the same spot, collect the remaining Wasps, and kill them as they did the first lot. When they know that they will have peace and be free from stings they put down their heads and eat up the combs, with nothing to disturb them and no need to look out for stings.
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§ 4.40 A Dog's skull has no suture. Running, they say, makes a Dog more lustful. In old age a Dog's teeth are blunt and turn black. He is so keen-scented that he will never touch the roasted flesh of a dog, be it bewitched by the subtlest and craftiest of rich sauces. Now there are three diseases which fall to the lot of a Dog and no more, viz. dog -quinsy, rabies, and gout, while mankind has an infinite number. Everything that is bitten by a mad Dog dies. If a Dog once gets gout you will hardly see him recover his strength. The life of a Dog at its longest is fourteen years; so Argus, the dog of Odysseus, and the story about him look like a playful tale of Homer's.
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§ 4.41 The following species of bird belongs to the very smallest of those in India. They build their nests on high mountains and among what are called'rugged' rocks. These tiny birds are the size of a partridge's egg, and you must know that they are orange-coloured. The Indians are accustomed to call the bird in their language dikairon, but the Greeks, so I am informed, dikaion. If a man take of its droppings a quantity the size of a millet-seed dissolved in his drink, he is dead by the evening. But his death is like a very pleasant and painless sleep, and such as poets are fond of describing as'limb-relaxing' and'gentle.' For death too may be free from pain, and for that reason most welcome to those who desire it. The Indians accordingly do their utmost to obtain possession of it, for they regard it as in fact'causing them to forget their troubles'. And so the Indian King includes this also among the costly presents which he sends to the Persian King, who receives it and values it above all the rest and stores it away, to counteract and to remedy ills past curing, should necessity arise. But there is not another soul in Persia save the King and the King's mother who possesses it. So let us compare the Indian and Egyptian drug and see which of the two was to be preferred. On the one hand the Egyptian drug repelled and suppressed sorrow for a day, whereas the Indian drug caused a man to forget his troubles for ever. The former was the gift of a woman, the latter of a bird or else of Nature, which mysteriously releases men from a truly intolerable bondage through the aforesaid agency. And the Indians are fortunate in possessing it so that they can free themselves from this world's prison whenever they wish.
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§ 4.42 The bird called'Francolin' ( Aristophanes mentions it in his comedy of the Birds proclaims and sings its own name as loudly as it can. And they say that Guinea-fowls, as they are called, do the same and testify to their kinship with Meleager the son of Oeneus in the clearest tones. The legend goes that all the women who were related to the son of Oeneus dissolved into unassuageable tears and sorrow past bearing, and mourned for him and found no cure for their sorrow. So the gods in pity allowed them to change their shape into these birds; and the semblance and seed of their ancient grief have sunk into them so that to this day they raise a strain to Meleager and even sing of how they are his kin. So then all who reverence the gods would never lay hands on one of these birds for the sake of food. And the reason of this is known to the inhabitants of the island of Leros and can be learned from other sources.
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§ 4.43 Here are more facts that I have learned touching Ants. So indefatigable, so ready to work are they, without making excuses, without any base plea for release, without alleging reasons that are a cloak for indolence, that not even at night when the moon is full do they idle and take holiday, but stick to their occupation. Look at you men — devising endless pretexts and excuses for idling! What need is there to detail and pour out the full number of these occasions? Proclaimed as holidays are the Dionysia, the Lenaea, the Festival of Pots, Causeway Day; go to Sparta, and there are others: others again at Thebes: and an endless number in every city, some in a foreign, others in a Greek city.
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§ 4.44 In Egypt the Cats, the Ichneumons, the Crocodiles, and moreover the Hawks afford evidence that kind animal nature is not altogether intractable, but that when well-treated they are good at remembering kindness. They are caught by pandering to their appetites, and when this has rendered them tame they remain thereafter perfectly gentle: they would never set upon their benefactors once they have been freed from their congenital and natural temper. Man however, a creature endowed with reason, credited with understanding, gifted with a sense of honour, supposed capable of blushing, can become the bitter enemy of a friend and for some trifling and casual reason blurt out confidences to betray the very man who trusted him.
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§ 4.45 Eudemus has a story to fill one with amazement, and this is the story he tells. A young hunter Jfise who was able to spend his life among the wildest of animals, after they had been trained from the day when they were young cubs, had living with him and sharing each other's food a Dog, a Bear, and a Lion. And for a time, Eudemus says, they lived in peace and mutual amity. But it happened one day that the Dog was playing with the Bear, fawning upon it and teasing it, when the Bear became unwontedly savage, fell upon the Dog, and with its claws ripped the poor creature's belly open and tore him to pieces. The Lion, says the writer, was indignant at what had occurred and seemed to detest the Bear's implacability and want of affection: it was smitten with grief for the Dog as for a companion, and being filled with righteous anger, punished the Bear by treating it exactly as the Bear had treated the Dog. Now Homer says'So good a thing it is that when a man dies a son should be left.' And Nature seems to show that there is an advantage, my dear Homer, in leaving a friend behind to avenge one. Something of the same kind, we believe, occurred with Zeno and Cleanthes, if there is some truth in what we hear.
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§ 4.46 (i). In India are born insects about the size of beetles, and they are red. On seeing them for the first time you might compare them to vermilion. They have very long legs and are soft to the touch. They flourish on those trees which produce amber, and feed upon the fruit of the same. And the Indians hunt them and crush them and with their bodies dye their crimson cloaks and their tunics beneath and everything else that they wish to convert and stain to that colour. Garments of this description are even brought to the Persian king, and their beauty excites the admiration of the Persians, and indeed when set against their native garments far surpasses them and amazes people, according to Ctesias, because the colour is even stronger and more brilliant than the much-vaunted wares of Sardes. (ii). And in the same part of India as the beetles, are born the' Dog -heads,' as they are called — a name which they owe to their physical appearance and nature. For the rest they are of human shape and go about clothed in the skins of beasts; and they are upright and injure no man; and though they have no speech they howl; yet they understand the Indian language. Wild animals are their food, and they catch them with the utmost ease, for they are exceedingly swift of foot; and when they have caught them they kill and cook them, not over a fire but by exposing them to the sun's heat after they have shredded them into pieces. They also keep goats and sheep, and while their food is the flesh of wild beasts, their drink is the milk of the animals they keep. I have mentioned them along with brute beasts, as is logical, for their speech is inarticulate, unintelligible, and not that of man.
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§ 4.47 Golden Oriole is the name of a bird which declines to build its nest with anything but comfrey, Oriole as it is called. Comfrey is a root which is hard to find and hard to dig up. For bedding it lays down hairs and wool. Chloris is the name given to the hen, but the cock-bird they call cklorim, and it is clever at getting a livelihood; it is quick to learn anything whatsoever, and will patiently endure the ordeal of learning when in captivity. In the winter season you will not see it abroad and free, but at the occurrence of the summer solstice, that is when it will appear. As soon as Arcturus has risen the bird returns to its native haunts whence it came to us.
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§ 4.48 When once a Bull has been provoked to anger and is threatening violence with his horns and rushing angry on with irresistible speed, the herdsman cannot control him, fear cannot check him, nor anything else; only a man may bring him to a halt and stay his onrush if he tie a scarf round his own right knee and face the Bull.
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§ 4.49 The Leopard has five toes on its fore-paws and four on its hind-paws. But the female is stronger than the male. If it unwittingly eats what is called'leopard's-choke' (this is a herb), it licks some human excrement and preserves its life.
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§ 4.50 Horses, they say, have no lower eyelashes, so that Apelles of Ephesus incurred blame for ignoring this peculiarity in his picture of a horse. But others assert that it was not Apelles who was charged with this fault but Micon, a man of great skill in depicting this animal, although on this one point he made a mistake.
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§ 4.51 They say that the Gadfly is like a fly of the largest size; it is robust and compact and has a strong sting attached to its body and emits a buzzing sound. The Horsefly on the other hand is like the dog -fly, as it is called, but though its buzz is louder than the Gadfly its sting is smaller.
