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the hedgehog is like a sphere in its body, and its back is entirely spiny, its spines being similar to the spines of sea urchins. For it goes to a cluster of grapes on a vine, and pulls down some berries, and having rolled on them, impales the berries on its spines and arrives. The fox is a crafty thing, hunting birds by such a device. For having found a boggy place, it rolls in it, and again covers itself in the finest dust or chaff, and lays itself on the plain with its eyes open, or even holding its breath, so that, being puffed up, it is thought by the birds to be dead, which, when they alight upon it, it immediately seizes and devours. The lizard when it has grown old becomes blind, and enters a crack in a wall thoughtfully looking towards the east, and when the sun is rising, it opens its eyes, and being illuminated by the sun's ray it is warmed through, and is restored to health. So too you, O man, when you grow old in sins, and are blinded in your mind, seek the Sun of righteousness, so that you may be renewed in righteousness, gazing upon Him and looking up with the eyes of the soul. But the coiled serpent happens to be the most spiritual and fiery of all beasts, and it makes impressions of various shapes, and making the movements of its travel, it most swiftly comes upon what it wishes. And it is also long-lived; for not only does it cast off its old age, but it also receives greater growth. Therefore when it has completed the appointed time of its life, it is consumed into itself; for it does not die its own death before fulfilling the limit of its life, unless it is violently killed by someone. With this the ichneumon fights in single combat, having anointed itself with mud, and covering its nostrils with its tail. But indeed it also makes a clash against the Egyptian asp in this way: The latter comes at it with a great rushing sound, dragging its tail in coils, and leaping upward high from its breast to its head, puffed up, broad-chested and broad-necked, it attacks, having become full of rage, darting its tongue about with an intense hissing; but the ichneumon, having raised its tail, brandishes it, deceiving it, and drawing it away, it comes on, crouching on its forefeet, and having lowered its whole body, it extends only its face, watching carefully lest it receive a fatal blow too soon. Therefore when it sees the asp, eagerly contending with its tail as if with a beast, having suddenly leaped upon it, it seizes its neck, and chokes it. 748 But the lizard called the salamander, if it enters a furnace or a bath, cools it down. And they say that the viper receives the seed through the male's mouth, and bites off his member with her teeth, and kills him. But she, having become pregnant, is killed by her children; for while still existing in her belly, they eat through the womb, and having ruptured the belly, they exit through her side. And the serpent when it has grown old becomes blind, and having fasted for forty days its body becomes loose, and it enters a narrow crack of a rock, and by forcing its way through, it sheds its old skin, and is renewed. And when it is thirsty, it first puts aside its venom, and so drinks the water from the spring. And when hunting dormice, it blinds and fattens them, and when they are fattened, it eats them. And if it sees a naked man, it does not approach; but if he is clothed, it leaps upon him. The basilisk sends forth a death-dealing venom with its eye, so that one who looks at it is immediately struck dead. And its breath happens to be fiery, burning up lands and wooded places. And they relate that it is formed in the following way. Whenever several serpents are shut up together, and become famished (since the animal is utterly foul), each one eats its neighbor; and the stronger serpent consumes the weaker one, and having been filled with the venom of all the serpents, of which

