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he agreed to be wedded and that the things not justly done by him previously he would atone for by what was to follow. 8.20.41 And since these things pleased the girl, Radigis was released from his bonds and was deemed worthy of other kindness, and he immediately sent away the sister of Theudibert, and married the Brittian woman. So these things went this way. 8.20.42 And in this island of Brittia the men of old built a long wall, cutting a great part of it in two; and the air and the land and 8.20.43 all other things are not alike on either side of the wall. For on the side of the wall towards the rising sun there is a healthfulness of air, changing with the seasons, being moderately 8.20.44 warm in summer, and cool in winter; and many people dwell there, living in the same way as other men, and the trees are in bloom with the seasonable fruits which they produce at the fitting time, and the crops flourish no less than 8.20.45 any others; but also the land appears to be abundantly supplied with waters. But towards the setting sun everything is the opposite, so that it is of course impossible for a man to live there even for half an hour, but vipers and countless snakes and all sorts of other wild beasts have that region allotted to them. 8.20.46 And, what is most strange, the natives say that if a man crosses the wall and goes to the other side, he dies straightway, unable to bear the pestilence of the air there, and for the wild beasts that come here death immediately meeting them 8.20.47 awaits. And having arrived at this point in the history it is necessary for me to mention a story that is very much like a myth, which indeed did not seem to me at all credible, although it is constantly reported by countless men, who insist that they have been actors in the events and hearers of the words, nor yet is it to be passed over entirely, so that I, in writing about the island of Brittia, may not win a reputation for being completely ignorant of the things which are constantly happening there. 8.20.48 They say, then, that the souls of men who die are always conveyed to this place. And in what manner, I shall immediately declare, having often heard it from the men of that place reporting it most earnestly, though I have considered that the things which are so much talked of should be ascribed to some power of dreams. 