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§ 4.52 I have learned that in India are born Wild Asses as big as horses. All their body is white except for the head, which approaches purple, while their eyes give off a dark blue colour. They have a horn on their forehead as much as a cubit and a half long; the lower part of the horn is white, the upper part is crimson, while the middle is jet-black. From these variegated horns, I am told, the Indians drink, but not all, only the most eminent Indians, and round them at intervals they lay rings of gold, as though they were decorating the beautiful arm of a statue with bracelets. And they say that a man who has drunk from this horn knows not, and is free from, incurable diseases: he will never be seized with convulsions nor with the sacred sickness, as it is called, nor be destroyed by poisons. Moreover if he has previously drunk some deadly stuff, he vomits it up and is restored to health. It is believed that Asses, both the tame and the wild kind, all the world over and all other beasts with uncloven hoofs are without knucklebones and without gall in the liver; whereas those horned Asses of India, Ctesias says, have knucklebones and are not its tn without gall. Their knucklebones are said to be black, and if ground down are black inside as well. And these animals are far swifter than any ass or even than any horse or any deer. They begin to run, it is true, at a gentle pace, but gradually gather strength until to pursue them is, in the language of poetry, to chase the unattainable. When the dam gives birth and leads her new-born colts about, the sires herd with, and look after, them. And these Asses frequent the most desolate plains in India. So when the Indians go to hunt them, the Asses allow their colts, still tender and young, to pasture in their rear, while they themselves fight on their behalf and join battle with the horsemen and strike them with their horns. Now the strength of these horns is such that nothing can withstand their blows, but everything gives way and snaps or, it may be, is shattered and rendered useless. They have in the past even struck at the ribs of a horse, ripped it open, and disembowelled it. For that reason the horsemen dread coming to close quarters with them, since the penalty for so doing is a most lamentable death, and both they and their horses are killed. They can kick fearfully too. Moreover their bite goes so deep that they tear away everything that they have grasped. A full-grown Ass one would never capture alive: they are shot with javelins and arrows, and when dead the Indians strip them of their horns, which, as I said, they decorate. But the flesh of Indian Asses is uneatable, the reason being that it is naturally exceedingly bitter.
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§ 4.53 Eudemus declares that animals though devoid of reason have a natural instinct for numbers, even ani though untaught, and adduces as evidence this animal from Libya. Its name he does not mention, but what he says is this. Whatever it catches it divides into eleven portions; ten of these it eats, but the eleventh it leaves (it is worth considering for whose benefit, from what cause, and with what intent) as a kind of first-fruits or tithe, so to say. Hence one's amazement at this self-taught skill is justifiable: a brute beast understands 1, 2, and the following numbers; then think of all the instruction, all the whippings a human being needs if he is to learn these things well and truly — or often, if he is not to learn them.
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§ 4.54 The Egyptians assert (and scholars do not lend an indifferent ear to what they say) that in a certain district of Egypt which they name after Heracles the son of Zeus, a good-looking boy, as Egyptian boys go, who herded geese, was beloved and even admired by a female Asp. It would keep company with its favourite and warn him in a dream as he slept of the plots that another savage creature, its fellow you might say, was hatching against him: the male Asp was attempting his life, being as it were jealous of the boy on account of its wedded bride. And the boy would listen and obey and be on his guard. Now Homer allowed a horse to speak, and Nature, who according to Euripides'recks nought of laws', did the same to an Asp.
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§ 4.55 I have heard that Camels live for fifty years, but I have ascertained that those from Bactria live as much as twice that number. The males which are used in battle, the Bactrians castrate, thereby ridding them of their violent and intemperate disposition while preserving their strength. But in the case of the females they cauterize those parts which inflame them to lust.
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§ 4.56 Eudemus asserts that a Seal fell in love with seal: a man whose habit was to dive for sponges, and that it would emerge from the sea and consort with him where there was a rocky cavern. Now this man was the ugliest of his fellows, but in the eyes of the Seal the handsomest. Perhaps there is nothing to wonder at, for even human beings have frequently loved the less beautiful of their kind, being quite unaifected by the best-looking and paying no attention to them.
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§ 4.57 Aristotle says that when a man has been bitten by a Water- snake he at once exhales a most bite foul odour, so much so that nobody can come near him. He says also that forgetfulness descends upon the bitten rdan and a thick mist upon his eyes, and that madness ensues and a violent trembling, and that after three days he dies.
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§ 4.58 You must know that the Oenas (Rock-dove) is a bird and not, as some maintain, a vine. And Aristotle says that it is larger than a ring-dove but smaller than a pigeon. In Sparta too, I hear, there are men called Oenadotherae (Rock-dove-catchers). The Circe may be said to differ from the falcon not only in sex but in its nature too.
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§ 4.59'Blue-fowl' is its name; it is a bird; its ways are apart from man; it hates to linger in cities or to lodge in a house; it even avoids lingering in fields or where there are cottages and huts belonging to man; it likes desolate places and delights in mountain peaks and precipitous crags. It has no love even for the mainland or for pleasant islands, but for Scyros and any equally dreary, barren spot, generally destitute of human beings.
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§ 4.60 Chaffinches, it seems, are cleverer than man at predicting the future. For instance, they can tell when winter is coming, and they take the most careful precautions against an impending snowfall, and for fear of being overtaken they flee to the woodlands where the thick foliage affords them, as you might say, an asylum.
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§ 5.1 BOOK V They say that the country about Parium and its neighbour Cyzicus are inhabited by birds black in appearance; from their shape you would say that they were hawks. But they do not touch flesh, are temperate in their appetite, and for them seeds are a sufficient meal. And when late autumn sets in, a flock of these birds (they call them Memnons) resort to the land round Ilium, making straight for the tomb of Memnon. And the people who still inhabit the Troad assert that there is a tomb there dedicated to Memnon the son of Eos (Dawn); and since the actual dead body was borne through the air by his mother from the midst of the carnage to Susa (celebrated for this reason as'Memnonian'), where it was awarded a becoming burial, the monument in the Troad is called after him to no purpose. And so year by year the birds named after the aforesaid hero arrive and separate themselves into hostile factions and fight violently until half their number are killed, when the victors depart and return whence they came. How this all comes to pass and for what reason, I have at the moment no leisure to speculate, nor yet to track down the mysteries of Nature. This however I will mention. The aforesaid birds engage in this contest around the tomb of the son of Eos and Tithonus year after year, whereas the Greeks held but one contest in honour of Pelias and of Amarynceus, and even of Patroclus, and of Achilles the adversary of Memnon.
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§ 5.2 They say that the Owl is not found at all in Crete, and moreover that if it is introduced from owls abroad it dies. So it seems that Euripides uncritically represented Polyeidus as seeing this bird and thereby conjecturing that he would discover the dead son of Minos. And I myself have ascertained that the Cretan histories, beside the facts already told, relate in verse and prose how Crete received from Zeus a boon — seeing that the island had nursed him and effected that famous concealment of him — namely that it should be free of all noxious creatures born to do harm, that it should neither produce them nor support them if introduced from abroad. And the island proves how potent this boon was, for it produces none of the aforesaid creatures. But if a man by way of trying and testing the extent of Zeus's favour imports one of these alien creatures, it has but to touch the soil and it dies. Accordingly snake -hunters from and to the neighbouring Libya use devices of this kind. These charmers of venomous reptiles tame a great number and bring them for people to wonder at, and with them they import a load of soil from Libya sufficient for their need. This they do by way of precaution, to prevent the snakes from meeting their death. With this object, when they arrive at the aforesaid island they do not put down their snakes until they have laid a bed of the imported soil. This done, they collect crowds and fill the unintelligent majority with amazement. Now as long as each snake remains coiled up and settled in its place, or rises up without however crossing the limit of its own native dust, so long it lives. If however it strays on to the alien soil which is strange and hostile to it, it dies, and naturally so. For if the will of Zeus did not fail of effect in the case of Thetis, and would not fail in the case of any other person, far less, I think, will it prove ineffectual when his own nurse is concerned.
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§ 5.3 The river Indus is devoid of savage creatures; the only thing that is born in it is a worm, so they say, in appearance like those that are engendered in, and feed upon, timber. But these creatures attain to a length of as much as seven cubits, though one might find specimens both larger and smaller. Their bulk is such that a ten-year-old boy could hardly encircle it with his arms. A single tooth is attached to the upper jaw, another to the lower, and both are square and about eighteen inches long; and such is the strength of their teeth that they can crush with the greatest ease anything that they get between them, be it stone, be it animal, tame or wild. During the daytime they live at the bottom of the river, wallowing in the mud and slime; for that reason they are not to be seen. But at night they emerge on to the land, and whatever they encounter, whether horse or ox or ass, they crush and then drag down to their haunts and eat it in the river, devouring every member of the animal excepting its paunch. If however they are assailed by hunger during the day as well, and should a camel or an ox be drinking on the bank, they slide furtively up and seizing firmly upon its lips, haul it along with the utmost force and drag it by sheer strength into the water, where they feast upon it. Each one is covered with a hide two fingers thick. The following means have been devised for hunting and capturing them. Men let its cat down a stout, strong hook attached to an iron chain, and to this they fasten a rope of white flax weighing a talent, and they wrap wool round both chain and rope to prevent the worm biting through them. On the hook they fix a lamb or a kid, and then let them sink in the river. As many as thirty men hold on to the rope and each of them has a javelin ready to hurl and a sword at his side. Wooden clubs are placed handy, should they need to deal blows, and these are of cornel-wood and very hard. Then when the worm is secured on the hook and has swallowed the bait, the men haul, and having captured it and killed it, hang it up in the sun for thirty days. From the body there drips a thick oil into earthenware vessels; and the o each worm yields up to ten cotylae. This oil they seal and bring to the Indian King; no one else is permitted to have so much as a drop. The rest of the carcase is of no use. Now the oil has this power: should you wish to burn a pile of wood and to scatter the embers, pour on a cotyle and you will set it alight without pre-viously applying a spark. And if you want to burn a man or an animal, pour some oil over him and at once he is set on fire. With this, they say, the Indian King even takes cities that have risen against him; he does not wait for battering-rams or penthouses or any other siege-engines, for he burns them down and captures them. He fills earthen vessels, each holding one cotyle, with oil, seals them, and slings them from above against the gates. When the vessels touch the embrasures they are dashed into fragments; the oil oozes down; fire pours over the doors, and nothing can quench it. And it burns weapons and fighting men, so tremendous is its force. It is however allayed and put out if piles of rubbish are poured over it. Such is the account given by Ctesias of Cnidus.
