---
title: "On the Cleverness of Animals · De sollertia animalium"
author: "Plutarch"
translator: "John Philips, rev. William W. Goodwin"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Philosophy"
section: 2 of 4
url: https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-cleverness-of-animals/2/
cite: "Plutarch, tr. John Philips, rev. William W. Goodwin, On the Cleverness of Animals · De sollertia animalium, section 2. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-cleverness-of-animals/2/"
---

# On the Cleverness of Animals · De sollertia animalium

*Plutarch, tr. John Philips, rev. William W. Goodwin*

Which are cleverer, land animals or sea animals? Many stories of animal intelligence.

> Greek: ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0007.tlg129, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: John Philips, rev. William W. Goodwin, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0007.tlg129.perseus-eng4). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 2. Sections 11–19

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-cleverness-of-animals/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-cleverness-of-animals/2/#p-N

[¶0] 11. But as it is a task of great labor accurately to relate the economy and contrivances of the emmets, so it would argue too much of negligence to pass them over in silence. For there is not in Nature a smaller creature; and yet it is a most absolute mirror of the greatest and most noble performances, and (as it were) in a transparent drop the appearance of all virtue. There is friendship to be discerned in their mutual society. There is the image of fortitude in the patient undergoing of labor. In them are to be seen many seeds of continence, many of wisdom and justice. Insomuch that Cleanthes, who denied that beasts were endued with reason, could not forbear reporting how he met with the following accident of a crowd of emmets, that came to another ant-hill, bringing along with them a dead emmet. Presently other emmets ascending out of their ant-hill seemed (as it were) to meet them, and then disappeared again; and this was done twice or thrice. Till at length the one side brought up from under ground a worm, as the price of the dead emmet’s redemption, which the other party of pismires receiving, delivered the dead emmet, and so departed. But that which is apparent to all is their equity to each other when they meet one another, while they that carry nothing always give way to those that are burdened; nor are their divisions and partitions of things too weighty for single carriage less remarkable, to the end the burdens may be divided among many. But when they bring forth their little eggs and expose them to the cold, Aratus makes it a sign of rainy weather.
When from her hollow cells th’ industrious ant
Her hidden store of eggs brings forth.
For in that sense many read ἤια (provision) for ὤεα (eggs), referring it to the providence of those little creatures, who, when they find their provision in their magazines to begin to taint and grow rotten, bring it forth and expose it to the open air, to prevent the progress of the putrefaction. But that which above all things demonstrates the surpassing excellency of their understanding is their preapprehension of the germinating of wheat. For the wheat does not remain dry and void of putrefaction, but grows moist and turns into a kind of milky substance, when it changes from seed to become an herb. For fear therefore that preserving the quality it should become useless for food, they eat out the very principal part of the grain, from whence the wheat sends forth its blossom. I must confess, I do not approve of those who dig up ant-hills on purpose to improve their learning (as it were) by anatomy. However, they tell us by virtue of that cruel information, that the passage or descent from the top of the hill to the nest is not directly straight nor easily penetrated by any other creature, but intercepted with several turnings and windings, leading through several underminings and perforations into three cavities; of which the one is the common place of feeding and converse for the whole community, the next is the general magazine of their provision, and the third is the apartment where they dispose of their dead.

> Greek: 11. ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΙΜΟΣ. τὰς δὲ μυρμήκων οἰκονομίας καὶ παρασκευὰς ἐκφράσαι μὲν ἀκριβῶς ἀμήχανον, ὑπερβῆναι δὲ παντελῶς ὀλίγωρον· οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτω μικρὸν ἡ φύσις ἔχει μειζόνων καὶ καλλιόνων κάτοπτρον, ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ ἐν σταγόνι καθαρᾷ πάσης ἔνεστιν ἀρετῆς ἔμφασις, ἔνθʼ ἔνι μὲν φιλότης τὸ κοινωνικόν, ἔνι δʼ ἀνδρείας εἰκὼν τὸ φιλόπονον· ἔνεστι δὲ πολλὰ μὲν ἐγκρατείας σπέρματα πολλὰ δὲ φρονήσεως καὶ δικαιοσύνης. ὁ μὲν οὖν Κλεάνθης ἔλεγε, καίπερ οὐ φάσκων μετέχειν λόγου τὰ ζῷα, τοιαύτῃ θεωρίᾳ παρατυχεῖν μύρμηκας ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ μυρμηκιὰν ἑτέραν μύρμηκα νεκρὸν φέροντας ἀνιόντας οὖν ἐκ τῆς μυρμηκιᾶς ἐνίους οἷον ἐντυγχάνειν αὐτοῖς; καὶ πάλιν κατέρχεσθαι καὶ τοῦτο δὶς ἢ τρὶς γενέσθαι τέλος δὲ τοὺς μὲν κάτωθεν ἀνενεγκεῖν ὥσπερ λύτρα τοῦ νεκροῦ σκώληκα, τοὺς δʼ ἐκεῖνον ἀραμένους ἀποδόντας δὲ τὸν νεκρὸν οἴχεσθαι. τῶν δὲ πᾶσιν ἐμφανῶν ἥ τε περὶ τὰς ἀπαντήσεις ἐστὶν εὐγνωμοσύνη, τῶν μηδὲν φερόντων τοῖς φέρουσιν ἐξισταμένων ὁδοῦ καὶ παρελθεῖν διδόντων· αἵ τε τῶν δυσφόρων καὶ δυσπαρακομίστων διαβρώσεις καὶ διαιρέσεις, ὅπως εὐβάστακτα πλείοσι γένηται. τὰς δὲ τῶν κυημάτων διαθέσεις καὶ διαψύξεις ἐκτὸς ὑετοῦ ποιεῖται σημεῖον ὁ Ἄρατος
ἢ κοίλης μύρμηκες ὀχῆς ἐξ ὤεα πάντα
θᾶσσον ἀνηνέγκαντο 1
καί τινες οὐκ ᾠά γράφουσιν, ἀλλʼ ἑά ὡς τοὺς ἀποκειμένους καρποὺς, ὅταν εὐρῶτα συνάγοντας αἴσθωνται καὶ φοβηθῶσι φθορὰν καὶ σῆψιν, ἀναφερόντων. ὑπερβάλλει δὲ πᾶσαν ἐπίνοιαν συνέσεως ἡ τοῦ πυροῦ τῆς βλαστήσεως προκατάληψις· οὐ γὰρ δὴ παραμένει ξηρὸς οὐδʼ ἄσηπτος ἀλλὰ διαχεῖται καὶ γαλακτοῦται μεταβάλλων εἰς τὸ φύειν· ἵνʼ οὖν μὴ γενόμενος σπέρμα τὴν σιτίου χρείαν διαφθείρῃ παραμένῃ δʼ αὐτοῖς ἐδώδιμος, ἐξεσθίουσι τὴν ἀρχήν, ἀφʼ ἧς τὸν βλαστὸν ὁ πυρὸς ἀφίησιν. τοὺς δὲ τὰς μυρμηκιὰς; αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τῷ καταμαθεῖν ὥσπερ ἐξ ἀνατομῆς πληροῦντας οὐκ ἀποδέχομαι λέγουσι δʼ οὖν οὐκ εὐθεῖαν εἶναι τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ὀπῆς κάθοδον οὐδʼ εὔπορον ἄλλῳ θηρίῳ διεξελθεῖν, ἀλλὰ καμπαῖς καὶ στρεβλότησι κεκλασμένας ὑποπορεύσεις καὶ ἀνατρήσεις ἐχούσαις εἰς τρεῖς κοιλότητας ἀποτελευτῶσαν, ὧν τὴν μὲν ἐνδιαίτημα κοινὸν αὐτοῖς εἶναι, τὴν δὲ τῶν ἐδωδίμων ταμιεῖον, εἰς δὲ τὴν τρίτην ἀποτίθεσθαι τοὺς θνήσκοντας;

