Chapter 142
A herdsman, who had lost a calf, went roaming through the forest, intent on finding it. After a long and fruitless search, he made a vow to all the nymphs of the forest and the mountains, as well as to Mercury, that he would sacrifice a lamb to them if they would help him discover who stole his calf. Not long afterwards, as he reached the summit of a hill, he saw a lion feeding on the calf. And now the unhappy man vowed to sacrifice a full-grown bull along with the lamb if the gods would only let him escape from the predator’s clutches.
If all our rash vows were to be granted, many of us would be ruined.
