The Story of Pan and Syrinx. […] One day as Syrinx was descending from Mount Lyceus, she met the god Pan, a rural deity, who was a great favourite in Arcadia. Pan accosted the modest Syrinx, but she did not reply to him; she only ran away. Pan ran after her, and, when he overtook her, seized her by the arm; but instead of clasping the youthful Syrinx, he only held a bundle of reeds. Pan was grieved at this metamorphosis, but he converted the reeds to a flute of seven pipes, which he called Syrinx, “and like this,” concluded Mercury, “which I hold in my hand, it soothes the pensive mind, and holds the divinities of the woods in mute attention.”