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supposed. For our sight, being small, made the things seen to be considered small also, transferring its own condition to the visible things. For just as if someone from a mountain peak were to look upon plains and oxen grazing in the same place, does he not seem to see the appearance of ants? For sight, being spent in the air and having become faint, is not sufficient for the precise perception of the things seen. And that the body of the moon is immense, it is possible to learn from proofs. For the cities throughout the inhabited world, settled very far from one another, with their street-plans turned toward the east, all receive the moonlight equally, and likewise do those inhabiting the west and the southern and northern parts behold it. On the fifth day God commanded the waters to bring forth creeping things of living souls according to their kind; and immediately the sea brought forth all sorts of different kinds of animals. For of the sea creatures, some are amphibious, such as seals, and crocodiles, and river horses, and also frogs, and crabs, they do not, however, possess the ability to swim; for they are creeping by nature, being drawn along by the movement of the water; and others are viviparous, such as seals, and dolphins, and electric rays, and the like. God only commanded, and the creatures of the open sea, and of the shore, of the deep, of the rocks, the gregarious, the solitary, the sea monsters, the enormous, the most delicate of fish came forth, having a natural kinship to the water. For if separated from the water for a short time, not having breath, they are destroyed; for the expansion and contraction of their gills, receiving the water and letting it pass through, possesses this respiration. None among them has teeth on only one side, but all are densely packed with sharp teeth, so that their food does not slip away during prolonged chewing. For in fine chewing it would be destroyed by the water. And no other among them chews the cud except the parrotfish. And their food is suited to different kinds. For some are nourished by mud, others by seaweed, others by the plants nourished in the water; and others are eaters of one another. And they also have different peculiar properties. The sawfish has long fins; and having seen a ship running before the wind, it also, raising its own fins, imitates the ship's forms of motion, and competes with the sailors. So having gone forty stades, and grown weary, it lowers its fins, and is carried by the waves to its own place. The sea-monster is called Aspido-chelone by some; and it is most immense by nature, so as to often create for sailors the illusion of a large island. For when it has risen from the deep, its body appears like rough stones, and driving stakes into it they tie up their boats, which are immediately sunk, when the sea-monster, having been warmed by the sun, dives 725 into the deep; and it has by nature a deep voice, and when hungry it opens its mouth and sends forth a most fragrant odor, so that the small fish are drawn away, and they are all packed into its mouth. And this dwells in the Atlantic seas on account of its size. To the crab the flesh of the oyster is edible, and not being strong enough to open the closing of its shells, it watches for it to open its folds in calm places while it enjoys the sunlight, and taking a pebble, it places it in secretly, and prevents the closing, and thus it easily devours it. The sea-urchin foreknows the onset of winter, and goes under a pebble so that it is not carried about by the force of the waves. The octopus, having approached a certain rock, becomes the same color as it, and devours the fish approaching the rock. The remora happens to be very small by nature, and it stops the largest of ships being carried by a fair wind, so that the ship seems to be held fast in the sea.

