[12,21] πότερον οὖν ἥδιον ὑμῖν καὶ μᾶλλον ἐν καιρῷ περὶ τῶν ἐκεῖ διηγήσασθαι, τοῦ τε ποταμοῦ τὸ μέγεθος καὶ τῆς χώρας τὴν φύσιν ἢ ὡρῶν ὡς ἔχουσι κράσεως καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοῦ γένους, ἔτι δὲ οἶμαι τοῦ πλήθους καὶ τῆς παρασκευῆς, ἢ μᾶλλον ἅψασθαι τῆς πρεσβυτέρας τε καὶ μείζονος ἱστορίας περὶ τοῦδε τοῦ θεοῦ, παρ´ ᾧ νῦν ἐσμεν;	[12,21] Now is it more agreeable and more opportune for you that I should describe what I saw there — the immense size of the river and the character of the country, what climate the inhabitants enjoy and their racial stock, and further, I suppose, the population and their military strength? Or should you prefer that I take up the older and greater tale of this god at whose temple we are now?
[12,22] οὗτος γὰρ δὴ κοινὸς ἀνθρώπων καὶ θεῶν βασιλεύς τε καὶ ἄρχων καὶ πρύτανις καὶ πατήρ, ἔτι δὲ εἰρήνης καὶ πολέμου ταμίας, ὡς τοῖς πρότερον ἐμπείροις καὶ σοφοῖς ποιηταῖς ἔδοξεν, ἐάν πως ἱκανοὶ γενώμεθα τήν τε φύσιν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν δύναμιν ὑμνῆσαι λόγῳ βραχεῖ καὶ ἀποδέοντι τῆς ἀξίας, αὐτά που ταῦτα λέγοντες.	[12,22] For he is indeed alike of men and of gods the king and ruler and lord and father, and in addition, the dispenser of peace and of war, as the experienced and wise poets of the past believed —to see if perchance we can commemorate both his nature and his power in a brief speech, which will fall short of what it should be even if we confine ourselves to these two themes alone.