詞源與文集 第 12 章 第 1/4 段

I. ON CATTLE AND BEASTS OF BURDEN. Adam first assigned names to all living creatures, giving to each a name from its present condition according to the state of the nature which it would serve. But the nations gave names to each of the animals from their own tongue. Yet Adam did not impose those names according to the Latin tongue or the Greek or that of any of the barbarian nations, but in that language which before the flood was the one language of all, which is called Hebrew. In Latin they are called 'animalia' or 'animantia' (living beings), because they are animated with life and moved by breath. They are called quadrupeds ('quadrupedia') because they walk on four feet: though these be similar to cattle, yet they are not under human care, such as stags, deer, wild asses, and the rest.

But neither are they wild beasts, like lions; nor beasts of burden, such as could help the uses of men. We call 'pecus' (cattle) everything that lacks human speech and form. But properly the name of 'cattle' is wont to be applied to those animals which are either fit for eating, such as sheep and swine, or useful in the service of men, such as horses and oxen. Now there is a difference between 'pecora' and 'pecudes': for the ancients commonly used 'pecora' in the sense of all animals; but 'pecudes' only those animals which are eaten, as if 'pecuedes' (that are eaten). Generally, however, every animal is called 'pecus' from grazing ('a pascendo'). Beasts of burden ('iumenta') drew their name from this, that by their aid they help our labour or burden, by carrying or by ploughing.

For the ox draws carts and turns the hardest clods of earth with the ploughshare; the horse and the ass carry burdens and temper the labour of men in travelling. Whence also beasts of burden ('iumenta') are named from this, that they help ('iuvent') men: for they are animals of great strength. Likewise also herds ('armenta'), either because they are fit for arms ('armis'), that is, for war; or because we use them in arms. Others understand by 'armenta' only oxen, from ploughing ('ab arando'), as if 'aramenta' [or because they are armed with horns]. There is a distinction between 'armenta' and 'greges' (flocks): for herds are of horses and oxen, but flocks of goats and sheep. The sheep ('ovis') is a soft creature in its wool, defenceless in body, gentle in disposition, named from oblation ('oblatione'); because among the ancients in the beginning not bulls but sheep were slaughtered in sacrifice.

Of these, some are called 'bidentes' (two-toothed), those which among their eight teeth have two that are higher, which the heathen chiefly offered in sacrifice. The wether ('vervex') is named either from its strength ('viribus'), because it is stronger than the other sheep; or because it is a male ('vir'), that is, a male; or because it has a worm ('vermem') in its head, roused by the itching of which they strike one another in turn and, fighting, they butt with great force. The ram ('aries') is called either 'apo tou Areos,' that is, from Mars: whence among us the males in flocks are called 'mares'; or because this animal was first sacrificed by the heathen upon the altars ('aris'). The ram, because it was placed upon the altars. Whence is that verse (Sedulius 1,115): 'The ram is slain at the altar.'

As for the lamb ('agnus'), although the Greeks call it 'apo tou agnou,' as if 'pious,' yet the Latins think it has this name because, beyond the other animals, it recognizes ('agnoscat') its mother; so much so that even if it has strayed in a great flock, it at once recognizes the voice of its parent by its bleating. Kids ('haedi') are named from eating ('ab edendo'). For when small they are very fat and of pleasant flavour, whence [both 'to eat', whence] also delicacy ('edulium') is named. The he-goat ('hircus') is a lascivious animal, butting and always burning for coition; whose eyes look sideways because of lust, whence it also drew its name. For 'hirqui' are the corners of the eyes according to Suetonius (Prata 171); whose nature is so exceedingly hot that its blood alone dissolves the adamant stone, which neither fire nor the substance of iron is able to master.

The larger he-goats are called 'Cinyphii' from the river Cinyps in Libya, where they are born of great size. Some have said that he-goats ('capros') and she-goats ('capras') are named from browsing ('carpendis') the shrubs. Others because they catch at ('captent') rough places. Some from the crackling ('crepitu') of their legs, whence they are called 'crepae'; these are the wild goats, which the Greeks, because they see most sharply, that is, 'oxyderkesteron,' called 'dorca.' For they dwell on lofty mountains, and although from afar, yet they see all who come. The same are also 'capreae' (roe-deer): the same are 'ibices' (ibexes), as if 'avices' (bird-like), because after the manner of birds they hold the steep and lofty places and dwell on high, so that from their loftiness they are scarcely visible to human gaze. Whence also the southern region calls the ibexes birds, those which dwell along the streams of the Nile.

