Page:Ben-Hur a tale of the Christ.djvu/207

Rh certain hour of the clear night, and he would behold the dead alive among the stars, whither Jupiter had transferred the good genius.

The wisest of the centaurs continued, nevertheless, in the service of mankind. In his hand he held a scroll, on which, graven in Greek, were paragraphs of a notice:

&quot; I. Hearken to the singing of the brooks, and fear not the rain of the fountains; so will the Naiades learn to love thee.

&quot;II. The invited breezes of Daphne are Zephyrus and Auster; gentle ministers of life, they will gather sweets for thee; when Eurus blows, Diana is elsewhere hunting; when Boreas blusters, go hide, for Apollo is angry.

&quot;III. The shades of the Grove are thine in the day; at night they belong to Pan and his Dryades. Disturb them not. &quot;IV. Eat of the Lotus by the brooksides sparingly, unless thou wouldst have surcease of memory, which is to become a child of Daphne.

&quot;V. Walk thou round the weaving spider—’tis Arachne at work for Minerva.

&quot;VI. Wouldst thou behold the tears of Daphne, break but a bud from a laurel bough—and die.

Ben-Hur left the interpretation of the mystic notice to others fast enclosing him, and turned away as the white hull was led by. The boy sat in the basket, followed by a procession; after them again, the woman with the goats; and behind her the flute and tabret players, and another procession of gift-bringers.

&quot;Whither go they?&quot; asked a bystander.

Another made answer, &quot;The bull to Father Jove; the goat—"

&quot;Did not Apollo once keep the flocks of Admetus?&quot;

&quot;Ay, the goat to Apollo!&quot;

The goodness of the reader is again besought in favor of an explanation. A certain facility of accommodation in the matter of religion comes to us after much intercourse with people of a different faith; gradually we attain the truth that: every creed is illustrated by good men who are entitled to our respect, but whom we cannot respect