stretched on the ground along with the brindled
cow; for, now that he had found a place of rest,
it seemed as if all the weariness of his pilgrim-
age, ever since he left King Agenor's palace, had
fallen upon him at once. But his new friends
had not long been gone, when he was suddenly
startled by cries, shouts, and screams, and the
noise of a terrible struggle, and in the midst of
it all, a most awful hissing, which went right
through his ears like a rough saw.
Running towards the tuft of trees, he beheld
the head and fiery eyes of an immense serpent or
dragon, with the widest jaws that ever a dragon
had, and a vast many rows of horribly sharp
teeth. Before Cadmus could reach the spot, this
pitiless reptile had killed his poor companions,
and was busily devouring them, making but a
mouthful of each man.
It appears that the fountain of water was en-
chanted, and that the dragon had been set to
guard it, so that no mortal might ever quench
his thirst there. As the neighboring inhabitants
carefully avoided the spot, it was now a long
tim'e (not less than a hundred years, or there-
abouts) since the monster had broken his fast;
[[147]]
p146 _
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toc-1 _
p147w _
toc-2 _
+chap+ _
p148