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§ 5.4 The Porpoise is a creature like the dolphin, and it too has milk. Its colour is not black but resembles very deep blue. It breathes not through gills but through a blow-hole, for that is the name they give to its air-passage. The Porpoise frequents Pontus and the sea round about, and rarely strays beyond its familiar haunts.
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§ 5.5 When a Hen has defeated a cock-bird in battle it gives itself airs from sheer delight and lets down Hen wattles, not however to the same extent as cocks, although it does so and is filled with pride and struts more grandly.
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§ 5.6 The Dolphin is believed to love its own kin, and A ca here is the evidence. Aenus is a city in Thrace. Now it happened that a Dolphin was captured and wounded, not indeed fatally, but the captive was still able to live. So when its blood flowed the dolphins which had not been caught saw this and came thronging into the harbour and leaping about and were plainly bent on some mischief. At this the people of Aenus took fright and let their captive go, and the dolphins, escorting as it might be some kinsman, departed. But a human being will hardly attend or give a thought to a relative, be it man or woman, in misfortune.
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§ 5.7 In Egypt, says Eudemus, a Monkey was being pursued and Cats were the pursuers. So the Monkey fled as fast as he could and made straight for a tree. But the Cats also ran up very swiftly, for they cling to the bark and can also climb trees. But as he was going to be caught, being one against many, he leapt from the trunk and with his paws seized the end of an overhanging branch high up and clung to it for a long while. And since the Cats could no longer get at him, they descended to go after other prey. So the Monkey was saved by his own considerable exertions, and it was to himself, as was proper, that he owed the reward for his rescue.
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§ 5.8 Aristotle says that the soil of Astypalaea is unfriendly to snakes; just as, according to the same writer, Rhenea is to martens. No crow can go up on to the Acropolis at Athens. Say that Elis is the mother of mules, and you say what is false.
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§ 5.9 There is an agreement between the people of Rhegium and of Locris that they shall have access and to, and shall cultivate, one another's lands. But the Cicadas of the two territories do not agree to this and are not of one and the same mind, for you will find the Locrian Cicada is completely silent in Rhegium, and the Cicada from Rhegium is absolutely voiceless among the Locrians. What the cause of such an exchange may be neither I nor anyone else, save an idle boaster, can say. Only to Nature, you men of Rhegium and of Locris, is it known. At any rate there is a river separating the territories of Rhegium and Locris, and the banks are not so much as a hundred feet apart; for all that the Cicadas of neither side fly across it. And in Cephallenia there is a river which occasions both fertility and barrenness among Cicadas.
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§ 5.10 Bees when forsaken by their King, who is at once gentle and inoffensive and also stingless, give chase and pursue after the deserter from the post of rule. They track him down in some mysterious way and detect him by means of the smell he diffuses and bring him back to his kingdom of their own free will, indeed eagerly, for they admire his disposition. But the Athenians drove out Pisistratus, and the Syracusans Dionysius, and other states their rulers, since they were tyrants and broke the laws and could not exhibit the art of kingship which consists in loving one's fellow-men and protecting one's subjects.
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§ 5.11 It is the concern of the King Bee that his hive should be regulated in the following manner. To sta some bees he assigns the bringing of water, to others the fashioning of honeycombs within the hive, while a third lot must go abroad to gather food. But after a time they exchange duties in a precisely determined rotation. As to the King himself, it is enough for him to take thought and to legislate for the matters that I mentioned above after the manner of great rulers to whom philosophers like to ascribe simultaneously the qualities of a citizen and of a king. For the rest he lives at ease and abstains from physical labour. If however it is expedient for the bees to change their dwelling, then the ruler departs, and if he happens to be still young, he leads the way and the rest follow; if however he is elderly, he is carried on his way and conveyed by other bees. At a signal bees retire to slumber. When it seems to be time to go to sleep the King commands one bee to give the signal for going to rest. And the bee obeys and gives the word, whereupon the bees that have been buzzing till then retire to bed. Now so long as the King survives, the swarm flourishes and all disorder is suppressed. The drones gladly remain at rest in their cells, the older bees dwell in their quarters apart, the young in theirs, the King by himself, and the larvae in their own place. Their food and their excrement are in separate places. But when the King dies, disorder and anarchy fill the place; the drones produce offspring in the cells of the bees; the general confusion no longer permits the swarm to thrive, and finally the bees perish for want of a ruler. The Bee leads a blameless life and would never touch animal food. It has no need of Pythagoras for counsellor, but flowers afford it food enough. It is in the highest degree temperate; at any rate it abhors luxury and delicate living; witness the fact that it pursues and drives away a man who has perfumed himself, as if he were some enemy who has perpetrated actions past all remedy. It recognises too a man who comes from an unchaste bed, and him also it pursues, as though he were its bitterest foe. And Bees are well-endowed with courage and are undaunted. For instance, there is not a single animal from which they flee; they are not mastered by cowardice but go to the attack. Towards those who do not trouble them or start to injure them or who do not approach the hive bent on mischief and with evil intent they show themselves peaceful and friendly; but against those who would injure them the fires of a truceless war, as the phrase goes, are kindled; and anyone who comes to plunder their honey is reckoned among their enemies. And they sting even wasps severely. And Aristotle records its s how Bees once finding a horseman near the hive attacked him violently and slew both him and his horse. And further, they fight with one another, and the stronger party defeats the weaker. But I learn that toads and frogs from pools, bee -eaters, and swallows defeat them, and frequently wasps do so too. Yet the victor achieves what you might call a Cadmean victory, for he comes off badly from their blows and stings, since the Bees are armed with courage no less than with stings. But Bees are not without a share of the wisdom of foresight, and Aristotle vouches for my statement thus. Some Bees came to a hive that was not theirs but a different one and proceeded to plunder the honey which did not belong to them. But the Bees which were being despoiled of their labours nevertheless remained quiet and waited patiently to see what would happen. Then, when the bee -keeper had killed the greater number of the enemy, the Bees in the hive realised that they were in fact sufficient to sustain an equal combat and emerged to strike back, and the penalty which they exacted for the robbery left nothing to cavil at.
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§ 5.12 Here is further evidence of the industry of Bees. In the coldest countries from the time when the Pleiads have set until the vernal equinox they continue at home and stay quiet in the hive, longing for the warmth and shunning the cold. But for the rest of the year they abhor indolence and repose and are good at hard labour. And you would never see a Bee idling unless it were during the season when their limbs are numb with cold.
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§ 5.13 Bees practise geometry and produce their graceful figures and beautiful conformations without any theory or rules of art, without what the learned call a'compass.' And when their numbers increase and the swarm thrives they send out colonies just' as the largest and most populous cities do. Now the Bee knows when there is rain that threatens to persist, and when there will be a gale. But if surprised by a wind, you will see every Bee carrying a pebble between the tips of its feet by way of ballast. What the divine Plato says of cicadas and their love of song and music one might equally its unsay of the choir of Bees. For instance, when they frolic and roam abroad, then the bee -keepers make a clashing sound, melodious and rhythmical, and the Bees are attracted as by a Siren and come back again to their own haunts.
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§ 5.14 (i). In the island of Gyarus Aristotle says that there are Rats and that they actually eat iron ore. And Amyntas says that the Rats of Teredon (this is in Babylonia ) adopt the same food. (ii). I am told that on Latmus in Caria there are Scorpions which inflict a fatal sting on their fellow-countrymen; strangers however they sting lightly and just enough to produce an itching sensation. This in my opinion is a boon bestowed upon visitors by Zeus, Protector of the Stranger.
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§ 5.15 Wasps also are subject to a King, but not, as men are, to a despot. Witness the fact that their Kings also are stingless. And their subjects have a law that they shall construct their combs for them. But although the rulers are twice the size of a subject, yet they are gentle and of a nature incapable of doing an injury either willingly or unwillingly. Who then would not detest the Dionysii of Sicily, Clearchus of Heraclea, Apollodorus the oppressor of Cassandrea, Nabis the scourge of Sparta, if they trusted in the sword, when the King Wasps trust to their lack of sting and to their gentle nature?
