Σπουδῇ οὖν βαδίζοντες ἐφιστάμεθα πρεσβύτῃ καὶ νεανίσκῳ μάλα προθύμως πρασιάν τινα ἐργαζομένοις καὶ ὕδωρ ἀπὸ τῆς πηγῆς ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν διοχετεύουσιν· ἡσθέντες οὖν ἅμα καὶ φοβηθέντες ἔστημεν· κἀκεῖνοι δὲ ταὐτὸ ἡμῖν ὡς τὸ εἰκὸς παθόντες ἄναυδοι παρειστήκεσαν· χρόνῳ δὲ ὁ πρεσβύτης ἔφη, «Τίνες ὑμεῖς ἄρα ἐστέ, ὦ ξένοι; πότερον τῶν ἐναλίων δαιμόνων ἢ ἄνθρωποι δυστυχεῖς ἡμῖν παραπλήσιοι; καὶ γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἄνθρωποι ὄντες καὶ ἐν γῇ τραφέντες νῦν θαλάττιοι γεγόναμεν καὶ συννηχόμεθα τῷ περιέχοντι τούτῳ θηρίῳ, οὐδ᾽ ὃ πάσχομεν ἀκριβῶς εἰδότες· τεθνάναι μὲν γὰρ εἰκάζομεν, ζῆν δὲ πιστεύομεν.» πρὸς ταῦτα ἐγὼ εἶπον· «Καὶ ἡμεῖς τοι ἄνθρωποι, νεήλυδές ἐσμεν, ὦ πάτερ, αὐτῷ σκάφει πρῴην καταποθέντες, προήλθομεν δὲ νῦν βουλόμενοι μαθεῖν τὰ ἐν τῇ ὕλῃ ὡς ἔχει· πολλὴ γάρ τις καὶ λάσιος ἐφαίνετο. δαίμων δέ τις, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἡμᾶς ἤγαγεν σέ τε ὀψομένους καὶ εἰσομένους ὅτι μὴ μόνοι ἐν τῷδε καθείργμεθα τῷ θηρίῳ· ἀλλὰ φράσον γε ἡμῖν τὴν σαυτοῦ τύχην, ὅστις τε ὢν καὶ ὅπως δεῦρο εἰσῆλθες.» ὁ δὲ οὐ πρότερον ἔφη ἐρεῖν οὐδὲ πεύσεσθαι παρ᾽ ἡμῶν, πρὶν ξενίων τῶν παρόντων μεταδοῦναι, καὶ λαβὼν ἡμᾶς ἦγεν ἐπὶ τὴν οἰκίαν - ἐπεποίητο δὲ αὐτάρκη καὶ στιβάδας ἐνῳκοδόμητο καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἐξήρτιστο - παραθεὶς δὲ ἡμῖν λάχανά τε καὶ ἀκρόδρυα καὶ ἰχθῦς, ἔτι δὲ καὶ οἶνον ἐγχέας, ἐπειδὴ ἱκανῶς ἐκορέσθημεν, ἐπυνθάνετο ἃ πεπόνθοιμεν· κἀγὼ πάντα ἑξῆς διηγησάμην, τόν τε χειμῶνα καὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ νήσῳ καὶ τὸν ἐν τῷ ἀέρι πλοῦν, καὶ τὸν πόλεμον, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα μέχρι τῆς εἰς τὸ κῆτος καταδύσεως.

    VERB LIST

    σπουδῇ: "eagerly" (S. 1527b; cf. S. 1095).

    ἐφιστάμεθα: impf. mid. of ἐφίστημι, "we encountered (+ dat.)."

    ἐργαζομένοις, διοχετεύουσιν: pres. part. dat. pl., modifying πρεσβύτῃ καὶ νεανίσκῳ.

    ὕδωρ...διοχετεύουσιν: "irrigating with water" (lit. "distributing water by conduits").

    ἡσθέντες: aor. part of ἥδομαι, "being overjoyed."

    φοβηθέντες: aor. part. pass. of φοβέομαι, "being frightened."

    ἔστημεν: aor. intrans. 1 pl. of ἵστημι, "we stopped."

