Kitap 5
Struggle and strain. And birds there are which change
With changing weather their own raucous songs-
As long-lived generations of the crows
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Or flocks of rooks, when they be said to cry
For rain and water and to call at times
For winds and gales. Ergo, if divers moods
Compel the brutes, though speechless evermore,
To send forth divers sounds, O truly then
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How much more likely 'twere that mortal men
In those days could with many a different sound
Denote each separate thing.
Concerning these affairs thou ponderest
In silent meditation, let me say
'Twas lightning brought primevally to earth
The fire for mortals, and from thence hath spread
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O'er all the lands the flames of heat. For thus
Even now we see so many objects, touched
By the celestial flames, to flash aglow,
When thunderbolt has dowered them with heat.
