Alexander and Bucephalus


One day King Philip（382-336 B．C．，King of Macedon）bought a fine horse called Bucephalus．He was a noble animal，and the king paid a very high price for him．But he was wild andsavage ，and no man could mount him，or do anything at all withhim．


They tried to whip him，but that only made him worse．Atlast the king bade his servant to take him away．


"It is a pity to ruin so fine a horse as that，"said Alexander，the king's young son．"Those men do not know how to treat him．"


"Perhaps you can do better than they，"said his fatherscornfully ．


"I know，"said Alexander，"that，if you would only give meleave to try，I could manage this horse better than any one else．"


"And if you fail to do so，what then？"asked philip．


"I will pay you the price of the horse，"said the lad．


While everybody was laughing，Alexander ran up to Bu－cephalus，and turned his head towards the sun，for he had noticedthat the horse was afraid of his own shadow ．


He then spoke gently to the horse，and patted him with hishand．When he had quieted him a little，he made a quick spring ，and leaped upon the horse's back．


Everybody expected to see the boy killed outright ．But hekept his place，and let the horse run as fast as he could．Byand by when Brucephalus had become tired，Alexander reined him in and rode back to the place where his father was standing．


All the men who were there shouted when they saw that theboy had proved himself to be the master of the horse．


He leaped to the ground，and his father ran and kissed him．


"My son，"said the king，"Macedon is too small a place foryou．You must seek a larger kingdom that will be worthy of you．"


After that，Alexander and Bucephalus were the best offriends．They were said to be always together，for when one ofthem was seen，the other one was sure to be not far away．But thehorse would never allow any one to mount him but his master．


Alexander became the most famous king and warrior thatwas ever known；and for that reason he is always called Alexanderthe Great．Brucephalus carried him through many countries and inmany fierce battles，and more than once did he save his master'slife
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