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§ 5.16 This is what Wasps that are armed with a sting are said to do. When they observe a dead viper they swoop upon it and draw poison into their sting. It is from this source, I fancy, that men have acquired that knowledge, and no good knowledge either. And Homer is witness to the fact when he says in the Odyssey'Seeking a deadly drug, that he might have wherewithal to smear his bronze-tipped arrows.' Or again, to be sure (if one can trust the story), just as Heracles dipped his arrows in the venom of the Hydra, so do Wasps dip and sharpen their sting.
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§ 5.17 Let not the Fly lack the honour of a mention in this record of mine, for it too is Nature's handiwork. The Flies of Pisa at the season of the Olympic festival make peace, so to speak, both with visitors and with the local inhabitants. At any rate, despite the multitude of sacrifices, the quantity of blood shed and of flesh hung out, the Flies disappear of their avoids own free will and cross to the opposite bank of the Alpheus. And they appear to differ not a whit from the women there, except that their behaviour shows them to be more self-restrained than the women. For while women are excluded by the rules of training and of continence at that season, the Flies of their own free will abstain from the sacrifices and absent themselves while the ceremonies are in progress and during the recognised period of the Games.'Then was the assembly ended' and the Flies come home, just like exiles whom a decree has allowed to return, and once again they stream into Elis.
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§ 5.18 The Great Sea Perch is a marine creature, and if you were to catch and cut it up, you would not then and there see it dead, but it retains the power of movement, and for a considerable time. All through the winter it likes to remain at home in its caverns, and its favourite resorts are near the land.
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§ 5.19 The Wolf does not dare to close with a Bull to meet it face to face; he is afraid of its horns and avoids their points. So he makes a feint of attacking the Bull frontally; he does not however attack but gives the appearance of being about to try; and then when the Bull makes a rush at him, the Wolf slips aside and leaps on its back and clings with might and main, beast wrestling with beast. And the Wolf overpowers it and by native cunning makes good his lack of strength.
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§ 5.20 The Hake has its heart in its belly, as experts in these matters agree and inform us.
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§ 5.21 The Peacock knows that it is the most beautiful of birds; it knows too wherein its beauty resides; it prides itself on this and is haughty, and gathers confidence from the plumes which are its ornament and which inspire strangers with terror. In summertime they afford it a covering of its own, unsought, not adventitious. If, for instance, it wants to scare somebody it raises its tail-feathers and shakes them and emits a scream, and the bystanders are terrified, as though scared by the clang of a hoplite's armour. And it raises its head and nods most pompously, as though it were shaking a triple plume at one. When however it needs to cool itself it raises its feathers, inclines them in a forward direction and displays a natural shade from its own body, and wards off the fierceness of the sun's rays. But if there is a wind behind it, it gradually expands its feathers, and the breeze which streams through them, blowing gently and agreeably, enables the bird to cool itself. It knows when it has been praised, and as some handsome boy or lovely woman displays that feature which excels the rest, so does the Peacock raise its feathers in orderly succession; and it resembles a flowery meadow or a picture made beautiful by the many hues of the paint, and painters must be prepared to sweat in order to represent its special characteristics. And it proves how ungrudgingly it exhibits itself by permitting bystanders to take their fill of gazing, as it turns itself about and industriously shows off the diversity of its plumage, displaying with the utmost pride an array surpassing the garments of the Medes and the embroideries of the Persians. It is said to have been brought to Greece from foreign lands. And since for a long while it was a rarity, it used to be exhibited to men of taste for a fee, and at Athens the owners used on the first day of each month to admit men and women to study them, and they made a profit by the spectacle. They used to value the cock and the hen at ten thousand drachmas, as Antiphon says in his speech against Erasistratus. For their maintenance a double establishment and custodians and keepers are needed. Hortensius the Roman was judged to have been the first man to slaughter a Peacock for a banquet. But Alexander of Macedon was struck with amazement at the sight of these birds in India, and in his admiration of their beauty threatened the severest penalties for any man who slew one.
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§ 5.22 When Mice fall into cooling-vessels, since they Mon cannot get out by swimming, they fasten their teeth into one another's tails, and then the first pulls the second and the second the third. In this way has Nature in her supreme wisdom taught them to combine and help one another.
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§ 5.23 This is the way in which Crocodiles lie in wait for those who draw water from the Nile: they cover themselves with driftwood and, spying through it, swim up beneath it. And the people come bringing earthen vessels or pitchers or jugs. Then, as men draw water, the creatures emerge from the driftwood, leap against the bank, and seizing them with overpowering force make a meal of them. So much for the innate wickedness and villainy of Crocodiles.
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§ 5.24 The Hare dreads Hounds, and so too does the Fox. And Hounds, I fancy, with their barking will rouse a boar from the brake, and will bring a lion to bay, and pursue a stag. Yet there is not a single bird that cares anything for a Hound, but there is peace between them. The Bustard alone is afraid of Hounds, the reason being that these birds are heavy and carry a burden of flesh about with them. Their wings do not easily lift them and carry them through the air, so they fly low along the ground, weighed down by their bulk. Hence they are frequently captured by Hounds. And since they are aware of this, whenever they hear the bark of Hounds, they run away into thickets and swamps, using these as a protection and escaping instant danger without difficulty.
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§ 5.25 The human child is slow to recognise its parents: it is taught and, one might say, compelled to look at its father, to greet its mother, and to smile upon its relatives. Whereas Lambs from the day of their birth gambol about their dams and know what is strange and what is akin to them. They have no need to learn anything from their shepherds.
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§ 5.26 The Monkey is a most imitative creature, and any bodily action that you teach it it acquires exactly, so as to be able to display its accomplishment. For instance, it will dance, once it has learnt, and if you teach it, will play the pipe. And I myself have even seen it holding the reins, laying on the whip, and driving a chariot. And once it has learnt whatever it may be, it would never disappoint its teacher. So versatile and so adaptable a thing is Nature.
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§ 5.27 Here are further examples of the peculiar and diverse natures of animals. Theopompus reports that in the country of the Bisaltae the Hares have a double liver. According to Ister the Guinea-fowls of Leros are never injured by any bird of prey. Aristotle says that among the Neuri the Oxen have their horns on their shoulders, and Agatharcides says that in Ethiopia the Swine have horns. Sostratus asserts that all Blackbirds on Cyllene are white. Alexander of Myndus says that in Pontus the Flocks grow fat upon the bitterest wormwood. He states also that Goats born on Mimas do not drink for six months; all they do is to look towards the sea with their mouths open and to drink in the breezes from that quarter. I learn that the Goats of Illyria have a solid, not a cloven hoof. And Theophrastus has the most amazing statement that in Babylonia the fish frequently come out of the river and pasture on dry land.
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§ 5.28 Now the Purple Coot, in addition to being extremely jealous, has, I believe, this peculiarity: they say that it is devoted to its own kin and loves the company of its mates. At any rate I have heard that a Purple Coot and a Cock were reared in the same house, that they fed together, that they walked step for step, and that they dusted in the same spot. From these causes there sprang up a remarkable friendship between them. And one day on the occasion of a festival their master sacrificed the Cock and made a feast with his household. But the Purple Coot, deprived of its companion and unable to endure the loneliness, starved itself to death.
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§ 5.29 In Aegium, a city of Achaia, a good-looking boy, an Olenian by birth, of the name of Amphilochus, was loved by a Goose. Theophrastus relates this. The boy was kept under guard with exiles from Olenus in Aegium, and so the Goose used to bring him presents. In Chios Glauce, the harp-player, being a woman of extraordinary beauty, was adored by men, not that there is anything wonderful in that, but I am told that a Ram and a Goose also fell in love with her. When Geese cross the Taurus range they go in fear of the eagles; so each of them bites on a pebble to prevent it from uttering its cry, just as though they had gagged themselves, and so they cross in silence and by these means generally slip past the eagles. The Goose, being of a very hot and fiery habit, is fond of bathing and delights in swimming, and prefers very moist fare, grass, lettuce, and all other things that generate coolness in its body. But even if it is exhausted with hunger it will not eat a bay-leaf or touch a rose-laurel either willingly or against its will, for it knows that if it eats either of them it will die. Yet men through their unbridled appetites are the victims of plots against their food and drink. At any rate countless numbers have swallowed some bane while drinking, like Alexander, or in food, like Claudius the Roman, and Britannicus, his son. And having fallen asleep from a dose of poison, they never rose again, some having drunk it deliberately, others because they were the victims of a plot.
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§ 5.30 The Egyptian Goose owes its composite name (goose- fox ) to the innate peculiarities of the two creatures. It has the appearance of a goose, but for its mischievousness it might most justly be compared to the fox. It is smaller than a goose but more courageous, and is a fierce fighter. For instance, it defends itself against an eagle, a cat, and all other animals that come against it.
