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n

by Xenophon

Translation by H. G. Dakyns

1

is a manual on hunting hares, deer and wild boar,

including the topics of dogs, and the benefits of hunting for the young.

2

To the gods themselves is due the discovery, to Apollo and Artemis,

patrons of the chase and protectors of the hound.[1] As a guerdon they

bestowed it upon Cheiron,[2] by reason of his uprightness, and he took it

and was glad, and turned the gift to good account. At his feet sat many a

disciple, to whom he taught the mystery of hunting and of chivalry[3]--to

wit, Cephalus, Asclepius, Melanion, Nestor, Amphiaraus, Peleus, Telamon,

Meleager, Theseus and Hippolytus, Palamedes, Odysseus, Menestheus,

Diomed, Castor and Polydeuces, Machaon and Podaleirius, Antilochus,

Aeneas and Achilles: of whom each in his turn was honoured by the gods.

And let none marvel that of these the greater part, albeit well-pleasing to

the gods, nevertheless were subject to death--which is the way of nature,[4]

but their fame has grown--nor yet that their prime of manhood so far

differed. The lifetime of Cheiron sufficed for all his scholars; the fact

being that Zeus and Cheiron were brethren, sons of the same father but of

different mothers--Zeus of Rhea, and Cheiron of the nymph Nais;[5] and

so it is that, though older than all of them, he died not before he had taught

the youngest--to wit, the boy Achilles.[6]

[1] Or, "This thing is the invention of no mortal man, but of Apollo

and Artemis, to whom belong hunting and dogs." For the style of

exordium L. Dind. cf (Ps.) Dion. "Art. rhet." ad in.; Galen, "Isagog."

ad in.; Alex. Aphrodis. "Probl." 2 proem.

[2] The wisest and "justest of all the centaurs," Hom. "Il." xi. 831.

See Kingsley, "The Heroes," p. 84.

[3] Or, "the discipline of the hunting field and other noble lore."

[4] Lit. "since that is nature, but the praise of them grew greatly."

[5] According to others, Philyra. Pind. "Pyth." iii. 1, {ethelon

Kheirona ke Philuridan}; cf. "Pyth." vi. 22; "Nem." iii. 43.

[6] See Paus. iii. 18. 12.

Thanks to the careful heed they paid to dogs and things pertaining to

the chase, thanks also to the other training of their boyhood, all these

greatly excelled, and on the score of virtue were admired.

If Cephalus was caught into the arms of one that was a goddess,[7]

3

[7] Hemera (al. Eos). For the rape of Cephalus see Hes. "Theog." 986;

Eur. "Ion," 269; Paus. i. 3. 1; iii. 18. 7.

[8] Lat. Aesculapius. Father of Podaleirius and Machaon, "the noble

leech," "Il." ii. 731, iv. 194, 219, xi. 518; "Od." iv. 232.

[9] Cf. "Anab." I. ii. 8; Lincke, "z. Xen. Krit." p. 299.

[10] Melanion, s. Meilanion, Paus. iii. 12. 9; v. 17. 10; v. 19. 1.

[11] "Which were his rival suitors." As to Atalanta see Paus. viii.

45. 2; iii. 24. 2; v. 19. 2; Grote, "H. G." i. 199 foll.

[12] Lit. "the virtue of Nestor has so far penetrated the ears of

Hellas that I should speak to those who know." See Hom. "Il." i. 247,

and passim.

Amphiaraus,[13] what time he served as a warrior against Thebes, won

for himself the highest praise; and from heaven obtained the honour of a

deathless life.[14]

[13] Amphiaraus. Pind. "Nem." ix. 13-27; "Olymp." vi. 11-16; Herod. i.

52; Paus. ix. 8. 2; 18. 2-4; ii. 23.2; i. 34; Liv. xlv. 27; Cic. "de Div." i.

40. See Aesch. "Sept. c. Th." 392; Eur. "Phoen." 1122 foll.; Apollod.

iii. 6; Strab. ix. 399, 404.

[14] Lit. "to be honoured ever living."

Peleus kindled in the gods desire to give him Thetis, and to hymn their

nuptials at the board of Cheiron.[15]

[15] For the marriage of Peleus and Thetis see Hom. "Il." xxiv. 61;

cf. Pope's rendering:

To grace those nuptials from the bright abode Yourselves were present;

when this minstrel god (Well pleased to share the feast) amid the quire

Stood proud to hymn, and tune his youthful lyre ("Homer's Il." xxiv.)

4

"Pyth." iii. 87-96; Isocr. "Evag." 192. 6; Apoll. Rh. iv. 791; "Il." xxiv.

61; Hes. "Theog." 1006, and "Epithal." (ap. Tsetz, "Prol. ad

Lycophr.):

{tris makar Aiakide kai tetrakis olbie Peleu os toisd' en megarois ieron

lekhos eisanabaineis}.

The mighty Telamon[16] won from the greatest of all states and

wedded her whom he desired, Periboea the daughter of Alcathus;[17] and

when the first of Hellenes,[18] Heracles[19] the son of Zeus, distributed

rewards of valour after taking Troy, to Telamon he gave Hesione.[20]

[16] See "Il." viii. 283l Paus. i. 42. 1-4. [17] Or Alcathous, who

rebuilt the walls of Megara by Apollo's aid. Ov. "Met." viii. 15 foll.

[18] Reading {o protos}; or if with L. D. {tois protois}, "what time

Heracles was distributing to the heroes of Hellas (lit. the first of the

Hellenes) prizes of valour, to Telamon he gave."

[19] See Hom. "Il." v. 640; Strab. xiii. 595.

[20] See Diod. iv. 32; i. 42.

Of Meleager[21] be it said, whereas the honours which he won are

manifest, the misfortunes on which he fell, when his father[22] in old age

forgot the goddess, were not of his own causing.[23]

[21] For the legend of Meleager see "Il." ix. 524-599, dramatised by

both Sophocles and Euripides, and in our day by Swinburne,

"Atalanta in Calydon." Cf. Paus. iii. 8. 9; viii. 54. 4; Ov. "Met." viii.

300; Grote, "H. G." i. 195.

[22] i.e. Oeneus. "Il." ix. 535.

[23] Or, "may not be laid to his charge."

Theseus[24] single-handed destroyed the enemies of collective Hellas;

and in that he greatly enlarged the boundaries of his fatherland, is still today

the wonder of mankind.[25]

[24] See "Mem." II. i. 14; III. v. 10; cf. Isocr. "Phil." 111; Plut.

"Thes." x. foll.; Diod. iv. 59; Ov. "Met." vii. 433.

[25] Or, "is held in admiration still to-day." See Thuc. ii. 15;

Strab. ix. 397.

5

[26] See the play of Euripides. Paus. i. 22; Diod. iv. 62.

[27] Al. "lived on the lips of men." But cf. Eur. "Hipp." 85, {soi kai

xeneimi kai logois s' ameibomai}. See Frazer, "Golden Bough," i. 6,

for the Hippolytus-Virbius myth.

Palamedes[28] all his days on earth far outshone those of his own

times in wisdom, and when slain unjustly, won from heaven a vengeance

such as no other mortal man may boast of.[29] Yet died he not at their

hands[30] whom some suppose; else how could the one of them have been

accounted all but best, and the other a compeer of the good? No, not they,

but base men wrought that deed.

[28] As to Palamedes, son of Nauplius, his genius and treacherous

death, see Grote, "H. G." i. 400; "Mem." IV. ii. 33; "Apol." 26; Plat.

"Apol." 41; "Rep." vii. 522; Eur. fr. "Palam."; Ov. "Met." xiii. 56;

Paus. x. 31. 1; ii. 20. 3.

[29] For the vengeance see Schol. ad Eur. "Orest." 422; Philostr.

"Her." x. Cf. Strab. viii. 6. 2 (368); Leake, "Morea," ii. 358;

Baedeker, "Greece," 245.

[30] i.e. Odysseus and Diomed. (S. 11, I confess, strikes me as

somewhat in Xenophon's manner.) See "Mem." IV. ii. 33; "Apol." 26.

Menestheus,[31] through diligence and patient care, the outcome of

the chase, so far overshot all men in love of toil that even the chiefs of

Hellas must confess themselves inferior in the concerns of war save

Nestor only; and Nestor, it is said,[32] excelled not but alone might rival

him.

[31] For Menestheus, who led the Athenians against Troy, cf. Hom.

"Il." ii. 552; iv. 327; Philostr. "Her." ii. 16; Paus. ii. 25. 6; i. 17. 6;

Plut. "Thes." 32, 35.

[32] Or, "so runs the tale," e.g. in "The Catalogue." See "Il." ii.

l.c.: {Nestor oios erizen}, "Only Nestor rivalled him, for he was the

elder by birth" (W. Leaf).

Odysseus and Diomedes[33] were brilliant for many a single deed of

6

[33] The two heroes are frequently coupled in Homer, e.g. "Il." v.

519; x. 241, etc.

[34] Or, "were brilliant in single points, and broadly speaking were

the cause that Troy was taken." See Hygin. "Fab." 108; Virg. "Aen."

ii. 163.

Castor and Polydeuces,[35] by reason of their glorious display of arts

obtained from Cheiron, and for the high honour and prestige therefrom

derived, are now immortal.

[35] Castor, Polydeuces, s. Pollux--the great twin brethren. See

Grote, "H. G." i. 232 foll.

Machaon and Podaleirius[36] were trained in this same lore, and

proved themselves adepts in works of skill, in argument and feats of

arms.[37]

[36] As to the two sons of Asclepius, Machaon and Podaleirius, the

leaders of the Achaeans, see "Il." ii. 728; Schol. ad Pind. "Pyth." iii.

14; Paus. iii. 26; iv. 3; Strab. vi. 4 (284); Diod. iv. 71. 4; Grote, "H.

G." i. 248.

[37] Or, "in crafts, in reasonings, and in deeds of war."

Antilochus,[38] in that he died for his father, obtained so great a glory

that, in the judgment of Hellas, to him alone belongs the title "philopator,"

"who loved his father."[39]

[38] Antilochus, son of Nestor, slain by Memnon. "Od." iv. 186 foll.;

Pind. "Pyth." vi. 28; Philostr. "Her." iv.; "Icon." ii. 281.

[39] Lit. "to be alone proclaimed Philopator among the Hellenes." Cf.

Plat. "Laws," 730 D, "He shall be proclaimed the great and perfect

citizen, and bear away the palm of virtue"; and for the epithet see

Eur. "Or." 1605; "I. A." 68.

Aeneas[40] saved the ancestral gods--his father's and his mother's;[41]

yea, and his own father also, whereby he bore off a reputation for piety so

great that to him alone among all on whom they laid their conquering hand

in Troy even the enemy granted not to be despoiled.

[40] As to Aeneas see Poseidon's speech, "Il." xx. 293 foll.; Grote,

"H. G." i. 413, 427 foll.

7

Cf. "Hell." II. iv. 21.

Achilles,[42] lastly, being nursed in this same training, bequeathed to

after-days memorials so fair, so ample, that to speak or hear concerning

him no man wearies.

[42] "The highest form that floated before Greek imagination was

Achilles," Hegel, "Lectures on the Philosophy of History" (Eng. tr. p.

233); and for a beautiful elaboration of that idea, J. A. Symonds,

"Greek Poets," 2nd series, ch. ii.

Such, by dint of that paintstaking care derived from Cheiron, these all

proved themselves; of whom all good men yet still to-day are lovers and

all base men envious. So much so that if throughout the length and breadth

of Hellas misfortunes at any time befell city or king, it was they who

loosed the knot of them;[43] or if all Hellas found herself confronted with

the hosts of the Barbarians in strife and battle, once again it was these who

nerved the arms of Hellenes to victory and rendered Hellas unconquered

and unconquerable.

[43] Reading {eluonto autous}, or if as L. D., {di autous}, transl.

"thanks to them, they were loosed."

For my part, then, my advice to the young is, do not despise hunting or

the other training of your boyhood, if you desire to grow up to be good

men, good not only in war but in all else of which the issue is perfection in

thought, word, and deed.

8

I

The first efforts of a youth emerging from boyhood should be directed

to the institution of the chase, after which he should come to the rest of

education, provided he have the means and with an eye to the same; if his

means be ample, in a style worthy of the profit to be derived; or, if they be

scant, let him at any rate contribute enthusiasm, in nothing falling short of

the power he possesses.

What are the aids and implements of divers sorts with which he who

would enter on this field must equip himself? These and the theory of each

in particular I will now explain. With a view to success in the work,

forewarned is forearmed. Nor let such details be looked upon as

insignificant. Without them there will be an end to practical results.[1]

[1] Or, "The question suggests itself--how many instruments and of

what sort are required by any one wishing to enter this field? A list of

these I propose to give, not omitting the theoretical side of the matter

in each case, so that whoever lays his hand to this work may have

some knowledge to go upon. It would be a mistake to regard these

details as trivial. In fact, without them the undertaking might as well

be let alone."

The net-keeper should be a man with a real passion for the work, and

in tongue a Hellene, about twenty years of age, of wiry build, agile at once

and strong, with pluck enough to overcome the toils imposed on him,[2]

and to take pleasure in the work.

[2] {toutous}, "by this, that, or the other good quality."