[¶1] 12. I am afraid you may deem me too impertinent in joining elephants with pismires, and yet I cannot but think it seasonable to show the nature and force of understanding, as well in the smallest as in the greatest bodies, neither obscured in the one nor deficient in the other. Some there are that admire in an elephant his aptness to learn and to be taught, and the many various postures and alterations of movement which he shows upon the theatres, not easily to be equalled by human assiduity, as subtle and abounding in memory and retention as man is. But for my part, I rather choose to prove his evident understanding from the passions and inclinations of the creature, that were never taught him, but only infused by Nature, as being altogether unmixed and pure without the help of art. At Rome, not very long ago, there were many elephants that were taught many dangerous postures, many winding and turnings and circular screwings of their bulky bodies, hard to be expressed; among which there was one, which, being duller than the rest, and therefore often rated and chastised for his stupidity, was seen in the night-time, by moonlight, without being forced to it, to practise over his lessons with all the industry imaginable. Agno tells a story of an elephant in Syria, that was bred up in a certain house, who observed that his keeper took away and defrauded him every day of half the measure of his barley; only that once, the master being present and looking on, the keeper poured out the whole measure; which was no sooner done, but the elephant, extending his proboscis, separated the barley and divided it into two equal parts, thereby ingeniously discovering, as much as in him lay, the injustice of his keeper. Another in revenge that his keeper mixed stones and dirt with his barley, as the keeper’s meat was boiling upon the fire, took up the ashes and flung them into the pot. Another being provoked by the boys in Rome, that pricked his proboscis with the sharp ends of their writingsteels, caught one of them in his proboscis, and mounted him up into the air, as if he intended to have squashed out his guts; but upon the loud outcries of the spectators, set him gently down again upon his feet, and so went on, believing he had sufficiently punished the boy in scaring him. Many other things are reported of the wild elephants that feed without control, but nothing more to be admired than their passing, of great rivers. For first of all the youngest and the least flounces into the stream; whom the rest beholding from the shore, if they see that the less bulky leader keeps steady footing with his back above water, they are then assured and confident that they may boldly adventure without any danger.

> Greek: 12. ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΙΜΟΣ. οἶμαι δὲ μὴ ἄκαιρος ὑμῖν φανεῖσθαι τοῖς μύρμηξιν ἐπεισάγων τοὺς ἐλέφαντας, ἵνα τοῦ νοῦ τὴν φύσιν ἔν τε τοῖς μικροτάτοις ἅμα καὶ μεγίστοις σώμασι κατανοήσωμεν, μήτε τούτοις ἐναφανιζομένην μήτʼ ἐκείνοις ἐνδέουσαν. οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι θαυμάζουσι τοῦ ἐλέφαντος ὅσα μανθάνων καὶ διδασκόμενος ἐν θεάτροις ἐπιδείκνυται σχημάτων εἴδη καὶ μεταβολάς, ὧν οὐδʼ ἀνθρωπίναις μελέταις τὸ ποικίλον καὶ περιττὸν ἐν μνήμῃ καὶ καθέξει γενέσθαι πάνυ ῥᾴδιόν ἐστιν· ἐγὼ δὲ μᾶλλον ἐν τοῖς ἀφʼ αὑτοῦ καὶ ἀδιδάκτοις τοῦ θηρίου πάθεσι καὶ κινήμασιν, ὥσπερ ἀκράτοις καὶ ἀπαραχύτοις, ἐμφαινομένην ὁρῶ τὴν σύνεσιν. ἐν Ῥώμῃ μὲν γὰρ οὐ πάλαι πολλῶν προδιδασκομένων στάσεις τινὰς ἵστασθαι παραβόλους καὶ κινήσεις δυσεξελίκτους ἀνακυκλεῖν, εἷς ὁ δυσμαθέστατος ἀκούων κακῶς ἑκάστοτε καὶ κολαζόμενος πολλάκις ὤφθη νυκτὸς αὐτὸς ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ πρὸς τὴν σελήνην ἀναταττόμενος; τὰ μαθήματα καὶ μελετῶν. ἐν δὲ Συρίᾳ πρότερον Ἅγνων ἱστορεῖ, τρεφομένου κατʼ οἰκίαν ἐλέφαντος, τὸν ἐπιστάτην λαμβάνοντα κριθῶν μέτρον ὑφαιρεῖν καὶ χρεωκοπεῖν μέρος ἣμισυ καθʼ ἡμέραν· ἐπεὶ δέ, τοῦ δεσπότου παρόντος ποτὲ καὶ θεωμένου, πᾶν τὸ μέτρον κατήρασεν, ἐμβλέψαντα καὶ διαγαγόντα τὴν προβοσκίδα τῶν κριθῶν ἀποδιαστῆσαι καὶ διαχωρίσαι τὸ μέρος, ὡς ἐνῆν λογιώτατα κατειπόντα τοῦ ἐπιστάτου τὴν ἀδικίαν· ἄλλον δέ, ταῖς κριθαῖς λίθους καὶ γῆν εἰς τὸ μέτρον τοῦ ἐπιστάτου καταμιγνύοντος, ἑψομένων κρεῶν, δραξάμενον τῆς τέφρας ἐμβαλεῖν εἰς τὴν χύτραν. ὁ δʼ ὑπὸ τῶν παιδαρίων προπηλακισθεὶς ἐν Ῥώμῃ τοῖς γραφείοις τὴν προβοσκίδα κεντούντων ὃν συνέλαβε μετέωρον ἐξάρας ἐπίδοξος ἦν ἀποτυμπανίσειν κραυγῆς δὲ τῶν παρόντων γενομένης, ἀτρέμα πρὸς τὴν γῆν πάλιν ἀπηρείσατο καὶ παρῆλθεν, ἀρκοῦσαν ἡγούμενος δίκην τῷ τηλικούτῳ φοβηθῆναι. περὶ τῶν ἀγρίων καὶ αὐτονόμων ἄλλα τε θαυμάσια καὶ τὰ περὶ τὰς διαβάσεις τῶν ποταμῶν ἱστοροῦσι προδιαβαίνει γὰρ ἐπιδοὺς αὑτὸν ὁ νεώτατος καὶ μικρότατος οἱ δʼ, ἑστῶτες ἀποθεωροῦσιν ὡς, ἂν ἐκεῖνος ὑπεραίρῃ τῷ μεγέθει τὸ ῥεῦμα, πολλὴν τοῖς μείζοσι πρὸς τὸ θαρρεῖν περιουσίαν τῆς; ἀσφαλείας οὖσαν.

