87. And a little afterwards he says—
Before the shade they wear a purple cloth,
And then this comes after the purple;
Being itself neither white nor purple,
But a ray of the brilliancy of the woof as it were
Of divers colours curiously blended.
* * * * *
Antiphanes says: "What do you say? Will you not bring something hither to the door which we may eat? and then I will sit on the ground and eat it as the beggars do: and any one may see me."
* * * * *
The same man says in another place—
Prepare then
A fanner to cool me, a dish, a tripod, a cup,
An ewer, a mortar, a pot, and a spoon.
* * * * *
About the Ascent of the Nile.
88. Thales the Milesian, one of the seven wise men, says that the overflowing of the Nile arises from the Etesian winds; for that they blow up the river, and that the mouths of the river lie exactly opposite to the point from which they blow; and accordingly that the wind blowing in the opposite direction hinders the flow of the waters; and the waves of the sea, dashing against the mouth of the river, and coming on with a fair wind in the same direction, beat back the river, and in this manner the Nile becomes full to overflowing. But Anaxagoras the natural philosopher says that the fulness of the Nile arises from the snow melting; and so, too, says