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having temperaments. And through the mandrake, doctors induce sleep, and with opium they put severe pains to sleep. And with hemlock they wither raging desires, and with hellebore they soothe chronic ailments. And a fruit tree bearing fruit. And all things in a single instant of time sprang up from the earth, not existing before, each with its own property, and each being known by its own characteristic. The olive tree, and the palm tree, and the cypress grow to a height. And of these, some are not very-branched, nor many-branched, such as the fir, and the cypress, and sometimes also the palm. And evergreen are the olive, palm, and laurel, myrtle, pine, cypress, fir, juniper, thuja, and what the Arcadians call philodrys; also phyleos, cedar, stone pine, boxwood, kermes oak, arake, lathyros. The rose then sprouted without the thorn; but later the thorn was joined to the beauty of the flower; so that having the pain lying next to the pleasure we might remember the sin, on account of which the earth was condemned to bring forth thorns and thistles for us. The almond tree blossoms first, but bears its fruit later. And the bitter almond tree, when its trunk near the root is bored through, and it receives a wedge of rich pine driven into the middle of its heartwood, changes its unpleasant juices into edible sweetness. And when the sour pomegranate receives the same treatment, it turns to sweetness. The female palm tree lets down its branches as if desiring the embrace of the male; and the farmers, by placing the pollen of the male upon its branches, restore it to its proper upright form. The sycamine tree sprouts late, but is not behind the others in fruit-bearing. The olive, and the linden, and the white poplar, and the elm turn their leaves upwards after the summer solstice; and by this all know that the summer solstice has occurred. The husbandmen keep the fruit of the cultivated fig from falling thus: they string the unripe figs of the wild fig tree, causing them to remain attached. For the very small creature existing inside the unripe fig, by settling on the base of the cultivated fig, keeps off the wind blowing all around, so that the fig does not become unpleasant and fall off. And since the fruit of the fig is soft, it is covered by the thickness of its leaves; but that of the nut tree, since it is hard, is sheltered by a light covering of leaves. For this very reason the leaf of the vine is cleft, so that the cluster of grapes may both avoid damage from the air, and receive the sun’s ray through the sparseness. Thus nothing is useless, but God has ordered all things with an ineffable 717 wisdom. For one water, being carried or drawn up through the root, nourishes the trunk in one way, the pith in another, the bark in another, the wood in another, the root itself in another; and from the same moisture wine is formed in the vine, and oil in the olive, and in another plant another thing. And in the sweet fruits themselves the variation of richness is unspeakable; for the sweetness in the vine is one thing, and in the apple tree another, and in the fig and in the palm tree it is different. And the tears of the trees themselves are also different; for the tear of the mastic tree is one thing, and the sap of the balsam is another, which is the finest of all ointments, and abounds when it grows in Jericho. And when the inhabitants cut it from the shrubs with a sharp stone, it gives up its sap. And some relate that amber is also the sap of plants, which solidifies into the nature of stone. 4. And on the fourth day God created the two great luminaries, the sun and the moon in the firmament of heaven, for a light upon the earth, to divide between the day and between the night. This solar light was prepared as a vehicle for that first-created light. For as the fire is one thing, and the lamp another; for the one has the power of giving light, but the other that of shining for the

