Complete Works of Achilles Tatius

by Achilles Tatius

  9. We were still looking for a plan when a man rushed in, greatly disturbed, and told us that Leucippe, while walking abroad, had suddenly fallen down, her eyes rolling; so we jumped up and ran to her, and found her lying on the ground. I went up to her and asked her what was the matter, but no sooner had she seen me than, her eyes all bloodshot, she struck me in the face; and when Menelaus tried to constrain her, she kicked him. This made us understand that she was afflicted with some kind of madness, so that we forcibly seized her and tried to hold her; she struggled against us, however, and seemed to care little for womanly modesty. As a result of all this, a great hubbub arose in the tent, so that the general himself hurried in and saw what was happening. At first he suspected that this illness of hers was but a pretence against his advances, and looked suspiciously at Menelaus; when he saw the truth, as he soon did, he too grieved and felt pity for her. Ropes were therefore brought, and the poor girl tied up. But when I saw the bonds about her wrists, I could not but implore Menelaus (the others had gone away), saying, “Loose them, I beseech you, loose them; these tender hands cannot bear fetters. Leave me with her; I alone will, with my embrace, be the rope to bind her; let her madness rage against me. For what profits it me to live longer? I am here, and Leucippe knows me not; there my love lies bound, and I, heartless wretch, could loose her and will not. Has Fate only saved us from the hands of the robbers for you to become the sport of madness, ill-starred that we were, when we seemed to be most fortunate? We escaped the terrors that awaited us at home, only to suffer shipwreck; we were saved from the sea,.... (The rhetorical structure of the sentence seems to shew that something is here lost, such as “only to fall into the hands of robbers.”); we were rescued from the robbers, only to find madness waiting for us. Yes, dearest, even if you recover, I still fear the visitation of God has some ill to work upon you. Who can be more wretched than we are, who are in fear even of what seems our good fortune? But do you but once get well and come again to your senses, and let Fortune again play what pranks she will!”

  [1] Ταῦτά με λέγοντα παρηγόρουν οἱ ἀμφὶ τὸν Μενέλαον, φάσκοντες μὴ ἔμμονα εἶναι τὰ τοιαῦτα νοσήματα, πολλάκις δὲ ἡλικίας ζεούσης ὑπάρχειν. （Τὸ γὰρ αἷμα πάντη νεάζον καὶ ὑπὸ πολλῆς ἀκμῆς ἀναζέον ὑπερβλύζει πολλάκις τὰς φλέβας, καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἔνδον περικλύζον βαπτίζει τοῦ λογισμοῦ τὴν ἀναπνοήν. [2] Δεῖ οὖν ἰατροὺς μεταπέμπειν καὶ θεραπείαν προσφέρειν.） Πρόσεισιν οὖν τῷ στρατηγῷ ὁ Μενέλαος καὶ δεῖται τὸν τοῦ στρατοπέδου ἰατρὸν μετακαλέσασθαι, κἀκεῖνος ἄσμενος ἐπείσθη: χαίρουσι γὰρ οἱ ἐρῶντες εἰς τὰ ἐρωτικὰ προστάγματα. [3] Καὶ ὁ ἰατρὸς παρῆν καὶ λέγει ‘νῦν μὲν ὕπνον αὐτῇ παρασκευάσομεν, ὅπως τὸ ἄγριον τῆς ἀκμῆς ἡμερώσωμεν: ὕπνος γὰρ πάντων νοσημάτων φάρμακον: ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ τὴν λοιπὴν θεραπείαν προσοίσομεν.’ [4] Δίδωσιν οὖν ἡμῖν φάρμακόν τι μικρόν, ὅσον ὀρόβου μέγεθος, καὶ κελεύει λύσαντας εἰς ἔλαιον ἐπαλεῖψαι τὴν κεφαλὴν μέσην: σκευάσειν δὲ ἔφη καὶ ἕτερον εἰς γαστρὸς αὐτῇ κάθαρσιν. [5] Ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν ἃ ἐκέλευσεν ἐποιοῦμεν, ἡ δὲ ἐπαλειφθεῖσα μετὰ μικρὸν ἐκάθευδε τὸ ἐπίλοιπον τῆς νυκτὸς μέχρι τῆς ἕω. Ἐγὼ δὲ δἰ ὅλης τῆς νυκτὸς ἀγρυπνῶν ἔκλαον παρακαθήμενος καὶ βλέπων τὰ δεσμὰ ἔλεγον ‘οἴμοι, φιλτάτη, δέδεσαι καὶ καθεύδουσα: οὐδὲ τὸν ὕπνον ἐλεύθερον ἔχεις. [6] Τίνα ἄρα σου τὰ φαντάσματα; ἆρα κἂν κατὰ τοὺς ὕπνους σωφρονεῖς, ἢ μαίνεταί σου καὶ τὰ ὀνείρατα;’ Ἐπεὶ δ̓ ἀνέστη, πάλιν ἄσημα ἐβόα: καὶ ὁ ἰατρὸς παρῆν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην θεραπείαν ἐθεράπευεν.