The ordinary small nets should be made of fine Phasian or

Carthaginian[3] flax, and so too should the road nets and the larger

hayes.[4] These small nets should be nine-threaded [made of three

strandes, and each strand of three threads],[5] five spans[6] in depth,[7]

and two palms[8] at the nooses or pockets.[9] There should be no knots in

the cords that run round, which should be so inserted as to run quite

smoothly.[10] The road net should be twelve-threaded, and the larger net

(or haye) sixteen. They may be of different sizes, the former varying from

twelve to twenty-four or thirty feet, the latter from sixty to one hundred

9

[3] Phasian or Carchedonian. Cf. Pollux, v. 26.

[4] {arkus, enodia, diktua}.

[5] [L. Dind. brackets.] See Pollux, v. 27, ap. Schn.

[6] {spithame}, a span (dodrans) = 7 1/2 inches. Herod. ii. 106;

{trispithamos}, Hes. "Op." 424; Plat. "Alc." i. 126 C; Aristot. "H. A."

viii. 28. 5; Polyb. v. 3-6.

[7] {to megethos}.

[8] Or, "eight fingers' breadth " = 6 inches . {palaiste} or

{palaste}, a palm or four fingers' breadth = 3 inches .

[9] {tous brokhous}, a purse or tunnel arrangement with slip loop.

[10] Reading {upheisthosan de oi peridromoi anammatoi}. Lit. "the

cords that run round should be inserted without knots." See Pollux, v.

28 foll.

[11] Lit. "2, 4, 5 fathoms; 10, 20, 30 fathoms."

[12] {akroleniois}, elbows, Pollux, v. 29; al. {akroliniois}, L. & S.,

"on the edges or borders."

[13] {mastous}, al. "tufts."

[14] {skhalides}, forks or net props. Cf. Pollux, v. 19. 31.

10

i.e. 30 inches = 2 1/2 ft., say 36 inches = 3 ft.

[16] {euperispastoi ta akra}, al. "they should be made so that the

nets can be fitted on and off easily, with sharp points"; or "off the

points easily."

[17] {siplasiai}, i.e. 20 palms = 60 inches, say 72, or 6 ft.

[18] {pentespithamoi}, i.e. 5 x 7 1/2 inches = 37 1/2 inches = 3 ft. 1

1/2 inch; al. 5 x 9 inches = 45 inches = 3 ft. 9 inches.

[19] Or, "if in the particular position the nets are taut, a larger if

they lie slack."

Lastly, for the purpose of carrying the nets and hayes, for either

sort[20] there must be a bag of calf-skin; and billhooks to cut down

branches and stop gaps in the woods when necessary.[21]

[20] Reading, with Lenz, {ekaterois}, or if, as C. Gesner conj., {e

ekatera}, transl. "or either separately."

[21] Or, "for the purpose of felling wood and stopping up gaps where

necessary."

11

I

There are two breeds of sporting dogs: the Castorian and the fox-

like.[1] The former get their name from Castor, in memory of the delight

he took in the business of the chase, for which he kept this breed by

preference.[2] The other breed is literally foxy, being the progeny

originally of the dog and the fox, whose natures have in the course of ages

become blent.[3]

[1] {Kastoriai}, or Laconian, approaching possibly the harrier type;

{alopekides}, i.e. vulpocanine, hybrid between fox and dog. [2] Or, "get

their appellation from the fact that Castor took delight in the business

of the chase, and kept this breed specially for the purpose." Al.

{diephulaxen}, "propagated and preserved the breed which we now

have." See Darwin, "Animals and Plants under Domestication," ii.

202, 209.

[3] Or, "and through lapse of time the twofold characteristics of

their progenitors have become blent." See Timoth. Gaz. ap. Schneid.

ad loc. for an ancient superstition as to breeds.

Both species present a large proportion of defective animals[4] which

fall short of the type, as being under-sized, or crook-nosed,[5] or gray-

eyed,[6] or near-sighted, or ungainly, or stiff-jointed, or deficient in

strength, thin-haired, lanky, disproportioned, devoid of pluck or of nose, or

unsound of foot. To particularise: an under-sized dog will, ten to one,

break off from the chase[7] faint and flagging in the performance of his

duty owing to mere diminutiveness. An aquiline nose means no mouth,

and consequently an inability to hold the hare fast.[8] A blinking bluish

eye implies defect of vision;[9] just as want of shape means ugliness.[10]

The stiff-limbed dog will come home limping from the hunting-field;[11]

just as want of strength and thinness of coat go hand in hand with

incapacity for toil.[12] The lanky-legged, unsymmetrical dog, with his

shambling gait and ill- compacted frame, ranges heavily; while the

spiritless animal will leave his work to skulk off out of the sun into shade

and lie down. Want of nose means scenting the hare with difficulty, or

only once in a way; and however courageous he may be, a hound with

12

[4] Or, "defective specimens (that is to say, the majority) are to be

noted, as follows."

[5] {grupai}.

[6] {kharopoi}. Al. Arrian, iv. 4, 5.

[7] Or, "will probably retire from the chase and throw up the business

through mere diminutiveness."

[8] Or, "a hook-nosed (? pig-jawed, see Stonehenge, "The Dog," p. 19,

4th ed.) dog has a bad mouth and cannot hold."

[9] Or, "a short-sighted, wall-eyed dog has defective vision."

[10] Or, "they are weedy, ugly brutes as a rule."

[11] Or, "stiffness of limbs means he will come off." Cf. "Mem." III.

xiii. 6.

[12] Lit. "a weak, thinly-haired animal is incapable of severe toil."

[13] Or, "Nor will courage compensate for unsound feet. The toil and

moil will be too great to endure, and owing to the pains in his feet he

will in the end give in."

Similarly many different modes of hunting a line of scent are to be

seen in the same species of hound.[14] One dog as soon as he has found

the trail will go along without sign or symptom to show that he is on the

scent; another will vibrate his ears only and keep his tail[15] perfectly still;

while a third has just the opposite propensity: he will keep his ears still

and wag with the tip of his tail. Others draw their ears together, and

assuming a solemn air,[16] drop their tails, tuck them between their legs,

and scour along the line. Many do nothing of the sort.[17] They tear madly

about, babbling round the line when they light upon it, and senselessly

trampling out the scent. Others again will make wide circuits and

excursions; either forecasting the line,[18] they overshoot it and leave the

hare itself behind, or every time they run against the line they fall to

conjecture, and when they catch sight of the quarry are all in a tremor,[19]

and will not advance a step till they see the creature begin to stir.

[14] Or, "Also the same dogs will exhibit many styles of coursing: one

set as soon as they have got the trail pursue it without a sign, so there

13

[15] "Stern."

[16] Or "with their noses solemnly fixed on the ground and sterns

lowered."

[17] Or, "have quite a different action"; "exhibit quite another

manner."

[18] i.e. "they cast forwards to make short cuts," of skirters too

lazy to run the line honestly.

[19] Reading {tremousi}, "fall a-trembling"; al. {atremousi}, stand

stock-still"; i.e. are "dwellers."

A particular sort may be described as hounds which, when hunting or

pursuing, run forward with a frequent eye to the discoveries of the rest of

the pack, because they have no confidence in themselves. Another sort is

over-confident--not letting the cleverer members of the pack go on ahead,

but keeping them back with nonsensical clamour. Others will wilfully hug

every false scent,[20] and with a tremendous display of eagerness,

whatever they chance upon, will take the lead, conscious all the while they

are playing false;[21] whilst another sort again will behave in a precisely

similar style out of sheer ignorance.[22] It is a poor sort of hound which

will not leave a stale line[23] for want of recognising the true trail. So, too,

a hound that cannot distinguish the trail leading to a hare's form, and

scampers over that of a running hare, hot haste, is no thoroughbred.[24]

[20] Al. "seem to take pleasure in fondling every lie."

[21] Or, "fully aware themselves that the whole thing is a make-

believe."

[22] Or, "do exactly the same thing because they do not know any

better."

[23] {ek ton trimmon}. Lit. "keep away from beaten paths," and

commonly of footpaths, but here apparently of the hare's habitual

"run," not necessarily lately traversed, still less the true line.

[24] Lit. "A dog who on the one hand ignores the form track, and on

the other tears swiftly over a running track, is not a well-bred dog."

Al. {ta eunaia}, "traces of the form"; {ta dromaia}, "tracks of a

running hare." See Sturz. s.v. {dromaios}.

14

[25] So L. & S., {upotheousin} = "cut in before" the rest of the pack

and over-run the scent. Al. "flash in for a time, and then lose the

scent."

Many a hound will give up the chase and return from mere distaste for

hunting,[26] and not a few from pure affection for mankind. Others with

their clamorous yelping on the line do their best to deceive, as if true and

false were all one to them.[27] There are others that will not do that, but

which in the middle of their running,[28] should they catch the echo of a

sound from some other quarter, will leave their own business and

incontinently tear off towards it.[29] The fact is,[30] they run on without

clear motive, some of them; others taking too much for granted; and a

third set to suit their whims and fancies. Others simply play at hunting; or

from pure jealousy, keep questing about beside the line, continually

rushing along and tumbling over one another.[31]

[26] Or, {misotheron}, "out of antipathy to the quarry." For

{philanthropon} cf. Pollux, ib. 64; Hermog. ap. L. Dind.

[27] Or, "unable apparently to distinguish false from true." See

Sturz, s.v. {poieisthai}. Cf. Plut. "de Exil." 6. Al. "Gaily substituting

false for true."

[28] "In the heat of the chase."

[29] "Rush to attack it."

[30] The fact is, there are as many different modes of following up

the chase almost as there are dogs. Some follow up the chase

{asaphos}, indistinctly; some {polu upolambanousai}, with a good

deal of guess-work; others again {doxazousai}, without conviction,

insincerely; others, {peplasmenos}, out of mere pretence, pure

humbug, make-believe, or {phthoneros}, in a fit of jealousy,

{ekkunousi}, are skirters; al. {ekkinousi}, Sturz, quit the scent.

[31] Al. "unceasingly tearing along, around, and about it."

The majority of these defects are due to natural disposition, though

15

[32] Or, "Naturally, dogs like these damp 's ardour, and

indeed are enough to sicken him altogether with the chase."

The characters, bodily and other, exhibited by the finer specimens of

the same breed,[33] I will now set forth.

[33] Or, "The features, points, qualities, whether physical or other,

which characterise the better indidivuals." But what does Xenophon

mean by {tou autou genous}?

16

In the first place, this true type of hound should be of large build; and,

in the next place, furnished with a light small head, broad and flat in the

snout,[1] well knit and sinewy, the lower part of the forehead puckered

into strong wrinkles; eyes set well up[2] in the head, black and bright;

forehead large and broad; the depression between the eyes pronounced;[3]

ears long[4] and thin, without hair on the under side; neck long and

flexible, freely moving on its pivot;[5] chest broad and fairly fleshy;

shoulder-blades detached a little from the shoulders;[6] the shin-bones of

the fore-legs should be small, straight, round, stout and strong; the elbows

straight; ribs[7] not deep all along, but sloped away obliquely; the loins

muscular, in size a mean between long and short, neither too flexible nor

too stiff;[8] flanks, a mean between large and small; the hips (or "couples")

rounded, fleshy behind, not tied together above, but firmly knitted on the

inside;[9] the lower or under part of the belly[10] slack, and the belly itself

the same, that is, hollow and sunken; tail long, straight, and pointed;[11]

thighs (i.e. hams) stout and compact; shanks (i.e. lower thighs) long, round,

and solid; hind-legs much longer than the fore-legs, and relatively lean;

feet round and cat- like.[12]

[1] Pollux, v. 7; Arrian, "Cyn." iv.

[2] {meteora}, prominent. ?See Sturz, s.v.

[3] {tas diakriseis batheias}, lit. "with a deep frontal sinus."

[4] Reading {makra}, or if {mikra}, "small."

[5] Al. "well rounded."

[6] "Shoulder blades standing out a little from the shoulders"; i.e.

"free."

[7] i.e. "not wholly given up to depth, but well curved"; depth is not

everything unless the ribs be also curved. Schneid. cf. Ov. "Met." iii.

216, "et substricta gerens Sicyonius ilia Ladon," where the poet is

perhaps describing a greyhound, "chyned like a bream." See

Stonehenge, pp. 21, 22. Xenophon's "Castorians" were more like the

Welsh harrier in build, I presume.

[8] Or, "neither soft and spongy nor unyielding." See Stoneh., p. 23.

17

"Drawn up underneath it," lit. "tucked up."

[10] Al. "flank," "flanks themselves."

[11] Or, as we should say, "stern." See Pollux, v. 59; Arrian, v. 9.

[12] See Stonehenge, p. 24 foll.

Hounds possessed of these points will be strong in build, and at the

same time light and active; they will have symmetry at once and pace; a

bright, beaming expression; and good mouths.

In following up scent,[13] see how they show their mettle by rapidly

quitting beaten paths, keeping their heads sloping to the ground, smiling,

as it were to greet the trail; see how they let their ears drop, how they keep

moving their eyes to and fro quickly, flourishing their sterns.[14] Forwards

they should go with many a circle towards the hare's form,[15] steadily

guided by the line, all together. When they are close to the hare itself, they

will make the fact plain to the huntsman by the quickened pace at which

they run, as if they would let him know by their fury, by the motion of

head and eyes, by rapid changes of gait and gesture,[16] now casting a

glance back and now fixing their gaze steadily forward to the creature's

hiding-place,[17] by twistings and turnings of the body, flinging

themselves backwards, forwards, and sideways, and lastly, by the genuine

exaltation of spirits, visible enough now, and the ecstasy of their pleasure,

that they are close upon the quarry.

[13] Lit. "Let them follow up the trail."

[14] Lit. "fawning and wagging their tails."

[15] Lit. "bed" or "lair."

