Histories

the king has blocked the mountain passes, and closed each passage with a gate; with the water barred from outlet, the plain within the mountains becomes a lake, seeing that the river pours into it and finds no way out.

Those therefore who before were accustomed to use the water endure great hardship in not being able to use it; for during the winter, god rains for them just as for the rest of mankind, but in the summer they are in need of the water for their sown millet and sesame.