You will find to the left of the house of Hades a spring
and standing by it a white cypress
Do not even approach this spring!
You will find another, from the Lake of Memory,
cold water pouring forth; there are guards before it.
Say, ‘I am a child of Earth and starry Sky,
but my race is heavenly. You yourselves know this.
I am parched with thirst and am dying; but quickly grant me
cold water flowing from the Lake of Memory.’
and standing by it a white cypress
Do not even approach this spring!
You will find another, from the Lake of Memory,
cold water pouring forth; there are guards before it.
Say, ‘I am a child of Earth and starry Sky,
but my race is heavenly. You yourselves know this.
I am parched with thirst and am dying; but quickly grant me
cold water flowing from the Lake of Memory.’
“
| — | Orphic Inscription, 4th c. BC |
