They let out on him a full-grown, young Mauretanian lion, starved and
ravenous. Narcissus was naked and empty-handed, his close-clipped hair,
standing like the bristles of a brush, yellow as gold wire, shining in the
sun. He stood almost as immobile as had Palus and faced the lion, which,
after a bound or two towards him, flattened down on the sand and began to
crawl nearer, preparing for a spring.
When it sprang Narcissus performed one of the most miraculous feats ever
beheld in the amphitheater. He did not dodge but ducked slightly, the
wide-spread, taloned paws missing his head on each side. His arms shot out
as the lion sprang, and, though the brute came at him through the air like
a log-arrow from a catapult, his hands gripped each side of the wide-open
mouth and his thumbs pushed the inner corners of the lips between the
parted upper and lower cheek-teeth. Therefore to close his jaws on his
victim the lion had to crush a roll or fold of his own lips. This
incredibly difficult feat prolonged his life a few breaths. The whole
populace howled in ecstasy at the wretch's coolness, courage, strength,
swiftness and adroitness.
The lion's momentum and weight bore Narcissus to the ground, but his
thumbs did not slip nor his hold loosen.
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