They went out into the internal portico

They went out into the internal portico and walked around the central courtyard, in the shadow of an elegant colonnade of Pentelic marble with Ionic capitals. In the middle there was a well with a low brick wall around its edge in whichthere was a deep groove worn by years of friction from the rope. A servant was hauling up a bucketful of water at that moment. 'We have four slaves, two for cleaning and two for serving at table. We often have guests from other schools and some of our pupils stay here with us for a time.' They then went through an arched doorway:'This is the political science sector, where we already hold the constitutions of more tan one hundred and sixty cities in Greece, Asia, Africa and Italy. And here,' he continued as they walked along a corridor on which there were other doors, 'we have the naturalistic sector with collections of minerals,plants and insects. Finally, in this other area.' he continued as he accompanied his guest into a large hall.'we have the rare animals collection. I had a taxidermist come from Egypt, he is an expert in sacred cats and crocodiles, and he works extremely quickly.' Lyssipus looked around and was increasingly fascinated, not so much by the stuffed animals – snakes, crocodiles, vultures – as by the anatomical drawings. In which he recognized the skill of a consumate artist. 'Obviously we have to be very much on our guard against forgeries and scams of all kinds,' continued Aristotle. 'Since word has spread of our collections, we have received the most outlandish offers – Pharao's rats, basilisks and even centaures and sirens.' 'Centaurs and sirens?' repeated Lyssipus in amazement. 'Precisely. And we are even invited to inspect these wonders before we purchase them.' 'How can it be?' 'Elementary taxidermy. It is not by coincidence that the offers come from the most part from Egypt, where embalmers and taxidermists have thousands of years of experience. For these craftsmen sewing the torsoof a man on to the body of a foal, ably concealing the stitches with skin and mane and then embalming everything is nothing at all. The end results of such a masterful handiwork is really quite impressive, I assure you.' ?I can well believe it.' From the book: The sands of Ammon. By Valerio Massino Manfredi. Translated by Iain Halliday