§313ἀκούοντα περὶ ἐμοῦ, τὸν δὲ θεὸν φάναι παραμυθούμενον καὶ διδάσκοντα ὡς ἄρα οὐκ ἄντικρυς ἐκκόψαι τὰ ὀστᾶ οὐδὲ τὰ νεῦρα τὰ ὄντα ἐκτεμεῖν, ἀλλὰ δεῖν οἷον ἀλλοίωσίν τινα τῶν ὄντων γίγνεσθαι, οὕτω πολλῆς καὶ ἀτόπου δεῖν τῆς ἐπανορθώσεως.
...while hearing about me. And the god, according to him, spoke to console and teach him that it was not necessary to completely cut out the bones nor to excise the existing sinews, but rather that some kind of transformation of the existing things had to occur, as such a great and extraordinary restoration was needed.
καὶ δίδωσιν ἴαμα τῷ Νηρίτῳ φράζειν ἐμοὶ, τῆς ἡμέρας εἰς τρὶς ἐλαίῳ ἁλῶν οὐκ ἔχοντι·
And the god gave Neritus a remedy to tell me: to use olive oil containing no salt three times a day.
καὶ ἐποίουν ἐξ ἐκείνου οὕτως, καὶ πειρωμένῳ συνέφερεν ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον.
And from then on I did so, and upon trial it proved beneficial for the better.
ταυτὶ δὲ ἕτερα ἐπὶ τῆς πατρῴας ἑστίας συνέβη μοι, κατʼ αὐτὴν ἀκμὴν χειμῶνός τε καὶ ἅμα τῆς νόσου.
These other things happened to me at my ancestral hearth, at the very height of winter and at the same time of my illness.
κατεκείμην ἐπʼ ἀρίστῳ, καὶ ἐπῆλθε τῆς κεφαλῆς ἀλγήματα ἰσχυρὰ καὶ δεινὰ, καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον κατετείνετο, καὶ τὰ χείλη συνεκέκλειτο, καὶ ἦν ἀπορία πολλή.
I was lying down for lunch, and severe and terrible pains came upon my head, my face was convulsed, my lips were locked, and there was great distress.
συσπειραθεὶς δὲ ὡς εἶχον εἰσῇξα εἰς τὸ δωμάτιον οὗ κάθευδον, καὶ κατακλίνομαι ὅντινα δὴ τρόπον, καὶ πῦρ ἐπιγίγνεται πολὺ καὶ σφοδρόν·
Drawing myself together just as I was, I rushed into the bedchamber where I used to sleep, and lay down in whatever way I could, and a great and violent fever came on.
καὶ ὅπως ἀναπνεύσαιμι οὐκ εἶχον, ἀλλʼ ἦν οἰμωγὴ τῆς τε μητρὸς καὶ τροφοῦ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων οἰκετῶν, καὶ ὅτε δὴ Ζώσιμος συνετετάρακτο, καί πως ἔνευσα τοῖς πλείοσιν ἔξοδον καὶ παρετετάγμην πρὸς τὸ συμβησόμενον.
I had no way to draw breath, but there was lamentation from my mother, my nurse, and the other servants, and just when Zosimus was utterly thrown into confusion, I somehow signaled with a gesture to the majority of them to leave, and I braced myself for what was to happen.
καὶ δὴ μετὰ τοῦτο ἡλίου τε ἦν δύσις, ἢ καὶ ἔτι πορρωτέρω, καὶ ἐπιγίγνεται σπασμὸς ἐπὶ τῷ πυρετῷ οὔτε τις ῥητὸς οὔθʼ οἷον ἄν τις καὶ διανοηθείη, ἀλλʼ εἵλκετο πάσας ἕλξεις τὸ σῶμα, καὶ τὰ μὲν γόνατα ἄνω πρὸς τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐφέρετο, καὶ προσερρήγνυτο, τὰς δὲ χεῖρας οὐχ οἷόν τʼ ἦν κατέχειν, ἀλλʼ εἰς τὸν τράχηλον καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον ἐνέπιπτον·
And indeed after this, it was sunset, or even later, and a convulsion came upon the fever, neither to be described nor even to be imagined by anyone, but my body was dragged in every direction, and my knees were drawn up toward my head and dashed against it, and it was impossible to keep my hands down, but they fell upon my neck and my face.