[16] Or, "by rapid shiftings of attitude, by looks now thrown backward

and now forwards to the . . ." Reading {kai apo ton anablemmaton

kai emblemmaton ton epi tas kathedras tou l.}, or if with L. D., {kai

apo ton a. kai emblemmaton eis ton ulen kai anastremmaton ton epi

tas k.}, transl. "now looking back at the huntsman and now staring

hard into the covert, and again left-about-face in the direction of the

hare's sitting-place."

[17] Lit. "form"; "the place where puss is seated."

Once she is off, the pack should pursue with vigour.[18] They must not

relax their hold, but with yelp and bark full cry insist on keeping close and

18

[18] Lit. "let them follow up the chase vigorously, and not relax,

with yelp and bark."

[19] {dikaios}, Sturz, "non temere"; "and not without good reason."

Al. "a left good honest salvo of barks."

[20] Lit. "Let them not hark back to join the huntsman, and desert the

trail."

Along with this build and method of working, hounds should possess

four points. They should have pluck, sound feet, keen noses, and sleek

coats. The spirited, plucky hound will prove his mettle by refusing to leave

the chase, however stifling the weather; a good nose is shown by his

capacity for scenting the hare on barren and dry ground exposed to the sun,

and that when the orb is at the zenith;[21] soundness of foot in the fact that

the dog may course over mountains during the same season, and yet his

feet will not be torn to pieces; and a good coat means the possession of

light, thick, soft, and silky hair.[22]

[21] i.e. "at mid-day"; or, "in the height of summer"; al. "during the

dog-days"; "at the rising of the dog-star."

[22] See Pollux, ib. 59; Arrian, vi. 1.

As to the colour proper for a hound,[23] it should not be simply tawny,

nor absolutely black or white, which is not a sign of breeding, but

monotonous--a simplicity suggestive of the wild animal.[24] Accordingly

the red dog should show a bloom of white hair about the muzzle, and so

should the black, the white commonly showing red. On the top of the

thigh the hair should be straight and thick, as also on the loins and on the

lower portion of the stern, but of a moderate thickness only on the upper

parts.

[23] See Stonehenge, p. 25; Darwin, op. cit. ii. 109.

[24] But see Pollux, ib. 65, who apparently read {gennaion touto to

aploun alla therides}; al. Arrian, vi. See Jaques de Fouilloux, "La

19

There is a good deal to be said for taking your hounds frequently into

the mountains; not so much for taking them on to cultivated land.[25] And

for this reason: the fells offer facilities for hunting and for following the

quarry without interruption, while cultivated land, owing to the number of

cross roads and beaten paths, presents opportunities for neither. Moreover,

quite apart from finding a hare, it is an excellent thing to take your dogs on

to rough ground. It is there they will become sound of foot, and in general

the benefit to their physique in working over such ground will amply

repay you.[26]

[25] Or, "pretty often, and less frequently over."

[26] Lit. "they must be benefited in their bodies generally by working

over such ground."

They should be taken out in summer till mid-day; in winter from

sunrise to sundown; in autumn any time except mid-day; and in spring any

time before evening. These times will hit the mean of temperature.[27]

[27] Or, "You may count on a moderate temperature at these times."

20

The tracks of hares are long in winter owing to the length of night, and

short for the opposite reason during summer. In winter, however, their

scent does not lie in early morning, when the rime is on the ground, or

earth is frozen.[1] The fact is, hoar frost by its own inherent force absorbs

its heat, whilst black frost freezes it.[2]

[1] Or, "when there is hoar frost or black frost" (lit. "ice").

[2] Or, "the ice congeals them," "encases as it were in itself the

heat," i.e. the warm scent; aliter, "causes the tracks to freeze at the

top."

The hounds, moreover, with their noses nipped by the cold,[3] cannot

under these conditions[4] use their sense of smell, until the sun or the mere

advance of day dissolves the scent. Then the noses of the hounds recover,

and the scent of the trail begins to exhale itself perceptibly.[5]

[3] Reading {malkiosai}, Cobet, "N. Lect." 131. "Mnem." 3, 306;

Rutherford, "N. Phry." p. 135. = "nipped, or numb with cold." For

vulg. {malakiosai} = "whose noses are tender," see Lenz ad loc.

[4] Lit. "when the tracks are in this case."

[5] As it evaporates. Aliter, "is perceptible to smell as it is wafted

by the breeze to greet them."

Heavy dews also will obliterate scent by its depressing effect;[6] and

rains occurring after long intervals, while bringing out odours from the

earth,[7] will render the soil bad for scent until it dries again. Southerly

winds will not improve scent--being moisture-laden they disperse it;

whereas northerly winds, provided the scent has not been previously

destroyed, tend to fix and preserve it. Rains will drown and wash it away,

and so will drizzle; while the moon by her heat[8]-- especially a full

moon--will dull its edge; in fact the trail is rarest--most irregular[9]--at

such times, for the hares in their joy at the light with frolic and gambol[10]

literally throw themselves high into the air and set long intervals between

one footfall and another. Or again, the trail will become confused and

misleading when crossed by that of foxes.[11]

[6] Cf. Plut. "Q. Nat." 917 F, ap. Schneid.

21

Cf. Theophr. "C. Pl." xix. 5, 6; xx. 4.

[8] Reading {to thermo}. Aristot. "Gen. An." iv. 10. Zeune cf. Plut.

"Symp." iii. 10, 657. Macrob. "Sat." vii. 16; Athen. 276 E. Al. {to

thermon}. See Lenz ad loc., "the moon, especially a full moon, dulls

the heat (or odour) of the tracks."

[9] Cf. Poll. v. 67; ib. 66.

[10] "Playing with one another, in the rivalry of sport."

[11] Lit. "when foxes have gone through before."

Spring with its tempered mildness is the season to render the scent

clear, except where possibly the soil, bursting with flowers, may mislead

the pack, by mingling the perfume of flowers with the true scent.[12] In

summer scent is thin and indistinct; the earth being baked through and

through absorbs the thinner warmth inherent in the trail, while the dogs

themselves are less keen scented at that season through the general

relaxation of their bodies.[13] In autumn scent lies clean, all the products

of the soil by that time, if cultivable, being already garnered, or, if wild,

withered away with age, so that the odours of various fruits are no longer a

disturbing cause through blowing on to the line.[14] In winter, summer,

and autumn, moreover, as opposed to spring, the trail of a hare lies for the

most part in straight lines, but in the earlier season it is highly complicated,

for the little creatures are perpetually coupling and particularly at this

season, so that of necessity as they roam together for the purpose they

make the line intricate as described.

[12] i.e. "with the scent into a composite and confusing whole."

[13] Or, "owing to the relaxed condition of their frames."

[14] Lit. "The fruity odours do not, as commingling currents, injure

the trail."

The scent of the line leading to the hare's form lies longer than that of

a hare on the run, and for this reason: in proceeding to her form the hare

keeps stopping,[15] the other is in rapid motion; consequently, the ground

in one case is thickly saturated all along with scent, in the other sparsely

and superficially. So, too, scent lies better in woody than on barren ground,

since, whilst running to and fro or sitting up, the creature comes in contact

with a variety of objects. Everything that earth produces or bears upon her

22

[15] "The form tracks are made by the hare leisurely proceeding and

stopping at times; those on the run quickly."

[16] Lit. "Anything and everything will serve to couch under, or

above, within, beside, now at some distance off, and now hard by,

and now midway between."

The couching hare[17] constructs her form for the most part in

sheltered spots during cold weather and in shady thickets during the hot

season, but in spring and autumn on ground exposed to the sun. Not so the

running[18] animal, for the simple reason that she is scared out of her wits

by the hounds.[19]

[17] "The form-frequenting hare."

[18] "Her roving congener," i.e. the hunted hare that squats. The

distinction drawn is between the form chosen by the hare for her

own comfort, and her squatting-place to escape the hounds when

hunted.

[19] i.e. "the dogs have turned her head and made her as mad as a

March hare."

In reclining the hare draws up the thighs under the flanks,[20] putting

its fore-legs together, as a rule, and stretching them out, resting its chin on

the tips of its feet. It spreads its ears out over the shoulder-blades, and so

shelters the tender parts of its body; its hair serves as a protection,[21]

being thick and of a downy texture. When awake it keeps on blinking its

eyelids,[22] but when asleep the eyelids remain wide open and motionless,

and the eyes rigidly fixed; during sleep it moves its nostrils frequently, if

awake less often.

[20] Pollux, v. 72.

[21] Or, "as a waterproof."

[22] So Pollux, ib.

When the earth is bursting with new verdure,[23] fields and farm-lands

23

[23] "When the ground teems with vegetation."

[24] Or, "they frequent cultivated lands," etc.

The fecundity of the hare is extraordinary. The female, having

produced one litter, is on the point of producing a second when she is

already impregnated for a third.[25]

[25] Re hyper-foetation cf. Pollux, v. 73, ap. Schneid.; Herod. iii.

108; Aristot. "H. A." iv. 5; Erastosthenes, "Catasterism," 34; Aelian,

"V. H." ii. 12; Plin. "N. H." vii. 55.

The scent of the leveret lies stronger[26] than that of the grown animal.

While the limbs are still soft and supple they trail full length on the ground.

Every true sportsman, however, will leave these quite young creatures to

roam freely.[27] "They are for the goddess." Full-grown yearlings will run

their first chase very swiftly,[28] but they cannot keep up the pace; in spite

of agility they lack strength.

[26] Cf. Pollux, v. 74.

[27] {aphiasi}, cf. Arrian, xxii. 1, "let them go free"; Aesch. "P.

V." 666; Plat. "Prot." 320 A.

[28] Or, "will make the running over the first ring."

To find the trail you must work the dogs downwards through the

cultivated lands, beginning at the top. Any hares that do not come into the

tilled districts must be sought in the meadows and the glades; near rivulets,

among the stones, or in woody ground. If the quarry makes off,[29] there

should be no shouting, that the hounds may not grow too eager and fail to

discover the line. When found by the hounds, and the chase has begun, the

hare will at times cross streams, bend and double and creep for shelter into

clefts and crannied lurking-places;[30] since they have not only the

hounds to dread, but eagles also; and, so long as they are yearlings, are apt

to be carried off in the clutches of these birds, in the act of crossing some

slope or bare hillside. When they are bigger they have the hounds after

them to hunt them down and make away with them. The fleetest-footed

would appear to be those of the low marsh lands. The vagabond kind[31]

24

[29] Or, "shifts her ground."

[30] Or, "in their terror not of dogs only, but of eagles, since up to

a year old they are liable to be seized by these birds of prey while

crossing some bottom or bare ground, while if bigger . . ."

[31] {oi . . . planetai}, see Ael. op. cit. xiii. 14.

Whilst being hunted they are most visible in crossing ground that has

been turned up by the plough, if, that is, they have any trace of red about

them, or through stubble, owing to reflection. So, too, they are visible

enough on beaten paths or roads, presuming these are fairly level, since

the bright hue of their coats lights up by contrast. On the other hand, they

are not noticeable when they seek the cover of rocks, hills, screes, or scrub,

owing to similarity of colour. Getting a fair start of the hounds, they will

stop short, sit up and rise themselves up on their haunches,[32] and listen

for any bark or other clamour of the hounds hard by; and when the sound

reaches them, off and away they go. At times, too, without hearing, merely

fancying or persuading themselves that they hear the hounds, they will fall

to skipping backwards and forwards along the same trail,[33]

interchanging leaps, and interlacing lines of scent,[34] and so make off

and away.

[32] Cf. the German "Mannerchen machen," "play the mannikin."

Shaks. "V. and A." 697 foll.

[33] Passage imitated by Arrian, xvi. 1.

[34] Lit. "imprinting track upon track," but it is better perhaps to

avoid the language of woodcraft at this point.

These animals will give the longest run when found upon the open,

there being nothing there to screen the view; the shortest run when started

out of thickets, where the very darkness is an obstacle.

There are two distinct kinds of hare--the big kind, which is somewhat

dark in colour[35] with a large white patch on the forehead; and the

smaller kind, which is yellow-brown with only a little white. The tail of

the former kind is variegated in a circle; of the other, white at the side.[36]

25

[35] {epiperknoi}. Cf. Pollux, v. 67 foll., "mottled with black."

Blane.

[36] Reading {paraseiron}, perhaps "mottled"; vulg. {paraseron}. Al.

{parasuron}, "ecourtee," Gail.

[37] {upokharopoi}, "subfulvi," Sturz, i.e. "inclined to tawny"; al.

"fairly lustrous." Cf. {ommata moi glaukas kharopotera pollon

'Athanas}, Theocr. xx. 25; but see Aristot. "H. A." i. 10; "Gen. An." v.

1. 20.

[38] Lit. "and those on the islands are for the most part of low

altitude."

[39] e.g. Delos. See Strab. x. 456; Plut. "Mor." 290 B; and so Lagia,

Plin. iv. 12.

[40] Lit. "As the inhabitants hunt down but a few of them, these

constantly being added to by reproduction, there must needs be a

large number of them."

The hare has not a keen sight for many reasons. To begin with, its eyes

are set too prominently on the skull, and the eyelids are clipped and

blear,[41] and afford no protection to the pupils.[42] Naturally the sight is

indistinct and purblind.[43] Along with which, although asleep, for the

26

[41] Or, "defective."

[42] Al. "against the sun's rays."

[43] Or, "dull and mal-concentrated." See Pollux, v. 69.

[44] i.e. "its eyes are not rested, because it sleeps with them open."

