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diff --git a/14752-h/14752-h.htm b/14752-h/14752-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..01cdc31 --- /dev/null +++ b/14752-h/14752-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12684 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Children's Hour, Volume 3 (of 10), by Various</title> +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[*/ + <!-- + body {font-family:Georgia, serif; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%;} + p {text-align: justify; } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center;font-variant:small-caps;margin-top:3em;} + sup {font-size:0.7em;} + hr {width: 50%;} + hr.full {width: 100%;} + hr.short {width:25%;} + h1.pg {text-align: center; font-family: Times-Roman, serif; font-variant:normal;margin-top:0em;} + h3.pg {text-align: center; font-family: Times-Roman, serif; font-variant:normal;margin-top:0em;} + h6.pg {text-align: center;font-variant:normal;margin-top:0em;} + + ul {list-style-type:none;margin-left:1em;text-indent:-1em;} + ol {list-style-type:upper-roman;margin-left:10%;font-variant:small-caps;} + .figure { padding: 0;margin:auto; text-align: center;} + .figure>p{text-align:center;width:90%;margin:auto; font-size:0.8em;padding:1em 0em 1.5em 0em;} + .subtitle {padding-left:1em;font-variant:small-caps;width:60%;} + .author {padding-left:1em;font-size:0.8em;} + .main {padding-top:1em;} + .byline {text-align:center;font-size:0.9em;} + .returnTOC {text-align:right;font-size:.7em;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem p.i2 {margin-left: 1em;} + .poem p.i4 {margin-left: 2em;} + .poem p.i8 {margin-left: 4em;} + .cen {text-align:center;} + .rgt {text-align:right;} + .quote {text-align:justify;text-indent:0em;margin-left:10%;margin-right:10%;font-size:.9em;} + span.sc {font-variant:small-caps;} + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + pre {font-size: 8pt;} + --> +/*]]>*/ +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14752 ***</div> +<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Children's Hour, Volume 3 (of 10), by +Various, Edited by Eva March Tappan</h1> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE CHILDREN’S HOUR</h2> +<h4>IN TEN VOLUMES</h4> +<h4>ILLUSTRATED</h4> +<h2>VOLUME III</h2> +<hr /> +<div class="figure"><a href="images/big_004.jpg"><img src= +"images/small_004.jpg" alt= +"A man looks at a melee while a dog lays in the street." id="img01" +name="img01" width="252" height="321" /></a> +<p>“<em>It is strange that they let that dog lie +there</em>”</p> +</div> +<hr /> +<h2>The Children’s Hour</h2> +<h1>STORIES FROM THE CLASSICS</h1> +<h4>Selected & Arranged by</h4> +<h2>Eva March Tappan</h2> +<hr class="short" /> +<h3>1907</h3> +<h6 class="pg">Houghton Mifflin Company</h6> +<hr class="short" /> +<p class="quote" style="font-size:1.25em;text-align:center;"> +<em>Between the dark and the daylight, when the night is beginning +to lower comes a pause in the days occupations, that is known as +the Children’s Hour.</em></p> +<hr /> +<h3>NOTE</h3> +<p>All rights in stories in this volume are reserved by the holders +of the copyrights. The publishers and others named in the subjoined +list are the proprietors, either in their own right or as agents +for the authors, of the stories taken from the works enumerated, of +which the ownership is hereby acknowledged. The editor takes this +opportunity to thank both authors and publishers for the ready +generosity with which they have allowed her to include these +stories in “The Children’s Hour.”</p> +<p>“The Wonder-Book,” and “Tanglewood +Tales,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne; published by Houghton, +Mifflin & Company.</p> +<p>“Old Greek Folk Stories,” by Josephine Preston +Peabody; published by Houghton, Mifflin & Company.</p> +<p>“The Odyssey of Homer,” English prose version by +George Herbert Palmer; published by Houghton, Mifflin & +Company.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2><a id="Contents" name="Contents">CONTENTS</a></h2> +<table summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr> +<td class="main" colspan="2"><a href="#Children">TO THE +CHILDREN</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="main" colspan="2"><a href="#Herodotus">STORIES FROM +HERODOTUS</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Ladronius">Ladronius, The Prince of +Thieves</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Retold by G.H. Boden and W. Barrington +d’Almeida</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Arion">Arion and the +Dolphin</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Retold by G.H. Boden and W. Barrington +d’Almeida</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="main" colspan="2"><a href="#Livy">STORIES FROM +LIVY</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Romulus">Romulus, Founder of +Rome</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Alfred J. Church</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Horatius">How Horatius Held the +Bridge</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Alfred J. Church</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Cincinnatus">How Cincinnatus Saved +Rome</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Alfred J. Church</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Virginia">The Story of +Virginia</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Alfred J. Church</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Curtius">The Sacrifice of Marcus +Curtius</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Alfred J. Church</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="main" colspan="2"><a href="#Ovid">STORIES FROM +OVID</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Pitcher">The Miraculous +Pitcher</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Nathaniel Hawthorne</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Touch">The Golden Touch</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Nathaniel Hawthorne</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Pomegranate">The Pomegranate +Seeds</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Nathaniel Hawthorne</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="main" colspan="2"><a href="#FolkStories">OLD GREEK +FOLK-STORIES</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Orpheus">Orpheus and +Eurydice</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Josephine Preston Peabody</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Icarus">Icarus and +Dædalus</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Josephine Preston Peabody</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Phaethon">Phaethon</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Josephine Preston Peabody</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Niobe">Niobe</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Josephine Preston Peabody</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Pyramus">Pyramus and Thisbe</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Josephine Preston Peabody</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="main" colspan="2"><a href="#Trojan">STORIES OF THE +TROJAN WAR</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Discord">The Apple of +Discord</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Josephine Preston Peabody</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Agamemnon">The Quarrel between +Agamemnon and Achilles</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Alfred J. Church</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Menelaus">The Fight between Paris +and Menelaus</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Walter C. Perry</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Ajax">The Duel between Hector and +Ajax</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Walter C. Perry</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Patroclus">The Death of Patroclus +and the Battle of the River</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Alfred J. Church</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Vulcan">Vulcan Makes Armor for +Achilles</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Walter C. Perry</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Hector">The Slaying of +Hector</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Walter C. Perry</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Funeral">The Funeral Games in Honor +of Patroclus</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Walter C. Perry</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Horse">The Wooden Horse and the Fall +of Troy</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Josephine Preston Peabody</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="main" colspan="2"><a href="#UlyssesWanderings">THE +WANDERINGS OF ULYSSES</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Cyclops">An Adventure with the +Cyclops</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Alfred J. Church</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Circe">Circe’s Palace</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Nathaniel Hawthorne</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Sirens">The Sirens—Scylla and +Charybdis</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Translated by George Herbert +Palmer</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="main" colspan="2"><a href="#UlyssesIthaca">ULYSSES IN +ITHACA</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#UlyssesLands">Ulysses Lands on the +Shore of Ithaca</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>F.S. Marvin, R.J.C. Mayor, and F.M. +Stowell</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Swineherd">Ulysses at the House of +the Swineherd</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>F.S. Marvin, R.J.C. Mayor, and F.M. +Stowell</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle" style="padding-top:0.5em;" colspan="2"> +<a href="#Vengeance">The Vengeance of Ulysses</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle" style="padding-left:2em;"><a href= +"#Reception">A. His Reception at the Palace</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>F.S. Marvin, R.J.C. Mayor, and F.M. +Stowell</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle" style="padding-left:2em;"><a href="#Bow">B. +The Trial of the Bow</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Translated by George Herbert +Palmer</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle" style="padding-left:2em;"><a href= +"#Suitors">C. The Slaying of the Suitors</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>F.S. Marvin, R.J.C. Mayor, and F.M. +Stowell</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle" style="padding-left:2em;"><a href= +"#Penelope">D. Penelope Recognizes Ulysses</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Translated by George Herbert +Palmer</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="main" colspan="2"><a href="#TrojanWanderings">THE +WANDERINGS OF THE TROJAN ÆNEAS</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Flight">The Flight of Æneas +from the Ruins of Troy</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Alfred J. Church</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Harpies">Æneas’s +Adventure with the Harpies</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Charles Henry Hanson</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Cyclops2">Æneas in the Land of +the Cyclops</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Charles Henry Hanson</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Dido">Æneas and Queen +Dido</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Alfred J. Church</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Anchises">The Funeral Games of +Anchises</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Charles Henry Hanson</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#LowerWorld">Æneas’s +Visit to the Lower World</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Charles Henry Hanson</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Battle">Æneas’s First +Great Battle with the Latins</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Charles Henry Hanson</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#Conquers">Æneas Finally +Conquers the Latins</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Alfred J. Church</em></td> +</tr> +</table> +<h3>ILLUSTRATIONS</h3> +<table summary="List of Illustrations"> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#img01">“It is strange that +they let that dog lie there”</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>L.F. Schutzenberger</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#img02">“I am afraid there will +not be half enough supper”</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Walter Crane</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#img03">They leaped out of the +Bottomless Hole</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>George Wharton Edwards</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#img04">To him at last the Three +Goddesses intrusted the Judgment and the Golden Apple</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Giulio Romano</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#img05">Fierce was the Fight about +the Body of Patroclus</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Giulio Romano</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#img06">A Great Image of a +Horse</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Franz Cleyn</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#img07">The Cyclops in his Wrath +brake off the Top of a Great Hill</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>L.F. Schutzenberger</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#img08">“Dear son, have you +come home at last?”</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>G. Truffault</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#img09">The Flight from Troy</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Franz Cleyn</em></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="subtitle"><a href="#img10">The Victory of +Euryalus</a></td> +<td class="author"><em>Franz Cleyn</em></td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2><a id="Children" name="Children">TO THE CHILDREN</a></h2> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>The greater part of this book is made up of stories from the +poems of Homer and Virgil. Homer is thought to have lived in Greece +about three thousand years ago, and yet his poems never seem +old-fashioned and people do not tire of reading them. Boys and +girls almost always like them, because they are so full of stories. +If you want to read about giants or mermaids or shipwrecks or +athletic contests or enchanters or furious battles or the capture +of cities or voyages to strange countries, all you have to do is to +open the Iliad and the Odyssey, and you will find stories on all of +these subjects. Homer can describe a foot-race or the throwing of a +discus so that you hold your breath to see who will win; and he can +picture a battle so vividly that you almost try to dodge the arrows +and spears. He can make the tears come into your eyes by telling +you of the grief of the warrior’s wife when he leaves her and +their baby son to go to battle; and he can almost make you shout, +“Hurrah for the brave champion!” when he tells you what +wonderful deeds of prowess have been done. He can describe a shield +so minutely that you could make one like it; and he can paint a +scene of feasting so perfectly that you feel as if you had been in +the very room.