and here the eager gooseberry, and the rich and plenteous clusters of
the purple grape. The neighbouring fountain afforded them a cool and
sparkling beverage, and the lowing herds supplied the copious bowl with
white and foaming draughts of milk. The meaner bards accompanied the
artless luxury of the feast with the symphony of their harps.

The repast being finished, the company now engaged in those less active
sports, that exercise the subtility of the wit, more than the agility or
strength of the body. Their untutored minds delighted themselves in the
sly enigma, and the quaint conundrum. Much was their laughter at the
wild guesses of the thoughtless and the giddy; and great the triumph of
the swain who penetrated the mystery, and successfully removed the
abstruseness of the problem. Many were the feats of skill exhibited by
the dextrous shepherd, and infinite were the wonder and admiration of
the gazing spectators. The whole scene indeed was calculated to display
the triumph of stratagem and invention. A thousand deceits were
practised upon the simple and unsuspecting, and while he looked round to
discover the object of the general mirth, it was increased into bursts
of merriment, and convulsive gaiety. At length they rose from the
verdant green, and chased each other in mock pursuit. Many flew towards
the adjoining grove; the pursued concealed himself behind the dark and
impervious thicket, or the broad trunk of the oak, while the pursuers ran
this way and that, and cast their wary eyes on every side. Carefully
they explored the bushes, and surveyed each clump of tufted trees. And
now the neighbouring echoes repeated the universal shout, and proclaimed
to the plain below, that the object of their search was found. Fatigue
however, in spite of the gaiety of spirit with which their sports were
pursued, began to assert his empire, and they longed for that
tranquility and repose which were destined to succeed.