Pygmies — Herodotus

μέχρι μέν τεσσaρων μηνῶν πλου καὶ ὁδοῦ γινώσκεται ὁ Νεῖλος πάρεξ τοῦ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ῥεύματος.

μέχρι μέν τεσσaρων μηνῶν πλου καὶ ὁδοῦ γινώσκεται ὁ Νεῖλος πάρεξ τοῦ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ῥεύματος.

The Nile is known as far as four months of sailing and travel beyond the stream in Egypt.

ῥει δ' ἀφ' ἑσπέρης τε καὶ ἡλίου δυσμων. τὸ δ' ἀπὸ τοῦδε οὐδεὶς ἔχει σαφως φράσαι: ἔρημος γὰρ ἐστὶν ἡ χώρα ὑπὸ καύματος.

And it flows from both the west and the setting of the sun, but from this point, no one can say clearly, for this land is a desert because of the heat.

ἀλλὰ τάδε μὲν ἤκουσα ἀνδρῶν Κυρηναίων φαμένων ἐλθεῖν τε ἐπὶ τὸ Ἄμμωνος χρηστήριον καὶ ἀφικέσθαι ἐις λόγους Ἐτεάρχῳ τῷ Ἀμμωνίων βασιλέι,

But I heard these things from the Cyrenaean men, saying that they had come to the oracle of Ammon, and got into a conversation with Etearchus, the king of the Ammonians.

καί πως ἐκ λόγων ἄλλων ἀφικοντο ἐις λέσχην περὶ τοῦ Νείλου, ὡς οὐδεὶς οἶδε τὰς πηγάς αὐτοῦ.

And somehow, following on from other talk, they got into a discussion about the Nile, as no one knew its source.

ὁ δε Ἐτέαρχος ἐφη ἐλθεῖν ποτε παρ᾽ ἑαυτὸν Νασαμῶνας ἄνδρας.

And Etearchus said that once Nasamonian men came to him,

οἱ, εἰρωτωμένοι εἴ τι ἔχουσι πλέον λέγειν περὶ τῶν ἐρήμων τῆς Λιβύης, ἐφάσαν παρ' ἑαυτοις γενέσθαι ἀνδρῶν δυναστων παῖδας ὑβριστάς,

who, being asked if they were able to say anything more about the deserts of Libya, said that some unruly sons of the ruling men were among them,

οἱ ἄλλα τε μηχανῳντο ἀνδρωθέντας περιπτὰ καὶ δὴ καὶ ἀποκληρῶσειαν πέντε ἑαυτῶν ὀψομένους τὰ ἔρημα τῆς Λιβύης.

who devise a number of strange things for those initiated into manhood, including that they select by lot five of their number to explore the deserts of Libya.

τῆς γὰρ Λιβύης τὰ μὲν κατὰ τὴν βορειαν θάλατταν ἀπ᾽ Αἰγύπτου ἀρξάμενοι μέχρι Σολόεντος ἄκρας,

The Libyans and many tribes of Africa live along the northern coast of Libya, starting from Egypt as far as Cape Soloeis,

ἣ τελευτᾷ τῆς Λιβύης, οἰκουσι Λίβυες καὶ Λιβύων ἔθνη πολλά, πλὴν ὅσον Ἕλληνες καὶ Φοίνικες ἔχουσι.

which marks the end of Libya, except for whatever the Greeks and Phoenicians occupy.

τὰ δὲ κατύπερθε τουτων θηριώδης ἐστὶν ἡ Λιβύη: τὰ δὲ κατύπερθε τῆς θηριώδους ψάμμος τε ἐστὶ καὶ ἄνυδρος δεινῶς καὶ ἔρημος πάντων.

But below these places, Libya is infested with wild beasts. But south of the land infested with wild beasts, it is both sandy and terribly dry, and devoid of everything.

οἱ οὐν νεανίαι, ὡς ἐφασαν οἱ Νασαμωνες, ἀποπεμπομένοι ὑπὸ τῶν ἡλίκων, ὕδατί τε καὶ σιτίοις εὖ ἐξηρτυμένοι,

Therefore the young men, as the Nasammonians said, being sent out by their peers, well equipped with both water and food,

ῃσαν πρῶτον μὲν διὰ τῆς οἰκουμένης, ταύτην δὲ διεξελθόντες ἐις τὴν θηριώδη ἀφικοντο, ἐκ δὲ ταύτης τὴν ἔρημον διεξῃσαν, τὴν ὁδὸν ποιουμένοι πρὸς ζέφυρον ἄνεμον.

went first through the inhabited land. And having gone through this land, they arrived into the animal-infested land, and from this land, they went through the desert, travelling against the west wind.

διεξελθόντες δὲ χῶρον πολυν ψαμμώδη καὶ ἐν πολλαις ἡμέραις εἰδον δή ποτε δένδρα ἐν πεδίῳ πεφυκότα, καί προσελθόντες ἡπτοντοι τοῦ ἐπόντος ἐπὶ τῶν δενδρων καρποῦ,

And having gone through much of the sandy land, and having taken many days, they saw then indeed trees growing on the plain. And having gone towards them, they were touching the fruit which was on the trees.

ἁπτομένοις δέ αὐτοις ἐπηλθον ἄνδρες μικροι, μετρίων ἐλάττονες ἀνδρῶν, λαβόντες δὲ ἠγον αὐτους δι᾽ ἑλων μεγίστων,

And small men approached them as they touched, smaller than normal sized men, and having taken them, they were leading them through very big marshes,

καὶ διεξελθόντες ταῦτα ἀφικοντο ἐις πόλιν ἐν ῇ πάντες ἠσαν ἱσοι τοις ἄγουσι τὸ μέγεθος, χρῶμα δὲ μέλανες.

And having gone through these places, they arrived into a city in which everyone was equal in size to the men leading them, and their skin was black.

παρὰ δὲ τὴν πόλιν ἑρρει ποταμὸς μέγας, ἑρρει δ' ἀφ' ἑσπέρας πρὸς ἥλιον ἀνατέλλοντα, ἐφαίνοντο δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ κροκοδείλοι.

And alongside the city, a great river was flowing, and it was flowing from the west towards the rising sun, and crocodiles were appearing in it.

ὁ μὲν δὴ τοῦ Ἀμμωνίου Ἐτεάρχου λόγος ἐις τοῦτό μοι δεδηλώσθω,

Indeed, that's all I'll say about Ammonian Etearchus' account,

πλὴν ὅτι ἀπονοστῆσαί τε ἔφη τοὺς Νασαμῶνας, ὡς οἱ Κυρηναῖοι ἔλεγον, καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους οὐς οὗτοι ἀφίκοντο, γόητας εἶναι ἅπαντας.

except that he said both that the Nasamonians got home, as the Cyrenaeans were saying, and that the men to whom these arrived were all sorcerers.

τὸν δὲ δὴ ποταμὸν τοῦτον Ἐτέαρχος συνεβάλλετο εἶναι τον Νεῖλον.

And indeed, Etearchus began to guess that this river was the Nile.