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§ 5.31 The following features are peculiar to the Anati Snake. The heart has its allotted place close to the throat, the gall in the intestines; its testicles are close to the tail; the eggs which it produces are long and soft; its poison is contained in the fangs.
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§ 5.32 The Peacock (I have described the bird above) has these further innate peculiarities which are worth knowing. When three years old it begins to be pregnant and lays its eggs, and then starts to assume that many-coloured and beautiful plumage. But it does not brood upon its eggs immediately, but passes over two days. And the Peacock, like other birds, may from time to time lay a wind-egg.
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§ 5.33 When the Duck lays its eggs it lays them on land but close to a lake or shallow pool or some other watery, moist spot. And the Duckling by some mysterious instinct knows that it is incapable both of flying high in the air and of remaining on land. For this reason it leaps into the water and can swim from the moment it is hatched; it has no need to learn but dives and comes up again with great skill as though it had already been taught for some time. But the Eagle which they call the'duck-killer' swoops upon the Duck as she swims, meaning to carry her off; but the Duck dives and vanishes, and then after swimming under water, bobs up in another place. But the Eagle is there also, and again the Duck dives; and this happens again and again. Then one of two things follows: either the Duck after a dive is drowned, or the Eagle goes off after other prey; whereupon the Duck, with nothing to fear, swims once more upon the surface.
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§ 5.34 The Swan has this advantage over men in matters of the greatest moment, for it knows when the end of its life is at hand, and, what is more, in bearing its approach with cheerfulness, it has received from Nature the noblest of gifts. For it is confident that in death there is neither pain nor sorrow. But men are afraid of what they know not, and regard death as the greatest of all ills. Now the Swan has so contented a spirit that at the very close of its life it sings and breaks out into a dirge, as it were, for itself. Even so does Euripides sing of Bellerophon, prepared like a hero of high soul for death. For example, he has portrayed him addressing his soul thus:'Reverent wast thou ever in life towards the gods; strangers didst thou succour; nor didst thou ever grow weary towards thy friends' — and so on. So then the Swan too intones its own funeral chant, and either by hymns to the gods or by the rehearsal of its own praises it makes provision for its departure. Socrates also testifies to the fact that it sings not from sorrow but rather from cheerfulness, for (he says) a man whose heart is vexed and sore has no leisure for song and melody. Now death is not the only thing that the Swan faces with courage: it is not afraid of a fight. But though it will not be the first to do an injury, any more than a sober, educated man would be, yet it will not retire and give way before an aggressor. While all other birds are on terms of peace with the Swan, the Eagle has frequently attacked it, as Aristotle says, though it has never yet overcome it, but has always been defeated not only through the strength of the Swan in battle but also because in defending itself the Swan has justice on its side.
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§ 5.35 The Heron is a great eater of oysters and swallows them when closed, as pelicans swallow mussels. And the Heron warms the oysters a little in what is called its'crop' and retains them there. Under the influence of the heat the oysters open, and the Heron becoming aware of this, disgorges the shells but retains the flesh; and it lives by consuming entire, thanks to a strong digestion, all that passes down into it.
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§ 5.36 There is a bird called Asterias (starling?), and in Egypt, if tamed, it understands human speech. And if anyone by way of insult calls it'slave,' it gets angry; and if anyone calls it'skulker,' it takes umbrage and is annoyed, as though it was being jeered at for its low birth and rebuked for its indolence.
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§ 5.37 If a man with the juice of silphium on his hands seizes the Torpedo, he avoids the pain which it inflicts. And should you attempt to draw the Great Weever from the sea with your right hand, it will not come but will fight vigorously. But if you haul it up with your left hand, it yields and is captured.
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§ 5.38 From a statement of Charmis of Massilia I learn that the Nightingale is fond of music, and even fond of fame. At any rate when it is singing to itself in lonely places, he says, its melody is simple and spontaneous. But in captivity when it has no lack of hearers it lifts up its voice, warbling and trilling its melting music. And Homer seems to me to hint as much when he says'And as when the daughter of Pandareus, the greenwood Nightingale, sings sweet at the first oncoming of spring, as she rests amid the thick leafage of the trees, and ever varying her note pours forth her full-throated music.' But there are those who write πολυδευκέα φωνὴν, that is,'variously imitating music,' just as ἀδευκέα signifies'unadapted for imitating.'
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§ 5.39 Democritus asserts that the Lion alone among animals is born with its eyes open and from the hour of birth is already to some extent angry and ready to perform some spirited action. And others have observed that even when asleep the Lion moves his tail, showing, as you might expect, that he is not altogether quiescent, and that, although sleep has enveloped and enfolded him, it has not subdued him as it does all other animals. The Egyptians, they say, claim to have observed in him something of this kind, asserting that the Lion is superior to sleep and for ever awake. And I have ascertained that it is for this reason that they assign him to the sun, for, as you know, the sun is the most hard-working of the gods, being visible above the earth or pursuing his course beneath it without pause. And the Egyptians cite Homer as a witness when he speaks of the'untiring sun'. And in addition to his strength the Lion shows intelligence. For instance, he has designs upon cattle and goes to their folds by night. Now Homer was aware of this when he said:'Like cattle which a lion has scared, coming in the dead of night.' And he strikes terror into them all by his strength, but seizes only one and devours it. And when he and h has gorged himself, he wishes to preserve the remains for another occasion, yet he is ashamed to stay and watch over them, as though he were afraid of starving from want of food. Accordingly with jaws agape he breathes upon them and trusts to his breath to guard them while he himself goes on his way. But when the other beasts arrive and realise to whom the remains upon the ground belong, they do not venture to touch them but go their way for fear of seeming to rob and diminish anything that belongs to their king. Now if the Lion chances to be lucky and has good hunting, he forgets his former prize, disregards it as being stale, and goes away. Otherwise he returns to it as to a private store. And when he has eaten more than enough, he empties himself by lying quiet and abstaining from food, or alternatively he catches a monkey and eats some of it, voiding and emptying his belly by means of its flesh. The Lion is after all upright and one to'defend himself against the man who should assail him first'. Thus, he faces his attacker and by lashing with his tail and winding it about his flanks rouses himself as though he were stimulating himself with a spur. And if a man shoot at him but miss him, he will defend himself by a fair return: he will scare the man but do him no harm. If he has been domesticated since the time when he was a cub, he is extremely gentle and agreeable to meet, and is fond of play, and will submit with good temper to any treatment to please his keeper. For instance, Hanno kept a Lion to carry his baggage; a tame Lion was the companion of Berenice and was no different from her tiring-slaves: for example, it would softly wash her face with its tongue and smooth away her wrinkles; it would share her table and eat in a sober, orderly fashion just like a man. And Onomarchus, the Tyrant of Catana, and the son of Cleomenes both had Lions with them as table-companions.
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§ 5.40 They say that the Leopard has a marvellous fragrance about it. To us it is imperceptible, though the Leopard is aware of the advantage it possesses, and other animals besides share with it this knowledge. and the Leopard catches them in the following manner. When the Leopard needs food it conceals itself in a dense thicket or in deep foliage and is invisible; it only breathes. And so fawns and gazelles and wild goats and suchlike animals are drawn by the spell, as it were, of its fragrance and come close up. Whereat the Leopard springs out and seizes its prey.
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§ 5.41 I learn that ruminants have three stomachs, and their names, I gather, are κεκρύφαλον (the second stomach, reticulum), ἐχῖνον (the third stomach, manyplies), and ἤνυστρον (the fourth stomach, abomasum). Cuttle-fish and Squids feed themselves with two'probosces.' (There is no harm in so styling them: both their use and their form induce one to do so.) And in stormy weather when there is broken surf, these creatures grip the rocks with their tentacles and cling fast as with anchors, and there they stay, safe from shock and sheltered from the waves. Later, when it grows calm, they let themselves go and are free again to swim about, having learnt what is by no means to be despised, viz., how to avoid a storm and to escape from danger.
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§ 5.42 If it is your wish to learn the names of Bees, I would not grudge you the knowledge that I have acquired. Some are called'captains,' others'sirens,' some again'workers,' and others'moulders.' And Nicander says that the Drones... And they say that all over Cappadocia the Bees produce honey without combs, and the story goes that it is thick like oil. I am informed that at Trapezus in Pontus honey is obtained from box-trees, but that it has a heavy scent and drives healthy people out of their senses, but restores the frenzied to health. I learn that in Media honey drips from the trees, just as Euripides says that on Cithaeron sweet drops flow from the boughs. In Thrace too I have heard that honey is produced from plants. On Myconus there are no bees, and moreover if imported from outside they die.
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§ 5.43 Aristotle says that on the banks of the river Hypanis there occurs a creature that'goes by the name of'day-fly,' because it is born in the morning twilight and dies when the sun begins to set.
