hidden serpent came upon me, as I lay stretched on the grass, and
pierced me under the left breast. The bite of the sharp fang, when it
first entered, seemed to burn me. But afterward, feeling somewhat
reassured, and yet afraid of something worse ensuing, I thought I
clasped the cold serpent to my bosom, fancying that by communicating to
it the warmth of that bosom, I should thereby render it more kindly
disposed in my regard in return for such a service. But the viper, made
bolder and more obdurate by that very favor, laid his hideous mouth on
the wound he had given me, and after a long space, and after it had
drunk much of my blood, methought that, despite my resistance, it drew
forth my soul; and then, leaving my breast, departed with it. And at the
very moment of the serpent's departure the day lost its brightness, and
a thick shadow came behind me and covered me all over, and the farther
the serpent crept, the more lowering grew the heavens, and it seemed
almost as if the reptile dragged after it in its course the masses of
thick, black clouds that appeared to follow in its wake, Not long
afterward, just as a white stone flung into deep water gradually
vanishes from the eyes of the beholder, so it, too, vanished from my
sight. Then the heavens became darker and darker, and I thought that the
sun had suddenly withdrawn and night had surely returned, as it had
erstwhile returned to the _Greeks_ because of the crime of Atrcus. Next,
flashes of lightning sped swiftly along the skies, and peals of crashing
thunder appalled the earth and me likewise. And through all, the wound
made in my breast by the bite of the serpent remained with me still, and
full of viperous poison; for no medicinal help was within my reach, so
that my entire body appeared to have swollen in a most foul and
disgusting manner. Whereupon I, who before this seemed to be without
life or motion--why, I do not know--feeling that the force of the venom
was seeking to reach my heart in divers subtle ways, now tossed and
rolled upon the cool grass, expecting death at any moment. But methought