Lucian Dipsades 4

[4] But the most terrible reptile of all that the sand breeds is the dipsad, a snake not particularly big, resembling a viper. Its bite is strong and its poison is thick, causing immediate and lasting pain. It burns and corrodes and sets on fire and its victims scream as if lying on a pyre. But what is particularly wearing and exhausting is indicated by the reptile’s name. ¹ Its victims suffer agonies of thirst, and, strangest of all, the more they drink the greater is their craving for water—their longing increases enormously. It is impossible ever to quench their thirst. Even if you gave them the Nile itself or the whole Ister to drink, you would only add to the burning by watering the disease—like trying to quench a fire with oil.

[4] But the direst of all the reptiles bred in the sand is the dipsas or thirst-snake; 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.