esent of the steed. Bucephalus became Alexander's favorite mount,
and, while he would allow no one else to ride him, he obeyed his master
perfectly.

Although most young men began the study of philosophy only at sixteen,
Alexander was placed under the tuition of Ar'is-totle soon after his
first ride on Bucephalus. This philosopher was a pupil of Plato. He was
so learned and well known, that Philip, in writing to him to tell him of
Alexander's birth, expressed his pleasure that the gods had allowed his
son to live in the same age with so great a teacher.

Alexander loved Aristotle dearly, and willingly learned all that was
required of him. He often said that he was very grateful, for this
philosopher had taught him all the good he knew. Alexander's remarkable
coolness, judgment, and perseverance were largely owing to his teacher,
and, had he always followed Aristotle's advice, he would have been truly
great.

But although Alexander did not always practice the virtues which
Aristotle had tried to teach him, he never forgot his old tutor. He gave
him large sums of money, so that the philosopher could continue his
studies, and find out new things; and during his journeys he always sent
him complete collections of the animals and plants of the regions he
visited.

XCIII. ALEXANDER AS KING.

Philip, King of Macedon, as we have seen, had one great fault. He drank;
and often his reason was clouded, and his step unsteady. Now, it is
impossible to respect a man who is drunk, and everybody used to make fun
of Philip when he was in that state.

Even Alexander, his own son, felt great contempt for him when he thus
disgraced himself; and once when he saw his father stagger and fall
after one of his orgies, he scornfully exclaimed, "See! here is a man
who is getting ready to cross from Europe to Asia, and yet he cannot
step safely from one couch to another."

Alexander, we are told, was greatly displeased by his father's
conquests, and once angrily cried that if Philip really beat the
Persians, and took possession of Asia, there would be nothing left for
him to do.

You may readily imagine, therefore, that he was not very sorry when his
father died before the expedition could be undertaken; for he thus
became, at twenty, master of an immense army and of great riches, and
head of all the Greek cities, which were then the finest in the world.

The news of Philip's death was received with great joy by the Athenians
al