τὸ δὲ στῆθος ἔξω προεωθεῖτο καὶ τὸ νῶτον εἰς τοὔπισθεν ἀντεσπᾶτο ὥσπερ ἱστίον ἐξ ἀνέμου κεκυρτωκός.
My chest was pushed outward, and my back was pulled backward and bent like a sail curved by the wind.
ἠρέμει δὲ οὐδὲν τοῦ σώματος οὐδὲ μικρόν τι παρήλλαττε τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν, ἀλλʼ ἦν ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἡ κίνησις καὶ ἡ τῶν ὀδυνῶν κατάτασις ἄρρητος, οὔτε σιωπᾶν ἐῶσα καὶ πρὸς τὴν φωνὴν ἔτι μεῖζον ἀπαντῶσα.
No part of my body was at rest, nor did it deviate from nature only a little, but the movement was extreme and the tension of the pains was unspeakable, not allowing me to remain silent and responding with even greater pain when I made a sound.
ταῦτα δʼ ἐγίγνετο καὶ εἰς μέσας νύκτας καὶ πρόσω μηδὲ μικρὸν ἀνιέντα·
These things went on until midnight and far beyond, without relaxing even a little.
ἔπειτα τῆς μὲν ἀκμῆς ἀφεῖλέ τι, οὐ μὴν παντάπασί γε ἐπαύσατο.
Then it withdrew somewhat from its height, but indeed did not cease entirely.
ἐρίων δʼ ἦν θερμῶν ὑποβολή τε καὶ περιβολὴ συνεχὴς καὶ πυρίας πᾶσα ἰδέα, καὶ μόλις οὕτω διαγίγνομαι.
There was a constant laying down of and wrapping in warm wool, and every kind of hot application, and only with difficulty did I survive in this way.
καὶ πρὶν ἡμέραν εἶναι, ἔθει τις ἰατρὸν καλῶν.
And before it was day, someone ran to call a physician.
ἧκεν εἴτε δὴ τῆς ἐπιούσης εἴτε καὶ ἡμέρᾳ §314ὕστερον.
He came either on the following day or on the day after.
καὶ μεσημβρίας μοι δοκεῖν πάλιν προσβολή τις προσῄει, καὶ μετʼ οὐ πολὺ διεχώρει κάτω μέλαινα.
And around noon, it seemed to me, another attack approached, and not long after, black bile passed downward.
καὶ καθημένῳ ἐπὶ τοῦ δίφρου ἐπιγίγνεται ἔκλυσις δεινὴ καὶ ἱδρὼς καὶ λειποθυμία.
And as I sat upon the stool, a terrible exhaustion, sweat, and fainting came upon me.
καὶ ὁ ἰατρὸς ἐτεθορύβητό τε καὶ τροφὴν ἠξίου προσφέρειν· τὸ δʼ οὐ τοιοῦτον ἄρα ἦν.
The physician was thrown into confusion and insisted on offering food, but the matter was indeed not of such a kind.
νύξ τʼ ἐπιγίγνεται, οἷα δὴ ἐν κλυδωνίῳ καὶ σάλῳ, καὶ κατέδαρθον σχεδὸν ὅσον εἰς ὄναρ.
Night came on, as if in a storm and tossing waves, and I fell asleep just about enough to dream.
καί μοι γίγνεται πρόσταγμα πορευθῆναι πρὸς τὴν τῶν τροφέων ἑστίαν, καὶ προσκυνῆσαι τὸ ἕδος τοῦ Διὸς πρὸς ᾧ ἐτρεφόμην· καὶ φωναί τινες, οἶμαι, καὶ ὁ τρόπος τῆς ἱκετείας διῄρητο.
And a command came to me to go to the hearth of my foster-parents, and to worship the statue of Zeus near which I was reared; and some voices, I think, and the manner of supplication had been detailed.
χιὼν δʼ ἦν οὐκ ὀλίγη καὶ δυσέξοδα παντελῶς, καὶ ἀπεῖχε τὸ οἰκίδιον τῆς οἰκίας πλέον ἢ στάδιον.
There was no small amount of snow and it was altogether difficult to go out, and the little house was more than a stade away from my house.