8.20.49 Along the coast of the Ocean opposite the island of Brittia it happens that there are very many villages. Men inhabit them who are fishermen and farmers and who sail for trade to this island, being in other respects subjects of the Franks, but never having rendered payment of tribute, this burden having been remitted to them from of old, on account of a certain service, as they say, which will be told by me at the present time. 8.20.50 The men of this place say that the task of escorting the souls is laid upon them in turn. Therefore as many as on the following night must go to this duty in the succession of their service, these men, as soon as it grows dark, retire to their own houses and go to sleep, awaiting the one who will assemble 8.20.51 them for the business. And late at night they perceive their doors being knocked, and hear a certain unseen voice summoning them to the work. 8.20.52 And they with no hesitation rise from their beds and walk to the shore, not understanding what necessity drives them to this, but nevertheless 8.20.53 being compelled. And there they see boats made ready, completely empty of men, not their own, however, but certain others, into which they embark 8.20.54 and take hold of the oars. And they perceive the boats being weighed down by the multitude of passengers, and dipped in the surge to the very edge of the gunwales and the oarlocks, and wanting of the water not so much as a single finger's breadth, yet they themselves see no one, but rowing for one hour they land at Brittia. 8.20.55 And yet when they sail in their own boats, not using sails, but rowing, they with difficulty cross over there in a night and a day; but having sailed to the island and unloading, they depart at once, their boats becoming light for them from the

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ξυνοικισθήσεσθαι ὡμολόγει καὶ τὰ οὐκ ἐν δίκῃ τὸ πρότερόν οἱ αὐτῷ πεπραγμένα τοῖς ἐπιγενησομένοις 8.20.41 ἰάσεσθαι. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὴν παῖδα ταῦτα ἤρεσκε, τῶν τε δεσμῶν ἀφεῖτο Ῥάδιγις τῆς τε ἄλλης φιλοφροσύνης ἠξίωτο, ἀποπέμπεται μὲν τὴν Θευδιβέρτου εὐθὺς ἀδελφὴν, τὴν δὲ Βριττίαν ἐγήματο. ταῦτα μὲν τῇδε κεχώρηκεν. 8.20.42 Ἐν ταύτῃ δὲ τῇ Βριττίᾳ νήσῳ τεῖχος ἐδείμαντο μακρὸν οἱ πάλαι ἄνθρωποι, δίχα τέμνον αὐτῆς πολλήν τινα μοῖραν· τοῦ δὲ τείχους ὅ τε ἀὴρ καὶ ἡ γῆ καὶ 8.20.43 τὰ ἄλλα πάντα οὐχ ὁμοίως ἐφ' ἑκάτερά ἐστι. τὰ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ τείχους πρὸς ἀνίσχοντα ἥλιον εὐεξία τε ἀέρων ἐστὶ συμμεταβαλλομένη ταῖς ὥραις, θέρους μὲν μετρίως 8.20.44 ἀλεεινὴ, ψυχεινὴ δὲ χειμῶνος· καὶ ἄνθρωποι μὲν πολλοὶ ᾤκηνται κατὰ ταὐτὰ βιοτεύοντες τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις, τά τε δένδρα καρποῖς ἐν ἐπιτηδείῳ γινομένοις ὡραίοις ἀνθεῖ, τά τε λήϊα τῶν ἄλλων οὐδὲν 8.20.45 καταδεέστερον τέθηλεν· ἀλλὰ καὶ ὕδασιν ἡ χώρα ἐναβρυνομένη διαρκῶς φαίνεται. πρὸς δύοντα δὲ πᾶν τοὐναντίον, ὥστε ἀμέλει ἀνθρώπῳ μὲν οὐδὲ ἡμιώριον δυνατόν ἐστιν ἐνταῦθα βιῶναι, ἔχις δὲ καὶ ὄφεις ἀνάριθμοι καὶ ἄλλων θηρίων παντοδαπὰ γένη διακεκλή8.20.46 ρωται τὸν χῶρον