DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0160
998 Appendix E
plunged into it, and emerged on the other side as so many bands of storks !
George now woke up to the fact that this was the land of the storks. Six months
later he witnessed their return. A whole cloud of them settled on the further
bank of the river, dived into it, and came out on the near side as men1. He
eagerly questioned them about Therapia, and begged the king to send him
thither. The king assured him that this was impossible, unless he would con-
sent to become a stork himself. Anxious to revisit his home, George agreed.
So, when spring came round, he too dived into the river of transformation, and
came out as a fine stork with long red beak, white feathers, and black wings.
He flew to Therapia, married a beautiful she-bird, and built his nest on the roof
of his father's house. He was so tame that he was soon welcomed in, and
picked up crumbs under the low table with his long beak. When his old mother
stroked his head and fed him with tit-bits, he chattered his best and made a
hundred grotesque gestures to show his love and gratitude. But he could not
make his kinsfolk understand that he was their long-lost George. At length he
resolved to play a trick upon his sister Kathinko. She had a pair of silver
armlets, which she had inherited from her grandmother. Waiting his oppor-
tunity, he carried off one of these and hid it in his nest. Kathinko and her
mother looked for it in vain ; they never thought of the stork. Meantime summer
slipped away, and the storks departed—George among them. On reaching the
land of the storks he begged the king to contrive his home-coming. So some
weeks later the king had a boat built, laden with food, and launched on a river
which flowed behind the town. He gave George a sack full of his costliest gems,
and let him drift down the strong stream. After some hours the river plunged
into a katabothra and flowed for many hundreds of miles through a rocky
channel. This must have taken weeks, though George lost count of days and
nights in the darkness. At last he saw in the distance a star, which proved to
be the daylight at the end of the channel. His boat was swept out into the open,
and he saw before him the town of Smyrna ; in fact, he found himself on the
river2 which gushes out of the rocks near that town. He went into the town and
secured a lodging, but returned to his boat the same evening and fetched his
bag of precious stones. Next day he sold a dozen of them to some Jews for two
tons of gold. With this he bought fine clothes, a number of necessaries, and a
big frigate, in which he sailed for Constantinople. He cast anchor off Therapia,
saluted his birthplace by firing a number of guns, and invited on board the elders
of the place. They came in their best clothes, and it so chanced that George's
old father brought their boat alongside. George welcomed them to his table,
but insisted that the old sailor must join their company and gave him a seat next
himself. He sent each man away with a handful of gold pieces, and bade them
come and feast with him on the morrow, only bargaining that the old sailor
should bring his family with him3. When the hour arrived, he set wine before
them and told them all of his wonderful experiences. 'Among other things,'
said he, ' I was once a stork, and that herein Therapia.' At this all laughed and
thought it a mere joke. But George proved the truth of his words by bidding a
1 The metamorphosis of storks into men in return for their filial piety is already noticed
by Alexander of Myndos (c. I—50 A.D.) (Ail. de nat. an. 3. 23 'AXi^avSpos 5e 0 Mtivdios
(prjcnv, orav is yrjpas d<p'uuovTai (sc. oi weXapyoi), irapeXtiovTas avTobs is rds 'fi/cecmTiSa?
vrjaovs dfj.eij3eLv rd udr; is avdpdnrov p.op<pr\v, /cat evaefieias ye rrjs is tovs yeivap.ivovs
ddXov touto taxeiv, k.t.X. See further D'Arcy W. Thompson A Glossary of Greek
Birds Oxford 1895 p. 129 and O. Keller Die antike Tierwelt Leipzig 1913 ii. 196 f.
2 The river Meles. 3 Perhaps a reminiscence of Gen. 42. 14 ff.
plunged into it, and emerged on the other side as so many bands of storks !
George now woke up to the fact that this was the land of the storks. Six months
later he witnessed their return. A whole cloud of them settled on the further
bank of the river, dived into it, and came out on the near side as men1. He
eagerly questioned them about Therapia, and begged the king to send him
thither. The king assured him that this was impossible, unless he would con-
sent to become a stork himself. Anxious to revisit his home, George agreed.
So, when spring came round, he too dived into the river of transformation, and
came out as a fine stork with long red beak, white feathers, and black wings.
He flew to Therapia, married a beautiful she-bird, and built his nest on the roof
of his father's house. He was so tame that he was soon welcomed in, and
picked up crumbs under the low table with his long beak. When his old mother
stroked his head and fed him with tit-bits, he chattered his best and made a
hundred grotesque gestures to show his love and gratitude. But he could not
make his kinsfolk understand that he was their long-lost George. At length he
resolved to play a trick upon his sister Kathinko. She had a pair of silver
armlets, which she had inherited from her grandmother. Waiting his oppor-
tunity, he carried off one of these and hid it in his nest. Kathinko and her
mother looked for it in vain ; they never thought of the stork. Meantime summer
slipped away, and the storks departed—George among them. On reaching the
land of the storks he begged the king to contrive his home-coming. So some
weeks later the king had a boat built, laden with food, and launched on a river
which flowed behind the town. He gave George a sack full of his costliest gems,
and let him drift down the strong stream. After some hours the river plunged
into a katabothra and flowed for many hundreds of miles through a rocky
channel. This must have taken weeks, though George lost count of days and
nights in the darkness. At last he saw in the distance a star, which proved to
be the daylight at the end of the channel. His boat was swept out into the open,
and he saw before him the town of Smyrna ; in fact, he found himself on the
river2 which gushes out of the rocks near that town. He went into the town and
secured a lodging, but returned to his boat the same evening and fetched his
bag of precious stones. Next day he sold a dozen of them to some Jews for two
tons of gold. With this he bought fine clothes, a number of necessaries, and a
big frigate, in which he sailed for Constantinople. He cast anchor off Therapia,
saluted his birthplace by firing a number of guns, and invited on board the elders
of the place. They came in their best clothes, and it so chanced that George's
old father brought their boat alongside. George welcomed them to his table,
but insisted that the old sailor must join their company and gave him a seat next
himself. He sent each man away with a handful of gold pieces, and bade them
come and feast with him on the morrow, only bargaining that the old sailor
should bring his family with him3. When the hour arrived, he set wine before
them and told them all of his wonderful experiences. 'Among other things,'
said he, ' I was once a stork, and that herein Therapia.' At this all laughed and
thought it a mere joke. But George proved the truth of his words by bidding a
1 The metamorphosis of storks into men in return for their filial piety is already noticed
by Alexander of Myndos (c. I—50 A.D.) (Ail. de nat. an. 3. 23 'AXi^avSpos 5e 0 Mtivdios
(prjcnv, orav is yrjpas d<p'uuovTai (sc. oi weXapyoi), irapeXtiovTas avTobs is rds 'fi/cecmTiSa?
vrjaovs dfj.eij3eLv rd udr; is avdpdnrov p.op<pr\v, /cat evaefieias ye rrjs is tovs yeivap.ivovs
ddXov touto taxeiv, k.t.X. See further D'Arcy W. Thompson A Glossary of Greek
Birds Oxford 1895 p. 129 and O. Keller Die antike Tierwelt Leipzig 1913 ii. 196 f.
2 The river Meles. 3 Perhaps a reminiscence of Gen. 42. 14 ff.