Letters of Farmers, Alciphron

Letter 9, Pratinas to Epigonus

"At high noon I picked out a pine, breezy and exposed to the light airs, and under it I sought shelter from the scorching heat. Whilst I was very pleasantly cooling off, I thought I’d strike up a tune: taking my shepherd’s pipe, I ran my tongue along it; as my lips moved along the pipe I let my breath glide lightly by; and a sweet pastoral strain reached my ears. Meanwhile all my goats, charmed somehow by the sweet notes, gathered around me from every direction, and, ceasing to graze on the arbutus and the asphodel, they were wholly absorbed in the music; while I amidst them played the part of the Edonian, the son of Calliope. Now I am telling you this as a piece of good news, for I wish my friend also to know that my herd of goats love music."

Text courtesy of the Loeb Classical Library.