[45] i.e. "it goes so quick, that before it can notice what the

particular object is, it must avert its gaze to the next, and then the

next, and so on."

The alarm, too, of those hounds for ever at its heels pursuing combines

with everything[46] to rob the creature of all prescience; so that for this

reason alone it will run its head into a hundred dangers unawares, and fall

into the toils. If it held on its course uphill,[47] it would seldom meet with

such a fate; but now, through its propensity to circle round and its

attachment to the place where it was born and bred, it courts destruction.

Owing to its speed it is not often overtaken by the hounds by fair

hunting.[48] When caught, it is the victim of a misfortune alien to its

physical nature.

[46] {meta touton}, sc. "with these other causes"; al. "with the

dogs"; i.e. "like a second nightmare pack."

[47] Reading {orthion}, or if {orthon}, transl. "straight on."

[48] {kata podas}, i.e. "by running down"; cf. "Mem." II. vi. 9;

"Cyrop." I. vi. 40, re two kinds of hound: the one for scent, the other

for speed.

The fact is, there is no other animal of equal size which is at all its

match in speed. Witness the conformation of its body: the light, small

drooping head [narrow in front];[49] the [thin cylindrical][50] neck, not

stiff and of a moderate length; straight shoulder-blades, loosely slung

above; the fore-legs attached to them, light and set close together;[51] the

undistended chest;[52] the light symmetrical sides; the supple, well-

rounded loins; the fleshy buttocks; the somewhat sunken flanks;[53] the

hips, well rounded, plump at every part, but with a proper interval above;

27

[49] Reading {katophere [stenen ek tou emprosthen]}. See Lenz ad loc.

pp. 23, 24. Pollux, v. 69.

[50] Reading {[lepton, periphere]}.

[51] {sugkola}, al. "compactly knit."

[52] Lit. {ou barutonon}, "not deep sounding" = {ou sarkodes}, Pollux,

ib.

[53] Reading {lagonas ugras lagaras ikanos}.

[54] {trikhona}, "the coat."

I say an animal so happily constructed must needs be strong and pliant;

the perfection of lightness and agility. If proof of this lightness and agility

be needed, here is a fact in illustration. When proceeding quietly, its

method of progression is by leaps; no one ever saw or is likely to see a

hare walking. What it does is to place the hind-feet in front of the fore-feet

and outside them, and so to run, if running one can call it. The action

prints itself plainly on snow. The tail is not conducive to swiftness of pace,

being ill adapted by its stumpiness to act as a rudder to direct the body.

The animal has to do this by means of one or other ear;[55] as may be seen,

when she is on the point of being caught by the hounds.[56] At that instant

you may see her drop and shoot out aslant one of her ears towards the

point of attack, and then, apparently throwing her full weight on that pivot,

turn sharp round and in a moment leave her assailants far behind.

[55] So Ael. "N. A." xiii. 14.

[56] Pollux, v. 71. For punctuation, see Lenz ad loc. p. 25.

So winsome a creature is it, that to note the whole of the proceedings

from the start--the quest by scent, the find, the pack in pursuit full cry, the

final capture--a man might well forget all other loves.[57]

[57] See Arrian, xvi. 6, his criticism. Schneid. cf. Plut. "Mor." 1096

C. Hermog. iii. 319, 11, ed. Walz.

Here it should be added that , who finds himself on

28

[58] Al. "wahrend der Jagdferien," Lenz; "on Sundays," as we might

say. See some remarks on S. 34 in "Hellenica Essays," "Xenophon,"

p. 349.

29

The equipment of the dogs consists of collar straps, leashes, and

surcingles,[1] and the collar should be broad and soft so as not to rub the

dog's coat; the leash should have a noose for the hand,[2] and nothing else.

The plan of making collar and leash all in one is a clumsy contrivance for

keeping a hound in check.[3] The surcingle should be broad in the thongs

so as not to gall the hound's flanks, and with spurs stitched on to the

leather, to preserve the purity of the breed.[4]

[1] {stelmoniai}, al. {telamonias}, broad belts or girths, corselets.

Pollux, v. 55.

[2] Pollux, v. 56.

[3] Lit. "since those who make the collar out of the leash do not keep

hold (al. take care) of their hounds well."

[4] See "A Day with Xenophon's Harriers," "Macmillan's Mag." Jan.

1895, p. 183.

As to taking the hounds out to hunt, no hound ought to be taken out

which refuses its food, a conclusive proof that the animal is ailing. Nor

again, when a violent wind is blowing, for three good reasons: the scent

will not lie, the hounds cannot smell,[5] neither the nets nor hayes will

stand. In the absence, however, of any of these hindrances, take them out

every other day.[6] Do not let your hounds get into the habit of hunting

foxes. Nothing is so ruinous; and just at the moment when you want them,

they will not be forthcoming. On the other hand, vary the hunting-ground

in taking them out; which will give the pack a wider experience in hunting

and their master a better knowledge of the country. The start should be

early in the morning, unless the scent is to fail the hounds entirely.[7] The

dilatory sportsman robs the pack of finding and himself of profit.[8] Subtle

and delicate by nature, scent will not last all day.

[5] "You cannot trust the hound's nose."

[6] "Every third day," {dia trites tes emeras}.

[7] Lit. "in order that they may not be deprived of following up the

scent."

[8] Or, "a late start means the hounds will be robbed of a find and

30

The net-keeper should wear a light costume. His business is to fix the

nets about the runs,[9] paths, bends, and hollows, and darksome spots,

brooks, dry torrents, or perennial mountain streams. These are the places

to which the hare chiefly betakes itself for refuge; though there are of

course endless others. These, and the side passages into, and exits from

them, whether well marked or ill defined, are to be stopped just as day

breaks; not too early, so that, in case the line of nets be in the

neighbourhood of covert to be searched for game,[10] the animal may not

be scared at hearing the thud close by.[11] If, on the contrary, there should

be a wide gap between the two points, there is less to hinder making the

net lines clear and clean quite early, so that nothing may cling to them.

The keeper must fix the forked props slantwise, so as to stand the strain

when subjected to tension. He must attach the nooses equally on the points;

and see that the props are regularly fixed, raising the pouch towards the

middle;[12] and into the slip-rope he must insert a large, long stone, to

prevent the net from stretching in the opposite direction, when it has got

the hare inside. He will fix the rows of poles with stretches of net

sufficiently high to prevent the creature leaping over.[13] In hunting, "no

procrastination" should be the motto, since it is sportsmanlike at once and

a proof of energy by all means to effect a capture quickly. He will stretch

the larger (haye) nets upon level spaces; and proceed to plant the road nets

upon roads and at converging points of tracks and footpaths;[14] he must

attach the border-ropes to the ground, draw together the elbows or side

ends of the nets, fix the forked props between the upper meshes,[15] adjust

the skirting ropes upon the tops, and close up gaps.

[9] See Pollux, v. 35.

[10] Al. "of the game to be hunted up."

[11] {omou}, "e propinquo." Schn. cf. "Cyrop." III. i. 2; VI. iii. 7.

[12] Or, "giving the funnel or belly a lift in the middle."

{kekruphalon}, Pollux, v. 31.

[13] This sentence according to Lenz is out of its place, referring

solely to the haye nets; the order of the words should be {ta de

diktua teineto en apedois stoikhizeto de, k.t.l.} If so, transl. "He

31

[14] Al. "at convenient points or where paths converge." See Schneid.

s.v. {sumpheronta}.

[15] {sardonion}, Pollux, v. 31. Al. "fixing the stakes between the

edges."

Then he will play sentinel and go his rounds; if a prop or funnel wants

supporting, he will set it up; and when the hare comes with the hounds

behind her he will urge her forwards to the toils, with shout and halloa

thundering at her heels. When she is fairly entangled, he is to calm the

fury of the hounds, without touching them, by soothing, encouraging tones.

He is also to signal to the huntsman with a shout, that the quarry is taken,

or has escaped this side or that, or that he has not seen it, or where he last

caught sight of it.[16]

[16] Or, "'caught,' 'escaped,' (this side or that), 'not seen,'

'marked.'"

himself should sally forth in a loose, light hunting

dress,[17] and footgear[18] to match; he should carry a stout stick in his

hand, the net-keeper following. They should proceed to the hunting-field

in silence, to prevent the hare, if by chance there should be one close by,

from making off at the sound of voices. When they have reached the

covert, he will tie the hounds to trees, each separately, so that they can be

easily slipped from the leash, and proceed to fix the nets, funnel and hayes,

as above described. When that is done, and while the net-keeper mounts

guard, the master himself will take the hounds and sally forth to rouse the

game.[19] Then with prayer and promise to Apollo and to Artemis, our

Lady of the Chase,[20] to share with them the produce of spoil, he lets slip

a single hound, the cunningest at scenting of the pack. [If it be winter, the

hour will be sunrise, or if summer, before day-dawn, and in the other

seasons at some hour midway.] As soon as the hound has unravelled the

true line[21] he will let slip another; and then, if these carry on the line, at

rapid intervals he will slip the others one by one; and himself follow,

without too great hurry,[22] addressing each of the dogs by name every

now and then, but not too frequently, for fear of over-exciting them before

32

[17] {emelemenen} = neglige, plain, unpretentious.

[18] Pollux, v. 18.

[19] Al. "intent on the working of the pack."

[20] "To thee thy share of this chase, Lord Apollo; and thine to thee,

O Huntress Queen!"

[21] Or, "carries a line straight away from the many that interlace."

[22] Or, "without forcing the pace."

Meanwhile the hounds are busily at work; onwards they press with

eager spirit, disentangling the line, double or treble, as the case may be.[23]

To and fro they weave a curious web,[24] now across, now parallel with

the line,[25] whose threads are interlaced, here overlapped, and here

revolving in a circle; now straight, now crooked; here close, there rare; at

one time clear enough, at another dimly owned. Past one another the

hounds jostle--tails waving fast, ears dropt, and eyes flashing.

[23] "Discovering two or three scents, as the case may be";

"unravelling her line, be it single or double."

[24] {prophoreisthai} = {diazesthai}, Pollux, vii. 52. Schneid. cf.

Aristoph. "Birds," 4, {apoloumeth' allos ten odon prophoroumeno}.

Still up and down, old sinner, must we pace; 'Twill kill us both, this

vain, long, wearing race (Kennedy).

[25] See Arrian, xx. 2.

But when they are really close to the hare they will make the matter

plain to the huntsman by various signs--the quivering of their bodies

backwards and forwards, sterns and all; the ardour meaning business; the

rush and emulaton; the hurry-scurry to be first; the patient following-up of

the whole pack; at one moment massed together, and at another separated;

and once again the steady onward rush. At last they have reached the

hare's form, and are in the act to spring upon her. But she on a sudden will

start up and bring about her ears the barking clamour of the whole pack as

she makes off full speed. Then as the chase grows hot, the view halloo! of

the huntsman may be heard: "So ho, good hounds! that's she! cleverly now,

good hounds! so ho, good hounds!"[26] And so, wrapping his cloak[27]

about his left arm, and snatching up his club, he joins the hounds in the

33

[26] Reading {io kunes, io kunes, sophos ge o kunes, kalos ge o

kunes}. Al. {io kunes, io kakos} = "To her, dogs! that won't do!" "Ho,

ho, Hunde! Ho, ho, falsch! Recht so, Hunde! schon so, Hunde!"

(Lenz).

[27] {o ampekhetai}, "the shawl or plaid which he carries on his

shoulders." See Pollux, v. 10.

[28] "Not to head the chase." Sir Alex. Grant, "Xen." p. 167.

[29] {aporon}, "which would be awkward" (see Arrian, xxv. 8).

[30] "Where the nets are set," Sir A. Grant. See his comment, l.c.

He must shout then to the keeper, "Mark her, boy, mark her! hey, lad!

hey, lad!" and the latter will make known whether the hare is caught or not.

Supposing the hare to be caught in her first ring, the huntsman has only to

call in the hounds and beat up another. If not, his business is to follow up

the pack full speed, and not give in, but on through thick and through thin,

for toil is sweet. And if again they chance upon her in the chevy,[31] his

cheery shout will be heard once more, "left so! left so, hounds!

forward on, good hounds!"

[31] {apantosi diokousai auton}, al. "come across the huntsman

again."

But if the pack have got too long a start of him, and he cannot overtake

them, however eagerly he follows up the hunt--perhaps he has altogether

missed the chase, or even if they are ranging close and giving tongue and

sticking to the scent, he cannot see them--still as he tears along he can

interrogate the passer-by: "Hilloa there, have you seen my hounds?" he

shouts, and having at length ascertained their whereabouts, if they are on

the line, he will post himself close by, and cheer them on, repeating turn

and turn about the name of every hound, and pitching the tone of his voice

sharp or deep, soft or loud; and besides all other familiar calls, if the chase

be on a hillside,[32] he can keep up their spirits with a constant "Well

done, good hounds! well done, good hounds! good hounds!" Or if any are

34

[32] Or, "if the chase sweeps over a mountain-side."

As soon as the hounds have got back to (where they missed) the

line,[33] he must cast them round, making many a circle to and fro; and

where the line fails, he should plant a stake[34] as a sign-post to guide the

eye, and so cast round the dogs from that point,[35] till they have found

the left scent, with coaxing and encouragement. As soon as the line of

scent is clear,[36] off go the dogs, throwing themselves on to it, springing

from side to side, swarming together, conjecturing, and giving signs to one

another, and taking bearings[37] they will not mistake--helter-skelter off

they go in pursuit. Once they dart off along the line of scent thus hotly, the

huntsman should keep up but without hurrying, or out of zeal they will

overshoot the line. As soon as they are once more in close neighbourhood

of the hare, and once again have given their master clear indications of the

fact, then let him give what heed he can, she does not move off farther in

sheer terror of the hounds.

