§9.1#3Καὶ αἰσάλων δ’ αἰγυπιῷ πολέμιος, καὶ κρὲξ ἐλεῷ καὶ κοττύφῳ καὶ χλωρίωνι, ὃν ἔνιοι μυθολογοῦσι γενέσθαι ἐκ πυρκαϊᾶς· καὶ γὰρ αὐτοὺς βλάπτει καὶ τὰ τέκνα αὐτῶν.
And the merlin is also hostile to the vulture, and the crake to the eleus owl, the blackbird, and the golden oriole—which some mythologize as having been born from a bonfire; for the crake harms both them and their young.
Καὶ σίττη καὶ τροχίλος ἀετῷ πολέμια· ἡ γὰρ σίττη καταγνύει τὰ ᾠὰ τοῦ ἀετοῦ, ὁ δ’ ἀετὸς καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ διὰ τὸ ὠμοφάγος εἶναι πολέμιός ἐστι πᾶσιν.
And the nuthatch and the wren are hostile to the eagle; for the nuthatch breaks the eggs of the eagle, and the eagle, both for this reason and because it is a flesh-eater, is hostile to all.
Ἄνθος δ’ ἵππῳ πολέμιος· ἐξελαύνει γὰρ ὁ ἵππος ἐκ τῆς νομῆς· πόαν γὰρ νέμεται ὁ ἄνθος, ἐπάργεμος δ’ ἐστὶ καὶ οὐκ ὀξυωπός· μιμεῖται γὰρ τοῦ ἵππου τὴν φωνήν, καὶ φοβεῖ ἐπιπετόμενος καὶ ἐξελαύνει, ὅταν δὲ λάβῃ, κτείνει αὐτόν.
And the anthos is hostile to the horse; for the horse drives it out from its pasture; for the anthos feeds on grass, but its eyes are dim and it does not see sharply; it mimics the voice of the horse, and flying at it, frightens and drives it out, but when the horse catches it, he kills it.
Οἰκεῖ δ’ ὁ ἄνθος παρὰ ποταμὸν καὶ ἕλη, χρόαν δ’ ἔχει καλὴν καὶ εὐβίοτος.
The anthos lives by rivers and marshes, and has a beautiful color and is well-off.
Κωλωτῇ δ’ ὄνος πολέμιος· κοιμᾶται γὰρ ἐν τῇ φάτνῃ αὐτοῦ, καὶ κωλύει ἐσθίειν εἰς τοὺς μυκτῆρας ἐνδυόμενος.
And the donkey is hostile to the spotted lizard; for the lizard sleeps in its manger, and prevents the donkey from eating by creeping into its nostrils.
Τῶν δ’ ἐρωδιῶν ἐστὶ τρία γένη, ὅ τε πέλλος καὶ ὁ λευκὸς καὶ ὁ ἀστερίας καλούμενος.
Of herons there are three kinds: the grey heron, the white heron, and the one called star-heron.
Τούτων ὁ πέλλος χαλεπῶς εὐνάζεται καὶ ὀχεύει· κράζει τε γὰρ καὶ αἷμα, ὡς φασίν, ἀφίησιν ἐκ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ὀχεύων, καὶ τίκτει φαύλως καὶ ὀδυνηρῶς.
Of these, the grey heron mates and copulates with difficulty; for it screeches and, as they say, sheds blood from its eyes when copulating, and lays its eggs with difficulty and painfully.
Πολεμεῖ δὲ τοῖς βλάπτουσιν, ἀετῷ (ἁρπάζει γὰρ αὐτόν) καὶ ἀλώπεκι (φθείρει γὰρ αὐτὸν τῆς νυκτός) καὶ κορύδῳ (τὰ γὰρ ᾠὰ αὐτοῦ κλέπτει).
And it fights against those that harm it, namely, the eagle (for it snatches it), the fox (for it destroys it by night), and the crested lark (for it steals its eggs).