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κράσεως ἔχοντες. ∆ιὰ δὲ τοῦ μανδραγόρου ὕπνον ἰατροὶ κατεπάγουσι, καὶ τῷ ὀπίῳ τὰς σφοδρὰς ὀδύνας κατακοιμίζουσι. Τῷ δὲ κωνίῳ τὰς λυσσώδεις ὀρέξεις καταμαραίνουσι, καὶ τῷ ἐλλεβόρῳ τὰ χρόνια πάθη καταπραΰνουσι. Καὶ ξύλον κάρπιμον ποιοῦν καρπόν. Καὶ πάντα ἐν μιᾷ καιροῦ ῥοπῇ ἀνεφύη ἐκ τῆς γῆς, οὐκ ὄντα πρότερον, μετὰ τῆς οἰκείας ἕκαστον ἰδιότητος, καὶ ἰδίῳ χαρακτῆρι ἕκαστον γνωριζόμενον. Ἡ μὲν ἐλαία, καὶ φοῖνιξ, καὶ κυπάριττος εἰς ὕψος αὔξονται. Καὶ τούτων τὰ μέν ἐστιν οὐ πολύοζα, οὐδὲ πολύκλαδα, οἷον ἐλάτη, καὶ ἡ κυπάριττος, ἔσθ' ὅτε δὲ καὶ φοῖνιξ. Ἀείφυλλα δέ ἐστιν ἐλαία, φοῖνιξ, καὶ δάφνη, μυῤῥίνη, πεύκη, κυπάριττος, ἐλάτη, ἄρκευθος, θυία, καὶ ἢν Ἀρκάδες φιλόδρυν λέγουσιν· ἕτι φύλεος, κέδρος, πίτυς, πύξος, πρῖνος, ἀράκη, λάθυρος. Τὸ δὲ ῥόδον ἄνευ τῆς ἀκάνθης τότε ἐβλάστησεν· ὕστερον δὲ τῷ κάλλει τοῦ ἄνθους παρεζεύχθη ἡ ἄκανθα· ὅπως τῷ τερπνῷ παρακειμένην τὴν λύπην ἔχοντες μνημονεύωμεν τῆς ἁμαρτίας, δι' ἣν ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους ἡμῖν ἡ γῆ ἀνατέλλειν κατεδικάσθη. Ἡ δὲ ἀμυγδαλῆ πρώτη μὲν βλαστάνει, ὑστέρα δὲ ἐκφέρει τὸν καρπόν. Ἡ δὲ πικρὰ ἀμυγδαλῆ τυγχάνουσα τὸ πρὸς τὴν ῥίζαν στέλεχος διατρηθεῖσα, σφῆνα δὲ πεύκης λιπαρὸν τῆς ἐντεριώνης μέσης ἐλαθέντα δεξαμένη, τοὺς ἀηδεῖς χυμοὺς εἰς γλυκύτητα μεταβάλλει ἐδώδιμον. Τὴν αὐτὴν δὲ θεραπείαν καὶ ἡ ὀξύνη ῥοιὰ δεξαμένη, τρέπεται εἰς γλυκύτητα. Ἡ δὲ θήλεια φοῖνιξ καθίησι τοὺς κλάδους οἰονεὶ τῆς συμπλοκῆς ἐφιεμένη τοῦ ἄῤῥενος· καὶ οἱ γεωργοὶ, τοὺς ψῆνας τοῦ ἄῤῥενος τοῖς κλάδοις ἐμβάλλοντες αὐτῆς, πρὸς τὸ οἰκεῖον τῆς ὀρθότητος σχῆμα καθιστῶσιν αὐτήν. Ἡ δὲ συκάμινος ὀψὲ μὲν βλαστάνει, οὐκ ὑστερεῖ δὲ τῶν ἅλλων εἰς καρπογονίαν. Ἡ δὲ ἐλαία, καὶ ἡ φιλύρα, καὶ ἡ λεύκη, καὶ πτελέα στρέφουσι μετὰ τροπὰς θερινὰς τὰ φύλλα ὕπτια· καὶ ἐν τούτῳ πάντες γνωρίζουσιν, ὅτι τροπαὶ θεριναὶ γεγένηνται. Τῆς δὲ ἡμέρου συκῆς τὸν καρπὸν ἄῤῥευστον οἱ γηπόνοι οὕτω φυλάττουσιν· τοὺς ὀλύνθους τῆς ἀγρίας συκῆς ἐκδύσαντες, ἅπτωτον διαμένειν παρασκευάζουσι. Τὸ γὰρ ἕνδον τοῦ ὀλύνθου ὑπάρχον ζῶον μικρότατον τῷ πυθμένι τοῦ ἡμέρου προσίζον σύκου τὴν ἔξωθεν αὖραν περιπνέουσαν ἀπείργει, πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἀηδῆ γενόμενον τὸ σῦκον ἀποπεσεῖν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἁπαλός ἐστι τῆς συκῆς ὁ καρπὸς, πάχει φύλλων κεκάλυπται· τῆς δὲ καρύας, ἐπειδὴ τυγχάνει στεῤῥὰ, ἐλαφρᾷ φύλλων προσβολῇ σκέπεται. ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο καὶ τὸ φύλλον τῆς ἀμπέλου ἔσχισται, ἵνα καὶ τὰς ἐκ τοῦ ἀέρος ἐκκλίνῃ βλάβας ὁ βότρυς, καὶ τὴν ἡλιακὴν ἀκτῖνα εἰσδέχηται τῇ ἀραιότητι. Οὕτως οὐδὲν ἀργὸν, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἀποῤῥήτῳ 717 σοφίᾳ ὁ Θεὸς διεκόσμησεν. Ἓν γὰρ ὕδωρ, διὰ τῆς ῥίζης φερόμενον ἢ ἑλκόμενον, ἄλλως μὲν τρέφει τὸ στέλεχος, ἄλλως τὴν ἐντεριώνην, ἄλλως τὸν φλοιὸν, ἄλλως τὸ ξύλον, ἄλλως τὴν ῥίζαν αὐτήν· καὶ ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς νοτίδος ἐν μὲν τῇ ἀμπέλῳ οἶνος συνίσταται, ἐν δὲ τῇ ἐλαίᾳ ἔλαιον, καὶ ἐν ἄλλῳ ἄλλο. Καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς γλυκέσι καρποῖς ἀμύθητος ἡ παραλλαγὴ τῆς πιότητος· ἄλλο γὰρ τὸ ἐν ἀμπέλῳ γλυκὺ, καὶ ἄλλο ἐν μηλέᾳ, καὶ ἐν συκῇ καὶ τῷ φοίνικι ἕτερον. Καὶ αὐτὰ δὲ τῶν δένδρων διάφορά ἐστι τὰ δάκρυα· ἄλλο γὰρ τῆς σχίνου τὸ δάκρυον, καὶ ἄλλος ὁ τῆς βαλσάμου ὀπὸς, ὅπερ πάντων τῶν μύρων ὑπάρχει κάλλιστον, καὶ πλεονάζει ἐπὶ τῆς Ἱεριχὼ γενόμενον. Τεμνόντων δὲ αὐτὸ ἐκ τῶν θάμνων λίθῳ ὀξεῖ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων, ὀπὸς ἀναποδοίη. Ἱστοροῦσι δέ τινες καὶ τὸ ἤλεκτρον ὀπὸν εἶναι φυτῶν, εἰς φύσιν λίθου μεταπηγνύμενον. 4. Τῇ δὲ τετάρτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς μεγάλους δύο φωστῆρας ἐδημιούργησεν, ἤλιόν τε καὶ σελήνην ἐν τῷ στερεώματι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, εἰς φαῦσιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τοῦ διαχωρίζειν ἀναμέσον τῆς ἡμέρας καὶ ἀναμέσον τῆς νυκτός. Τοῦτο τὸ ἡλιακὸν φῶς, ὄχημα ἐκείνῳ τῷ φωτὶ τῷ πρωτογόνῳ παρεσκεύασται. Ὡς γὰρ ἄλλο τὸ πῦρ, καὶ ὁ λύχνος ἄλλο· τὸ μὲν γὰρ τὴν τοῦ φωτίζειν δύναμιν ἔχει, τὸ δὲ τὴν τοῦ παραφαίνειν τοῖς