[¶2] 13. Having thus far proceeded in our discourse, I cannot think it well done to pass by the cunning of the fox, by reason of the similitude it has with the former. The mythologists tell us that the dove which Deucalion sent out of his ark, returning back again, was to him a certain sign of the storm not ceased; but of serene and fair weather, when she flew quite away. But the Thracians to this day, when they design to pass a river that is frozen over, make use of a fox to try whether the ice will bear or no. For the fox, treading gently, lays his ear to the ice, and if he perceive by the noise of the water that the stream runs very close underneath, conjecturing from thence that the congelation is not deep but thin, and no way steadfastly solid, he makes a stop, and if he be suffered, returns back again; but if he perceive no noise, he goes on boldly. Nor can we say that this is only an exquisiteness of sense without reason; but it is a syllogistical deduction from sense, concluding that whatever makes a noise is moved; whatever is moved, cannot be frozen; what is not frozen, is moist; what is moist, gives way. The logicians say that a dog, making use of the argument drawn from many disjunctive propositions, thus reasons with himself, in places where several highways meet: Either the wild beast is gone this way, or that, or that way; but not that way, nor that way, therefore this way: the force of sense affording nothing but the minor premise, but the force of reason affording the major proposition, and inferring the conclusion of the assumption. But a dog stands in no need of any such testimonial; in regard it is both false and adulterate. For sense itself shows which way the beast is fled, by his tracks and footsteps, bidding farewell to disjunctive and copulative propositions. The nature of dogs is palpably to be discerned by many other actions, affections, and dutiful service, neither the effects of hearing or seeing, but practicable only by reason and understanding. It would be ridiculous for me to discourse of the continence, obedience, and industry of dogs in hunting, to you that are so well confirmed in the knowledge of those things by daily experience and practice. There was a Roman named Calvus, slain in the civil wars, whose head nobody durst cut off before they killed the dog that guarded his body and fought in defence of his master. It happened that King Pyrrhus, travelling one day, lit upon a dog watching over the carcass of a person slain; and hearing that the dog had been there three days without meat or drink, yet would not forsake his dead master, ordered that the man should be buried, but that the dog should be preserved and brought to him. A few days after, there was a muster of the soldiers, so that they were forced to march all in order by the king, with the dog quietly lying by him for a good while. But when he saw the murderers of his master pass by him, he flew upon them with a more than ordinary fury, barking and baying and tearing his throat, and ever and anon turning about to the king; which did not only rouse the king’s suspicion, but the jealousy of all that stood about him. Upon which the men were presently apprehended; and though the circumstances were very slight which otherwise appeared against them, yet they confessed the fact and were executed. The same thing is reported to have been done by a dog that belonged to Hesiod, surnamed the wise, which discovered the sons of Ganyctor the Naupactian, by whom Hesiod was murdered. But that which came to the knowledge of our parents, when they were students at Athens, is yet more evident than any thing we have said. For a certain person getting into the temple of Aesculapius, after he had stolen all the massy offerings of gold and silver, made his escape, not believing he was discovered. But the dog which belonged to the temple, who was called Capparus, when he found that none of the sacristans took any notice of his barking, pursued himself the sacrilegious thief; and though at first the fellow pelted him with stones, he could not beat him off. So soon as it was day, the dog still followed him, though at such a distance that he always kept him in his eyes. When the fellow threw him meat he refused it; when the thief went to bed, the dog watched at his door; and when he rose in the morning, the dog still followed him, fawning upon the passengers on the road, but still barking and baying at the heels of the thief. These things when they who were in pursuit of the sacrilegious person heard, and were told withal by those they met the color and bigness of the dog, they were the more vigorous in the pursuit; and by that means overtaking the thief, brought him back from Crommyon, while the dog ran before, leaping and capering and full of joy, as it were challenging to himself the praise and reward of apprehending the temple-robber. And indeed the Athenians were so grateful to him, that they decreed him such a quantity of meat to be publicly measured to him, and ordered the priests to take care to see it done; in imitation of the kindness of the ancient Athenians in rewarding the mule. For when Pericles built the temple Hecatompedon (or Parthenon) in the tower of Athens, it so fell out that the stones were to be fetched every day many furlongs off, and a world of carriages were made use of for that purpose. Among the rest of the mules that labored hard in this employment, there was one that, though dismissed by reason of age, would still go down to the Ceramicus, and meeting the carts that brought the stones, would be always in their company running by their sides, as it were by the way of encouragement and to excite them to work cheerfully. So that the people, admiring the zeal of the mule, ordered him to be fed at the public charge, as they were wont to decree public alms to the superannuated wrestlers.

> Greek: 13. ἐνταῦθα τοῦ λόγου γεγονὼς οὐ δοκῶ μοι παρήσειν διʼ ὁμοιότητα τὸ τῆς ἀλώπεκος. οἱ μὲν οὖν μυθολόγοι τῷ Δευκαλίωνί φασι περιστερὰν ἐκ τῆς λάρνακος ἀφιεμένην δήλωμα γενέσθαι χειμῶνος μὲν εἴσω πάλιν ἐνδυομένην, εὐδίας δʼ ἀποπτᾶσαν οἱ δὲ Θρᾷκες ἔτι νῦν, ὅταν παγέντα ποταμὸν διαβαίνειν ἐπιχειρῶσιν, ἀλώπεκα ποιοῦνται γνὡμθνα τῆς τοῦ πάγου στερρότητος· ἡσυχῆ γὰρ ὑπάγουσα παραβάλλει τὸ οὖς κἂν μὲν αἴσθηται ψόφῳ τοῦ ῥεύματος ἐγγὺς ὑποφερομένου, τεκμαιρομένη μὴ γεγονέναι διὰ βάθους τὴν πῆξιν ἀλλὰ λεπτὴν καὶ ἀβέβαιον ἵσταται, κἂν ἐᾷ τις, ἐπανέρχεται τῷ δὲ μὴ ψοφεῖν θαρροῦσα διῆλθε. καὶ τοῦτο μὴ λέγωμεν αἰσθήσεως ἄλογον ἀκρίβειαν, ἀλλʼ ἐξ αἰσθήσεως συλλογισμὸν ὅτι τὸ ψοφοῦν κινεῖται, τὸ δὲ κινούμενον οὐ πέπηγε, τὸ δὲ μὴ πεπηγὸς ὑγρόν ἐστι, τὸ δʼ ὑγρὸν ἐνδίδωσιν οἱ δὲ διαλεκτικοί φασι τὸν κύνα τῷ διὰ πλειόνων διεζευγμένῳ χρώμενον ἐν ταῖς πολυσχιδέσιν ἀτραποῖς συλλογίζεσθαι πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἤτοι τήνδε τὸ θηρίον ὥρμηκεν ἢ τήνδε ἢ τήνδε· ἀλλὰ μὴν οὔτε τήνδε οὔτε τήνδε τὴν λοιπὴν ἄρα· τῆς μὲν αἰσθήσεως οὐδὲν ἢ τὴν πρόσληψιν διδούσης, τοῦ δὲ λόγου τὰ λήμματα καὶ τὸ συμπέρασμα τοῖς λήμμασιν ἐπιφέροντος. οὐ μὴν δεῖταὶ γε τοιαύτης μαρτυρίας ὁ κύων· ψευδὴς γάρ ἐστι καὶ κίβδηλος ἡ γὰρ αἴσθησις αὐτὴ τοῖς ἴχνεσι καὶ τοῖς ῥεύμασι τοῦ θηρίου τὴν φυγὴν ἐπιδείκνυσι, χαίρειν λέγουσα διεζευγμένοις ἀξιώμασι καὶ συμπεπλεγμένοις. διʼ ἄλλων δὲ πολλῶν ἔργων καὶ παθῶν καὶ καθηκόντων οὔτʼ ὀσφραντῶν οὔθʼ ὁρατῶν ἀλλὰ διανοίᾳ καὶ λόγῳ μόνον πρακτῶν καὶ θεατῶν ὄντων κατιδεῖν ἔστι τὴν κυνὸς φύσιν· οὗ τὰς μὲν ἐν ἄγραις ἐγκρατείας καὶ πειθαρχίας καὶ ἀγχινοίας γελοῖος ἔσομαι λέγων πρὸς ὑμᾶς τοὺς τοῦ Ἀσκληπιοῦ τὰ εὔογκα τῶν ἀργυρῶν καὶ χρυσῶν ἔλαβεν ἀναθημάτων καὶ λεληθέναι νομίζων ὑπεξῆλθεν ὁ δὲ φρουρὸς κύων, ὄνομα Κάππαρος, ἐπεὶ μηδεὶς ὑλακτοῦντι τῶν ζακόρων ὑπήκουσεν αὐτῷ, φεύγοντα τὸν ἱερόσυλον ἐπεδίωκε· καὶ πρῶτον μὲν βαλλόμενος λίθοις οὐκ ἀπέστη γενομένης δʼ ἡμέρας, ἐγγὺς οὐ προσιὼν ἀλλʼ ἀπʼ ὀφθαλμοῦ παραφυλάττων εἵπετο καὶ τροφὴν προβάλλοντος οὐκ ἐλάμβανεν ἀναπαυομένῳ δὲ παρενυκτέρευε καὶ βαδίζοντος πάλιν ἀναστὰς ἐπηκολούθει, τοὺς δʼ ἀπαντῶντας ὁδοιπόρους ἔσαινεν, ἐκείνῳ δʼ ἐφυλάκτει καὶ προσέκειτο. ταῦτα δʼ οἱ διώκοντες πυνθανόμενοι παρὰ τῶν ἀπαντώντων ἅμα καὶ τὸ χρῶμα φραζόντων καὶ τὸ μέγεθος; τοῦ κυνὸς προθυμότερον ἐχρήσαντο τῇ διώξει, καὶ καταλαβόντες τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀνήγαγον ἀπὸ Κρομμυῶνος. ὁ δὲ κύων ἀναστρέψας προηγεῖτο γαῦρος καὶ περιχαρής, οἷον ἑαυτοῦ ποιούμενος; ἄγραν καὶ θήραμα τὸν ἱερόσυλον. ἐψηφίσαντο δὴ σῖτον αὐτῷ δημοσίᾳ μετρεῖσθαι καὶ παρεγγυᾶσθαι τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν εἰς ἀεὶ τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν, ἀπομιμησάμενοι τὸ πρὸς τὸν ἡμίονον φιλανθρώπευμα τῶν παλαιῶν Ἀθηναίων. τὸν γὰρ ἑκατόμπεδον νεὼν Περικλέους ἐν ἀκροπόλει κατασκευάζοντος, ὡς εἰκός, λίθοι προσήγοντο πολλοῖς ζεύγεσι καθʼ ἡμέραν· τῶν οὖν συνειργασμένων μὲν προθύμως ἢδη δὲ διὰ γῆρας ἀφειμένων ὀρέων εἷς· κατερχόμενος εἰς Κεραμεικόν, καὶ τοῖς ἀνάγουσι ζεύγεσι τοὺς λίθους ὑπαντῶν ἀεὶ συνανέστρεφε καὶ συμπαρετρόχαζεν, οἷον ἐγκελευόμενος καὶ παρορμῶν διὸ θαυμάσας αὐτοῦ τὴν φιλοτιμίαν ὁ δῆμος ἐκέλευσε δημοσίᾳ τρέφεσθαι, καθάπερ ἀθλητῇ σίτησιν ὑπὸ γήρως; ἀπειρηκότι ψηφισάμενος.