</p> +<p>How is it that Homer makes his stories seem so real? There are +several reasons, but one of the strongest is because he tells the +little things that writers often forget to put in. When he +describes the welcome given to two strangers at the house of the +lost Ulysses, by Telemachus, son of the wanderer, he begins, +“When they were come within the lofty hall, he carried the +spear to a tall pillar and set it in a well-worn rack.” That +one word, “well-worn,” gives us the feeling that Homer +is not making up a story, but that he has really seen the rack and +noticed how it looked. The same sentence shows why it is that +people do not tire of reading Homer. It ends, “where also +stood many a spear of hardy Ulysses.” This reminds the reader +that in spite of the hero’s long years of absence, no one has +been allowed to remove his weapons from their old place. From this +one phrase, then, we can realize how much his wife and son love +him, and how they have mourned for him. Telemachus welcomes the +strangers, but we can feel how eager he is for them to be made +comfortable as soon as possible so he can talk of his father and +learn whether they have chanced to meet him in their wanderings. +Homer’s poems are full of such sentences as these; and, no +matter how many times one reads them, some thought, unnoticed +before, is ever coming to light. That is why they are always fresh +and new and interesting.</p> +<p>There is a tradition that Homer was blind, and that he wandered +about from one place to another, singing or reciting his poems; but +this is only tradition, and there is little hope that we shall ever +be able to find out whether it is true or not.</p> +<p>Homer’s great poem, the Iliad, is the account of the +Trojan War. His Odyssey relates the adventures of the hero Ulysses, +or Odysseus, as the Greeks called him, in many years of wandering +at the close of the war before his enemies among the Gods would +permit him to return to his home. There were Trojan heroes, +however, as well as Greek, and Æneas was one of them. Virgil, +the Latin poet, has told in the Æneid the story of his +troubles and adventures. Æneas, too, was driven over the +waters, for the Gods had told him it was the will of Jupiter, or +Zeus, as it is in Greek, for him to seek Italy and there found a +city. Part of his journey is the same as that of Ulysses. He, too, +stops at the country of the one-eyed giants and has to row as fast +as he can to escape the rocks that they throw at his vessel. He, +too, hears the thunders of Mount Ætna and sees the flashing +of the fires of the volcano. His sailors point to it in fear and +whisper to one another, “That is the giant Enceladus. He +rebelled against the Gods and they piled the mountain on top of +him. The fires of Jupiter burn him, and he breathes out glowing +flames. When he tosses from one side to the other, the whole island +of Sicily is shaken with a mighty earthquake.”</p> +<p>Virgil was no homeless singer; he was one of the great literary +men of Rome, and he read his poems aloud to the Emperor Augustus. +He had a handsome villa and a troop of friends. He enjoyed +everything that was beautiful and seemed as happy when a friend had +written a good poem as if he had composed it himself. He was never +satisfied with his verse till he had made every line as perfect as +possible. When he was ill and knew that he could not recover, he +made a will, and in it he ordered the Æneid to be burned, +because it was not so polished as he wished. “I meant to +spend three years more on it,” he said. Fortunately for all +the people who enjoy a great poem, the Emperor forbade that this +part of the will should be carried out. He gave the manuscript to +three friends of Virgil, all of them poets, with orders to strike +out every phrase that they believed Virgil would have struck out on +revision, but not to add one word. This is the way that the +Æneid was saved for us. If it had been destroyed, we should +have lost the work of one of the best storytellers that have ever +lived.</p> +<p>Livy, too, was a friend of the Emperor Augustus, He lived in +Rome, enjoying his companions, the libraries of the city, and, most +of all, his independence. Even Virgil was ready to insert a few +lines here and there in a poem to gratify his friends, or to choose +a subject that he knew would please the Emperor; but Livy wrote on +the subject that pleased him and treated it just as he believed to +be best. His great work was his history, and this he begins with a +little preface, as independent as it is graceful. “Whether I +shall gain any share of glory,” he says, “by writing a +history of the Roman people, I do not know. The work, however, will +be a pleasure to me; and even if any fame that might otherwise be +mine should be hidden by the success of other writers, I shall +console myself by thinking of their excellence and +greatness.” No such thing happened, however, for the kindly +historian was so praised and his work so fully appreciated that he +said he had all the fame he could wish.</p> +<p>Herodotus was a Greek who liked to travel. The world was very +small in his day, for little of it was known except some of the +lands bordering on the Mediterranean. To visit Tyre, Babylon, +Egypt, Palestine, and the islands of the eastern Mediterranean, as +he did, made a man a great traveler five centuries before Christ. +Herodotus enjoyed all these wanderings, but they also “meant +business” to him. Whenever he came to a place of historical +interest, he stayed awhile. He explored the country thereabouts, he +measured the important buildings, he talked with the people who +knew most about the place. Then, when he came to write of its +history, he did not write like a man who had read an article or two +in an encyclopædia and was trying to recite what he had +learned, but like one who knew the place which he was describing +and liked to talk about it, and about what had happened there. It +is no wonder that his history has always been a favorite; and to be +a favorite author for twenty centuries is no small glory.</p> +<p>Ovid was a Latin poet who knew how to tell a story. He could not +only invent a tale, but he could tell it so well that the reader +feels as if it must be true. His most interesting stories, however, +he did not invent, for they are a rewriting of the old mythological +tales. In one respect he is like Homer; he never forgets the little +things, and he tells so many details that we can hardly believe he +is imagining them. In his story of Baucis and Philemon, for +instance, Ovid does not forget to say that the cottage door was so +low that the two gods had to stoop to pass through it; that Baucis +hurried to brighten the fire with dry leaves and bits of bark; that +one leg of the table was too short and had to be propped up with a +piece of tile. He tells us that the kindhearted couple tried to +catch their one goose so as to cook it for the supper of their +guests; but that they were so old, and the goose so nimble of wing, +that he escaped them and flew to the Gods for refuge. We are so +accustomed to think of Latin as a grave, dignified language that +almost every line of Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” is a +pleasant surprise. The stories that he tells, <a href= +"#Pitcher">“The Miraculous Pitcher”</a>, <a href= +"#Touch">“The Golden Touch”</a>, <a href= +"#Pomegranate">“The Pomegranate Seeds”</a>, and others, +retold by Hawthorne, are favorites among the boys and girls of +to-day, and they must have been liked just as well by the Roman +children. In Rome the children read the great poets in school, and +I fancy that they were always glad when the hour came to read the +“Metamorphoses.”</p> +<h2><a id="Herodotus" name="Herodotus">STORIES FROM +HERODOTUS</a></h2> +<h3><a id="Ladronius" name="Ladronius">Ladronius, The Prince of +Thieves</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>Retold by G.H. Boden and W. Barrington +d’Almeida</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Many hundreds of years ago, not long after the Greeks returned +from the famous siege of Troy, there lived a king of Egypt, whose +name was Rhampsinitus. So great a king was he, that he kept a small +army constantly employed in supplying the royal household with +food, and another small army was required to keep the gardens of +the palace in order. And had any one been bold enough to doubt the +greatness of the king, he need only have looked at his magnificent +dress to set all doubts at rest forever. Upon the neck of the king +was a heavy necklace, glittering with priceless jewels, and on his +arms were massive bracelets of pure gold. A golden serpent, the +symbol of royalty, gleamed from his forehead, and his golden +breastplate showed the sacred beetle worked in precious stones, to +protect him from evil spirits. Whenever he appeared in the streets +of his capital, he was borne in the royal chair on the shoulders of +eight of his courtiers, while on each side walked a great noble +carrying a fan, shaped like a palm leaf, with a long, straight +stem. In front marched the bodyguard of Sardinians, men with fair +skins and blue eyes, who looked very much out of place among the +swarthy Egyptians; and last of all came the grim, black guards from +Ethiopia, with their sabres flashing in the sun. And all the people +fell on their faces and kissed the dust before their royal master. +Moreover, King Rhampsinitus erected several enormous statues of +himself, as well as many fine palaces and a beautiful temple, +bearing inscriptions which related all his great and glorious +deeds, so that the people who lived after him might know how great +a king he had been.</p> +<p>But, in spite of all his greatness, there was one thing that +prevented King Rhampsinitus from being a happy man. He had so many +treasures—masses of silver, nuggets of gold, and bags of +gold-dust, jewelry, precious stones, and carvings in +ivory—that he lived in constant fear of being robbed. He had +all his treasures packed in large jars and strong chests, which +were securely fastened, sealed up, and stowed away in a strong room +of the palace; but even then he did not feel comfortable, for might +not the palace be broken into by a clever thief and part of his +treasure stolen, while he slept? Besides, there was so much +treasure packed away already, that it was difficult to find a safe +place for any more. His anxiety made the king so unhappy, and +caused him so many sleepless nights, that he determined at last to +build a large chamber of stone, with walls too thick for any thief +to break through. He sent for his chief architect, who collected a +great multitude of workmen and set to work building the chamber +without delay. Whole villages were compelled to join in the work; +even the old men and children were employed in carrying away +rubbish, bringing water and clay, and doing other work that was not +too hard for them. The stronger and more skillful workmen hewed +great blocks of granite, which were dragged to the place on wooden +sledges; and, as they had no cranes to lift the stones into their +places on the walls, they were obliged to build mounds of sand and +rough bricks, and roll up each stone gradually with wooden levers, +until they got it into its proper place. It was terribly hard work, +but there were so many workmen, and the foremen used their whips so +unmercifully, that the walls rose very rapidly.</p> +<p>Now the architect was a cunning man, and guessed what the +chamber was intended to hold. He therefore fitted one stone in such +a way that it would slide down and leave a hole just large enough +for a man to crawl through; and yet, when you looked at the wall, +there was no sign at all by which the secret could be discovered. +Nor did the architect think it necessary to mention the secret +opening to his majesty, when he showed the chamber to him and told +him that it was as strong as he could make it.</p> +<p>Rhampsinitus lost no time in moving his treasures into the new +treasure-chamber. The key he kept with him night and day, so that +at last he could sleep peacefully, knowing that any one who wished +to pass the solid, brass-bound door, must first prevail upon him to +unlock it.</p> +<p>For some time all went well. The king went to the treasury every +morning, and found everything in its place. Evidently he had been +too clever for the thieves.</p> +<p>In the mean time the architect was lying ill in bed, and day by +day he grew weaker and weaker; until at length he knew that his end +was approaching, and, calling his two sons to his bedside, he told +them of the secret way into the treasure-chamber.</p> +<p>“I have little of my own to leave you, my sons,” he +said, “and I have but little influence at court; but by the +aid of this secret, which I devised for your sake, you may become +rich men, and hold the office of king’s treasurers for +life.”</p> +<p>The young men were delighted at his words, and so impatient were +they to enjoy their good fortune, that on the very night of their +father’s funeral they stole away quietly to the place where +the treasure-house stood. They found the sliding stone exactly as +their father had described it. The younger and slimmer of the two +brothers crawled through the opening and found himself in a dark +chamber, surrounded by heavy chests and jars with sealed covers. +Breaking open one of the latter, he put in his hand and drew out a +handful of gold, which sparkled and twinkled at him even in the +faint light which came through the hole in the wall. Handful after +handful he drew out and passed to his brother, at the same time +filling the bags he had brought with him, until both had as much as +they could conveniently carry. Then they replaced the stone, and +returned to lay the treasure before their mother; for in those days +stealing was considered rather a clever trick, and even the +thief’s mother did not scold him, so long as he was not so +clumsy as to be caught.</p> +<p>Imagine the consternation of King Rhampsinitus when he visited +the chamber the following morning! Everything seemed as secure as +ever, and yet, when he opened the door, there lay one of the great +jars turned over and empty, while the lid of one of the chests was +broken open and part of the contents scattered on the floor. He +examined every nook and cranny of the chamber from floor to +ceiling, and there was no sign of any one’s having forced an +entrance. The fastenings of the door were firm, and the lock was +one which it was perfectly impossible to pick. For greater +security, however, Rhampsinitus sent at once for a locksmith, and +commanded him to fit the door with a second lock, the key of which +he kept with the other.