Texte grec :
| [35,19] ξυνίασιν οὖν καθ´ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν μετὰ παίδων καὶ γυναικῶν
εἴς τε τὰς πηγὰς καὶ {πρὸς} τὰ ῥεύματα τῶν
ποταμῶν παίζοντες καὶ γελῶντες, ὡς ἂν ἐπ´ εὐωχίαν. φύεται δὲ
παρὰ ταῖς ὄχθαις ὅ τε λωτὸς ἰσχυρὸς καὶ σχεδὸν ἁπάντων σιτίων
ἥδιστος, οὐχ ὥσπερ ὁ παρ´ ἡμῖν τετράποσι τροφή, καὶ πολλὰ
σήσαμα καὶ σέλινα, ὡς ἂν εἰκάσειέ τις ἐκ τῆς ὁμοιότητος· τὴν δὲ
ἀρετὴν οὐκ ἄξιον συμβάλλειν. γίγνεται δὲ αὐτόθι ἕτερον σπέρμα,
τῶν πυρῶν καὶ τῶν κριθῶν ἀμείνων τροφὴ καὶ μᾶλλον ξυμφέρουσα.
φύεται δὲ ἐν κάλυξι μεγάλαις, οἷον ῥόδων, εὐοσμοτέραις δὲ καὶ
μείζοσιν. ταύτας τὰς ῥίζας καὶ τὸν καρπὸν ἐσθίουσιν, οὐδὲν πονήσαντες.
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Traduction française :
| [35,19] So every day the Indians assemble with their
children and their wives at the springs and river-banks,
sporting and laughing as if in expectation of
a feast. And by the banks there grows the lotus—
a sturdy plant and, one might say, the sweetest of
all foods, not, as the lotus in our land, mere fodder
for quadrupeds—and also much sesame and parsley,
at least as one might judge from the outward similarity
of those plants, although for quality they are
not to be compared. And that country produces
also another seed, a better food than wheat and
barley and more wholesome. And it grows in huge
calyxes, like those of roses but more fragrant and
larger. This plant they eat, both root and fruit, at
no expense of labour.
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