[33] {prosstosi}, al. "whenever they check."

[34] Al. (1) "take a stake or one of the poles as a sign-post," (2)

"draw a line on the ground."

[35] {suneirein}. Zeune cf. "Cyrop." VII. v. 6, "draw the dogs along

by the nets." Blane.

[36] "As the scent grows warmer," the translator in "Macmillan's

Mag." above referred to. Aristot. "H. A." ix. 44. 4.

[37] Lit. "fixing landmarks for themselves."

They meanwhile, with sterns wagging, tumbling and leaping over one

another's backs,[38] at intervals loudly giving tongue, and lifting up their

heads and peering into their master's face, as much as to say, "There is no

mistake about it this time,"[39] will presently of themselves start the hare

and be after her full cry, with bark and clamour.[40] Thereupon, whether

the hare falls into the toils of the funnel net or rushes past outside or inside,

whatever incident betide, the net-keeper must with a shout proclaim the

fact. Should the hare be caught, the huntsman has only to begin looking

for another; if not, he must follow up the chase once more with like

35

[38] Or, "whisking their tails and frisking wildly, and jostling

against one another, and leaping over one another at a great rate." Al.

"over one obstacle, and then another."

[39] Or, "this is the true line at last."

[40] Al. "with a crash of tongues."

When at length the hounds show symptoms of fatigue, and it is already

late in the day, the time has come for the huntsman to look for his hare that

lies dead-beat; nor must he wittingly leave any patch of green or clod of

earth untested.[41] Backwards and forwards he must try and try again the

ground,[42] to be sure that nothing has been overlooked. The fact is, the

little creature lies in a small compass, and from fatigue and fear will not

get up. As he leads the hounds on he will cheer and encourage them,

addressing with many a soft term the docile creature, the self-willed,

stubborn brute more rarely, and to a moderate extent the hound of average

capacity, till he either succeeds in running down or driving into the toils

some victim.[43] After which he will pick up his nets, both small and large

alike, giving every hound a rub down, and return home from the hunting-

field, taking care, if it should chance to be a summer's noon, to halt a bit,

so that the feet of his hounds may not be blistered on the road.

[41] Lit. "anything which earth puts forth or bears upon her bosom."

[42] Or, "Many and many a cast back must he make."

[43] The famous stanzas in "Venus and Adonis" may fitly close this

chapter.

And when thou hast on foot the purblind hare, Mark the poor wretch,

to overshoot his troubles How he outruns the wind and with what care He

cranks and crosses with a thousand doubles: The many musets

through the which he goes Are like a labyrinth to amaze his foes.

Sometimes he runs among a flock of sheep, To make the cunning

hounds mistake their smell, And sometimes where earth-delving conies

keep, To stop the loud pursuers in their yell, And sometimes sorteth

with a herd of deer: Danger deviseth shifts; wit waits on fear:

For there his smell with others being mingled, The hot scent-snuffing

hounds are driven to doubt, Ceasing their clamorous cry till they have

36

By this, poor Wat, far off upon a hill, Stands on his hinder legs with

listening ear, To hearken if his foes pursue him still: Anon their loud

alarums he doth hear; And now his grief may be compared well

To one sore sick that hears the passing-bell.

Then shalt thou see the dew-bedabbled wretch Turn, and return,

indenting with the way; Each envious brier his weary legs doth scratch,

Each shadow makes him stop, each murmur stay: For misery is

trodden on by many, And being low never relieved by any.

37

For breeding purposes choose winter, and release the bitches from hard

work;[1] which will enable them to profit by repose and to produce a fine

progeny towards spring, since that season is the best to promote the

growth of the young dogs. The bitch is in heat for fourteen days,[2] and

the moment at which to put her to the male, with a view to rapid and

successful impregnation, is when the heat is passing off. Choose a good

dog for the purpose. When the bitch is ready to whelp she should not be

taken out hunting continuously, but at intervals sufficient to avoid a

miscarriage through her over-love of toil. The period of gestation lasts for

sixty days. When littered the puppies should be left to ther own dam, and

not placed under another bitch; foster-nursing does not promote growth in

the same way, whilst nothing is so good for them as their own mother's

milk and her breath,[3] and the tenderness of her caresses.[4]

[1] Or, "Winter is the time at which to pair dogs for breeding, the

bitches to be released from hard work, so that with the repose so

secured they may produce a fine litter in spring."

[2] Lit. "this necessity holds." Cf. Aristot. "H. A." vi. 20; Arrian,

xxvii., xxxi. 3.

[3] Cf. Eur. "Tro." 753, {o khrotos edu pneuma}.

[4] Cf. Arrian, xxx. 2; Pollux, v. 50; Columella, vii. 12, 12, ap.

Schneid.

Presently, when the puppies are strong enough to roam about, they

should be given milk[5] for a whole year, along with what will form their

staple diet in the future, but nothing else. A heavy diet will distort the legs

of a young dog, engender disease in other limbs, and the internal

mechanism will get out of order.[6]

[5] See Arrian, xxxi.; Stonehenge, p. 264.

[6] Or, "the internal organs get wrong" ({adika}). Cf. "Memorabilia,"

IV. iv. 5.

They should have short names given them, which will be easy to call

out.[7] The following may serve as specimens:--Psyche, Pluck, Buckler,

Spigot, Lance, Lurcher, Watch, Keeper, Brigade, Fencer, Butcher, Blazer,

38

[7] Cf. Arrian, xxxi. 2; Oppian, "Cyn," i. 443; ap. Schneid.

[8] The following is Xenophon's list:-{

Psukhe} = Soul {Thumos} = Spirit {Porpax} = Hasp of shield

{Sturax} = Spike of spear at the butt end {Logkhe} = Lance {Lokhos} =

Ambush, or "Company" {Phroura} = Watch {Phulax} = Guard {Taxis} =

Order, Rank, Post, Brigade {Xiphon} = Swordsman {Phonax} =

Slaughterer, cf. "King Death" {Phlegon} = Blazer {'Alke} = Prowess,

Victory {Teukhon} = Craftsman {'Uleus} = Woodsman, "Dashwood"

{Medas} = Counsellor {Porthon} = Spoiler, "Rob Roy" {Sperkhon} =

Hastener, "Rocket" {'Orge} = Fury, Rage {Bremon} = Growler, Roarer

{'Ubris} = Hybris, Riot, Insolence {Thallon} = Blooming, "Gaudy"

{'Rome} = Strength, "Romeo" {'Antheus} = Blossom {'Eba} = Youth

{Getheus} = Gladsome {Khara} = Joy {Leusson} = Gazer {Augo} =

Daybeam {Polus} = Much {Bia} = Force {Stikhon} = Stepping in rank

and file {Spoude} = Much ado {Bruas} = Gusher {Oinas} = (1) Vine, (2)

Rockdove. See Aristot. "H. A." v. 13, 14; i. 3, 10; Ael. "N. A." iv.

58. = Columba livia = rockdove, the colour of ripening grapes; al.

{oinas} = the vine. {Sterros} = "Stiff," "King Sturdy" {Krauge}

= Clamour. Cf. Plat. "Rep." 607 B. {Kainon} = Killer {Turbas} = "Topsyturvy"

{Sthenon} = Strong man {Aither} = Ether {'Aktis} = Ray of light

{Aikhme} = Spear-point {Nors} = Clever (girl) {Gnome} = Maxim

{Stibon} = Tracker {'Orme} = Dash. So Arrian ("Cyn." viii. 5) named his

favourite hound.

For other names see Herodian, {peri mon. l} (on monosyllables),

12. 7; "Corp. Inscr." iv. p. 184, n. 8319; Arrian, v. 6, xix.; Colum. vii.

12, 13. According to Pollux, v. 47, Xenophon had a dog named

{ippokentauros} (cf. "Cyrop." IV. iii. 17).

The young hounds may be taken out to the chase at the age of eight

months[9] if bitches, or if males at the age of ten. They should not be let

39

[9] Cf. Pollux, v. 54; al. Arrian, xxv., xxvi.

[10] Pollux, v. 12.

[11] "The dogs that are trailing," Blane.

[12] See Stonehenge, "Entering of greyhound and deerhound, of

foxhounds and harriers," pp. 284, 285.

As soon as a hare is found, provided the young hounds have the left

points[13] for running, they should not be let loose straight off: the

huntsman should wait until the hare has got a good start and is out of sight,

then let the young hounds go.[14] The result of letting slip young hounds,

possessed of all the requisite points and full of pluck,[15] is that the sight

of the hare will make them strain too violently and pull them to bits,[16]

while their frames are as yet unknit; a catastrophe against which every

sportsman should strenuously guard. If, on the other hand, the young

hounds do not promise well for running,[17] there is no harm in letting

them go. From the start they will give up all hope of striking the hare, and

consequently escape the injury in question.[18]

[13] For points see the same authority: the harrier, p. 59; the

foxhound, p. 54.

[14] See Arrian's comment and dissent, xxv. 4.

[15] Lit. "which are at once well shaped and have the spirit for the

chase in them."

[16] Al. "they will overstrain themselves with the hare in sight, and

break a blood-vessel." See Arrian, xxxi. 4, {regnuntai gar autais ai

lagones}.

[17] Or, "are defectively built for the chase."

[18] Or, "will not suffer such mishap."

As to the trail of a hare on the run, there is no harm in letting them

follow it up till they overtake her.[19] When the hare is caught the carcass

should be given to the young hounds to tear in pieces.[20]

[19] Perhaps read {eos an thelosi}, "as long as they choose." The MSS.

have {elthosi}.

40

See Stonehenge, p. 287, "blooded, so as to make him understand

the nature of the scent"; ib. 284.

As soon as these young hounds refuse to stay close to the nets and

begin to scatter, they must be called back; till they have been accustomed

to find the hare by following her up; or else, if not taught to quest for her

(time after time) in proper style, they may end by becoming skirters[21]--a

bad education.[22]

[21] {ekkunoi}, cf. Arrian, xxv. 5.

[22] {poneron mathema}, ib. 9.

As long as they are pups, they should have their food given them near

the nets, when these are being taken up,[23] so that if from inexperience

they should lose their way on the hunting-field, they may come back for it

and not be altogether lost. In time they will be quit of this instinct

themselves,[24] when their hostile feeling towards the animal is developed,

and they will be more concerned about the quarry than disposed to give

their food a thought.[25]

[23] {anairontai} sc. {ai arkues}, see above, vi. 26.

[24] Or, "abandon the practice."

[25] See Stonehenge, p. 289 (another context): ". . . the desire for

game in a well-bred dog is much greater than the appetite for food,

unless the stomach has long been deprived of it."

As a rule, the master should give the dogs their food with his own

hand; since, however much the animal may be in want of food without his

knowing who is to blame for that, it is impossible to have his hunger

satisfied without his forming an affection for his benefactor.[26] [26] Or,

"If want in itself does not reveal to him the cause of his suffering, to

be given food when hungry for it will arouse in him affection for the

donor."

41

The time to track hares is after a fall of snow deep enough to conceal

the ground completely. As long as there are black patches intermixed, the

hare will be hard to find. It is true that outside these the tracks will remain

visible for a long time, when the snow comes down with a north wind

blowing, because the snow does not melt immediately; but if the wind be

mild with gleams of sunshine, they will not last long, because the snow is

quickly thawed. When it snows steadily and without intermission there is

nothing to be done; the tracks will be covered up. Nor, again, if there be a

strong wind blowing, which will whirl and drift the snow about and

obliterate the tracks. It will not do to take the hounds into the field in that

case;[1] since owing to excessive frost the snow will blister[2] the feet and

noses of the dogs and destroy the hare's scent. Then is the time for the

sportsman to take the haye nets and set off with a comrade up to the hills,

and leave the cultivated lands behind; and when he has got upon the tracks

to follow up the clue. If the tracks are much involved, and he follows them

only to find himself back again ere along at the same place,[3] he must

make a series of circuits and sweep round the medley of tracks, till he

finds out where they really lead.[4]

[1] Lit. "I say it is no use setting out with dogs to this chase."

[2] {kaei}. Cf. Arrian, xiv. 5.

[3] Reading {ekonta} sc. {ton kunegeten . . .} or if {ekonta, kuklous}

[sc. {ta ikhne}], transl. "if the tracks are involved, doubling on

themselves and coming back eventually to the same place."

[4] Or, "where the end of the string is."

The hare makes many windings, being at a loss to find a resting-place,

and at the same time she is accustomed to deal subtly[5] in her method of

progression, because her footsteps lead perpetually to her pursuit.

[5] {tekhnazein}. Cf. Ael. "N. A." vi. 47, ap. Schneid. A fact for

Uncle Remus.

As soon as the track is clear,[6] the huntsman will push on a little

farther; and it will bring him either to some embowered spot[7] or craggy

bank; since gusts of wind will drift the snow beyond such spots, whereby a

42

[6] "Discovered."

[7] "Thicket or overhanging crag."

[8] {eunasima}, "places well adapted for a form."

[9] Al. "many places suited for her form are left aside by puss, but

this she seeks."

If the tracks conduct the huntsman to this kind of covert he had better

not approach too near, for fear the creature should move off. Let him make

a circuit round; the chances are that she is there; and that will soon be

clear; for if so, the tracks will not trend outwards from the place at any

point.[10]

[10] L. Dind. emend. {oudamoi}, "the tracks will not pass in any

direction outwards from such ground."