These animals, then, as we have said, dwell on the highest rocks, and if ever they perceive the hostility of wild beasts or men, hurling themselves down from the loftiest summits of the crags, they receive themselves unharmed upon their own horns. Stags ('cervi') are named 'apo ton keraton,' that is, from their horns; for horns are called 'kerata' in Greek. These, being enemies of serpents, when they perceive themselves burdened with infirmity, draw them out of their caverns by the breath of their nostrils, and, having overcome the deadliness of their venom, are restored by them as food. They themselves revealed the herb dittany ('dictamnum'); for having fed on it, they shake out the arrows they have received. They marvel, moreover, at the whistling of reed-pipes. With ears erect they hear sharply, with ears lowered they hear nothing.

If ever they swim across immense rivers or seas, they place their heads upon the haunches of those going before them, and succeeding one another in turn they feel no labour of weight. The 'tragelaphi' (goat-stags) are named by the Greeks, which, though they be of the same appearance as stags, yet have shaggy shoulders like he-goats, and chins bristling with long beards; these are found nowhere else than around the Phasis. Fawns ('hinnuli') are the offspring of stags [named from nodding ('ab innuere'), because at the nod of their mother they are hidden away]. The little doe ('dammula') is so named because it escapes from the hand ('de manu'): a timid and unwarlike animal; concerning which Martial (13,94): 'The boar is feared for its tusk, its horns defend the stag; we defenceless does, what are we but prey?' The hare ('lepus') is named 'light-foot' ('levipes'), because it runs swiftly. Whence also in Greek it is called 'lagos' for its running;

for it is a swift and very timid animal. Rabbits ('cuniculi') are named as a kind of wild animal, as if 'caniculi' (little dogs), because they are caught by the tracking of dogs ('canum') or driven out of their burrows. The pig ('sus') is so named because it roots up the pastures ('subigat'), that is, seeks food from the worked-up earth. The boar ('verres') is so named because it has great strength ('grandes vires'). The hog ('porcus'), as if 'filthy' ('spurcus'). For it gluts itself in mire, immerses itself in mud, smears itself with slime. Horace (Epistles 1,2,26): 'And the sow that loves the mud.' Hence also filthiness ('spurcitia') and bastards ('spurios') are named. The bristles of pigs we call 'setae', and 'setae' are named from the pig ('a sue'): from which also cobblers ('sutores') are named, because from bristles they sew ('suant'), that is, stitch together ('consuant'), hides. The wild boar ('aper') is named from its ferocity ('feritate'), the letter F being removed and P substituted. Whence also among the Greeks it is called 'syagros,' that is, 'wild.'

For everything that is wild and savage we improperly call 'agreste' (rustic). The young bullock ('iuvencus') is so named because it begins to help ('iuvare') the uses of men in tilling the earth, or because among the heathen a bullock ('iuvencus') was always and everywhere sacrificed to Jove, never a bull. For in victims their age also was considered. 'Taurus' (bull) is a Greek name, like 'bos' (ox) also. The Indian bulls are of a tawny colour, of winged swiftness, with hair turned the wrong way; they bend their heads around with what flexibility they will; by the hardness of their back they repel every weapon with savage ferocity. The Greeks call the ox 'boun.' This the Latins call 'trio,' because it treads ('terat') the earth, as if 'terio.' Naevius (tragedy 62): 'This rustic driver of the plough-oxen.'

The breadth of whose skin from the chin to the legs is called the 'palearia' (dewlaps), from the skin itself ('a pelle'), as if 'pellearia'; which is a sign of nobility in an ox. Among their companions oxen have exceeding devotion; for the one seeks out the other with which it was accustomed to draw the plough under the yoke, and by frequent lowing it testifies its tender affection if perchance the other has failed. The cow ('vacca') is so named, as if 'boacca.' For it is of that class of variable nouns, like lion ('leo') and lioness ('leaena'), dragon ('draco') and she-dragon ('dracaena'). The bull-calf ('vitulus') and heifer-calf ('vitula') are named from greenness ('viriditate'), that is, from green age, like a maiden ('virgo'). The heifer-calf, then, is one that is small and has not yet given birth: for one that has given birth is a young cow ('iuvenca') or a cow. Buffaloes ('bubali') are named by derivation, because they are similar to oxen ('boum'); so untamed that from ferocity they do not receive the yoke upon their necks. Africa produces these.

