§6.30Αἱ δ’ ἄρκτοι τὴν μὲν ὀχείαν ποιοῦνται, ὥσπερ εἴρηται πρότερον, οὐκ ἀναβαδὸν ἀλλὰ κατακεκλιμέναι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.
Bears perform coupling, as was said before, not by mounting but lying down on the ground.
Κύει δ’ ἄρκτος τριάκονθ’ ἡμέρας.
The bear is pregnant for thirty days.
Τίκτει δὲ καὶ ἓν καὶ δύο, τὰ δὲ πλεῖστα πέντε.
She brings forth one or two, and at most five.
Ἐλάχιστον δὲ τίκτει τὸ ἔμβρυον τῷ μεγέθει ὡς κατὰ τὸ σῶμα τὸ ἑαυτῆς· ἔλαττον μὲν γὰρ γαλῆς τίκτει, μεῖζον δὲ μυός, καὶ ψιλὸν καὶ τυφλόν, καὶ σχεδὸν ἀδιάρθρωτα τὰ σκέλη καὶ τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν μορίων.
And she brings forth an embryo most minute in size in proportion to her own body; for she brings forth what is smaller than a weasel but larger than a mouse, and it is hairless and blind, and has its limbs and most of its parts almost unarticulated.
Τὴν δ’ ὀχείαν ποιεῖται τοῦ μηνὸς τοῦ Ἐλαφηβολιῶνος, τίκτει δὲ περὶ τὴν ὥραν τὴν τοῦ φωλεύειν.
And she performs coupling in the month of Elaphebolion, and brings forth around the time of hibernation.
Γίγνονται μὲν οὖν περὶ τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον καὶ ἡ θήλεια καὶ ἡ ἄρρην πιότατοι· ὅταν δ’ ἐκθρέψῃ τρίτῳ μηνί, ἐκφαίνουσιν ἤδη τοῦ ἔαρος.
Around this time, then, both the female and the male become fattest; and when she has nurtured it up to the third month, they already show themselves in the spring.
Καὶ ἡ ὕστριξ δὲ φωλεύει καὶ κύει ἴσας ἡμέρας, καὶ τἆλλα ὡσαύτως τῇ ἄρκτῳ.
And the porcupine also hibernates and is pregnant for the same number of days, and in other respects is just like the bear.
Κύουσαν δ’ ἄρκτον ἔργον ἐστὶ λαβεῖν.
And it is a difficult task to capture a pregnant bear.
§6.31Λέων δ’ ὅτι μὲν ὀχεύει ὄπισθεν καὶ ἔστιν ὀπισθουρητικόν, εἴρηται πρότερον· ὀχεύει δὲ καὶ τίκτει οὐ πᾶσαν ὥραν, καθ’ ἕκαστον μέντοι τὸν ἐνιαυτόν.
And that the lion couples backwards and is backward-urinating has been said before; and it couples and brings forth not at every season, but indeed every year.
Τίκτει μὲν οὖν τοῦ ἔαρος, τίκτει δ’ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ δύο, τὰ μέντοι πλεῖστα ἕξ· τίκτει δ’ ἐνίοτε καὶ ἕν.
It brings forth, then, in the spring, and brings forth for the most part two, but at most six; and sometimes indeed it brings forth even one.
Ὁ δὲ λεχθεὶς μῦθος περὶ τοῦ ἐκβάλλειν τὰς ὑστέρας τίκτοντα ληρώδης ἐστί, συνετέθη δ’ ἐκ τοῦ σπανίους εἶναι τοὺς λέοντας, ἀποροῦντος τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ τὸν μῦθον συνθέντος· σπάνιον γὰρ τὸ γένος τὸ τῶν λεόντων ἐστὶ καὶ οὐκ ἐν πολλῷ γίνεται τόπῳ, ἀλλὰ τῆς Εὐρώπης ἁπάσης ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ τοῦ Ἀχελῴου καὶ τοῦ Νέσσου ποταμοῦ.
And the story told about her throwing out her womb when bringing forth is foolish, and it was composed from the lions being rare, because the composer of the myth was at a loss for the cause; for the race of lions is rare and does not exist in many places, but in all Europe only in the region between the Achelous and the Nessus rivers.
Τίκτει δὲ καὶ ὁ λέων πάνυ μικρὰ οὕτως ὥστε δίμηνα ὄντα μόλις βαδίζειν.
And the lion also brings forth very small offspring, so that being two months old they scarcely walk.
Οἱ δ’ ἐν Συρίᾳ λέοντες τίκτουσι πεντάκις, τὸ πρῶτον πέντε, εἶτ’ ἀεὶ ἑνὶ ἐλάττονα· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα οὐκέτι οὐδὲν τίκτουσιν, ἀλλ’ ἄγονοι διατελοῦσιν.
And the lions in Syria bring forth five times, the first time five, then always one fewer; and after this they bring forth no more, but remain barren.
Οὐκ ἔχει δὲ ἡ λέαινα χαίτην, ἀλλ’ ὁ ἄρρην λέων.
And the lioness does not have a mane, but the male lion does.
Βάλλει δὲ ὁ λέων τῶν ὀδόντων τοὺς κυνόδοντας καλουμένους τέτταρας μόνους, δύο μὲν ἄνωθεν δύο δὲ κάτωθεν· βάλλει δ’ ἑξάμηνος ὢν τὴν ἡλικίαν.
