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sea, and the fowls of the dry land; that this man was amazed at these
dainties thus set before him; that he immediately adored the king,
upon his coming in, as hoping that he would afford him all possible
assistance; that he fell down upon his knees, and stretched out to him
his right hand, and begged to be released; and that when the king bid
him sit down, and tell him who he was, and why he dwelt there, and what
was the meaning of those various sorts of food that were set before him
the man made a lamentable complaint, and with sighs, and tears in his
eyes, gave him this account of the distress he was in; and said that he
was a Greek and that as he went over this province, in order to get his
living, he was seized upon by foreigners, on a sudden, and brought
to this temple, and shut up therein, and was seen by nobody, but was
fattened by these curious provisions thus set before him; and that truly
at the first such unexpected advantages seemed to him matter of great
joy; that after a while, they brought a suspicion him, and at length
astonishment, what their meaning should be; that at last he inquired of
the servants that came to him and was by them informed that it was in
order to the fulfilling a law of the Jews, which they must not tell him,
that he was thus fed; and that they did the same at a set time every
year: that they used to catch a Greek foreigner, and fat him thus up
every year, and then lead him to a certain wood, and kill him, and
sacrifice with their accustomed solemnities, and taste of his entrails,
and take an oath upon this sacrificing a Greek, that they would ever be
at enmity with the Greeks; and that then they threw the remaining parts
of the miserable wretch into a certain pit." Apion adds further, that,
"the man said there were but a few days to come ere he was to be slain,
and implored of Antiochus that, out of the reverence he bore to the
Grecian gods, he would disappoint the snares the Jews laid for his
blood, and would deliver him from the miseries with which he was
encompassed." Now this is such a most tragical fable as is full of
nothing but cruelty and impudence; yet does it not excuse Antiochus of
his sacrilegious attempt, as those who write it in his vindication are
willing to suppose; for he could not presume beforehand that he should
meet with any such thing in coming to the temple, but must have found it
unexpectedly. He was therefore still an impious person, that was given
to unla