πολλὰ δ' ἄναντα κάταντα πάραντά τε δόχμιά τ' ἦλθον → and ever upward, downward, sideward, and aslant they went
ab-sto: āre, 1, v. n.,I to stand off or at a distance from, to stand aloof: si longius abstes, Hor. A. P. 361.