The 'uri' (aurochs) are wild oxen in Germany, having horns so far extended that from them, by their remarkable capacity, drinking-vessels are made for royal tables. [The aurochs are named 'apo ton oreon,' that is, from the mountains.] The occasion gave the name to camels ('camelis'), either because, when they are laden, they lie down that they may become shorter and lower, since the Greeks call what is low and short 'chamai'; or because it is curved in the back. For the Greek word 'kamour' signifies 'curved.' Although other regions too send these forth, yet Arabia sends the most. They differ from one another, however; for the Arabian ones have two humps on the back, those of the other regions a single one. The dromedary ('dromeda') is a kind of camel, of smaller stature indeed, but swifter. Whence also it has its name; for in Greek 'dromos' means running and swiftness.

For it is wont to travel a hundred thousand paces and more in a single day. This animal, like the ox and the sheep and the camel, chews the cud ('ruminat'). Rumination ('ruminatio') is named from the 'ruma', the prominent part of the throat, through which the swallowed food is called back by certain animals. The ass ('asinus') and the little ass ('asellus') are named from sitting ('a sedendo'), as if 'asedus': but this name, which was more fitting for horses, this animal took on because, before men caught horses, they began to sit upon this one. It is indeed a slow animal and resisting by no reason; as soon as man wished, he laid it under himself. 'Onager' is interpreted as 'wild ass.' For the Greeks call an ass 'onon', 'agrion' wild. Africa has these, large and untamed and wandering in the desert. Each single one presides over a herd of females.

When males are born, they are jealous and bite off their testicles; guarding against which the mothers hide them in secret places. The Arcadian asses are so named because they were first brought over from Arcadia, large and tall. The smaller little ass, however, is more useful for the field, because it both endures labour and does not almost refuse neglect. Horses ('equi') are so named because, when they were yoked to four-horse chariots, they were made equal ('aequabantur'), and, being alike in form and similar in running, they were paired together. The 'caballus' (nag) was formerly called 'cabo', because as it walks it hollows out the ground with the pressed hoof, which the other animals do not do. Hence also 'sonipes' (sound-foot), because it makes sound with its feet. The liveliness of horses is great: for they exult in the fields; they scent out war; they are roused by the sound of the trumpet to battle;

kindled by the voice they are provoked to running; they grieve when they have been conquered; they exult when they have conquered. Some perceive their enemies in war, so that they attack their adversaries with their bite: some even recognize their own masters, forgetting their tameness if they be changed; some receive no one on their back except their master: when their masters are slain or dying, many shed tears. For the horse alone weeps for the sake of man and feels the emotion of grief. Whence also in the Centaurs the nature of horses and men is mingled. Men are also wont, from either the sadness or the eagerness of horses, to gather the future outcome when about to do battle.

There is a common opinion that a long life belongs to Persian, Hunnish, Epirote, and Sicilian horses, over fifty years, but a shorter one to Spanish and Numidian and Gallic ones. In noble horses, as the ancients say, four things are looked for: form, beauty, merit, and colour. Form, that the body be strong and solid, the height suited to its strength, the flank long, the haunches especially compact and rounded, the chest broadly open, the whole body knotted with the density of its muscles, the foot dry and made firm by a hollow hoof. Beauty, that the head be small and dry, the skin clinging almost to the bones, the ears short and pricked, the eyes large, the nostrils wide-open, the neck erect, the mane and tail thick, the roundness of the hooves fixed with solidity.

Merit, that it be bold in spirit, nimble of foot, with trembling limbs, which is a sign of courage: and one that is easily roused from deep rest, or, when its haste has been excited, is not difficult to hold in. Now the motion of a horse is discerned in its ears, its strength in its trembling limbs. The colour is chiefly to be regarded: bay, golden, rosy, myrtle-hued, deer-coloured, dun, grey, dappled, hoary, snow-white, white, spotted, black. Then in the following order, the piebald distinguished from black and bay; the remaining piebald or ashen colour is the worst. The bay ('badium') the ancients used to call 'vadium', because among the other animals it goes ('vadat') more strongly. The same is also 'spadix', which they call 'phoenicatus':

and it is called 'spadix' from the colour of the palm-branch, which the Sicilians call 'spadica.' The grey ('glaucus') is as if having painted eyes and suffused with a certain brilliance. For the ancients said 'glaucum'. The dun ('gilvus') is a somewhat whitish honey-colour. The spotted ('guttatus') is white with intervening black points. Now 'candidus' and 'albus' differ from one another. For 'albus' (white) is with a certain paleness: but 'candidus' (bright-white) is snowy and suffused with pure light. It is called hoary ('canus') because it is of a white and black colour. It is called dappled ('scutulatus') on account of the discs which they have, white among the purple. Piebald ('varius'), because it has ways ('vias') of unequal colours. Those which have only white feet are called 'petili'; those with a white forehead, 'calidi.' Deer-coloured ('cervinus') is the one which they commonly call 'guaranen.'

