Σὺ δέ μοι θαύμασον καὶ ἀλόγων φυσικὴν σύνεσιν. καὶ τοὺς λόγους παράστησον. πῶς μὲν ὄρνισι καλιαὶ πέτραι τε καὶ δένδρα καὶ ὄροφοι, εἰς ἀσφάλειάν τε ὁμοῦ καὶ κάλλος ἐξησκημέναι, καὶ τοῖς τρεφομένοις ἐπιτηδείως; πόθεν δὲ μελίσσαις τε καὶ ἀράχναις τὸ φιλεργὸν καὶ φιλότεχνον, ἵνα ταῖς μὲν τὰ κηρία πλέκηται καὶ συνέχηται δι᾿ ἑξαγώνων συρίγγων καὶ ἀντιστρόφων, καὶ τὸ ἑδραῖον αὐταῖς διὰ τοῦ μέσου διατειχίσματος καὶ ἀλλαγῆς ἐπιπλεκομένων ταῖς εὐθείαις τῶν γωνιῶν πραγματεύηται, 1 ποθεν + δε e || 2 ωστε] ος c || 3 om η bc || 4 καλλωπιζηται] -ζεται bcdf || 6 θεατριζει] -ζη b: -ζειν f || 11 ουρανιων] ουρανων ‘in quibusd.’ 25. 12 φυσικην] φυσιν και f || συνεσιν] κινησιν b ‘tres Colb.’ || 13 λο- γους] + ει δυνασαι df i.e. the unnnatural sounds made by birds which are taught to speak and to whistle. 4. τὸ πτερόν] seems to mean ‘his plumage,’ not ‘wing,’ as above. So Philostratus says of the peacock, τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τοῦ πτεροῦ τὴν τῶν ἄστρων διακόσμησιν ἀναπλάττεται. Kατάστερον from κατά and ἀστήρ. 6. θεατρίζει] a favourite word of Gr.’s, but not very common elsewhere, ‘to show off,’ as upon the stage; cp. Heb. x 33. Σοβαρός, ‘pompous.’ 8. καὶ γυναικῶν] Job xxxviii 36 (LXX.). If such skill is wonderful in women, much more in creatures without reason, like the foll. 25. The sagacity of animals ; the bee, the spider, the crane, the ant. 13. καλιαί] ‘bowers’; a poetical word for ‘nests.’ It is a somewhat bold phrase to say that they make rocks and trees their nests. Ἐξησκ., cp. § 6 ἠσκ. 18. ἑξ. συρ. κ. ἀντιστρ.] ‘by means of hexagonal pipes complementary to each other, and the fabric secured (lit. the firmness is effected) by means of the dividing wall and the combi- nation ὁ the angles with the straight lines.' The ’dividing ’ is perh. the horizontal one between the upper and lower set of cells. But cp. Bas. Hex. viii p. 88 (Paris 1638). καὶ ταῦτα ἐν ζοφεροῖς οὕτω τοῖς σίμβλοις καὶ ἀοράτοις τοῖς πλάσμασιν· αἱ δὲ διὰ λεπτῶν οὕτω καὶ ἀερίων σχεδὸν τῶν νημάτων πολυειδῶς διατεταμένων πολυπλόκους τοὺς ἱστοὺς ἐξυφαίνωσι, καὶ ταῦτα ἐξ ἀφανῶν τῶν ἀρχῶν, οἴκησίν τε ὁμοῦ τιμίαν, καὶ θήραν τῶν ἀσθενεστέρων εἰς τροφῆς ἀπόλαυσιν; ποῖος Εὐκλείδης ἐμιμήσατο ταῦτα, γραμμαῖς ἐμφιλοσοφῶν ταῖς οὐκ οὔσαις, καὶ κάμνων ἐν ταῖς ἀποδείξεσι; τίνος Παλαμήδους τακτικὰ κινήματά τε καὶ σχήματα γεράνων, ὥς φασι, καὶ ταὐτὰ παιδεύματα κινουμένων ἐν τάξει, καὶ μετὰ ποικίλης τῆς πτήσεως; ποῖοι Φειδίαι καὶ Ζεύξιδες καὶ Πολύγνωτοι, Παρράσιοι τέ τινες καὶ ἈγλαοΦῶντες, κάλλη μεθ’ ὑπερβολῆς γράφειν καὶ πλάττειν εἰδότες; τίς Κνώσσιος Δαιδάλου χορὸς ἐναρμόνιος, νύμφη πονηθεὶς εἰς κάλλους περιουσίαν, ἢ λαβύρινθος Κρητικὸς δυσδιέξοδος καὶ δυσέλικτος, ποιητικῶς εἰπεῖν, καὶ πολλάκις ἀπαντῶν ἑαυτῷ τοῖς τῆς τέχνης σοΦίσμασι; καὶ σιωπῶ μυρμήκων ταμιεῖά τε καὶ ταμίας, καὶ 2 αι] οἱ b ’Or. I' || 4 ἐξυφαίνουσι abf || 5 ἀσθενῶν bdef || 6 τροΦης] τρυφῆς ’in quibused.' || 7 om ἐν c 1. σίμβλοις] ’hives’; translate, ’when the hives in which it is done are so dark and the structure itself is invisible.' 4. ἱστούς] ’webs’; ἀρχῶν, ’ends’ as in Acts χ II. 5. τῶν ἀσθενεστέρων] Cp. i 9. 7. Υρ. ταῖς οὐκ οὔσαις] ’ivith his imaginary limes.’ 8. τίνος Παλ. κτλ.] Παλ. depends upon τακτικά; τακτικά is nom. to ἐμιμήσατο understood, and κιν. κ. σχ. acc after it. The same verb must be supplied for ποῖοι Φειδίαι etc. Ὥς φασι implies (as in ἑ 24) that Gr. himself had not had opportunities of observing the crane and the peacock. The usual reading ταῦτα παιδ’. can only make sense, if at all, if κ. ταῦτα be taken as in § 19, ’and that, when they move': ταὐτά makes good sense, and the καὶ before it points on to καὶ μετὰ ποικ. ‘What Pal. drew up tactics to rival the movements and groupings of the cranes, which, so they tell us, without breaking rank go through the same drill- like movements, in ever so many figures of flight?’ 12. γράφειν κ. πλάττειν] Phidias πλάττειν, the rest γράφειν ᾔδεσαν. 13. Κνώσσιος] at Cnossus, or Gnossus, in Crete; νύμφῃ, Ariadne, see Homer II. xviii 592 foil. 15. δυσέλικτος] ‘hard to unwind.' Gr. apologizes for using so poetical a word. 16. ἀπαντῶν] ‘meeting.' θησαυρισμὸν τροφῆς τῷ καιρῷ σύμμετρον, τἄλλα τε ὅσα περὶ ὁδῶν καὶ περὶ ἡγουμένων καὶ τῆς ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις εὐταξίας ἔγνωμεν ἱστορούμενα.