Miniatures

September 7, 2024

An unquenchable thirst

There is a wonderful story Dipsas, the Thirst-Snake by the ancient writer Lucian (ca. 120 – after 180). He describes an uninhabited land in the southern part of Libya. “It is beset by all sorts of reptiles, of huge size, in enormous numbers, hideous and venomous beyond belief or cure” [Lucian 2018: 566]. Further, he writes,

“But the direst of all the reptiles bred in the sand is the dipsas or thirst; it is of no great size, and resembles the viper; its bite is sharp, and the venom acts at once, inducing agonies to which there is no relief. The flesh is burnt up and mortified, the victims feel as if on fire, and yell like men at the stake. But the most overpowering of their torments is that indicated by the creature’s name. They have an intolerable thirst; and the remarkable thing is, the more they drink, the more they want to drink, the appetite growing with what it feeds on. You will never quench their thirst, though you give them all the water in Nile or Danube; water will be fuel, as much as if you tried to put out a fire with oil” [Lucian 2018: 566].

Then the author makes what appears to be an unexpected turn:

“…I am conscious (and now pray do not be offended by my going to the reptiles for my illustration) — I am conscious of the same feelings towards you as a dipsas victim has towards drink; the more I have of your company, the more of it I want; my thirst for it rages uncontrollably; I shall never have enough of this drink. And no wonder; where else could one find such clear sparkling water? You must pardon me, then, if, bitten to the soul (most agreeably and wholesomely bitten), I put my head under the fountain and gulp the liquor down. My only prayer is that the stream that flows from you may never fall; never may your willingness to listen run dry and leave me thirstily gaping! On my side there is no reason why drinking should not go on for ever; the wise Plato says that you cannot have too much of a good thing” [Lucian 2018: 567].

Lucian perfectly described the human thirst for another person. A person craves the other one so much that he can never satisfy his/ her desire to the end — the human reaches out to the other one again and again, i.e., there is an unquenchable thirst for another person.

Imagine if we continued the list of such aspirations. This is what we would get, wouldn't we:

-        an unquenchable thirst for the other,

-        an unquenchable thirst for people,

-        an unquenchable thirst for communication,

-     an unquenchable thirst for beauty,

-     an unquenchable thirst for knowledge,

-     an unquenchable thirst for truth,

-     an unquenchable thirst for love,

-     an unquenchable thirst for wife,

-     an unquenchable thirst for family,

-     an unquenchable thirst for children,

-     an unquenchable thirst for life.

----------------------------------

Lucian. “Dipsas, the Thirst-Snake.” In The Works of Lucian of Samosata, translated from the Greek by Henry Watson Fowler and Francis George Fowler. – San Bernardino, CA: Forgotten Books, 2018. Pp. 566–567.