Σωσικλέα τὸν Κορωνῆθεν, Πυθίοις νενικηκότα ποιητάς, εἱστιῶμεν τὰ ἐπινίκια. τοῦ δὲ γυμνικοῦ ἀγῶνος ἐγγὺς ὄντος, ὁ πλεῖστος ἦν λόγος περὶ τῶν παλαιστῶν πολλοὶ γὰρ ἐτύγχανον ἀφιγμένοι καὶ ἔνδοξοι. παρὼν οὖν ὁ Λυσίμαχος, εἷς τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων ἐπιμελητής, ἔναγχος ἔφη γραμματικοῦ τινος ἀκοῦσαι τὴν πάλην ἀρχαιοτάτην ἀθλημάτων πάντων ἀποφαίνοντος, ὡς καὶ τοὔνομα μαρτυρεῖν ἐπιεικῶς γὰρ ἀπολαύειν τὰ νεώτερα πράγματα κειμένων ἐν τοῖς παλαιοτέροις ὀνομάτων· ὥς που καὶ τὸν αὐλὸν ἡρμόσθαι λέγουσι καὶ κρούματα τὰ αὐλήματα καλοῦσιν, ἀπὸ τῆς λύρας λαμβάνοντες τὰς προσηγορίας. τὸν, οὖν τόπον, ἐν ᾧ γυμνάζονται πάντες οἱ ἀθληταί, παλαίστραν καλοῦσι, τῆς πάλης τοὔνομα κτησαμένης τὸ πρῶτον· εἶτα καὶ τοῖς αὖθις ἐφευρεθεῖσιν ἐμπαρασχεῖν. τοῦτʼ ἔφην ἐγὼ τὸ μαρτύριον οὐκ ἰσχυρὸν εἶναι· κεκλῆσθαι γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς πάλης τὴν παλαίστραν, οὐχ ὅτι πρεσβύτατόν ἐστι τῶν ἄλλων, ἀλλʼ ὅτι μόνον τῶν τῆς ἀγωνίας εἰδῶν πηλοῦ καὶ κονίστρας καὶ κηρώματος τυγχάνει δεόμενον· οὔτε γὰρ δρόμον οὔτε πυγμὴν ἐν παλαίστραις διαπονοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ πάλης καὶ παγκρατίου τὸ περὶ τὰς κυλίσεις ὅτι γὰρ μέμικται τὸ παγκράτιον ἔκ τε πυγμῆς καὶ πάλης, δῆλόν ἐστιν. ἄλλως δὲ πῶς ἔφην λόγον ἔχει τεχνικώτατον καὶ πανουργότατον τῶν ἀθλημάτων τὴν πάλην οὖσαν ἅμα καὶ πρεσβύτατον εἶναι; τὸ γὰρ ἁπλοῦν καὶ ἄτεχνον καὶ βίᾳ μᾶλλον ἢ μεθόδῳ περαινόμενον αἱ χρεῖαι πρῶτον ἐκφέρουσιν ἐμοῦ δὲ ταῦτʼ εἰπόντος, ὁ Σωσικλῆς ὀρθῶς ἔφη λέγεις, καὶ συμβάλλομαί σοι πίστιν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὀνόματος· ἡ γὰρ πάλη μοι δοκεῖ τῷ παλεύειν, ὅπερ ἐστὶ δολοῦν καὶ καταβάλλειν διʼ ἀπάτης κεκλῆσθαι καὶ ὁ Φιλῖνοςἐμοὶ δʼ εἶπεν ἀπὸ τῆς παλαιστῆς· τούτῳ γὰρ μάλιστα τῷ μέρει τοῖν χεροῖν ἐνεργοῦσιν οἱ παλαίοντες, ὥσπερ οἱ πυκτεύοντες αὖ πάλιν τῇ πυγμῇ· διὸ κἀκεῖνο πυγμὴ καὶ τοῦτο πάλη προσηγόρευται τοὔργον. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ συμπάσαι τῶν ποιητῶν καὶ καταπάσαι παλῦναιλεγόντων, ᾧ μάλιστα χρωμένους τοὺς παλαιστὰς ὁρῶμεν, ἔστι καὶ ταύτῃ προσάγειν τὴν ἐτυμότητα τοῦ ὀνόματος. σκόπει δ’ ἔτι εἶπε μὴ τοῖς μὲν δρομεῦσιν ἔργον ἐστὶν ὅτι πλεῖστον ἀπολιπεῖν καὶ πορρωτάτω διαστῆναι, τοὺς δὲ πύκτας οὐδὲ πάνυ βουλομένους ἐῶσιν οἱ βραβευταὶ συμπλέκεσθαι· μόνους δὲ τοὺς παλαιστὰς ὁρῶμεν ἀλλήλους ἀγκαλιζομένους καὶ περιλαμβάνοντας· καὶ τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν ἀγωνισμάτων, ἐμβολαί, παρεμβολαί, συστάσεις, παραθέσεις, συνάγουσιν αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀναμιγνύουσιν ἀλλήλοις. διὸ τῷ πλησιάζειν μάλιστα καὶ γίγνεσθαι πέλας οὐκ ἄδηλόν ἐστι τὴν πάλην ὠνομάσθαι.
