The night was not very dark; but the shadows thrown by the moon are black, and behind the mighty trees Byblis had to feel her way.
She reached a spot where the pathway split in two. Which direction was she to take, which path was she to follow? On her knees she for a long time sought for a footstep to guide her. But the earth was dry. Byblis could see nothing. As she lifted her head she perceived that, hidden in the foliage of an oak, a tree-nymph with green breasts was watching her with a smile.
“Oh!” Byblis cried, “which way did they go? Tell me if you saw them.”
The tree-nymph extended one of her long branch-like arms to the right, and Byblis thanked her with a grateful glance.
She walked on that night for a long way. The pathway seemed never-ending, and, besides, it was hardly visible beneath a covering of dead leaves; it ceaselessly wound its way, determined in its direction by the chance of the soil, and the position of the trees; it seemed to climb up and descend into the shadows for ever.
At last worn out with fatigue Byblis fell to the ground and went to sleep.
She awakened in the morning when the sun was high in the heavens with a soft, warm sensation upon her outstretched hand. She opened her eyes to see a white hind gently licking her. But at Byblis’ first movement the graceful animal jumped up, pricked its ears, and fixed its lovely dark eyes, which glittered like a mountain stream, upon a distant point.
“Hind,” Byblis said, “to whom do you belong? If your mistress is the Goddess Artemis guide me, for I know her. I offer up to her in the full moonlight libations of goat’s milk which are very pleasing to her, and, hind, she loves me dearly. If you are one of her company listen to the voice of my anguish, and be sure that by so doing you will not displease the kind Huntress of the Night.”
The hind appeared to understand; it started off at a pace slow enough for the child to follow. In this way they both traversed a vast expanse of forest and crossed two streams, the hind crossing them with a bound while Byblis had to wade knee-deep across them. Byblis was full of confidence. She was now sure that she was upon the right track; without a doubt the hind had been sent by the goddess herself out of gratitude for her devoutness, and the divine animal was leading her through the woods to her beloved brother from whom she would never again be separated. Every step took her nearer to the place where she would see Caunos again. She could even now feel upon her breast the fugitive’s affectionate embrace. A part of his breath seemed to have entered into the atmosphere and to have charmed the breeze.