172 THE WONDER-BOOK OF HORSES 



He was called the nag, or the colt, or simply the 

 horse — for there was no other creature of this 

 kind about the place, and hence there was no need 

 of a more distinctive title. But when his master 

 made up his mind to turn knight-errant and roam 

 through the world in quest of adventures, it be- 

 came necessary to find some name for him that 

 would be worthy of a steed with so noble a 

 destiny. 



Don Quixote spent four whole days in think- 

 ing about it. He wanted to give him a high- 

 sounding name— one that would fill your mouth 

 when you spoke it, and impress you with some 

 idea of the greatness of his master. It should also 

 be an expressive name — one that had some mean- 

 ing to it and would give some hint of the horse's 

 former condition, as well as his present station. It 

 was hard to find such a name. Don Quixote made 

 a list of all the names that he had ever heard 

 about, from Pegasus to Bayard, and from Hec- 

 tor's Galathe to Count Raymond's Aquiline, but 

 none of them was suitable to his own horse. At 

 last, however, a bright thought came into his 

 mind. 



" Was he not a common horse before, and is 

 he not now before all common horses? Then 



