23. If you give a grape to him when hungry, a must-cake, an onion, a thistle,3547 a cucumber, a fig, will he know that his hunger can be appeased by all these, or of what kind each should be to be fit for eating?3548 If you made a very great fire, or surrounded him with venomous creatures, will he not go through the midst of flames, vipers, tarantulæ,3549 without knowing that they are dangerous, and ignorant even of fear? But again, if you set before him garments and furniture, both for city and country life, will he indeed be able to distinguish3550 for what each is fitted? to discharge what service they are adapted? Will he declare for what purposes of dress the stragula3551 was made, the coif,3552 zone,3553 fillet, cushion, handkerchief, cloak, veil, napkin, furs,3554 shoe, sandal, boot? What, if you go on to ask what a wheel is, or a sledge,3555 a winnowing-fan, jar, tub, an oil-mill, ploughshare, or sieve, a mill-stone, ploughtail, or light hoe; a carved seat, a needle, a strigil, a laver, an open seat, a ladle, a platter, a candlestick, a goblet, a broom, a cup, a bag; a lyre, pipe, silver, brass, gold,3556 a book, a rod, a roll,3557 and the rest of the equipment by which the life of man is surrounded and maintained? Will he not in such circumstances, as we said, like an ox3558 or an ass, a pig, or any beast more senseless, look3559 at these indeed, observing their various shapes, but3560 not knowing what they all are, and ignorant of the purpose for which they are kept? If he were in any way compelled to utter a sound, would he not with gaping mouth shout something indistinctly, as the dumb usually do?
Footnotes
- 3547
Carduus, no doubt the esculent thistle, a kind of artichoke.
- 3548
So, according to an emendation in LB., esui, adopted by Orelli and others, instead of the ms. reading et sui.
- 3549
There has been much discussion as to whether the solifuga or solipuga here spoken of is an ant or spider.
- 3550
The ms. reads discriminare, discernere, with the latter word, however, marked as spurious.
- 3551
A kind of rug.
- 3552
Mitra.
- 3553
Strophium, passing round the breast, by some regarded as a kind of corset.
- 3554
Mastruca, a garment made of the skins of the muflone, a Sardinian wild sheep.
- 3555
Tribula, for rubbing out the corn.
- 3556
Aurum is omitted in all edd., except those of LB., Hild., and Oehler.
- 3557
Liber, a roll of parchment or papyrus, as opposed to the preceding codex, a book of pages.
- 3558
The ms. reads vobis unintelligibly, corrected by Meursius bovis.
- 3559
So Orelli and modern edd.; but Crusius gives as the ms. reading conspici-etur (not -et), as given by Ursinus, and commonly received—“Will he not…be seen?”
- 3560
The ms. and first five edd. read et—“and,” changed in LB. to sed.