18 
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS. 
are common to the wanderer through the forests of 
the East, where death commonly threatens in various 
awful forms,, from which there is no security but in 
courage and presence of mind. Not only do the lion 
and tiger and the various feline races menace the 
traveller, but the insidious serpent,, the bite of which 
produces certain and almost instant death, lurks in 
his path. The alligator frequently rushes from the 
sedges beside the murky stream that rolls lazily 
through the jungle, and secures its victim, while the 
latter is basking beneath some refreshing shade. The 
great physical energies of the ox are insufficient to 
repel its ferocity : with a single curve of its tail it 
sweeps him into the water, and feeds sweetly” upon 
him in defiance of his bulk and of his strength. 
Timur, after wandering about for many hours, 
hiding himself from the anxious search of his foes, 
reached a village, where he endeavoured to obtain a 
supply of food. He went from house to house in a 
state of painful exhaustion, but no one administered to 
his relief. His condition was melancholy, nevertheless 
the fervour of his ambition and the natural buoyancy 
of his temper sustained him. This was one of those 
severe lessons which conquerors must learn before they 
can become heroes. Strolling through the village, he 
met an old woman who knew him and invited him 
to her cottage. She was poor, but her poverty did 
not obliterate from her mind the obligations of hospi- 
tality. She placed before her hungry guest a mess of 
hot rice. The furniture of her little establishment 
offering no choice, she served up the rice in a long 
narrow dish. Excited by his anxiety to appease the 
