“Ay, my little hero, the horses we trained at Casinum carried me to victory. ’Twas in this manner, O wife.—Ah, Nana, thine eyes are bright and the poor Lupa is also happy!—My horses were fresh but restless. Finally the signal was given, the doors of the carceres were thrown open, and the race began. The pace was unusually fast, but at the fourth turn my horses were nearly as fresh as when they started. The smallest one of the four could not run in the same rhythm with the others.”
“The same old fault, my master,” said Aldo, with his eyes opened wide with excitement.
“Ay, so busy was I trying to get him under control that at the fifth turn the Red and the White succeeded in pocketing me. Instantly I saw my danger, and quickly reining the horses, who were now moving as one, I made a sudden turn to the right. Nothing, my Psyche, nothing, my Aldo, would have won the race for me if there had been the least fault in that quick turn.”
“Ay, ay, my master,” said Aldo, nervously patting the cover of his couch.
“But the very thing we trained them for at Casinum, O Aldo, was the trick that saved the day. Never before have I seen horses turn so quickly. In all my experience never have I seen such beautiful movement. The White was taken back with surprise. He tried to cut me out; but one word, one toss of the reins, one long cheer to the horses that know my every whisper, succeeded in bringing me clear of the rest. Oh the speed with which we made the sixth turn! The Red had the inside track and we were even. With the cracking of the whips, the hoof-beats of the horses, and the cheering of the sanguine Greens all ringing in mine ears, I made my supreme effort. I called each horse by name. I steadied them with the last bit of strength in my body. As we reached the final stretch, I was slightly in the lead. Oh, the cries of the people were deafening! Every one of the charioteers was exerting himself to the utmost. By some invisible power I succeeded in instilling into my horses my own enthusiasm. O my lad, on, on, on, we went towards the final goal! The enthusiasm of the vast crowd now passed all bounds, my Psyche. ‘He has it! he has it!’ were the words that rent the air when, a full chariot’s length ahead of them all, I passed the stand of the judges!”
“Said I not my master would win, my lady?” asks Aldo, trembling with excitement.
“Ay, my lad,” replies Psyche.
“How feelest thou?” asks Gyges, turning kindly to Aldo.
“A few days more and I shall be able to help thee, my master.”
“The physician has been here, my husband. He says that Aldo will be able to walk with crutches two weeks hence. He has so bandaged the lad’s limbs that the boy can scarcely move.”