Chap. 22.] A MAN SATED BY A DEAGOK. 273 
Philinus, an ardent lover of wisdom.^^ Seized with fear, he 
immediately began to retreat; while the beast rolled itself 
before him, evidently with the desire of caressing him, at the 
same time manifesting signs of grief, which could not be 
misunderstood in a panther even. The animal had young ones, 
Avhich had happened to fall into a pit at some distance from 
the place. The first dictates of compassion banished all fear, 
and the next prompted him to assist the animal. He ac- 
cordingly followed her, as she gently drew him on by fixing 
her claws in his garment ; and as soon as he discovered what 
was the cause of her grief and the price of his own safety, he 
took the whelps out of the pit, and they followed her to the 
end of the desert ; whither he was escorted by her, frisking 
with joy and gladness, in order that she might more appropri- 
ately testify how grateful she was, and how little she had 
given him in return ; a mode of acting which is but rarely 
found, among men even. 
CHAP. 22. A MAN EECOaNIZED AND SAVED BY A DEAGON, 
Pacts such as these induce us to give some credit to what 
Bemocritus relates, who says that a man, called Thoas, was 
preserved in Arcadia by a dragon. When a hoj, he had be- 
come much attached to it, and had reared it very tenderly ; 
but his father, being alarmed at the nature and monstrous size 
of the reptile, had taken and left it in the desert. Thoas being 
here attacked by some robbers who lay in ambush, he was 
delivered from them by the dragon, which recognized his voice 
and came to his assistance. But as to what has been said 
respecting infants that have been exposed and nourished by 
the milk of wild beasts,^^ as in the case of the founders of our 
city by a wolf, I am disposed to attribute such cases as these 
rather to the greatness of the destinies which have to be ful- 
filled, than to any peculiarity in the nature of the animals 
themselves. 
" Assectatoris sapientise" — "A follower of wisdom ; " meaning a 
" pHlosoplier/' 
1^ This word here signifies, simply, a " serpent." 
20 ^lian, Yar. Hist. B. xiii. c. i. , relates an occurrence of this kind, about 
Atalanta, and Justin, B. xliv. c. 4, about Habis, a king of Spain. As to 
the account of Eomulus having been suckled by a wolf, it was generally re- 
garded as a legendary tale by the Romans themselves. See Livy, B. i. c. 
4, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiq. Eom. B. i. — B. 
VOL. II. T 
