Having got the child on his back , the animal gave a leap into the air , and came down so like a feather that Europa did not know when his hoofs touched the ground . He then began a race to that part of the flowery plain where her three brothers were , and where they had just caught their splendid butterfly . Europa screamed with delight ; and Phoenix , Cilix , and Cadmus stood gaping at the spectacle of their sister mounted on a white bull , not knowing whether to be frightened or to wish the same good luck for themselves . The gentle and innocent creature -LRB- for who could possibly doubt that he was so ? -RRB- pranced round among the children as sportively as a kitten . Europa all the while looked down upon her brothers , nodding and laughing , but yet with a sort of stateliness in her rosy little face . As the bull wheeled about to take another gallop across the meadow , the child waved her hand , and said , `` Good-bye , '' playfully pretending that she was now bound on a distant journey , and might not see her brothers again for nobody could tell how long . `` Good-bye , '' shouted Cadmus , Phoenix , and Cilix , all in one breath . But , together with her enjoyment of the sport , there was still a little remnant of fear in the child 's heart ; so that her last look at the three boys was a troubled one , and made them feel as if their dear sister were really leaving them forever . And what do you think the snowy bull did next ? Why , he set off , as swift as the wind , straight down to the seashore , scampered across the sand , took an airy leap , and plunged right in among the foaming billows . The white spray rose in a shower over him and little Europa , and fell spattering down upon the water . Then what a scream of terror did the poor child send forth ! The three brothers screamed manfully , likewise , and ran to the shore as fast as their legs would carry them , with Cadmus at their head . But it was too late . When they reached the margin of the sand , the treacherous animal was already far away in the wide blue sea , with only his snowy head and tail emerging , and poor little Europa between them , stretching out one hand towards her dear brothers , while she grasped the bull 's ivory horn with the other . And there stood Cadmus , Phoenix , and Cilix , gazing at this sad spectacle , through their tears , until they could no longer distinguish the bull 's snowy head from the white-capped billows that seemed to boil up out of the sea 's depths around him . Nothing more was ever seen of the white bull -- nothing more of the beautiful child . This was a mournful story , as you may well think , for the three boys to carry home to their parents . King Agenor , their father , was the ruler of the whole country ; but he loved his little daughter Europa better than his kingdom , or than all his other children , or than anything else in the world .
Therefore , when Cadmus and his two brothers came crying home , and told him how that a white bull had carried off their sister , and swam with her XXXXX the sea , the king was quite beside himself with grief and rage .
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