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§ 5.44 The Cuttle-fish has a poisonous bite and teeth that are concealed very deep within. It seems also that the Osmylus and the Octopus are given to biting. And the Octopus has a more powerful bite than the Cuttle-fish, although it emits less poison.
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§ 5.45 They say that the Wild Boar does not attack a man until he has whetted his tusks. And Homer testifies to this when he says'Having whetted the white tusk between his curved jaws.' And I learn that the Boar fattens himself chiefly by not washing but spending his time wallowing in the mud, drinking the turbid water, and revelling in the quiet and the darkness of his lair and in all the more inflating foods that can fill him up. And Homer appears to imply as much, for touching their wallowing and their fondness for the more muddy ponds... when he says'hogs that make their bed upon the ground.' And that they fatten themselves upon turbid water... he says'drinking black water, which fosters the rich fat on swine.' And that they delight in darkness he proves in the following words:'They slumbered beneath a hollow rock under shelter from Boreas.' And he hints at the inflating quality of their food when he says that they eat'the satisfying acorn.' Now Homer knowing that the Boar grows thin and that his flesh wastes if he looks at the Sow, has described the Boars as sleeping in one place and the Sows in another. In Salamis if a Sow breaks in and grazes the corn when green or a field of waving corn, there is a law of the Salaminians that her teeth must be destroyed. And they say that the passage in Homer about'a sow that consumes the crops' refers to this. Others take a different view and assert that when a Sow has tasted green com its teeth are weakened.
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§ 5.46 It would appear that Nature has provided grass as a remedy for the wounds of Dogs. And if they are troubled with worms they get rid of them by eating'standing' corn, as it is called. And when they need to empty both stomachs they are said to eat some grass, and as much of their food as remains undigested they vomit up, while the remainder is excreted. It is from this source that the Egyptians are said to have learnt the practice of taking purges. But Partridges, Storks, and Ring-doves, when wounded are said to chew marjoram and then to spread it on their wounds and cure their body; and they have no need at all of man's healing art.
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§ 5.47 In this matter I shall have no need of any witness from antiquity but shall narrate what I myself have seen and know. A man captured a Lizard of the excessively green and unusually large species, and with a point made of bronze he pierced and blinded the Lizard. And after boring some very fine holes in a newly fashioned earthenware vessel so as to admit the air, but small enough to prevent the creature from escaping, he heaped some very moist earth into it and put the Lizard inside together with a certain herb, of which he did not divulge the name, and an iron ring with a bezel of lignite engraved with the figure of a lizard. After stamping nine seals upon the vessel he then covered it up, removing one seal daily for nine days. And when he had destroyed the last seal of all he opened the vessel, and I myself saw the Lizard having its sight and its eyes, which till then had been blinded, seeing perfectly well. And we released the Lizard on the spot where it had been captured, and the man who had done these things asserted that that ring of his was good for the eyes.
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§ 5.48 It fills me with shame, you human beings, to think of the friendly relations that subsist between animals, not only those that feed together nor even those of the same species, but even between those that have no connexion through a common origin. For instance, Sheep are friends with Goats; there is friendship between Pigeon and Turtle-dove; Ringdoves and Partridges entertain friendly feelings towards one another; we have long known that the Halcyon and the Ceryl desire each other; that the Crow is friendly disposed towards the Heron, and the Sea-mew towards the Little Cormorant, as it is called, and the Shearwater towards the Kite. But there is war everlasting and without truce, so to say, between Crows and Owls. Enemies too are the Kite and the Raven, the Pyrallis and the Turtle-dove, the Brenthus and the Sea-mew, and again the Greenfinch(?) and the Turtle-dove, the Aegypius and the Eagle, Swans and Water- snakes (?), and Lions are the enemies of Antelopes and Bulls. The bitterest hate exists between the Elephant and the Python, between the Asp and the Ichneumon, between the Blue Tit and the Ass, for directly the Ass brays the Blue Tit's eggs are smashed and the young ones are spilt, still imperfect. And so to avenge its offspring the Blue Tit leaps upon the Ass's sore places and feeds on them. The Fox detests a Falcon and the Bull a Raven, and the Buff-backed Heron the Horse. And an educated man who attends to what he hears should know that the Dolphin is at feud with the Whale, the Basse too with the Mullet, and the Moray with the Conger Eel, and so on.
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§ 5.49 When Bears have sniffed at hunters who have Anim fallen on their face and knocked the breath out of themselves, they leave them for dead, and it seems that these creatures are disgusted by a dead body. Mice also hate those that die in their holes and lurking-places; and a Swallow too ejects a dead Swallow from its nest. Ants also, thanks to the supreme wisdom of Nature, are careful to carry away dead bodies and to cleanse their nests, for it is characteristic of brute beasts that, when one of their own species and kind has died, they speedily remove it out of sight. And Ethiopian histories, which are untainted by the pretentious plausibility of the Greeks, tell us that if one Elephant sees another lying dead, it will not pass by without drawing up some earth with its trunk and casting it upon the corpse, as though it were performing some sacred and mysterious rite on behalf of their common nature; and that to fail in this duty is to incur a curse. It is enough for it even to cast a branch upon the body; and with due respect paid to the common end of all things the Elephant goes on its way. And there has reached us also the following story, When Elephants are dying of wounds, stricken either in battle or in hunting, they pick up any grass they may find or some of the dust at their feet, and looking upwards to the heaven, cast some of these objects in that direction and wail and cry aloud in indignation in their own language, as though they were calling the gods to witness how unjustly and how wrongfully they are suffering.
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§ 5.50 (i). By the following cases also, I think, one may recognize traits peculiar to animals. For instance, we see domestic fowls that are reared at the feet, and have experience, of horses, asses, cows, or camels, showing no fear of them. And if they are fed along with, say, a tame and gentle elephant, they are not afraid but even move about among those creatures. And cockerels even fly up on to their backs, such are their resulting courage and freedom from fear. But they are fluttered and terrified if a marten runs by. To the lowing of cattle or the braying of an ass they pay no attention; but a marten has but to chatter and they tremble. For geese, swans, and ostriches they care little or nothing, but are in terror of a hawk although it is very small. With its crowing a cock scares a lion and is fatal to a basilisk, and yet it cannot endure cats or kites. And pigeons are not afraid at the cry of eagles and vultures, but they are at the cry of falcons and of sea- eagles. (ii). The lamb, the kid, and every foal directly it is born goes for its dam's teats and sucks the dugs until it is full. And the parent shows no concern but stands still. Whereas all animals with parted toes, wolves, hounds, lions, leopards, lie down to give their young suck.
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§ 5.51 Nature has made animals with an immense variety of voice and of speech, as it were, even as she has men. For instance, the Scythian speaks one language, the Indian another; the Ethiopian has a natural language, so too have the Sacae; the lan-guage of Greece and that of Rome are different. And so it is with animals: each has a different way of producing the tone and the sound natural to its tongue. Thus, one roars, another lows, a third whinnies, (another) brays, yet another baas and bleats; while to some howling is customary, to others barking, and to another snarling. Screaming, whistling, hooting, singing, warbling, twittering, and countless other gifts of Nature are peculiar to different animals.
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§ 5.52 In the Egyptian countryside Asps have their holes by the Nile on either bank. Most of the time they stay round about their (lurking-places) and are as attached to them as human beings are to their own homes. But when in the summertime the river threatens to overflow, the aforesaid Asps emigrate some thirty days beforehand to districts further away from the Nile and creep into bluffs above the river, and, what is more, bring their young with them: they have received from Nature this special gift of being able to foretell the annual visitation of a river so mighty and so active, and to guard against being overtaken and destroyed by it. And at the same season turtles and crabs and crocodiles transfer their eggs to spots which the river cannot touch or reach. Hence those who come across the eggs of the aforesaid creatures calculate to what extent the Nile will rise and irrigate their land.
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§ 5.53 Hippopotamuses are nurslings of the Nile, and when the crops are ripe and the ears are yellow they do not forthwith begin to graze and eat them but pass along outside the crop and calculate what area will satisfy them; and then, having reckoned how much will be enough, they fall to, and as they fill them-selves they withdraw backwards, keeping the river behind them. Now this move they have cleverly devised so that, should any farmers attack them in self-defence, they can run down into the water with complete ease, on the look out for enemies in front of them but not looking behind them.
