HALIEUTICA, III. 406-429 



Aphrodite ; but since the doom of the gods rooted 

 her and the tree that bears her name, she wails and 

 mourns her woeful fate, wetted with tears for the 

 sake of her bed : her holy sap the fisher mingles 

 with the rest and moors his weel in the waves ; and 

 swiftly the lily fragrance runs over the sea and 

 summons the herds of various kind ; and the fishes 

 moved by the sweet breath obey the call and speedily 

 the weel is filled, bringing to the fisherman a re- 

 compense of goodly spoil. 



The Saupes " always delight above all things in 

 moist seaweed * and by that bait also they are taken. 

 On pre\ious days the fisherman sails to one place 

 and always casts in the waves stones of a handy 

 size, to which he has fastened fresh seaweed. But 

 when the fifth morn sees his toil and the gathered 

 Saupes feed about that place, then he arrays his 

 crafty weel. Within it he casts stones wrapped in 

 seaweed and about the mouth he binds such grasses 

 of the sea as Saupes and other plant-eating fishes 

 delight in. Then the fishes gather and eat the 

 grasses and thereafter speed inside the weel. 

 Straightway the fisher sails swiftly to the spot and 

 pulls up the weel. His work is done silently, the 

 men not speaking and the oars hushed. For silence * 

 is profitable in all fishing but above all •* in the case 



adpoovs 6vTai, (k tocovtov tottov reK/j-aipofievoi KaOiafft to. diKTva, 

 drus firiTt kuittjs fiV^^ t^s pv/J.r]i rijs dXidSos a.(piKT]Tai npdi t6v 

 rbtrov iKtlvov 6 \f/6<pos' irapayyiWovffi re waai rotj vavrcm 5ti 

 fid\i(TTa aiyrj TrXetf, fiexpi ifep av iyvyKVK\w(T(i}VTa.i. 



^ The acuteness of hearing of the Saupe is mentioned 

 A. oSt a 8 /idXt<r7-a 5' etVt twv iyOvijSv o^irfjKOOi Kearpevs, xP^f^'Pr 

 Xd^pal, a-dX-rr), xpo/zts. C/. Ael. ix.7 ; Plin. x. 193 produntur 

 etiara clarissime audire niugil, lupus, salpa, chromis, et ideo 

 in vado vivere. 



381 



