§2.28τοσαῦτα εἶπεν, καὶ ἀνασπάσας ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς μαλάχης ῥίζαν ὤρεξέν μοι, ταύτῃ κελεύσας ἐν τοῖς μεγίστοις κινδύνοις προσεύχεσθαι·
He said this much, and having pulled up a mallow root from the earth, he handed it to me, bidding me to pray to this in the greatest dangers.
παρῄνεσε δὲ εἰ καί ποτε ἀφικοίμην ἐς τήνδε τὴν γῆν, μήτε πῦρ μαχαίρᾳ σκαλεύειν μήτε θέρμους ἐσθίειν μήτε παιδὶ ὑπὲρ τὰ ὀκτωκαίδεκα ἔτη πλησιάζειν· τούτων γὰρ ἂν μεμνημένον ἐλπίδας ἔχειν τῆς εἰς τὴν νῆσον ἀφίξεως.
And he advised me, if ever I should arrive in this land, neither to stir fire with a knife, nor to eat lupines, nor to approach a boy over eighteen years old; for if I remembered these things, I would have hopes of arriving at the island again.
τότε μὲν οὖν τὰ περὶ τὸν πλοῦν παρεσκευασάμην, καὶ ἐπεὶ καιρὸς ἦν, συνειστιώμην αὐτοῖς.
So then I prepared the things for the voyage, and when it was time, I feasted with them.
τῇ δὲ ἐπιούσῃ ἐλθὼν πρὸς Ὅμηρον τὸν ποιητὴν ἐδεήθην αὐτοῦ ποιῆσαί μοι δίστιχον ἐπίγραμμα· καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἐποίησεν, στήλην βηρύλλου λίθου ἀναστήσας ἐπέγραψα πρὸς τῷ λιμένι.
And on the next day, going to Homer the poet, I begged him to make a two-line epigram for me; and when he made it, having erected a pillar of beryl stone, I inscribed it near the harbor.
τὸ δὲ ἐπίγραμμα ἦν τοιόνδε· "
Λουκιανὸς τάδε πάντα φίλος μακάρεσσι θεοῖσιν
εἶδέ τε καὶ πάλιν ἦλθε φίλην ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν.
And the epigram was as follows: "Lucian, dear to the blessed gods, saw all these things and went back again to his dear native land.
" §2.29μείνας δὲ κἀκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν, τῇ ἐπιούσῃ ἀνηγόμην τῶν ἡρώων παραπεμπόντων.
"Having stayed also that day, on the next day I put out to sea, with the heroes escorting me.
ἔνθα μοι καὶ Ὀδυσσεὺς προσελθὼν λάθρᾳ τῆς Πηνελόπης δίδωσιν ἐπιστολὴν εἰς Ὠγυγίαν τὴν νῆσον Καλυψοῖ κομίζειν.
There Odysseus also, having approached me secretly from Penelope, gave me a letter to carry to Calypso on the island of Ogygia.
συνέπεμψε δέ μοι ὁ Ῥαδάμανθυς τὸν πορθμέα Ναύπλιον, ἵνʼ ἐὰν καταχθῶμεν ἐς τὰς νήσους, μηδεὶς ἡμᾶς συλλάβῃ ἅτε κατʼ ἄλλην ἐμπορίαν καταπλέοντας.
And Rhadamanthys sent with me the ferryman Nauplius, so that if we should be driven ashore on the islands, no one would capture us on the ground of our sailing in for other trade.
ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸν εὐώδη ἀέρα προϊόντες παρεληλύθειμεν, αὐτίκα ἡμᾶς ὀσμή τε δεινὴ διεδέχετο οἷον ἀσφάλτου καὶ θείου καὶ πίττης ἅμα καιομένων, καὶ κνῖσα δὲ πονηρὰ καὶ ἀφόρητος ὥσπερ ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπων ὀπτωμένων, καὶ ὁ ἀὴρ ζοφερὸς καὶ ὁμιχλώδης, καὶ κατέσταζεν ἐξ αὐτοῦ δρόσος πιττίνη· ἠκούομεν δὲ καὶ μαστίγων ψόφον καὶ οἰμωγὴν ἀνθρώπων πολλῶν.
But when, proceeding forward, we had passed beyond the sweet-smelling air, immediately a terrible smell received us, like asphalt and sulfur and pitch burning together, and also a foul and unbearable smell of burning fat, just as from humans being roasted, and the air was dark and misty, and from it dripped a pitchy dew; and we were also hearing the sound of whips and the wailing of many people.
§2.30ταῖς μὲν οὖν ἄλλαις οὐ προσέσχομεν, ἧς δὲ ἐπέβημεν, τοιάδε ἦν· κύκλῳ μὲν πᾶσα κρημνώδης καὶ ἀπόξυρος, πέτραις καὶ τράχωσι κατεσκληκυῖα, δένδρον δʼ οὐδὲν οὐδὲ ὕδωρ ἐνῆν·
Now to the other islands we did not pay attention, but the one we landed on was of this sort: all around it was steep and sheer, hardened with rocks and rugged places, and there was no tree nor water in it.
ἀνερπύσαντες δὲ ὅμως κατὰ τοὺς κρημνοὺς προῇμεν διά τινος ἀκανθώδους καὶ σκολόπων μεστῆς ἀτραποῦ, πολλὴν ἀμορφίαν τῆς χώρας ἐχούσης.
Nevertheless, having crawled up along the cliffs, we proceeded through a path full of thorns and stakes, with the country possessing great ugliness.
