16. Meanwhile Chaereas came back, bringing his man with him, and I addressed myself to both of them: “ Here are your four pieces of gold as a reward for your good tidings; but listen to what I have to say about the remedy. You see how a drugged potion has been the cause of the girl’s present evil state; it cannot surely be without danger to add yet further drugs to organs already drugged. Tell us then of what ingredients it is composed, and make it up here in our presence; if you will do this, there will be a reward of four more gold pieces for you.”
“Your fears are quite justified,” said he; “but the ingredients are quite common and all harmless to take; I will myself drink a portion equal to hers.” So saying, he sent someone out to buy them and bring them back, naming each; and when they had arrived, which was in no long time, he pounded them all up before our eyes and divided the compound into two parts. “I will myself drink the one first,” he said, “and the other I will give to the maiden. After she has taken it she will sleep the whole night through, and when morning comes she will arise at once from her sleep and from the disease.” So he first took his portion of the drug, and bade the rest be given her to drink in the evening. “But I,” he added, “must go away and rest, as the drug requires.” With these words he departed, taking the four gold pieces I had given him. “I will give you the other four,” I said, “on her recovery.”
[1] Ἐπεὶ οὖν καιρὸς ἦν αὐτῇ πιεῖν τὸ φάρμακον, ἐγχέας προσηυχόμην αὐτῷ ‘ὦ γῆς τέκνον, φάρμακον, ὦ δῶρον Ἀσκληπιοῦ, ἀλήθευσόν σου τὰ ἐπαγγέλματα: εὐτυχέστερον ἐμοῦ γενοῦ καὶ σῶζέ μοι τὴν φιλτάτην. Νίκησον τὸ φάρμακον ἐκεῖνο τὸ βάρβαρον [2] καὶ ἄγριον.’ Ταῦτα δοὺς τῷ φαρμάκῳ τὰ συνθήματα καὶ καταφιλήσας τὸ ἔκπωμα δίδωμι τῇ Λευκίππῃ πιεῖν: ἡ δέ, ὡς ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἶπε, μετὰ μικρὸν ἔκειτο καθεύδουσα. Κἀγὼ παρακαθήμενος ἔλεγον πρὸς αὐτὴν ὡς ἀκούουσαν ‘ἆρά μοι σωφρονήσεις ἀληθῶς; ἆρά μέ ποτε γνωριεῖς; ἆρά σου τὴν φωνὴν ἐκείνην ἀπολήψομαι; [3] μάντευσαί τι καὶ νῦν καθεύδουσα: καὶ γὰρ χθὲς τοῦ Γοργίου κατεμαντεύσω δικαίως. Εὐτυχεῖς ἄρα μᾶλλον κοιμωμένη: γρηγοροῦσα μὲν γὰρ μανίαν δυστυχεῖς, τὰ δὲ ἐνύπνιά [4] σου σωφρονεῖ.’ Ταῦτά μου διαλεγομένου ὡς πρὸς ἀκούουσαν Λευκίππην, μόλις ἡ πολύευκτος ἕως ἀναφαίνεται, καὶ ἡ Λευκίππη φθέγγεται, καὶ ἦν ἡ [5] φωνὴ ‘Κλειτοφῶν.’ Ἀναπηδήσας οὖν πρόσειμί τε αὐτῇ καὶ πυνθάνομαι πῶς ἔχει: ἡ δὲ ἐῴκει μὲν μηδὲν ὧν ἔπραξεν ἐγνωκέναι, τὰ δεσμὰ δὲ ἰδοῦσα ἐθαύμαζε καὶ ἐπυνθάνετο τίς ὁ δήσας εἴη. Ἐγὼ δὲ ἰδὼν σωφρονοῦσαν ὑπὸ πολλῆς χαρᾶς ἔλυον μὲν μετὰ θορύβου τὰ δεσμά, μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ ἤδη τὸ πᾶν αὐτῇ διηγοῦμαι: ἡ δὲ ᾐσχύνετο ἀκροωμένη καὶ ἠρυθρία καὶ ἐνόμιζε τότε αὐτὰ ποιεῖν. [6] Τὴν μὲν οὖν ἀνελάμβανον παραμυθούμενος, τοῦ δὲ φαρμάκου τὸν μισθὸν ἀποδίδωμι μάλα ἄσμενος. Ἦν δὲ τὸ πᾶν ἡμῖν ἐφόδιον σῶον: ὁ γὰρ Σάτυρος ἔτυχεν ἐζωσμένος ὅτε ἐναυαγήσαμεν, οὐκ ἀφῄρητο δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν λῃστῶν οὔτε αὐτὸς οὔτε ὁ Μενέλαος οὐδὲν ὧν εἶχεν.