</p> +<p>Notwithstanding this precaution, the treasure-chamber was robbed +again on the next night, and this time the thieves had broken open +a great many of the chests, and carried away some of the most +valuable jewels. On the following night a sentinel was posted, and +still the treasury was robbed. The sentinel vowed that he had stood +with his back to the door all night, and there is little doubt that +he spoke the truth, though the poor fellow was accused of sleeping +at his post, and punished for his negligence.</p> +<p>Then the king took counsel of the fan-bearer on the right hand, +who was also prime minister. He made a long speech, beginning with +his regret that his majesty had not thought fit to consult him +earlier, and concluding with a learned discourse on the habits of +rats.</p> +<p>“This is all very interesting,” said Rhampsinitus, +“but I do not see that it helps very much to protect my +treasure.”</p> +<p>“I crave your majesty’s pardon,” the prime +minister answered. “I was about to observe that the best way +to catch a rat is first to study the habits and tastes of the rat, +and next to apply the knowledge so gained in setting a +trap.”</p> +<p>From which one may see that the prime minister was a very +learned man, and could not be expected to come to the point all at +once. The king thanked him for his valuable advice, and procured +two or three powerful man-traps, which he placed within his +treasure-chamber.</p> +<p>Night came on, and the two thieves set to work as before, but no +sooner had the younger brother disappeared through the hole in the +wall than he began to utter loud cries of agony.</p> +<p>“Peace, brother! You will rouse the guard,” said the +elder. “What can have befallen you?”</p> +<p>The other controlled himself, and said with a groan, +“Ladronius, we are ruined. I am held fast in a trap, and I +think my leg is broken. O Horus, Lord of Life, deliver +me!”</p> +<p>With some difficulty Ladronius crawled through the opening to +aid his brother, for, though a thief, he was no coward.</p> +<p>“Go back, Ladronius, go back!” cried his brother. +“Leave me to my fate! I think I hear the cries of the guard. +No, brother, waste no more time!” he entreated, as Ladronius +tugged in vain at the cruel teeth of the trap. “One thing +remains to be done. Cut off my head, and take it away with you, +that I may not be recognized and so we both perish! I hear the +footsteps of men approaching. Do not rob our mother of both her +sons!”</p> +<p>And Ladronius, seeing that there was nothing else to be done, +drew his sword, cut off his brother’s head, and escaped +through the opening, not forgetting to replace the stone behind +him. He was only just in time, for scarcely had he gained the cover +of a clump of trees, when the soldiers of the guard came running to +the place and began to belabor the door. To their surprise they +found everything quiet and nothing displaced. They examined the +outside of the building thoroughly, and then, supposing that they +had been roused by a false alarm, they returned to the palace.</p> +<p>In the morning, Rhampsinitus paid his daily visit to the +chamber, and discovered the headless body in the trap. He was more +puzzled than ever. He examined the fastenings of the door and the +whole of the chamber over and over again, and no hole nor crevice +could he find.</p> +<p>“Nevertheless,” said he, “I have now bait for +my trap. What can I do better than set a thief to catch a +thief?”</p> +<p>So he ordered the body to be hung from the outer wall of the +chamber, and placed sentinels to guard it, strictly charging them +to bring before him any one who showed pity or sorrow for the +dead.</p> +<p>When the mother heard of her son’s death and how the body +had been treated, she reproached Ladronius bitterly for his +cowardice, and implored him with many tears to bring back the body +for proper burial. For the Egyptians thought that unless a +man’s body were properly embalmed and buried whole, he could +have no life in the next world; so that it would be a terrible +misfortune if the head and the body were buried separately. +Ladronius attempted to comfort his mother, but did not dare to +carry off his brother’s body so long as the sentinels were +watching. In vain his mother wept and entreated him, until at last +her grief was turned to anger, and she vowed that, if he did not +obey her, she would go to the king and tell him the whole story. +Then Ladronius, seeing her so determined, promised to do as she +wished, and set his wits to work to invent some means of carrying +off the body without being caught by the sentinels. At last he +thought of a plan, which seemed to have some chance of success. He +hired two donkeys, and having bought some wineskins, which were +used in the place of bottles, he filled them with strong wine and +placed them on the donkeys’ backs.</p> +<p>Thus equipped, and dressed up to look like an old merchant, he +set out for the place where his brother’s body was suspended. +When he drew near to the sentinels, he secretly loosened some of +the strings which fastened the necks of the wineskins, and then +whipping the donkeys and letting them run on a little way in front, +he pursued them with loud cries.</p> +<p>“Oh, miserable wretch that I am!” he cried, beating +his head and looking the very picture of despair. “All my +good wine wasted on the ground! What shall I do? Oh, what shall I +do? Stop, most ungrateful of donkeys, children of Set, that devour +my substance and waste my wine as if it were water! May Tefnet +plague you with gadflies, and Renenutet poison the thistles! Oh +dear! oh dear! I am a ruined man.”</p> +<p>The soldiers, supposing it to be a genuine accident, laughed +loudly at the fellow’s distress, and while some chased and +caught the donkeys, the others brought bowls and pitchers and began +to drink the wine, as it ran out of the skins.</p> +<p>“Never mind, worthy sir!” they said to Ladronius. +“The wine is serving a very good purpose. Here is to our +future friendship and your excellency’s very good +health!”</p> +<p>Ladronius pretended to fly into a great passion, and called them +thieves and monsters of iniquity for robbing a poor man of his +wine.</p> +<p>“Ay, laugh away!” he cried. “But a day of +reckoning will come for your wickedness. See how the law treats +robbers!” And he pointed to his brother’s body hanging +on the wall.</p> +<p>“Now, by Anubis, the fellow speaks truth,” said one +of the soldiers. “We are but sorry fellows to drink away a +poor man’s living, and if this were to come to the ears of +the king, we should be in evil case for leaving our +duty.”</p> +<p>The others laughed good-humoredly, as they tied up some of the +skins, and did their best to put the merchant into a good temper. +Ladronius, after a little more grumbling, appeared to be pacified, +and, as a sign of good-will, presented a wineskin to the soldier +who had first spoken in his favor.</p> +<p>“May you never want a young friend to speak for you in +your old age,” said he, “and may you meet with no worse +companions than these; for though they seem to be somewhat +headstrong, yet I perceive that I spoke hard words in my +anger.”</p> +<p>The soldiers, who by this time had sat down on the grass and +were passing the wineskin from one to another, declared that the +merchant was a good-hearted old fellow and invited him to come and +drink their health.</p> +<p>“Nay, my masters,” said Ladronius, pretending to +adjust the straps on the donkeys’ backs. “I have far to +go, and I am but a little way on my journey.”</p> +<p>But, as they pressed him, he consented to drink one cup with +them before he went. “Though in truth,” he added, +“if I mistake not, the skin is emptied already. I see that +you would force me to part with another, before I set +out.”</p> +<p>As he spoke, he produced another wineskin, and the soldiers, who +were growing merry, greeted him with a shout of delight, and +insisted on his sitting down with them. Ladronius, still declaring +that he could stay only long enough to drink one cup with them, +allowed himself to be placed in the midst, where he presently +proved himself so good a companion and told so many merry tales +that the soldiers would not hear of his departure. They drank more +and more heavily, until at length a third skin was opened, and one +by one the sentinels were overpowered by the strong wine, and all +lay asleep on the ground.</p> +<p>By this time it had grown dark, and Ladronius, who had pretended +to be as drunk as the rest, cautiously raised his head, and finding +that all the sentinels were snoring, he took down his +brother’s body and carried it off. But, before he went, he +shaved the right side of the head of each of the sentinels, to show +his contempt for the king’s precautions.</p> +<p>The king was furious when he discovered the failure of his plan +and the insult offered to his guards, all of whom were beheaded for +their disobedience to his orders. He was more determined than ever +to catch the thief, and after taking counsel once more with his +prime minister, he decided upon another plan. He caused a +proclamation to be made, in which he promised the hand of his +daughter to the man whom she should consider the cleverest and most +wicked of all men. He commanded the princess to sit on a throne in +the temple of Ra, the sun-god, and to speak to all who came to pay +their homage to her, asking them what was the cleverest and most +wicked deed they had done. But secretly Rhampsinitus told her that, +if any one related the story of the robbing of the treasury, she +was to seize him by the hand, and hold him till the guards came and +secured him.</p> +<p>The moment Ladronius heard the proclamation, he saw that it was +another trick to catch him, but he was so daring and so fond of +adventure that he could not resist the temptation to outdo the king +in cunning once more. He determined actually to put his head in the +lion’s mouth—in other words, to go boldly to the temple +and talk to the princess. He took with him under his cloak the +strangest of presents, an arm cut from a dead man’s body.</p> +<p>When he entered the temple, he beheld the princess seated on her +throne, looking very beautiful in her royal robes, with her dark +curls flowing over her shoulders, and the golden vulture of Egypt +spreading his wings over her head. She looked a little pale and +weary too, for she had talked with many scores of suitors, all of +whom had told her tales which were very much alike and nothing at +all to do with her father’s treasure-chamber. And when the +princess looked up and saw Ladronius standing there, with his bold, +handsome face, and resolute eyes, she had a suspicion that this was +the robber of the treasury. At the same time she felt some pity for +the young man, whom she was to be the means of punishing for his +bravery. However, she could only obey her father, and motioning to +Ladronius to approach, she addressed him with great courtesy, +saying, “You seem, sir, by your bearing, to be a man of some +strength and courage. Tell me now, what is the most wicked thing, +and what the cleverest, you ever did in your life?”</p> +<p>And Ladronius looked her straight in the face and answered, +“Most gracious princess, the most wicked thing I ever did in +my life was to cut off my brother’s head in His +Majesty’s treasure-house, and the cleverest was when I made +the sentinels drunk and carried off my brother’s +body.”</p> +<p>Scarcely were the words out of his mouth, when the princess +jumped up and caught him, as she supposed, by the arm, at the same +time crying out for the guards, who were concealed behind the +throne. But, to her dismay, the arm seemed to part company with the +rest of the body, and she was left with the cloak of Ladronius and +the arm of the dead man, while Ladronius himself was out of the +temple before she had recovered from her surprise; nor could the +guards find any trace of him outside.</p> +<p>The princess went back to her father in fear and trembling, and +related how Ladronius had escaped once more; but the king was so +amazed at the daring and skill of the young man, that he quite +forgot to be angry.</p> +<p>The picture of the princess holding the arm that had no body +attached to it, and gazing blankly after the departing figure of +Ladronius, so took his fancy, that he lay back on his couch, and +laughed till his sides ached.</p> +<p>“Bast!” he cried at length. “If the youth is +really as clever as this, I would rather have him my friend than my +enemy. Such a man should be rewarded and not punished for his +genius. So he made you a present of his cloak too, did he?” +And the king collapsed once more.</p> +<p>“And what manner of youth is he?” he asked the +princess; the princess answered, with a blush, that he looked like +a brave young man.</p> +<p>“That I am sure he is,” said the king. “I have +learnt it to my cost. And he is not ill-looking?”</p> +<p>“No,” said the princess; she would not describe him +as ill-looking.</p> +<p>“Ah! well,” said the king dryly, “we must see +whether we cannot find some means of securing his +friendship.”</p> +<p>So King Rhampsinitus ordered another proclamation to be made, +promising that if the robber would present himself to the king and +confess how he had broken into the treasury, the king would grant +him a free pardon and a great reward beside.</p> +<p>Ladronius was not long in making up his mind. He knew that kings +were not always above treachery, but he had survived so many +dangers that he determined to risk this also. He arrayed himself, +therefore, in his best attire, and boldly presented himself to the +king, who was delighted with his courage and bade him relate the +whole story fearlessly. And when Rhampsinitus heard of the secret +way into his treasury, he would not rest until he had seen the +sliding stone and moved it for himself. He laughed heartily when he +remembered how he had put another lock on the door, and how he had +posted a sentinel in the one place where he could see nothing of +the thieves. Then he returned to the palace, and sent for the +princess, his daughter. Presently she entered with her train of +maidens, and Ladronius was so overcome by her fresh, girlish +beauty, that he could hardly find voice enough to reply to the +king’s questions. The king rose and embraced his daughter, +and then, addressing Ladronius before the assembled courtiers, he +said, “Ladronius, the Egyptians are the most cunning of all +nations on the face of the earth, and you have proved yourself more +cunning than all the Egyptians. And now, after robbing me of so +many treasures, you are about to rob me of the best and most +priceless of all.”</p> +<p>So saying, he took his daughter by the hand, and led her to +Ladronius.</p> +<p>“Take her, my son!” he said. “A good and +obedient daughter should make a faithful and loving +wife.”