_South Wind. West Wind_
_S_. Zephyr, is it true about Zeus and the heifer that Hermes is
convoying across the sea to Egypt?—that he fell in love with it?
_W_. Certainly. She was not a heifer then, though, but a daughter of
the river Inachus. Hera made her what she is now; Zeus was so deep in
love that Hera was jealous.
_S_. And is he still in love, now that she is a cow?
_W_. Oh, yes; that is why he has sent her to Egypt, and told us not to
stir up the sea till she has swum across; she is to be delivered there
of her child, and both of them are to be Gods.
_S_. The heifer a God?
_W_. Yes, I tell you. And Hermes said she was to be the patroness of
sailors and our mistress, and send out or confine any of us that she
chooses.
_S_. So we must regard ourselves as her servants at once?
_W_. Why, yes; she will be the kinder if we do. Ah, she has got across
and landed. Do you see? she does not go on four legs now; Hermes has
made her stand erect, and turned her back into a beautiful woman.
_S_. This is most remarkable, Zephyr; no horns, no tail, no cloven
hoofs; instead, a lovely maid. But what is the matter with Hermes? he
has changed his handsome face into a dog's.
_W_. We had better not meddle; he knows his own business best.