g his elderly bride! The successful defense of Apuleius before his
judges--a most diverting composition, so jaunty and full of witty
impertinences that it is evident he knew the hard-headed Roman judges
would dismiss the prosecution as a farce--is still extant under the name
of 'The Apology; or, Concerning Magic.' This in after days became oddly
jumbled with the story of 'The Golden Ass' and its transformations, so
that St. Augustine was inclined to believe Apuleius actually a species
of professional wizard.

The plot of 'The Golden Ass' is very simple. Lucius of Madaura, a young
man of property, sets out on his travels to sow his wild oats. He
pursues this pleasant occupation with the greatest zeal according to the
prevailing mode: he is no moralist. The partner of his first intrigue is
the maid of a woman skilled in witchcraft. The curiosity of Lucius being
greatly exercised about the sorceress and her magic, he importunes the
girl to procure from her mistress a magic salve which will transform him
at will into an owl. By mistake he receives the wrong salve; and instead
of the bird metamorphosis which he had looked for, he undergoes an
unlooked-for change into an ass. In this guise, and in the service of
various masters, he has opportunities of observing the follies of men
from a novel standpoint. His adventures are numerous, and he hears many
strange stories, the latter being chronicled as episodes in the record
of his experiences. At last the goddess Isis appears in a dream, and
obligingly shows him the way to effect his second metamorphosis, by aid
of the high priest of her temple, where certain mysteries are about to
be celebrated. Lucius is freed from his disguise, and is initiated into
the holy rites.

'The Golden Ass' is full of dramatic power and variety. The succession
of incident, albeit grossly licentious at times, engages the interest
without a moment's dullness. The main narrative, indeed, is no less
entertaining than the episodes. The work became a model for
story-writers of a much later period, even to the times of Fielding and
Smollett. Boccaccio borrowed freely from it; at least one of the many
humorous exploits of Cervantes's 'Don Quixote' can be attributed to an
adventure of Lucius; while 'Gil Blas' abounds in reminiscences of the
Latin novel. The student of folk-lore will easily detect in the tasks
imposed by Venus on her unwelcome daughter-in-law, in the episode of
'Cupid and Psyche,' the possibl