</p> +<p>The princess stood with her eyes cast down, blushing very +prettily, and Ladronius looked very handsome as he knelt and kissed +her hand. Then the trumpets began to blare, the drums rattled, the +cymbals clashed, and the courtiers shouted, “Long live our +gracious princess! Long live Rhampsinitus and his son-in-law +Ladronius!” The royal minstrel brought his harp and sang a +solemn chant, all about the beauty of the princess and the bravery +of Ladronius; and the maids of honor performed a graceful dance to +the music, winding wreaths of lotus flowers about the bride and +bridegroom. As the music ceased, the venerable High Priest of Ra, a +tall old man with his head clean-shaven, came forward to bless and +anoint them, and to tell how he had foreseen it all from the +beginning.</p> +<p>So Ladronius and the beautiful princess were married, and, +though it is not in the story, there can be no doubt that they +lived very happily for the rest of their lives.</p> +<h3><a id="Arion" name="Arion">Arion and the Dolphin</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>Retold by G.H. Boden and W. Barrington +d’Almeida</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>It happened once upon a time, in the olden days, that a young +man, Periander of Corinth, started from a port in the south of +Greece to sail to Miletus. Being caught in a storm, the boat was +carried out of her course as far as the island of Lesbos, where she +stayed for several days, in order that the damage caused by the +storm might be repaired. In the mean time Periander landed, and +occupied himself in wandering about the island and watching the +inhabitants. In his wanderings, he came one evening upon a group of +men and women, the sight of whom made him pause with a longing to +join them. They had been working hard all day, gathering the +grapes, and pressing them in big, wooden vats, to extract the wine +for which Lesbos was famous; and now, in the beautiful autumn +evening, they were making merry after their labors.</p> +<p>No wonder Periander stayed to watch them, for they made a very +pretty picture,—the handsome youths, with their bronzed faces +and strong, fine limbs; the women with their gay dresses and bare +feet, that seemed to have been made for dancing; the vine-clad hill +at the back, and, over it all, the glow of the setting sun. In the +centre of the dancers sat a boy, playing upon a small lute with +seven strings. To this accompaniment the dancers chanted a song in +praise of Dionysus, the god of the vine. Gradually the music went +faster and faster; and faster and faster the feet of the dancers +sped over the ground, until they were all out of breath, and lay +laughing on the grass.</p> +<p>Then, as the boy struck another chord, all laughter was hushed, +and he began to sing; it was a simple, plaintive little song, but +there was a magic in his voice which held the listeners spellbound. +The last rays of the setting sun played about his golden curls, and +lit up his sweet, childish face, as he sang:—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>“Why should you grieve for me, my love,</p> +<p class="i2">When I am laid to rest?</p> +<p>Our lives are shaped by the gods above,</p> +<p class="i2">And they know best.</p> +<p>What though I stand on the farther shore,</p> +<p>Others have crossed the stream before—</p> +<p class="i2">Why weep in vain?</p> +<p>Life is but a drop in the deep,</p> +<p>Soon we wake from the last, lone sleep,</p> +<p class="i2">And meet again.”</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>As the last note died away, a sigh came from the listeners; some +of the women turned away their faces, and the young men began to +talk hastily, as if to hide their emotion.</p> +<p>Periander waited until the group began to break up. Then he +stepped forward and laid his hand on the boy’s shoulder. The +boy looked up with a smile.</p> +<p>“What is your name, my fair minstrel?” asked +Periander.</p> +<p>“My name is Arion,” answered the boy, as if he were +used to being questioned. “I come from Methymna beyond the +hills, where I used to tend the goats.” And he told Periander +that his mother and father died before he could remember, and that +he was brought up by an old goat-herd; until a traveling minstrel, +who happened one day to hear him singing on the hills, took charge +of him and taught him to play the lute.</p> +<p>“That was one of his own songs I was singing,” said +Arion. “He always liked me to sing his songs; but, when I am +a man, I shall make my own songs, and sing them in the great cities +over the sea.”</p> +<p>“And so you shall,” said Periander. “Now, +listen to me, Arion! Some day, perhaps, I also may be a great man, +able to help you to become a great singer. Remember, when you have +need of a friend, that Periander of Corinth will help you, if he +can!”</p> +<p>And, when he departed, Periander left a sum of money with a +worthy old couple, who promised to look after the boy, and see that +he wanted nothing.</p> +<p>After some years, Periander became king of Corinth, and having a +love of everything beautiful, he soon gathered about him a little +band of poets, artists, and musicians. One day, when he was +listening to one of the court musicians, something—it might +have been a chord in the music—reminded him of the little +Lesbian Arion. He seemed to see once more the boy with the golden +light on his curls, and the upturned faces of the peasants grouped +around him; and the very words of the song ran in his head.</p> +<p>“By Apollo!” he cried, so suddenly that the musician +nearly fell off his seat. “We will have the little Lesbian at +court, and make a famous singer of him. Where is Glaucus? Ho, +there! Bid Glaucus attend the king!”</p> +<p>When Glaucus appeared, the king bade him take a boat and sail +for Lesbos. “There you will make search for one Arion, a +singer,” he said. “And when you have found him, say, +‘Periander of Corinth has need of his friend Arion.’ +And see that you bring him safely to Corinth!”</p> +<p>Glaucus did as he was bidden, and in due time found Arion, now +grown into a tall, graceful youth. Arion, when he heard the +message, consented to accompany Glaucus to Corinth, where he was +greeted with great kindness by Periander. He very soon became a +great favorite among the Corinthians, and all the musicians envied +him his beautiful voice and his skill in playing on the lute. No +one had such power to soothe the king in his black moods; nor was +it at court alone that his fame as a singer was known, for he was +ever ready to sing to the people, who idolized him and called him +the son of Apollo. Among other things he taught them the song and +dance of the Lesbians in honor of Dionysus and the vine; it +afterwards became one of the most famous songs of Greece.</p> +<p>Many years Arion stayed with Periander, who held him in high +honor and loaded him with costly presents. His fame spread as far +as Italy and Sicily, and he had many requests that he would go over +and sing to the people there. At length, he determined to make the +journey, not only from curiosity to see new countries, but also +because he had heard of the songs sung by the Sicilian shepherds, +and had a great desire to study them. Periander tried to dissuade +him, but, finding him resolved, he assisted him in his +preparations, and on his departure exacted from him a promise that +he would return to Corinth.</p> +<p>Arion traveled about Italy and Sicily for a long time, and made +a great fortune by his singing. But growing tired at last of the +wandering life, he went to Tarentum to find a ship which would take +him back to Corinth. There were two or three ships ready to make +the journey, among them one named the Nausicaa, which was manned by +a crew of Corinthians. This he chose, being somewhat nervous about +the large sum of money he was carrying, and thinking that he could +trust the Corinthians, whom he knew, better than a crew of +foreigners.</p> +<p>The Nausicaa was a strange-looking vessel, with a single sail, +and long oars pulled by men who sat on benches along the side. The +prow, which was carved to represent the maiden Nausicaa, stood well +out of the water, and the bulwarks descended in a graceful curve to +rise again at the stern, where the captain stood and shaped his +course by means of a broad paddle, which was hung over the +side.</p> +<p>The voyage began happily enough, the wind being favorable, and +the captain and crew all deference and politeness. But when they +were well out to sea, the behavior of the crew changed; they +answered Arion’s questions with scant politeness, and held +many whispered consultations, which, from the black glances cast at +him, made him uneasy as to his safety. On the second evening, +waking out of a light sleep, he heard them conspiring to throw him +overboard and divide his wealth among them. Arion started up and +implored them not to carry out their evil purpose, offering to hand +over all his wealth, if they would spare his life. His entreaties +and promises were all in vain.</p> +<p>“We give you a fair choice,” said the captain +brutally. “Either leap into the sea at once, or kill yourself +in some other way, and we will bury you decently on +shore.”</p> +<p>Abandoning his vain appeals for mercy, Arion begged them, as a +last favor, to let him sing once more before he died.</p> +<p>“That we will not refuse,” the captain answered; +“though, if you think to move us by your wailing, let me tell +you that you waste your breath!” In reality, he was not +displeased to have an opportunity of hearing the most famous singer +in the world.</p> +<p>Arion put on his sacred robes, in which he used to sing in the +temple of Apollo, and taking his lute he stepped firmly to the prow +of the vessel. There he stood, pale and calm, in the silvery light +of the moon, his fair hair playing with the wind, while the little +waves lifted themselves to look at him, and then ran playfully into +the shadow of the boat, to dash their heads against the beams and +be broken into spray. The sailors were awed in spite of themselves, +as that beautiful voice rose on the breeze. He sang the old song +which he had sung in the Lesbian vineyards when Periander saw him +first. And when he came to the last lines,—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>“Life is but a drop in the deep,</p> +<p>Soon we wake from the last, lone sleep,</p> +<p class="i2">And meet again,”</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>Arion leapt over the side of the vessel, just as he was.</p> +<p>The captain, fearing that some of the crew might be moved to +lend him assistance, gave the order to make all speed ahead. Had he +waited, he might have seen a most wonderful sight. For, as Arion +fell into the sea, the water seemed to become alive beneath him, +and he felt it lifting him up, and carrying him rapidly away from +the ship. Then he discovered that he was seated astride on a great, +black fish, which was swimming very rapidly on the top of the +water, and he knew it must be a dolphin, which had been attracted +by his singing; for the dolphins, unlike most things that live in +the sea, have sharp ears, and are very fond of music. He touched +his lute, to see if the strings had suffered from the water, and, +as he did so, the great back quivered beneath him. Finding, +therefore, that the dolphin liked the music, and thinking that he +owed it some return for saving his life, Arion began to sing, and +sang song after song; whenever he stopped, the dolphin ceased from +swimming, as if to inquire the reason; and when Arion began again, +the dolphin bounded through the water with great strokes of his +broad tail. A strange sight it must have been, had there been any +one there to see! But the dolphin went straight across the open +sea, where no ships were to be seen; for the sailors of that day +did not care to lose sight of the coast, but would sail all the way +round a large bay rather than straight across it. So it was that +Arion came to Tænarus in Greece, without having been seen by +any man. The dolphin took him close to the shore, where he bade it +good-by, and watched it swim away disconsolately.</p> +<p>From Tænarus he made his way on foot to Corinth. Periander +was overjoyed to see him once more; and when he marveled at the +strange costume in which Arion had traveled, Arion related the +whole story.</p> +<p>Periander listened attentively, and, when it was finished, +remarked gravely, “Are you then so little satisfied with your +victories over the musicians, Arion, that you have determined to be +king of story-tellers also?”</p> +<p>“Does your majesty intend to throw doubt on my +story?” asked Arion.</p> +<p>“Far be it from me!” answered Periander. “The +story pleases me well, and if you will tell me another such, I will +take pains to believe that also.”</p> +<p>“Then Zeus be my witness! I will find means to prove +it,” cried Arion.</p> +<p>“Have I not said that I doubted not?” asked +Periander. “Yet I would gladly see the proof. My crown to +your lute upon the issue!”</p> +<p>“So be it!” said Arion. “But first I must ask +your majesty that none may speak of my return; and when the ship +<em>Nausicaa</em> comes to port, let the seamen be dealt with as I +shall appoint!”</p> +<p>The king assented laughing, for he deemed the tale impossible. +After some days, however, it was announced that the ship +<em>Nausicaa</em> was in the harbor. Periander summoned the captain +and all the crew to the palace, and asked them whether they had +brought any news of his minstrel Arion. The captain replied that +men said at Tarentum that Arion was still in Italy, traveling from +place to place, and received everywhere with great honor. The rest +of the sailors confirmed the story, and one of them added that +Arion was said to prefer Italy to Greece, nor had he any intention +of returning to Corinth.</p> +<p>At that moment a curtain was drawn and disclosed Arion, standing +in his sacred robes and holding his lute, just as they had seen him +last in the prow of the ship. The sailors, supposing that they +beheld his spirit, were seized with terror, and fell at the +king’s feet, confessing all their wickedness and begging for +mercy. But Periander was filled with indignation, and spurned them +angrily. Arion interposed, urging the king to be merciful, now that +the seamen had seen their wickedness, and were willing to make +restitution. Periander, however, would not hear of mercy.</p> +<p>“Your compassion bears witness to your noble spirit, +Arion,” he replied. “But these men have planned a most +cruel and cowardly murder, and cruelly shall they suffer for it. +Seize me these men, guards, and bind them!”</p> +<p>The guards came forward and began to lead away the trembling +wretches.</p> +<p>“Stay!” cried Arion. “It is I who am king. Did +not your majesty stake your crown against my lute, and can the +royal word be broken? Back, guards! I claim my wager.”</p> +<p>Periander could not refrain from laughter, but confessed himself +beaten by this piece of strategy. “The wit of Arion,” +he said, “is stronger than the tears of repentance. Release +the prisoners!”</p> +<p>“That being so,” said Arion, “and seeing that +I find myself more easy with the lute, I will restore the royal +crown to Periander.”</p> +<p>So the men were set at liberty, after having restored the +property of Arion, and departed full of gratitude, invoking +blessings on his head.</p> +<p>And lest any man should doubt the truth of the story in time to +come, Arion erected at Tænarus a statue in bronze, +representing a man riding on a dolphin’s back.