"Ho, ho," they cried, "does Pan think that he can match such melody as this?"
But King Midas was faithful to his friend, and, unconvinced by Apollo's wondrous music, he declared that Pan was the better player of the two.
Apollo, wearing the laurel wreath as his crown of victory, declared that the ears of King Midas must be depraved, and, that they should thereafter take on a form more in keeping with the taste of their owner.
King Midas had no sooner reached his castle than he felt a strange sensation about his ears; and the strange feeling increased until at length, putting his hands to the sides of his head, he found with terror that his ears had grown long and were covered inside and outside with hair, and he could move them about, just as a donkey moves his. In fact, he found that they had become exactly like the ears of a donkey, or an ass.
King Midas was overcome with shame and rage, and he kept himself hidden from all the people.
After a time it occurred to him that he could have a turban or head-dress made which would cover his monstrous deformity. So he
