the night without nourishment, began to cry lustily. The man who carried him gathered some figs, and put them in his mouth; the sweetness of the fruit quieted him a little, and thus the man continued to carry him till the following night, when he came to a large and dark forest. He would not enter it at that hour, for fear of being devoured himself, but the next morning he resumed his journey, still carrying the basket. The forest was so large that whichever way he looked he could see no end to it, but in a spot thickly surrounded with trees, he perceived a rock, terminating in several rugged peaks. "Here, no doubt," said he, "is the retreat of the most savage beasts. I must leave the infant here, since I am not in a situation to save it." He approached the rock. Immediately an eagle, of a prodigious size, rushed out, flying round and round, as though she had left something in her nest; in fact it was her young ones, whom she was feeding, at the bottom of a sort of grotto. "Thou wilt be the prey of these birds, who are the kings of others, poor child," said the man. With that he unswathed it, and laid it down beside the three eaglets. Their nest was large, and sheltered from the inclemency of the weather. He had much trouble in putting the Prince there, because the side of the rock by which it could be approached was very rugged and overhung a frightful precipice. He withdrew sighing, and saw the eagle returning swiftly to its nest. "Ah," said he, "there is an end of it! the child will soon be no more." He hurried away, that he might not hear its last cries. He returned to the humpback, and assured him that he no longer had a brother. At this news the barbarous Prince embraced his faithful minister, and gave him a diamond ring, assuring him that when he became king he would make him captain of his army. The eagle, on returning to her nest, was perhaps surprised to find the new guest in it; surprised or not, she exercised the rights of hospitality better than many people could have done. She nestled close to her nursling, covered him with her wings, and warmed him. It seemed as if she had no longer any care but for him; a peculiar instinct induced her to seek fruits for him, to peck them, and to pour the juice into the rosy mouth of the little Prince; in short, she fed him so well that his royal mother could not have nursed him better. As soon as the eaglets became stronger, the eagle took them out by
