Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 2.djvu/138

day to a neighbouring forest to cut wood for sale. On one occasion, as he went with an ass, the thickness of the underwood caused him to lose his footing, and he fell unawares into a pit, from which he was unable to deliver himself. In this pit lay a horrible dragon, whose scaly length completely encompassed it. The higher part was occupied by a number of serpents; and at the bottom, or mid-way, was a round stone, which the serpents daily ascended, and licked. After that, the dragon licked it. The poor man wondered at what he saw, and deliberated upon the meaning. "I have already remained here many days," thought he, "without sustenance; and unless I can obtain food, without doubt, I must perish. I will do therefore, as the serpents and dragon do; they exist, and why should not I?" Accordingly, he went up to the stone, and began to lick it, when, to his astonishment, he found that it partook of every delicious flavour that imagination could devise. Thus invigorated, he continued in his dungeon a few days longer; and, in the end, a dreadful thunder-storm