17. So when the time came to give her the medicine, I poured it out and prayed over it thus: “Drug, child of earth, gift of Aesculapius, bring true thy promises; be more fortunate than I and save me my dearest. Overcome that other cruel and savage philtre.” When I had thus conjured the medicine I kissed the cup, and gave it to Leucippe to drink; and she, as the man had predicted, soon lay fast asleep. I sat by her, and addressed her as though she could hear my words; “Will you really regain your senses once more? Will you know me again? Shall I hear again that dear voice of yours? Give me some token of hope, now, in your sleep, just as yesterday you rightly divined the name of Gorgias. Happier are you while at rest; when awake, you suffer the misfortune of madness, while your dreams have sound sense.” Thus did I harangue Leucippe, as though she could hear me, and at last appeared the dawn for which I had prayed so long; Leucippe spoke, and the word she uttered was “Clitophon.” I jumped up, went to her, and asked her how she was; she seemed to know nothing of what had happened, but was astonished to see her bonds, and asked who had fettered her. Seeing her in her senses again, I was overjoyed to confusion and undid the bonds, and then related to her the whole course of events; she was quite ashamed when she heard it; she blushed, and could hardly be persuaded that she was not still beside herself. I therefore did my best to comfort and calm her, and paid the fee for the drug with the utmost good will. All the money which we had provided for our journey was safe; that which Satyrus had happened to tie up in his girdle when we were shipwrecked had not been taken from him by the robbers, and neither he nor Menelaus had lost any of their possessions.
[1] Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ καὶ τοὺς: λῃστὰς ἐπελθοῦσα δύναμις μείζων ἀπὸ τῆς μητροπόλεως παρεστήσατο καὶ πᾶσαν αὐτῶν εἰς ἔδαφος κατέστρεψε τὴν πόλιν. Ἐλευθερωθέντος δὲ τοῦ ποταμοῦ τῆς τῶν βουκόλων ὕβρεως, παρεσκευαζόμεθα τὸν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν πλοῦν. Συνέπλει δὲ ἡμῖν καὶ ὁ Χαιρέας, φίλος ἤδη γενόμενος ἐκ τῆς τοῦ φαρμάκου μηνύσεως. [2] Ἦν δὲ τὸ μὲν γένος ἐκ τῆς νήσου τῆς Φάρου, τὴν δὲ τέχνην ἁλιεύς, ἐστρατεύετο δὲ μισθοῦ κατὰ τῶν βουκόλων τὴν ἐν ταῖς ναυσὶ στρατείαν, ὥστε μετὰ τὸν πόλεμον τῆς στρατείας ἀπήλλακτο. [3] Ἦν οὖν ἐξ ἀπλοίας μακρᾶς πλεόντων πάντα μεστὰ καὶ πολλή τις ὄψεως ἡδονή, ναυτῶν ᾠδή, πλωτήρων κρότος, χορεία νεῶν, καὶ ἦν ἅπας ὁ ποταμὸς ἑορτή: ἐῴκει δὲ ὁ πλοῦς κωμάζοντι ποταμῷ. Ἔπινον δὲ καὶ τοῦ Νείλου τότε πρῶτον ἄνευ τῆς πρὸς οἶνον ὁμιλίας, κρῖναι θέλων τοῦ πώματος τὴν ἡδονήν: οἶνος γὰρ φύσεως ὕδατος κλοπή. [4] Ἀρυσάμενος οὖν ὑάλου τῆς διαφανοῦς κύλικα, τὸ ὕδωρ ἑώρων ὑπὸ λευκότητος πρὸς τὸ ἔκπωμα ἁμιλλώμενον καὶ τὸ ἔκπωμα νικώμενον: γλυκὺ δὲ πινόμενον ἦν καὶ ψυχρὸν ἐν μέτρῳ τῆς ἡδονῆς: οἶδα γὰρ ἐνίους τῶν παῤ Ἕλλησι ποταμῶν καὶ τιτρώσκοντας τούτῳ: [5] συνέκρινον αὐτοὺς τῷ ποταμῷ. Διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸν ἄκρατον ὁ Αἰγύπτιος πίνων οὐ φοβεῖται, Διονύσου μὴ δεόμενος. Ἐθαύμασα δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ τὸν τρόπον τοῦ ποτοῦ. Οὔτε γὰρ ἀρύσαντες πίνειν ἐθέλουσιν οὔτε ἐκπωμάτων ἀνέχονται, ἔκπωμα αὐτουργὸν ἔχοντες: ἔκπωμα γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐστιν ἡ χείρ. [6] Εἰ γάρ τις αὐτῶν διψήσειε πλέων, προκύψας ἐκ τῆς νεὼς τὸ μὲν πρόσωπον ἐς τὸν ποταμὸν προβέβλη
