Chapter
XXXII.—Imitations of Thunder, and Other Illusions.
Thunder is produced in many ways; for stones very
numerous and unusually large, being rolled downwards along wooden
planks, fall upon plates of brass, and cause a sound similar to
thunder. And also around the thin plank with which carders
thicken cloth, they coil a thin rope; and then drawing away the cord
with a whirr, they spin the plank round, and in its revolution it emits
a sound like thunder. These farces, verily, are played off
thus.
There are, however, other practices which I shall
explain, which those who execute these
ludicrous performances estimate as great
exploits. Placing a cauldron full of pitch upon burning coals,
when it boils up, (though) laying their hands down upon it, they are
not burned; nay, even while walking on coals of fire with naked feet,
they are not scorched. But also setting a pyramid of stone on a
hearth, (the sorcerer) makes it get on fire, and from the mouth it
disgorges a volume of smoke, and that of a fiery description.
Then also putting a linen cloth upon a pot of water, throwing on (at
the same time) a quantity of blazing coals, (the magician) keeps the
linen cloth unconsumed. Creating also darkness in the house, (the
sorcerer) alleges that he can introduce gods or demons; and if any
requires him to show Æsculapius, he uses an invocation couched in
the following words:—
“The child once slain, again of Phœbus
deathless made,
I call to come, and aid my sacrificial rites;
Who, also, once the countless tribes of fleeting
dead,
In ever-mournful homes of Tartarus wide,
The fatal billow breasting, and the inky
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flood
Surmounting, where all of mortal mould must float,
Torn, beside the lake, with endless
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grief and woe,
Thyself didst snatch from gloomy Proserpine.
Or whether the seat of Holy Thrace thou haunt, or
lovely
Pergamos, or besides Ionian Epidaurus,
The chief of seers, O happy God, invites thee
here.”
247
δίαυλον
in the text
has been altered into
κελανὸν
. The
translator has followed the latter.
248
Or
“indissoluble,” or “inseparable.”