Παιδείας δὲ ἕνεκα καὶ φιλοσοφίας πέπονθεν οἶμαι νῦν τὰ τῆς Ἑλλάδος παραπλήσιόν τι τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις μυθολογήμασι καὶ λόγοις. λέγουσι γὰρ δὴ [B] καὶ Αἰγύπτιοι τὸν Νεῖλον παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς εἶναι τά τ᾽ ἄλλα σωτῆρα καὶ εὐεργέτην τῆς χώρας καὶ ἀπείργειν αὐτοῖς τὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς φθοράν, ὁπόταν ᾕλιος διὰ μακρῶν τινων περιόδων ἄστροις γενναίοις συνελθῶν ἢ συγγενόμενος ἐμπλήσῃ τὸν ἀέρα πυρὸς καὶ ἐπιφλέγῃ τὰ σύμπαντα. οὐ γὰρ ἰσχύει, φασίν, ἀφανίσαι οὐδὲ ἐξαναλῶσαι τοῦ Νείλου τὰς πηγάς. οὔκουν οὐδὲ ἐξ Ἑλλήνων παντελῶς [C] οἴχεται φιλοσοφία, οὐδὲ ἐπέλιπε τὰς Ἀθήνας οὐδὲ τὴν Σπάρτην οὐδὲ τὴν Κόρινθον· ἥκιστα δὲ ἐστι τούτων(558) τῶν πηγῶν ἕκητι τὸ Ἄργος πολυδίψιον· πολλαὶ μὲν γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ ἄστει, πολλαὶ δὲ καὶ πρὸ τοῦ ἄστεος περὶ τὸν παλαιον ἐκεῖνον Μάσητα· τὴν Πειρήνην δὲ αὐτὴν ὁ Σικυὼν ἔχει καὶ οὐχ ἡ Κόρινθος. τῶν Ἀθηνῶν δὲ πολλὰ μὲν καὶ καθαρὰ καὶ ἐπιχώρια τὰ νάματα, πολλὰ δὲ ἔξωθεν ἐπιρρεῖ καὶ ἐπιφέρεται τίμια τῶν ἔνδον οὐ μεῖον· οἱ δὲ ἀγαπῶσι καὶ στέργουσι, [D] πλουτεῖν ἐθέλοντες οὗ μόνου σχεδὸν ὁ πλοῦτος ζηλωτόν. (Now, as regards learning and philosophy, the condition of Greece in our day reminds one somewhat of the tales and traditions of the Egyptians. For the Egyptians say that the Nile in their country is not only the saviour and benefactor of the land, but also wards off destruction by fire, when the sun, throughout long periods, in conjunction or combination with fiery constellations, fills the atmosphere with heat and scorches everything. For it has not power enough, so they say, to evaporate or exhaust the fountains of the Nile. And so too neither from the Greeks has philosophy altogether departed, nor has she forsaken Athens or Sparta or Corinth. And, as regards these fountains, Argos can by no means be called “thirsty,”(559) for there are many in the city itself and many also south of the city, round about Mases,(560) famous of old. Yet Sicyon, not Corinth, possesses Peirene itself. And Athens has many such streams, pure and springing from the soil, and many flow into the city from abroad, but no less precious than those that are native. And her people love and cherish them and desire to be rich in that which alone makes wealth enviable.)