κε, τὴν δὲ χεῖρα εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ καθῆκε καὶ κοίλην βαπτίσας καὶ πλησάμενος ὕδατος ἀκοντίζει κατὰ τοῦ στόματος τὸ πῶμα καὶ τυγχάνει τοῦ σκοποῦ: τὸ δὲ κεχηνὸς περιμένει τὴν βολὴν καὶ δέχεται καὶ κλείεται καὶ οὐκ ἐᾷ τὸ ὕδωρ αὖθις ἔξω πεσεῖν.
18. While all this was going on there came from the capital against the robbers a larger force, which settled their business and razed their town to the ground. The river freed from the buccaneers’ violence, we proposed to sail to Alexandria, and Chaereas was to accompany us; for he had become on friendly terms with us on account of the information he had been able to give us about the philtre. He was of the Island of Pharos by birth and a fisherman by trade; he had served in the fleet sent against the buccaneers, and had taken his discharge after the conclusion of the war. Long had boats been absent from the Nile, (Owing to its having been long infested by the pirates, who had now been destroyed.) but the river was now thronged with passengers, and the whole presented a delightful spectacle — the singing of the boatmen, the rhythm of the oars, and the procession of the boats; it was like a great fair, and the whole of our voyage seemed to be on a river keeping festival. That was the first occasion on which I drank the water of the Nile without mixing it with wine, as I wished to test its excellence as a drink; wine spoils its character. I filled a transparent glass with it, and saw that in the matter of limpidity (Excellent water as it is, this is not at the present day one of its characteristics, though the slight opacity is quite harmless, and can to some extent be made to settle.) it vied with, nay, it defeated the vessel that contained it; to the taste it was sweet and cool enough to be delightful, whereas some of the Greek rivers with which I compared it are so cold as to be painful. For this reason the Egyptian does not feel the need of the juice of Bacchus, and fears not to drink the water without mixture. I was also surprised at the manner in which they drink it: they do not draw it in the usual way, nor use vessels to drink it from, having a vessel provided by nature — their hand. If one of them, while on ship-board, is thirsty, he leans his face forward over the side above the river, and then, making a hollow of his hand, plunging it beneath the surface, and filling it with water, he jerks it up into his mouth and does not miss the mark; his open mouth awaits, receives and keeps it when it is thrown, and then shuts, not allowing it to fall out again.
