§12.3.1τὴν μὲν τῆς χώρας ἀρετὴν πᾶς ἄν τις θαυμάσειε, §12.3.2τὸν δὲ Τίμαιον εἴποι τις ἂν οὐ μόνον ἀνιστόρητον γεγονέναι περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν Λιβύην, ἀλλὰ καὶ παιδαριώδη καὶ τελέως ἀσυλλόγιστον καὶ ταῖς ἀρχαίαις φήμαις ἀκμὴν ἐνδεδεμένον, ἃς παρειλήφαμεν, ὡς ἀμμώδους πάσης καὶ ξηρᾶς καὶ ἀκάρπου καθυπαρχούσης τῆς Λιβύης. §12.3.3ὁ δʼ αὐτὸς λόγος καὶ περὶ τῶν ζῴων.
\nWhile anyone would admire the fertility of the country,\n\none might say of Timaeus that he was not only ignorant of the facts regarding Libya, but also childish and completely illogical, and still bound to those ancient rumors which we have received, to the effect that all Libya exists as sandy, dry, and barren.\n\nThe same account holds also regarding the animals.
τό τε γὰρ τῶν ἵππων καὶ τῶν βοῶν καὶ προβάτων, ἅμα δὲ τούτοις αἰγῶν πλῆθος τοσοῦτόν ἐστι κατὰ τὴν χώραν ὅσον οὐκ οἶδʼ εἰ δύναιτʼ ἂν εὑρεθῆναι κατὰ τὴν λοιπὴν οἰκουμένην, §12.3.4διὰ τὸ πολλὰ τῶν κατὰ Λιβύην ἐθνῶν τοῖς μὲν ἡμέροις μὴ χρῆσθαι καρποῖς, ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν θρεμμάτων καὶ σὺν τοῖς θρέμμασιν ἔχειν τὸν βίον. §12.3.5καὶ μὴν τὸ τῶν ἐλεφάντων καὶ λεόντων καὶ παρδάλεων πλῆθος καὶ τὴν ἀλκήν, ἔτι δὲ βουβάλων κάλλος καὶ στρουθῶν μεγέθη, τίς οὐχ ἱστόρησεν;
For the multitude of horses, cattle, and sheep, and along with these of goats, is so great in this country that I do not know if the like could be found in the rest of the inhabited world,\n\nbecause many of the nations in Libya do not make use of cultivated crops, but derive their livelihood from and with their herds.\n\nFurthermore, who has not recorded the multitude and strength of elephants, lions, and leopards, and also the beauty of wild oxen and the size of ostriches?
ὧν κατὰ μὲν τὴν Εὐρώπην τὸ παράπαν οὐδέν ἐστιν, ἡ δὲ Λιβύη πλήρης ἐστὶ τῶν προειρημένων. §12.3.6περὶ ὧν οὐδὲν ἱστορήσας Τίμαιος ὥσπερ ἐπίτηδες τἀναντία τοῖς κατʼ ἀλήθειαν ὑπάρχουσιν ἐξηγεῖται. §12.3.7καθάπερ δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν κατὰ Λιβύην ἀπεσχεδίακεν, οὕτως καὶ περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν νῆσον τὴν προσαγορευομένην Κύρνον. §12.3.8καὶ γὰρ ὑπὲρ ἐκείνης μνημονεύων ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ βύβλῳ φησὶν αἶγας ἀγρίας καὶ πρόβατα καὶ βοῦς ἀγρίους ὑπάρχειν ἐν αὐτῇ πολλούς, ἔτι δʼ ἐλάφους καὶ λαγὼς καὶ λύκους καί τινα τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων, καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους περὶ ταῦτα διατρίβειν κυνηγετοῦντας καὶ τὴν ὅλην τοῦ βίου διαγωγὴν ἐν τούτοις ἔχειν. §12.3.9κατὰ δὲ τὴν προειρημένην νῆσον οὐχ οἷον αἲξ ἄγριος ἢ βοῦς, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ λαγὼς οὐδὲ λύκος οὐδʼ ἔλαφος οὐδʼ ἄλλο τῶν τοιούτων ζῴων οὐδέν ἐστι, πλὴν ἀλωπέκων καὶ κυνίκλων καὶ προβάτων ἀγρίων. §12.3.10ὁ δὲ κύνικλος πόρρωθεν μὲν ὁρώμενος εἶναι δοκεῖ λαγὼς μικρός, ὅταν δʼ εἰς τὰς χεῖρας λάβῃ τις, μεγάλην ἔχει διαφορὰν καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν καὶ κατὰ τὴν βρῶσιν· γίνεται δὲ τὸ
Of which there are none at all in Europe, but Libya is full of the aforementioned animals.\n\nTimaeus, having recorded nothing about these things, explains, as if on purpose, the very opposite of the actual facts.\n\nAnd just as he spoke offhand about the affairs in Libya, so he did also about those in the island called Cyrnus.\n\nFor indeed, mentioning it in his second book, he says that there are many wild goats, sheep, and wild oxen in it, and further stags, hares, wolves, and some of the other animals, and that the inhabitants spend their time hunting these and have their whole way of life in these pursuits.\n\nBut in the aforementioned island, far from there being a wild goat or ox, there is not even a hare, a wolf, a stag, or any other such animal at all, except foxes, cuniculi, and wild sheep.\n\nThe cuniculus, when seen from a distance, seems to be a small hare, but when someone takes it into his hands, it has a great difference both in appearance and in taste; and it becomes...