</p> +<h2><a id="Livy" name="Livy">STORIES FROM LIVY</a></h2> +<h3><a id="Romulus" name="Romulus">Romulus, Founder of +Rome</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>Adapted by Alfred J. Church</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Æneas of Troy, coming to the land of Italy, took to wife +Lavinia, daughter of King Latinus, and built him a city, which he +called Lavinium, after the name of his wife. And, after thirty +years, his son Ascanius went forth from Lavinium with much people, +and built him a new city, which he called Alba. In this city +reigned kings of the house and lineage of Æneas for twelve +generations. Of these kings the eleventh in descent was one Procas, +who, having two sons, Numitor and Amulius, left his kingdom, +according to the custom, to Numitor, the elder. But Amulius drove +out his brother, and reigned in his stead. Nor was he content with +this wickedness, but slew all the male children of his brother. And +the daughter of his brother, that was named Rhea Silvia, he chose +to be a priestess of Vesta, making as though he would do the maiden +honor, but his thought was that the name of his brother should +perish, for they that serve Vesta are vowed to perpetual +virginity.</p> +<p>But it came to pass that Rhea bare twin sons, whose father, it +was said, was the god Mars. Very wroth was Amulius when he heard +this thing; Rhea he made fast in prison, and the children he gave +to certain of his servants that they should cast them into the +river. Now it chanced that at this season Tiber had overflowed his +banks, neither could the servants come near to the stream of the +river; nevertheless they did not doubt that the children would +perish, for all that the overflowing of the water was neither deep +nor of a swift current. Thinking, then, that they had duly +performed the commandment of the king, they set down the babes in +the flood and departed. But after a while the flood abated, and +left the basket wherein the children had been laid on dry ground. +And a she-wolf, coming down from the hill to drink at the river +(for the country in those days was desert and abounding in wild +beasts), heard the crying of the children and ran to them. Nor did +she devour them, but gave them suck; nay, so gentle was she that +Faustulus, the king’s shepherd, chancing to go by, saw that +she licked them with her tongue. This Faustulus took the children +and gave them to his wife to rear; and these, when they were of age +to go by themselves, were not willing to abide with the flocks and +herds, but were hunters, wandering through the forests that were in +those parts. And afterward, being now come to full strength, they +were not content to slay wild beasts only, but would assail troops +of robbers, as these were returning laden with their booty, and +would divide the spoils among the shepherds. Now there was held in +those days, on the hill that is now called the Palatine, a yearly +festival to the god Pan. This festival King Evander first ordained, +having come from Arcadia, in which land, being a land of shepherds, +Pan, that is the god of shepherds, is greatly honored. And when the +young men and their company (for they had gathered a great company +of shepherds about them, and led them in all matters both of +business and of sport) were busy with the festival, there came upon +them certain robbers that had made an ambush in the place, being +very wroth by reason of the booty which they had lost. These laid +hands on Remus, but Romulus they could not take, so fiercely did he +fight against them. Remus, therefore, they delivered up to King +Amulius, accusing him of many things, and chiefly of this, that he +and his companions had invaded the land of Numitor, dealing with +them in the fashion of an enemy and carrying off much spoil. To +Numitor, therefore, did the king deliver Remus, that he might put +him to death. Now Faustulus had believed from the beginning that +the children were of the royal house, for he knew that the babes +had been cast into the river by the king’s command, and the +time also of his finding them agreed thereto. Nevertheless he had +not judged it expedient to open the matter before due time, but +waited till occasion or necessity should arise. But now, there +being such necessity, he opened the matter to Romulus. Numitor +also, when he had the young man Remus in his custody, knowing that +he and his brother were twins, and that the time agreed, and seeing +that they were of a high spirit, bethought him of his grandsons; +and, indeed, having asked many questions of Remus, was come nigh to +knowing of what race he was. And now also Romulus was ready to help +his brother. To come openly with his whole company he dared not, +for he was not a match for the power of King Amulius; but he bade +sundry shepherds make their way to the palace, each as best he +could, appointing to them a time at which they should meet. And now +came Remus also, with a troop of youths gathered together from the +household of Numitor. Then did Romulus and Remus slay King Amulius. +In the meanwhile Numitor gathered the youth of Alba to the citadel, +crying out that they must make the place safe, for that the enemy +was upon them; but when he perceived that the young men had done +the deed, forthwith he called an assembly of the citizens, and set +forth to them the wickedness which his brother had wrought against +him, and how his grandsons had been born and bred and made known to +him, and then, in order, how the tyrant had been slain, himself +having counseled the deed. When he had so spoken the young men came +with their company into the midst of the assembly, and saluted him +as king; to which thing the whole multitude agreeing with one +consent, Numitor was established upon the throne.</p> +<p>After this Romulus and his brother conceived this purpose, that, +leaving their grandfather to be king at Alba, they should build for +themselves a new city in the place where, having been at the first +left to die, they had been brought up by Faustulus the shepherd. +And to this purpose many agreed both of the men of Alba and of the +Latins, and also of the shepherds that had followed them from the +first, holding it for certain all of them that Alba and Lavinium +would be of small account in comparison of this new city which they +should build together. But while the brothers were busy with these +things, there sprang up afresh the same evil thing which had before +wrought such trouble in their house, even the lust of power. For +though the beginnings of the strife between them were peaceful, yet +did it end in great wickedness. The matter fell out in this wise. +Seeing that the brothers were twins, and that neither could claim +to have the preference to the other in respect of his age, it was +agreed between them that the gods that were the guardians of that +country should make known by means of augury which of the two they +chose to give his name to the new city. Then Romulus stood on the +Palatine hill, and when there had been marked out for him a certain +region of the sky, watched therein for a sign; and Remus watched in +like manner, standing on the Aventine. And to Remus first came a +sign, six vultures; but so soon as the sign had been proclaimed +there came another to Romulus, even twelve vultures. Then they that +favored Remus clamored that the gods had chosen him for king, +because he had first seen the birds; and they that favored Romulus +answered that he was to be preferred because he had seen more in +number. This dispute waxed so hot that they fell to fighting; and +in the fight it chanced that Remus was slain. But some say that +when Romulus had marked out the borders of the town which he would +build, and had caused a wall to be built round it, Remus leapt over +the wall, scorning it because it was mean and low; and that Romulus +slew him, crying out, “Thus shall every man perish that shall +dare to leap over my walls.” Only others will have it that +though he perished for this cause Romulus slew him not, but a +certain Celer. This much is certain, that Romulus gained the whole +kingdom for himself, and called the city after his own name.</p> +<p>And now, having first done sacrifice to the Gods, he called a +general assembly of the people, that he might give them laws, +knowing that without laws no city can endure. And judging that +these would be the better kept of his subjects if he should himself +bear something of the show of royal majesty, he took certain signs +of dignity, and especially twelve men that should continually +attend him, bearing bundles of rods, and in the midst of the rods +an axe; these men they called <em>lictors</em>. Meanwhile the city +increased, for the king and his people enlarged their borders, +looking rather to the greatness for which they hoped than to that +which they had. And that this increase might not be altogether +empty walls without men, Romulus set up a sanctuary, to which were +gathered a great multitude of men from the nations round about. All +that were discontented and lovers of novelty came to him. Nor did +he take any account of their condition, whether they were bond or +free, but received them all. Thus was there added to the city great +strength. And the king, when he judged that there was strength +sufficient, was minded to add to the strength counsel. Wherefore he +chose a hundred men for counselors. A hundred he chose, either +because he held that number to be sufficient, or because there were +no more that were fit to bear this dignity and be called Fathers, +for this was the name of these counselors.</p> +<p>After this the people bethought themselves how they should get +for themselves wives, for there were no women in the place. +Wherefore Romulus sent ambassadors to the nations round about, +praying that they should give their daughters to his people for +wives. “Cities,” he said, “have humble beginnings +even as all other things. Nevertheless they that have the Gods and +their own valor to help become great. Now that the gods are with +us, as ye know, be assured also that valor shall not be +wanting.” But the nations round about would not hearken to +him, thinking scorn of this gathering of robbers and slaves and +runaways, so that they said, “Why do ye not open a sanctuary +for women also that so ye may find fit wives for your +people?” Also they feared for themselves and their children +what this new city might grow to. Now when the ambassadors brought +back this answer the Romans were greatly wroth, and would take by +force that which their neighbors would not give of their free will. +And to the end that they might do this more easily, King Romulus +appointed certain days whereon he and his people would hold a +festival with games to Neptune; and to this festival he called all +them that dwelt in the cities round about. But when many were +gathered together (for they were fain to see what this new city +might be), and were now wholly bent on the spectacle of the games, +the young men of the Romans ran in upon them, and carried off all +such as were unwedded among the women. To these King Romulus spake +kindly, saying, “The fault is not with us but with your +fathers, who dealt proudly with us, and would not give you to us in +marriage. But now ye shall be held in all honor as our wives, and +shall have your portion of all that we possess. Put away therefore +your anger, for ye shall find us so much the better husbands than +other men, as we must be to you not for husbands only but parents +also and native country.”</p> +<p>In the meanwhile the parents of them that had been carried off +put on sackcloth, and went about through the cities crying out for +vengeance upon the Romans. And chiefly they sought for help from +Titus Tatius, that was king of the Sabines in those days, and of +great power and renown. But when the Sabines seemed to be tardy in +the matter, the men of Cære first gathered together their +army and marched into the country of the Romans. Against these King +Romulus led forth his men and put them to flight without much ado, +having first slain their king with his own hand. Then, after +returning to Rome, he carried the arms which he had taken from the +body of the king to the hill of the Capitol, and laid them down at +the shepherds’ oak that stood thereon in those days. And when +he had measured out the length and breadth of a temple that he +would build to Jupiter upon the hill, he said, “O Jupiter, I, +King Romulus, offer to thee these arms of a king, and dedicate +therewith a temple in this place, in which temple they that come +after me shall offer to thee like spoils in like manner, when it +shall chance that the leader of our host shall himself slay with +his own hands the leader of the host of the enemy.” And this +was the first temple that was dedicated in Rome. And in all the +time to come two only offered in this manner, to wit, Cornelius +Cossus that slew Lars Tolumnius, king of Veii, and Claudius +Marcellus that slew Britomarus, king of the Gauls.</p> +<p>After this, King Tatius and the Sabines came up against Rome +with a great army. And first of all they gained the citadel by +treachery in this manner. One Tarpeius was governor of the citadel, +whose daughter, Tarpeia by name, going forth from the walls to +fetch water for a sacrifice, took money from the king that she +should receive certain of the soldiers within the citadel; but when +they had been so received, the men cast their shields upon her, +slaying her with the weight of them. This they did either that they +might be thought to have taken the place by force, or that they +judged it to be well that no faith should be kept with traitors. +Some also tell this tale, that the Sabines wore great bracelets of +gold on their left arms, and on their left hands fair rings with +precious stones therein, and that when the maiden covenanted with +them that she should have for a reward that which they carried in +their left hands, they cast their shields upon her. And others say +that she asked for their shields having the purpose to betray them, +and for this cause was slain.