And now when it is clear that puss is there, there let her bide; she will

not sir; let him set off and seek another, before the tracks are indistinct;

being careful only to note the time of day; so that, in case he discovers

others, there will be daylight enough for him to set up the nets.[11] When

the final moment has come, he will stretch the big haye nets round the first

one and then the other victim (precisely as in the case of one of those

black thawed patches above named), so as to enclose within the toils

whatever the creature is resting on.[12] As soon as the nets are posted, up

he must go and start her. If she contrive to extricate herself from the

nets,[13] he must after her, following her tracks; and presently he will find

himself at a second similar piece of ground (unless, as is not improbable,

she smothers herself in the snow beforehand).[14] Accordingly he must

discover where she is and spread his toils once more; and, if she has

energy still left, pursue the chase. Even without the nets, caught she will

be, from sheer fatigue,[15] owing to the depth of the snow, which balls

itself under her shaggy feet and clings to her, a sheer dead weight.

[11] Al. "to envelop the victims in the nets."

[12] Lit. "whatever the creature is in contact with inside."

[13] Cf. Aesch. "Prom." 87, Poto tropo tesd' ekkulisthesei tukhes}.

[14] Or, "if the creature is not first suffocated in the snow itself."

[15] See Pollux, v. 50. "She must presently be tired out in the heavy

43

44

For hunting fawns[1] and deer,[2] Indian dogs[3] should be employed,

as being strong, large, and fleet-footed, and not devoid of spirit; with these

points they will prove well equal to the toil.

[1] See Hom. "Il." xxii. 189, x. 361; "Od." iv. 35; Aelian, "N. A."

xiv. 14; xvii. 26; Geopon. xix. 5.

[2] {e elaphos} (generic, Attic) = hart or hind, of roe (Capreolus

caprea) or red (Cervus elaphus) deer alike, I suppose. See St. John,

"Nat. Hist. and Sport in Moray."

[3] Of the Persian or Grecian greyhound type perhaps. See Aristot. "H.

A." viii. 28; Aelian, "N. A." viii. 1; Pollux, v. 37, 38, 43; Plin. "H.

N." vii. 2, viii. 28; Oppian, "Cyn." i. 413.

Quite young fawns[4] should be captured in spring, that being the

season at which the dams calve.[5] Some one should go beforehand into

the rank meadowlands[6] and reconnoitre where the hinds are congregated,

and wherever that may be, the master of the hounds will set off--with his

hounds and a supply of javelins--before daylight to the place in question.

Here he will attach the hounds to trees[7] some distance off, for fear of

their barking,[8] when they catch sight of the deer. That done he will

choose a specular point himself and keep a sharp look-out.[9] As day

breaks he will espy the hinds leading their fawns to the places where they

will lay them severally to rest.[10] Having made them lie down and

suckled them, they will cast anxious glances this way and that to see that

no one watches them; and then they will severally withdraw to the side

opposite and mount guard, each over her own offspring. The huntsman,

who has seen it all,[11] will loose the dogs, and with javelins in hand

himself advance towards the nearest fawn in the direction of where he saw

it laid to rest; carefully noting the lie of the land,[12] for fear of making

some mistake; since the place itself will present a very different aspect on

approach from what it looked like at a distance.

[4] See above, v. 14. I do not know that any one has answered

Schneider's question: Quidni sensum eundem servavit homo

religiosus in hinnulis?

45

"The fawns (of the roe deer) are born in the spring, usually early

in May," Lydekker, "R. N. H." ii. p. 383; of the red deer "generally in

the early part of June," ib. 346.

[6] {orgadas} = "gagnages," du Fouilloux, "Comment le veneur doit

aller en queste aux taillis ou gaignages pour voir le cerf a veue," ap.

Talbot, op. cit. i. p. 331.

[7] Or, "off the wood."

[8] It seems they were not trained to restrain themselves.

[9] Or, "set himself to observe from some higher place." Cf. Aristoph.

{kata tas diodous skopiorountai}. Philostr. 784.

[10] See Pollux, v. 77; Aristot. "H. A." ix. 5. Mr. Scrope ap.

Lydekker, "R. N. H." ii. p. 346, states that the dam of the red deer

makes her offspring "lie down by a pressure of her nose," etc.

[11] Lit. "when he sees these things."

[12] Or, "the features of the scene"; "the topography."

When his eye has lit upon the object of his search, he will approach

quite close. The fawn will keep perfectly still, glued[13] as it were to earth,

and with loud bleats suffer itself to be picked up; unless it happen to be

drenched with rain; in which case, it will not stay quiet in one place. No

doubt, the internal moisture of the animal congeals quickly with the

cold[14] and causes it to shift its ground. Caught in that case it must needs

be; but the hounds will have work enough to run the creature down.[15]

The huntsman having seized the fawn, will hand it to the keeper. The

bleating will continue; and the hind, partly seeing and partly hearing, will

bear down full tilt upon the man who has got her young, in her desire to

rescue it. Now is the moment to urge on the hounds and ply the javelins.

And so having mastered this one, he will proceed against the rest, and

employ the same method of the chase in dealing with them.

[13] {piesas}, "noosling, nestling, buried."

[14] "The blood runs cold."

[15] Or, "but it will give them a good chase; the dogs will have their

work cut out."

Young fawns may be captured in the way described. Those that are

46

[16] Lit. "after that violent effort."

[17] Or, "alarm at the absence of the herd will lend the creature

wings."

[18] Or, "is past compare"; "is beyond all telling."

Foot-gins[19] or caltrops may be set for deer on mountains, in the

neighbourhood of meadows and streams and wooded glens, on crossroads[

20] or in tilled fields at spots which they frequent.[21] These gins

should be made of twisted yew twigs[22] stripped of the bark to prevent

their rotting. They should have well-rounded hooplike "crowns"[23] with

alternate rows of nails of wood and iron woven into the coil.[24] The iron

nails should be larger, so that while the wooden ones yield to the foot, the

others may press into it.[25] The noose of the cord which will be laid upon

"the crown" should be woven out of esparto and so should the rope itself,

this kind of grass being least liable to rot. The rope and noose itself should

both alike be stout. The log or clog of wood attached should be made of

common or of holm oak with the bark on, three spans in length, and a

palm in thickness.[26]

[19] {podostrabai}, podostrabai so called. Cf. "the boot."

[20] {en tais diodois}, "at points where paths issue," or "cross."

[21] {pros o ti prosie}, "against whatever they are likely to

approach."

[22] Or, "should be woven out of Smilax"; "Ebenholz," Lenz; "Ifs,"

47

[23] {tas de stephanas euk. ekh.} "having circular rims."

[24] {en to plokano} (al. {plokamo}) = the plaited rope, which formed

the {stephane}. See Pollux, v. 32, ap. Schneid. and Lenz.

[25] Al. "so as to press into the foot, if the wooden ones yield."

[26] Or, "27 inches x 3."

To set the trap, dig a hole in the soil to a depth of fifteen inches,[27]

circular in shape, with a circumference at the top exactly corresponding to

the crown and narrowing towards the bottom. For the rope and wooden

clog likewise remove sufficient earth to let them both be lightly buried.

That done, place the foot-gin deep enough to be just even with the surface

of the soil,[28] and round the circle of the crown the cord-noose. The cord

itself and wooden clog must now be lowered into their respective places.

Which done, place on the crown some rods of spindle-tree,[29] but not so

as to stick out beyond the outer rim; and above these again light leaves,

such as the season may provide. After this put a final coating of earth upon

the leaves; in the first place the surface soil from the holes just dug, and

atop of that some unbroken solid earth from a distance, so that the lie of

the trap may be as much as possible unnoticed by the deer. Any earth left

over should be carried to a distance from the gin. The mere smell of the

newly-turned-up soil will suffice to make the animal suspicious;[30] and

smell it readily she will.

[27] Or, "remove a mass of soil to the depth of five palms so as to

form a circular hole corresponding in size with the rim above-

named."

[28] Or, "like a door over the cavity, somewhat below the surface,

flatwise"; i.e. "in a horizontal position."

[29] So literally, but really Carthamus creticus, a thistle-like plant

used for making spindles (Sprengel ap. L. & S.), the Euonymous

europaeus being our spindle-tree. Aristot. "H. A." ix. 40, 49; Theocr.

iv. 52.

[30] Lit. "if she once sniffs the new-turned soil the deer grows shy,

and that she will quickly do." See Plat. "Laws," 933 A; "Phaedr." 242

C; "Mem." II. i. 4.

48

[31] "Before the sun is up."

[32] Or, "thanks to the lonesomeness of the region."

[33] "It is night or never, owing to the dread of man which haunts the

creature's mind during daytime."

As soon as the huntsman finds a gin uprooted he will let slip his

hounds and with cheery encouragement[34] follow along the wake of the

wooden clog, with a keen eye to the direction of its march. That for the

most part will be plain enough, since stones will be displaced, and the

furrow which the clog makes as it trails along will be conspicuous on

tilled ground; or if the deer should strike across rough ground, the rocks

will show pieces of bark torn from the clog, and the chase will

consequently be all the easier.[35]

[34] See vi. 20; "with view-halloo."

[35] Or, "along that track will not be difficult."

Should the deer have been caught by one of its fore-feet it will soon be

taken, because in the act of running it will beat and batter its own face and

body; if by the hind-leg, the clog comes trailing along and must needs

impede the action of every limb. Sometimes, too, as it is whirled along it

will come in contact with the forked branches of some tree, and then

unless the animal can snap the rope in twain, she is fairly caught; there

ends the chase. But even so, if caught in this way or overdone with fatigue,

it were well not to come too close the quarry, should it chance to be a stag,

or he will lunge out with his antlers and his feet; better therefore let fly

your javelins from a distance.

These animals may also be captured without aid of gin or caltrop, by

sheer coursing in hot summer time; they get so tired, they will stand still to

be shot down. If hard pressed they will plunge into the sea or take to water

49

[36] "From mere shortness of breath."

50

To cope with the wild boar the huntsman needs to have a variety of

dogs, Indian, Cretan, Locrian, and Laconian,[1] along with a stock of nets,

javelins, boar-spears, and foot-traps.

[1] For these breeds see Pollux, v. 37: for the Laconian, Pind. "Fr."

73; Soph. "Aj." 8; cf. Shakesp. "Mids. N. D." iv. 1. 119, 129 foll.

To begin with, the hounds must be no ordinary specimens of the

species named,[2] in order to do battle with the beast in question.

[2] Or, "these hounds of the breed named must not be any ordinary

specimens"; but what does Xenophon mean by {ek toutou tou genous}?

The nets should be made of the same flaxen cord[3] as those for hares

above described. They should be forty-five threaded in three strands, each

strand consisting of fifteen threads. The height from the upper rim[4] (i.e.

from top to bottom) should be ten meshes, and the depth of the nooses or

pockets one elbow-length (say fifteen inches).[5] The ropes running round

the net should be half as thick again as the cords of the net; and at the

extremities[6] they should be fitted with rings, and should be inserted (in

and out) under the nooses, with the end passing out through the rings.

Fifteen nets will be sufficient.[7]

[3] i.e. "of Phasian or Cathaginian fine flax."

[4] {tou koruphaiou}.

[5] {pugon}. The distance from the elbow to the first joint of the

finger = 20 {daktuloi} = 5 {palaistai} = 1 1/4 ft. (L. & S.)

[6] {ep akrois}. Cf. {akreleniois}.

[7] Reading {ikanai}, vid. Lenz ad loc. and ii. 4.

The javelins should be of all sorts,[8] having blades of a good breadth

and razor-sharpness, and stout shafts.

[8] Al. "of various material." See Pollux, v. 20 ap. Schneid.

The boar-spears should in the first place have blades fifteen inches

long, and in the middle of the socket two solid projecting teeth of wrought

metal,[9] and shafts of cornel-wood a spear-shaft's thickness.

[9] Wrought of copper (or bronze).

The foot-traps should resemble those used for deer.

51

[10] Lit. "There should be a band of huntsmen"; or, "It will take the

united energies of several to capture this game." See Hom. "Il." ix.

543, of the Calydonian boar:

{ton d' uios Oineos apekteinen Meleagros, polleon ek polion theretoras

andras ageiras kai kunas . ou men gar k' edame pauroisi brotoisin tossos

een, pollous de pures epebes' alegeines.}

"But him slew Meleagros the son of Oineus, having gathered

together from many cities huntsmen and hounds; for not of few men

could the boar be slain, so mighty was he; and many an one brought

he to the grievous pyre" (W. Leaf).

I will now explain how each part of the gear is to be used in hunting.

The company being come to some place where a boar is thought to lie,

the first step is to bring up the pack,[11] which done, they will loose a

single Laconian bitch, and keeping the rest in leash, beat about with this

one hound.[12] As soon as she has got on the boar's track, let them follow

in order, one after another, close on the tracking hound, who gives the lead

to the whole company.[13] Even to the huntsmen themselves many a mark

of the creature will be plain, such as his footprints on soft portions of the

ground, and in the thick undergrowth of forests broken twigs; and, where

there are single trees, the scars made by his tusks.[14] As she follows up

the trail the hound will, as a general rule, finally arrive at some well-

wooded spot; since, as a general rule, the boar lies ensconced in places of

the sort, that are warm in winter and cool in summer.

[11] {kunegesion}, "a hunting establishment, huntsmen and hounds, a

pack of hounds," L. & S. cf. Herod. i. 36; Pollux. v. 17. In Aristot.

