xvi DENIZENS OF UNDERGROUND WATER 129 



spaces stretch marshes over which darkness ever 

 broods. Animals also are produced in them, but 

 they are slow- paced and shapeless ; the air that 

 conceived them is dark and clammy, the waters are 

 torpid through inaction. Most of these creatures 

 are blind, such as moles and underground rats, 

 which have no sense of sight, since it is unnecessary 

 for them. From these depths fish are, according 

 to Theophrastus, dug up in certain localities. 



XVII 



AT this point many pleasantries will occur to you i 

 to apply to my incredible narrative, which you will 

 politely call a good story. A man will no longer 

 go to fish with net and hook, but with his mattock ! 

 The next thing will be for some one to go out 

 hunting at sea. Now what reason is there, I ask, 

 why fish should not cross the land if we can 

 cross the sea and change our abodes ? You are 

 surprised at this happening. How much more 

 incredible are the achievements of luxury as often 

 as it either counterfeits or vanquishes nature ? Fish 

 are to be found swimming in the dining couch ; one 

 is caught right under the table, to be transferred 

 immediately to the table. A mullet is not thought 2 

 fresh enough unless it expires in the hand of the 

 banqueter. These fish are handed round enclosed 

 in glass jars, and their colours are observed while 

 they expire ; death paints many hues on them as 

 they draw their last struggling breath. Others are 

 pickled alive and killed in the sauce. These are 

 the people who think one is romancing who asserts 

 that a fish can live underground and instead of 



K 



