108

at dawn and rises up immediately from the hollow of the waters also a female-shaped creature; for its appearance revealed its nature, both its breasts and the smoothness of its face and its hair and the entire structure of the visible body, and its embraces 7.16.7 and its languid movements. And the little woman was radiant in her beauty. And the female's hair was very black. And the creature's face was very white, with a fine nose, its hand with shapely fingers, its lips well-formed. And its breast was swelling, and in appearance its little breast seemed 7.16.8 to have just emerged, small, from puberty. But the nature of the waters kept the bosom parts of the little woman unrecorded, concealing the mysteries of her couch from the spectators as if they were uninitiated in the secret rites. The patrol on duty, therefore, and the governor delighted their eyes until the sun set. 7.16. But when the sun set, the things seen sank down into the primeval depths of the waters, having presented the show in silence; for in voiceless silence they had shown the story to their admirers. 7.16.10 We will not, however, overlook these wondrous narratives, which have been excellently philosophized by those before us concerning this very river; for since we draw our origin from there, it is fitting that we should not inappropriately 7.16.11 linger with pleasure on the narratives concerning the Nile. Concerning Apis, we must yield to Herodotus the polymath, but concerning the anthropomorphic and 7.16.12 Nilotic creatures, it has also been recorded by the ancients. But what their appearance signifies, Lydus dared to say, being much younger than the others, who was known in the times of Justinian the emperor. But we, stealing a little from the continuity, will go through the summer risings of the Nile, setting before our audience the more notable narratives of the histories with some memorable account. 7.17.1 This Nile is the greatest of all rivers in the inhabited world, and passing by much of the land of Libya and Ethiopia and of India itself, and surpassing both the Ganges and the Indus in size, it hides its sources from the eyes of men. 7.17.2 In the height of summer, then, it receives its increase, contrary to the nature of all the rivers throughout the inhabited world. And the causes, which have been stated by many and put forward by the ancients, 7.17.3 we submit verbatim to the present history. Those, then, around Hellanicus and Cadmus, and also Hecataeus, took refuge in mythical explanations; but Herodotus the polymath, if anyone else has been experienced in much history, has attempted to give an account of these things, but he is found to have followed 7.17.4 disputed conjectures. But Xenophon and Thucydides, being praised for their truthfulness, rather abstained from these histories. But those around Ephorus and Theopompus, having applied themselves to them more than all others, by no means became acquainted with the truth, and they were ignorant of the account not through carelessness but 7.17.5 through the peculiarity of the country. For from ages past until Ptolemy called Philadelphus, matters concerning these places were, for the most part, entirely strange and dangerous to those who went there. But when the aforementioned king campaigned into Ethiopia with a Greek force, the things concerning this land came to be known, 7.17.6 so to speak, very much more accurately. The priests in Egypt, then, say that the Nile gets its substance from the ocean that flows around the inhabited world, saying nothing true, but solving the difficulty with a difficulty, and bringing forth an account for belief that needs much belief, leaving the narrative 7.17.7 bereft of confirmation. But of the Troglodytes, those who migrated from the upper regions, who are also called Bolgioi, say that there are certain indications around those places, from which one might infer that the stream of the Nile is formed by many springs gathering into one place. 7.17.8 Doubtless also it is the most fertile above all the rivers in the inhabited world

