|
Now the Scythians blind all their slaves, to use them in preparing
their milk. The plan they follow is to thrust tubes made of bone, not
unlike our musical pipes, up the vulva of the mare, and then to blow
into the tubes with their mouths, some milking while the others blow.
They say that they do this because when the veins of the animal are
full of air, the udder is forced down. The milk thus obtained is
poured into deep wooden casks, about which the blind slaves are
placed, and then the milk is stirred round. That which rises to the
top is drawn off, and considered the best part; the under portion is
of less account. Such is the reason why the Scythians blind all those
whom they take in war; it arises from their not being tillers of the
ground, but a pastoral race.
|
|