  10. At these words of mine Menelaus’ companions tried to comfort me; such troubles, they said, were not lasting, but often occurred at the hot season of youth, when the blood, being young and new, and boiling at its approach to full age, overflows the veins and floods the brain, drowning the fount of reason. It was proper, therefore, to send for doctors and attempt to find a cure. Accordingly, Menelaus approached the general and asked that the army doctor might be called in; the general assented with pleasure, for those in love are glad enough to obey the behests which love lays upon them. When the physician had come: “First,” said he, “we must make her sleep, in order to overcome the violent crisis of the disease from which she is suffering — sleep is the remedy for all illness — and after that we will prescribe a further course of treatment.” With this intention he gave us a small medicament about the size of a nut, bidding us dissolve it in oil and rub the crown of her head with it; later, he said, he would prepare another to purge her. We followed out his instructions, and after being rubbed with the drug she quickly fell asleep and remained so for the rest of the night until morning. I kept watch the whole night long, and as I sat I could not but weep and say, as I beheld her bonds, “Alas, my darling, you are a prisoner even while you slumber; even your sleep is not free. I wonder of what you are dreaming; are you, in your sleep, in your right senses, or are your dreams too those of a madwoman?” But even when she woke, she again cried out some meaningless words; the doctor was at hand, and gave her the other medicine.

  [1] Ἐν τούτῳ δὴ ἔρχεταί τις παρὰ τοῦ τῆς Αἰγύπτου σατράπου, κομίζων ἐπιστολὴν τῷ στρατηγῷ. Ἐπέσπευδε δὲ αὐτόν, ὡς εἰκός, ἐπὶ τὸν πόλεμον τὰ γράμματα: ἐκέλευσε γὰρ εὐθὺς πάντας ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις γενέσθαι ὡς ἐπὶ τοὺς βουκόλους. [2] Αὐτίκα δὴ μάλα ἐξορμήσαντες, εὐθὺς ἕκαστος, ὡς εἶχε τάχους, ἐπὶ τὰ ὅπλα ἐχώρουν καὶ παρῆσαν ἅμα τοῖς λοχαγοῖς. Τότε μὲν οὖν αὐτοῖς δοὺς τὸ σύνθημα καὶ κελεύσας αὐτοῖς στρατοπεδεύεσθαι καθ̓ αὑτὸν ἦν: τῇ δ̓ ὑστεραίᾳ ἅμα τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τὸ στράτευμα ἐξῆγεν ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους. [3] Εἶχε δὲ αὐτοῖς οὕτω τῆς κώμης ἡ θέσις. Ὁ Νεῖλος ῥεῖ μὲν ἄνωθεν ἐκ Θηβῶν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων εἷς ὢν ἄχρι Μέμφεως καὶ ἔστι μικρὸν κάτω ‘Κερκάσωρος ὄνομα τῇ κώμῃ’ πρὸς τῷ τέλει τοῦ μεγάλου ῥεύματος. [4] Ἐντεῦθεν δὲ περιρρήγνυται τῇ γῇ, καὶ ἐξ ἑνὸς ποταμοῦ γίνονται τρεῖς, δύο μὲν ἑκατέρωθεν λελυμένοι, ὁ δὲ εἷς ὥσπερ ἦν ῥέων πρὶν λυθῆναι. [5] Ἀλλ̓ οὐδὲ τούτων ἕκαστος τῶν ποταμῶν ἀνέχεται μέχρι θαλάσσης ῥέων, ἀλλὰ περισχίζεται ἄλλος ἄλλῃ κατὰ πόλεις, καί εἰσιν αἱ σχίσεις μείζονες τῶν παῤ Ἕλλησι ποταμῶν: τὸ δὲ ὕδωρ πανταχοῦ μεμερισμένον οὐκ ἐξασθενεῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ πλεῖται καὶ πίνεται καὶ γεωργεῖται.