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νομιζόμενον. Μικρὰ γὰρ ἡ ὄψις ἡμῶν γινομένη, μικρὰ ἐποίησε νομίζεσθαι καὶ τὰ ὁρώμενα, τὸ οἰκεῖον πάθος τοῖς ὁρατοῖς ἐπιφέρουσα. Ὥσπερ γὰρ εἴ τις ἐπ' ἀκρωρείας θεάσοιτο πεδία καὶ βόας ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ νεμομένας, οὐχὶ ὡς μυρμήκων φαντασίαν ὁρᾷν δοκεῖ· ἐνδαπανηθεῖσα γὰρ τῷ ἀέρι ἡ ὅψις, καὶ ἐξίτηλος γενομένη, πρὸς τὴν ἀκριβῆ κατανόησιν τῶν ὁρωμένων οὐκ ἐξαρκεῖ. Καὶ ὅτι παμμέγεθες τῆς σελήνης τὸ σῶμά ἐστι, μαθεῖν ἐκ τεκμηρίων ἕστιν. Αἱ γὰρ κατὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην πόλεις πλεῖστον ἀλλήλων ἀπῳκισμέναι, ταῖς κατὰ τὴν ἀνατολὴν τετραμμέναι ῥυμοτομίαις, ἐξ ἴσου πᾶσαι τὸ σεληναῖον φῶς ὑποδέχονται, καὶ ὁμοίως αὐτὴν οἱ τὴν δύσιν οἰκοῦντες καὶ τὰ μεσημβρινὰ καὶ ἀρκτῷα μέρη θεωροῦσιν. Τῇ δ' ἡμέρᾳ τῇ πέμπτῃ προσέταξεν ὁ Θεὸς ἐξαγαγεῖν τὰ ὕδατα ἑρπετὰ ψυχῶν ζωσῶν κατὰ γένος· καὶ εὐθέως ἡ μὲν θάλασσα παντοῖα ζώων γένη διάφορα ἀπεκύησε. Τῶν γὰρ ἐναλίων τὰ μέν ἐστιν ἀμφίβια, οἷον φῶκαι, καὶ κροκόδειλοι, καὶ οἱ ποταμιαῖοι ἵπποι, ἔτι δὲ οἱ βάτραχοι, καὶ οἱ καρκῖνοι, οὐ μέντοι τὸ νηκτικὸν ἔχουσι· ἑρπυστικὰ γάρ ἐστι τῇ φύσει, τῷ ἡγήματι τοῦ ὕδατος ἐπισυρόμενα· τὰ δὲ ζωοτόκα, οἷον φῶκαι, καὶ δελφῖνες, καὶ νάρκαι, καὶ τὰ ὅμοια αὐτοῖς. Μόνον δὲ προσέταξεν ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ τὰ πελάγια, καὶ τὰ αἰγιαλώδη, τὰ βύθια, τὰ πετρώδη, τὰ ἀγελαῖα, τὰ σποραδικὰ, τὰ κήτη, τὰ ὑπέρογκα, τὰ λεπτότατα τῶν ἰχθύων προΐει, συγγένειαν πρὸς τὸ ὕδωρ φυσικὴν ἔχοντα. Μικρὸν γὰρ εἰ τοῦ ὕδατος χωρισθῇ, μὴ ἕχοντα ἀναπνοὴν, διαφθείρεται· ἡ γὰρ τῶν βραγχίων αὐτοῖς διαστολὴ, καὶ ἐπίπτυξις, δεχομένη τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ διιεῖσα, ταύτην τὴν ἀναπνοὴν κέκτηται. Οὐδὲν παρ' αὐτοῖς ἐξ ἡμισείας ἔχει τοὺς ὀδόντας, ἀλλὰ πάντα ὀδοῦσιν ὀξέσι καταπεπύκνωται, πρὸς τὸ μὴ διαῤῥέειν τῇ χρονίᾳ μασήσει τὴν τροφήν. Ἔμελλε γὰρ ἐν τῇ λεπτῇ μασήσει διαφθείρεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος. Μηρυκίζει δὲ οὐδὲν ἄλλο παρ' αὐτοῖς εἰ μὴ ὁ σκάρος. Ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἡ τροφὴ ἄλλη ἄλλοις κατάλληλος. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἰλύϊ τρέφονται, οἱ δὲ τοῖς φυκίοις, ἄλλοι ταῖς βοτάναις ταῖς τρεφομέναις τῷ ὕδατι· ἕτεροι δέ εἰσιν ἀλληλοφάγοι. Ἔστι δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ διάφορα ἰδιώματα. Ὁ πριὼν πτέρυγας ἔχει μακράς· καὶ θεασάμενος πλοῖον οὐριοδρομοῦν, καὶ αὐτὸς ὑψώσας ἑαυτοῦ τὰς πτέρυγας, μιμεῖται τῆς νηὸς τὰ σχήματα τῆς κινήσεως, καὶ ἐρίζει τοῖς πλέουσι. Ποιήσας οὖν σταδίους τεσσαράκοντα, καὶ κοπιάσας, καθίησιν αὑτοῦ τὰς πτέρυγας, καὶ φέρεται ὑπὸ τῶν κυμάτων εἰς τὸν τόπον τὸν ἴδιον. Τὸ δὲ κῆτος καλεῖται μὲν Ἀσπιδοχελώνη παρά τισιν· ἔστι δὲ τῇ φύσει παμμεγεθέστατον, ὡς πολλάκις τοῖς ναυτιλλομένοις νήσου μεγάλης φαντασίαν ἐμποιῆσαι. Ἀναδύσαντος γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἐκ τοῦ βυθοῦ, ὡς λίθοι τραχεῖς τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ ἐκφαίνεται, καὶ περὶ αὐτὸ πάλους καταπηγνύντες ἐκδεσμοῦσι τὰ σκάφη, ἅτινα παραχρῆμα βυθίζεται, τοῦ κήτους ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου διαθερμανθέντος, καὶ εἰς τὸν βυθὸν καταδύσαν 725 τος· ἔχει δὲ αὐτὸ, καὶ φύσει βαρεῖαν φωνὴν, καὶ πεινῆσαν ἀνοίγειν τὸ στόμα, καὶ ἀποφορὰν ἐκπέμπειν εὐωδεστάτην, ὥστε τοὺς μικροὺς ἰχθύας ἀφέλκεσθαι, καὶ εἰς τὸ στόμα αὐτοὺς ὅλους αὐτοῦ ἐπιστιβάζεσθαι. Κατοικεῖ δὲ τοῦτο τὰ Ἀτλάντια πελάγη διὰ τὸ μέγεθος. Τῷ δὲ καρκίνῳ ἡ σὰρξ τοῦ ὀστρέου ἐστὶν ἐδώδιμος, καὶ μὴ ἰσχύων ἀνοῖξαι τῶν κόγχων αὐτοῦ τὴν σύμπτυξιν, ἐπιτηρεῖ τὰς πτυχὰς αὐτοῦ ἀνοίξαντα ἐν τοῖς ἀπηνέμοις τόποις, καὶ τῇ αὐγῇ τοῦ ἡλίου τερπόμενον, καὶ λαβὼν ψηφῖδα ἐντίθησι λαθραίως, καὶ κωλύει τὴν σύμπτυξιν, καὶ οὕτω ῥᾳδίως αὐτὸ κατέδεται. Ὁ δὲ ἐχῖνος προγινώσκει τοῦ χειμῶνος τὴν ἔφοδον, καὶ ψηφῖδα ὑπέρχεται πρὸς τὸ μὴ ὑπὸ τῆς φορᾶς τῶν κυμάτων αὐτὸν περιάγεσθαι. Ὁ δὲ πολύπους, προσπελάσας πέτρᾳ τινὶ, ὁμόχροος αὐτῇ καθέστηκε, καὶ τοὺς ἐγγίζοντας ἰχθύας τῇ πέτρᾳ κατέδεται. Μικρότατον δὲ τῇ φύσει ἡ ἐχενηῒς τυγχάνει, καὶ τὰ μέγιστα τῶν πλοίων ἐξ οὐρίας φερόμενα ἵστησιν, ὥστε δοκεῖν τὸ πλοῖον ἐρηρεῖσθαι εἰς τὸ πέλαγος.