i88 ^LIAN— FIRST ARTIFICIAL FLY 



which hovers on the river. It is not like flies found else- 

 where, nor does it resemble a wasp in appearance, nor in 

 shape would one justly describe it as a midge or a bee, yet 

 it has something of each of these. In boldness it is like a 

 lly, in size you might call it a midge, it imitates the colour of 

 a wasp, and it hums like a bee. The natives generally call it 

 the Hippouros. 



" These flies seek their food over the river, but do not escape 

 the observation of the fish swimming below. When then the 

 fish observes a fly on the surface, it swims quietly up, afraid 

 to stir the water above, lest it should scare away its prey ; 

 then coming up by its shadow, it opens its mouth gently and 

 gulps down the fly, like a wolf carrying ofl a sheep from the 

 fold or an eagle a goose from the farmyard ; having done this 

 it goes below the rippling water. 



"Now though the fishermen know of this, they do not use 

 these flies at all for bait for fish ; for if a man's hand touch 

 them, they lose their natural colour, their wings wither, and 

 they become unfit food for the fish. For this reason they have 

 nothing to do with them, hating them for their bad character ; 

 but they have planned a snare for the fish, and get the better 

 of them by their fisherman's craft. 



"They fasten red (crimson red) wool round a hook, and fix 

 on to the wool two feathers which grow under a cock's wattles, 

 and which in colour are like wax. Their rod is six feet long, 

 and their line is the same length. Then they throw their 

 snare, and the fish, attracted and maddened by the colour, 

 comes straight at it, thinking from the pretty sight to get a 

 dainty mouthful ; when, however, it opens its jaws, it is 

 caught by the hook and enjoys a bitter repast, a captive." 



The lines which describe the making up of the fly — to> 



ayKiarpoj TrtpifiaWovcrLv tpiov (poiviKovv, rjf)f.ioaTai re tQ ^pW' ^'^^ 

 TTTtpa oXeKTpvovog vnu toi^ KoXXaloig irtcfiVKOTa Kcil Kt]pii) Ti)v \puav 

 7rpoatiKa(Tf.uva ^ — are translated in Westwood and Satchell's Bibl. 

 Pise, and by Mr. Lambert quite differently. 



^ Jacobs adopts Kt^ptf, instead of Gesner's xp''0'<f> chiefly because it is 

 written thus quite clearly in the Codex Augustanus. It also seems to lit the 

 context better. 