    ταὐτὸ (=τὸ αὐτό) ἡμῖν...παθόντες: aor. part. of πάσχω, "having had the same feeling as us" (S. 1554; for the case of ἡμῖν, see S. 1500).

    ὡς τὸ εἰκός: "as is likely" εἰκός is the neut. part. of ἐοίκα.

    παρειστήκεσαν: plupf. 3 pl. of παρίστημι, "they stood near."

    χρόνῳ: "a little while later."

    τῶν ἐναλίων δαιμόνων: "(are you) sea gods," for the partitive gen. used as the subject, see S. 928 and 1318.

    τραφέντες: aor. part. pass. of τρέφω, "brought up."

    γεγόναμεν: perf. 1 pl. of γίνομαι (=γίγνομαι; see S. 89).

    συννηχόμεθα: pres. 1 pl. of συννήχω, "we swim about with."

    περιέχοντι: pres. part. dat. sg. of περιέχω, “which encompasses (sc. us).”

    ὃ πάσχομεν...εἰδότες: nom. pl. part. of οἶδα, "knowing what we are experiencing,” (for the lack of an expressed antecedent, see S. 2509 and for ὅ instead of the compound relative ὅ τι, see S. 2508).

    τεθνάναι: perf. infin. of θνῄσκω, "to be dead."

    καὶ ἡμεῖς τοι ἄνθρωποι: "and we too in truth are men," (on τοι, see S. 2984 and 2986).

    αὐτῷ σκάφει: "boat and all" (S. 1525).

    καταποθέντες: aor. part. pass. of καταπίνω, "having been swallowed up."

    προήλθομεν...νῦν: aor. of προέρχομαι, "we set out just now."

    μαθεῖν: aor. infin. of  μανθάνω, "to learn."

    μαθεῖν τὰ ἐν τῇ ὕλῃ ὡς ἔχει: "to learn about the things in the forest, how they are" (i.e. "to learn about how the things in the forest are"). Note that the subject of the subordinate clause appears as an object in the main clause, a form of anticipation known as prolepsis (S. 2522a). For the substantival power of the article, see S. 1153c. For the indir. question, see S. 2663; for ἔχω + adv., see S. 1438.

    πολλὴ...τις: "very large," τις can be used to emphasize or qualify a statement (S. 1268).

    ἤγαγεν: aor. of ἄγω, "led."

    ὀψομένους: fut. part. of ὁράω, expressing purpose, "to see you."

    εἰσομένους: fut. part. of οἶδα, expressing purpose, “to discover."

    ὅτι μὴ μόνοι...καθείργμεθα: "that we are not the only ones to be confined," verbs of intellectual perception can govern indir. statement with ὡς/ὅτι instead of the usual participle (S. 2145; cf. S. 2112b). μή is here used as it is qualifying a substantival adj. and so is a type of generic μή (S. 2735).

    καθείργμεθα: perf. 1 pl. of καθείργω, "we are confined," perf. rendered as pres. when referring to a lasting state rather than a completed action (S. 1946).

    φράσον: aor. imper. of φράζω, "tell us."

    ὅστις τε ὢν καὶ ὅπως δεῦρο εἰσῆλθες: "who you are and how you came here" (S. 2663).

    οὐ πρότερον ἔφη: the negative of φημί means "deny" or "refuse" (adherescent οὐ: S. 2691).

    ἐρεῖν: fut. infin. of λέγω.

    οὐδὲ πεύσεσθαι: fut. infin. of πυνθάνομαι, "or to inquire."

    πρὶν μεταδοῦναι: "before giving (us) a share of (+ gen.)," (for πρὶν + infin. meaning "before," see S. 2455).

    ἐπεποίητο αὐτάρκη: plupf. pass. of ποιέω, “he had made it (so as to be) sufficient” (S. 1579).

    ἐνῳκοδόμητο: plupf. mid. of ἐνοικοδομέω, "he had built into it."

    ἐξήρτιστο: plupf. pass. of ἑξαρτίζω, "he had furnished."

    παραθείς: aor. part. act. of παρατίθημι, "having set before."

    ἐγχέας: aor. part. nom. sg. of ἐγχέω, “having poured out."

