that the God whose turne was then to rule woulde plaie that parte I determined not to dishonest the Priestehoode in whiche from my youthe I had benne brought vp neither to defile the Churches and secrete places of the Temples of the Goddes and to auoide that whiche was by destinie decreed not for dooinge the déede whiche God forebid but to pounishe my desire with conuenient pounishment as in my minde I determined whiche by reason rulinge in that Iudgemente I bannished my selfe and vnhappy name foresooke my Countrie as well to yéelde to the necessitie of the Ladies of destinie geue them leaue to determine of vs what they would as also to leaue the cursed Rhodopis For I was afraide my gest leste if he who then had Dominon should violently enter into the Cittie I should be forced to doo some viler thinge But the chiefe cause aboue all other that bannished me were my Sonnes for the secrete wisedome that I had of the Goddes foreshewed to me that they shoulde fighte a blouddy battaile bitwéene them selues that I might therefore remoue suche a cruell spectacle from mine eyes which I thinke the Sonne him selfe would not beholde and to acquite these fatherly eyes of the sighte of my Sonnes death I went my way to preuent these thinges pretendinge as though I woulde goe to greate Thebes to sée my elder Sonne who was then with his Grandfather his name was Thyamis Cnemon started when he hearde the name of Thymis yet he kepte his counsell as well as he coulde the better to heare that whiche folowed but he tolde on as foloweth I omitte that whiche happened to me by the waie yonge man for it nothinge apperteineth to that you aske for But when I hearde that there was a certaine Cittie of Greece Sacred to Apollo whiche was a Temple of the Goddes a Colledge of Wise and farre from the troublous resort of the common people I wente thither thinking that Cittie which was dedicated to Holinesse Ceremonies to be a méete place for a man beinge a Prophete to resorte vnto So when I had sailed by y e coaste of Cressye was arriued at Cirrhus I went in haste out of my shippe to the Towne whither after I was comme I felt a certaine Diuine Odore bréeth vpon me So that for many causes I accouÌ„pted that Cittie a méete place for me to abide in the leste wherof was not the natural sighte of the same For as it were a naturall defense or Tower Pernassus reacheth ouer it inclosinge the Cittie as it were with a Walle with his twoo toppes You saie very wel ê™ Cnemon and like one in déede who had tasted of Pithos Sprite for I remeÌ„ber that my Father tolde me y t sighte of the Tower was suche when the Athenians sente him to the Councel of Thamphictiones Are you then an Athenian Sonne saide he Yea sir saide Cnemon What is your name Cnemon answeared he How came you hither You shall heare that hereafter nowe tell on your tale Contente quoth he I wente into the Cittie and praysed it muche in my minde for the places of exercise there and the pleasant fieldes and the springes with the fountaine of Castalius this donne I wente to the Temple For the report of the people that saide the Prophetes would geue answeare presently moued me so to doo as soone as I had gonne into the Churche and saide my praiers and made a certaine secrete request to the God Pythias answeared me thus To shunne the destinies sure decree thou takest all this toyle And therefore leaust the fruitfull coast of Nilus fertile soyle Haue a good harte for I will geue the blakishe fieldes againe Of Aegypte vnto thee till then our friende thou shalt remaine As soone as the Oracle had geuen me this answeare I tell grouelinge on the Aultar desired him in al thinges to be my good God But a greate sorte of those that stoode by me praised the God muche for geuinge me suche an answeare at my firste comminge Euery man talked of Fortune and behelde me and saide that I was the welcommest man to the God that euer came there but one Licurgus of Sparta wherefore when I desired to dwell in the Churcheyearde they gaue me leaue and decreed that I shoulde be nourished of their common charges To be shorte I wanted no good thinge For there I inquired the causes and manner of the Sacrifices whiche were very diuers and many that as wel the menne that inhabite there as also strangers make or els I conferred with Philosophers vnto whiche Cittie no final number of suche menne comme so that the Cittie is in manner a studie dedicated to Prophesies vnder the God who is Captaine of the Muses And at the firste there were diuers questions as touchinge many matters moued among vs. For some would aske after what sort wée Aegyptians honoured our Gods an other why diuers couÌ„tries woorshipped diuers kindes of Beastes what they could say of euery of them other inquired of the maner forme of the buildingê called Pyramides many of their framinge of instrumentes and their diuers tunes At a woorde they lefte nothinge that apperteined to Aegypt vnsearched For the Grecians eares are wonderfully delited with tales