  11. While this was going on, a messenger came from the Satrap of Egypt, bidding the army set forth, and it appears as if the letter must have ordered the general to make haste to give battle, for he at once ordered
all his men to arm themselves to engage with the buccaneers. They therefore hurried with all speed to their arms and were soon in readiness with their company-commanders. He then gave them the watchword, bade them encamp, and stayed where he was; on the next morning at day-break he led them out against the enemy. Now the situation of the village held by the robbers was as follows. The Nile flows down in a single stream from Thebes of Egypt as far as Memphis; a little below is a village (Cercasorus is its name), at the end of the undivided body of the river. From that point it breaks up round the land, and three rivers are formed out of one; two streams discharge themselves on either side, while the middle one flows on in the same course as the unbroken river, and forms the Delta in between the two outer branches. None of these three channels reaches the sea in an unbroken state; each, on reaching various cities, splits up further in different directions. The resulting branches are all of them larger than the rivers of Greece, and the water, although so much subdivided, does not lose its utility, but is used for boats, for drinking, and for agricultural irrigation.

  [1] Νεῖλος ὁ πολὺς πάντα αὐτοῖς γίνεται, καὶ ποταμὸς καὶ γῆ καὶ θάλασσα καὶ λίμνη: καὶ ἔστι τὸ θέαμα καινόν, ναῦς ὁμοῦ καὶ δίκελλα, κώπη καὶ ἄροτρον, πηδάλιον καὶ τρόπαιον, ναυτῶν ὁμοῦ καὶ γεωργῶν καταγωγή, ἰχθύων ὁμοῦ καὶ βοῶν: ὃ πέπλευκας, φυτεύεις, καὶ ὃ φυτεύεις, τοῦτο πέλαγος γεωργούμενον. [2] Ἔχει γὰρ ὁ ποταμὸς ἐπιδημίας: κάθηται δὲ αὐτὸν Αἰγύπτιος ἀναμένων καὶ ἀριθμῶν αὐτοῦ τὰς ἡμέρας. Καὶ ὁ Νεῖλος οὐ ψεύδεται, ἀλλ̓ ἔστι ποταμὸς μετὰ προθεσμίας τὸν χρόνον τηρῶν καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ μετρῶν, ποταμὸς ἁλῶναι μὴ θέλων ὑπερήμερος. [3] Ἔστι δ̓ ἰδεῖν ποταμοῦ καὶ γῆς φιλονεικίαν. Ἐρίζετον ἀλλήλοις ἑκάτερον: τὸ μὲν ὕδωρ, τοσαύτην γῆν πελαγίσαι: ἡ δὲ γῆ, τοσαύτην χωρῆσαι γλυκεῖαν θάλασσαν: καὶ νικῶσι μὲν τὴν ἴσην νίκην οἱ δύο, [4] οὐδαμοῦ δὲ φαίνεται τὸ νικώμενον. Τὸ γὰρ ὕδωρ τῇ γῇ συνεκτείνεται: περὶ δὲ τὰς τῶν βουκόλων ταύτας νομὰς ἀεὶ πολὺ ἐγκάθηται. Ὅταν γὰρ τὴν πᾶσαν γῆν πελαγίσῃ, λίμνας ἐνταῦθα ποιεῖ: αἱ δὲ λίμναι, κἂν ὁ Νεῖλος ἀπέλθῃ, μένουσιν οὐδὲν ἧττον, [5] τὸ ὕδωρ ἔχουσαι τόν τε πηλὸν τοῦ ὕδατος. Ἐπὶ ταύτας αὐτοὶ καὶ βαδίζουσι καὶ πλέουσιν, οὐδὲ ναῦς ἑτέρα δύναται πλεῖν, ἀλλ̓ ὅσον ἄνθρωπον ἐπιβῆναι: ἀλλὰ πᾶν τὸ ξένον τοῦ τόπου ὁ πηλὸς ἐμπίπτων κρατεῖ. Τοῖς δὲ μικρὰ μὲν καὶ κοῦφα πλοῖα, καὶ ὀλίγον ὕδωρ αὐτοῖς ἀρκεῖ: εἰ δὲ τέλεον ἄνυδρον εἴη, ἀράμενοι τοῖς νώτοις οἱ πλωτῆρες τὸ πλοῖον φέρουσιν, [6] ἄχρις ἂν ἐπιτύχωσιν ὕδατος. Ἐν ταύταις δὴ ταῖς λίμναις μέσαι νῆσοί τινές εἰσι σποράδην πεποιημέναι: αἱ μὲν οἰκοδομημάτων ἔρημοι, παπύροις πεφυτευμέναι: τῶν δὲ παπύρων διεστᾶσιν αἱ φάλαγγες πεπυκνωμέναι τοσοῦτον ὅσον παῤ ἑκάστην ἄνδρα στῆναι μόνον, τὸ μεταξὺ δὲ τοῦτο τῆς πυκνώσεως αὐτῶν ἄνωθεν ἀναπληροῦσιν αἱ τῶν παπύρων κόμαι. [7] Ὑποτρέχοντες οὖν ἐκεῖ καὶ βουλεύονται καὶ λοχῶσι καὶ λανθάνουσι, τείχεσι ταῖς παπύροις χρώμενοι. Εἰσὶ δὲ τῶν νήσων τινὲς καλύβας ἔχουσαι, καὶ αὐτοσχέδιον μεμίμηνται πόλιν ταῖς λίμναις τετειχισμέναι. [8] Βουκόλων αὗται καταγωγαί. Τῶν πλησίον οὖν μία μεγέθει καὶ καλύβαις πλείοσι διαφέρουσα ‘ἐκάλουν δὲ αὐτήν, οἶμαι, Νίκωχιν’, ἐνταῦθα πάντες συνελθόντες ὡς εἰς τόπον ὀχυρώτατον ἐθάρρουν καὶ πλήθει καὶ τόπῳ. Εἷς γὰρ αὐτὴν διεῖργε στενωπὸς τὸ μὴ πᾶσαν νῆσον γενέσθαι: ἦν δὲ σταδίου μὲν τὸ μέγεθος, τὸ δὲ πλάτος ὀργυιῶν δώδεκα: λίμναι δὲ τῇδε κἀκεῖσε τὴν πόλιν περιέρρεον.