</p> +<p>Thus the Sabines had possession of the citadel; and the next day +King Romulus set the battle in array on the plain that lay between +the hill of the Capitol and the hill of the Palatine. And first the +Romans were very eager to recover the citadel, a certain Hostilius +being their leader. But when this man, fighting in the forefront of +the battle, was slain, the Romans turned their backs and fled +before the Sabines, even unto the gate of the Palatine. Then King +Romulus (for he himself had been carried away by the crowd of them +that fled) held up his sword and his spear to the heavens, and +cried aloud, “O Jupiter, here in the Palatine didst thou +first, by the tokens which thou sentest me, lay the foundations of +my city. And lo! the Sabines have taken the citadel by wicked +craft, and have crossed the valley, and are come up even hither. +But if thou sufferest them so far, do thou at the least defend this +place against them, and stay this shameful flight of my people. So +will I build a temple for thee in this place, even a temple of +Jupiter the Stayer, that may be a memorial to after generations of +how thou didst this day save this city.” And when he had so +spoken, even as though he knew that the prayer had been heard, he +cried, “Ye men of Rome, Jupiter bids you stand fast in this +place and renew the battle.” And when the men of Rome heard +these words, it was as if a voice from heaven had spoken to them, +and they stood fast, and the king himself went forward and stood +among the foremost. Now the leader of the Sabines was one Curtius. +This man, as he drave the Romans before him, cried out to his +comrades, “See, we have conquered these men, false hosts and +feeble foes that they are! Surely now they know that it is one +thing to carry off maidens and another to fight with men.” +But whilst he boasted himself thus, King Romulus and a company of +the youth rushed upon him. Now Curtius was fighting on horseback, +and being thus assailed he fled, plunging into a certain pool which +lay between the Palatine hill and the Capitol. Thus did he barely +escape with his life, and the lake was called thereafter +Curtius’ pool. And now the Sabines began to give way to the +Romans, when suddenly the women for whose sake they fought, having +their hair loosened and their garments rent, ran in between them +that fought, crying out, “Shed ye not each other’s +blood, ye that are fathers-in-law and sons-in-law to each other. +But if ye break this bond that is between you, slay us that are the +cause of this trouble. And surely it were better for us to die than +to live if we be bereaved of our fathers or of our husbands.” +With these words they stirred the hearts both of the chiefs and of +the people, so that there was suddenly made a great silence. And +afterward the leaders came forth to make a covenant; and these +indeed so ordered matters that there was not peace only, but one +state where there had been two. For the Sabines came to Rome and +dwelt there; and King Romulus and King Tatius reigned together. +Only, after a while, certain men of Lanuvium slew King Tatius as he +was sacrificing to the Gods at Lavinium; and thereafter Romulus +only was king as before.</p> +<p>When he had reigned thirty and seven years there befell the +thing that shall now be told. On a certain day he called the people +together on the field of Mars, and held a review of his army. But +while he did this there arose suddenly a great storm, with loud +thunderings and very thick clouds, so that the king was hidden away +from the eyes of all the people. Nor indeed was he ever again seen +upon the earth. And when men were recovered of their fear they were +in great trouble, because they had lost their king, though indeed +the Fathers would have it that he had been carried by a whirlwind +into heaven. Yet after a while they began to worship him as being +now a god; and when nevertheless some doubted, and would even +whisper among themselves that Romulus had been torn in pieces by +the Fathers, there came forward a certain Proculus, who spake after +this manner: “Ye men of Rome, this day, in the early morning, +I saw Romulus, the father of this city, come down from heaven and +stand before me. And when great fear came upon me, I prayed that it +might be lawful for me to look upon him face to face. Then said he +to me, ‘Go thy way, tell the men of Rome that it is the will +of them that dwell in heaven that Rome should be the chiefest city +in the world. Bid them therefore be diligent in war; and let them +know for themselves and tell their children after them that there +is no power on earth so great that it shall be able to stand +against them.’ And when he had thus spoken, he departed from +me, going up into heaven.” All men believed Proculus when he +thus spake, and the people ceased from their sorrow when they knew +that King Romulus had been taken up into heaven.</p> +<h3><a id="Horatius" name="Horatius">How Horatius Held the +Bridge</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>Adapted by Alfred J. Church</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p class="quote">[King Tarquin had been driven from Rome because of +his tyranny.]</p> +<p>King Tarquin and his son Lucius (for he only remained to him of +the three) fled to Lars Porsenna, king of Clusium, and besought him +that he would help them. “Suffer not,” they said, +“that we, who are Tuscans by birth, should remain any more in +poverty and exile. And take heed also to thyself and thine own +kingdom if thou permit this new fashion of driving forth kings to +go unpunished. For surely there is that in freedom which men +greatly desire, and if they that be kings defend not their dignity +as stoutly as others seek to overthrow it, then shall the highest +be made even as the lowest, and there shall be an end of kingship, +than which there is nothing more honorable under heaven.” +With these words they persuaded King Porsenna, who judging it well +for the Etrurians that there should be a king at Rome, and that +king an Etrurian by birth, gathered together a great army and came +up against Rome. But when men heard of his coming, so mighty a city +was Clusium in those days, and so great the fame of King Porsenna, +there was such fear as had never been before. Nevertheless they +were steadfastly purposed to hold out. And first all that were in +the country fled into the city, and round about the city they set +guards to keep it, part thereof being defended by walls, and part, +for so it seemed, being made safe by the river. But here a great +peril had well-nigh overtaken the city; for there was a wooden +bridge on the river by which the enemy had crossed but for the +courage of a certain Horatius Cocles. The matter fell out in this +wise.</p> +<p>There was a certain hill which men called Janiculum on the side +of the river, and this hill King Porsenna took by a sudden attack. +Which when Horatius saw (for he chanced to have been set to guard +the bridge, and saw also how the enemy were running at full speed +to the place, and how the Romans were fleeing in confusion and +threw away their arms as they ran), he cried with a loud voice, +“Men of Rome, it is to no purpose that ye thus leave your +post and flee, for if ye leave this bridge behind you for men to +pass over, ye shall soon find that ye have more enemies in your +city than in Janiculum. Do ye therefore break it down with axe and +fire as best ye can. In the meanwhile I, so far as one man may do, +will stay the enemy.” And as he spake he ran forward to the +farther end of the bridge and made ready to keep the way against +the enemy. Nevertheless there stood two with him, Lartius and +Herminius by name, men of noble birth both of them and of great +renown in arms. So these three for a while stayed the first onset +of the enemy; and the men of Rome meanwhile brake down the bridge. +And when there was but a small part remaining, and they that brake +it down called to the three that they should come back, Horatius +bade Lartius and Herminius return, but he himself remained on the +farther side, turning his eyes full of wrath in threatening fashion +on the princes of the Etrurians, and crying, “Dare ye now to +fight with me? or why are ye thus come at the bidding of your +master, King Porsenna, to rob others of the freedom that ye care +not to have for yourselves?” For a while they delayed, +looking each man to his neighbor, who should first deal with this +champion of the Romans. Then, for very shame, they all ran forward, +and raising a great shout, threw their javelins at him. These all +he took upon his shield, nor stood the less firmly in his place on +the bridge, from which when they would have thrust him by force, of +a sudden the men of Rome raised a great shout, for the bridge was +now altogether broken down, and fell with a great crash into the +river. And as the enemy stayed a while for fear, Horatius turned +him to the river and said, “O Father Tiber, I beseech thee +this day with all reverence that thou kindly receive this soldier +and his arms.” And as he spake he leapt with all his arms +into the river and swam across to his own people, and though many +javelins of the enemy fell about him, he was not one whit hurt. Nor +did such valor fail to receive due honor from the city. For the +citizens set up a statue of Horatius in the market-place; and they +gave him of the public land so much as he could plough about in one +day. Also there was this honor paid him, that each citizen took +somewhat of his own store and gave it to him, for food was scarce +in the city by reason of the siege.</p> +<h3><a id="Cincinnatus" name="Cincinnatus">How Cincinnatus Saved +Rome</a></h3> +<p class="rgt"><em>Adapted by Alfred J. Church</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>It came to pass that the Æquians brake the treaty of peace +which they had made with Rome, and, taking one Gracchus +Clœlius for their leader, marched into the land of Tusculum; +and when they had plundered the country thereabouts, and had +gathered together much booty, they pitched their camp on Mount +Ægidus. To them the Romans sent three ambassadors, who should +complain of the wrong done, and seek redress. But when they would +have fulfilled their errand, Gracchus the Æquian spake, +saying, “If ye have any message from the Senate of Rome, tell +it to this oak, for I have other business to do;” for it +chanced that there was a great oak that stood hard by, and made a +shadow over the general’s tent. Then one of the ambassadors, +as he turned to depart, made reply, “Yes, let this sacred oak +and all the gods that are in heaven hear how ye have wrongfully +broken the treaty of peace; and let them that hear help us also in +the day of battle, when we shall avenge on you the laws both of +gods and of men that ye have set at nought.”</p> +<p>When the ambassadors had returned to Rome the Senate commanded +that there should be levied two armies; and that Minucius the +Consul should march with the one against the Æquians on Mount +Ægidus, and that the other should hinder the enemy from their +plundering. This levying the tribunes of the Commons sought to +hinder; and perchance had done so, but there also came well-nigh to +the walls of the city a great host of the Sabines plundering all +the country. Thereupon the people willingly offered themselves, and +there were levied forthwith two great armies. Nevertheless when the +Consul Minucius had marched to Mount Ægidus, and had pitched +his camp not far from the Æquians, he did nought for fear of +the enemy, but kept himself within his entrenchments. And when the +enemy perceived that he was afraid, growing the bolder for his lack +of courage, they drew lines about him, keeping him in on every +side. Yet before that he was altogether shut up there escaped from +his camp five horsemen, that bare tidings to Rome how that the +Consul, together with his army, was besieged. The people were +sorely dismayed to hear such tidings; nor, when they cast about for +help, saw they any man that might be sufficient for such peril, +save only Cincinnatus. By common consent, therefore, he was made +Dictator for six months, a thing that may well be noted by those +who hold that nothing is to be accounted of in comparison of +riches, and that no man may win great honor or show forth singular +virtue unless he be well furnished with wealth. For here in this +great peril of the Roman people there was no hope of safety but in +one who was cultivating with his own hand a little plot of scarcely +three acres of ground. For when the messengers of the people came +to him they found him ploughing, or, as some say, digging a ditch. +When they had greeted each the other, the messengers said, +“May the Gods prosper this thing to the Roman people and to +thee. Put on thy robe and hear the words of the people.” Then +said Cincinnatus, being not a little astonished, “Is all +well?” and at the same time he called to his wife Racilia +that she should bring forth his robe from the cottage. So she +brought it forth, and the man wiped from him the dust and the +sweat, and clad himself in his robe, and stood before the +messengers. These said to him, “The people of Rome make thee +Dictator, and bid thee come forthwith to the city.” And at +the same time they told how the Consul and his army were besieged +by the Æquians. So Cincinnatus departed to Rome; and when he +came to the other side of the Tiber there met him first his three +sons, and next many of his kinsfolk and friends, and after them a +numerous company of the nobles. These all conducted him to his +house, the lictors, four and twenty in number, marching before him. +There was also assembled a very great concourse of the people, +fearing much how the Dictator might deal with them, for they knew +what manner of man he was, and that there was no limit to his +power, nor any appeal from him.</p> +<p>The next day before dawn the Dictator came into the +market-place, and appointed one Lucius Tarquinius to be Master of +the Horse. This Tarquinius was held by common consent to excel all +other men in exercises of war; only, though, being a noble by +birth, he should have been among the horsemen, he had served, for +lack of means, as a foot soldier. This done he called an assembly +of the people and commanded that all the shops in the city should +be shut; that no man should concern himself with any private +business, but all that were of an age to go to the war should be +present before sunset in the Field of Mars, each man having with +him provisions of cooked food for five days, and twelve stakes. As +for them that were past the age, they should prepare the food while +the young men made ready their arms and sought for the stakes. +These last they took as they found them, no man hindering them; and +when the time appointed by the Dictator was come, all were +assembled, ready, as occasion might serve, either to march or to +give battle. Forthwith they set out, the Dictator leading the foot +soldiers by their legions, and Tarquinius the horsemen, and each +bidding them that followed make all haste. “We must needs +come,” they said, “to our journey’s end while it +is yet night. Remember that the Consul and his army have been +besieged now for three days, and that no man knows what a day or a +night may bring forth.” The soldiers themselves also were +zealous to obey, crying out to the standard-bearers that they +should quicken their steps, and to their fellows that they should +not lag behind. Thus they came at midnight to Mount Ægidus, +and when they perceived that the enemy was at hand they halted the +standards. Then the Dictator rode forward to see, so far as the +darkness would suffer him, how great was the camp of the +Æquians and after what fashion it was pitched. This done he +commanded that the baggage should be gathered together into a heap, +and that the soldiers should stand every man in his own place. +After this he compassed about the whole army of the enemy with his +own army, and commanded that at a set signal every man should +shout, and when they had shouted should dig a trench and set up +therein the stakes. This the soldiers did, and the noise of the +shouting passed over the camp of the enemy and came into the city, +causing therein great joy, even as it caused great fear in the +camp. For the Romans cried, “These be our countrymen, and +they bring us help.” Then said the Consul, “We must +make no delay. By that shout is signified, not that they are come +only, but that they are already dealing with the enemy. Doubtless +the camp of the Æquians is even now assailed from without. +Take ye your arms and follow me.” So the legion went forth, +it being yet night, to the battle, and as they went they shouted, +that the Dictator might be aware. Now the Æquians had set +themselves to hinder the making of a ditch and rampart which should +shut them in; but when the Romans from the camp fell upon them, +fearing lest these should make their way through the midst of their +camp, they left them that were with Cincinnatus to finish their +entrenching, and fought with the Consul. And when it was now light, +lo! they were already shut in, and the Romans, having finished +their entrenching, began to trouble them. And when the +Æquians perceived that the battle was now on either side of +them, they could withstand no longer, but sent ambassadors praying +for peace, and saying, “Ye have prevailed; slay us not, but +rather permit us to depart, leaving our arms behind us.” Then +said the Dictator, “I care not to have the blood of the +Æquians. Ye may depart, but ye shall depart passing under the +yoke, that ye may thus acknowledge to all men that ye are indeed +vanquished.” Now the yoke is thus made. There are set up in +the ground two spears, and over them is bound by ropes a third +spear. So the Æquians passed under the yoke.