ἐκεῖνον. καὶ, τὸ δὴ παραλογώτατον, οἱ ἐπιχώριοι λέγουσιν ὡς, εἴ τις ἄνθρωπος τὸ τεῖχος ἀμείψας ἐπὶ θάτερα ἴοι, εὐθυωρὸν θνήσκει, τὸ λοιμῶδες τῶν ἐκείνῃ ἀέρων ὡς ἥκιστα φέρων, τοῖς τε θηρίοις ἐνθάδε ἰοῦσιν ὁ θάνατος εὐθὺς ὑπαντιάζων 8.20.47 ἐκδέχεται. ἐνταῦθα δέ μοι γενομένῳ τῆς ἱστορίας ἐπάναγκές ἐστι λόγου μυθολογίᾳ ἐμφερεστάτου ἐπιμνησθῆναι, ὃς δή μοι οὔτε πιστὸς τὸ παράπαν ἔδοξεν εἶναι, καίπερ ἀεὶ πρὸς ἀνδρῶν ἐκφερόμενος ἀναρίθμων, οἳ δὴ τῶν μὲν πρασσομένων αὐτουργοὶ, τῶν δὲ λόγων αὐτήκοοι ἰσχυρίζοντο γεγονέναι, οὔτε παριτέος παντάπασιν, ὡς μὴ τά γε ἀμφὶ Βριττίᾳ τῇ νήσῳ ἀναγραφόμενος ἀγνοίας τινὸς τῶν τῇδε ξυμβαινόντων διηνεκῶς ἀπενέγκωμαι δόξαν. 8.20.48 Λέγουσιν οὖν τὰς τῶν ἀποβιούντων ἀνθρώπων ψυχὰς ἐς τοῦτο ἀεὶ διακομίζεσθαι τὸ χωρίον. ὅντινα δὲ τρόπον, αὐτίκα δηλώσω, σπουδαιότατα μὲν ἀπαγγελλόντων ἀκηκοὼς πολλάκις τῶν τῇδε ἀνθρώπων, ἐς ὀνείρων δέ τινα δύναμιν ἀποκεκρίσθαι νενομικὼς τὰ 8.20.49 θρυλλούμενα. παρὰ τὴν ἀκτὴν τοῦ κατὰ τὴν Βριττίαν Ὠκεανοῦ νῆσον κώμας παμπληθεῖς ξυμβαίνει εἶναι. οἰκοῦσι δὲ αὐτὰς ἄνθρωποι σαγηνεύοντές τε καὶ γῆν γεωργοῦντες καὶ ἐπ' ἐμπορίαν ναυτιλλόμενοι ἐς τήνδε τὴν νῆσον, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα Φράγγων κατήκοοι ὄντες, φόρου μέντοι ἀπαγωγὴν οὐπώποτε παρασχόμενοι, ὑφειμένου αὐτοῖς ἐκ παλαιοῦ τοῦδε τοῦ ἄχθους, ὑπουργίας τινὸς, ὥς φασιν, ἕνεκα, ἥ μοι ἐν τῷ παρόντι 8.20.50 λελέξεται. λέγουσιν οἱ ταύτῃ ἄνθρωποι ἐκ περιτροπῆς ἐπικεῖσθαι τὰς τῶν ψυχῶν παραπομπὰς σφίσιν. ὅσοις οὖν τῇ ἐπιγενησομένῃ νυκτὶ ἐς τὸ ἐπιτήδευμα τοῦτο τῇ τῆς ὑπουργίας διαδοχῇ ἰτέον ἐστὶν, οὗτοι δὴ ἐπειδὰν τάχιστα ξυσκοτάζῃ, ἐς τὰς οἰκίας τὰς αὑτῶν ἀναχωροῦντες καθεύδουσι, προσδεχόμενοι τὸν συναγωγέα 8.20.51 τοῦ πράγματος. ἀωρὶ δὲ τῶν νυκτῶν τῶν μὲν θυρῶν σφίσιν ἀρασσομένων αἰσθάνονται, φωνῆς δέ τινος ἀφανοῦς ἐπαΐουσιν ἐπὶ τὸ ἔργον αὐτοὺς ξυγκαλούσης. 8.20.52 αὐτοί τε ὀκνήσει οὐδεμιᾷ ἐκ τῶν στρωμάτων ἐξανιστάμενοι ἐπὶ τὴν ἠϊόνα βαδίζουσιν, οὐ ξυνιέντες μὲν ὁποία ποτὲ ἀνάγκη αὐτοὺς ἐς τοῦτο ἐνάγει, ἀλλ' ὅμως 8.20.53 ἀναγκαζόμενοι. ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἀκάτους παρεσκευασμένας ὁρῶσιν ἐρήμους τὸ παράπαν ἀνθρώπων, οὐ τὰς σφετέρας μέντοι, ἀλλ' ἑτέρας τινὰς, ἐς ἃς δὴ ἐσβάντες 8.20.54 τῶν κωπῶν ἅπτονται. καὶ τῶν βάρεων αἰσθάνονται ἀχθομένων μὲν ἐπιβατῶν πλήθει, ἄχρι δὲ ἐς σανίδας τε ἄκρας καὶ τῶν κωπῶν τὴν χώραν τῷ ῥοθίῳ βεβαπτισμένων, ἀποδεουσῶν τε τοῦ ὕδατος ὅσον οὐδὲ δάκτυλον ἕνα, αὐτοὶ μέντοι οὐδένα θεῶνται, ἀλλὰ καὶ μίαν ἐρέσσοντες ὥραν ἐς τὴν Βριττίαν καταίρουσι. 8.20.55 καίτοι ταῖς ἀκάτοις ἡνίκα ταῖς αὑτῶν ἰδίαις ναυτίλλονται, οὐχ ἱστίοις χρώμενοι, ἀλλ' ἐρέσσοντες, ἐς νύκτα τε καὶ ἡμέραν μόλις ἐνταῦθα διαπορθμεύονται· ἐς τὴν νῆσον δὲ καταπλεύσαντες ἀποφορτιζόμενοι ἀπαλλάσσονται αὐτίκα δὴ μάλα, τῶν βάρεων σφίσι κούφων γινομένων ἐκ τοῦ