[¶3] 14. And therefore they who deny that there is any thing of justice due from us towards dumb animals may be said to speak true, so far as concerns them that live in the sea and haunt the abysses of the deep. For those kind of creatures are altogether unsociable, without affection for their young ones, void of all softness of disposition; and therefore it was well said of Homer, speaking to a person whom he looked upon as a mere savage,
But as for thee, so little worth,
The gleaming sea did bring thee forth;
in regard the sea brings forth nothing friendly, nothing mansuete or gentle. But he that uses the same discourse and arguments against land animals is himself a brute and savage creature; unless any man will affirm that there was nothing of justice due from Lysimachus to the Hyrcanian dog, that would not stir from the body of his deceased master, and when he saw his master’s carcass burning, ran and threw himself into the flames. The same is reported to have been done by the dog Astus, that was kept by one Pyrrhus, not the king, but a private person of that name. For upon the death of his master, he would not stir from the body, but when it was carried forth, leaped upon the bier, and at length threw himself into the funeral pile, and was burnt alive with his master’s body. The elephant also which carried King Porus, when the king was wounded in the battle against Alexander, pulled out several darts out of his wounds with his proboscis, with no less tenderness and care than the chirurgeon could have done; and though the elephant himself was but in a very bad condition, yet would he not give over till he perceived the king was ready to reel and sink down by reason of the blood which he had lost; and then fearing lest the king should fall, he stooped down gently, to ease the king in sliding to the ground. Such was the humor of Bucephalus, who, before he was accoutred, would suffer his groom to back him, but when he had all his royal trappings and housings about him, would permit nobody but Alexander to bestride him. But if any other persons approached him in curiosity to try what they could do, he encountered them open-mouthed, and neighing out his fury, leaped upon their shoulders, bore them down, and trampled then under his feet, unless prevented by keeping at a distance or by speedy flight.

> Greek: 14. διὸ τοὺς λέγοντας, ὡς ἡμῖν οὐδὲν πρὸς τὰ ζῷα δίκαιόν ἐστι, ῥητέον εὖ λέγειν ἄχρι τῶν ἐνάλων καὶ βυθίων ἄμικτα γὰρ ἐκεῖνα κομιδῇ πρὸς χάριν καὶ ἄστοργα καὶ πάσης ἄμοιρα γλυκυθυμίας καὶ καλῶς Ὅμηρος εἶπε γλαυκὴ δὲ σ᾽ ἔτικτε θάλασσα πρὸς τὸν ἀνήμερον εἶναι δοκοῦντα καὶ ἄμικτον, ὡς μηδὲν τῆς θαλάσσης εὐνοϊκὸν μηδὲ πρᾶον φερούσης. ὁ δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὰ χερσαῖα τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ χρώμενος ἀπηνὴς καὶ θηριώδης ἢ μηδὲ Λυσιμάχῳ τι γεγονέναι φήσῃ πρὸς τὸν κύνα τὸν Ὑρκανὸν δίκαιον, ὃς νεκρῷ τε μόνος παρέμεινεν αὐτῷ καί, καομένου τοῦ σώματος, ἐνδραμὼν αὐτὸς; ἑαυτὸν ἐπέρριψε. τὰ δʼ αὐτὰ καὶ τὸν Ἀστὸν δρᾶσαι λέγουσιν, ὃν Πύρρος οὐχ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀλλʼ ἕτερός τις ἰδιώτης ἔθρεψεν· ἀποθανόντος γὰρ αὐτοῦ περὶ τὸ σῶμα διατρίβων καὶ περὶ τὸ κλινίδιον αἰωρούμενος ἐκφερομένου, τέλος εἰς τὴν πυρὰν στειλάμενος ἀφῆκεν ἑαυτὸν καὶ συγκατέκαυσε. Πώρου δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως ὁ ἐλέφας, ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον μάχῃ κατατετρωμένου, πολλὰ τῶν ἀκοντισμάτων ἀτρέμα καὶ φειδόμενος ἐξῄρει τῇ προβοσκίδι, καὶ κακῶς ἤδη διακείμενος αὐτὸς οὐ πρότερον ἐνέδωκεν ἢ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐξαίμου γενομένου καὶ περιρρέοντος αἰσθόμενος καὶ φοβηθεὶς; μὴ πέσῃ πράως ὑφῆκε, παρέχων ἐκείνῳ τὴν ἀπόκλισιν ἄλυπον. ὁ δὲ Βουκεφάλας γυμνὸς μὲν ὢν παρεῖχεν ἀναβῆναι τῷ ἱπποκόμῳ, κοσμηθεὶς δὲ τοῖς βασιλικοῖς προκοσμίοις καὶ περιδεραίοις οὐδένα προσίετο πλὴν αὐτὸν Ἀλέξανδρον· τοῖς δʼ ἄλλοις, εἰ πειρώμενοι προσίοιεν, ἐναντίος ἐπιτρέχων ἐχρεμέτιζε μέγα καὶ ἐνήλλετο καὶ κατεπάτει τοὺς μὴ πρόσω ἵεσθαι μηδʼ ἀποφεύγειν φθάσαντας.

[¶4] 15. Nor am I ignorant but that there is something of variety in every one of these examples, which you must acknowledge. And indeed it is not easy to find out the natural dexterity of any one ingenious and docible animal, which is not accompanied with more than one single virtue. Thus, where there is affection toward their young ones, there is desire of praise. Where there is generosity, there is also moderation of anger. Cunning likewise and understanding are rarely parted from daring boldness and fortitude. But as for those that rather choose to divide and distinguish every one of these virtues particularly by themselves, they shall find in dogs a fair demonstration of a gentle and yet lofty mind at the same time, in turning away from such as sit quietly upon the ground; according to that of Homer,
With hideous noise the dogs upon him flew;
But sly Ulysses, who the danger knew,
Sate husht and still, and from his royal hand
His sceptre dropt, as useless in command.
For dogs never bite or worry those that prostrate themselves at their mercy and put on a face of humility. Thus they say the bravest of those Indian dogs that fought against Alexander never stirred or so much as looked about them upon the letting loose of a hart, a boar, and a bear; but when they saw a lion, then they began to rouse, to shake, and prepare themselves for the combat. By which it was plain that they thought only the lion an antagonist worthy of their courage, but despised all the rest as below their anger. Your hounds that usually hunt hares, if they kill the hares themselves, take great delight in tearing them to pieces and lapping up the blood. But if the hare despairing of her life, as many times it happens, runs herself to death, the hounds finding her dead will never touch her, but stand wagging their tails, as if they did hunt not so much for the love of the food as for victory and triumph’s sake.