  12. This great Nile is the centre of their existence — their river, their land, their sea, their lake; it is a strange sight to see close together the boat and the hoe, the oar and the plough, the rudder and the winnowing-fan — the meeting-place of sailors and husbandmen, of fishes and oxen. (Compare the epigram of Philippics of Thessalonica, Αnth. Pal ix. 299, where two oxen, used to ploughing, complain that they are compelled to pull a dragnet.) Where you have sailed, there you sow; where you sow, there is a sea subject to tillage. For the river has its due seasons, and the Egyptian sits and waits for it, counting the days. Nor does the Nile ever deceive; it is a river that keeps its appointments both in the times of its increase and the amount of water that it brings, a river that never allows itself to be convicted of being unpunctual. You may see a conflict between river and land: each struggles with the other, the water to make a sea of so wide an expanse of soil, and the soil to absorb so much fresh water. In the end it is a drawn battle, and neither of the two parties can be said to suffer defeat, for water and land are coextensive and identical.

  About the haunts of the robbers previously mentioned there is always plenty of water standing; when it floods the land, it forms lakes, and these remain undiminished when the Nile goes down, full of water, and also of the water’s mud. The natives can either walk or row over them, but only in boats just large enough to contain a single passenger (any kind strange to the locality the mud there chokes and stops); theirs are small and light vessels., (These must have been like our old-fashioned coracles. Pliny (H.N. xiii. 11) tells us of what they were made: “The very body and pole of the papyrus itself serveth very well to twist and weave therewith little boats”; cf. Lucan, iv. 136.) drawing very little water; if there is no water at all, the boatmen pick up their craft and carry it on their backs until they come to water again. In the middle of these lakes lie some islands dotted here and there. Some of them have no houses upon them, but are planted with papyrus, and the stems of it grow so close that there is only just room for a man to stand between them; over the head of this thick jungle the leaves of the plant make a close covering. Robbers therefore can slip in there, make their plans, devise ambushes or lie hid, using the papyrus-plants as their fortifications. Others of the islands have cabins upon them, and present the appearance, the huts being closely packed together, of a town protected by water. These are the resorts of the buccaneers; one of them, larger than the others and with a greater number of cabins upon it, was called, I think, Nicochis; there, as their strongest fastness, they all collected, and took courage both from their numbers and the strength of the position. It was made a peninsula by a narrow causeway, a furlong in length and twelve fathoms broad, on either side of which the waters of the lake entirely surrounded the town.

