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immediately letting them go, so that the need for food does not continually trouble us, with emptying always demanding filling. And why is it necessary to enumerate all the wonders of nature? For it is now at last time to come to the hands, the mention of which we omitted on the previous day, and promised today to explain their use. See them, then, neither extended beyond what is needed, so that they do not become a superfluous burden for the rest of the body, nor on the other hand having a length shorter than necessary, but having received a measure proportionate to the works for which they were made. For this reason 83.613 the Creator also divided them into three parts, and He placed the first joint at the shoulders, and at the elbow He joined the upper arm and forearm, and having jointed the other end of the forearm at the wrist, and having placed the metacarpus on this, to this He implanted the five fingers. And each of these He composed of three small bones; and making the ends of some concave, and having fashioned others spherical, and having inserted the spherical part into the hollow, He bound them with secure sinews, and having entrusted the voluntary movement to the muscles, He clothed them with soft skin, so that hardness might not be an obstacle when they are closed. And having made the tips of the fingers soft on the inside, He provided for their security on the outside. For He placed thin and broad nails upon them, having their projections rounded on the outside; and He made them thin, so that they do not weigh down the soft flesh of the tips, becoming a superfluous burden; and broad, so that they may hold up in laborious tasks, supporting from the outside the soft part of the flesh on the surface; and He fashioned their projections rounded, contriving for them durability through this shape. For the corners of triangular and square shapes in thin bodies are easily broken. For to lions, and bears, and leopards, and the other wild beasts, the Maker implanted sharp and thick and long and very strong nails, and has put a natural suit of armor on them, since their lack of reason prevents them from partaking of artificial help. But having created man rational, and having implanted in him a mind capable of discovering countless sciences and arts, He created him naked of natural armor; and He neither gave him bestial claws, nor did He cover his feet with hooves or claws; for how could he have mounted ladders? and how could he have stood on thin walls, weaving stones or bricks, and constructing a house? And how could he have stood on the edges of roofs using hooves or claws? But now the softness and length of the feet, and the flexibility of the toes, make his movement easy, and his standing secure. And using his bare feet, he very easily both walks on beams, and dares to mount thin ladders, and he does countless other things with great ease. But the use of hooves or claws he has as an acquired addition. For taking the hide from the subject livestock, using the tanner's and shoemaker's art as an assistant, he imitates both the position and the bulk of the feet, both length and width, and thus he clothes them, so that they may both ward off harm from hard bodies in walking, and blunt the edge of the frosts. For this reason the Maker granted the members of the hands to this animal alone, as certain instruments befitting a rational being. For through these men both plow the earth, and cut furrows, and cast seeds, and handling a mattock or a two-pronged hoe, they dig pits, and plant trees, and sharpening sickles, now seeing the vines hastening toward 83.616 birth-pangs, they prune them, and free them from superfluous growth; and now they mow the cornfields, and using their hands they reap the rewards of their labors, as sheaf-binders they bind them, and bring the loads to the threshing floors, and separate the wheat from the chaff. And the one, they send to the chaff-bins, and the other, they store in the granaries,