> Greek: 15. οὐκ ἀγνοῶ δʼ ὅτι τὸ τῶν παραδειγμάτων ὑμῖν φανεῖταί τι ποικίλον· οὐκ ἔστι δὲ ῥᾳδίως τῶν εὐφυῶν ζῴων πρᾶξιν εὑρεῖν μιᾶς ἔμφασιν ἀρετῆς ἔχουσαν· ἀλλʼ ἐμφαίνεται καὶ τῷ φιλοστόργῳ τὸ φιλότιμον αὐτῶν καὶ τῷ γενναίῳ τὸ θυμόσοφον, ἣ τε πανουργία καὶ τὸ συνετὸν οὐκ ἀπήλλακται τοῦ θυμοειδοῦς καὶ ἀνδρώδους. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ βουλομένοις διαιρεῖν καὶ διορίζειν καθʼ ἕκαστον, ἡμέρου μὲν ἔμφασιν ὁμοῦ καὶ ὑψηλοῦ φρονήματος ποιοῦσιν οἱ κύνες, ἀποτρεπόμενοι τῶν συγκαθεζομένων ὥς που καὶ ταῦτʼ εἴρηται
οἱ μὲν κεκλήγοντες ἐπέδραμον· αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς
ἕζετο κερδοσύνῃ, σκῆπτρον δὲ οἱ ἔκπεσε χειρός·
οὐκέτι γὰρ προσμάχονται τοῖς ὑποπεσοῦσι καὶ γεγονόσι ταπεινοῖς τὰς ἕξεις ὁμοίοις. φασὶ δὲ καὶ τὸν πρωτεύοντα κύνα τῶν Ἰνδικῶν καὶ μαχεσθέντα πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον, ἐλάφου μὲν ἀφιεμένου καὶ κάπρου καὶ ἄρκτου, ἡσυχίαν ἔχοντα κεῖσθαι καὶ περιορᾶν· ὀφθέντος δὲ λέοντος, εὐθὺς ἐξαναστῆναι καὶ διακονίεσθαι, καὶ φανερὸν εἶναι αὑτοῦ ποιούμενον ἀνταγωνιστήν, τῶν δʼ ἄλλων ὑπερφρονοῦντα πάντων. οἱ δὲ τοὺς δασύποδας διώκοντες, ἐὰν μὲν αὐτοὶ κτείνωσιν, ἥδονται διασπῶντες καὶ τὸ αἷμα λάπτουσι προθύμως· ἐὰν δʼ ἀπογνοὺς ἑαυτὸν ὁ λαγωός, ὃ γίγνεται πολλάκις, ὅσον ἔχει πνεύματος εἰς τὸν ἔσχατον ἀναλώσας δρόμον ἐκλίπῃ, νεκρὸν καταλαβόντες οὐχ ἅπτονται τὸ παράπαν, ἀλλʼ ἵστανται τὰς οὐρὰς κινοῦντες, ὡς οὐ κρεῶν χάριν ἀλλὰ νίκης καὶ φιλονεικίας ἀγωνιζόμενοι.

[¶5] 16. There are many examples of cunning and subtlety abounding in land creatures; but to omit slights and artifices of foxes, cranes, and jackdaws, of which I shall say nothing, because they are things already so well known, I shall make use of the testimony of Thales, the ancientest of our philosophers, who is reported to have chiefly admired the most excellent in any art or cunning. A certain mule that was wont to carry salt, in fording a river, by accident happened to stumble, by which means the water melting away the salt, when the mule rose again he felt himself much lighter; the cause of which the mule was very sensible of, and laid it up in his memory, insomuch that every time he forded the same river, he would always stoop when he came into the deepest part, and fill his vessels with water, crouching down, and leaning sometimes to one side, sometimes to the other. Thales hearing this, ordered the vessels to be well filled with wool and sponges, and to drive the mule laden after that manner. But then the mule, as he was wont, filling his burthens with water, reasoned with himself that he had ill consulted his own benefit, and ever afterwards, when he forded the same river, was so careful and cautious, that he would never suffer his burthens so much as to touch the water by accident. Another piece of cunning, joined with an extraordinary affection to their young ones, is to be observed in partridges, which instruct their young ones, ere they are able to fly, when they are pursued by the fowlers, to lay themselves upon their backs, their breasts covered with some clod of earth or little heap of dirt, under which they may lie concealed. On the other side, the old partridges do deceive the fowlers, and draw them quite a contrary way, make short flights from one place to another, thereby enticing the fowlers to follow them; till thus allured from their young ones, the fowlers give over all hopes of being masters of their game. In like manner, hares returning to their forms dispose their leverets one to one place, another to another, at the distance many times of an acre of ground; so that, upon the tracing either of men or hounds, they are sure not to be all in danger at one time,—themselves in the mean time not easy to be tracked, by reason of the various windings and turnings which they make, until at length, by giving a large leap, they discontinue the print of their feet, and so betake themselves to their rest. A bear, when she perceives her winter sleep coming upon her, before she grows stiff and unwieldy, cleanses the place where she intends to conceal herself, and in her passage thither lifts up her paws as high as she can, and treads upon the ground with the top of her toes, and at length turning herself upon her back, throws herself into her receptacle. Your hinds generally calve at a distance from all places frequented by flesh-devouring beasts; and stags, when they find themselves unwieldy through surplusage of flesh and fat, get out of the way and hide themselves, hoping to secure themselves by lurking, when they dare not trust to their heels. The means by which the land hedge-hogs defend and guard themselves occasioned the proverb,
Many sly tricks the subtle Reynard knows,
But one the hedge-hog greater than all those.
For the hedge-hog, as Ion the poet says, when he spies the fox coming,
Round as a pine-nut, or more sphere-like ball,
Lies with his body palisaded all
With pointed thorns, which all the fox’s slight
Can find no way to touch, much less to bite.
But the provision which the hedge-hogs make for their young ones is much more ingenious. For when autumn comes, they creep under vines, and shake off the grapes with their feet; which done they roll themselves up and down, and take them up with their prickles, so that when they creep away again, you would think it a walking cluster (and this we have looked on and seen them do); after which returning to their holes, they lay themselves down for their young ones to feed. Their holes have two openings, one to the south, the other to the north. So that when they perceive the alteration of the air, like pilots shifting their sails, they stop up that which lies to the wind and open the other. Which a certain person that lived at Cyzicus observing, took upon him from thence at any time to tell in what corner the wind would sit.