SOSICLES of Coronea having at the Pythian games won the prize from all the poets, we gave him an entertainment. And the time for running, cuffing, wrestling, and the like drawing on, there was a great talk of the wrestlers; for there were many and very famous men, who came to try their skill. Lysimachus, one of the company, a procurator of the Amphictyons, said he heard a grammarian lately affirm that wrestling was the most ancient exercise of all, as even the very name witnessed; for some modern things have the names of more ancient transferred to them; thus tuning a pipe is called fitting it, and playing on it is called striking; both these being transferred to it from the harp. Thus all places of exercise they call wrestling schools, wrestling being the oldest exercise, and therefore denominating the newer sorts. That, said I, is no good argument, for these palaestras or wrestling schools are called so from wrestling (πάλη), not because it is the most ancient exercise, but because it is the only sort in which they use clay (πηλός), dust, and oil; for in these there is neither racing nor cuffing, but wrestling only, and that part of the pancratium in which they struggle on the ground,—for the pancratium comprises. both wrestling and cuffing. Besides, it is unlikely that wrestling, being more artificial and methodical than any other sort of exercise, should likewise be the most ancient; for mere want or necessity, putting us upon new inventions, produces simple and inartificial things first, and such as have more of force in them than sleight and skill. This ended, Sosicles said: You speak right, and I will confirm your discourse from the very name; for, in my opinion, πάλη, wrestling, is derived from παλέυειν, i. e. to throw down by sleight and artifice. And Philinus said, it seems to me to be derived from πλαιστῄ, the palm of the hand, for wrestlers use that part most, as cuffers do the πυγμή, fist; and hence both these sorts of exercises have their proper names, the one πάλη, the other πυγμή. Besides, since the poets use the word παλύνειν for καταπάσσειν and συμπάσσειν, to sprinkle, and this action is most frequent amongst wrestlers, this exercise πάλη may receive its name from that word. But more, consider that racers strive to be distant from one another; cuffers, by the judges of the field, are not permitted to take hold; and none but wrestlers come up close breast to breast, and clasp one another round the waist, and most of their turnings, liftings, lockings, bring them very close. It is probable therefore that this exercise is called πάλη from πλησιάζειν or πέλας γίγνεσθαι, to come up close or to be near together.
