tory, and packing up his
fine clothes and money, slipped away before dawn.

He went to a great many big towns and lived well, and as he was generous
and not wiser than most youths of his age, he very soon found himself
penniless. Like his father, he then began to think of work, and tramped
half over Brittany in search of it. Nobody seemed to want him, and he
wandered about from one place to another, till he found himself in a
dense wood, without any paths, and not much light. Here he spent two
whole days, with nothing to eat and very little water to drink, going
first in one direction and then in another, but never being able to find
his way out. During the first night he slept soundly, and was too tired
to fear either man or beast, but when darkness came on for the second
time, and growls were heard in the distance, he grew frightened and
looked about for a high tree out of reach of his enemies. Hardly had he
settled himself comfortably in one of the forked branches, when a lion
walked up to a spring that burst from a rock close to the tree, and
crouching down drank greedily. This was bad enough, but after all, lions
do not climb trees, and as long as Fortunatus stayed up on his perch, he
was quite safe. But no sooner was the lion out of sight, than his place
was taken by a bear, and bears, as Fortunatus knew very well, _are_
tree-climbers. His heart beat fast, and not without reason, for as the
bear turned away he looked up and saw Fortunatus!

Now in those days every young man carried a sword slung to his belt, and
it was a fashion that came in very handily for Fortunatus. He drew his
sword, and when the bear got within a yard of him he made a fierce
lunge forward. The bear, wild with pain, tried to spring, but the bough
he was standing on broke with his weight, and he fell heavily to the
ground. Then Fortunatus descended from his tree (first taking good care
to see no other wild animals were in sight) and killed him with a single
blow. He was just thinking he would light a fire and make a hearty
dinner off bear's flesh, which is not at all bad eating, when he beheld
a beautiful lady standing by his side leaning on a wheel, and her eyes
hidden by a bandage.

'I am Dame Fortune,' she said, 'and I have a gift for you. Shall it be
wisdom, strength, long life, riches, health, or beauty? Think well, and
tell me what you will have.'

But Fortunatus, who had proved the truth of the proverb that 'It's ill
thinking on an