ὁ δὲ Ἑλικὼν ὀρῶν τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι ἐν τοῖς μάλιστά ἐστιν εὔγεως καὶ δένδρων ἡμέρων ἀνάπλεως· καὶ οἱ τῆς ἀνδράχνου θάμνοι παρέχονται τῶν πανταχοῦ καρπὸν αἰξὶν ἥδιστον. λέγουσι δὲ οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἑλικῶνα οἰκοῦντες καὶ ἁπάσας ἐν τῷ ὄρει τὰς πόας καὶ τὰς ῥίζας ἥκιστα ἐπὶ ἀνθρώπου θανάτῳ φύεσθαι. καὶ δὴ καὶ τοῖς ὄφεσι τὸν ἰὸν ποιοῦσιν ἐνταῦθα ἀσθενέστερον αἱ νομαί, ὥστε καὶ διαφεύγουσι τὰ πολλὰ οἱ δηχθέντες, ἢν ἀνδρὶ Λίβυι γένους τοῦ Ψύλλων ἢ καὶ ἄλλως προσφόροις ἐπιτύχωσι τοῖς φαρμάκοις.
ἔστι μὲν δὴ ὁ ἰὸς τοῖς ἀγριωτάτοις τῶν ὄφεων καὶ ἄλλως ὀλέθριος ἔς τε ἀνθρώπους καὶ ζῷα ὁμοίως τὰ πάντα, συντελοῦσι δὲ οὐχ ἥκιστα ἐς ἰσχύν σφισι τοῦ ἰοῦ καὶ αἱ νομαί, ἐπεί τοι καὶ ἀνδρὸς ἀκούσας οἶδα Φοίνικος ὡς ἐν τῇ ὀρεινῇ τῇ Φοινίκης ἀγριωτέρους τοὺς ἔχεις ποιοῦσιν αἱ ῥίζαι. ἔφη δὲ ἄνθρωπον ἰδεῖν αὐτὸς ἀποφεύγοντα ὁρμὴν ἔχεως, καὶ τὸν μὲν ἐπί τι ἀναδραμεῖν δένδρον, τὸν δὲ ἔχιν, ὡς ἦλθεν ὕστερος, ἀποπνεῦσαι πρὸς τὸ δένδρον τοῦ ἰοῦ καὶ οὐ ζῆν ἔτι τὸν ἄνθρωπον.
τούτου μὲν τοιαῦτα ἤκουσα· ἐν δὲ τῇ χώρᾳ τῇ Ἀράβων ὅσοι τῶν ἔχεων περὶ τὰ δένδρα τὰ πάλσαμα οἰκοῦσι, τοιάδε ἄλλα ἐς αὐτοὺς συμβαίνοντα οἶδα. μέγεθος μὲν κατὰ μυρσίνης θάμνον τὰ πάλσαμά ἐστι, φύλλα δὲ αὐτοῖς κατὰ τὴν πόαν τὸ σάμψουχον· ἔχεων δὲ τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἀραβίᾳ κατὰ ποσοὺς καὶ πλείονες καὶ ἐλάσσονες ὑπὸ ἕκαστον αὐλίζονται δένδρον· τροφὴ γὰρ αὐτοῖς ὁ τῶν παλσάμων ἐστὶν ὀπὸς ἡδίστη, καὶ ἔτι καὶ ἄλλως τῇ σκιᾷ τῶν φυτῶν χαίρουσιν.
ἐπὰν οὖν συλλέγειν τοῦ παλσάμου τὸν ὀπὸν ἀφίκηται τοῖς Ἄραψιν ὥρα, ξύλων δύο ἕκαστος σκυτάλας ἐπὶ τοὺς ἔχεις ἐσφέρει, κροτοῦντες δὲ τὰ ξύλα ἀπελαύνουσι τοὺς ἔχεις· ἀποκτείνειν δὲ αὐτοὺς οὐκ ἐθέλουσιν ἱεροὺς τῶν παλσάμων νομίζοντες. ἢν δὲ καὶ ὑπὸ ἔχεων δηχθῆναί τῳ συμβῇ, τὸ μὲν τραῦμά ἐστιν ὁποῖον καὶ ὑπὸ σιδήρου, δεῖμα δὲ ἄπεστι τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἰοῦ· ἅτε γὰρ σιτουμένοις τοῖς ἔχεσι μύρων τὸ εὐοσμότατον, μετακεράννυταί σφισιν ἐκ τοῦ θανατώδους ἐς τὸ ἠπιώτερον ὁ ἰός.
Helicon is one of the Greek mountains which have the finest soil, and are most thickly wooded with cultivated trees; and the wild strawberry bushes here furnish goats with a sweeter berry than is to be found anywhere else. The mountaineers of Helicon say that none of the herbs and roots that grow on the mountain are at all poisonous to man. Nay more, the food on which snakes here live actually weakens their venom, so that the people who are bitten usually escape, if they happen to fall in with a Libyan of the race of the Psyllians, or with any suitable medicine. 2. It is true that in the most venomous snakes the poison is of itself fatal to man and to all animals alike; but the food contributes not a little to the strength of the poison. Thus I have been told by a Phoenician man that in the highlands of Phoenicia the vipers are rendered more venomous by the roots which they eat. He said that he had seen with his own eyes a man, fleeing from the attack of a viper, run up a tree: then up came the viper, blew a whiff of its venom at the tree, and the man was dead. So he told me. As to the vipers that haunt the balsam-trees in the land of the Arabs, I know the following facts. The balsam-trees are about the size of a myrtle bush, and the leaves are like those of the herb marjoram. The Arabian vipers lodge, in larger or smaller numbers, under each tree ; for the juice of the balsam is their favourite food, and besides they love the shadow of the plants. When the season for gathering the juice of the balsam has come, the Arabs provide themselves with two sticks apiece, and by rattling the sticks together they drive away the vipers. But they will not kill them, for they believe them to be sacred to the balsam-trees. If a man happens to be bitten by one of these vipers the wound is like the wound of a knife, but there is no danger from the venom. For as the vipers feed on the most fragrant of perfumes, their venom takes a milder and less deadly complexion. These things are so.
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