The place of their banquets is outside the city,
in what is called the Elysian Field. It is a very
beautiful meadow surrounded by a dense wood
of all sorts of trees, which shade the guests as
they lie beneath them on beds of blossoms. The
winds wait upon the guests and serve them with
everything but wine. This they need not serve,
for surrounding the place are great trees of the
clearest crystal, and the fruits of these trees are
wine-cups of every sort of workmanship and size.
So that, when any one comes to table, he gathers
one or two of the cups and sets them beside him,
and they are straightway filled with wine. This,
then, is the manner of their drinking, and as for
garlands, they have none, but the nightingales
and other tuneful birds gather flowers from the
neighboring meadows in their beaks, and let them


 



fall like snow as they fly over the guests, singing the while. And I will tell you how they are
anointed with perfumes. Thick clouds draw up
perfume from the springs and the river; then
they station themselves above the banquet, and
when the winds gently press them they let fall a
light rain like dew.