`` Sacred oracle of Delphi , '' said he , `` whither shall I go next in quest of my dear sister Europa ? '' There was at first a deep silence , and then a rushing sound , or a noise like a long sigh , proceeding out of the interior of the earth . This cavity , you must know , was looked upon as a sort of fountain of truth , which sometimes gushed out in audible words ; although , for the most part , these words were such a riddle that they might just as well have staid at the bottom of the hole . But Cadmus was more fortunate than many others who went to Delphi in search of truth . By and by , the rushing noise began to sound like articulate language . It repeated , over and over again , the following sentence , which , after all , was so like the vague whistle of a blast of air , that Cadmus really did not quite know whether it meant anything or not : `` Seek her no more ! Seek her no more ! Seek her no more ! '' `` What , then , shall I do ? '' asked Cadmus . For , ever since he was a child , you know , it had been the great object of his life to find his sister . From the very hour that he left following the butterfly in the meadow , near his father 's palace , he had done his best to follow Europa , over land and sea . And now , if he must give up the search , he seemed to have no more business in the world . But again the sighing gust of air grew into something like a hoarse voice . `` Follow the cow ! '' it said . `` Follow the cow ! Follow the cow ! '' And when these words had been repeated until Cadmus was tired of hearing them -LRB- especially as he could not imagine what cow it was , or why he was to follow her -RRB- , the gusty hole gave vent to another sentence . `` Where the stray cow lies down , there is your home . ''
These words were pronounced but a single time , and died away into a whisper before Cadmus was fully satisfied XXXXX he had caught the meaning .
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