§309ἔτυχον μὲν διατρίβων ἐν Ἀδριανοῖς, τοῦ θεοῦ πέμψαντος·
It happened that I was staying in Hadrianoi, since the god had sent me there.
ἦσαν δὲ αἱ πολλαὶ τότε καὶ συνεχεῖς ἀπορίαι, οὔτε γὰρ τρέφεσθαι δυνατὸν ἦν μοι οὔθʼ ὅ τι γευσαίμην κατέχειν τοῦτο, ἀλλʼ εὐθὺς συνίστατο σὺν πυρὶ πολλῷ καὶ τὴν φάρυγγα ἔκειρε καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα ἀπελάμβανε, καὶ σφάκελοι πυρώδεις ἐχώρουν εἰς κεφαλὴν ἄνω.
At that time, my difficulties were frequent and continuous, for it was neither possible for me to take nourishment, nor to retain whatever I might taste; rather, it immediately coagulated with great heat, scraped my throat, cut off my breath, and burning spasms rushed up into my head.
καὶ §310πειρωμένῳ ἐμεῖν οὐκ ἀπήντα, ἀλλʼ ἦν καὶ ῥανὶς ἀντὶ τρικυμίας, διὰ τὸ ἐνίσχεσθαί τε καὶ πνιγμὸν φέρειν, μόλις δʼ ἂν καὶ μετὰ πολλοῦ θορύβου καὶ πολλῆς ἀπογνώσεως ἀπηλλάγην οὐκ ἀναιμωτὶ, ἀλλʼ ἀνεξαίνετο ἅπας ὁ πόρος καὶ καθίστατο ἀντʼ ἄλλου τραύματος.
And when I tried to vomit, nothing came up, but there was only a drop instead of a great wave, because of its being stuck and causing choking. Only with difficulty, and after much turmoil and great despair, would I be relieved, not without blood, but the entire passage was lacerated and became like another wound.
καὶ ὁ κάματος δὴ καὶ ἡ πᾶσα τοῦ σώματος ἀσθένεια καὶ κάθαρσις κατὰ λόγον τῶν συμβαινόντων ἦν.
Indeed, the exhaustion, the total weakness of my body, and the purging were in proportion to what was happening.
καὶ τῶν φίλων καὶ τῶν εἰωθότων παρῆν οὐδεὶς, ἀλλʼ ἀπεδήμουν ἄλλος ἄλλοσε, ὅτι μὴ εἷς τις ἔτυχε διαιτώμενος ἐν τοῖς ὕδασι τότε, ὃν ἐγὼ ἔτι πρόσθεν ἐδόκουν ὄναρ κειμένῳ μοι καθʼ ὁδὸν μόνῳ, τοῦ ἵππου ἐφʼ οὗ καθήμην πεπτωκότος, εἰπεῖν ὅτι καὶ τοῦτο παρὰ τῆς εἱμαρμένης συμβαίη, μόνον με ἀπολειφθῆναι.
None of my friends or associates was present, but they were traveling elsewhere, except for one person who happened to be staying at the waters at that time. Concerning him, I thought even earlier, in a dream when I was lying alone on the road after the horse on which I sat had fallen, that he said this too happened by fate, that I should be left alone.
τοῦτο μὲν δὴ ἐν Περγάμῳ προγεγόνει πρὸ τῆς ἐξόδου μικρόν·
This had occurred in Pergamum shortly before my departure.
τότε δὲ ἐν τοῖς Ἀδριανοῖς ἀπορουμένῳ μέμνημαι τοιοῦτον ὄναρ γενόμενον· ἐδόκουν ἐπὶ σχεδίας φέρεσθαι ἐν τῷ Αἰγυπτίῳ πελάγει μόνος, εἶναι δὲ τῆς σχεδίας ἐπʼ ἄκρῳ τε καὶ τῷ πρὸς τὴν γῆν·
But then, while I was in distress in Hadrianoi, I remember such a dream occurring: I seemed to be carried on a raft in the Egyptian sea alone, and to be on the very edge of the raft, near the land.
ἀποροῦντι δέ μοι προφανῆναι τὸν τροφέα Ζώσιμον ἵππον ἔχοντα ἐν τῇ γῇ, καί πως ἐκβῆναί τε καὶ λαβέσθαι ἀσμένως τοῦ ἵππου.
As I was in despair, my foster-father Zosimus appeared to me on the land having a horse, and somehow I disembarked and gladly took hold of the horse.
καὶ τοῦτο μὲν οὕτως.
This dream was such.
ἐδόκουν δὲ καὶ διὰ τῆς Ἀλεξανδρείας διεξιὼν διδασκαλεῖα παίδων ὁρᾶν· οἱ δʼ ἀνεγίγνωσκόν τε καὶ ᾖδον τὰ ἔπη τάδε, ὑπηχοῦντες ὡς ἥδιστον
"πολλοὺς δʼ ἐκ θανάτοιο ἐρύσατο δερκομένοιο
ἀστραφέεσσι πύλῃσιν ἐπʼ αὐτῇσιν βεβαῶτας
Ἀΐδεω. "
ταῦτα δʼ ἐστὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων ἐπῶν, ἃ πρῶτα σχεδὸν ἐποιήσαμεν τῷ θεῷ.
I also seemed, as I was passing through Alexandria, to see schools of children; they were reading and singing these verses, sounding them as sweetly as possible: "And he rescued many from death as it watched them, who were standing at the very gates, the lusterless gates, of Hades." These are from our own verses, which we composed almost first for the god.
θαυμάζειν οὖν ὅπως ἤδη διαπεφοιτηκότα εἰς τὴν Αἴγυπτον εἴη καὶ χαίρειν ὑπερφυῶς, ὅτε δὴ τυγχάνοιμι κατειληφὼς ᾀδόμενα τἀμαυτοῦ.
I wondered, therefore, how they had already spread to Egypt, and rejoiced exceedingly when I found my own works being sung.
καὶ τὰ μὲν κεφάλαια τῶν ἐνυπνίων τοιαῦτά ἐστιν.
The main points of the dreams are these.
ἡμέρας δὲ γενομένης, ἔτυχε γάρ μοι παρὼν ἵππος, ἀναβαίνω τε εὐθὺς καὶ ὃν οὐδʼ ἂν εἷς ᾠήθη διαρκέσαι μέχρι τῆς πρώτης ἐξόδου, δρόμους τε ἀπελαύνω τὸν ἵππον καὶ γίγνομαι ῥᾴων θέοντος ἔτι, καὶ ἀπῄει τῶν ἄνω πολὺ τοῦ βάρους καί τις δύναμις ὡς ἐν τοιούτοις συνελέγη, καὶ ἦσαν πάλιν ἐλπίδες.
When day came—for a horse happened to be available to me—I mounted immediately. Although no one would have thought this horse could hold out even to the first stage, I rode him at a run, and I became lighter while he was still running, and much of the weight left my upper parts, and a certain strength was gathered as is possible in such circumstances, and there was hope again.
ἐγένετο δέ μοι καὶ νύκτωρ φωνὴ λέγοντός του, τεθεράπευσαι, καὶ ταῦτα ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἀπορωτάτοις.
At night, a voice came to me of someone saying, "You are cured," and this in the midst of the greatest difficulties.
ὃν μὲν οὖν τρόπον εἴς τε τὴν Πέργαμον
Now, the way in which I... to Pergamum...