> Greek: 16. πανουργίας δὲ πολλῶν παραδειγμάτων ὄντων, ἀφεὶς ἀλώπεκας καὶ λύκους καὶ τὰ γεράνων σοφίσματα καὶ κολοιῶν, ἔστι γὰρ δῆλα, μάρτυρι χρήσομαι Θαλῇ τῷ παλαιοτάτῳ τῶν σοφῶν, ὃν οὐχ ἥκιστα θαυμασθῆναι λέγουσιν ὀρέως τέχνῃ περιγενόμενον. τῶν γὰρ ἁληγῶν ἡμιόνων εἷς ἐμβαλὼν εἰς ποταμὸν ὤλισθεν αὐτομάτως καὶ τῶν ἁλῶν διατακέντων ἀναστὰς ἐλαφρὸς ᾔσθετο τὴν αἰτίαν καὶ κατεμνημόνευσεν ὥστε διαβαίνων ἀεὶ τὸν ποταμόν, ἐπίτηδες ὑφιέναι καὶ βαπτίζειν τὰ ἀγγεῖα, συγκαθίζων καὶ ἀπονεύων εἰς ἑκάτερον μέρος· ἀκούσας οὖν ὁ Θαλῆς ἐκέλευσεν ἀντὶ τῶν ἁλῶν ἐρίων τὰ ἀγγεῖα καὶ σπόγγων ἐμπλήσαντας καὶ ἀναθέντας, ἐλαύνειν τὸν ἡμίονον. ποιήσας οὖν τὸ εἰωθὸς καὶ ἀναπλήσας ὓδατος τὰ φορτία συνῆκεν ἀλυσιτελῆ σοφιζόμενος ἑαυτῷ, καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν οὕτω προσέχων καὶ φυλαττόμενος διέβαινε τὸν ποταμόν, ὥστε μηδʼ ἄκοντος αὐτοῦ τῶν φορτίων παραψαῦσαι τὸ ὑγρόν. ἄλλην δὲ πανουργίαν ὁμοῦ μετὰ τοῦ φιλοστόργου πέρδικες ἐπιδεικνύντες τοὺς μὲν νεοττοὺς ἐθίζουσι μηδέπω φεύγειν δυναμένους, ὅταν διώκωνται, καταβαλόντας ὑπτίους ἑαυτοὺς βῶλόν τινα ἢ συρφετὸν ἄνω προΐσχεσθαι τοῦ σώματος οἷον ἐπηλυγαζομένους· αὐταὶ δὲ τοὺς διώκοντας ὑπάγουσιν ἄλλῃ καὶ περισπῶσιν εἰς ἑαυτάς, ἐμποδὼν διαπετόμεναι καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν ἐξανιστάμεναι, μέχρι ἂν οὕτως ἁλισκομένων δόξαν ἐνδιδοῦσαι, μακρὰν ἀποσπάσωσι τῶν νεοττῶν. οἱ δὲ δασύποδες πρὸς εὐνὴν ἐπανιόντες ἄλλον ἀλλαχῆ κομίζουσι τῶν λαγιδέων, καὶ πλέθρου διάστημα, πολλάκις ἀλλήλων ἀπέχοντας, ὅπως, ἂν ἄνθρωπος ἢ κύων ἐπίῃ, μὴ πάντες ἅμα συγκινδυνεύωσιν· αὐτοὶ δὲ πολλαχόθι ταῖς μεταδρομαῖς ἴχνη θέντες, τὸ δʼ ἔσχατον ἅλμα μέγα καὶ μακρὰν τῶν ἰχνῶν ἀποσπάσαντες οὕτω καθεύδουσιν. ἡ δʼ ἄρκτος ὑπὸ τοῦ πάθους, ὃ καλοῦσι φωλείαν, καταλαμβανομένη, πρὶν ἢ παντάπασι ναρκῆσαι καὶ γενέσθαι βαρεῖα καὶ δυσκίνητος, τόν τε τόπον ἀνακαθαίρει καὶ μέλλουσα καταδύεσθαι τὴν μὲν ἄλλην πορείαν ὡς ἐνδέχεται μάλιστα ποιεῖται μετέωρον καὶ ἐλαφρὰν ἄκροις ἐπιθιγγάνουσα τοῖς ἴχνεσι, τῷ νώτῳ δὲ τὸ σῶμα προσάγει καὶ παρακομίζει πρὸς τὸν φωλεόν. τῶν ἐλάφων δʼ αἱ θήλειαι μάλιστα τίκ τουσι παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν, ὅπου τὰ σαρκοβόρα θηρία μὴ πρόσεισιν οἳ τʼ ἄρρενες, ὅταν αἴσθωνται βαρεῖς ὑπὸ πιμελῆς καὶ πολυσαρκίας ὄντες, ἐκτοπίζουσι σῴζοντες αὑτοὺς τῷ λανθάνειν, ὅτε τῷ φεύγειν οὐ πεποίθασιν. τῶν δὲ χερσαίων ἐχίνων ἡ μὲν ὑπὲρ αὑτῶν ἄμυνα καὶ φυλακὴ παροιμίαν πεποίηκε
πόλλʼ οἶδʼ ἀλώπηξ, ἀλλʼ ἐχῖνος ἓν μέγα
προσιούσης γὰρ αὐτῆς, ὥς φησιν ὁ Ἴων,
στρόβιλος ἀμφʼ ἄκανθαν εἱλίξας δέμας,
κεῖται θιγεῖν τε καὶ δακεῖν ἀμήχανος.
γλαφυρωτέρα δʼ ἐστὶν ἡ περὶ τῶν σκυμνίων πρόνοια μετοπώρου γὰρ ὑπὸ τὰς ἀμπέλους ὑποδυόμενος, καὶ τοῖς ποσὶ τὰς ῥᾶγας ἀποσείσας τοῦ βότρυος χαμᾶζε καὶ περικυλινδηθείς, ἀναλαμβάνει ταῖς ἀκάνθαις καὶ παρέσχε ποτὲ πᾶσιν ἡμῖν ὁρῶσιν ὄψιν ἑρπούσης ἢ βαδιζούσης σταφυλῆς· οὕτως; ἀνάπλεως ἐχώρει τῆς ὀπώρας· εἶτα καταδὺς εἰς τὸν φωλεὸν τοῖς σκύμνοις χρῆσθαι καὶ λαμβάνειν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ ταμιευομένοις παραδίδωσι. τὸ δὲ κοιταῖον αὐτῶν ὀπὰς ἔχει δύο, τὴν μὲν πρὸς νότον τὴν δὲ πρὸς βορρᾶν βλέπουσαν· ὅταν δὲ προαίσθωνται τὴν διαφορὰν τοῦ ἀέρος, ὥσπερ ἱστίον κυβερνῆται μεταλαμβάνοντες ἐμφράσσουσι τὴν κατʼ ἄνεμον τὴν δʼ ἑτέραν ἀνοίγουσι. καὶ τοῦτό τις ἐν Κυζίκῳ κατα μαθὼν, δόξαν ἔσχεν ὡς ἀφʼ αὑτοῦ τὸν μέλλοντα πνεῖν ἄνεμον προαγορεύων.

[¶6] 17. As for love and observance of society joined with understanding and prudence, Juba produces many examples of it in elephants. For it is the usual practice of the elephant-hunters to dig large pits in the elephants’ walks, and cover them slightly over with dry twigs or other materials; into which if any elephant happens to fall, the rest fetch wood and stones to fill up the cavity of the pit, that the other may the more easily get out again. And some report of the elephants, that they make prayers to the Gods by natural instinct, that they perform divine ceremonies to the sea, and worship the rising sun, lifting up the proboscis to heaven instead of hands. For which reason they are creatures the most beloved of any by the Gods, as Ptolemy Philopator testified. For having vanquished Antiochus, and being desirous to pay a more than ordinary honor to the Deity, among many other oblations of thanksgivings for his victory, he sacrificed four elephants. After which being terrified with a dream, which threatened him with the wrath of the Deity for that prodigious sacrifice, he sought out several ways to expiate his offence, and among the rest by way of propitiation, he erected four elephants of brass to atone for the four elephants he had slaughtered. Examples not inferior of the observance of society are to be found among lions. For the younger carry forth the slow and aged, when they hunt abroad for their prey. When the old ones are weary and tired, they rest and stay for the younger that hunt on; who, when they have seized upon any thing, call to the old ones, making a noise like the bleating of a calf. They presently hear, and so meeting all together, they feed in common upon the prey.

> Greek: 17. τό γε μὴν κοινωνικὸν μετὰ τοῦ συνετοῦ τοὺς ἐλέφαντας ἀποδείκνυσθαί φησιν ὁ Ἰόβας. ὀρύγματα γὰρ αὐτοῖς οἱ θηρεύοντες ὑπεργασάμενοι λεπτοῖς φρυγάνοις καὶ φορυτῷ κούφῳ κατερέφουσιν ὅταν οὖν τις εἰσολίσθῃ, πολλῶν ὁμοῦ πορευομένων, οἱ λοιποὶ φοροῦντες ὕλην καὶ λίθους ἐμβάλλουσιν, ἀναπληροῦντες τὴν κοιλότητα τοῦ ὀρύγματος, ὥστε ῥᾳδίαν ἐκείνῳ γενέσθαι τὴν ἔκβασιν. ἱστορεῖ δὲ καὶ εὐχῇ χρῆσθαι θεῶν τοὺς ἐλέφαντας ἀδιδάκτως, ἁγνιζομένους τε τῇ θαλάσσῃ καὶ τὸν ἣλιον ἐκφανέντα προσκυνοῦντας ὥσπερ χειρὸς ἀνασχέσει τῆς προβοσκίδος;. ὅθεν καὶ θεοφιλέστατὸν ἐστι τὸ θηρίον, ὡς Πτολεμαῖος ὁ Φιλοπάτωρ ἐμαρτύρησε. κρατήσας γὰρ Ἀντιόχου καὶ βουλόμενος ἐκπρεπῶς τιμῆσαι τὸ θεῖον ἄλλα τε πάμπολλα κατέθυσεν ἐπινίκια τῆς μάχης καί τέσσαρας ἐλέφαντας· εἶτα νύκτωρ ὀνείρασιν ἐντυχών, ὡς τοῦ θεοῦ μετʼ ὀργῆς ἀπειλοῦντος αὐτῷ διὰ τὴν ἀλλόκοτον ἐκείνην θυσίαν, ἱλασμοῖς τε πολλοῖς ἐχρήσατο καὶ χαλκοῦς ἐλέφαντας ἀντὶ τῶν σφαγέντων ἀνέστησε τέσσαρας.· οὐχ ἧττον δὲ κοινωνικὰ τὰ τῶν λεόντων. οἱ γὰρ νέοι τοὺς βραδεῖς καὶ γέροντας ἢδη συνεξάγουσιν ἐπὶ θήραν· ὅπου δʼ ἂν ἀπαγορεύσωσιν, οἱ μὲν κάθηνται περιμένοντες οἱ δὲ θηρεύουσι κἂν λάβωσιν ὁτιοῦν, ἀνακαλοῦνται, μόσχου μυκήματι τὸ βρύχημα ποιοῦντες ὅμοιον· οἱ δʼ εὐθὺς αἰσθάνονται καὶ παραγενόμενοι κοινῇ τὴν ἄγραν ἀναλίσκουσιν, ἔρωτες δὲ πολλῶν οἱ μὲν ἄγριοι καὶ περιμανεῖς γεγόνασιν, οἱ δʼ ἔχοντες οὐκ ἀπάνθρωπον ὡραϊσμὸν οὐδʼ ἀναφρόδιτον ὁμιλίαν.

