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ALEXA.. ' W ER THE GREAT. 195
go on conquering till there will be nothing great left
for you an d rue to do." As neither pleasure nor
riches, but valour and glory, were his great obje cts,
he thought th at, in proportion as th e dominions he
was to receive from his father grew greater, th ere
would be l ess room for him to distinguish himself.
4. Th e horse named Bucephalus was offered for
sale, and King philip, with th e prince and many
others, went into a field to see some trial made of him.
The horse appeared ext remely vicious and unmanageable,
and would not allow anyone to 1II0unt him.
Ph ilip was displeased at th eir bringing him so wild and
ungo,-ern able a horse, and bade th em take him away.
Bu t Alexan der, who had observed Buceph nlus well,
said, " \Yhat a horse th ey are losing, for want of sk ill
nnd spirit to manage him 1" Philip at first took no
notice of this; but upon th e prince's oft en repeating
the snme expression, and showing gl eat uneasiness, he
said, " Youug man, you find fault with yo ur elders,
as if you knew 1II0re than they, or could IIIlmage the
horse better." " And I certa inly could," answered
th e pri nce. " If you should not be able to rid e him,
what forfeit will you pay for ~-our rashness ?" ask ed
th e k ing. " I will pay th e pri ce of th e horse."
5. "["pon this all th e company lau gh ed ; but the
ki ng and the prince agreeing as to th e forfeit, Alexand
er ran to the horse, and layin g hold of the bridle,
turned him to the sun ; for he had observed, it
seems, th at th e shadow which fell before th e horse,
and moved whenever he moved, grea tly disturbed him.
While the horse's fierceness and fury lasted, Alexander
kept speaking to him softly and strok ing him ; after