Ὄφις δὲ γαλῇ καὶ ὑῒ πολέμιον, τῇ μὲν γαλῇ, κατ’ οἰκίαν ὅταν ὦσιν ἀμφότερα· ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν αὐτῶν ζῶσιν· ἡ δ’ ὗς ἐσθίει τοὺς ὄφεις.
And the snake is hostile to the weasel and the pig; to the weasel, when both are in a house, for they live on the same things; while the pig eats snakes.
Καὶ αἰσάλων ἀλώπεκι πολέμιος· τύπτει γὰρ καὶ τίλλει αὐτήν, καὶ τὰ τέκνα ἀποκτείνει· γαμψώνυχος γάρ ἐστιν.
And the merlin is hostile to the fox; for it strikes and plucks her, and kills her young, for it has crooked talons.
Κόραξ δὲ καὶ ἀλώπηξ ἀλλήλοις φίλοι· πολεμεῖ γὰρ τῷ αἰσάλωνι ὁ κόραξ· διὸ βοηθεῖ τυπτομένῃ αὐτῇ.
And the raven and the fox are friends to each other; for the raven is hostile to the merlin, wherefore he helps her when she is being struck.
Καὶ αἰγυπιὸς δὲ καὶ αἰσάλων πολέμιοι σφίσιν αὐτοῖς· ἀμφότεροι γὰρ γαμψώνυχοι.
And the vulture and the merlin are also hostile to each other; for both have crooked talons.
Μάχεται δὲ καὶ ἀετῷ αἰγυπιὸς καὶ κύκνος· κρατεῖ δ’ ὁ κύκνος πολλάκις· εἰσὶ δ’ οἱ κύκνοι καὶ ἀλληλοφάγοι μάλιστα τῶν ὀρνέων.
And the vulture and the swan also fight with the eagle; and the swan often wins; and swans are also the most cannibalistic of birds.
Ἔστι δὲ τῶν θηρίων τὰ μὲν ἀεὶ πολέμια ἀλλήλοις, τὰ δ’ ὥσπερ ἄνθρωποι, ὅταν τύχωσιν.
And among animals, some are always hostile to each other, while others, like humans, are so when they happen to be.
Ὄνος δὲ καὶ ἀκανθίδες πολέμιοι· αἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀκανθῶν βιοτεύουσιν, ὁ δ’ ἁπαλὰς οὔσας κατεσθίει τὰς ἀκάνθας.
And the donkey and the goldfinches are hostile; for the goldfinches live on thorns, but the donkey eats the thorns when they are tender.
Καὶ ἄνθος καὶ ἀκανθὶς καὶ αἴγιθος· λέγεται δ’ ὅτι αἰγίθου καὶ ἄνθου αἷμα οὐ συμμίγνυται ἀλλήλοις.
And the anthos, the goldfinch, and the aegithus are hostile; and it is said that the blood of the aegithus and the anthos does not mix with each other.
Κορώνη δὲ καὶ ἐρωδιὸς φίλοι, καὶ σχοινίων καὶ κόρυδος, καὶ λαεδὸς καὶ κελεός· ὁ μὲν γὰρ κελεὸς παρὰ ποταμὸν οἰκεῖ καὶ λόχμας, ὁ δὲ λαεδὸς πέτρας καὶ ὄρη, καὶ φιλοχωρεῖ οὗ ἂν οἰκῇ.
And the crow and the heron are friends, and the reed-bunting and the crested lark, and the blue thrush and the green woodpecker; for the green woodpecker lives by rivers and coppices, while the blue thrush lives on rocks and mountains, and is fond of the place where it lives.
Καὶ πίφιγξ καὶ ἅρπη καὶ ἰκτῖνος φίλοι, καὶ ἀλώπηξ καὶ ὄφις (ἄμφω γὰρ τρωγλοδύται), καὶ κόττυφος καὶ τρυγών.
And the piphinx, the harpe, and the kite are friends, and the fox and the snake (for both are cave-dwellers), and the blackbird and the turtle-dove.