And the lion sheds of its teeth only the four called canines, two from above and two from below; and it sheds them when it is six months of age.
§6.32Ἡ δὲ ὕαινα τῷ μὲν χρώματι λυκώδης ἐστί, δασυτέρα δέ, καὶ λοφιὰν ἔχει δι’ ὅλης τῆς ῥάχεως· περὶ δὲ τῶν αἰδοίων ὃ λέγεται, ὡς ἔχει ἄρρενος καὶ θηλείας, ψεῦδός ἐστιν.
And the hyena is wolf-like in color, but more hairy, and has a mane along the whole of its spine; and what is said about its genitalia, that it has both male and female, is false.
Ἀλλ’ ἔχει τὸ μὲν τοῦ ἄρρενος ὅμοιον τῷ τῶν λύκων καὶ τῶν κυνῶν, τὸ δὲ δοκοῦν θηλείας εἶναι ὑποκάτω μὲν ἔχει τῆς κέρκου, παραπλήσιον δ’ ἐστὶ τῷ σχήματι τῷ τοῦ θήλεος, οὐκ ἔχει μέντοι οὐδένα πόρον· ὑποκάτω δ’ ἐστὶν αὐτοῦ ὁ τῆς περιττώσεως πόρος.
But it has the male's similar to that of wolves and dogs, and what appears to be the female's is under the tail, and is similar in shape to the female's, yet it has no passage; and below it is the passage for excrement.
Ἡ δὲ θήλεια ὕαινα ἔχει μὲν καὶ τὸ ὅμοιον τῷ τῆς θηλείας λεγομένῳ αἰδοίῳ, ἔχει δ’ ὥσπερ ὁ ἄρρην αὐτὸ ὑποκάτω τῆς κέρκου, πόρον δ’ οὐδένα ἔχει· μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο ὁ τῆς περιττώσεώς ἐστι πόρος, ὑποκάτω δὲ τούτου τὸ ἀληθινὸν αἰδοῖον.
And the female hyena also has what is similar to the so-called female genitalia, and has it, just like the male, under the tail, and has no passage; and after this is the passage for excrement, and below this is the true genitalia.
Ἔχει δ’ ἡ ὕαινα ἡ θήλεια καὶ ὑστέραν, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ζῷα τὰ θήλεα, ὅσα ἐστὶ τοιαῦτα.
And the female hyena also has a womb, just like other female animals, as many as are of this kind.
Σπάνιον δ’ ἐστι λαβεῖν θήλειαν ὕαιναν· ἐν ἕνδεκα γοῦν κυνηγός τις μίαν ἔφη λαβεῖν.
And it is rare to capture a female hyena; at least a certain hunter said that he caught one out of eleven.
§6.33Οἱ δὲ δασύποδες ὀχεύονται μὲν συνιόντες ὄπισθεν, ὥσπερ εἴρηται πρότερον (ἔστι γὰρ ὀπισθουρητικόν), ὀχεύονται δὲ καὶ τίκτουσι πᾶσαν ὥραν, καὶ ἐπικυΐσκονται ὅταν κύωσι, καὶ τίκτουσι κατὰ μὴνα.
And hares couple by coming together backwards, as was said before (for it is backward-urinating), and they couple and bring forth at every season, and they superfetate when they are pregnant, and bring forth every month.
Τίκτουσι δ’ οὐκ ἀθρόα, ἀλλὰ διαλείπουσιν ἡμέρας ὅσας ἄν τύχωσιν.
And they do not bring forth all at once, but with an interval of as many days as may happen.
Ἴσχει δ’ ἡ θήλεια γάλα πρότερον ἢ τεκεῖν, καὶ τεκοῦσα εὐθὺς ὀχεύεται, καὶ συλλαμβάνει ἔτι θηλαζομένη· τὸ δὲ γάλα παχύτητι ὅμοιόν ἐστι τῷ ὑείῳ.
And the female has milk before giving birth, and immediately after giving birth she couples, and conceives while still suckling; and the milk is similar to the sow's in thickness.
Τίκτει δὲ τυφλά, ὥσπερ τὰ πολλὰ τῶν πολυσχιδῶν.
And she brings forth blind offspring, just as most of the polydactylous animals.
§6.34Ἡ δ’ ἀλώπηξ ὀχεύει μὲν ἀναβαίνουσα, τίκτει δ’ ὥσπερ ἡ ἄρκτος, καὶ ἔτι μᾶλλον ἀδιάρθρωτον.
And the fox couples by mounting, but brings forth like the bear, and still more unformed.
Ὅταν δὲ μέλλῃ τίκτειν, ἐκτοπίζει οὕτως ὥστε σπάνιον εἶναι τὸ ληφθῆναι κύουσαν.
And when she is about to bring forth, she shifts her place so much that it is rare for a pregnant one to be caught.
Ὅταν δ’ ἐκτέκῃ, τῇ γλώττῃ λείχουσα ἐκθερμαίνει καὶ συμπέττει.
And when she has brought forth, she warms it and shapes it by licking it with her tongue.
Τίκτει δὲ τέτταρα τὰ πλεῖστα.
And she brings forth at most four.