ῥηθέντων δὲ τούτων καὶ τὸν Φιλῖνον ἡμῶν ἐπαινεσάντων, αὖθις ὁ Λυσίμαχος ἔφη ποῖον οὖν φαίη τις ἂν τῶν ἀγωνισμάτων γεγονέναι πρῶτον ἢ τὸ στάδιον, ὥσπερ Ὀλυμπίασιν […] ἐνταῦθα δὲ παρʼ ἡμῖν καθʼ ἕκαστον ἄθλημα τοὺς ἀγωνιζομένους εἰσάγουσιν ἐπὶ παισὶ παλαισταῖς ἄνδρας παλαιστὰς καὶ πύκτας ἐπὶ πύκταις ὁμοίως καὶ παγκρατιαστάς· ἐκεῖ δʼ, ὅταν οἱ παῖδες διαγωνίσωνται, τότε τοὺς ἄνδρας καλοῦσι. σκόπει δὲ μὴ μᾶλλονἔφη τὴν κατὰ χρόνον τάξιν Ὅμηρος ἀποδείκνυσι· πρῶτον γὰρ ἀεὶ πυγμὴ παρʼ αὐτῷ, δεύτερον πάλη, καὶ τελευταῖον ὁ δρόμος τῶν γυμνικῶν ἀεὶ τέτακται θαυμάσας οὖν Μενεκράτης ὁ Θεσσαλὸς ὦ Ἡράκλεις εἶπεν ὅσα λανθάνει ἡμᾶς· εἰ δέ τινα τῶν ἐπῶν ἐστί σοι πρόχειρα, μὴ φθονήσῃς ἀναμνῆσαι. καὶ ὁ Τίμων ἀλλʼ ὅτι μέν εἶπεν αἱ Πατρόκλου ταφαὶ ταύτην ἔχουσι τῶν ἀγωνισμάτων τὴν τάξιν, ἅπασιν ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν ἔναυλόν ἐστι. διατηρῶν δὲ τὴν τάξιν ὁμαλῶς ὁ ποιητὴς τὸν μὲν Ἀχιλλέα λέγοντα τῷ Νέστορι πεποίηκε δίδωμι δέ σοι τόδʼ ἄεθλον / αὔτως· ιδεμ οὐ γὰρ πύξ γε μαχήσεαι οὐδὲ παλαίσεις, / οὐδὲ τʼ ἀκοντιστὺν ἐνδύσεαι οὐδὲ πόδεσσι / θεύσεαι· / τὸν δὲ πρεσβύτην ἐν τῷ ἀποκρίνεσθαι παραδολεσχοῦντα γεροντικῶς, ὅτι πὺξ μὲν ἐνίκησα Κλυτομήδεα, Οἴνοπος υἱόν, / Ἀγκαῖον δὲ πάλῃ Πλευρώνιον, / Ἴφικλον δὲ πόδεσσι παρέδραμον· / αὖθις δὲ τὸν μὲν Ὀδυσσέα τοὺς Φαίακας προκαλούμενον ἢ πύξ ἠὲ πάλῃ ἢ καὶ ποσίν, τὸν δʼ Ἀλκίνουν ὑποτιμώμενον οὐ γὰρ πυγμάχοι εἰμὲν ἀμύμονες οὐδὲ παλαισταί, / ἀλλὰ ποσὶ κραιπνοῖς θέομεν· / ὡς οὐ κατὰ τύχην ἐκ τοῦ παρισταμένου τῇ τάξει χρώμενος ἄλλοτʼ ἄλλως, ἀλλὰ τοῖς εἰθισμένοις τότε καὶ δρωμένοις κατὰ νόμον ἐπακολουθῶν ἐδρᾶτο δʼ οὕτως, τὴν παλαιὰν ἔτι τάξιν αὐτῶν διαφυλαττόντων.
THIS discourse being ended, and Philinus hummed, Lysimachus began again, What sort of exercise then shall we imagine to be first? Racing, as at the Olympian games? For here in the Pythian, as every exercise comes on, all the contenders are brought in, the boy wrestlers first, then the men, and the same method is observed when the cuffers and fencers are to exercise; but there the boys perform all first, and then the men. But, says Timon interposing, pray consider whether Homer hath not determined this matter; for in his poems cuffing is always put in the first place, wrestling next, and racing last. At this Menecrates the Thessalian surprised cried out, Good God, what things we skip over! But, pray sir, if you remember any of his verses to that purpose, do us the favor to repeat them. And Timon replied: That the funeral solemnities of Patroclus had this order I think every one hath heard; but the poet, all along observing the same order, brings in Achilles speaking to Nestor thus: With this reward I Nestor freely grace, / Unfit for cuffing, wrestling, or the race. / And in his answer he makes the old man impertinently brag: I cuffing conquered Oinop’s famous son, / With Anceus wrestled, and the garland won, / And outran Iphiclus. / And again he brings in Ulysses challenging the Phaeacians To cuff, to wrestle, or to run the race; and Alcinous answers: Neither in cuffing nor in wrestling strong, / But swift of foot are we. / So that he doth not carelessly confound the order, and, according to the occasion, now place one sort first and now another; but he follows the then custom and practice, and is constant in the same. And this was so as long as the ancient order was observed.
