"Minos frowned frightfully. "I resume," he said. "You have said that it is false that the basilisk is the king of serpents, under the name of cockatrice.""Very reverend sir," said Ursus, "so little did I desire to insult the basilisk that I have given out as certain that it has a man's head.""Be it so," replied Minos, severely; "but you added that Poerius had seen one with the head of a falcon. Can you prove it?""Not easily," said Ursus.Here he had lost a little ground."