The same common folk call it 'aeranen', because it is of a bronze-like colour. The myrtle-hued ('myrteus') is a dark purple. It is called 'dosina' because its colour is that of an ass ('de asino'): the same is also ashen ('cinereus'). Now these are sprung from a wild stock, which we call 'equiferi' (wild horses), and therefore they cannot pass over to civic dignity. 'Mauron' is black; for the Greeks call black 'mauron.' The 'mannus' is a shorter horse, which the common folk call 'brunicus'. The ancients called them 'veredi', because they draw ('veherent') coaches ('redas'), that is, lead them; or because they run the public roads, along which coaches too were wont to go. There are three kinds of horses: one noble, fit for battles and burdens; another common and of the herd, fit for drawing, not for riding;

a third sprung from the intermixture of different kinds, which is also called 'bigenerum' because it is born of diverse kinds, such as the mule. Now the mule ('mulus') has a name drawn from the Greek. For in Greek it is so called, either because, subdued under the yoke of millers, it drags the slow mill-stones in a circle in grinding. The Jews assert that Ana, the great-great-grandson of Esau, was the first to cause herds of mares to be mounted by asses in the desert, that from thence mules, new animals contrary to nature, might be born. And that wild asses too were admitted for this purpose to she-asses: and that he himself discovered a coupling of this kind, so that the swiftest asses might be born from these. For human ingenuity forced diverse animals into coition, and thus by adulterous mixture discovered another kind;

just as Jacob too procured resemblances of colours contrary to nature. For his ewes would conceive such offspring as were the shadows of the rams mounting from above which they beheld in the mirror of the waters. Finally this same thing is said to be done also in herds of mares, that they set noble stallions before the sight of the conceiving mares, so that they may conceive and produce ones like them. For lovers of doves too place most beautiful painted doves in the very places in which those doves dwell, so that by the seizing of the sight they may generate like ones. Hence it is that some bid pregnant women gaze upon no most ugly countenances of animals, such as dog-headed apes and monkeys, lest, meeting them with their eyes, they bring forth like offspring.

For it is the nature of females that whatever they have gazed upon or conceived in mind in the utmost heat of pleasure, while they conceive, such offspring also they bring forth. For a living creature in the act of Venus transmits forms from outside to within, and, satiated with their impressions, it seizes their appearances into its own quality. Among living creatures, those are called 'bigenera' (of double kind) which are born of diverse kinds, such as the mule from a mare and an ass; the 'burdo' (hinny) from a horse and a she-ass; hybrids ('hybridae') from wild boars and pigs; the 'tityrus' from a ewe and a he-goat; the 'musmo' from a she-goat and a ram. And this is the leader of the flock. II. ON WILD BEASTS. The name 'beasts' ('bestiae') properly belongs to lions, leopards, tigers, wolves, and foxes, and dogs and apes and the rest, which rage either with mouth or with claws, serpents excepted.

Wild beasts ('bestiae') are named from the force ('vi') with which they rage. They are called wild ('ferae') because they use their natural liberty and are borne along by their own desire. For their wills are free, and they wander hither and thither, and wherever their spirit has led, thither they are borne. The word 'lion' ('leo') was inflected from a Greek origin into Latin. For in Greek it is called 'leon'; and it is a hybrid name, because it is partly corrupted. But 'leaena' (lioness) is wholly Greek, like 'dracaena' also. That the lioness should be called 'lea' has been taken up by the poets. Now 'leo' in Greek is interpreted 'king' in Latin, because it is the prince of all wild beasts. Its kind is said to be threefold. Of these, the short ones with a curly mane are unwarlike; the long ones with a plain coat are fierce. Their spirits are indicated by their forehead and tail. Their strength is in their breast;

their firmness in the head. When surrounded by hunters they gaze upon the ground, that they may be the less terrified by the sight of the hunting-spears. They fear the noise of wheels, but fire still more. When they have slept, their eyes keep watch; when they walk, they cover their own tracks with their tail, lest the hunter find them. When they have brought forth a cub, the cub is said to sleep for three days and three nights; then afterward, as if shaken by the roaring or growling of the father, the place of the den is said to rouse the sleeping cub. Toward man the nature of lions is such that they cannot be angered unless injured. For their mercy is manifest by constant examples. For they spare the prostrate; they permit the captives they meet to return home; they do not kill a man except in great hunger. Concerning which Lucretius (5,1035):

