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I will now explain why I have made mention of this circumstance:
there is a temple of Erechtheus the Earth-born, as he is called, in
this citadel, containing within it an olive-tree and a sea. The tale
goes among the Athenians, that they were placed there as witnesses by
Neptune and Minerva, when they had their contention about the
country. Now this olive-tree had been burnt with the rest of the
temple when the barbarians took the place. But when the Athenians,
whom the king had commanded to offer sacrifice, went up into the temple
for the purpose, they found a fresh shoot, as much as a cubit in
length, thrown out from the old trunk. Such at least was the account
which these persons gave.
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