`` Ah , this twilight is truly refreshing , '' said King Pluto , `` after being so tormented with that ugly and impertinent glare of the sun . How much more agreeable is lamplight or torchlight , more particularly when reflected from diamonds ! It will be a magnificent sight , when we get to my palace . '' `` Is it much farther ? '' asked Proserpina . `` And will you carry me back when I have seen it ? '' `` We will talk of that by and by , '' answered Pluto . `` We are just entering my dominions . Do you see that tall gateway before us ? When we pass those gates , we are at home . And there lies my faithful mastiff at the threshold . Cerberus ! Cerberus ! Come hither , my good dog ! '' So saying , Pluto pulled at the reins , and stopped the chariot right between the tall , massive pillars of the gateway . The mastiff of which he had spoken got up from the threshold , and stood on his hinder legs , so as to put his fore paws on the chariot wheel . But , my stars , what a strange dog it was ! Why , he was a big , rough , ugly-looking monster , with three separate heads , and each of them fiercer than the two others ; but fierce as they were , King Pluto patted them all . He seemed as fond of his three-headed dog as if it had been a sweet little spaniel , with silken ears and curly hair . Cerberus , on the other hand , was evidently rejoiced to see his master , and expressed his attachment , as other dogs do , by wagging his tail at a great rate .
Proserpina 's eyes being drawn XXXXX it by its brisk motion , she saw that this tail was neither more nor less than a live dragon , with fiery eyes , and fangs that had a very poisonous aspect .
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