παυσαμένου δὲ τἀδελφοῦ, τἄλλα μὲν ἔφην ἀληθῶς λέγεσθαι, τὴν δʼ αἰτίαν τῆς τάξεως οὐκ ἐπενόουν. ἐδόκει δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τισὶ μὴ πιθανὸν εἶναι γεγονέναι τὸ πυκτεύειν καὶ παλαίειν πρότερον ἐν ἀγῶνι καὶ ἁμίλλῃ τοῦ τροχάζειν, καὶ παρεκάλουν ἐξάγειν εἰς τὸ ἀνώτερον. ἔφην δʼ ἐκ τοῦ παραστάντος, ὅτι ταῦτά μοι πάντα μιμήματα δοκεῖ καὶ γυμνάσματα τῶν πολεμικῶν εἶναι· καὶ γὰρ ὁπλίτης ἐπὶ πᾶσιν εἰσάγεται, μαρτυρούμενος ὅτι τοῦτο τὸ τέλος ἐστὶ τῆς σωμασκίας καὶ τῆς ἁμίλλης καὶ τὸ τοῖς νικηφόροις εἰσελαύνουσι τῶν τειχῶν ἐφίεσθαι μέρος διελεῖν καὶ καταβαλεῖν, τοιαύτην ἔχει διάνοιαν, ὡς οὐ μέγα πόλει τειχῶν ὄφελος ἄνδρας ἐχούσῃ μάχεσθαι δυναμένους καὶ νικᾶν. ἐν δὲ Λακεδαίμονι τοῖς νενικηκόσι στεφανίτας ἀγῶνας ἐξαίρετος ἦν ἐν ταῖς παρατάξεσι χώρα, περὶ αὐτὸν τὸν βασιλέα τεταγμένους μάχεσθαι· καὶ τῶν ζῴων μόνῳ τῷ ἵππῳ μετουσία στεφάνου καὶ ἀγῶνος ἔστιν, ὅτι μόνος καὶ πέφυκε καὶ ἤσκηται μαχομένοις παρεῖναι καὶ συμπολεμεῖν. εἰ δὲ δὴ ταῦτα λέγεται μὴ κακῶς, ἤδη σκοπῶμεν ἔφην ὅτι τῶν μαχομένων πρῶτον ἔργον ἐστὶ τὸ πατάξαι καὶ φυλάξασθαι, δεύτερον δὲ συμπεσόντας ἤδη καὶ γενομένους ἐν χερσὶν ὠθισμοῖς τε χρῆσθαι καὶ περιτροπαῖς ἀλλήλων, ᾧ δὴ μάλιστά φασιν ἐν Λεύκτροις τοὺς Σπαρτιάτας ὑπὸ τῶν ἡμετέρων, παλαιστρικῶν ὄντων, καταβιασθῆναι· διὸ καὶ παρʼ Αἰσχύλῳ τις τῶν πολεμικῶν ὀνομάζεται βριθύς, ὁπλιτοπάλας καὶ Σοφοκλῆς εἴρηκέ που περὶ τῶν Τρώων ὡς φίλιπποι καὶ κερουλκοί, / σὺν σάκει δὲ κωδωνοκρότῳ παλαισταί· / καὶ μὴν ἐπὶ πᾶσί γε τὸ τρίτον ἐστὶ νικωμένους φεύγειν ἢ διώκειν νικῶντας. εἰκότως οὖν ἡ πυγμὴ προῆγε, δευτέραν δʼ εἶχεν ἡ πάλη τάξιν, καὶ τελευταίαν ὁ δρόμος· ὅτι πυγμὴ μέν ἐστι μίμημα πληγῆς καὶ φυλακῆς, πάλη δὲ συμπλοκῆς καὶ ὠθισμοῦ, δρόμῳ δὲ μελετῶσι φεύγειν καὶ διώκειν.
To this discourse of my brother’s I subjoined, that I liked what he said, but could not see the reason of this order. And some of the company, thinking it unlikely that cuffing or wrestling should be a more ancient exercise than racing, desired me to search farther into the matter; and thus I spake upon the sudden. All these exercises seem to me to be representations of feats of arms and training therein; for after all, a man armed at all points is brought in to show that that is the end at which all these exercises and training aim. And the privilege granted to the conquerors—as they rode into the city, to throw down some part of the wall—hath this meaning, that walls are but a small advantage to that city which hath men able to fight and overcome. In Sparta those that were victors in any of the crowned games had an honorable place in the army, and were to fight near the King’s person. Of all creatures a horse only can have a part in these games and win the crown, for that alone is designed by nature to be trained to war, and to prove assisting in a battle. If these things seem probable, let us consider farther, that it is the first work of a fighter to strike his enemy and ward the other’s blows; the second, when they come up close and lay hold of one another, to trip and overturn him; and in this, they say, our countrymen being better wrestlers very much distressed the Spartans at the battle of Leuctra. Aeschylus describes a warrior thus, One stout, and skilled to wrestle in his arms; and Sophocles somewhere says of the Trojans, They rid the horse, they could the bow command, / And wrestle with a rattling shield in hand. / But it is the third and last, either when conquered to fly, or when conquerors to pursue. And therefore it is likely that cuffing is set first, wrestling next, and racing last; for the first bears the resemblance of charging or warding the blows; the second, of close fighting and repelling; and the third, of flying a victorious, or pursuing a routed enemy.
