ing to herself spells as she did
so. Slowly, feathers began to sprout from her head to her feet. Her arms
vanished, her nails became claws, her eyes grew round and her nose
hooked, and a little brown owl flew out of the window.

'Well, are you satisfied?' asked Fotis; but Apuleius shook his head.

'Not yet,' he answered. 'I want to know how she transforms herself into
a woman again.'

'That is quite easy, you may be sure,' replied Fotis. 'My mistress never
runs any risks. A cup of water from a spring, with some laurel leaves
and anise floating in it, is all that she needs. I have seen her do it a
thousand times.'

'Turn me into a nightingale, then, and I will give you five hundred
sesterces,' cried Apuleius eagerly; and Fotis, tempted by the thought of
so much money, agreed to do what he wished.

But either Fotis was not so skilful as she thought herself, or in her
hurry she neglected to observe that the bird bottles were all on one
shelf, and the beast bottles on another, for when she had rubbed the
ointment over the young man's chest something fearful happened. Instead
of his arms disappearing, they stretched downwards; his back became
bent, his face long and narrow, while a browny-grey fur covered his
body. Apuleius had been changed, not into a nightingale, but into an
ass!

* * * * *

A loud scream broke from Fotis when she saw what she had done, and
Apuleius, glancing at a polished mirror from Corinth which hung on the
walls, beheld with horror the fate that had overtaken him.

'Quick, quick! fetch the water, and I will seek for the laurels and
anise,' he cried. 'I do not want to be an ass at all; my arms and back
are aching already, and if I am not swiftly restored to my own shape I
shall not be able to overthrow the champion in the wrestling match
to-morrow.'

So Fotis ran out to draw the water from the spring, while Apuleius
opened some boxes with his teeth, and soon found the anise and laurels.
But alas! Fotis had deceived herself. The charm which was meant for a
bird would not work with a beast, and, what was worse, when Apuleius
tried to speak to her and beg her to try something else, he found he
could only bray!

In despair the girl took down the book of spells, and began to turn over
the pages; while the ass, who was still a man in all but his outward
form, glanced eagerly down them also. At length he gave a loud bray of
satisfaction, and rubbed his nose on a part