of Aegypte At laste certaine of the ciuilest sort fel in talke of Nylus and asked me whence were his heades and what speciall propertie it had aboue other Riuers and why it alone of all others in Summer did rise I tolde them what I knewe and was written in the Holy Bookes and was lawful onely for the Priestes to knowe Howe that the heade thereof was in the hiest partes of Aethiopia and formoste boundes of all Libia at the ende of the Easte Clime and beginninge of the South It floweth in the summer not as some thinke by reason of contrarie blastes of the Windes called Etestie as some thinke but for that those same windes blowing out of the North gather together driue al the cloudes of the Ayre into the South about the middel of the summer till they come to the burning Line where their violence is abated for the vncredible heate thereaboutes so that al the moysture whiche was before geathered togeather and congeled Melthethe and is resolued into abouÌ„dance of water wherwith Nilus waxeth proude and wil be a Riuer no longer but runneth ouer his bankes couereth Aegypte with his waters as with a Sea and maketh the grounde very fruitefull Wherefore it ministreth sweete waters to drinke as is like for that they come from Heauen is pleasant to be touched not now so hoate as at the firste yet is it luke warme as one that springeth in such a place For which cause of that stoude and none other arise no Vapors for if there should then were it like that it receiued his encrease of snowe resolued of whiche opinion some learned men of the Greekes haue ben as I talked of these matters in
Engins serued to no pourpose because they sawe that the space betwéene the twoo walles was so greate that they who made the Ditche were without their daunger When they had soone dispatched this by reason of the greate number of the labourers he beganne such an other thinge He lefte betwixte the twoo endes of the Ditche the breadthe of one hundred foote whiche he ditched euen vnto Nylus bringinge the same still from the lower grounde to that whiche was higher and more harde A man mighte haue likened that woorke to a longe wall because it kepte equally an hundred foote in breadthe and was so longe as the grounde whiche is betwéene Nylus and Siene When he had brought this to the bankes of Nylus he turned the water into his Riuer which in falling from a higher place into that whiche is lower and out of the woonderful breadth of Nylus into a narrowe Riuer wrought by hande made a greate noyse as wel at the entry thereinto as also in the Ditche when it was in so that they mighte heare it that were a greate waie of Whiche when they who were in Siene sawe and vnderstoode into what daunger they were broughte because he meante by so compassing them aboute to drowne theire Towne so that none of them mighte flée for that they were so inclosed with the Walles as wel by Lande as Water and that they could not be assured thoughe they aboade within they made a good shifte as the time would suffer to saue them selues Firste when the gates and the boorde woorke aboute them failed they laied vpon it Plaister and Pitche to make it the surer and they vnderpropped their walles that they might stande the stronger Somme brought earth thereto and some stoanes many brought olde timber and euery man that whiche was next hande no man was vnoccupied but woomen and children yea and Olde men too laboured harde For daunger of deathe refused the ayde neither of any age nor kinde The sturdier yonge menne and those that were in wages were sette to make a little Countermine that shoulde stretche to theire enimies Fortresse the manner whereof was thus They digged a Pitte almoste fiue yardes righte downe harde by the wall and there laied a sure Foundation Then digged they forewarde straighte to their enemies Bulwarkes by Torche lighte and those that came after in order cōueied the grytte from those that went before and carried it into a certaine parte of the Cittie where their Gardeins were And this did they for this pourpose that if the water came into that place whiche was without earthe it mighte haue a waie to breake out and fall awaie But this calamitie preuented the readinesse of the Cittizens For Nylus hauinge nowe passed the longe Ditche fell very faste into the rounde Riuer and flowinge euery where ouer the Bankes drowned al the space betwéene the twoo walles and made it like a standinge Poole And thus was Siene made an Ilande and a Cittie whiche standeth in the middest of a Countrie was compassed about with water and beaten vpon soare with the waues of Nylus The wall of the Towne withstoode the force of the water but one daie But as soone as the water increased and waxed hie so that it sonke into the grounde by reason that it was blacke and fruitful and wéeted sommewhat deepe and tooke the Foundation of the wall so that the weighte aboue beganne to shake and doo as thoughe it woulde fall in euery place where the softnesse of the earthe caused it to