Σώκλαρος ἑστιῶν ἡμᾶς ἐν κήποις ὑπὸ τοῦ Κηφισοῦ ποταμοῦ περιρρεομένοις ἐπεδείκνυτο δένδρα παντοδαπῶς πεποικιλμένα τοῖς λεγομένοις ἐνοφθαλμισμοῖς· καὶ γὰρ ἐκ σχίνων ἐλαίας ἀναβλαστανούσας ἑωρῶμεν καὶ ῥοιὰς ἐκ μυρρίνης· ἦσαν δὲ καὶ δρύες ἀπίους ἀγαθὰς ἐκφέρουσαι καὶ πλάτανοι μηλεῶν δεδεγμέναι καὶ συκαῖ μορεῶν ἐμβολάδας, ἄλλαι τε μίξεις φυτῶν κεκρατημένων ἄχρι καρπογονίας. οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι πρὸς τὸν Σώκλαρον ἔπαιζον, ὡς τῶν ποιητικῶν σφιγγῶν καὶ χιμαιρῶν τερατωδέστερα γένη καὶ θρέμματα βόσκοντα· Κράτων δὲ προὔβαλεν ἡμῖν διαπορῆσαι περὶ τῆς αἰτίας, διʼ ἣν μόνα τῶν φυτῶν τὰ, ἐλαιώδη δέχεσθαι τὰς τοιαύτας ἐπιμιξίας οὐ πέφυκεν· οὔτε γὰρ κῶνον οὔτε κυπάριττον ἢ πίτυν ἢ πεύκην ἐκτρέφουσάν τι τῶν ἑτερογενῶν ὁρᾶσθαι.
SOCLARUS entertaining us in his gardens, round which the river Cephissus runs, showed us several trees strangely varied by the different grafts upon their stocks. We saw an olive upon a mastic, a pomegranate upon a myrtle, pear grafts on an oak, apple upon a plane, a mulberry on a fig, and a great many such like, which were grown strong enough to bear. Some joked on Soclarus as nourishing stranger kinds of things than the poets’ Sphinxes or Chimaeras; but Crato set us to enquire why those stocks only that are of an oily nature will not admit such mixtures, for we never see a pine, fir, or cypress bear a graft of another kind.
ὑπολαβὼν δὲ Φίλων ἔφη λόγος τις ἔστιν, ὧ Κράτων, παρὰ τοῖς σοφοῖς, βεβαιούμενος ὑπὸ τῶν γεωργικῶν. τὸ γὰρ ἔλαιον εἶναί φασι τοῖς φυτοῖς πολέμιον καὶ τάχιστʼ ἂν ἀπολέσθαι φυτὸν ὃ βούλοιο χριόμενον ἐλαίῳ, καθάπερ τὰς μελίττας. τὰ δʼ εἰρημένα δένδρα πίονα καὶ πέπειραν ἔχει τὴν φύσιν, ὥστε πίσσαν ἀποδακρύειν καὶ ῥητίνην· ὅταν δὲ πληγῇ, ταῖς διακοπαῖς ὥσπερ ἑλκωθέντʼ ἰχῶρα συνάγει; ἥ τε δᾲς αὐτῶν ἐλαιηρὰν ἀφίησιν ἰκμάδα καὶ περιστίλβει τὸ λιπαρὸν αὐτῇ· διὸ καὶ πρὸς τἄλλα γένη δυσμίκτως ἔχει, καθάπερ αὐτὸ τοὔλαιον παυσαμένου δὲ τοῦ Φίλωνος, ὁ μὲν Κράτων ᾤετο καὶ τὴν τοῦ φλοιοῦ φύσιν πρὸς τοῦτο συνεργεῖν λεπτὸν γὰρ ὄντα καὶ ξηρὸν οὐ παρέχειν ἕδραν οὐδʼ ἐμβίωσιν τοῖς ἐνθεμένοις, ὥσθʼ ὥσπερ τὰ φλοιώδη καὶ νοτερὰ καὶ τὰ μαλακὰ τοῖς ὑπὸ τὸν φλοιὸν μέρεσι προσδεχομένοις περιπτύσσεσθαι κολλώμενον.