"H. A." viii. 5. 2, of wolves in a pack; v. {monopeirai}. {upagein}-"

stealthily?"

[12] Or, "go on a voyage of discovery."

[13] Reading {te ikhneuouse}, or if vulg. {ikhneusei}, transl. "set

her to follow the trail, at the head of the whole train."

[14] Schneid. cf. Aristot. "H. A." vi. 18; Plin. viii. 52; Virg.

52

As soon as she has reached his lair she will give tongue; but the boar

will not get up, not he, in nine cases out of ten. The huntsman will

thereupon recover the hound, and tie her up also with the rest at a good

distance from the lair.[15] He will then launch his toils into the wild boar's

harbourage,[16] placing the nooses upon any forked branches of wood to

hand. Out of the net itself he must construct a deep forward-jutting gulf or

bosom, posting young shoots on this side and that within, as stays or

beams,[17] so that the rays of light may penetrate as freely as possible

through the nooses into the bosom,[18] and the interior be as fully lit up as

possible when the creature makes his charge. The string round the top of

the net must be attached to some stout tree, and not to any mere shrub or

thorn-bush, since these light-bending branches will give way to strain on

open ground.[19] All about each net it will be well to stop with timber

even places[20] "where harbrough nis to see," so that the hulking brute

may drive a straight course[21] into the toils without tacking.

[15] Lit. "accordingly recover the dog, and tie her up also with the

rest," etc.

[16] {ormous}. Lit. "moorings," i.e. "favourite haunts." Cf. {dusorma}

below. Al. "stelle die Fallnetze auf die Wechsel," Lenz.

[17] {anteridas}. See a note in the "Class. Rev." X. i. p. 7, by G. S.

Sale: "It can only mean long sticks used as stretchers or spreaders to

hold up the net between and beyond the props." Cf. Thuc. vii. 36, 2.

[18] Or, "within the bay of network."

[19] {sunekhontai en tois psilois ai e}. "Denn diese werden an

unbestandenen Orten durch die Leine niedergezogen," Lenz;

{sunelkontai} conj. Schn.; {sunerkhontai} al., "concurrunt," vid.

Sturz.

[20] {ta dusorma}, met. from "bad harbourage." Cf. Arsch. "Pers." 448;

"Ag." 194. Cf. Lat. "importunus," also of "rough ground."

[21] Or, "make his rush."

As soon as the nets are fixed, the party will come back and let the

53

[22] Lit. "then they will take their javelins and boar-spears and

advance."

As soon as the hounds are near his lair, they will make their onslaught.

The boar, bewildered by the uproar, will rise up and toss the first hound

that ventures to attack him in front. He will then run and fall into the toils;

or if not, then after him full cry.[23] Even if the ground on which the toils

environ him be sloping, he will recover himself promptly;[24] but if level,

he will at once plant himself firm as a rock, as if deliberating with

himself.[25] At that conjuncture the hounds will press hard upon him,

while their masters had best keep a narrow eye upon the boar and let fly

their javelins and a pelt of stones, being planted in a ring behind him and a

good way off, until the instant when with a forward heave of his body he

stretches the net tight and strains the skirting-rope. Thereupon he who is

most skilful of the company and of the stoutest nerve will advance from

the front and deliver a home thrust with his hunting- spear.

[23] Or, "a pretty chase must follow."

[24] Or, "if within the prison of the net the ground be sloping, it

will not take long to make him spring up; he will be up again on his

legs in no time."

[25] Or, "being concerned about himself."

Should the animal for all that rain of javelins and stones refuse to

stretch the skirting-rope, should he rather relax[26] in that direction and

make a left-about-face turn bearing down on his assailant, there is

nothing for it, under these circumstances, but to seize a boar-spear, and

advance; firmly clutching it with the left hand forward and with the left

behind; the left is to steady it, and the left to give it impulse; and so the

feet,[27] the left advanced in correspondence with the left arm, and left

54

[26] {epanieis}. See Sturz, s.v.

[27] Lit. "forwards the left foot will follow the left arm and the

left foot the other."

[28] "Statum venatoris aprum venabulo excipientis pinxit

Philostratus," "Imag." i. 28, Schn.

[29] Or, "he will step forward and take one stride not much longer

than that of a wrestler, and thrust forward his boar-spear."

[30] Cf. Hes. "Shield," 387; Hom. "Il." xii. 148: "Then forth rushed

the twain, and fought in front of the gates like wild boars that in the

mountains abide the assailing crew of men and dogs, and charging

on either flank they crush the wood around them, cutting it at the

root, and the clatter of their tusks waxes loud, till one smite them and

take their life away" (A. Lang).

From this extremity there is but one means of escape, and one alone,

for the luckless prisoner. One of his fellow-huntsmen must approach with

boar-spear and provoke the boar, making as though he would let fly at him;

but let fly he must not, for fear of hitting the man under him. The boar, on

seeing this, will leave the fallen man, and in rage and fury turn to grapple

his assailant. The other will seize the instant to spring to his feet, and not

forget to clutch his boar-spear as he rises to his legs again; since rescue

cannot be nobly purchased save by victory.[31] Let him again bring the

55

[31] "Safety can only be won with honour by some master-stroke of

victory."

[32] {sphage}. Aristot. "H. A." i. 14. 2. "Straight at the jugular."

[33] Or, "throwing his whole weight on the thrust, press home with all

his force."

[34] Or, "but for the intervention of the two projecting teeth of the

lance-blade." See the account of the passage of arms between Col.

Pollock and a boar in his "Incidents of Foreign Sport and Travel."

There the man was mounted, but alone.

[35] Lit. "force his heavy bulk along the shaft left up to the holder

of the boar-spear."

Nay, so tremendous is the animal's power, that a property which no

one ever would suspect belongs to him. Lay a few hairs upon the tusk of a

boar just dead, and they will shrivel up instantly,[36] so hot are they, these

tusks. Nay, while the creature is living, under fierce excitement they will

be all aglow; or else how comes it that though he fail to gore the dogs, yet

at the blow the fine hairs of their coats are singed in flecks and

patches?[37]

[36] {euthus}, i.e. "for a few seconds after death."

[37] The belief is still current, I am told, in parts of India.

So much and even greater trouble may be loked for from the wild boar

before capture; I speak of the male animal. If it should be a sow that falls

into the toils, the huntsman should run up and prod her, taking care not to

be pushed off his legs and fall, in which case he cannot escape being

trampled on and bitten. Ergo, he will not voluntarily get under those feet;

but if involuntarily he should come to such a pass, the same means[38] of

helping each the other to get up again will serve, as in the case of the male

animal; and when he has regained his legs, he must ply the boar-spear

56

[38] {dianastaseis}, "the same methods of mutual recovery."

Wild pigs may be captured further in the following fashion: The nets

are fixed for them at the entrances of woody glens,[39] in coppices and

hollows, and on screes, where there are outlets into rank meadow- lands,

marshes, and clear pools.[40] The appointed person mounts guard at the

nets with his boar-spear, while the others work the dogs, exploring the best

and likeliest spots. As soon as the quarry is found the chase commences. If

then an animal falls into the net, the net- keeper will grip his boar-spear

and[41] advance, when he will ply it as I have described; if he escape the

net, then after him full cry. In hot, sultry weather the boar may be run

down by the hounds and captured. Though a monster in strength, the

creature becomes short of breath and will give in from sheer exhaustion.

[39] Al. "at the passages from woodland lakes into oak-coppices."

[40] {udata}, "waters," lakes, pools, rivers, etc.

[41] Or, "and proceed to tackle him."

It is a form of sport which costs the lives of many hounds and

endangers those of the huntsmen themselves. Supposing that the animal

has given in from exhaustion at some moment in the chase, and they are

forced to come to close quarters;[42] whether he has taken to the water, or

stands at bay against some craggy bank, or does not choose to come out

from some thicket (since neither net nor anything else hinders him from

bearing down like a tornado on whoever approaches); still, even so,

advance they must, come what come may, to the attack. And now for a

display of that hardihood which first induced them to indulge a passion not

fit for carpet knights[43]--in other words, they must ply their boar-spears

and assume that poise of body[44] already described, since if one must

meet misfortune, let it not be for want of observing the best rules.[45]

[42] Reading {prosienai} [{ta probolia}]. [The last two words are

probably a gloss, and should be omitted, since {prosienai} (from

{prosiemi}) {ta probolia} = "ply," or "apply their boar-spears," is

hardly Greek.] See Schneid. "Add. et Corr." and L. Dind. ad loc.

[43] {ekponein}, "to exercise this passion to the full."

[44] Lit. "assume their boar-spears and that forward attitude of

57

[45] Lit. "it will not be at any rate from behaving correctly."

Foot-traps are also set for the wild boar, similar to those for deer and

in the same sort of places; the same inspections and methods of pursuit are

needed, with consequent attacks and an appeal to the boar- spear in the

end.

Any attempt to capture the young pigs will cost the huntsman some

rough work.[46] The young are not left alone, as long as they are small;

and when the hounds have hit upon them or they get wind of something

wrong, they will disappear like magic, vanishing into the forest. As a rule,

both parents attend on their own progeny, and are not pleasant then to

meddle with, being more disposed to do battle for their young than for

themselves.

[46] Lit. "the piglings will resent it (sc. {to aliskesthai})

strongly"; al. "the adult (sub. {to therion}) will stand anything

rather."

58

Lions, leopards, lynxes, panthers, bears and all other such game are to

be captured in foreign countries--about Mount Pangaeus and Cittus

beyond Macedonia;[1] or again, in Nysa beyond Syria, and upon other

mountains suited to the breeding of large game.

[1] Of these places, Mt. Pangaeus (mod. Pirnari) (see "Hell." V. ii.

17), Cittus (s. Cissus, mod. Khortiatzi), N. W. of the Chalcidice,

Mysian Olympus, and Pindus are well known. Nysa has not been

verified hitherto, I think. Sturz cf. Bochart, "Hieroz." Part I. lib. iii. c.

1, p. 722. Strabo, 637 (xv. 1. 7), mentions a Mount Nysa in India

sacred to Dionysus, and cites Soph. "Frag." 782-{

othen kateidon ton bebakkhiomenen brotoisi kleinon Nusan . . .

k.t.l.},

but it is a far cry from Xenophon's Syria to India. Possibly it is

to be sought for in the region of Mt. Amanus.

In the mountains, owing to the difficulty of the ground,[2] some of

these animals are captured by means of poison--the drug aconite--which

the hunters throw down for them,[3] taking care to mix it with the

favourite food of the wild best, near pools and drinking-places or wherever

else they are likely to pay visits. Others of them, as they descend into the

plains at night, may be cut off by parties mounted upon horseback and

well armed, and so captured, but not without causing considerable danger

to their captors.[4]

[2] Or, "the inaccessibility of their habitats."

[3] "The method is for the trapper to throw it down mixed with the

food which the particular creature likes best."

[4] For the poison method see Pollux, v. 82; Plin. "H. N." viii. 27.

In some cases the custom is to construct large circular pits of some

depth, leaving a single pillar of earth in the centre, on the top of which at

nightfall they set a goat fast-bound, and hedge the pit about with timber, so

as to prevent the wild beasts seeing over, and without a portal of

admission. What happens then is this: the wild beasts, hearing the bleating

in the night, keep scampering round the barrier, and finding no passage,

59

[5] See "Tales from the Fjeld," Sir George W. Dasent, "Father Bruin in

the Corner."

60

With regard to methods of procedure in the hunting-field, enough has

been said.[1] But there are many benefits which the enthusiastic sportsman

may expect to derive from this pursuit.[2] I speak of the health which will

thereby accrue to the physical frame, the quickening of the eye and ear, the

defiance of old age, and last, but not least, the warlike training which it

ensures. To begin with, when some day he has to tramp along rough ways

under arms, the heavy infantry soldier will not faint or flag--he will stand

the toil from being long accustomed to the same experiences in capturing

wild beasts. In the next place, men so trained will be capable of sleeping

on hard couches, and prove brave guardians of the posts assigned them. In

the actual encounter with the enemy, they will know at once how to attack

and to carry out the word of command as it passes along the lines, because

it was just so in the old hunting days that they captured the wild game. If

posted in the van of battle, they will not desert their ranks, because

endurance is engrained in them. In the rout of the enemy their footsteps

will not falter nor fail: straight as an arrow they will follow the flying foe,

on every kind of ground, through long habituation.[3] Or if their own army

encounter a reverse on wooded and precipitous ground beset with

difficulties, these will be the men to save themselves with honour and to

extricate their friends; since long acquaintance with the business of the

chase has widened their intelligence.[4]

[1] Or, "Respecting the methods employed in different forms of the

chase, I have said my say." As to the genuineness of this and the

following chapter see L. Dind. ad loc.; K. Lincke, "Xenophon's

Dialog." {peri oikonomias}, p. 132.

[2] Lit. "this work"; and in reference to the highly Xenophontine

argument which follows see "Hellenica Essays," p. 342; cf. "Cyrop."

I. vi. 28, 39-41.

[3] "For the sake of 'auld lang syne.'"

[4] Or, "will place them on the vantage-ground of experts."

Nay, even under the worst of circumstances, when a whole mob of

fellow-combatants[5] has been put to flight, how often ere now has a

61

[5] Or, "allies."

[6] Or, "a forlorn hope."

[7] {euexia}, al. {eutaxia}, "by good discipline."

[8] "Fortune favours the brave," reading {to eutukhesai} (L. D.); or

if {tou eutukhesai}, (vulg.) "those whose health of soul and body is

established are ipso facto nigh unto good fortune."