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§ 5.54 In Mauretania Leopards do not attack monkeys with force nor with all the strength and power at their command, the reason being that the Monkeys do not face them but escape from them and run up trees and sit there on guard against the designs of the Leopards. Yet it seems that after all the Leopard is craftier than the Monkey, for such designs and traps does it contrive for the Monkeys. It comes to the place where a gathering of Monkeys is seated, throws itself down beneath a tree, lies on the ground on its back, inflates its belly, relaxes its legs, closes both eyes, and even holds its breath, and lies there like one dead. And the Monkeys looking down upon their most hated enemy, fancy it to be dead; and what they most fervently desire, that they believe. For all that, they do not as yet take courage but make an experiment, and the experiment is this: they send down one of their number whom they regard as the most fearless to test and to scrutinise the state of the Leopard. So the Monkey descends not altogether unafraid; but after running down a little way he turns back, fear causing him to retreat. And a second time he descends and having approached, withdraws; and a third time he returns and observes the Leopard's eyes and examines it to see if it is breathing. But the Leopard, by remaining motionless with the utmost self-control, inspires a gradual fearlessness in the Monkey. And since it approaches and remains close by and takes no harm, the Monkeys up aloft also now gather courage and run down from that particular tree and from all others that grow near by, and assembling in a mass encircle the Leopard and dance round it. Then they leap upon it and turn somersaults on its body and by dancing in triumph a dance appropriate to monkeys, and by a variety of insults testify to the joy and delight they feel over the supposed corpse. But the Leopard submits to all this until it realises that the Monkeys are tired by their dancing and their insolence, when it leaps up unexpectedly and springs at them. And some it lacerates with its claws, others it tears to pieces with its teeth, and enjoys without stint the ample and sumptuous banquet provided by its enemies. It is Nature that bids the Leopard endure with heroic fortitude, so that it may rise superior to the insults of its enemies, bearing up with the utmost patience and finding no need to say'endure, my heart'. Indeed the son of Laertes was within an ace of revealing himself prematurely through being unable to tolerate the insults of the maidservants.
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§ 5.55 In India Elephants, when compelled by the natives to pull up some tree, roots and all, do not immediately attack it and begin the task, until they have shaken it and have tested it thoroughly to see whether in fact it can be overturned, or whether that is utterly impossible.
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§ 5.56 The Deer of Syria are born on the highest mountains, on Amanus, on Libanus, and on Carmel. And when they want to cross the sea the herd goes down to the beaches and waits until the wind drops; and as soon as they observe that there is a favourable and gentle breeze, then they brave the open sea. And they swim in single file, holding on to one another, the ones behind supporting their chins on the rumps of those in front... takes the last place in the line, and resting itself upon the one next in front of it in the whole troop, brings up the rear. And they make for Cyprus in their longing for the meadows there, for they are said to be deep and to afford excellent pasture. The Cypriots indeed claim that they live in a fertile country, and venture to compare their arable land with that of Egypt. And there are Deer from other countries too which show this same capacity for swimming. For example, the Deer of Epirus swim across to Corcyra: the two countries face each other across a strait.
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§ 6.1 BOOK VI Men have need of the spoken word to stimulate and persuade them to be good, to banish cowardice, to gather courage: athletes, with a view to running; soldiers, with a view to fighting. Animals however A need no extraneous encouragement but stimulate their prowess for themselves and rouse and incite themselves. For instance, the Boar when intending to do battle, whets his tusks on smooth rocks. Homer, you know, gives clear evidence touching the animal. Further, the Lion rouses himself by lashing himself with his tail and allows no idling and no repose. And this the poet knew when he spoke of the Lion. And Elephants inflame themselves for the fight, whenever the occasion arises, by beating themselves with their trunk: they need no one to sing to them and say'This is no time for sitting still or for delaying', still less do they wait for the poems of Tyrtaeus. And when a Bull that is the leader of a herd j is defeated by another leader, he departs to some other place and becomes his own trainer and practises every method of fighting, scattering the dust over himself and rubbing his horns against tree-trunks and fitting himself in other ways to display his strength, and particularly abstaining from sexual acts and living continently like Iccus of Tarentum, whom Plato the son of Ariston celebrates as of refraining from all sexual commerce during the entire period of the Games. Now to Iccus, who was a man and who loved the Olympic and Pythian games and who understood what glory was and who longed for fame, it was no great matter to restrain himself and to spend the nights continently. For to him the prizes meant glory — the wild olive of Olympia, the Isthmian pine, and the Pythian laurel, admiration in his lifetime, and after death an honoured name. Again, the harper Amoebeus, I am told, married a woman of surpassing beauty but had no intercourse with her when he was going to the theatre in order to compete there. And Diogenes the actor in tragedies eschewed absolutely all licentious unions. And Clitomachus the pancratiast, if ever he saw dogs coupling, would turn away; and if at a wine party he heard some licentious and bawdy story, would get up and leave. There is nothing surprising that being men they should behave so, either in order to make money or to achieve renown and fame. But, O son of Ariston, when a bull overcomes his adversary, what proclamation announces his victory, and what prizes do men award him?
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§ 6.2 Brute beasts are in the habit of not molesting A their companions and of frequently sparing them. For instance, I have heard the following story. A hunter had a Leopard which he had from its earliest days and which he loved and tended assiduously as though it were his friend or darling. Now he brought a kid and gave it to the Leopard alive, thinking to provide it at once with food and with the pleasure of tearing the kid to pieces, and supposing that it would refuse to eat dead meat. In fact when the kid was brought the Leopard controlled itself: being full-fed it needed to abstain from food. And it did the same on the second day, for it still needed the medicine of starvation. But when the third day came it began to grow hungry and, as usual, showed that it was by the sound of its voice; for all that, it still would not touch the kid which had been its friend for two days, but left it alone, though it accepted another one. Men however have betrayed even their brothers and their parents and old friends; there have been many and frequent cases.
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§ 6.3 I have described in some earlier passage how the Bear produces some shapeless flesh and then licks it into shape and, so to say, moulds it. But what I have not already mentioned I will mention now, and this is a suitable occasion. It gives birth in the winter time, and having done so, hibernates; and as it dreads the frosts it awaits the coming of spring, and would never bring its cubs out until three full months have passed. But when it perceives that it is pregnant it dreads this as though it were some sickness, and seeks for a lair. (Hence the Bear's hibernation is called its'lair period.') Then it enters, not on its feet but lying down, thus effacing its tracks for those who hunt it, for it drags itself along on its back. And having entered, it rests, and in some way reduces its figure; and this it does for forty days. Aristotle however says that the Bear remains motionless and does not stir for fourteen days, and for the remainder she just turns. So she passes the entire forty days without food or nourishment: it is enough for her to lick her right paw. And owing to excessive colliquescence her intestines become wrinkled up and compressed. Knowing this, as soon as she emerges she eats some of the plant called'wild arum'; and as this induces flatulence, it opens up her gut, widens it, and renders it capable of admitting food. And when she has filled herself out once more, she eats some ants and obtains an easy evacuation. I have now sufficiently described how Bears empty and fill their bodies by natural means without any need, my fellow men, of doctors or of concoctions.
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§ 6.4 When Snakes intend to eat fruit they swallow the juice of the herb called picris. It helps to prevent them from being filled with wind. And when they intend to lie in wait for a human being or an animal, they eat poisonous roots and herbs too of the same description. So it seems that Homer too was aware of what they ate. For instance, he tells how a Snake waits for a man, lying coiled up near its lurking-place, after it has taken its fill of much poisonous, deadly provender.
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§ 6.5 When Deer have cast their antlers they go and hide in coverts and so protect themselves against attackers; and rightly so, for as they are without means of self-defence they are convinced that they have for the time being lost their strength. It is said also that, while the stumps are still fresh and before they have hardened and the young horns, called chondroi, have begun to form, they take care that the sun's rays shall not fall upon them and cause the flesh to putrefy.
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§ 6.6 When Horses march to battle they become suspicious at having to jump trenches, at having to leap over pits and to pass through stakes and palisades and the like. And one finds Homer saying about such matters'Thus Hector passing through the throng implored his comrades, urging them to cross the trench. But even his swift horses dared not, but neighed loudly as they stood upon the sheer brink, for the yawning trench dismayed them, not easy to leap from close up, nor to cross.'
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§ 6.7 In Egypt near the lake Moeris as it is called, where is Crocodilopolis, the tomb of a Crow is pointed out. The Egyptians give the following reason. The King of Egypt (Mares was his name) possessed a remarkable Crow which was quite tame. Any despatches that he wished to have delivered anywhere this Crow would speedily carry; and it was the swiftest of messengers: having heard its destination, it knew where it must direct its flight to, which spot it must pass, and where it must pause on arrival. In reward for these services Mares honoured it when dead with a monument and a tomb.
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§ 6.8 Every animal has a special word to denote the care spent on its upbringing. For example, one might speak of the'breaking in' of horses, the'rearing' of hounds, the'grooming' of elephants, the'rearing' of lions, the'rearing' of birds, and so forth.