shrinke in suche sorte that al their prouision trembled and the warders vpon the wall were afraide of drowninge and by that time that it was nighte a parte of the wall where the Towers stoode fell downe not so that the fall was lesse then the water nor hable to receiue the same but that it was fiue yardes higher so that almost it put them all in feare of drowninge Wherefore there arose a pitiful crie of al manner of folkes that were in the Cittie so that their enimies mighte heare it who lifte vp theire handes to Heauen and called to the Goddes for healpe whiche was all theire hope that was leafte and humbly besoughte Oroondates to sende Messengers to Hydaspes to intreate of Peace He was content now beinge made the seruaunte of Fortune were he neuer so loathe But howe he shoulde sende to his enimies because the waters wente rounde aboute him he coulde not tell but as necessitie taughte him For when he had written what he woulde and tied it to a stoane with Slinge he caste the same in stéede of a Messenger to his enimies by that meanes sente his humble praiers ouer the Sea But he loste his labour for that the strength of the Slinge could not ouerreach the lengthe of that space but fell into the water before it came to them He caste againe in like sorte and was deceiued so did al the Archers like such as contended to shoote at somme marke laboured to shoote beyonde the drowned grounde Laste of al they helde vp theire handes to their enimies that stoode on their Fortresses who had good game at their miscries and declared by signes as well as they coulde what those throwes meante sommetime they helde vp theire handes before them like such as craued mercy sommetime would they holde them behinde their backes in token that they were ready to receiue Bandes and becomme theire bondmen Hidaspes perceiued that they desired healthe and was ready to graunte it them For the enimie that yéeldeth dothe make and in a manner force a Noble man to be gentle But because he had no ready waie thereto presently he determined to trie them better There were certaine Boates whiche he suffered to comme out of Nylus into his Ditche there he withhelde them When he had chosen tenne of the newest of them and furnished them with Archers and other armed Souldiers tolde them what they should saie he sent them to the Persians They rowed ouer in good order that if theire enimies would doo any thinge that they looked not for they might be ready to fighte Truely this was a straunge sighte that a Ship shoulde sayle from wall to wall and a Marriner shoulde practise his skill in the middest of the drye lande a Beate be rowed where the Plowe was woont to woorke And although the toile of warre euer deuiseth newe thinges yet then inuented it the straungest thing when it made those that were in Shippes fighte with thē that stoode vpon the walles and ioined twoo Armes by Sea and Lande togeather Those that were vpon the walles séeinge the Boates ful of armed men driue neare to that parte where the wall was fallen downe beinge men amazed and ful of feare for their present daungers suspected them who came for theire safetie because in extremitie all that happeneth is feared and suspected and so caste stoanes and shotte toward the Shippes In such sorte deale men that are in a desperate case accoumpting
boye sittinge not vpon a very hie Hill to looke aboute him kepte Shéepe appointing his flocke their seuerall pastures with his pipe they séemed to be ruled and tarry at their féedinge accordingly as he sounded his instrument A man would haue saide that thei had Golden fléeses not by reason of the woorkemanship but for that the Amethyst shyninge with his rednesse vpon their backes made them shewe so fayre There were grauen yonge Lambes leapinge vp and downe and some by heapes wente vp the Rocke other some daunced rounde aboute the Shéepherde so that the toppe of the Rocke was made a Shepeherdes disporte Other skipped in the flame of the Amethyst as if thei had benne in the Sunne who with the tippes of their féete scraped the stoane Many of the yonger forte beinge of greater courage séemed as though they woulde goe out of the compasse but were letted by the woorkemanship whiche set a pale of Golde in manner of a wall aboute the Rocke and them and it was a Rocke in déede and not a counterfeite for when the woorkeman had wrought the Golde aboute the outer parte of the Stoane for that pourpose he shewed that very liuely whiche he desired thinkinge it to no pourpose to counterfeite one Stoane in an other Suche a one was the Ringe Nausicles moued with the straungenesse of the thinge but more with the value thereof estéeminge the Ringe of more price then al the goodes he had beside spake thus Good Calasiris I did but ieste and where I asked somewhat for the Ransome of your Daughter it was but woordes for I determined to let you haue her for nothinge But for as muche as the giftes of the Goddes are not to be refused as you saie I take this Stoane