of my father! It was not in Fate that thou shouldst
journey with me to the Italian frontier and the fields of
Destiny, or see the Ausonian Tiber, whatever that name
may import.” He had said this, when from the depth
of the grave a smooth shining serpent trailed along seven 30
spires, seven volumes of giant length, coiling peacefully
round the tomb and gliding between the altars: dark
green flecks were on its back; its scales were all ablaze
with spots of golden lustre, even as the bow in the clouds
showers a thousand various colours in the face of the sun. 35