“They say there will be two hundred pairs of swordsmen, matched at the same moment,” observed Damasippus, in allusion to the coming games; “and not a plate of steel allowed in the circus, save sword and helmet. But of course, my Hippias, you know best if this is true.”
“And three new lions from Libya, loose at once,” added Oarses, “with a scene representing shepherds surprised over their watch‐fires; real rocks, I have been told, and a stream of running water in the amphitheatre, with a thicket of live shrubs, from which the beasts are to emerge. Your taste, illustrious Hippias, the people say, is perfect. It has obviously been consulted here.”
Hippias smiled mysteriously, and a little scornfully.
“There _is_ a lion from Libya,” said he; “I can tell you thus much. I, myself, saw him fed only yesterday at sunset.”
“Is he large? is he strong? is he fierce?” questioned the two almost in a breath. “When did he come? is he quite full‐grown? will they keep him without flesh? Of course the shepherds are not to be armed? Will they be condemned criminals, or only paid gladiators? Not that it matters much, if the lion is a pretty good one. We had a tiger, you know, last year, that killed five Ethiopian slaves, though they all set on him at once.”
“But they were unarmed,” interrupted Euchenor, whose cheek had turned a shade paler during the discussion. “Give me the proper weapons, and I fear no beast that walks the earth.”
“Unarmed, of course!” repeated Damasippus, “and so was the tiger. A more beautiful creature was never seen. Do you not remember, Oarses, how he waved his long tail and stroked his face with his paws, like a kitten before it begins to play? And then, when he made his spring, the first black was rolled up like a ball? I was in the fifth row, my friends, yet I heard his bones crack, distinctly, even there.”
“He was a great loss, that tiger,” observed Oarses, more sadly than usual; “they should never have pitted him against a tusked elephant. The moment I saw the ivory, I knew how the fight must end, and I wagered against the smaller animal directly. I would have lost my sesterces, I think, willingly, for it to have won; but the beautiful beast never had a chance.”