  [1] Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ἑώρων τὸν στρατηγὸν προσπελάζοντα, τεχνάζονταί τι τοιοῦτον. Συναγαγόντες πάντας τοὺς γέροντας καὶ ἐπιθέντες αὐτοῖς ἱκετηρίας ῥάβδους φοινικίνας, ὄπισθεν ἐπιτάττουσι τῶν νέων τοὺς ἀκμαιοτά
τους ἀσπίσι καὶ λόγχαις ὡπλισμένους. [2] Ἔμελλον δὲ οἱ μὲν γέροντες ἀνίσχοντες τὰς ἱκετηρίας πετάλων κόμαις καλύψειν τοὺς ὄπισθεν, οἱ δὲ ἑπόμενοι τὰς λόγχας ἐπισυρεῖν ὑπτίας, ὡς ἂν ἥκιστα ὀφθεῖεν. Κἂν μὲν ὁ στρατηγὸς πεισθῇ ταῖς τῶν γερόντων λιταῖς, μηδέν τι νεωτερίζειν τοὺς λογχοφόρους εἰς μάχην: εἰ δὲ μή, καλεῖν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν, [3] ὡς σφᾶς αὐτοὺς διδόντων εἰς θάνατον. Ὅταν δὲ ἐν μέσῳ γένωνται τῷ στενωπῷ, τοὺς μὲν γέροντας ἀπὸ συνθήματος διαδιδράσκειν καὶ ῥίπτειν τὰς ἱκετηρίας, τοὺς δὲ ὡπλισμένους προδραμόντας ὅ τι καὶ δύναιντο ποιεῖν. [4] Παρῆσαν οὖν ἐσκευασμένοι τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον καὶ ἐδέοντο τοῦ στρατηγοῦ αἰδεσθῆναι μὲν αὐτῶν τὸ γῆρας, αἰδεσθῆναι δὲ τὰς ἱκετηρίας, ἐλεῆσαι δὲ τὴν πόλιν: ἐδίδοσαν δὲ αὐτῷ ἰδίᾳ μὲν ἀργυρίου τάλαντα ἑκατόν, πρὸς δὲ τὸν σατράπην ἄγειν ἄνδρας ἑκατὸν θέλοντας αὑτοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως διδόναι, [5] ὡς ἂν ἔχοι καὶ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον λάφυρον φέρειν. Καὶ ὁ λόγος αὐτοῖς οὐκ ἐψεύδετο, ἀλλ̓ ἔδωκαν ἄν, εἰ λαβεῖν ἠθέλησεν. Ὡς δὲ οὐ προσίετο τοὺς λόγους, ‘οὐκοῦν’ ἔφασαν οἱ γέροντες ‘εἰ ταῦτά σοι δέδοκται, [6] οἴσομεν τὴν εἱμαρμένην. Ἐν κακοῖς σὺ πάρασχε τὴν χάριν: μὴ ἔξω φονεύσῃς πυλῶν μηδὲ τῆς πόλεως μακράν, ἀλλ̓ ἐπὶ τὴν πατρῴαν γῆν, ἐπὶ τὴν τῆς γενέσεως ἑστίαν ἄγε: τάφον ἡμῖν ποίησον τὴν πόλιν. Ἰδού σοι πρὸς τὸν θάνατον ἡγούμεθα.’ Ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ στρατηγὸς τὴν μὲν παρασκευὴν τῆς μάχης ἀφίησι, κελεύει δὲ ἔρχεσθαι καθ̓ ἡσυχίαν τῷ στρατῷ.