306 LEAVES EROM THE 



were also retained as guards in Pegn ; the ditches of the 

 fortifications being filled with them. 



The Qiuestiones crocodilinw, those j)?ica? et serrce 

 dialecticorum, as they have been called, took their rise 

 from certain stories in which the crocodile figures. For 

 instance, a woman was taking a walk with her little son 

 on the banks of the Nile ; a lurking crocodile carried 

 him off, saying, he should be restored if his mother re- 

 sponded truly. 



' Do I mean to give him up?' asked the crocodile. 



' No, you don't,' answered the mother ; ' and, there- 

 fore, according to your rule, you ought.' 



Whether the mother ever got her son back must be 

 left to the judgment of those who have been made to 

 feel how many points of the law are centered in posses- 

 sion, especially where crocodiles are concerned. 



The same story is the foundation of the crocodiline 

 question put in Lucian's dialogue : — 



' Have you a son ? ' 



' What then ? ' 



'If he was wandering near a river and a crocodile 

 should find him and carry him off, but should promise 

 to restore him upon your giving a true answer to the 



human being, and then made motions as if he were depositing the 

 patient on the earth before him, then slowly raised his forefoot, 

 and placed it alternately upon the spots where the limbs of the 

 sufferer would have been. This he continued to do for some 

 minutes ; and then, as if satisfied that the bones must be crushed, 

 raised his trunk high above his head and stood motionless. 



The chief now said, — ' Complete your work.' 



The elephant immediately placed one foot on the place Avhere 

 the victim's abdomen would have been, and the other upon the 

 spot where the head must have rested, appearing to exert his 

 whole strength to crush the victim, and trample out the remains 

 of life. 



The tj^ant was dethroned in 1815; and since that time the 

 animal had never been called upon to execute his horrible office. 



