gave him the name of Brutus, or the
Foolish. Then he bided his time, waiting till the occasion should come
when he might win freedom for the people.

Now it chanced that King Tarquin, being disturbed by the marvel of a
great snake, which had been seen of a sudden to glide from the altar
in his house, sent messengers to Delphi to inquire of the god what this
thing might mean. And because he cared not that any strangers should
hear the answer of the oracle, he sent his own sons, Titus and Aruns,
and with them, to bear them company, or rather as one of whom they might
make sport, this same Lucius Brutus. And when the young men offered
gifts to the god, Brutus offered gold hidden away in a stick that had
been hollowed to receive it; meaning thereby a parable of himself, as of
a light hidden beneath that which seemed dull and of little worth. Now
when the sons of the King had fulfilled the commands of their father,
there came upon them a desire to enquire of the god which of them should
be king in time to come. Whereupon there came forth from the depths of
the cave this voice: "Know, O young men, that he of you who shall first
give a kiss to his mother, shall bear the chief rule hereafter at
Rome." When the sons of the King heard these words they would have their
brother Sextus, who had been left behind at Rome, know nothing of the
matter, lest he also should have a hope of the kingdom, Wherefore they
agreed among themselves that the matter should be kept secret, and that
they should leave to the casting of lots which of the two should first
give a kiss to his mother. But Brutus judged that the answer of the god
had another signification than this. Therefore, so soon as they were
come out of the temple, he made as if he stumbled, and falling on his
face, he kissed the earth, holding that the earth was his mother, being
indeed the common mother of us all.

Not many days after these things there came to Brutus an occasion
of showing what manner of man he was. Sextus, the King's son, did so
grievous a wrong to Lucretia, that was the wife of Collatinus, that the
woman could not endure to live, but slew herself with her own hand. But
before she died she called to her her husband and her father and Brutus,
and bade them avenge her upon the evil house of Tarquin. And when her
father and her' husband sat silent for grief and fear, Brutus drew the
knife wherewith she slew herself from the wound, and held it before him
dripping with