The Golden Ass · Chapter
How Apuleius was led away by the horsekeeper: and what danger he was in. explained
Lucius, still in ass form, is loaded with baggage and led away by the horsekeeper along with other horses.
What happens
Lucius, still in ass form, is loaded with baggage and led away by the horsekeeper along with other horses. They travel through dangerous territory, warned of wolves, but the covetous drivers press on at night. Lucius runs among the other horses for protection. They are attacked not by wolves but by fierce mastiffs set upon them by villagers who mistake them for thieves, and stones are hurled from windows. A woman riding Lucius is struck, and her husband pleads with the villagers, who eventually cease the attack. The group continues, all wounded or bitten.
Themes in this chapter
Fortune and Suffering
Lucius endures a series of escalating dangers—wolves, dogs, stones—highlighting the relentless suffering of his transformed state.
Violence and Cruelty
The villagers' violent response with dogs and stones, and the injuries sustained by the travelers, underscore the brutality of the world Lucius inhabits.
Characters to notice
- Lucius
Narrates his perilous journey as an ass, fearing wolves and dogs, and recalling the myth of Pegasus.
Key passages
“I ran amongst the middle of the other horses, to the end I might defend and save my poor buttocks from the wolves, whereat every man much marvelled to see, that I scoured away swifter than the other horses.”
Lucius, as an ass, runs to the center of the horse herd to protect his hindquarters from wolf attacks, astonishing the drivers with his speed.
Lucius uses his animal instincts to seek safety in numbers, but his unusual swiftness draws attention.
“Alas masters, what mean you to trouble us poor labouring men so cruelly? What mean you to revenge yourselves upon us, that do you no harm?”
A man whose wife was struck by a stone pleads with the villagers, asking why they attack innocent laborers.
The husband's appeal highlights the mistaken identity and the villagers' fear-driven aggression.