HALIEUTICA, IV. 272-301 



branches of the oily plant. For wherever there is 

 near the sea an olive of splendid fruit, which flourishes 

 on a shoreward slope neighbouring the sea, thither 

 is the mind of the Poulpe drawn, even as to the 

 track the spirit of the keen-scented Cnosian" dog, 

 which on the hills searches out the crooked path of 

 the wild beast and tracks it by the unerring guidance 

 of the nose and s\viftly seizes it and fails not of its 

 prey but brings it to its master : even so the Poulpe 

 straightway knows that a blooming oUve is near at 

 hand, and he comes forth from the deep and crawls 

 upon the land exulting and draws nigh to the trunk 

 of Athena's tree. Then first he coils and twines 

 about the base of the trunk exulting, even as a boy 

 who welcomes his nurse when she is newly come 

 forth and cUngs about her and lifts his hands to her 

 bosom, fain to put his arms about her neck and 

 shoulders ; even so the Poulpe twines about the 

 trunk, rejoicing in the tree. Thereafter he lays 

 hold with the tips of his suckers and crawls up 

 eagerly and cHngs about the fohage, grasping now 

 one branch, now another, even as a man who has 

 come home from a foreign land greets his friends 

 who throng to meet him and falls upon their necks ; 

 or as the twining i\y tendril clings about the tall 

 fir-trees and, reaching forth from the root, climbs 

 upwards and overruns the branches everywhere : 

 so does the Poulpe joyfully embrace the sleek 

 branches of the olive and seems to kiss them. But 

 when he has relieved his desire, he crawls back again 

 to the bosom of the sea, having satisfied his love and 

 longing for the ohve. The snare of this same love 

 is his undoing, as fishermen know. For they bind 

 together branches of the olive as goodly as may be 



42 o 