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εὐθὺς προϊεμένων, ὅπως μὴ συνεχῶς ἡμῖν ἡ χρεία τῶν σιτίων παρενοχλῇ, τῆς κενώσεως ἀεὶ τὴν πλήρωσιν ἀπαιτούσης. Καὶ τί δεῖ πάντα καταλέγειν τὰ τῆς φύσεως θαύ ματα; Καιρὸς γὰρ ἤδη λοιπὸν ἐπὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἐλ θεῖν, ὧν τὴν μνήμην τῇ προτεραίᾳ παραλιπόντες, ὑπεσχόμεθα σήμερον τούτων ἑρμηνεῦσαι τὴν χρείαν. Βλέπε τοίνυν αὐτὰς, οὔτε πέρα τῆς χρείας ἐκτετα μένας, ἵνα μὴ φορτίον περιττὸν τῷ λοιπῷ γένωνται σώματι, οὔτε αὖ πάλιν ἐνδεέστερον ἢ ἔδει τὸ μῆ κος ἐχούσας, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἔργοις ὧν χάριν ἐγένοντο ἀναλογοῦν δεξαμένας τὸ μέτρον. Τούτου χάριν αὐ 83.613 τὰς καὶ τριχῇ διεῖλεν ὁ Πλάστης, καὶ τὴν μὲν πρώ την ἁρμονίαν τοῖς ὤμοις ἐντέθεικεν, ἀγκῶνι δὲ βρα χίονα καὶ πῆχυν συνήρμοσε, τῷ δὲ καρπῷ τὴν ἑτέ ραν τοῦ πήχεως συναρθρώσας ἀρχὴν, καὶ τούτῳ τὸ μετακάρπιον ἐπιθεὶς, τοὺς πέντε τούτῳ δακτύλους ἐνέφυσε. Καὶ ἕκαστον δὲ τούτων ἐκ τριῶν σκυταλί δων συνέθηκε· καὶ τῶν μὲν τὰς ἀρχὰς κοιλάνας, τῶν δὲ σφαιροειδεῖς τεκτηνάμενος, καὶ τῷ κοίλῳ τὸ σφαι ροειδὲς ἐμβαλὼν, νεύροις τε ἐνέδησε στεγανοῖς, καὶ μυσὶ τὴν ἑκούσιον κίνησιν ἐγχειρίσας, μαλακῷ ἠμ φίεσε δέρματι, ἵνα συναγομένοις ἐμποδὼν ἡ σκληρό της μὴ γίγνηται. Καὶ τὰ ἄκρα δὲ τῶν δακτύλων ἔνδοθεν χαῦνα δημιουργήσας, ἔξωθεν τῆς ἀσφαλείας ἐφρόντισεν. Ὄνυχας γὰρ αὐτοῖς λεπτοὺς καὶ πλατεῖς ἐπέθηκε, περιφερεῖς ἔξωθεν τὰς προβολὰς ἔχοντας· καὶ λεπτοὺς μὲν πεποίηκεν, ἵνα μὴ τὴν μαλακὴν τῶν ἄκρων βαρῶσι σάρκα, περιττὸν φορτίον γινό μενοι· πλατεῖς δὲ, ὅπως ἐν ταῖς ἐπιπόνοις ἐργασίαις ἀντέχωσιν, ἔξωθεν τὸ χαῦνον τῆς ἔξω κει μένης σαρκὸς ὑπερείδοντες· περιφερεῖς δὲ τούτων τὰς προβολὰς ἐτεκτήνατο, τὸ δυσπαθὲς αὐτοῖς διὰ τοῦδε τοῦ σχήματος μηχανώμενος. Εὔθραυστοι γὰρ τῶν τριγώνων καὶ τετραγώνων σχημάτων ἐν τοῖς λεπτοῖς σώμασιν αἱ γωνίαι. Λέουσι μὲν γὰρ, καὶ ἄρκτοις, καὶ παρδάλεσι, καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις θηρίοις, ὀξεῖς καὶ παχεῖς καὶ μακροὺς καὶ μάλα ἰσχυροὺς ἐνέφυσεν ὁ Ποιητὴς ὄνυχας, καὶ φυσικὴν αὐτοῖς περιτέθεικε πανοπλίαν, ἐπειδὴ τῆς τεχνικῆς αὐτοὺς μεταλαχεῖν βοηθείας ἡ ἀλογία κωλύει. Τὸν δὲ ἄν θρωπον λογικὸν δημιουργήσας, καὶ νοῦν αὐτῷ μυ ρίων ἐπιστημῶν καὶ τεχνῶν εὑρετὴν ἐμφύσας, γυ μνὸν τῆς φυσικῆς πανοπλίας ἐδημιούργησε· καὶ οὔτε ὄνυχας αὐτῷ θηριώδεις ἔδωκεν, οὔτε ὁπλαῖς ἢ χη λαῖς τοὺς τούτου πόδας ἐκάλυψε· πῶς γὰρ ἂν ἐπέβη κλιμάκων; πῶς δὲ ἂν ἐπὶ τοίχων ἔστη λεπτῶν, λί θους ἢ πλίνθους ὑφαίνων, καὶ οἰκίαν κατασκευάζων; πῶς δ' ἂν ἐπ' ἄκρων ἔστη δωμάτων ὁπλαῖς ἢ χηλαῖς κεχρημένος; Νῦν δὲ τὸ μαλακὸν καὶ πρόμηκες τῶν ποδῶν, καὶ τῶν δακτύλων τὸ εὐκαμπὲς, ῥᾳδίαν αὐτῷ τὴν κίνησιν, καὶ ἀσφαλῆ τὴν στάσιν ποιεῖ. Καὶ γυ μνοῖς μὲν τοῖς ποσὶ κεχρημένος, εὐπετῶς μάλα καὶ ἐπὶ ξύλων βαδίζει, καὶ λεπτῶν κλιμάκων κατατολμᾷ, καὶ μυρία ἄττα δρᾷ μετὰ πολλῆς εὐκολίας. Τὴν δὲ τῶν ὁπλῶν ἢ τῶν χηλῶν χρείαν ἐπείσακτον ἔχει. Ἐκ γὰρ τῶν ὑπηκόων θρεμμάτων δέρμα λαβὼν, βυρσο δεψικῇ καὶ σκυτοτομικῇ τέχνῃ χρησάμενος συνεργῷ, μιμεῖται τῶν ποδῶν καὶ θέσιν καὶ ὄγκον, μῆκός τε καὶ εὖρος, καὶ οὕτως αὐτοὺς ἀμφιέννυσιν, ὡς ἂν καὶ τῶν ἀντιτύπων σωμάτων ἐν τῷ βαδίζειν τὴν βλάβην ἀπείργωσι, καὶ τῶν κρυμῶν ἀμβλύνωσι τὴν ἀκμήν. Τούτου χάριν ὁ Ποιητὴς μόνῳ τῷδε τῷ ζώῳ τὰ τῶν χειρῶν ἐχαρίσατο μόρια, οἷον ὄργανά τινα λογικῷ πρέποντα. ∆ιὰ τούτων γὰρ οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ γῆν ἀροῦσι, καὶ αὔλακας τέμνουσι, καὶ σπέρμα τα καταβάλλουσι, καὶ σκαπάνην ἢ δίκελλαν μετα χειριζόμενοι, βόθρους ὀρύττουσι, καὶ δένδρα φυτεύ ουσι, καὶ δρέπανα θήγοντες, νῦν τὰς ἀμπέλους πρὸς 83.616 ὠδῖνας ἐπειγομένας ὁρῶντες τέμνουσι, καὶ τῶν πε ριττῶν ἀπαλλάττουσι· νῦν δὲ τὰ λήϊα κείρουσι, καὶ δρέπονται τῶν πόνων τὰ ἐπίχειρα χερσὶ χρώμενοι, ἀμαλλοδετῆρες δεσμοῦσι, καὶ εἰς τὰς ἅλως τὰ φορτία κομίζουσι, καὶ τῶν ἀχύρων τοὺς πυροὺς ἀποκρί νουσι. Καὶ τὸ μὲν, ταῖς ἀχυρμιαῖς παραπέμπουσι, τοὺς δὲ, τοῖς δοχείοις ἐναποτίθενται,