[1] Εἶδον δὲ καὶ ἄλλο θηρίον τοῦ Νείλου ὑπὲρ τὸν ἵππον τὸν ποτάμιον εἰς ἀλκὴν ἐπαινούμενον, κροκόδειλος δὲ ὄνομα ἦν αὐτῷ: παρήλλακτο δὲ τὴν μορφὴν εἰς ἰχθὺν ὁμοῦ καὶ θηρίον. Μέγας μὲν γὰρ ἐκ κεφαλῆς ἐς οὐράν, τὸ δὲ εὖρος τοῦ μεγέθους οὐ κατὰ λόγον. [2] Δορὰ μὲν φολίσι ῥυσή, τεφραία δὲ τῶν νώτων ἡ χρόα καὶ μέλαινα: ἡ γαστὴρ δὲ λευκή: πόδες τέτταρες εἰς τὸ πλάγιον ἠρέμα κυρτούμενοι, καθάπερ χερσαίας χελώνης: οὐρὰ μακρὰ καὶ παχεῖα καὶ ἐοικυῖα στερεῷ σώματι. [3] Οὐ γὰρ ὡς τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐπίκειται θηρίοις, ἀλλ̓ ἔστι τῆς ῥάχεως ἓν ὀστοῦν τελευτὴ καὶ μέρος αὐτοῦ τῶν ὅλων. Ἐντέτμηται δὲ ἄνωθεν εἰς ἀκάνθας ἀναιδεῖς, οἷαι τῶν πριόνων εἰσὶν αἱ αἰχμαί. [4] Αὕτη δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ μάστιξ ἐπὶ τῆς ἄγρας γίνεται: τύπτει γὰρ αὐτῇ πρὸς οὓς ἄν διαπαλαίῃ καὶ πολλὰ ποιεῖ τραύματα πληγῇ μιᾷ. Κεφαλὴ δὲ αὐτῷ τοῖς νώτοις συνυφαίνεται καὶ εἰς μίαν στάθμην ἰθύνεται （ἔκλεψε γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὴν δέρην ἡ φύσις）, ἔστι δὲ τοῦ λοιποῦ βλοσυρωτέρα σώματος καὶ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐπὶ τὰς γένυς ἐκτείνεται καὶ ἀνοίγεται πᾶσα. [5] Τὸν μὲν γὰρ ἄλλον χρόνον, παῤ ὅσον οὐ κέχηνε τὸ θηρίον, ἔστι κεφαλή: ὅταν δὲ χάνῃ πρὸς τὰς ἄγρας, ὅλον στόμα γίνεται. Ἀνοίγει δὲ τὴν γένυν τὴν ἄνω, τὴν δὲ κάτω στερεὰν ἔχει: καὶ ἀπόστασίς ἐστι πολλή, καὶ μέχρι τῶν ὤμων τὸ χάσμα, καὶ εὐθύς ἡ γαστήρ. [6] Ὀδόντες δὲ πολλοὶ καὶ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον τεταγμένοι. Φασὶ δὲ ὅτι τὸν ἀριθμὸν τυγχάνουσιν ὅσας ὁ θεὸς εἰς ὅλον ἔτος ἀναλάμπει τὰς ἡμέρας: τοσοῦτον σπόρον φέρει τὸ τῶν γενύων πεδίον. Ἂν δ̓ ἐκπεράσῃ πρὸς τὴν γῆν, ὅσον ἔχει δυνάμεως οὐκ ἀπιστήσεις, ἰδὼν τὴν τοῦ σώματος ὁλκήν.
19. I also saw another beast, a denizen of the Nile, which is even more celebrated for its strength than the hippopotamus: it is called the crocodile. Its form partakes both of that of a beast and that of a fish; it is of great length from head to tail, though it is not proportionately broad. Its hide is wrinkled and scaly, the skin of its back black and hard as stones, whereas that of its belly is white; it has four feet, with curved, bandy legs, like those of a tortoise; its tail is long and thick, like the solid part of its body; unlike that of other animals, it is the bony continuation of the spine, of which it is indeed an integral part. On the upper side it is divided into cruel spines, like the teeth of a saw; the animal uses it like a scourge against its prey, striking with it anything against which it is struggling, and inflicting several wounds with a single blow. Its head grows directly on to its shoulders, forming with them a single straight line; for a neck is not one of the gifts with which it has been favoured by nature. Its eyes are more grim and staring than those of a horse; it is generally in the condition of having its mouth wide open. For the rest of the time, when not agape, that part of the beast is a head; but when it yawns after its prey, it is all mouth. It lifts its upper jaw, keeping the lower one rigid. So wide apart do they go that the opening reaches all the way to the shoulders and the entrance to its belly is visible. (Compare the description of the beast about to attack Andromeda in III. vii.) Its teeth are numerous, placed one behind the other; they are said to be identical in number with the days God gives light to for a year — a mighty crop to spring up in the field of its jaws! When it comes up from the river on to the land, you would be surprised at the creature’s enormous strength if you observed the way it drags its body.
BOOK V.