ἀνέβην ἵππον καὶ ᾠχόμην, καὶ προσεκύνησα, καὶ οὐκ ἔφθην ἐπανελθὼν, καὶ πάντα ἐκεῖνα καθειστήκει.
I mounted a horse and departed, and did my worship, and no sooner had I returned than all those symptoms had subsided.
τὰ δʼ ὑπὲρ τὸν τράχηλον καὶ τὰς ἀπὸ τῶν νώτων κατατάσεις καὶ τὸν ἀκριβούμενον ὀπισθότονον ἤδη τόνδε τρόπον ἰάσατο εὐθὺς, ἐπειδὴ τὴν δύσπνοιαν ἐξιάσατο.
As for the symptoms above the neck and the tensions from the back and the fully developed opisthotonus, the god healed them immediately in this manner, after he had healed the difficulty in breathing.
χρῆμα ἔφη βασιλικὸν εἶναι· χρῆναι δʼ αὐτὸ λαβεῖν παρὰ τῆς γυναικός.
He said it was a royal remedy, and that I must receive it from a woman.
καί πως ἐκ τούτων ἐφάνη διάκονος τῶν βασιλείων πρὸς τῷ τοῦ Τελεσφόρου νεῷ τε καὶ ἕδει, λευχείμων τε καὶ ἐζωσμένος, καὶ κατὰ τὰς θύρας, οὗ ἡ Ἄρτεμις, ᾔει ἔξω ὑπὸ κήρυκος, φέρων τῷ βασιλεῖ τὸ λοιπὸν τοῦ χρήματος.
And somehow from these things, a servant of the palace appeared near the temple and statue of Telesphorus, dressed in white and girdled, and near the doors, where Artemis is, he went out led by a herald, carrying the rest of the remedy to the king.
τὸ μὲν δὴ ὄναρ ὡς ἀμυδρῶς ἀπομνημονεῦσαι τοιοῦτον μάλιστα ἐγένετο.
The dream, as far as I can recall it dimly, was of such a kind.
ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐλθὼν εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν γίγνομαι περιιὼν κατὰ τὸν Τελεσφόρον, ἐπέρχεται ὁ νεωκόρος ὁ Ἀσκληπιακὸς, καὶ ὡς ἔτυχεν ἑστὼς πρὸς τῷ ἕδει, φράζω πρὸς αὐτὸν τὴν ὄψιν τὴν γενομένην μοι, καὶ ἠρώτων τί ἂν εἴη τὸ χρῆμα, ἢ τίς ἂν χρήσαιτο.
When I came to the sanctuary and was walking around near Telesphorus, the temple-warden Asclepiacus came up, and as I happened to be standing by the statue, I told him the vision that had appeared to me, and asked what the remedy might be, or who would use it.
καὶ ὃς ἀκούσας καὶ θαυμάσας, ὥσπερ εἰώθει, Οὐ μακρὰ, ἔφη, ἡ ζήτησις οὐδʼ ὁδοῦ πολλῆς, ἀλλʼ ἐνθένδε σοι φέρω· κεῖται γὰρ παρὰ τοῖς ποσὶ τῆς Ὑγιείας, ἀρτίως γε θείσης Τύχης ταύτης, ἐπειδὴ τάχιστα ἀνεῴχθη τὸ ἱερόν. ἦν δὲ ἡ Τύχη γυνὴ τῶν ἐπιφανῶν.
And he, having heard and wondered, as was his custom, said, "The search is not long, nor is it a long journey, but I will bring it to you from here; for it lies at the feet of Hygieia, since Tyche has just now placed it there as soon as the temple was opened." Now Tyche was a woman of distinguished family.
καὶ παρελθὼν εἰς Ὑγιείας κομίζει τὸ χρῆμα· καὶ χρίομαι ὡς ἔτυχον προσεστώς.
And going to the statue of Hygieia, he brought the remedy; and I anointed myself as I happened to be standing there.
ἦν δὲ καὶ τὸ χρῆμα τῆς εὐωδίας θαυμαστὸν οἷον καὶ ἡ δύναμις εὐθὺς ἐπίδηλος.
The remedy was of a wonderful fragrance, and its power was immediately manifest.
θᾶττον γὰρ ἢ εἴρηκα ἀνείθη ἡ τάσις.
For more quickly than I can speak, the tension was relaxed.
ἐρωτήσας δʼ ὕστερον τὸν
And having later asked...