[¶7] 18. In the amours of many animals there is much variety. Some are furious and mad; others observe a kind of human decency, and tricking of themselves to set off their beauty, not without a courtly kind of conversation. Such was the amour of the elephant at Alexandria, that rivalled Aristophanes the grammarian. For they were both in love with a girl that sold garlands; nor was the elephant’s courtship less conspicuous than the other’s. For as he passed through the fruit-market, he always brought her apples, and stayed with her for some time, and thrusting his proboscis within her waistcoat, instead of a hand, took great delight in gently feeling her breasts. No less remarkable was the serpent in love with the Aetolian woman. He came to her in the night, and getting under her garments to her very skin, embraced her naked body; and never either willingly or unwillingly did he do her any harm, but always about break of day departed; which the kindred of the woman observing to be the common custom of the animal, removed her a great way off. After that, the serpent came not again for three or four days together, being all the while, as it seemed, wandering about in search of her. But at length, having with much ado found her out, he did not approach her with that mildness as he was wont to do, but after a rougher manner; with his folds having first bound her hands to her body, with the end of his tail he lashed the calves of her legs; expressing thereby a gentle and loving anger, which had more in it of indulgent expostulation than punishment. I say nothing of a goose in Egypt in love with a boy, nor of the ram in love with Glauce who played on the harp; for the stories are in all people’s mouths. And besides, I am apt to think you are satiated with examples of this nature.

> Greek: 18. οἷος ἦν ὁ τοῦ ἐλέφαντος ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ τοῦ ἀντερῶντος Ἀριστοφάνει τῷ γραμματικῷ· τῆς γὰρ αὐτῆς ἤρων στεφανοπώλιδος, καὶ οὐχ ἧττον ἦν ὁ ἐλέφας διάδηλος· ἔφερε γὰρ αὐτῇ τῆς ὀπώρας ἀεὶ τὰ πρατήρια παραπορευόμενος, καὶ χρόνον πολὺν ὑφίστατο καὶ τὴν προβοσκίδα τῶν χιτωνίων ἐντὸς ὥσπερ χεῖρα παραβαλὼν ἀτρέμα τῆς περὶ τὸ στῆθος ὥρας ἔψαυεν. ὁ δὲ δράκων ὁ τῆς Αἰτωλίδος ἐρασθεὶς; ἐφοίτα νύκτωρ παρʼ αὐτὴν καὶ τοῦ σώματος; ὑποδυόμενος ἐν χρῷ καὶ περιπλεκόμενος οὐδὲν οὔθʼ ἑκὼν οὔτʼ ἄκων ἔβλαψεν ἀλλὰ καὶ κοσμίως ἀεὶ περὶ τὸν ὄρθρον ἀπηλλάττετο. συνεχῶς δὲ τοῦτο ποιοῦντος αὐτοῦ, μετῴκισαν οἱ προσοικοῦντες ἀπωτέρω τὴν ἄνθρωπον· ὁ δὲ τρεῖς μὲν ἢ τέτταρας ἡμέρας οὐκ ἦλθεν ἀλλʼ ὡς ἔοικε περιῄει ζητῶν καὶ πλανώμενος· μόλις δέ πως ἐξανευρὼν καὶ περιπεσὼν οὐ πρᾶος ὥσπερ εἰώθει ἀλλὰ τραχύτερος 1, τῷ μὲν ἄλλῳ σπειράματι τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῆς ἔδησε πρὸς τὸ σῶμα, τῷ δʼ ἀπολήγοντι τῆς οὐρᾶς ἐμαστίγου τὰς κνήμας, ἐλαφράν τινα καὶ φιλόστοργον καὶ πλέον ἔχουσαν τοῦ κολάζοντος τὸ φειδόμενον ὀργὴν ἀποδεικνύμενος. τὸν δʼ ἐν Αἰγίῳ παιδεραστοῦντα χῆνα καὶ τὸν ἐπιθυμήσαντα Γλαύκης τῆς κιθαρῳδοῦ κριόν· περιβόητοι γάρ εἰσι καὶ πολλῶν οἶμαι διηγημάτων τοιούτων διακορεῖς ὑμᾶς εἶναι· διὸ ταῦτα μὲν ἀφίημι.

[¶8] 19. But as for starlings, magpies, and parrots, that learn to talk, and afford their teachers such a spirit of voice, so well tempered and so adapted for imitation, they seem to me to be patrons and advocates in behalf of other creatures, by their talent of learning what they are taught; and in some measure to teach us that those creatures also, as well as we, partake of vocal expression and articulate sound. From whence I conclude it a most ridiculous thing in them that would compare these creatures with a sort of mute animals, I mean the fish, that have not voice enough to howl or make a mournful noise. Whereas, in the natural and untaught notes of these creatures, what music, what a charming grace do we observe! To which the famous poets and choicest singers among men bear testimony, while they compare their sweetest odes and poems to the singing of swans and melody of nightingales. Now in regard there is more of reason in teaching than in learning, we are to believe Aristotle, who assures us that terrestrial animals do that likewise, in regard that nightingales have been observed instructing their young ones to sing. Of which this may be a sufficient proof, that such nightingales are known to sing worse that are taken very young from the nest and deprived of the education of the old one. For they both learn and are taught from the old one, not for hire or to get reputation, but merely out of a delight in mixing their notes together, and because they have a greater love for that which is excellent and curious in the voice than for what is profitable. Concerning which I have a story to tell you, which I heard from several Greeks and Romans, who were eye-witnesses of the thing. A certain barber in Rome, who had a shop right against the temple which is called the Greeks’ Market, bred in his house a kind of a prodigy of a magpie, whose tongue would be always going with the greatest variety imaginable, sometimes imitating human speech, sometimes chattering her wild notes, and sometimes humoring the sounds of wind instruments; neither was this by any constraint, but as she accustomed herself, with a more than ordinary ambition, to leave nothing unspoken, nothing that her imitation should not master. It happened a certain person of the wealthier sort, newly dead in the neighborhood, was carried forth to be buried with a great number of trumpets before him. Now in regard it was the custom of the bearers to rest themselves before the barber’s shop, the trumpeters being excellent in their art, and withal commanded so to do, made a long stop, sounding all the while. After that day the magpie was altogether mute, not so much as uttering her usual notes by which she called for what she wanted, insomuch that they who before admired as they passed to and fro at the chattering and prating of the bird now much more wondered at her sudden silence; and many suspected her to have been poisoned by some that affected peculiar skill in teaching this kind of birds. But the greatest number were of opinion, that the noise of the trumpets had stupefied her hearing, and that by the loss of her hearing the use of her voice was likewise extinguished. But her unusual silence proceeded from neither of these causes, but from her retiring to privacy, by herself to exercise the imitation of what she had heard, and to fit and prepare her voice as the instrument to express what she had learned. For soon after she came of a sudden to sight again, but had quitted all her former customary imitations, and sounded only the music of the trumpets, observing all the changes and cadences of the harmony, with such exactness of time as was not to be imagined; an argument, as I have said before, that the aptness in those creatures to learn of themselves is more rational than readiness to be taught by others. Nor do I think it proper to pass by in silence one wonderful example of the docility of a dog, of which I myself was a spectator at Rome. This dog belonged to a certain mimic, who at that time had the management of a farce wherein there was great variety of parts, which he undertook to instruct the actors to perform, with several imitations proper for the matters and passions therein represented. Among the rest there was one who was to drink a sleepy potion, and after he had drunk it, to fall into a deadly drowsiness and counterfeit the actions of a dying person. The dog, who had studied several of the other gestures and postures, more diligently observing this, took a piece of bread that was sopped in the potion, and after he had ate it, in a short time counterfeited a trembling, then a staggering, and afterwards a drowsiness in his head. Then stretching out himself, he lay as if he had been dead, and seemed to proffer himself to be dragged out of the place and carried to burial, as the plot of the play required. Afterwards understanding the time from what was said and acted, in the first place he began gently to stir, as it were waking out of a profound sleep, and lifting up his head, he gazed about him. Afterwards to the amazement of the beholders, he rose up, and went to his master to whom he belonged, with all the signs of gladness and fawning kindness, insomuch that all the spectators, and even Caesar himself (for old Vespasian was present in Marcellus’s theatre) were taken with the sight.