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§ 6.9 Now here the Bear shows its clever tricks. If it is pursued together with its cubs it pushes them along in front as far as it is able. But when it realises that they are exhausted, it carries one on its back and another in its mouth, then laying hold of a tree, climbs up. And one cub clings to its back with its claws, while the other is carried in the teeth of the Bear as it mounts. If when famished it comes across a bull, it does not engage in a straightforward battle of strength, but wrestles with it and seizing its neck brings it down and.tightens its clench. And while the bull is being crushed it bellows, until at last it gives up and lies dead; and the Bear takes its fill.
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§ 6.10 (i). Here is further evidence to show that animals are apt at learning. Under the Ptolemies the Egyptians taught baboons their letters, how to dance, how to play the flute and the harp. And a baboon would demand money for these accomplishments, and would put what was given him into a bag which he carried attached to his person, just like professional beggars. It has long been noised abroad that the people of Sybaris have even taught horses how to dance. Of the ease with which elephants can be induced to learn I have spoken above. Now dogs are capable of managing household affairs for those who have trained them, and for a poor man it is enough to have a dog as slave. There are after all people who are without slaves even of this kind, among the Arabs for instance the Troglodytes, among the Libyans the Nomads, and among the Ethiopians all the lake-dwellers, people who have never learnt to eat anything other than fish. (ii). Animals retain the memory of their experiences and have no need of those mnemonic systems devised by Simonides, by Hippias, and by Theodectes, or by any other of those who have been extolled for their profession and their skill in this matter. For instance, a cow goes to the spot where her calf was taken from her and mourns for it, lowing as is her wont. Some oxen too when about to be yoked express their pleasure, others draw back. And a horse on hearing the clash of curb-chain and the clang of bit, and seeing ehest-plates and frontlets, begins to snort and makes his hoofs ring as he prances, and is in an ecstasy. And the shouting of the stablemen stimulates him and he pricks up his ears and dilates his nostrils as he remembers his galloping and yearns irresistibly for his wonted exercise.
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§ 6.11 The Deer produces its young by the roadside and appears to do so from a wise precaution, because y0UI it dreads wild beasts and their designs, but has no fear of human beings: it knows full well that it is weaker than the former, but has no doubt that it can escape from the latter. But when it has grown fat it would no longer give birth by the roadside, for it knows that it is too sluggish to run, and so it brings forth its young in glens, in thickets, and in ravines.
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§ 6.12 The Land Tortoise after eating some marjoram Tort treats a viper with contempt. But if it lacks marj oram it arms itself against its enemy by consuming some rue. If however it fails to find either, it is killed.
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§ 6.13 The Deer (so I am told) is content with what is before it and has no further wants, but is more frugal than man in its appetite. For instance, in the neighbourhood of the Hellespont there is a hill pastured by Deer, which have one of their ears cleft, and they do not stray beyond this hill, do not want strange food, desire no other meadows from any need of a larger amount of grass; so what is at hand is enough for them the whole year round. What have you, O men, to say to this, you whom'not even all the wealth contained within the Archer's threshold of stone' would satisfy until the day of death?
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§ 6.14 The Hyena, according to Aristotle, has in its left paw the power of sending to sleep and can with a mere touch induce torpor. For instance, it often visits stables, and when it finds any creature asleep it creeps softly up and puts what you might call its sleep-inducing paw upon the creature's nose, and it is suffocated and overpowered. Meantime the Hyena scoops out the earth beneath the head to such a depth as makes the head bend back into the hole, leaving the throat uppermost and exposed. Thereupon it fastens on to the animal, throttles it, and carries it off to its lair. And it attacks dogs in the following manner. When the moon's disc is full, the Hyena gets the rays behind it and casts its own shadow upon the dogs and at once reduces them to silence, and having bewitched them, as sorceresses do, it then carries them off tongue-tied and thereafter puts them to such use as it pleases.
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§ 6.15 The story of a Dolphin's love for a beautiful boy at Iasos has long been celebrated, and I am determined not to leave it unrecorded; it shall accordingly be told. The gymnasium at Iasos is situated close to the sea, and after their running and their wrestling the youths in accordance with an ancient custom go down there and wash themselves. Now while they were swimming about, a Dolphin fell passionately in love with a boy of remarkable beauty. At first when it approached, it frightened the boy and completely scared him; later on however, through constant meeting, it even led the boy to conceive a warm friendship and kindly feelings towards it. For instance, they began to sport with one another; and sometimes they would compete, swimming side by side in rivalry, sometimes the boy would mount, like a rider on a horse, and be carried proudly along on the back of his lover. And to the people of Iasos and to strangers the event seemed marvellous. For the Dolphin would go a long way out to sea with its darling on its back and as far as it pleased its rider; then it would turn and bring him close to the beach, and they would part company and return, the Dolphin to the open sea, the boy to his home. And the Dolphin used to appear at the hour when the gymnasium was dismissed, and the boy was delighted to find his friend expecting him and to play together. And besides his natural beauty, this too made him the admired of all, namely that not only men but even dumb animals thought him a boy of surpassing loveliness. In a little while however even this mutual affection was destroyed by Envy. Thus, it happened that the boy exercised himself too vigorously, and in an exhausted state threw himself belly downwards on to his mount, and as the spike on the Dolphin's dorsal fin chanced to be erect it pierced the beautiful boy's navel. Whereupon certain veins were severed; there followed a gush of blood; and presently the boy died. The Dolphin perceiving this from the weight — for the boy lay heavier than usual, as he could not lighten himself by breathing — and seeing the surface of the water crimson with blood, realised what had happened and could not bear to survive its darling. And so with all the gathered force of a ship dashing through the waves it made its way to the beach and deliberately cast itself upon the shore, bringing the dead body with it. And there they both lay, the boy already dead, the Dolphin breathing its last. (But Laios, my good Euripides, did not act so in the case of Chrysippus, although, as you yourself and the common report tell me, he was the first among the Greeks to inaugurate the love of boys.) And the people of Iasos to requite the ardent friendship between the pair built one common tomb for the beautiful youth and the amorous Dolphin, with a monument at the head. It was a handsome boy riding upon a Dolphin. And the inhabitants struck coins of silver and of bronze and stamped them with a device showing the fate of the pair, and they commemorated them by way of homage to the operation of the god who was so powerful. And I learn that at Alexandria also, in the reign of Ptolemy II, a Dolphin was similarly enamoured; at Puteoli also, in Italy. So, had these facts been known to Herodotus, I think they would have surprised him no less than what happened to Arion of Methymna.
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§ 6.16 Dogs, oxen, swine, goats, snakes, and other animals have a presentiment of an impending famine; they are the first too to know when a pestilence or an earthquake is approaching. They can foretell fair weather and the fertility of the crops. Though devoid of reason, which can be a man's salvation or his destruction, they are not mistaken at any rate in the matters mentioned above.
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§ 6.17 In the country of those known as Judaeans or Edomites the natives of the time of Herod the King used to tell of a Serpent of enormous size being enamoured of a lovely girl: he used to visit her and even slept with her like an ardent lover. Now the girl was terrified of her lover, although he slid up to her as softly and gently as he could. So she escaped from him and remained away for a month, supposing that the Serpent in consequence of his darling's absence would forget her. But loneliness augmented his misery, and every day and night he used to haunt the place. Since however he did not find the object of his desire, he too felt all the pains of a disappointed lover. But when the girl came back once more, he arrived and, encircling her with the rest of his body, with his tail gently lashed her legs, presumably in anger at finding himself despised. So he that is above even Zeus himself and the other gods does not overlook even brute beasts, but by these and by other acts manifests his relations towards them.
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§ 6.18 Snakes, conscious that they have a narrow, « elongated gullet, despite the fact that they are and s greedy and exceedingly voracious, as Aristotle says, rise upright and stand upon the tip of their tail, so that food slides down into them and passes into the bulk of their body. And having no feet they crawl at a great speed. Indeed one snake launches itself and flies with the speed of a javelin; and its name is derived from its action, for it is called Acontias (the Javelin- snake ).
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§ 6.19 Not one of the birds that sing and make melody has escaped observation, but we know that swallows, blackbirds, and the tribe of cicadas sing, that the jay is talkative, that the cricket buzzes, the locust makes a light strumming, the grasshopper is not silent, and moreover that halcyons and parrots are vocal, while among aquatic creatures the croak of the male frog is not silent. And of these some utter a plaintive feminine note, others a note shrill and piercing; and some sing as they hurry from branch to branch, as though they were changing house, while others carol in the meadows as though they were holding festival, and while leading an existence that is, as it were, all flowers and delicacy, hail (so I would say) with their music the coming of spring. Touching swans and the god whose ministers they are I have spoken about above. Now the jay can imitate all other sounds S0Unc but especially the human voice. And the buff-backed heron, as it is called, and the salpinx (trumpet) and the wryneck and the raven are peculiarly fitted to imitate the following sounds. The buff-backed heron represents the neighing of a horse; the salpinx, the instrument whose name it bears; and the wryneck, the cross-flute; while the raven tries to imitate the sound of raindrops.

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.