nymphs wantonly ſporting on the lake, little imagining they were beheld by a ſpy. As the day broke I ſaw with an extacy of delight the form of the beautiful Zoe floating before me. My heart throbbed ſtrong in my breaſt, but the hurry of paſſion ſo tranſported me, that I no longer remembered the inſtructions of my friend Theophraſtus. Inſtead of ſecuring the poſſeſſion of my charming miſtreſs, by the certain pledge of her flying veil, the impatience of joy carried me out of my watch-houſe of reeds: I lifted up my voice aloud, and cried, Zoe of Naxos, darling of my ſoul, behold the Italian knight, your faithful Paladin, to whom love has whiſpered your ſecret, and inſtigated him to wait here for you at the fountain of beauty.
‘Great ſurprize and terror fell on the abaſhed company of bathers; they uttered a loud ſhriek, took up water in the hollow of their hands, and daſhed it like a thunder-ſhower againſt me, as if with a deſign to‘dazzle