sente from Heauen perswadinge my selfe that this was sente from the God that is moste beneficial to me according as he is woonte and hathe geuen this to you through fire as maie yet be séene by the flaminge thereof Otherwise I déeme that vantage to be beste which without damage of the geuer doothe enriche him that receiueth it After he had saide this and made an ende of the Offeringe he wente to méete with the reste placing the woomen by them selues in an inner parte of the Temple and the menne in the porche After they had eaten yenough and the Cuppes were sette on the Table the menne called vpon Bacchus with an offeringe and songe the Songe accustomably vsed when menne goe aborde their shippes and the wéemen daunced after a ditty made in the honour of Ceres But now when the banquette waxed somewhat warme and eche man after his sorte solaced him selfe Nausicles holdinge in his hande a glasse of cleare water saide I drinke to you in water good Calasiris and if it wil please you to beginne to vs the tale whiche wée sore desire to heare it shalbe more pleasant to vs then all the Cuppes on this borde For you heare howe the woomen nowe be at leasure and haue well banqueted them selues beginne to Daunce but your trauell if it please you to make reporte of it to vs shall shorten woonderfully well our feaste and be more pleasant to vs then any daunce or instrument The tellinge whereof for as muche as you haue as you knowe differed diuersly for that your mischaunces ouerwhelmed you you can reserue to no better time then this because your Daughter one of your Children is well and your Sonne by the Goddes helpe shalbe recouered by and by if you anger me not againe by driuinge it of any longer Gods blessinge on your harte ê™ Cnemon to Nausicles catchinge holde of his talke who for all that you haue brought to this feast all manner of Musicall instrumentes doo sette light by them and geue the ruder sorte leaue to heare them but you your selfe are desirous to heare secrete affayres and suche as are seasoned with singular mirthe and me thinketh you well vnderstande the Nature of the Goddes who ioyne Mercury and Bacchus togeather and adde pleasauntnesse of speache to the finesse of your banquet Wherefore although I haue for iuste cause marueiled at the other sumptuousnesse of the Sacrifice yet I knowe not whether a man maye by any meane please Mercury better then to talke at his feastes whiche thinge is his Badge aboue all other Calasiris was content as well to doo Cnemon a pleasure as also for that he would curry fauour with Nausicles for that whiche should ensewe he tolde them all briefely repetinge the principall pointes of that whiche he had tolde Cnemon before and of purpose passinge ouer with silence that whiche he thought was to little purpose for Nausicles to knowe but that whiche had not yet benne tolde and did depende vpon that whiche wente before he tolde in this sorte After they were aborde in the shippe of Phoenicia and were gonne from Delphi they sayled as they would wishe at the firste had very prosperous winde But when they came into the Calidonian Sea they were greatly troubled because thei had happened into a Sea whiche of his owne nature was very disquiet troublesome Cnemon desired him that he would not passe ouer this but tell it if he knew any reason of the ragynge of the same in that place The Ionian Sea ê™ he beinge restrayned of his great breadth and in a manner brought into straightes fallinge into the coaste of Crisa and hastinge to come into the Sea called Egeum is stopped by Isthmus in Peloponnesus so perhappes by the prouidence of God is the Hill placed there least by the violence of the water it should ouerflowe the lande on the contrary coaste And for as muche as from hence the water beaten backe as may be by reason is restrained of his course rather about this Sea theÌ„ in any other parte because that which yet floweth falleth into that whiche nowe by Isthmus was made to returne so that the water is much troubled very boisterous by reason of the continuall concourse of the waues in all the Ebbes and Floudes whiche opinion of his after all these who were present praysed and affirmed to be trewe Calasiris tolde on his tale saying After wée had passed the Sea and had loste the sight of the Acute Ilandes wée thought that wée discouered a Mountaine of Zacynthus in manner of a darke cloude before our eyes and therewith the Maister badde strike some of the Sailes and when we asked him why he abated them and wente more easily seinge that the shippe had a very good gale of winde because saide he if we wente with full saile aboute the firste watche wée should ariue at the Ilande and so were it to be doubted leaste in the darke wée runne vpon some Rockes whereof are there greate stoore and those very hie It is therefore wisedome to lie all night in the Sea and take the winde in suche proportion as shal serue to bringe vs thither to lande in the morninge Thus saide the Maister Mary wée