242 CURIOUS CREATURES. 



THE DOLPHIN. 



Pliny says : " The Dolphin is an animal not only 

 friendly to man, but a lover of music as well ; he is 

 charmed by melodious concerts, and more especially by 

 the notes of the water organ. He does not dread man, 

 as though a stranger to him, but comes to meet ships, 

 leaps and bounds to and fro, vies with them in swiftness, 

 and passes them even when in full sail. 



" In the reign of the late Emperor Augustus, a dolphin 

 which had been carried to the Lucrine Lake, conceived a 

 most wonderful affection for the child of a certain poor 

 man, who was in the habit of going that way from Baiae 

 to Puteoli to school, and who used to stop there in the 

 middle of the day, call him by his name of Simo, and 

 would often entice him to the banks of the lake with 

 pieces of bread which he carried for the purpose. At 

 whatever hour of the day he might happen to be called 

 by the boy, and although hidden and out of sight at the 

 bottom of the water, he would instantly fly to the surface, 

 and after feeding from his hand, would present his back 

 for him to mount, taking care to conceal the spiny pro- 

 jection of his fins in their sheath, as it were ; and so, 

 sportively taking him up on his back, he would carry 

 him over a wide expanse of sea to the school at Puteoli, 

 and in a similar manner bring him back again. This 

 happened for several years, until, at last, the boy hap- 

 pened to fall ill of some malady, and died. The Dolphin, 

 however, still came to the same spot as usual, with 

 a sorrowful air, and manifesting every sign of deep 

 affliction, until at last, a thing of which no one felt 

 the slightest doubt, he died purely of sorrow and 

 regret. 



