“Was it not defiled when a dead tom-cat was found in it? Yet the fountain ceased not to flow.”
“The maiden floats!”
“Why should the god pick out the handsomest girl? His blood is ice-cold. She is not a morsel for him,” scoffed a red-faced senator.
“He rises! He is swimming.”
“He has grappled the damsel.”
“He is striking out! Bene! Bene!”
“Encourage not the sacrilegious one! Thou makest thyself partaker in his impiety!”
“What will the magistrates do?”
“Do! Coil up like wood-lice, and uncurl only when all is forgotten.”
“He is a Christian.”