Do you see that tall gateway before us? When
we pass those gates, we are at home. And
there lies my faithful mastiff at the threshold.
Cerberus! Cerberus! Come hither, my good

So saying, Pluto pulled at the reins, and
stopped the chariot right between the tall, mas-
sive pillars of the gateway. The mastiff of
which he had spoken got up from the thresh-
old, and stood on his hinder legs, so as to put
his fore paws on the chariot wheel. But, my
stars, what a strange dog it was! Why, he
was a big, rough, ugly-looking monster, with
three separate heads, and each of them fiercer
than the two others; but fierce as they were,
King Pluto patted them all. He seemed as
fond of his three-headed dog as if it had been a
sweet little spaniel, with silken ears and curly
hair. Cerberus, on the other hand, was evi-
dently rejoiced to see his master, and expressed
his attachment, as other dogs do, by wagging
his tail at a great rate. Proserpina's eyes being
drawn to it by its brisk motion, she saw that
this tail was neither more nor less than a live
dragon, with fiery eyes, and fangs that had

[[226]]

p225 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p226w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p227

v?