158 CURIOUS CREATURES. 



Dragon fighting, went to the assistance of the former, 

 and, having killed its opponent, the Lion meekly trotted 

 after him, and ever after, until its death, was his constant 

 companion. How, in the absence of Sir Bevis of 

 Hampton, two lions having killed the Steward Boniface, 

 and his horse, laid their heads in the fair Josian's lap. 

 The old romancists held that a lion would always re- 

 spect a virgin, and Spenser has immortalised this in 

 his character of Una. Most of us remember the story 

 given by Aulus Gellius and ^Elian, of Androcles, who 

 earned a lion's gratitude by extracting a thorn from its 

 paw, and Pliny gives similar instances : 



" Mentor, a native of Syracuse, was met in Syria by 

 a lion, who rolled before him in a suppliant manner ; 

 though smitten with fear, and desirous to escape, the 

 wild beast on every side opposed his flight, and licked 

 his feet with a fawning air. Upon this, Mentor observed 

 on the paw of the lion, a swelling and a wound ; from 

 which, after extracting a splinter, he relieved the crea- 

 ture's pain. 



" In the same manner, too, Elpis, a native of Samos, on 

 landing from a vessel on the coast of Africa, observed a 

 lion near the beach, opening his mouth in a threatening 

 manner ; upon which he climbed a tree, in the hope of 

 escaping, while, at the same time, he invoked the aid of 

 Father Liber (Bacchus) ; for it is the appropriate time 

 for invocations where there is no room left for hope. 

 The wild beast did not pursue him when he fled, although 

 he might easily have done so ; but, lying down at the 

 foot of the tree, by the open mouth which had caused so 

 much terror, tried to excite his compassion. A bone, 

 while he was devouring his food with too great avidity, 

 had stuck fast between his teeth, and he was perishing 



