On the God of Socrates

...and these: soft feathers, a sharp head, and a strong beak. Moreover, the bird itself is keen-eyed and tenacious with its claws. For what shall I say of its color? [For] since two colors were most outstanding, pitch-black and snow-white, which distinguish night from day, Apollo granted both colors to his birds: white to the swan and black to the crow. I only wish that just as he granted song to the swan, he had also given a voice to this bird! Then such a beautiful creature, which far excels all other fowl, would not—deprived of voice—live as the silent and tongue-less darling of the eloquent god Apollo, the god of music and prophecy, to whom the crow was sacred.. Indeed, when the crow hears that this alone is missing from him above all others, and while he wishes to croak most clearly so as not to yield even that point to the swan, he forgets the morsel which he was holding firmly in his teeth. He gapes wide with his whole mouth, and thus lost by singing what he had gained by flying; truly the fox, what he had lost in the race, he recovered by craft.
111 10 Let us compress this same fable into a few words, as concisely as possible: The crow, to prove he was vocal—the only thing the fox had pretended was lacking in his great beauty—attempted to croak, and thus handed over the prey he carried in his mouth to the deceiver.

For a long time I have known what you are demanding by this sign: that we pursue the rest of the material in Latin. 9 For I remember promising you at the beginning, when you were tending toward different views, that neither part 112

15 of you—neither those seeking Greek nor those seeking Latin—would depart without a share of this discourse. 113 Therefore, if it seems right, our speech has "Atticized" original: "atticissaverit"; to speak in the elegant style of Athens. enough. It is time to migrate to Latium The region of Italy where Rome is located; here meaning the Latin language. from Greece; for we are holding roughly the middle ground of this inquiry, so that, in my opinion, this latter part should not be more exhausted in arguments, nor thinner in thoughts, nor poorer in examples, nor more defective in speech than the Greek part which preceded it.
10 20 Plato divided the whole nature of things, as far as it pertains to the principal living beings, into three parts, and judged that there are highest gods. I 115 Understand "highest, middle, and lowest" not only by the separation of location but also by the dignity of nature, which is itself perceived not in one or two ways but in many. However, it was more obvious to begin from the arrangement of place; for... 116

20 Augustine, The City of God, 8.14: They say that the division of all animals in which there is a rational soul is three-fold: into gods, humans, and demons. The gods hold the highest place, humans the lowest, and demons the middle. For the seat of the gods is in heaven, of humans on earth, and of demons in the air.

1 keen-eyed (reading of manuscript F) 2 for (bracketed by editor Wilamowitz) 3 night from day (manuscripts F and M2) / an old man (manuscript M) 4 swan (manuscript O)
5 beautiful (manuscript M) / all other fowl (manuscripts F and M2) / all by a fault (manuscript M) / far (corrected in M2) 6 darling (common reading) / delights (manuscript O) 7 to croak most clearly so as not to (missing in manuscript M) / even that (following Oudendorp’s reading) / this thing (manuscript F) / this (manuscript M) 8 mouth (manuscript F) / face (manuscript M) / gaped and (corrected in M2) / thus (missing in M) 10 that (manuscript F) / it (manuscript M) / concisely. The crow, to prove (missing in M) 11 vocal (manuscripts F and M2) / to call (manuscript M) 12 handed over (manuscript M) / THEN THE PREFACE ENDS AND THE DISPUTATION ON THE GOD OF SOCRATES BEGINS (Manuscritpts F, L, M) / BOOK I OF APULEIUS OF MADAURA ON THE GOD OF SOCRATES BEGINS. PROLOGUE (manuscript F). The Greek part of the speech is missing, concerning which see the critical notes. 13 Latin (common reading) / of Latin (manuscript F) / Latin (manuscript M). Should the word "material" be excluded? 14 you (Roman edition) / us (manuscript O) 15 neither those (manuscript M1) 16 Atticized (manuscript M) / Latin (manuscript M) 17 roughly (missing in F) / opinion (manuscript M) 18 part (Vulcanius) / art (manuscript O) / exhausted (manuscripts F and M2) / more effective (manuscript M) 19 speech (corrected in M2). After "defective," a new verse begins in M: THE BEGINNING OF THE NARRATION (manuscript F) 20 principal (Mercer) / principally (manuscript O) / pertains (emended) / might pertain (manuscript O) 22 two (corrected in M2) / is perceived (Paris manuscript 8624) / perceives (manuscript M) / discerns (manuscript F)