第27章 THE DRAGON'S TEETH(7)

"Did there really come any words out of the hole?" thought Cadmus; "or have I been dreaming all this while?"He turned away from the oracle, and thought himself no wiser than when he came thither.Caring little what might happen to him, he took the first path that offered itself, and went along at a sluggish pace; for, having no object in view, nor any reason to go one way more than another, it would certainly have been foolish to make haste.Whenever he met anybody, the old question was at his tongue's end.

"Have you seen a beautiful maiden, dressed like a king's daughter, and mounted on a snow-white bull, that gallops as swiftly as the wind?"But, remembering what the oracle had said, he only half uttered the words, and then mumbled the rest indistinctly; and from his confusion, people must have imagined that this handsome young man had lost his wits.

I know not how far Cadmus had gone, nor could he himself have told you, when at no great distance before him, he beheld a brindled cow.She was lying down by the wayside, and quietly chewing her cud; nor did she take any notice of the young man until he had approached pretty nigh.Then, getting leisurely upon her feet, and giving her head a gentle toss, she began to move along at a moderate pace, often pausing just long enough to crop a mouthful of grass.Cadmus loitered behind, whistling idly to himself, and scarcely noticing the cow; until the thought occurred to him, whether this could possibly be the animal which, according to the oracle's response, was to serve him for a guide.But he smiled at himself for fancying such a thing.He could not seriously think that this was the cow, because she went along so quietly, behaving just like any other cow.Evidently she neither knew nor cared so much as a wisp of hay about Cadmus, and was only thinking how to get her living along the wayside, where the herbage was green and fresh.

Perhaps she was going home to be milked.

"Cow, cow, cow!" cried Cadmus."Hey, Brindle, hey! Stop, my good cow!"He wanted to come up with the cow, so as to examine her, and see if she would appear to know him, or whether there were any peculiarities to distinguish her from a thousand other cows, whose only business is to fill the milk-pail, and sometimes kick it over.But still the brindled cow trudged on, whisking her tail to keep the flies away, and taking as little notice of Cadmus as she well could.If he walked slowly, so did the cow, and seized the opportunity to graze.If he quickened his pace, the cow went just so much the faster; and once, when Cadmus tried to catch her by running, she threw out her heels, stuck her tail straight on end, and set off at a gallop, looking as queerly as cows generally do, while putting themselves to their speed.

When Cadmus saw that it was impossible to come up with her, he walked on moderately, as before.The cow, too, went leisurely on, without looking behind.Wherever the grass was greenest, there she nibbled a mouthful or two.Where a brook glistened brightly across the path, there the cow drank, and breathed a comfortable sigh, and drank again.and trudged onward at the pace that best suited herself and Cadmus.

"I do believe," thought Cadmus, "that this may be the cow that was foretold me.If it be the one, I suppose she will lie down somewhere hereabouts."Whether it were the oracular cow or some other one, it did not seem reasonable that she should travel a great way farther.So, whenever they reached a particularly pleasant spot on a breezy hillside, or in a sheltered vale, or flowery meadow, on the shore of a calm lake, or along the bank of a clear stream, Cadmus looked eagerly around to see if the situation would suit him for a home.But still, whether he liked the place or no, the brindled cow never offered to lie down.On she went at the quiet pace of a cow going homeward to the barn yard; and, every moment, Cadmus expected to see a milkmaid approaching with a pail, or a herdsman running to head the stray animal, and turn her back towards the pasture.But no milkmaid came; no herdsman drove her back; and Cadmus followed the stray Brindle till he was almost ready to drop down with fatigue.

"O brindled cow," cried he, in a tone of despair, "do you never mean to stop?"He had now grown too intent on following her to think of lagging behind, however long the way, and whatever might be his fatigue.Indeed, it seemed as if there were something about the animal that bewitched people.Several persons who happened to see the brindled cow, and Cadmus following behind, began to trudge after her, precisely as he did.Cadmus was glad of somebody to converse with, and therefore talked very freely to these good people.He told them all his adventures, and how he had left King Agenor in his palace, and Phoenix at one place, and Cilix at another, and Thasus at a third, and his dear mother, Queen Telephassa, under a flowery sod; so that now he was quite alone, both friendless and homeless.He mentioned, likewise, that the oracle had bidden him be guided by a cow, and inquired of the strangers whether they supposed that this brindled animal could be the one.

"Why, 'tis a very wonderful affair," answered one of his new companions."I am pretty well acquainted with the ways of cattle, and I never knew a cow, of her own accord, to go so far without stopping.If my legs will let me, I'll never leave following the beast till she lies down.""Nor I!" said a second.

"Nor I!" cried a third."If she goes a hundred miles farther, Iam determined to see the end of it."