> Greek: 19. Ψᾶρες δὲ καὶ κόρακες καὶ ψιττακοὶ μανθάνοντες διαλέγεσθαι καὶ τὸ τῆς φωνῆς πνεῦμα τοῖς διδάσκουσιν εὔπλαστον οὕτω καὶ μιμηλὸν ἐξαριθμεῖν καὶ ῥυθμίζειν παρέχοντες ἐμοὶ δοκοῦσι, προδικεῖν καὶ συνηγορεῖν τοῖς ἄλλοις ζῴοις ἐν τῷ μανθάνειν, τρόπον τινὰ διδάσκοντες ἡμᾶς, ὅτι καὶ προφορικοῦ λόγου καὶ φωνῆς ἐνάρθρου μέτεστιν αὐτοῖς· καὶ πολὺς κατάγελως τὸ πρὸς ταῦτα καταλιπεῖν ἐκείνοις σύγκρισιν, οἷς οὐδʼ ὅσον ὠρύσασθαι μέτεστιν οὐδʼ ὅσον στενάξαι φωνῆς. τούτων δὲ καὶ τοῖς αὐτοφυέσι καὶ τοῖς ἀδιδάκτοις γηρύμασιν ὅση μοῦσα καὶ χάρις ἔπεστιν, οἱ λογιώτατοι καὶ καλλιφωνότατοι μαρτυροῦσι, τὰ ἣδιστα ποιήματα καὶ μέλη μέλεσι κύκνων καὶ ἀηδόνων ᾠδαῖς ἀπεικάζοντες, ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦ μαθεῖν τὸ διδάξαι λογικώτερον, ἤδη πειστέον Ἀριστοτέλει λέγοντι καὶ τοῦτο τὰ ζῷα ποιεῖν· ὀφθῆναι γὰρ ἀηδόνα νεοσσὸν ᾅδειν προδιδάσκουσαν. μαρτυρεῖ δʼ αὐτῷ τὸ φαυλότερον ᾄδειν ὅσαις συμβέβηκε μικραῖς ἁλούσαις ἀποτρόφοις τῶν μητέρων γενέσθαι διδάσκονται γὰρ αἱ συντρεφόμεναι καὶ μανθάνουσιν οὐ διὰ μισθὸν οὐδὲ πρὸς δόξαν ἀλλὰ τῷ χαίρειν διαμελιζόμεναι καὶ τὸ καλὸν ἀγαπᾶν μᾶλλον ἢ τὸ χρειῶδες τῆς φωνῆς. ἔχω δὲ περὶ τούτου καὶ λόγον εἰπεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἀκούσας Ἑλλήνων τε πολλῶν καὶ Ῥωμαίων παραγενομένων. κουρεὺς γάρ τις ἐργαστήριον ἔχων ἐν Ῥώμῃ πρὸ τοῦ τεμένους, ὃ καλοῦσιν Ἑλλήνων ἀγοράν, θαυμαστόν τι χρῆμα πολυφώνου καὶ πολυφθόγγου κίττης ἔτρεφε, καὶ ἀνθρώπου ῥήματα καὶ θηρίων φθόγγους καὶ ψόφους ὀργάνων ἀνταπεδίδου, μηδενὸς ἀναγκάζοντος ἀλλʼ αὑτὴν ἐθίζουσα καὶ φιλοτιμουμένη μηδὲν ἄρρητον ἀπολιπεῖν μηδʼ ἀμίμητον. ἔτυχε δέ τις ἐκεῖθεν τῶν πλουσίων ἐκκομιζόμενος ὑπὸ σάλπιγξι πολλαῖς, καὶ γενομένης ὥσπερ εἴωθε κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἐπιστάσεως, εὐδοκιμοῦντες οἱ σαλπικταὶ καὶ κελευόμενοι πολὺν χρόνον ἐνδιέτριψαν ἡ δὲ κίττα μετὰ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην ἄφθογγος ἦν καὶ ἄναυδος, οὐδὲ τὴν αὑτῆς ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀναγκαίοις πάθεσιν ἀφιεῖσα φωνήν. τοῖς οὖν πρότερον αὐτῆς θαυμάζουσι τὴν φωνήν, τότε θαῦμα μεῖζον ἡ σιωπὴ παρεῖχε, κωφὸν ἀκροάμα τοῖς συνήθως παροδεύουσι τὸν τόπον· ὑποψίαι δὲ φαρμάκων ἐπὶ τοὺς ὁμοτέχνους ἦσαν· οἱ δὲ πλεῖστοι τὰς σάλπιγγας εἴκαζον ἐκπλῆξαι τὴν ἀκοήν, ἦν δʼ ἀκοῇ συγκατεσβέσθαι τὴν φωνήν. ἦν δʼ οὐδέτερα τούτων, ἀλλʼ ἄσκησις ὡς ἔοικε καὶ ἀναχώρησις εἰς ἑαυτὸ τοῦ μιμητικοῦ, καθάπερ ὄργανον ἐξαρτυομένου τὴν φωνὴν καὶ παρασκευάζοντος· ἄφνω γὰρ αὖθις ἧκε καὶ ἀνέλαμψεν οὐδὲν τῶν συνήθων καὶ· παλαιῶν μιμημάτων ἐκείνων, ἀλλὰ τὰ μέλη τῶν σαλπίγγων αὐταῖς περιόδοις φθεγγομένη καὶ μεταβολὰς πάσας καὶ κρουμάτων διεξιοῦσα πάντας ῥυθμούς· ὥστε, ὅπερ ἔφην, τῆς εὐμαθείας λογικωτέραν εἶναι τὴν αὐτομάθειαν ἐν αὐτοῖς. πλὴν ἕν γέ τι μάθημα κυνὸς οὐ δοκῶ μοι παρήσειν, γενόμενος ἐν Ῥώμῃ θεατής. παρὼν γὰρ ὁ κύων μίμῳ πλοκὴν ἔχοντι δραματικὴν καὶ πολυπρόσωπον ἄλλας τε μιμήσεις ἀπεδίδου τοῖς ὑποκειμένοις πάθεσι καὶ πράγμασι προσφόρους, καὶ φαρμάκου ποιουμένων ἐν αὐτῷ πεῖραν ὑπνωτικοῦ μὲν ὑποκειμένου δʼ εἶναι θανασίμου, τὸν τʼ ἄρτον, ᾧ δῆθεν ἐμέμικτο τὸ φάρμακον, ἐδέξατο καὶ καταφαγὼν ὀλίγον ὕστερον ὅμοιος ἦν ὑποτρέμοντι καὶ σφαλλομένῳ καὶ καρηβαροῦντι τέλος δὲ προτείνας ἑαυτὸν ὥσπερ νεκρὸς ἔκειτο, καὶ παρεῖχεν ἕλκειν καὶ μεταφέρειν, ὡς ὁ τοῦ δράματος ὑπηγόρευε λόγος. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸν καιρὸν ἐκ τῶν λεγομένων καὶ πραττομένων ἐνόησεν, ἡσυχῆ τὸ πρῶτον ἐκίνησεν ἑαυτόν, ὥσπερ ἐξ ὕπνου βαθέος ἀναφερόμενος, καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐπάρας διέβλεψεν· ἔπειτα θαυμασάντων, ἐξαναστὰς ἐβάδιζε πρὸς ὃν ἔδει· καὶ προσῄκαλλε χαίρων καὶ φιλοφρονούμενος, ὥστε πάντας ἀνθρώπους καὶ Καίσαρα παρῆν γὰρ ὁ γέρων Οὐεσπασιανὸς ἐν τῷ Μαρκέλλου θεάτρῳ συμπαθεῖς γενέσθαι.