§2.73.1ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλος ὄρνις ἱρός, τῷ οὔνομα φοῖνιξ.
There is also another sacred bird, whose name is phoenix.
ἐγὼ μέν μιν οὐκ εἶδον εἰ μὴ ὅσον γραφῇ· καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ σπάνιος ἐπιφοιτᾷ σφι, διʼ ἐτέων, ὡς Ἡλιοπολῖται λέγουσι, πεντακοσίων·
I myself have not seen it except in a picture; for indeed it visits them only rarely, at intervals of five hundred years, as the people of Heliopolis say.
§2.73.2φοιτᾶν δὲ τότε φασὶ ἐπεάν οἱ ἀποθάνῃ ὁ πατήρ.
They say that it comes only when its father dies.
ἔστι δέ, εἰ τῇ γραφῇ παρόμοιος, τοσόσδε καὶ τοιόσδε· τὰ μὲν αὐτοῦ χρυσόκομα τῶν πτερῶν τὰ δὲ ἐρυθρὰ ἐς τὰ μάλιστα· αἰετῷ περιήγησιν ὁμοιότατος καὶ τὸ μέγαθος.
If it is like its picture, it is of such a size and of such an appearance: some of its feathers are golden, and others are especially red; in outline and size it is most like an eagle.
§2.73.3τοῦτον δὲ λέγουσι μηχανᾶσθαι τάδε, ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐ πιστὰ λέγοντες· ἐξ Ἀραβίης ὁρμώμενον ἐς τὸ ἱρὸν τοῦ Ἡλίου κομίζειν τὸν πατέρα ἐν σμύρνῃ ἐμπλάσσοντα καὶ θάπτειν ἐν τοῦ Ἡλίου τῷ ἱρῷ,
They say that this bird performs the following things, though to me they tell what is not believable: setting out from Arabia, it brings its father plastered in myrrh to the temple of the Sun, and buries him in the temple of the Sun.
§2.73.4κομίζειν δὲ οὕτω· πρῶτον τῆς σμύρνης ᾠὸν πλάσσειν ὅσον τε δυνατός ἐστι φέρειν, μετὰ δὲ πειρᾶσθαι αὐτὸ φορέοντα, ἐπεὰν δὲ ἀποπειρηθῇ, οὕτω δὴ κοιλήναντα τὸ ᾠὸν τὸν πατέρα ἐς αὐτὸ ἐντιθέναι, σμύρνῃ δὲ ἄλλῃ ἐμπλάσσειν τοῦτο κατʼ ὅ τι τοῦ ᾠοῦ ἐκκοιλήνας ἐνέθηκε τὸν πατέρα· ἐσκειμένου δὲ τοῦ πατρὸς γίνεσθαι τὠυτὸ βάρος· ἐμπλάσαντα δὲ κομίζειν μιν ἐπʼ Αἰγύπτου ἐς τοῦ Ἡλίου τὸ ἱρόν.
And it brings him in this way: first it molds an egg of myrrh as large as it is able to carry, and after that it makes trial of carrying it; and when it has finished the trial, then indeed it hollows out the egg and places its father inside, and plasters over with other myrrh this part of the egg where it hollowed it out and put its father in; and when the father is placed inside, the weight becomes the same; and having plastered it over, it brings it to Egypt, to the temple of the Sun.
ταῦτα μὲν τοῦτον τὸν ὄρνιν λέγουσι ποιέειν.
This is what they say this bird does.