loaf escape me in the well-rounded basket, nor the large flat[1] cake, having plenty of sesame-cheese, nor a slice of ham, nor white-vested tripe, nor cheese newly pressed from sweet milk, nor nice honey-cake, which even the blessed [gods] long for, nor [in short] as many things as cooks prepare for the banquets of men, decking the dishes with all kinds of dainties. Never have I fled from the sad cry in war, but going straight forwards to the fight, I have mingled with the foremost combatants. I dread not man, although possessing a mighty frame, but going to his bed, I nibble the tip of his finger, and catch him by the heel, nor does pain attack the man, nor[2] does sweet sleep leave him, when I bite. But there are two [creatures alone] which I dread very much throughout the whole earth, the hawk[3] and the weasel, who bring great grief upon me, and the lamentable trap, where there is death by stratagem. But above all I dread the weasel, which is excellent [in cunning], which even in my hole hunts [me] out, when taking refuge in my hole.[4] I do not eat radishes, nor cabbages, nor gourds, nor do I feed upon fresh beets, nor parsley, for these are the viands of you who [dwell] in the marsh."
To this Puff-Cheeks, smiling, answered thus: "O stranger, thou boastest too much of the belly. Among us, also, both in the marsh, and on the land, there are very many wonders to behold. For unto the frogs hath the son of Saturn granted a two-lived sustenance, to leap along the earth, and to hide
- ↑ If τανύπεπλος be correct, it must simply mean large, stretched out on all sides, like a modern seaman's biscuit. But I think we should read τανύπεπλον, referring it to σησαμότυρον, i.e. "having a thick paste (cf. Liddell, s. v. τύρος.) of sesame spread all over it like a robe." The metaphor is very humorously expressed by Chapman, "That crusty-weeds wear, large as ladies' trains."
- ↑ One would almost expect οὐ δ' ἀπέφευγ' ὕπνος, but I have some doubts whether οὐδὲ may take the second place in the sentence.
- ↑ "Night-hawk." Chapman.
- ↑
πάνιστος, to the same purpose as Horapollo, Hieroglyph. § 47, p. 39, ed. Cassin., says that if there is a great choice of bread, the mouse always selects τὸν καθαρώτατον. Chapman translates,
In clean round kimmels."