ἐλθόντες δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν εἱρκτὴν καὶ τὸ κολαστήριον, πρῶτα μὲν τὴν φύσιν τοῦ τόπου ἐθαυμάζομεν· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἔδαφος αὐτὸ μαχαίραις καὶ σκόλοψι πάντῃ ἐξηνθήκει, κύκλῳ δὲ ποταμοὶ περιέρρεον, ὁ μὲν βορβόρου, ὁ δὲ δεύτερος αἵματος, ὁ δὲ ἔνδον πυρός, πάνυ μέγας οὗτος καὶ ἀπέρατος, καὶ ἔρρει ὥσπερ ὕδωρ καὶ ἐκυματοῦτο ὥσπερ θάλαττα, καὶ ἰχθῦς δὲ εἶχεν πολλούς, τοὺς μὲν δαλοῖς προσεοικότας, τοὺς δὲ μικροὺς ἄνθραξι πεπυρωμένοις· ἐκάλουν δὲ αὐτοὺς λυχνίσκους.
And having come to the prison and the place of punishment, first indeed we wondered at the nature of the place; for the ground itself had blossomed everywhere with knives and stakes, and around it flowed rivers, the one of mud, the second of blood, and the inner one of fire, this one being very large and impassable, and it flowed like water and billowed like a sea, and it also had many fish, some resembling firebrands, and others, small ones, like glowing coals; and they called them "lychniskoi".
§2.31εἴσοδος δὲ μία στενὴ διὰ πάντων ἦν, καὶ πυλωρὸς ἐφειστήκει Τίμων ὁ Ἀθηναῖος.
And there was one narrow entrance through all of this, and Timon the Athenian stood over it as gatekeeper.
παρελθόντες δὲ ὅμως τοῦ Ναυπλίου καθηγουμένου ἑωρῶμεν κολαζομένους πολλοὺς μὲν βασιλέας, πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ ἰδιώτας, ὧν ἐνίους καὶ ἐγνωρίζομεν· εἴδομεν δὲ καὶ τὸν Κινύραν καπνῷ ὑποτυφόμενον· ἐκ τῶν αἰδοίων ἀπηρτημένον.
Nevertheless, having passed through with Nauplius leading the way, we saw being punished many kings and also many private citizens, some of whom we also recognized; and we also saw Cinyras being choked with smoke, suspended by his genitals.
προσετίθεσαν δὲ οἱ περιηγηταὶ καὶ τοὺς ἑκάστων βίους καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἐφʼ αἷς κολάζονται· καὶ μεγίστας ἁπασῶν τιμωρίας ὑπέμενον οἱ ψευσάμενοί τι παρὰ τὸν βίον καὶ οἱ μὴ τὰ ἀληθῆ συγγεγραφότες, ἐν οἷς καὶ Κτησίας ὁ Κνίδιος ἦν καὶ Ἡρόδοτος καὶ ἄλλοι πολλοί.
And the guides added also the lives of each and the sins for which they are being punished; and the greatest punishments of all were endured by those who lied at any point during their lives and those who did not write the truth in their histories, among whom were both Ctesias of Cnidus and Herodotus and many others.
τούτους οὖν ὁρῶν ἐγὼ χρηστὰς εἶχον εἰς τοὐπιὸν τὰς ἐλπίδας· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἐμαυτῷ ψεῦδος εἰπόντι συνηπιστάμην.
Seeing these, therefore, I had good hopes for the future; for I was not conscious of myself having told any lie.
§2.32ταχέως οὖν ἀναστρέψας ἐπὶ τὴν ναῦν — οὐ γὰρ ἐδυνάμην φέρειν τὴν ὄψιν — ἀσπασάμενος τὸν Ναύπλιον ἀπέπλευσα.
So, quickly turning back to the ship—for I could not bear the sight—and having bid farewell to Nauplius, I sailed away.
καὶ μετʼ ὀλίγον ἐφαίνετο πλησίον ἡ τῶν ὀνείρων νῆσος, ἀμυδρὰ καὶ ἀσαφὴς ἰδεῖν· εἶχε δὲ καὶ αὐτή τι τοῖς ὀνείροις παραπλήσιον· ὑπεχώρει γὰρ προσιόντων ἡμῶν καὶ ὑπέφευγε καὶ πορρωτέρω ὑπέβαινε.
And after a little while, nearby appeared the Island of Dreams, dim and indistinct to look at; and it too had something resembling dreams: for as we approached, it would recede, flee away, and move further off.
καταλαβόντες δέ ποτε αὐτὴν καὶ εἰσπλεύσαντες εἰς τὸν Ὕπνον λιμένα προσαγορευόμενον πλησίον τῶν πυλῶν τῶν ἐλεφαντίνων, ᾗ τὸ τοῦ Ἀλεκτρυόνος ἱερόν ἐστιν, περὶ δείλην ὀψίαν ἀπεβαίνομεν· παρελθόντες δὲ ἐς τὴν πόλιν πολλοὺς ὀνείρους καὶ ποικίλους ἑωρῶμεν.
But having finally caught up with it and sailed into the harbor called "Sleep" near the ivory gates, where the temple of Alectryon is, we landed around late afternoon; and having entered into the city, we saw many and diverse dreams.
πρῶτον δὲ βούλομαι περὶ τῆς πόλεως εἰπεῖν, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ ἄλλῳ τινὶ γέγραπται περὶ αὐτῆς, ὃς δὲ καὶ μόνος ἐπεμνήσθη Ὅμηρος, οὐ πάνυ ἀκριβῶς συνέγραψεν.
But first I wish to speak about the city, since it has not been written about by anyone else, and Homer, who alone even mentioned it, did not write about it very accurately.