[1] Τριῶν δὲ πλεύσαντες ἡμερῶν εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ἤλθομεν. Ἀνιόντι δέ μοι κατὰ τὰς Ἡλίου καλουμένας πύλας, συνηντᾶτο εὐθὺς τῆς πόλεως ἀστράπτον τὸ κάλλος, καί μου τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐγέμισεν ἡδονῆς. [2] Στάθμη μὲν κιόνων ὄρθιος ἑκατέρωθεν ἐκ τῶν Ἡλίου πυλῶν εἰς τὰς Σελήνης πύλας: οὗτοι γὰρ τῆς πόλεως οἱ πυλωροί: ἐν μέσῳ δὲ τῶν κιόνων τῆς πόλεως τὸ πεδίον. [3] Ὁδὸς δὲ διὰ τοῦ πεδίου πολλὴ καὶ ἔνδημος ἀποδημία. Ὀλίγους δὲ τῆς πόλεως σταδίους προελθὼν ἦλθον εἰς τὸν ἐπώνυμον Ἀλεξάνδρου τόπον. Εἶδον δὲ ἐντεῦθεν ἄλλην πόλιν καὶ σχιζόμενον ταύτῃ τὸ κάλλος. [4] Ὅσος γὰρ κιόνων ὄρχατος εἰς τὴν εὐθυωρίαν, τοσοῦτος ἕτερος εἰς τὰ ἐγκάρσια. Ἐγὼ δὲ μερίζων τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς εἰς πάσας τὰς ἀγυιὰς θ�
�ατὴς ἀκόρεστος ἤμην καὶ τὸ κάλλος ὅλως οὐκ ἐξήρκουν ἰδεῖν. [5] Τὰ μὲν ἔβλεπον, τὰ δὲ ἔμελλον, τὰ δὲ ἠπειγόμην ἰδεῖν, τὰ δὲ οὐκ ἤθελον παρελθεῖν: ἐκράτει τὴν θέαν τὰ ὁρώμενα, εἷλκε τὰ προσδοκώμενα. Περιάγων οὖν ἐμαυτὸν εἰς πάσας τὰς ἀγυιὰς καὶ πρὸς τὴν ὄψιν δυσερωτιῶν εἶπον καμὼν ‘ὀφθαλμοί, [6] νενικήμεθα.’ Εἶδον δὲ δύο καινὰ καὶ παράλογα, μεγέθους πρὸς κάλλος ἅμιλλαν καὶ δήμου πρὸς πόλιν φιλονεικίαν, καὶ ἀμφότερα νικῶντα. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἠπείρου μείζων ἦν, ὁ δὲ πλείων ἔθνους: καὶ εἰ μὲν εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἀπεῖδον, ἠπίστουν εἰ πληρώσει τις δῆμος αὐτὴν ἀνδρῶν, εἰ δὲ εἰς τὸν δῆμον ἐθεασάμην, ἐθαύμαζον εἰ χωρήσει τις αὐτὸν πόλις. Τοιαύτη τις ἦν ἰσότητος τρυτάνη.
1. After a voyage lasting for three days, we arrived at Alexandria. I entered it by the Sun Gate, as it is called, and was instantly struck by the splendid beauty of the city, which filled my eyes with delight. From the Sun Gate to the Moon Gate — these are the guardian divinities of the entrances — led a straight double row of columns, about the middle of which lies the open part of the town, and in it so many streets that walking in them you would fancy yourself abroad while still at home. Going a few hundred yards further, I came to the quarter called after Alexander, where I saw a second town; the splendour of this was cut into squares, for there was a row of columns intersected by another as long at right angles. I tried to cast my eyes down every street, but my gaze was still unsatisfied, and I could not grasp all the beauty of the spot at once; some parts I saw, some I was on the point of seeing, some I earnestly desired to see, some I could not pass by; that which I actually saw kept my gaze fixed, while that which I expected to see would drag it on to the next. I explored therefore every street, and at last, my vision unsatisfied, exclaimed in weariness, Ah, my eyes, we are beaten.” Two things struck me as especially strange and extraordinary — it was impossible to decide which was the greatest, the size of the place or its beauty, the city itself or its inhabitants; for the former was larger than a continent, the latter outnumbered a whole nation. Looking at the city, I doubted whether any race of men could ever fill it; looking at the inhabitants, I wondered whether any city could ever be found large enough to hold them all. The balance seemed exactly even.
Complete Works of Achilles Tatius Page 67