XLIII
As the ass was reverenced in Phrygia, the acquisition of ass's ears may not have been such a disgrace as we imagine.
Ovid thus describes Midas' golden touch:—
"Whose powerful hands the bread no sooner hold,
Than all its substance is transformed to gold;
Up to his mouth he lifts the savory meat,
Which turns to gold as he attempts to eat:
His patron's noble juice of purple hue,
Touch'd by his lips, a gilded cordial grew,
Unfit for drink; and, wonderous to behold,
It trickles from his jaws a fluid gold.
The rich poor fool, confounded with surprise,
Starving in all his various plenty lies."
(Croxall's trans.)