§233ἀναπαύσεις ἔχουσιν, ὥστε οὐ κάμνουσιν.
they have relaxations, so that they do not grow weary.
ὁ δὲ δὴ πρὸ θυρῶν κόσμος ἀντὶ Ἀπόλλωνος ἀγυιέως προπύλαιος τῇ πόλει, Μέλης ὁ ἐπώνυμος διωρυχὴν Νυμφῶν ἐκ πηγῶν εἰς θάλατταν, αὐταῖς τʼ εἶναι λουτρὸν ῥυτὸν καὶ Νηρηίδας παρὰ Νηρέως δέξασθαι διʼ ὀλίγου.
And indeed, the decoration in front of the gates, standing as a gateway god for the city instead of Apollo Agyieus, is the eponymous Meles, a canal of the Nymphs from the springs to the sea, both to be a flowing bath for them and to receive the Nereids from Nereus in a short distance.
ῥεῖ δὲ ὁ Μέλης ὁμοίως ἔκ τε ἄντρων καὶ οἴκων καὶ δένδρων καὶ μέσου τοῦ ῥείθρου ἀνίσχων καὶ προϊὼν μέχρι θαλάττης, καὶ αὐτοῦ τὸ μὲν κατὰ τὰς ἄνω πηγὰς κύκλος τέ ἐστι καὶ ὅρμῳ μάλιστʼ ἂν ἀπεικάσαις, τὰ δὲ ἑξῆς Εὐρίπῳ.
And the Meles flows equally out of caves, houses, and trees, rising from the middle of its stream and proceeding as far as the sea; and of the river itself, the part near the upper springs is a circle and you might compare it especially to a harbor, and the subsequent parts to a Euripus.
πρὸς δὲ ταῖς ἐκβολαῖς βέβρυχε μὲν ἥκιστα, ὁ δὲ τὸ ῥόθιον ἐπιλεαίνων ἀψοφητὶ καταμίγνυται, ἐπιοῦσαν μὲν ἐξ ἀνέμων τὴν θάλατταν αἰωρῶν, ἀπιούσῃ δὲ ἑπόμενος, νῶτον ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος ἑκατέρου δεικνὺς, ὥστε οὐκ ἂν γνοίης ὅπου συνέβαλον.
At the outlets it roars least of all, but, smoothing its rush, it mingles silently, suspending the sea when it comes in from the winds, and following it when it recedes, showing a back from each water, so that you would not know where they met.
καὶ μὴν ὅτι γε ἰχθύων πάντη πλήρης, καὶ τούτων τιθασῶν τε καὶ συσσίτων τοῖς σκηνοῦσιν ἐπὶ ταῖς ὄχθαις, καὶ οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῦ ξηροῦ, ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ αὐλοῦ ἐν χώρᾳ ὀρχουμένων καὶ παροινίᾳ κυβιστώντων εἰς τοὺς συμπότας, ταῦτα μὲν κἂν οἱ παῖδες ἐξηγοῖντο καὶ ἰδεῖν πᾶσιν ἔξεστιν·
And indeed, that it is entirely full of fish, and these being tame and sharing meals with those who camp on the banks, and dancing, not on dry land, but in their place to the flute, and in drunken sport tumbling towards the banqueters—these things even children could explain and it is possible for all to see.
αἱ δὲ δὴ καλλίους τοῦ ποταμοῦ γοναὶ καὶ ἐπὶ πάσας φέρουσαι πόλεις, Ὅμηρος ὁ κοινὸς τοῖς Ἕλλησι τροφεὺς καὶ φίλος, ἐκ πατέρων τε καὶ ἐκ παιδὸς ἑκάστῳ.
But the more beautiful offspring of the river, and those bringing benefit to all cities, is Homer, the common nurturer and friend to the Greeks, for each man from his fathers and from childhood.
διὸ καὶ δικαίως ἄν μοι δοκοῦσιν ἅπαντες εἰς τὰς πηγὰς ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνος ἔφη τοῦ Σπερχειοῦ, τοῦ Μέλητος ἀπάρχεσθαι τῶν λόγων, ὥσπερ βοστρύχων, ᾁδοντας Ὁμήρου χάριν τὸν ποταμόν.
Therefore, all would seem to me, and rightly, to make an offering of their words to the springs of Meles, just as of locks of hair, as that man said of the Spercheius, singing of the river for the sake of Homer.
διαβάντι δὲ τὸν Μέλητα ἀπαντᾷ χῶρος, Ποσειδῶνος, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν, δῶρον τῇ πόλει παραπλήσιόν τι καὶ οὐ παραπλήσιον τῷ περὶ Θετταλίαν λεγομένῳ.
To one having crossed the Meles, a place meets him, which is, as it seems to me, a gift of Poseidon to the city, somewhat similar and yet not similar to that which is said about Thessaly.
ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ τὰ ὄρη διαστήσας Θετταλίαν ἐποίησε γῆν ἄπεδον ἐκ λίμνης ἐξιεὶς κατὰ ῥεῦμα τὸν Πηνειὸν, ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἐπανήγαγε τὴν θάλατταν ἀπὸ τῶν ὀρῶν, ἀντίστροφον τὸν ἐκ τῆς ἠπείρου κόσμον τῷ παρὰ τῆς θαλάττης ἁρμόττων τῇ πόλει.
For there, having cleft the mountains apart, he made Thessaly a flat land, releasing the Peneius in a stream out of a lake; but here, he drew back the sea from the mountains, fitting for the city an ornament from the mainland which is the converse of that from the sea.
οὐ μὴν ἰλύν γε ὑπελίπετο οὐδʼ ὅσον ἔπηξε τὸ
Indeed, he did not leave mud behind, nor even as much as solidified the