§4.7Περὶ δὲ τῆς καλουμένης μύλης ῥητέον, ἣ γίνεται μὲν ὀλιγάκις ταῖς γυναιξί, γίνεται δέ τισι τοῦτο τὸ πάθος κυούσαις.
We must speak about the so-called mole, which occurs rarely in women, but this affection happens to some who are pregnant.
τίκτουσι γὰρ ὃ καλοῦσι μύλην.
For they give birth to what they call a mole.
ἤδη γὰρ συνέβη τινὶ γυναικὶ συγγενομένῃ τῷ ἀνδρὶ καὶ δοξάσῃ συλλαβεῖν, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ὅ τε ὄγκος ηὐξάνετο τῆς γαστρὸς καὶ τἆλλα ἐγίγνετο κατὰ λόγον, ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ χρόνος ἦν τοῦ τόκου, οὔτ᾽ ἔτικτεν οὔτε ὁ ὄγκος ἐλάττων ἐγίνετο, ἀλλ᾽ ἔτη τρία ἢ τέτταρα οὕτω διετέλει, ἕως δυσεντερίας γενομένης καὶ κινδυνεύσασα ὑπ᾽ αὐτῆς ἔτεκε σάρκα ἣν καλοῦσι μύλην.
For it has already happened to a certain woman that, having had intercourse with her husband and thinking she had conceived, at first the swelling of her belly increased and other things proceeded in due course, but when the time of birth arrived, she neither gave birth nor did the swelling become less, but she continued in this state for three or four years, until, having contracted dysentery and being in danger from it, she gave birth to a lump of flesh which they call a mole.
ἔτι δὲ καὶ συγκαταγηράσκει καὶ συναποθνήσκει τοῦτο τὸ πάθος.
Moreover, this affection also grows old and dies together with the woman.
τὰ δὲ θύραζε ἐξιόντα τῶν· τοιούτων γίνεται σκληρὰ οὕτως ὥστε μόλις διακόπτεσθαι καὶ σιδήρῳ.
And those of such things that come out of the body become so hard that they can scarcely be cut even with iron.
περὶ μὲν οὖν τῆς τοῦ πάθους αἰτίας εἴρηται ἐν τοῖς προβλήμασιν· πάσχει γὰρ ταὐτὸν τὸ κύημα ἐν τῇ μήτρᾳ ὅπερ ἐν τοῖς ἑψομένοις τὰ μολυνόμενα, καὶ οὐ διὰ θερμότητα, ὥσπερ τινές φασιν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον δι᾽ ἀσθένειαν θερμότητος.
Now, the cause of this affection has been stated in the Problems; for the embryo in the womb suffers the same thing as what are called half-cooked things among boiled items, and this is not because of heat, as some say, but rather because of the weakness of heat.
ἔοικε γὰρ ἡ φύσις ἀδυνατεῖν καὶ οὐ δύνασθαι τελειῶσαι οὐδ᾽ ἐπιθεῖναι τῇ γενέσει πέρας.
For nature seems to be powerless and unable to bring to completion or to put an end to the generation.
διὸ καὶ συγκαταγηράσκει ἢ πολὺν ἐμμένει χρόνον· οὔτε γὰρ ὡς τετελειωμένον οὔθ᾽ ὡς πάμπαν ἀλλότριον ἔχει τὴν φύσιν.
For this reason, it also grows old together with them or remains for a long time; for it possesses a nature neither as a completed thing nor as something altogether foreign.
τῆς γὰρ σκληρότητος ἡ ἀπεψία αἰτία· ἀπεψία γάρ τις καὶ ἡ μόλυνσίς ἐστιν.
For the cause of the hardness is the lack of concoction; for half-cooking is also a kind of lack of concoction.
ἀπορίαν δ᾽ ἔχει, διὰ τί ποτ᾽ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις οὐχὶ γίνεται ζῴοις, εἰ μή τι πάμπαν λέληθεν.
But it presents a difficulty, why on earth it does not occur in other animals, unless it has escaped notice altogether.
αἴτιον δὲ δεῖ νομίζειν ὅτι μόνον ὑστερικόν ἐστι γυνὴ τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων, καὶ περὶ τὰς καθάρσεις πλεονάζει καὶ οὐ δύναται πέττειν αὐτάς· ὅταν οὖν ἐκ δυσπέπτου ἰκμάδος συστῇ τὸ κυημα, τότε γίνεται ἡ καλουμένη μύλη ἐν ταῖς γυναιξὶν εὐλόγως ἢ μάλιστα ἢ μόναις.
We must think that the cause is that woman alone of other animals is subject to uterine affections, and she abounds in purgations and is unable to concoct them; therefore, when the embryo is constituted from ill-concocted moisture, it is reasonable that the so-called mole occurs in women, either especially or only.