Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume VI/Arnobius/Adversus Gentes/Book II/Chapter XXIII

by Arnobius

23. If you give a grape to him when hungry, a must-cake, an onion, a thistle,^[1] 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?^[2] If you made a very great fire, or surrounded him with venomous creatures, will he not go through the midst of flames, vipers, tarantulæ,^[3] 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 distinguish^[4] for what each is fitted? to discharge what service they are adapted? Will he declare for what purposes of dress the stragula^[5] was made, the coif,^[6] zone,^[7] fillet, cushion, handkerchief, cloak, veil, napkin, furs,^[8] shoe, sandal, boot? What, if you go on to ask what a wheel is, or a sledge,^[9] 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,^[10] a book, a rod, a roll,^[11] 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 ox^[12] or an ass, a pig, or any beast more senseless, look^[13] at these indeed, observing their various shapes, but^[14] 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

1. Carduus, no doubt the esculent thistle, a kind of artichoke.
2. So, according to an emendation in LB., esui, adopted by Orelli and others, instead of the ms. reading et sui.
3. There has been much discussion as to whether the solifuga or solipuga here spoken of is an ant or spider.
4. The ms. reads discriminare, discernere, with the latter word, however, marked as spurious.
5. A kind of rug.
6. Mitra.
7. Strophium, passing round the breast, by some regarded as a kind of corset.
8. Mastruca, a garment made of the skins of the muflone, a Sardinian wild sheep.
9. Tribula, for rubbing out the corn.
10. Aurum is omitted in all edd., except those of LB., Hild., and Oehler.
11. Liber, a roll of parchment or papyrus, as opposed to the preceding codex, a book of pages.
12. The ms. reads vobis unintelligibly, corrected by Meursius bovis.
13. 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?”
14. The ms. and first five edd. read et—“and,” changed in LB. to sed.