284 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



he could not decide upon a site for a long while, but went to and 

 fro, as if he were seeking for some sign, till suddenly a doe and 

 her fawn rushed from the thicket, .and as the warriors who accom- 

 panied the Saint were about to kill them with their spears, both 

 animals ran fearlessly to St. Patrick, who took up the fawn in his 

 arms, and, followed by the doe and the assembled company, he 

 traced the boundary of the future cathedral of * Ardmacha ' (High 

 Field). 



"It is not only Irish Saints who are associated with the humble, 

 useful Donkey. St. Isidro, or Isidore, a Spanish peasant, who 

 loved all animals and birds, had a favourite Donkey on which he 

 rode through the country, and which he once left outside a church 

 to graze while he went in to pray. Meanwhile a hungry Wolf tried 

 to devour the poor beast, but was suddenly struck dead. The birds 

 sang their sweetest as Isidro went by, because when the Saint, who 

 was a farm servant, went out to sow he scattered seeds for the birds, 

 saying : ' Eat, little birds, for when Our Lord looks forth at dawn 

 He looks upon us all ! ' As he dropped the barley in the furrows 

 he said : * This for God, this for us, this for the birds, and this for 

 the ants ! ' His companions mocked him, crying, * For the ants ! ' 

 ' For the ants, too/ said Isidro, ' since they are God's ants, and His 

 royal bounty is for all His household ! ' And God took his fields 

 under His protection, and though Isidro spent much time praying 

 in the churches or under the trees, his crops were abundant, and rain 

 and sunshine never failed to come in due season. 



"Once as he bore a sack of corn to the mill on a Winter day, 

 when the ground was covered with snow, he untied the sack and 

 strewed the contents on the ground for some hungry pigeons, but 

 when he reached the mill, lo ! the sack was full again." 



