136 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 



the same place and turned about itself but energizing the 

 revolution of the Zodiacal circle (a), delivering over this the 

 Universe from the night indeed to day, and from the day 

 to night. But after this there is another Chorus of Stars 

 which we have not thought worthy of appellations, but 

 those hereafter having imitated us, will themselves too 

 apply to these appellations. But below the Moon are other 

 stars perishable, while subsisting for little time, exhaled 

 from the earth itself, into the air above earth; which also 

 we see dissolved, having the nature like to the useless of the 

 animals upon earth, and are generate for nothing else than 

 that only they perish ; such as the race of the flies, the 

 fleas, the worms, and the others the like. For verily these, 

 O Tat! are neither useful to us nor to the world: on the 

 contrary are hurtful, being troublesome, being appendices (6) 

 of the Nature, and having the generation by way of the 

 superfluous (c) ; the same way also the stars exhaled from 

 the Earth do not indeed assume the place above, for they 

 are unable as issuing from beneath. But having the 

 weight great, drawn downwards by their own matter, they 

 are quickly dissipated, and being dissolved fall again to 

 earth, having energized nothing except only having dis- 

 turbed the air above Earth. But there is another kind, O 

 Tat! that of those called comets, appearing occasionally (d), 

 and again after a short time becoming invisible, neither 

 rising nor setting nor being dissolved ; which become con- 

 spicuous messengers and heralds of universal events about 

 to be in future ; but these have their place beneath the 

 circle of the Sun. When then anything is about to happen 

 in the world, these appear; but having appeared a few 

 days again having gone under the circle of the Sun, they 

 remain invisible, having appeared in the West, others in 

 the North, others again in the East (e), and others in the 

 South. But we denominated them Prophets. This is the 

 nature of Stars. But (/) Stars have difference with Con- 

 stellations (ff) ; for Stars are those suspended aloft in the 



(tt) t^uotyopov. (&) TTot.poix.o'hQvQ'hfAaiTct,. (c) X,OC,TOC TO 



((/) X.OCTO. xoupov. (e) rw "htfti. (/) dffrsp&f. (</) oLarpuv. 