Πολέμιοι δὲ καὶ ὁ λέων καὶ ὁ θὼς ἀλλήλοις· ὠμοφάγοι γὰρ ὄντες ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν ζῶσιν.
And the lion and the jackal are also hostile to each other; for being flesh-eaters, they live on the same things.
Μάχονται δὲ καὶ ἐλέφαντες σφοδρῶς πρὸς ἀλλήλους, καὶ τύπτουσι τοῖς ὀδοῦσι σφᾶς αὐτούς· ὁ δὲ ἡττηθεὶς δουλοῦται ἰσχυρῶς, καὶ οὐχ ὑπομένει τὴν τοῦ νικήσαντος φωνήν.
And elephants also fight violently with one another, and strike each other with their tusks; and the one that is defeated is strongly enslaved, and cannot endure the voice of the victor.
Διαφέρουσι δὲ καὶ τῇ ἀνδρίᾳ ἀλλήλων οἱ ἐλέφαντες θαυμαστὸν ὅσον.
And elephants differ also from one another in courage to a wonderful degree.
Χρῶνται δ’ οἱ Ἰνδοὶ πολεμιστηρίοις, καθάπερ τοῖς ἄρρεσι, καὶ ταῖς θηλείαις· εἰσὶ μέντοι καὶ ἐλάττονες αἱ θήλειαι καὶ ἀψυχότεραι πολύ.
And the Indians use both males and females for war; however, the females are both smaller and much less spirited.
Τοὺς δὲ τοίχους καταβάλλει ὁ ἐλέφας τοὺς ὀδόντας τοὺς μεγάλους προσβάλλων· τοὺς δὲ φοίνικας τῷ μετώπῳ, ἕως ἂν κατακλίνῃ, ἔπειτα τοῖς ποσὶν ἐπιβαίνων κατατείνει ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.
And the elephant throws down walls by striking them with its large tusks, and palm trees with its forehead, until it bends them down, then stepping on them with its feet, it stretches them upon the earth.
Ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἡ θήρα τῶν ἐλεφάντων τοιάδε· ἀναβάντες ἐπί τινας τῶν τιθασσῶν καὶ ἀνδρείων διώκουσι, καὶ ὅταν καταλάβωσι, τύπτειν προστάττουσι τούτοις, ἕως ἂν ἐκλύσωσιν· τότε δ’ ὁ ἐλεφαντιστὴς ἐπιπηδήσας κατευθύνει τῷ δρεπάνῳ.
And the hunting of elephants is as follows: having mounted some of the tame and courageous ones, they pursue them, and when they catch up, they command these to strike them until they tire them out; then the elephant-driver, jumping on, directs it with his sickle.
Ταχέως δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα τιθασσεύεταί τε καὶ πειθαρχεῖ.
And quickly after this, it is tamed and becomes obedient.
Ἐπιβεβηκότος μὲν οὖν τοῦ ἐλεφαντιστοῦ ἅπαντες πραεῖς εἰσίν, ὅταν δ’ ἀποβῇ, οἱ μὲν οἱ δ’ οὔ· ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐξαγριουμένων τὰ ἐμπρόσθια σκέλη δεσμεύουσι σειραῖς, ἵν’ ἡσυχάζωσιν.
Now, while the elephant-driver is mounted, all are gentle, but when he dismounts, some are and some are not; but of those that turn wild, they bind their front legs with ropes so that they may remain quiet.
Ἔστι δ’ ἡ θήρα καὶ μεγάλων ἤδη ὄντων καὶ πώλων.
And the hunting is both of those that are already large and of the young.
Αἱ μὲν οὖν φιλίαι καὶ οἱ πόλεμοι τοῖς θηρίοις τούτοις διὰ τὰς τροφὰς καὶ τὸν βίον συμβαίνουσιν.
The friendships and wars, therefore, among these animals occur because of their food and their mode of life.