</p> +<p>In the camp of the enemy there was found abundance of spoil. +This the Dictator gave wholly to his own soldiers. “Ye were +well-nigh a spoil to the enemy,” said he to the army of the +Consul, “therefore ye shall have no share in the spoiling of +them. As for thee, Minucius, be thou a lieutenant only till thou +hast learnt how to bear thyself as a consul.” Meanwhile at +Rome there was held a meeting of the Senate, at which it was +commanded that Cincinnatus should enter the city in triumph, his +soldiers following him in order of march. Before his chariot there +were led the generals of the enemy; also the standards were carried +in the front; and after these came the army, every man laden with +spoil. That day there was great rejoicing in the city, every man +setting forth a banquet before his doors in the street.</p> +<p>After this, Virginius, that had borne false witness against +Cæso, was found guilty of perjury, and went into exile. And +when Cincinnatus saw that justice had been done to this evil-doer, +he resigned his dictatorship, having held it for sixteen days +only.</p> +<h3><a id="Virginia" name="Virginia">The Story of Virginia</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>Adapted by Alfred J. Church</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>It was agreed between the nobles and the commons that, to make +an end of disputing about the laws, ambassadors should be sent into +Greece, and especially to Athens (which city and its lawgiver, +Solon, were held in high repute in those days), to learn what +manner of laws and customs they had, and to bring back a report of +them. And when the ambassadors had brought back their report, it +seemed good to the people that in the following year there should +be appointed neither consuls nor any other magistrate, but +decemvirs only; that is to say, ten men, who should set in order +the laws of Rome. Thus it came to pass in the ninety and first year +from the driving out of the kings, that decemvirs were appointed in +the stead of consuls, Appius Claudius being the chief of the +ten.</p> +<p>For a while these pleased the people well, doing justice equally +between man and man. And the custom was that each day one of the +ten sat as judge with the twelve lictors about him, the nine others +sitting with one minister only. Also they busied themselves with +the ordering of the laws; and at last set forth ten tables on which +these were written. At the same time they called the people +together to an assembly, and spake to them thus: “The Gods +grant that this undertaking may turn to the credit of the state, +and of you, and of your children. Go, therefore, and read these +laws which we have set forth; for though we have done what ten men +could do to provide laws that should be just to all, whether they +be high or low, yet the understandings of many men may yet change +many things for the better. Consider therefore all these matters in +your own minds, and debate them among yourselves. For we will that +the Roman people should be bound by such laws only as they shall +have agreed together to establish.”</p> +<p>The ten tables were therefore set forth, and when these had been +sufficiently considered, and such corrections made therein as +seemed good, a regular assembly of the people was called, and the +laws were duly established. But now there was spread abroad a +report that two tables were yet wanting, and that when these should +have been added the whole would be complete; and thence there arose +a desire that the Ten should be appointed to hold office a second +year. This indeed was done; but Appius Claudius so ordered matters +that there were elected together with him none of the chief men of +the state, but only such as were of an inferior condition and +fortune.</p> +<p>After this the Ten began more and more to set aside all law and +right. Thus whereas at the first one only on each day was followed +by the twelve lictors, each of the Ten came daily into the +market-place so attended, and whereas before the lictors carried +bundles of rods only, now there was bound up with the rods an axe; +whereby was signified the power of life and death. Their actions +also agreed with this show, for they and their ministers plundered +the goods and chattels of the people. Some also they scourged, and +some they beheaded. And when they had so put a man to death, they +would divide his substance among those that waited upon them to do +their pleasure.</p> +<p>Among their misdeeds two were especially notable. There was a +certain Sicinius in the host, a man of singular strength and +courage, who took it ill that the Ten should thus set themselves +above all law, and was wont to say to his comrades that the commons +should depart from the city as they had done in time past, or +should at the least make them tribunes to be their champions as of +old. This Sicinius the Ten sent on before the army, there being +then war with the Sabines, to search out a place for a camp; and +with him they sent certain others, bidding them slay him when they +should have come to some convenient place. This they did, but not +without suffering much loss; for the man fought for his life and +defended himself, slaying many of his enemies. Then they that +escaped ran into the camp, saying that Sicinius had fallen into an +ambuscade, and had died along with certain others of the soldiers. +At the first, indeed, this story was believed; but afterward, when, +by permission of the Ten, there went some to bury the dead, they +found that none of the dead bodies had been spoiled, and that +Sicinius lay with his arms in the midst, the others having their +faces toward him; also that there was no dead body of an enemy in +the place, nor any track as of them that had gone from the place; +for which reasons they brought back tidings that Sicinius had +certainly been slain by his own comrades. At this there was great +wrath in the camp; and the soldiers were ready to carry the body of +Sicinius to Rome, but that the Ten made a military funeral for him +at the public cost. So they buried Sicinius with great lamentation; +but the Ten were thereafter in very ill repute among the +soldiers.</p> +<p>Again, there was a certain centurion, Lucius Virginius by name, +an upright man and of good credit both at home and abroad. This +Virginius had a daughter, Virginia, a very fair and virtuous +maiden, whom he had espoused to a certain Icilius that had once +been a tribune of the commons. On this maiden Appius Claudius, the +chief of the Ten, sought to lay hands, and for this end gave +commandment to one Marcus Claudius, who was one of the clients of +his house, that he should claim the girl for a slave. On the morrow +therefore, as Virginia passed across the market-place, being on her +way to school (for the schools in those days were held in the +market-place), this Claudius seized her, affirming that she was +born of a woman that was a slave, and was therefore by right a +slave herself. The maiden standing still for fear, the nurse that +attended her set up a great cry and called the citizens to help. +Straightway there was a great concourse, for many knew the +maiden’s father Virginius, and Icilius to whom she was +betrothed. Then said Claudius, seeing that he could not take her by +force, “There is no need of tumult or of gathering a crowd. I +would proceed by law, not by force.” Thereupon he summoned +the girl before the judge. When they came to the judgment-seat of +Appius the man told a tale that had already been agreed upon +between the two. “This girl,” he said, “was born +in my house, and was thence secretly taken to the house of +Virginius, and passed off on the man as his daughter. Of this I +will bring proof sufficient, such as will convince Virginius +himself, who doubtless has received the chief wrong in this matter. +But in the meanwhile it is reasonable that the slave should remain +in the house of her master.” To this the friends of the girl +made answer, “Virginius is absent on the service of the +state, and will be here within the space of two days, if tidings of +this matter be sent to him. Now it is manifestly wrong that +judgment concerning a man’s children should be given while he +is himself absent. Let the cause, therefore, be postponed till he +come. Meanwhile let the maiden have her freedom, according to the +law which Appius and his fellows have themselves +established.”</p> +<p>Appius gave sentence in these words: “That I am a favorer +of freedom is manifest from this law of which ye make mention. Yet +this law must be observed in all cases and without respect of +persons; and as to this girl, there is none but her father only to +whom her owner may yield the custody of her. Let her father +therefore be sent for; but in the meanwhile Claudius must have +custody of her, as is his right, only giving security that he will +produce her on the morrow.”</p> +<p>At this decree, so manifestly unrighteous was it, there was much +murmuring, yet none dared to oppose it, till Numitorius, the +girl’s uncle, and Icilius came forth from the crowd. The +lictor cried, “Sentence has been given,” and bade +Icilius give place. Then Icilius turned to Appius, saying, +“Appius, thou must drive me hence with the sword before thou +canst have thy will in this matter. This maiden is my espoused +wife; and verily, though thou call hither all thy lictors and the +lictors of thy colleagues, she shall not remain in any house save +the house of her father.”</p> +<p>To this Appius, seeing that the multitude was greatly moved and +were ready to break forth into open violence, made this reply: +“Icilius cares not for Virginia, but being a lover of +sedition and tumult, seeks an occasion for strife. Such occasion I +will not give him to-day. But that he may know that I yield not to +his insolence, but have regard to the rights of a father, I +pronounce no sentence. I ask of Marcus Claudius that he will +concede something of his right, and suffer surety to be given for +the girl against the morrow. But if on the morrow the father be not +present here, then I tell Icilius and his fellows that he who is +the author of this law will not fail to execute it. Neither will I +call in the lictors of my colleague to put down them that raise a +tumult. For this my own lictors shall suffice.”</p> +<p>So much time being thus gained, it seemed good to the friends of +the maiden that the son of Numitorius and the brother of Icilius, +young men both of them and active, should hasten with all speed to +the camp, and bring Virginius thence as quickly as might be. So the +two set out, and putting their horses to their full speed, carried +tidings of the matter to the father. As for Appius, he sat awhile +on the judgment-seat, waiting for other business to be brought +before him, for he would not have it seem that he had come for this +cause only; but finding that there was none, and indeed the people +were wholly intent on the matter of Virginia, he departed to his +own house. Thence he sent an epistle to his colleagues that were at +the camp, saying, “Grant no leave of absence to Virginius, +but keep him in safe custody with you.” But this availed +nothing, for already, before ever the epistle was brought to the +camp, at the very first watch of the night, Virginius had set +forth.</p> +<p>When Virginius was come to the city, it being then early dawn, +he put on mean apparel, as was the custom with such as were in +danger of life or liberty, and carried about his daughter, who was +clad in like manner, praying all that he met to help and succor +him. “Remember,” said he, “that day by day I +stand fighting for you and for your children against your enemies. +But what shall this profit you or me if this city being safe, +nevertheless our children stand in peril of slavery and +shame?” Icilius spake in like manner, and the women (for a +company of matrons followed Virginia) wept silently, stirring +greatly the hearts of all that looked upon them. But Appius, so set +was his heart on evil, heeded none of these things; but so soon as +he had sat him down on the seat of judgment, and he that claimed +the girl had said a few words complaining that right had not been +done to him, he gave his sentence, suffering not Virginius to +speak. What pretense of reason he gave can scarce be imagined, but +the sentence (for this only is certain) was that the girl should be +in the custody of Claudius till the matter should be decided by +law. But when Claudius came to take the maiden, her friends and all +the women that bare her company thrust him back. Then said Appius, +“I have sure proof, and this not from the violence only of +Icilius, but from what is told to me of gatherings by night in the +city, that there is a purpose in certain men to stir up sedition. +Knowing this I have come hither with armed men; not to trouble +quiet citizens, but to punish such as would break the peace of the +state. Such as be wise, therefore, will keep themselves quiet. +Lictor, remove this crowd, and make room for the master that he may +take his slave.” These words he thundered forth in great +anger; and the people, when they heard them, fell back in fear, so +that the maiden stood without defense. Then Virginius, seeing that +there were none to help him, said to Appius, “I pray thee, +Appius, if I have said aught that was harsh to thee, that thou wilt +pardon it, knowing how a father must needs suffer in such a case. +But now suffer me to inquire somewhat of this woman that is the +girl’s nurse, that I may know what is the truth of the +matter. For if I have been deceived in the matter, and am not in +truth father to the girl, I shall be more content.” Then, +Appius giving permission, he led his daughter and her nurse a +little space aside, to the shops that are by the temple of +Cloacina, and snatching a knife from a butcher’s, said, +“My daughter, there is but this one way that I can make thee +free,” and he drave the knife into her breast. Then he looked +back to the judgment-seat and cried, “With this blood, +Appius, I devote thee and thy life to perdition.” There went +up a great cry from all that stood there when they saw so dreadful +a deed, and Appius commanded that they should seize him. But no man +laid hands on him, for he made a way for himself with the knife +that he carried in his hand, and they that followed defended him, +till he came to the gate of the city. Then Icilius and Numitorius +took up the dead body of the maiden and showed it to the people, +saying much of the wickedness of him who had driven a father to do +such a deed, and much also of the liberty which had been taken from +them, and which, if they would only use this occasion, they might +now recover. As for Appius, he cried out to his lictors that they +should lay hands on Icilius, and when the crowd suffered not the +lictors to approach, would himself have made a way to him, by the +help of the young nobles that stood by him. But now the crowd had +leaders, themselves also nobles, Valerius and Horatius. These said, +“If Appius would deal with Icilius according to law we will +be securities for him; if he mean to use violence, we are ready to +meet him.” And when the lictor would have laid hands on these +two the multitude brake his rods to pieces. Then Appius would have +spoken to the people, but they clamored against him, so that at +last, losing all courage and fearing for his life, he covered his +head and fled secretly to his own house.