    ἐκορέσθημεν: aor. pass. of κορέω, "we were sated."

    ἐπυνθάνετο ἄ πεπόνθοιμεν: “he learned what we had experienced," indirect question with simple relative used as introductory word after a verb of perceiving (S. 2668; cf. G. 616b). The perfect tense of the optative emphasizes completed aspect. The manuscripts are inconsistent on the verb form here and MacLeod prints the pluperfect πεπόνθειμεν here (while Jerram has ἐπεπόνθειμεν).  If πεπόνθειμεν is correct, then this is probably a relative clause and not an indirect question, although the pluperfect is only rarely used in subordinate clauses to express action that occurred before another past action (S. 1954). See Jerram ad. loc. where he discusses Lucian's fondness for pluperfects as part of his style.

    πεπόνθοιμεν: perf. opt. of πάσχω, “we had experienced," the perfect optative was rare and so Greek usually used the aorist tense to express action previous to that of the main clause (S. 1961b and 1954; cf. G. 463).

    διηγησάμην: aor. 1 sg. dep. of διηγέομαι, "I narrated."

    τὰ ἐν τῇ νήσῳ: "the things on the island" (i.e. the events that happened on the island; for the substantival power of the article, see S. 1153c).

    σπουδή, ἡ: haste, speed

    βαδίζω: go, walk

    ἐφίσταμαι: stand near; light upon suddenly 

    νεανίσκος, ὁ: a youth, boy

    προθύμως: eagerly, zealously

    πρασιά, ἡ: a garden-plot

    πηγή, ἡ: spring

    διοχετεύω: distribute by conduits, irrigate

    ἥδομαι: enjoy, be delighted, take pleasure

    ἄναυδος, -ον: speechless, silent

    παρίστημι: intrans. stand by, stand near

    πρεσβύτης, -ου, ὁ: old man

    ἐνάλιος, -α, -ον: of the sea

    δυστυχής, -ές: unlucky, unfortunate

    παραπλήσιος, -α, -ον: such as, resembling (+ dat.)

    θαλάττιος, -α, -ον: of or from the sea

    συννήχομαι: swim with

    περιέχω: encompass, surround

    θηρίον, τό: a wild animal, beast

    ἀκριβῶς: exactly, certainly

    εἰκάζω: conjecture, guess

    νέηλυς, -υδος, ὁ: a new-comer

    σκάφος, -ους, τό: the hull of a ship

    πρῴην: just now; the day before yesterday

    καταπίνω: gulp, swallow down

    προέρχομαι: go forward, go on, advance

    ὕλη, ἡ: a forest

    λάσιος, -ον: shaggy; rough, bushy, overgrown

    κατείργω: drive into, shut in

    θηρίον, τό: a wild animal, beast

    δεῦρο: hither

    εἰσέρχομαι: come to, enter into

    ξένια, τά: friendly gifts, hospitality

    μεταδίδωμι: give part of, give a share of (+ gen.)

    αὐτάρκης, -ες: self-sufficient, independent

    στιβάς, -άδος, ἡ: a bed of straw, bunk

    ἐνοικοδομέω: build in

    ἐξαρτίζω: complete, finish

    παρατίθημι: place beside

    λάχανον, ου, τό: vegetables, greens

    ἀκρόδρυα, τά: fruits, produce

    ἰχθύς, -ύος, ὁ: a fish

    οἶνος, ὁ: wine

    ἐγχέω: pour out

    ἐπειδή: when, after

    ἱκανῶς: sufficiently, enough

    κορέννυμι: sate, satisfy

    ἑξῆς: one after another, in order

    διηγέομαι: set out in detail 

    χειμών, -ῶνος, ὁ: a storm

    ἀήρ, ἀέρος, ὁ: air

    πλοῦς (πλόος), ὁ: voyage

    κῆτος, -ους, τό: a sea-monster, huge fish

    κατάδυσις, -εως, ἡ: a going down into, descent

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    Suggested Citation

    Eric Casey, Evan Hayes, and Stephen Nimis, Lucian True History. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College Commentaries, 2023. ISBN: .
    https://dcc.dickinson.edu/lucian-true/book-1/1-33