And Philo subjoined: There is, Crato, a reason for this amongst the philosophers, which the gardeners confirm and strengthen. For they say, oil is very hurtful to all plants, and any plant dipped in it, like a bee, will soon die. Now these trees are of a fat and oily nature, insomuch that they weep pitch and rosin; and, if you cut them gore (as it were) appears presently in the wound. Besides, a torch made of them sends forth an oily smoke, and the brightness of the flame shows it to be fat; and upon this account these trees are as great enemies to all other kinds of grafts as oil itself. To this Crato added, that the bark was a partial cause; for that, being rare and dry, could not afford either convenient room or sufficient nourishment to the grafts; but when the bark is moist, it quickly joins with those grafts that are let into the body of the tree.
αὐτὸς δὲ Σώκλαρος ἔφη καὶ τὸν ταῦτα λέγοντα μὴ κακῶς προσεννοεῖν, ὅτι δεῖ τὸ δεχόμενον ἑτέραν φύσιν εὔτρεπτον εἶναι, ἵνα κρατηθὲν ἐξομοιωθῇ καὶ μεταβάλῃ τὴν ἐν ἑαυτῷ τροφὴν πρὸς τὸ ἐμφυτευόμενον. καὶ γὰρ τὴν γῆν προδιαλύομεν καὶ μαλάσσομεν, ἵνα κοπεῖσα μεταβάλῃ διʼ εὐπάθειαν καὶ ἅψηται τῶν ἐμφυτευομένων ἡ γὰρ ἀτενὴς καὶ σκληρὰ δυσμετάβλητος. ταῦτα δὲ τὰ δένδρα κοῦφα τοῖς ξύλοις ὄντα κρᾶσιν οὐ ποιεῖ διὰ τὸ μὴ κρατεῖσθαι μηδὲ μεταβάλλειν. ἔτι δʼ εἶπεν οὐκ ἄδηλον ὅτι δεῖ πρὸς τὸ ἐμφυτευόμενον χώρας λόγον ἔχειν τὸ δεξόμενον τὴν δὲ χώραν ἀεῖ θήλειαν ἔχειν καὶ γόνιμον· ὅθεν τὰ πολυκαρπότατα τῶν φυτῶν ἐκλεγόμενοι παραπηγνύουσιν, ὥσπερ γυναιξὶ πολυγαλακτούσαις ἕτερα βρέφη προσβάλλοντες. πεύκην δὲ καὶ κυπάριττον καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα πάντα γλίσχρα καὶ ἀγεννῆ τοῖς καρποῖς ὁρῶμεν. ὥσπερ γὰρ οἱ πολυσαρκίᾳ κεχρημένοι καὶ ὄγκῳ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πλεῖστον ἄτεκνοι· τὴν γὰρ τροφὴν εἰς τὸ σῶμα καταναλίσκοντες οὐ ποιοῦσιν αὐτῆς περίττωμα σπερματικόν οὕτω τὰ τοιαῦτα δένδρα τῆς τροφῆς ἀπολαύοντα, πάσης εἰς αὐτὰ δαπανωμένης, εὐσωματεῖ τοῖς μεγέθεσι καὶ αὐξάνεται, καρπὸν δὲ τὰ μὲν οὐ φέρει τὰ δὲ φέρει μικρὸν καὶ συντελούμενον βραδέως· ὥστʼ οὐ δεῖ θαυμάζειν, εἰ μὴ φύεται τἀλλότριον, ἐν ᾧ κακῶς τρέφεται καὶ τὸ οἰκεῖον.
Then Soclarus added: This too ought to be considered, that that which receives a graft of another kind ought to be easy to be changed, that the graft may prevail, and make the sap in the stock fit and natural to itself. Thus we break up the ground and soften it, that being thus broken it may more easily be wrought upon, and applied to what we plant in it; for things that are hard and rigid cannot be so quickly wrought upon nor so easily changed. Now those trees, being of very light wood, do not mix well with the grafts, because they are very hard either to be changed or overcome. But more, it is manifest that the stock which receives the graft should be instead of a soil to it, and a soil should have a breeding faculty; and therefore we choose the most fruitful stocks to graft on, as women that are full of milk, when we would put out a child to nurse. But everybody knows that the fir, cypress, and the like are no great bearers. For as men very fat have few children (for, the whole nourishment being employed in the body, there remains no overplus to make seed), so these trees, spending all their sap in their own stock, flourish indeed and grow great; but as for fruit, some bear none at all, some very little, and that too slowly ripens; therefore it is no wonder that they will not nourish another’s fruit, when they are so very sparing to their own.
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