Pagina 264 di 274

An Eagle swooped down upon a Serpent and seized it in his talons

with the intention of carrying it off and devouring it. But the

Serpent was too quick for him and had its coils round him in a

moment; and then there ensued a life-and-death struggle between

the two. A countryman, who was a witness of the encounter, came

to the assistance of the Eagle, and succeeded in freeing him from

the Serpent and enabling him to escape. In revenge the Serpent

spat some of his poison into the man's drinking-horn. Heated with

his exertions, the man was about to slake his thirst with a

draught from the horn, when the Eagle knocked it out of his hand,

and spilled its contents upon the ground.

One good turn deserves another.

THE ROGUE AND THE ORACLE