'And the cubs of lions.' The tiger ('tigris') is named on account of its winged flight; for so the Persians and Medes name an arrow. For it is a beast distinguished with various spots, marvellous in valour and swiftness; from whose name the river Tigris is called, because it is the most rapid of all rivers. Hyrcania chiefly breeds these. The panther ('panther') is so named, either because it is a friend of all animals, except the dragon, or because it rejoices in the fellowship of its own kind, and gives back whatever it receives in the same likeness. For 'pan' in Greek means 'all.' It is a beast painted over with tiny circles, so that with eye-like circles of tawny hue it is distinguished with black or white variety. It gives birth once altogether; the reason for this cause is manifest.

For when the cubs have grown together in the mother's womb and are strong with the powers ripe for birth, they hate the delays of time; and so they tear with their claws the womb burdened with offspring, as though it hindered the birth: she pours forth the birth, or rather lets it go, with pain compelling her. Thus afterward, the parts being corrupted and scarred, the genital seed poured in does not cling once received, but rebounds ineffectual. For Pliny (Natural History 8,43) says that animals with sharp claws cannot bear frequently; for they are injured within by the cubs moving about. The leopard ('pardus') is second after the panther, a species varied and most swift and headlong to blood. For with a leap it rushes to the kill. The leopard proper ('leopardus') is born from the adultery of a lioness and a 'pardus', and produces a third origin;

just as Pliny too in the Natural History (8,42) says, that a lion couples with a female 'pardus', or a 'pardus' with a lioness, and from either coupling degenerate offspring are created, like the mule and the hinny. The rhinoceros ('rhinoceron') is so named by the Greeks. In Latin it is interpreted 'horn on the nose.' The same is also 'monoceros', that is, 'unicorn', because it has a single horn in the middle of its forehead, four feet long, so sharp and strong that whatever it attacks, it either tosses up or pierces through. For it often has a contest even with elephants, and, wounding one in the belly, lays it low. It is of such great strength that it is caught by no valour of hunters;

but, as those who have written of the natures of animals assert, a virgin girl is set before it, who opens her bosom to the approaching beast, in which it lays its head with all ferocity laid aside, and thus, lulled to sleep, it is caught as though defenceless. The elephant ('elephantus') the Greeks think is named from the greatness of its body, because it presents the form of a mountain; for in Greek a mountain is called 'lophos.' But among the Indians it is named from its voice, 'barro'; whence also its voice is 'barritus', and its teeth ivory. Its snout is called 'proboscis', because with it it brings food to its mouth; and it is like a snake, fortified with an ivory rampart. The ancient Romans called these oxen 'Lucas oxen': oxen, because they saw no larger animal: 'Lucas', because in Lucania Pyrrhus first set them against the Romans in battle.

For this kind of animal is fit for the affairs of war; for on them the Persians and Indians, having placed wooden towers, fight with javelins as if from a wall. In understanding and memory too they are strong. They walk in herds; they salute with such motion as they can; they flee from a mouse; they couple facing away from each other; and when they give birth, they let their young loose in waters or on islands on account of dragons, because they are enemies and, entangled by them, are killed; they carry their young for two years, nor do they beget more than once, nor several, but only one; and they live three hundred years. Elephants were formerly born only in Africa and India; now India alone breeds them. The griffin ('grypes') is so called, because it is a feathered and four-footed animal.

This kind of wild beast is born in the Hyperborean mountains. In every part of the body they are lions; in wings and face they are like eagles; they are vehemently hostile to horses. For they also tear men to pieces when seen. The chameleon ('chamaeleon') does not have one colour, but is sprinkled with diverse variety, like the leopard. It is so called from... The little body of this chameleon is varied by a most easy conversion to the colours which it sees, which is not so in other animals, whose corpulence is not so easily disposed to conversion. The giraffe ('camelopardus') is so named because, though it be sprinkled over with white spots like a leopard, it is similar to a horse in its neck, to oxen in its feet, yet in its head it is similar to a camel. Ethiopia breeds this. The lynx ('lynx') is so named because it is counted among the kind of wolves;

a beast with its back distinguished with spots like a leopard, but similar to a wolf: whence the one is 'lykos' and this one 'lynx.' They say that its urine turns into the hardness of a precious stone, which is called 'lyncurius', which by this proof is shown that the lynxes themselves perceive it. For they cover over the discharged liquid with sand as much as they can, by a certain envy of nature, lest such a discharge pass over into human use. Pliny the Second (cf. Natural History 8,43) says that lynxes do not admit more than one offspring beyond a single one. Beavers ('castores') are named from castrating ('a castrando'). For their testicles are fit for medicines, on account of which, when they have perceived the hunter beforehand, they castrate themselves and cut off their own powers with their bites. Concerning which Cicero in the Scauriana (2,7):