It was through knowledge that they owed success against their foes to

such a training, that our own forefathers paid so careful a heed to the

young.[9] Though they had but a scant supply of fruits, it was an

immemorial custom "not to hinder[10] the hunter from hunting any of

earth's offspring"; and in addition, "not to hunt by night[11] within many

furlongs of the city," in order that the adepts in that art might not rob the

young lads of their game. They saw plainly that among the many pleasures

to which youth is prone, this one alone is productive of the greatest

blessings. In other words, it tends to make them sound of soul and upright,

being trained in the real world of actual things[12] [and, as was said before,

our ancestors could not but perceive they owed their success in war to

such instrumentality[13]]; and the chase alone deprives them of none of

the other fair and noble pursuits that they may choose to cultivate, as do

those other evil pleasures, which ought never to be learned. Of such stuff

are good soldiers and good generals made.[14] Naturally, those from

whose souls and bodies the sweat of toil has washed all base and wanton

thoughts, who have implanted in them a passion for manly virtue--these, I

say, are the true nobles.[15] Not theirs will it be to allow their city or its

sacred soil to suffer wrong.

[9] Al. "looked upon the chase as a pursuit incumbent on the young."

[10] {me koluein to meden ton epi te ge phuomenon agreuein}.

The commentators generally omit {dia}, in which case translate as in

text. Lenz reads {un koluein dia meden} (see his note ad v. 34), and

translates (p. 61), "Dass man die Jager nicht hindern solle, in allem

62

[11] Or, "set their face against night-hunting," cf. "Mem." IV. vii.

4; Plat. "Soph." 220 D; "Stranger: There is one mode of striking

which is done at night, and by the light of a fire, and is called by the

hunters themselves firing, or spearing by firelight" (Jowett); for

which see Scott, "Guy Mannering," ch. x. It seems "night hunting

was not to be practised within a certain considerable radius, whereby

the proficients in that art might deprive it (lit. in order that they

might not deprive) them (the young huntsmen) of their game."

[12] Lit. "in truth and reality (not among visionary phantoms)."

[13] These words are commonly regarded as an addition; and what

does {te} signify?

[14] Or, "Here you have the making of brave soldiers and generals.

Here in embryo are to be found your future soldiers and generals

worthy the name."

[15] {outoi aristoi}: these are prima virorum, the true aristocrats.

Some people tell us it is not left to indulge a taste for hunting, lest it

lead to neglect of home concerns, not knowing that those who are

benefactors of their country and their friends are in proportion all the more

devoted to domestic duties. If lovers of the chase pre- eminently fit

themselves to be useful to the fatherland, that is as much as to say they

will not squander their private means; since with the state itself the

domestic fortunes of each are saved or lost. The real fact is, these men are

saviours, not of their own fortunes only, but of the private fortunes of the

rest, of yours and mine. Yet there are not a few irrational people amongst

these cavillers who, out of jealousy, would rather perish, thanks to their

own baseness, than owe their lives to the virtue of their neighbours. So

true is it that the mass of pleasures are but evil,[16] to which men succumb,

and thereby are incited to adopt the worse cause in speech and course in

63

to

the undoing of themselves, their children, and their friends.[18] Having

their senses dulled to things evil, while more than commonly alive to

pleasures, how shall these be turned to good account for the salvation of

the state? Yet from these evils every one will easily hold aloof, if once

enamoured of those joys whose brief I hold, since a chivalrous education

teaches obedience to laws, and renders justice familiar to tongue and

ear.[19]

[16] See "Hellenica Essays," p. 371.

[17] "To depravity of speech and conduct" (whether as advocates or

performers). See Aristoph. "Clouds."

[18] Or, "bring down on themselves, their children, and their friends

a spring of misfortunes in the shape of diseases, losses, or even

death."

[19] "For what does a chivalrous education teach save to obey the law,

and to make the theme of justice familiar to tongue and ear?"

In the one camp are those who, subjecting themselves ever to new toil

and fresh instruction, have, at the cost of lessons and exercises painful to

themselves, obtained to their several states salvation; and in the other are

those who for the very irksomeness of the process choose not to be taught,

but rather to pass away their days in pleasures unseasonable--nature's

abjects these.[20] Not theirs is it to obey either laws or good

instruction;[21] nay, how should they, who never toil, discover what a

good man ought to be?--in other words, wisdom and justice are alike

beyond their power. Subject to indiscipline, they have many a fault to find

with him who is well educated.

[20] Lit. "the sorriest of mankind these by nature."

[21] Or, "virtuous argument"; {logois agathois}, lit. "good words."

Through the instrumentality of such as these nothing can go well;

whereas every blessing which mankind enjoys has been discovered by the

efforts of the nobler sort. Nobler, I say, are those who choose to toil.[22]

[22] Or, "of choice spirits; and who are the choice spirits?--Clearly

those who choose to toil."

64

[23] Or, "that they made their first essay in hunting when mere boys,

and from hunting upwards were taught many noble arts."

[24] Lit. "is beheld by his beloved." Cf. "Symp." iv. 4; viii. 31.

[25] Lit. "in order not to be seen of him."

[26] Lit. "good with respect to her."

[27] Or, "to those toils and that training."

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Now what astonishes me in the "sophists," as they are called,[1] is,

that though they profess, the greater part of them, to lead the young to

virtue, they really lead them in the opposite direction. Never have we set

eyes on the man anywhere who owed his goodness to the sophists of today.[

2] Nor do their writings contain anything[3] calculated to make men

good, but they have written volumes on vain and frivolous subjects, in

which the young may find pleasures that pall, but the essence of virtue is

not in them. The result of this literature is to inflict unncessary waste of

time on those who look to learn something from it all and look in vain,

cutting them off from wholesome occupations and even teaching what is

bad. I cannot then but blame them for certain large offences[4] more than

lightly; but as regards the subject matter of their writings my charge is,

that while full of far-fetched phraseology,[5] of solid wholesome

sentiments, by which the young might be trained to virtue, I see not a

vestige. Speaking as a plain man, I know that to be taught what is good by

one's own nature is best of all,[6] and next best to learn of those who

really do know some good thing rather than of those who have an art to

deceive. It may well be that I fail to express myself in subtle language,[7]

nor do I pretend to aim at subtlety; what I do aim at is to express rightly-

conceived thoughts such as may serve the need of those who have been

nobly disciplined in virtue; for it is not words and names that give

instruction, but thoughts and sentiments worthy the name.

[1] Cf. Isocr. "Against the Sophists"; "Antidosis"; "Hel. Encom.";

Plat. "Sophist."

[2] Who are these {oi nun sophistai}?

[3] Lit. "do they present writings to the world."

[4] Or, "as to certain weightier matters gravely."

[5] {remata} = "words and phrases"; {ynomai} = "moral maxims, just

thoughts."

[6] "Being myself but a private individual and a plain man." According

to Hartman, "A. X. N." p. 350, "ridicule detorquet Hesiodeum":

{outos men panaristos os auto panta noese esthlos d' au kakeinos os eu

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[7] Al. "in true sophistic style." The writer seems to say: "I lack

subtlety of expression (nor is that at all my object); what I do aim at

is to trace with some exactness, to present with the lucidity

appropriate to them, certain thoughts demanded by persons well

educated in the school of virtue."

Nor am I singular in thus reproaching the modern type of sophist (not

the true philosopher, be it understood); it is a general reproach that the

wisdom he professes consists in word-subtleties, not in ideas.[8] Certainly

it does not escape my notice that an orderly sequence of ideas adds beauty

to the composition:[9] I mean it will be easy to find fault with what is

written incorrectly.[10] Nevertheless, I warrant it is written in this fashion

with an eye to rectitude, to make the reader wise and good, not more

sophistical. For I would wish my writings not to seem but rather to be

useful. I would have them stand the test of ages in their blamelessness.[11]

[8] {onomasi}, "in names"; {noemasi}, "thoughts and ideas."

[9] Or, "I am alive to the advantage to be got from methodic, orderly

expression artistically and morally."

[10] This passage, since H. Estienne (Stephanus) first wrote against

it "huic loco meae conjecturae succumbunt," has been a puzzle to all

commentators. The words run: {ou lanthanei de me oti kalos kai exes

gegraphthai} [{gegraptai} in the margin of one MS.] {radion gar

estai autois takhu me orthos mempsasthai' kaitoi gegraptai ge outos

k.t.l.} For {takhu me orthos} (1) {takhu ti me orthos}, (2) {to} (or

{ta}) {me orthos}, have been suggested. It is not clear whether

{autois} = {tois sophistais} (e.g. "it will be easy for these people to

lay a finger at once on blots, however unfairly"), or = {tois

suggrammasi} (sc. my(?) compositions; so {auta}, S. 7 below, {ou

gar dokein auta boulomai k.t.l.}) (e.g. "since it will be easy offhand

to find fault with them incorrectly") [or if {ta me orthos}, "what is

incorrect in them"]. I append the three translations of Gail, Lenz, and

Talbot. "Je sais combien il est avantageux de presenter des ouvrages

methodiquement ecrits; aussi par le meme sera-t-il plus facile de

prouver aux sophistes leur futilite!" {radion gar estai} [sub. {emoi}]

67

i

orthos} (Gail). "Zwar entgeht mir nicht, dass es schon say die Worte

kunstvoll zu ordnen, denn leichter wird ihnen sonst, schnell, aber mit

Unrecht zu tadeln" (Lenz). "Aussi leur sera-t-il facile de me

reprocher d'ecrire vite et sans ordre" (Talbot). As if {takhu me orthos}

were the reproachful comment of the sophist on the author's treatise.

[11] i.e. "the arguments to be blameless at once and irrefutable for

all time."

That is my point of view. The sophist has quite another--words with

him are for the sake of deception, writing for personal gain; to benefit any

other living soul at all is quite beside his mark. There never was nor is

there now a sage among them to whom the title "wise" could be applied.

No! the appellation "sophist" suffices for each and all, which among men

of common sense[12] sounds like a stigma. My advice then is to mistrust

the sonorous catch-words[13] of the sophist, and not to despise the

reasoned conclusions[14] of the philosopher; for the sophist is a hunter

after the rich and young, the philosopher is the common friend of all; he

neither honours nor despises the fortunes of men.

[12] L. Dind. cf. Eur. "Heracl." 370, {tou tauta kalos an eie} | {para

g' eu phronousin}.

[13] {paraggelmata}. Cf. Aesch. "Ag." 480, "telegraph"; Lys. 121. 32;

Dem. 569. 1; "words of command"; Dion. H. "De Comp." 248,

"instructions, precepts."

[14] {enthumemata}.

Nor would I have you envy or imitate those either who recklessly

pursue the path of self-aggrandisement,[15] whether in private or in public

life; but consider well[16] that the best of men,[17] the true nobility, are

discovered by their virtues;[18] they are a laborious upwards-striving race;

whilst the base are in evil plight[19] and are discovered by their

demerits.[20] Since in proportion as they rob the private citizen of his

means and despoil the state[21] they are less serviceable with a view to the

public safety than any private citizen;[22] and what can be worse or more

disgraceful for purposes of war than the bodily form of people so

incapable of toil?[23] Think of huntsmen by contrast, surrendering to the

68

[15] Or, "surrender themselves heedlessly to the ways of self-

seeking." But the phraseology here seems to savour of extreme youth,

or else senility.

[16] {enthumethenta}. Query, in reference to {enthumemata} above?

[17] Reading {andron}. For the vulg. {auton} see Schneid. ad loc.,

who suggests {ton aston}.

[18] "Recognisable for the better."

[19] "They are not famous but infamous"; "the bad fare as their name

suggests" (i.e. badly).

[20] "Recognisable for the worse."

[21] Or, "what with private extortionsand public peculation."

[22] {ton idioton}, "laymen," I suppose, as opposed to "professional"

lawyers or politicians.

[23] "What with their incapacity for hard work, their physique for

purposes of war is a mockery and a sham."

[24] Cf. Plat. "Soph."

[25] Or, "earns but an evil reputation in the world."

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"They are being bearded in their dens."

I go back to my proposition then. Those self-seeking politicians, who

want to feather their own nests,[27] practise to win victories over their

own side, but confines himself to the common enemy. This

training of theirs renders the one set more able to cope with the foreign foe,

the others far less able. The hunting of the one is carried on with self-

restraint, of the others with effrontery. The one can look down with

contempt upon maliciousness and sordid love of gain, the other cannot.

The very speech and intonation of the one has melody, of the other

harshness. And with regard to things divine, the one set know no obstacle

to their impiety, the others are of all men the most pious. Indeed ancient

tales affirm[28] that the very gods themselves take joy in this work[29] as

actors and spectators. So that,[30] with due reflection on these things, the

young who act upon my admonitions will be found, perchance, beloved of

heaven and reverent of soul, checked by the thought that some one of the

gods is eyeing their performance.[31]

[27] Or, "Those people who would fain have the lion's share in the

state."

[28] Or, "an ancient story obtains."

[29] Sc. "of the chase."

[30] Or {uparkhein} = "it may be considered as given." Scheid. cf.

"Pol. Ath." iii. 9, {oste uparkhein demokratian einai}.

[31] Lit. "that the things in question are beheld by some divinity."

These are the youths who will prove a blessing to their parents, and

not to their parents only but to the whole state; to every citizen alike and

individual friend.

Nay, what has sex to do with it? It is not only men enamoured of the

chase that have become heroes, but among women there are also to whom

our lady Artemis has granted a like boon--Atalanta, and Procris, and many

another huntress fair.

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