108

ἕῳ καὶ ἄνεισιν εὐθὺς ἐκ τῆς τῶν ὑδάτων κοιλίας καὶ θηλύμορφον ζῶον· τὴν γὰρ φύσιν ἐδήλου ἡ πρόσοψις οἵ τε μαζοὶ καὶ αἱ τοῦ προσώπου λειότητες ἥ τε κόμη καὶ ἅπασα ἡ τοῦ φαινομένου σώματος σύνταξις, αἵ τε περιπλοκαὶ 7.16.7 καὶ τὰ ἔκλυτα. ἔλαμπε δὲ τῇ ὥρᾳ τὸ γύναιον. ἡ δὲ κόμη τῷ θήλει λίαν μελάντερος. ἦν δὲ τὸ ζῶον τὸ πρόσωπον ἔκλευκον, εὔριν, τὴν χεῖρα εὐδάκτυλον, τοῖς χείλεσιν εὔκοσμον. ἐσφρίγα δὲ τῷ μαζῷ, καὶ τῇ φαντασίᾳ τὸ τιτθίον ἐδόκει 7.16.8 ἄρτι ὑπὸ τῆς ἥβης προκύψαι μικρόν. τὰ δὲ ἐγκόλπια τοῦ γυναίου ἀνιστόρητα ἡ τῶν ὑδάτων φύσις ἐφύλαττεν, τῆς εὐνῆς τὰ μυστήρια ὥσπερ ἀμυήτους τινὰς τῶν ἀπορρήτων τοὺς θεατὰς ἀποκρύπτουσα. ἡ μὲν οὖν περίπολος τάξις ὅ τε ἡγεμὼν μέχρι τοῦ κλῖναι τὸν ἥλιον ἐψυχαγώγει τὰ ὄμματα. 7.16. ἡλίου δὲ κλίναντος κατέδυσαν τὰ ὁρώμενα εἰς τοὺς ἀπ' ἀρχῆς τῶν ὑδάτων πυθμένας, ἀφωνίᾳ τὴν ἐπίδειξιν συστησάμενα· ἀφθόγγῳ γὰρ σιωπῇ τὴν ἱστορίαν τοῖς ἐρασταῖς ἐπεδείξαντο. 7.16.10 Οὐκ ἂν δὲ περιοψόμεθα ταῦτα δὴ τὰ παράδοξα διηγήματα, ἃ περὶ τούτου δὴ τοῦ ποταμοῦ καὶ τοῖς πρὸ ἡμῶν πεφιλοσόφηται ἄριστα· ἕλκοντες γὰρ τὸ γένος ἐντεῦθεν εἰκότως τοῖς περὶ τοῦ Νείλου διηγήμασιν οὐκ ἀπροσφόρως 7.16.11 φιλοχωρήσωμεν. περὶ μὲν τοῦ ῎Απιδος ῾Ηροδότῳ παραχωρη-τέον τῷ πολυπράγμονι, περὶ δὲ τῶν ἀνθρωπομόρφων καὶ 7.16.12 Νειλῴων ζώων καὶ τοῖς πάλαι ἱστόρηται. τίνος δὲ σημαντικὸν ἡ τούτων ἐνδημία καθέστηκεν, εἰπεῖν ἐθάρρησεν ὁ Λυδός, τῶν ἄλλων λίαν νεώτερος καθεστώς, ὃς κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους ἐγνωρίζετο ᾿Ιουστινιανοῦ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος. ἡμεῖς δέ τι μικρὸν τὴν συνέχειαν ὑποκλέψαντες περὶ τῶν θερινῶν ἀναβάσεων τοῦ Νείλου διέξιμεν, τὰ ἐπισημότερα τῶν ἱστοριῶν διηγήματα ἀξιολόγῳ μνήμῃ τινὶ τοῖς ἀκροάμασι προβαλλόμενοι. 7.17.1 Οὗτος δὲ ὁ Νεῖλος μέγιστος ἁπάντων τῶν περὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην καθεστὼς ποταμῶν, καὶ πολλῶν τῆς Λιβύης καὶ τῆς Αἰθιοπίας τῆς τε ᾿Ινδικῆς αὐτῆς γῆν παραμείβων, τοῦ τε Γάγγου καὶ ᾿Ινδοῦ προτερεύων κατὰ τὸ μέγεθος, ἀπὸ τῶν 7.17.2 ὀφθαλμῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὰς πηγὰς ἀποκρύπτει. θέρους τοίνυν ἀκμάζοντος τὰς αὐξήσεις λαμβάνει, ἐναντίας τῇ φύσει τῶν κατὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἅπασαν ποταμῶν. τὰς δὲ αἰτίας τὰς παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς εἰρημένας τοῖς ἀρχαίοις προτεθειμένας 7.17.3 ἐπὶ λέξεως τῇ παρούσῃ ὑποβάλλομεν ἱστορίᾳ. οἱ μὲν οὖν περὶ τὸν ῾Ελλάνικον καὶ Κάδμον, ἔτι δὲ ῾Εκαταῖον, εἰς τὰς μυθώδεις ἀποφάσεις κατέφυγον· ῾Ηρόδοτος δὲ ὁ πολυπράγμων, εἰ καί τις ἄλλος πολλῆς γεγονὼς ἔμπειρος ἱστορίας, ἐπικεχείρηκε περὶ τούτων ἀποδοῦναι τὸν λόγον, ἠκολουθηκὼς δὲ 7.17.4 ἀντιλεγομέναις ὑπονοίαις εὑρίσκεται. ὁ δὲ Ξενοφῶν καὶ Θουκυδίδης ἐπαινούμενοι κατὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν μᾶλλον τῶν ἱστοριῶν τούτων ἀπέσχοντο. οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν ῎Εφορον καὶ Θεόπομπον μάλιστα πάντων ἐπιταθέντες εἰς αὐτὰ οὐδαμῶς τῆς ἀληθείας ἐγένοντο γνώριμοι, οὐ δι' ἀμέλειαν δὲ ἀλλὰ 7.17.5 διὰ τὴν τῆς χώρας ἰδιότητα τὸν λόγον ἠγνόησαν. ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν ἕκαθεν χρόνων ἄχρι Πτολεμαίου τοῦ Φιλαδέλφου προσαγορευθέντος ξένα ὡς ἐπίπαν τὰ περὶ τοὺς τόπους τούτους παντελῶς ἦν καὶ τοῖς ἐπιβαίνουσιν ἐπικίνδυνα. τοῦ δὲ προειρημένου βασιλέως μεθ' ῾Ελληνικῆς δυνάμεως εἰς Αἰθιοπίαν στρατεύσαντος, ἐγνώσθη τὰ κατὰ ταύτην τὴν χώραν 7.17.6 λίαν ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν ἀκριβέστερον. οἱ μὲν οὖν κατ' Αἴγυπτον ἱερεῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ περιρρέοντος τὴν οἰκουμένην ὠκεανοῦ φασὶ τὸν Νεῖλον λαμβάνειν τὴν σύστασιν, λέγοντες μὲν οὐδὲν ἀληθές, ἀπορίᾳ δὲ λύοντες τὴν ἀπορίαν, καὶ λόγον φέροντες εἰς πίστιν πολλῆς προσδεόμενον πίστεως, ὀρφανὴν τὴν διήγησιν 7.17.7 καταλιμπάνοντες βεβαιώσεως. τῶν δὲ Τρωγλοδυτῶν οἱ μεταναστάντες ἐκ τῶν ἄνωθεν τόπων, οἱ καὶ Βόλγιοι προσαγορευόμενοι, λέγουσιν ἐμφάσεις εἶναί τινας περὶ τοὺς τόπους ἐκείνους, ἐξ ὧν ἄν τις συλλογίσοιτο διότι πολλῶν πηγῶν εἰς ἕνα τόπον ἀθροιζομένων τὸ ῥεῦμα τοῦ Νείλου συνίσταται. 7.17.8 ἀμέλει καὶ πολυγονώτατον αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ ἅπαντας τοὺς κατὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην ποταμοὺς