as sitting there in suspense he saw two women of a larger
stature than ordinary approaching towards him. One of them had a genteel
and amiable aspect; her beauty was natural and easy, her person and shape
clean and handsome, her eyes cast towards the ground with an agreeable
reserve, her motion and behaviour full of modesty, and her raiment white
as snow. The other wanted all the native beauty and proportion of the
former; her person was swelled, by luxury and ease, to a size quite
disproportioned and uncomely. She had painted her complexion, that it
might seem fairer and more ruddy than it really was, and endeavoured to
appear more graceful than ordinary in her mien, by a mixture of
affectation in all her gestures. Her eyes were full of confidence, and
her dress transparent, that the conceited beauty of her person might
appear through it to advantage. She cast her eyes frequently upon
herself, then turned them on those that were present, to see whether any
one regarded her, and now and then looked on the figure she made in her
own shadow.

"'As they drew nearer, the former continued the same composed pace, while
the latter, striving to get before her, ran up to Hercules, and addressed
herself to him in the following manner:--

"I perceive, my dear Hercules, you are in doubt which path in life you
should pursue. If, then, you will be my friend and follow me, I will
lead you to a path the most easy and most delightful, wherein you shall
taste all the sweets of life, and live exempt from every trouble. You
shall neither be concerned in war nor in the affairs of the world, but
shall only consider how to gratify all your senses--your taste with the
finest dainties and most delicious drink, your sight with the most
agreeable objects, your scent with the richest perfumes and fragrancy of
odours, how you may enjoy the embraces of the fair, repose on the softest
beds, render your slumbers sweet and easy, and by what means enjoy,
without even the smallest care, all those glorious and mighty blessings.

"And, for fear you suspect that the sources whence you are to derive
those invaluable blessings might at some time or other fail, and that you
might, of course, be obliged to acquire them at the expense of your mind
and the united labour and fatigue of your body, I beforehand assure you
that you shall freely enjoy all from the industry of others, undergo
neither hardship nor drudgery, but have everything at your command th