He turned away from the oracle , and thought himself no wiser than when he came thither . Caring little what might happen to him , he took the first path that offered itself , and went along at a sluggish pace ; for , having no object in view , nor any reason to go one way more than another , it would certainly have been foolish to make haste . Whenever he met anybody , the old question was at his tongue 's end . `` Have you seen a beautiful maiden , dressed like a king 's daughter , and mounted on a snow-white bull , that gallops as swiftly as the wind ? '' But , remembering what the oracle had said , he only half uttered the words , and then mumbled the rest indistinctly ; and from his confusion , people must have imagined that this handsome young man had lost his wits . I know not how far Cadmus had gone , nor could he himself have told you , when at no great distance before him , he beheld a brindled cow . She was lying down by the wayside , and quietly chewing her cud ; nor did she take any notice of the young man until he had approached pretty nigh . Then , getting leisurely upon her feet , and giving her head a gentle toss , she began to move along at a moderate pace , often pausing just long enough to crop a mouthful of grass . Cadmus loitered behind , whistling idly to himself , and scarcely noticing the cow ; until the thought occurred to him , whether this could possibly be the animal which , according to the oracle 's response , was to serve him for a guide . But he smiled at himself for fancying such a thing . He could not seriously think that this was the cow , because she went along so quietly , behaving just like any other cow . Evidently she neither knew nor cared so much as a wisp of hay about Cadmus , and was only thinking how to get her living along the wayside , where the herbage was green and fresh . Perhaps she was going home to be milked . `` Cow , cow , cow ! '' cried Cadmus . `` Hey , Brindle , hey ! Stop , my good cow ! '' He wanted to come up with the cow , so as to examine her , and see if she would appear to know him , or whether there were any peculiarities to distinguish her from a thousand other cows , whose only business is to fill the milk-pail , and sometimes kick it over . But still the brindled cow trudged on , whisking her tail to keep the flies away , and taking as little notice of Cadmus as she well could . If he walked slowly , so did the cow , and seized the opportunity to graze .
If he quickened his pace , the cow went just so much the faster ; and once , when Cadmus tried to catch her by running , she threw out her heels , stuck her tail straight on end , and set off at a gallop , looking as queerly as cows generally do , while putting themselves XXXXX their speed .
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