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δὲ ἐχῖνος ὡς σφαῖρά ἐστι τῷ σώματι, καὶ ὁ νῶτός ἐστιν αὐτοῦ ὁλόκεντρος, τῶν κέντρων ὁμοίων ὄντων τοῖς τῶν θαλαττίων ἐχίνων κέντροις. Πορεύεται γοῦν ἐπὶ τὸν βότρυν τῆς ἀμπέλου, καὶ κατασπᾷ ῥᾶγας, καὶ ἐγκυλισθεὶς περιπείρει τὰς ῥάγας τοῖς κέντροις καὶ ἀφικνεῖται. ∆ολερὸν ἡ ἀλώπηξ διὰ τοιᾶσδε μηχανῆς θηρωμένη τοὺς ὄρνιθας. Εὑροῦσα γὰρ τελμιστὴν, ἐγκυλίεται εἰς αὐτὴν, καὶ πάλιν ἐνειλεῖται λεπτοτάτῃ κόνει ἢ ἀχύροις, καὶ τίθησιν ἐπὶ τοῦ πεδίου ἑαυτὴν τὰ ὄμματα ἀναπετάσασα, ἢ καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα εἰς ἑαυτὴν ἐπισπῶσα, ὡς φυσηθεῖσαν αὐτὴν ὑπὸ τῶν πετεινῶν νομισθῆναι νεκρὰν, ἅτινα καὶ καταπτάντα ἐπ' αὐτὴν εὐθέως κατεσθίει ἀρπάσασα. Ἡ σαῦρα γηράσασα πηροῦται, καὶ εἰς ῥαγάδα τοίχου πρὸς ἀνατολὰς ἐστοχασμένως βλέπουσα εἴσεισι, καὶ τοῦ ἡλίου ἀνίσχοντος ἀναπετάσασα, ὑπὸ τῆς ἀκτῖνος τῆς ἡλιακῆς καταυγασθεῖσα ἀνηλεοῦται, καὶ ὑγιὴς ἀποκαθίσταται. Οὕτω δὴ καὶ σὺ, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, ὅταν γηράσῃς ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, καὶ τυφλωθῇς τὴν διάνοιαν, τῆς δικαιοσύνης ζήτει τὸν Ἥλιον, ἵνα ἀνακαινισθῇς ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, ἀτενίσας εἰς αὐτὸν καὶ τοῖς τῆς ψυχῆς ἀναβλέψῃς ὀφθαλμοῖς. Πάντων δὲ τῶν θηρίων πνευματικώτατον τυγχάνει καὶ πυρωδέστατον, καὶ ποικίλων σχημάτων τύπους ἀποτελεῖ ὁ δράκων ἑλικοειδὴς, καὶ ποιῶν τῆς πορείας τὰς ὁρμὰς, τάχιστα ἐφ' ᾧ βούλεται ἔπεισιν. Ἔστι· δὲ καὶ πολυχρόνιον· οὐ μόνον γὰρ τὸ γῆρας ἀπαμφίσκεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὔξησιν μείζονα ἐπιδέχεται. Ἐπὰν οὖν τὸν ὡρισμένον τῆς ζωῆς ἐκτελέσῃ χρόνον, εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἀναλίσκεται· οὐ γὰρ ἰδίῳ ἀποθνήσκει τέλει πρὸ τοῦ τῆς ζωῆς ἐκπληρῶσαι τὸν ὅρον, εἰ μὴ βίᾳ ἀναιρεθῇ ὑπό τινος. Τούτῳ ὁ ἰχνεύμων μονομαχεῖ, χρίσας ἑαυτὸν πηλῷ, καὶ τοὺς μυκτῆρας τῇ κέρκῳ ἐπικαλύπτων. Ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ πρὸς τὴν Αἰγυπτίαν ἀσπίδα ποιεῖται συμπληγάδα τοιῶσδε· Αὕτη μὲν ἔπεισιν αὐτῷ πολλῷ ῥοίζῳ τὴν οὐρὰν ἑλικοειδῶς ἐπισύρουσα, τὰ δ' ἀπὸ στηθῶν πρὸς τῇ κεφαλῇ ἄνω πηδῶσα μετέωρος, εὔστερνός τε καὶ πλατυαύχην ἐκφυσηθεῖσα, θυμοῦ τε ἔμπλεως γενομένη ἐπέρχεται, περιφέρουσα τὴν γλῶτταν μετὰ συντόνου συριγμοῦ· ὁ δὲ ἰχνεύμων, ὀρθώσας τὴν κέρκον, ἐπισείει ἀπατῶν αὐτὴν, καὶ μεθέλκων, τοῖς δὲ ἕμπροσθεν ὀκλάσας ποσὶν ἐπιφέρεται, καὶ ταπεινωθεὶς ὅλος τὴν ὄψιν μόνην ἐκτείνει, καραδοκῶν μὴ φθάσῃ πληγὴν καιρίαν δέξασθαι. Ἐπειδὰν οὖν ἴδῃ τὴν ἀσπίδα, ὡς πρὸς θηρίον τὴν κέρκον ἁμιλλωμένην προθύμως, αἰφνιδίως ἐπιπηδήσας τὸν αὐχένα αὐτῆς πιέζει, καὶ ἀποπνίγει. 748 Σαῦρα δὲ ἡ λεγομένη σαλαμάνδρα, ἐὰν εἰς κάμινον, ἢ βαλανεῖον ἐπεισέλθῃ, ἀποψυχραίνει αὐτό. Φασὶ δὲ τὴν ἔχιδναν διὰ στόματος τοῦ ἄῤῥενος τὴν γονὴν δέχεσθαι, καὶ συναποκόπτειν τοῖς ὀδοῦσι αὐτὸ τὸ μόριον, καὶ ἀποκτείνειν αὐτόν. Αὕτη δὲ, ἔγγυος γενομένη, ὑπὸ τῶν τέκνων ἀναιρεῖται· ἔτι γὰρ ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ αὐτῆς ὑπάρχοντα τὴν μήτραν καταφαγόντα, καὶ τὴν κοιλίαν ἀναῤῥήξαντα διὰ τῆς πλευρᾶς ἔξεισι. Γηράσας δὲ ὁ ὄφις ἐκτυφλοῦται, καὶ νηστεύσας ἡμέρας τεσσαράκοντα χαυνοῦται τῷ σώματι, καὶ εἰσέρχεται εἰς ῥαγάδα πέτρας στενὴν, καὶ τῇ βίᾳ διασυρόμενος τὸ δέρμα τὸ γεροντικὸν ἀποδύεται, καὶ ἀνανεοῦται. Ὅταν δὲ διψήσῃ, τὸν ἰὸν πρότερον ἀποτίθεται, καὶ οὕτως ἐκπίνει τὸ ὕδωρ ἐκ τῆς πηγῆς. Ἀγρεύων δὲ τοὺς μυοξοὺς ἐκτυφλοῖ καὶ τρέφει, καὶ πεπανθέντας κατεσθίει αὐτούς. Ἐὰν δὲ γυμνὸν θεάσηται ἄνθρωπον, οὐ πρόσεισιν· εἰ δὲ ἐνδεδυμένον, ἐφάλλεται. Ὁ δὲ βασιλίσκος ἰὸν θανατηφόρον ἀποπέμπει τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ, ὥστε τὸν θεασάμενον παραχρῆμα ἀπονεκροῦσθαι. Τὸ δὲ φύσημα αὐτοῦ τυγχάνει πύρινον, καταφλέγον χώρας, καὶ τόπον σύνδενδρον. Ἱστοροῦσι δὲ αὐτὸν τοιούτῳ τρόπῳ συνίστασθαι. Ἐπὰν ὄφεις πλείονες κατακλεισθῶσιν ὁμοῦ, καὶ λοιμώξωσιν (ἐπειδήπερ τὸ ζῶόν ἐστι παμμίαρον), ἕκαστος τὸν πλησίον κατεσθίει· καὶ ὁ ἰσχυρότερος ἀναλίσκων ὄφις τὸν ἀσθενέστερον, καὶ πληρωθεὶς πάντων τῶν ὄφεων ἰοῦ, ὧν