'They ransom themselves by that part of the body on account of which they are chiefly sought.' Juvenal (12,34): 'Who makes himself a eunuch, desiring to escape by the loss of a testicle.' These same are also 'fibri', which are also called 'Pontic dogs.' The bear ('ursus') is said to be so named because it shapes its offspring with its own mouth, as if 'orsus' (having begun). For they say that these beget shapeless offspring, and that a certain flesh is born which the mother, by licking, composes into limbs. Whence is that verse: 'Thus the she-bear shapes her offspring with her tongue when she has brought it forth.' But this the immaturity of the birth causes: for it gives birth on the thirtieth day. Whence it comes about that the hastened fecundity produces shapeless offspring. The bears' head is weak; their greatest strength is in their arms and loins; whence at times they stand erect. The wolf ('lupus') is carried over into our tongue by a Greek derivation.

For they call wolves 'lykous': and 'lykos' in Greek is named from its habits, because in the madness of its rapacity it slaughters whatever it has found. Others say that wolves ('lupi') are named as if 'leopos', because, like a lion's, its strength is thus in its feet; whence also whatever it has pressed with its foot does not live. It is a rapacious beast and greedy for gore; concerning which the country folk say that a man loses his voice if a wolf sees him first. Whence also to one suddenly falling silent it is said: 'A wolf in the story.' Certainly, if it perceives that it has been seen beforehand, it lays aside the boldness of its ferocity. Wolves couple no more than twelve days in the whole year; they bear hunger long, and after long fasting they devour much. Ethiopia sends forth wolves maned on the neck, and so varied that they say no colour is lacking to them.

The Latin name of the dog ('canis') seems to have a Greek etymology; for in Greek it is called 'kyon.' Although some suppose it to be named from the melody ('canore') of its barking, because it resounds; whence also 'to sing' ('canere'). Nothing, moreover, is more sagacious than dogs; for they have more sense than the other animals. For they alone recognize their own names; they love their masters; they defend their masters' houses; for their masters they throw themselves into death; of their own will they run with their master to the hunt; they do not abandon the body of their master even when dead. Whose nature, in short, is that they cannot exist apart from men. In dogs there are two things: either courage or swiftness. 'Catuli' (whelps) is improperly used of the offspring of any wild beasts. For properly whelps are of dogs, so named by diminution.

Now they are called 'lycisci', as Pliny says (cf. 8,148), dogs born of wolves and dogs, when by chance they mingle among themselves. The Indians too are wont at night to tie up female dogs in the woods to be mounted by the tiger beasts, by which they are leapt upon, and from that same litter are born dogs so exceedingly fierce and strong that in their embrace they lay lions low. The fox ('vulpes') is so named, as if 'volupes' (flying-foot). For it is nimble of foot ('volubilis pedibus'), and never runs in straight paths, but in winding circuits, a fraudulent animal deceiving by its ambushes. For when it has no food, it feigns death, and thus it seizes and devours the birds that come down as though to a corpse. 'Simiae' (apes) is a Greek name, that is, 'with flattened nostrils';

Hence we also call them 'simiae' (apes), because their nostrils are flattened and their face ugly, disgracefully wrinkled with folds; though a she-goat too may have a flattened nose. Others suppose that apes were named by the Latin tongue ('simiae' from 'similitudo'), because much likeness to human reason is perceived in them; but that is false. These creatures, keen observers of the elements, rejoice at the new moon, and grow sad at the half and waning moon. The young that they love they carry before themselves; the neglected ones cling about the mother. There are five kinds of them, among which the cercopitheci have tails; for an ape which has a tail is the kind some call 'clura.' The sphinxes are shaggy with hair, with prominent breasts, and teachable to the point of forgetting their wildness. The cynocephali (dog-heads) are themselves also like apes, but with a face after the manner of a dog; and thence they are named.