Texte grec :
| [1,50] ὡς γὰρ ἔτυχον ἐν τῇ φυγῇ ποτε ἀλώμενος· καὶ πολλήν γε
χάριν οἶδα τοῖς θεοῖς, ὅτι με οὐκ εἴασαν θεατὴν γενέσθαι πολλῶν
καὶ ἀδίκων πραγμάτων· ἐπῄειν δ´ οὖν ὡς ἐδυνάμην πλείστην γῆν
ἐν ἀγύρτου σχήματι καὶ στολῇ, τοῦτο μὲν παρ´ Ἕλληνας, τοῦτο δὲ
παρὰ βαρβάρους, αἰτίζων ἀκόλους, οὐκ ἄορας οὐδὲ λέβητας.
καὶ δή ποτε ἀφικόμενος εἰς Πελοπόννησον ταῖς μὲν πόλεσιν οὐ
πάνυ προσῄειν,
(51) περὶ δὲ τὴν χώραν διέτριβον, ἅτε πολλὴν ἱστορίαν
ἔχουσαν, νομεῦσι καὶ κυνηγέταις, γενναίοις τε καὶ ἁπλοῖς ἤθεσιν,
ἐπιμιγνύμενος.
(52) καὶ δὴ βαδίζων ὡς ἀφ´ Ἡραίας εἰς Πῖσαν παρὰ τὸν Ἀλφειὸν
μέχρι μέν τινος ἐπετύγχανον τῆς ὁδοῦ, μεταξὺ δὲ εἰς
ὕλην τινὰ καὶ δυσχωρίαν ἐμπεσὼν καὶ πλείους ἀτραποὺς ἐπὶ βουκόλι´
ἄττα καὶ ποίμνας φερούσας, οὐδενὶ συναντῶν οὐδὲ δυνάμενος
ἐρέσθαι, διαμαρτάνω τε καὶ ἐπλανώμην μεσημβρίᾳ σταθερᾷ. ἰδὼν
οὖν ἐπὶ ὑψηλῷ τινι δρυῶν συστροφὴν οἷον ἄλσος, ᾠχόμην ὡς
ἀποψόμενος ἐντεῦθεν ὁδόν τινα ἢ οἰκίαν.
(53) καταλαμβάνω οὖν λίθους τέ τινας εἰκῇ ξυγκειμένους καὶ δέρματα ἱερείων
κρεμάμενα καὶ ῥόπαλα καὶ βακτηρίας, νομέων τινῶν ἀναθήματα, ὡς ἐφαίνετο,
ὀλίγον δὲ ἀπωτέρω καθημένην γυναῖκα ἰσχυρὰν καὶ μεγάλην, τῇ
δὲ ἡλικίᾳ πρεσβυτέραν, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ἄγροικον στολὴν ἔχουσαν,
πλοκάμους δέ τινας πολιοὺς καθεῖτο.
(54) ταύτην ἕκαστα ἀνηρώτων.
ἣ δὲ πάνυ πρᾴως καὶ φιλοφρόνως δωρίζουσα τῇ φωνῇ τόν τε
τόπον ἔφραζεν ὡς Ἡρακλέους ἱερὸς εἴη, καὶ περὶ αὑτῆς, ὅτι παῖδα
ἔχοι ποιμένα καὶ πολλάκις αὐτὴ νέμοι τὰ πρόβατα· ἔχειν δὲ μαντικὴν
ἐκ μητρὸς θεῶν δεδομένην, χρῆσθαι δὲ αὐτῇ τούς τε νομέας
πάντας τοὺς πλησίον καὶ τοὺς γεωργοὺς ὑπὲρ καρπῶν καὶ βοσκημάτων
γενέσεως καὶ σωτηρίας.
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Traduction française :
| [1,50] Once when I chanced to be wandering in exile—
and great is my gratitude to the gods that they thus
prevented my becoming an eye-witness of many an
act of injustice —I visited as many lands as possible,
at one time going among Greeks, at another among
barbarians, assuming the guise and dress of a vagabond beggar,
" Demanding trusts, not caldrons fine nor swords."
(51) At last I arrived in the Peloponnesus, and keeping
quite aloof from the cities, spent my time in the
country, as being quite well worth study, mingling
with herdsmen and hunters, an honest folk of simple
habits. As I walked along the Alpheus on my way
from Heraea to Pisa, I succeeded in finding the road
for some distance, but all at once I got into some
woodland and rough country, where a number of trails
led to sundry herds and flocks, without meeting anybody
or being able to inquire my way. So I lost my
direction, and at high noon was quite astray. But
noticing on a high knoll a clump of oaks that looked
like a sacred grove, I made my way thither in the
hope of discovering from it some roadway or house.
There I found blocks of stone set roughly together,
hanging pelts of animals that had been sacrificed,
and a number of clubs and staves—all evidently being
dedications of herdsmen. At a little distance I saw
a woman sitting, strong and tall though rather
advanced in years, dressed like a rustic and with
some braids of grey hair falling about her shoulders.
Of her I made full inquiry about the place, and she
most graciously and kindly, speaking in the Dorian
dialect, informed me that it was sacred to Heracles
and, regarding herself, that she had a son, a shepherd,
whose sheep she often tended herself. She also said
that the Mother of the Gods had given her the gift
of divination and that all the herdsmen and farmers
round about consulted her on the raising and preservation
of their crops and cattle.
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