Histories

It does not matter what sum the money is; the woman will never refuse, for that would be a sin, the money being by this act made sacred. So she follows the first man who casts it and rejects no one. After their intercourse, having discharged her sacred duty to the goddess, she goes away to her home; and thereafter there is no bribe however great that will get her.

So then the women that are fair and tall are soon free to depart, but the uncomely have long to wait because they cannot fulfill the law; for some of them remain for three years, or four. There is a custom like this in some parts of Cyprus [33,35] (island), AsiaCyprus.

These are established customs among the Babylonians. Furthermore, there are three tribes in the country that eat nothing but fish, which they catch and dry in the sun; then, after throwing it into a mortar, they pound it with pestles and strain everything through linen. Then whoever desires kneads as it were a cake of it and eats it; others bake it like bread.

When Cyrus had conquered this nation, too, he wanted to subject the Massagetae. These are said to be a great and powerful people dwelling towards the east and the sunrise, beyond the Araxes and opposite the Issedones; and some say that they are a Scythian people.

The Araxes is said by some to be greater and by some to be less than the Ister. It is reported that there are many islands in it as big as Lesbos [26.333,39.166] (island), Lesvos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Lesbos, and men on them who in summer live on roots of all kinds that they dig up, and in winter on fruit that they have got from trees when it was ripe and stored for food;

and they know (it is said) of trees bearing a fruit whose effect is this: gathering in groups and kindling a fire, the people sit around it and throw the fruit into the flames; then the fumes of it as it burns make them drunk as the Greeks are with wine, and more and more drunk as more fruit is thrown on the fire, until at last they rise up to dance and even sing. Such is said to be their way of life.

The Araxes [*](The Araxes of this chapter appears to be, from the description of its course, the modern Araks [48.416,40] (river), AsiaAras. But the Araxes of Hdt. 1.205, separating Cyrus' kingdom from the Massagetae, must be either the Amudarya [59,43.75] (river), Asia Oxus (jihon) or Syr-Darya [65,45] (river), Kazakhstan, Asia Jaxartes (Sihon), both of which now flow into the Aral Sea. For a full discussion of the question the reader is referred to Essay IX. in the Appendix to Book I. of Rawlinson's Herodotus.) flows from the country of the Matieni (as does the Gyndes, which Cyrus divided into the three hundred and sixty channels) and empties itself through forty mouths, of which all except one issue into bogs and swamps, where men are said to live whose food is raw fish, and their customary dress sealskins.