</p> +<p>Meanwhile Virginius had made his way to the camp, which was now +on Mount Vecilius, and stirred up the army yet more than he had +stirred the city. “Lay not to my charge,” he said, +“that which is in truth the wickedness of Appius; neither +turn from me as from the murderer of my daughter. Her indeed I +slew, thinking that death was better than slavery and shame; nor +indeed had I survived her but that I hoped to avenge her death by +the help of my comrades.” Others also that had come from the +city persuaded the soldiers; some saying that the power of the Ten +was overthrown, and others that Appius had gone of his own accord +into banishment. These words so prevailed with the soldiers that, +without any bidding from their generals, they took up their arms, +and, with their standards carried before them, came to Rome and +pitched their camp on the Aventine.</p> +<p>Nevertheless, the Ten were still obstinate, affirming that they +would not resign their authority till they had finished the work +for which they had been appointed, namely, the drawing up of the +twelve tables of the laws. And when the army perceived this they +marched from the Aventine and took up their abode on the Sacred +Hill, all the commons following them, so that there was not left in +the city a single man that had ability to move; nor did the women +and children stay behind, but all, as many as could move, bare them +company; for Duilius, that had been tribune, said, “Unless +the Senate see the city deserted, they will take no heed of your +complaints.” And indeed, when these perceived what had taken +place, they were more urgent than before that the Ten should resign +their office. And these at last consented. “Only,” said +they, “do not suffer us to perish from the rage of the +commons. It will be an ill day for the nobles when the people shall +learn to take vengeance on them.” And the Senate so wrought +that though at the first the commons in their great fury demanded +that the Ten should be burned alive, yet they were persuaded to +yield, it being agreed that each man should be judged by the law +according to his deserts. Appius, therefore, was accused by +Virginius, and being cast into prison, slew himself before the day +appointed for the trial. Oppius also, another of the Ten, whom the +commons hated for his misdeeds next after Appius, was accused and +died in like manner. As for Claudius, that had claimed Virginia for +his slave, he was condemned to be banished. And thus at the last, +the guilty having been punished, the spirit of Virginia had +rest.</p> +<h3><a id="Curtius" name="Curtius">The Sacrifice of Marcus +Curtius</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>Adapted by Alfred J. Church</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>In the three hundred and ninety-third year after the building of +the city there was seen suddenly to open in the market-place a +great gulf of a deepness that no man could measure. And this gulf +could not be filled up, though all the people brought earth and +stones and the like to cast into it. But at the last there was sent +a message from the Gods that the Romans must inquire what was that +by which more than all things the state was made strong. +“For,” said the soothsayer, “this thing must be +dedicated to the Gods in this place if the commonwealth of Rome is +to stand fast forever.” And while they doubted, one Marcus +Curtius, a youth that had won great renown in war, rebuked them, +saying, “Can ye doubt that Rome hath nothing better than arms +and valor?”</p> +<p>Then all the people stood silent; and Curtius, first beholding +the temples of the immortal Gods that hung over the market-place +and the Capitol, and afterward stretching forth his hands both to +heaven above and to this gulf that opened its mouth to the very +pit, as it were, of hell, devoted himself for his country; and +so—being clothed in armor and with arms in his hand, and +having his horse arrayed as sumptuously as might be—he leapt +into the gulf; and the multitude, both of men and women, threw in +gifts and offerings of the fruits of the earth, and afterward the +earth closed together.</p> +<h2><a id="Ovid" name="Ovid">STORIES FROM OVID</a></h2> +<h3><a id="Pitcher" name="Pitcher">The Miraculous Pitcher</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Nathaniel Hawthorne</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>One evening, in times long ago, old Philemon and his old wife +Baucis sat at their cottage door, enjoying the calm and beautiful +sunset. They had already eaten their frugal supper, and intended +now to spend a quiet hour or two before bedtime. So they talked +together about their garden, and their cow, and their bees, and +their grapevine, which clambered over the cottage wall, and on +which the grapes were beginning to turn purple. But the rude shouts +of children, and the fierce barking of dogs, in the village near at +hand, grew louder and louder, until, at last, it was hardly +possible for Baucis and Philemon to hear each other speak.</p> +<p>“Ah, wife,” cried Philemon, “I fear some poor +traveler is seeking hospitality among our neighbors yonder, and, +instead of giving him food and lodging, they have set their dogs at +him, as their custom is!”</p> +<p>“Well-a-day!” answered old Baucis, “I do wish +our neighbors felt a little more kindness for their +fellow-creatures. And only think of bringing up their children in +this naughty way, and patting them on the head when they fling +stones at strangers!”</p> +<p>“Those children will never come to any good,” said +Philemon, shaking his white head. “To tell you the truth, +wife, I should not wonder if some terrible thing were to happen to +all the people in the village, unless they mend their manners. But, +as for you and me, so long as Providence affords us a crust of +bread, let us be ready to give half to any poor, homeless stranger +that may come along and need it.”</p> +<p>“That’s right, husband!” said Baucis. +“So we will!”</p> +<p>These old folks, you must know, were quite poor, and had to work +pretty hard for a living. Old Philemon toiled diligently in his +garden, while Baucis was always busy with her distaff, or making a +little butter and cheese with their cow’s milk, or doing one +thing and another about the cottage. Their food was seldom anything +but bread, milk, and vegetables, with sometimes a portion of honey +from their beehive, and now and then a bunch of grapes, that had +ripened against the cottage wall. But they were two of the kindest +old people in the world, and would cheerfully have gone without +their dinners, any day, rather than refuse a slice of their brown +loaf, a cup of new milk, and a spoonful of honey, to the weary +traveler who might pause before their door. They felt as if such +guests had a sort of holiness, and that they ought, therefore, to +treat them better and more bountifully than their own selves.</p> +<p>Their cottage stood on a rising ground, at some short distance +from a village, which lay in a hollow valley, that was about half a +mile in breadth. This valley, in past ages, when the world was new, +had probably been the bed of a lake. There fishes had glided to and +fro in the depths, and water-weeds had grown along the margin, and +trees and hills had seen their reflected images in the broad and +peaceful mirror. But, as the waters subsided, men had cultivated +the soil, and built houses on it, so that it was now a fertile +spot, and bore no traces of the ancient lake, except a very small +brook, which meandered through the midst of the village, and +supplied the inhabitants with water. The valley had been dry land +so long that oaks had sprung up, and grown great and high, and +perished with old age, and been succeeded by others, as tall and +stately as the first. Never was there a prettier or more fruitful +valley. The very sight of the plenty around them should have made +the inhabitants kind and gentle, and ready to show their gratitude +to Providence by doing good to their fellow-creatures.</p> +<p>But, we are sorry to say, the people of this lovely village were +not worthy to dwell in a spot on which Heaven had smiled so +beneficently. They were a very selfish and hard-hearted people, and +had no pity for the poor, nor sympathy with the homeless. They +would only have laughed, had anybody told them that human beings +owe a debt of love to one another, because there is no other method +of paying the debt of love and care which all of us owe to +Providence. You will hardly believe what I am going to tell you. +These naughty people taught their children to be no better than +themselves, and used to clap their hands, by way of encouragement, +when they saw the little boys and girls run after some poor +stranger, shouting at his heels, and pelting him with stones. They +kept large and fierce dogs, and whenever a traveler ventured to +show himself in the village street, this pack of disagreeable curs +scampered to meet him, barking, snarling, and showing their teeth. +Then they would seize him by his leg, or by his clothes, just as it +happened; and if he were ragged when he came, he was generally a +pitiable object before he had time to run away. This was a very +terrible thing to poor travelers, as you may suppose, especially +when they chanced to be sick, or feeble, or lame, or old. Such +persons (if they once knew how badly these unkind people, and their +unkind children and curs, were in the habit of behaving) would go +miles and miles out of their way, rather than try to pass through +the village again.</p> +<p>What made the matter seem worse, if possible, was that when rich +persons came in their chariots, or riding on beautiful horses, with +their servants in rich liveries attending on them, nobody could be +more civil and obsequious than the inhabitants of the village. They +would take off their hats, and make the humblest bows you ever saw. +If the children were rude, they were pretty certain to get their +ears boxed; and as for the dogs, if a single cur in the pack +presumed to yelp, his master instantly beat him with a club, and +tied him up without any supper. This would have been all very well, +only it proved that the villagers cared much about the money that a +stranger had in his pocket, and nothing whatever for the human +soul, which lives equally in the beggar and the prince.</p> +<p>So now you can understand why old Philemon spoke so sorrowfully, +when he heard the shouts of the children and the barking of the +dogs, at the farther extremity of the village street. There was a +confused din, which lasted a good while, and seemed to pass quite +through the breadth of the valley.</p> +<p>“I never heard the dogs so loud!” observed the good +old man.</p> +<p>“Nor the children so rude!” answered his good old +wife.</p> +<p>They sat shaking their heads, one to the other, while the noise +came nearer and nearer; until, at the foot of the little eminence +on which their cottage stood, they saw two travelers approaching on +foot. Close behind them came the fierce dogs, snarling at their +very heels. A little farther off ran a crowd of children, who sent +up shrill cries, and flung stones at the two strangers, with all +their might. Once or twice, the younger of the two men (he was a +slender and very active figure) turned about and drove back the +dogs with a staff which he carried in his hand. His companion, who +was a very tall person, walked calmly along as if disdaining to +notice either the naughty children or the pack of curs, whose +manners the children seemed to imitate.</p> +<p>Both of the travelers were very humbly clad, and looked as if +they might not have money enough in their pockets to pay for a +night’s lodging. And this, I am afraid, was the reason why +the villagers had allowed their children and dogs to treat them so +rudely.</p> +<p>“Come, wife,” said Philemon to Baucis, “let us +go and meet these poor people. No doubt, they feel almost too +heavy-hearted to climb the hill.”</p> +<p>“Go you and meet them,” answered Baucis, +“while I make haste within doors, and see whether we can get +them anything for supper. A comfortable bowl of bread and milk +would do wonders towards raising their spirits.”</p> +<p>Accordingly, she hastened into the cottage. Philemon, on his +part, went forward, and extended his hand with so hospitable an +aspect that there was no need of saying what nevertheless he did +say, in the heartiest tone imaginable,—</p> +<p>“Welcome, strangers! welcome!”</p> +<p>“Thank you!” replied the younger of the two, in a +lively kind of way, notwithstanding his weariness and trouble. +“This is quite another greeting than we have met with yonder +in the village. Pray, why do you live in such a bad +neighborhood?”</p> +<p>“Ah!” observed old Philemon, with a quiet and benign +smile, “Providence put me here, I hope, among other reasons, +in order that I may make you what amends I can for the +inhospitality of my neighbors.”</p> +<p>“Well said, old father!” cried the traveler, +laughing; “and, if the truth must be told, my companion and +myself need some amends. Those children (the little rascals!) have +bespattered us finely with their mud-balls; and one of the curs has +torn my cloak, which was ragged enough already. But I took him +across the muzzle with my staff; and I think you may have heard him +yelp, even thus far off.”</p> +<p>Philemon was glad to see him in such good spirits; nor, indeed, +would you have fancied, by the traveler’s look and manner, +that he was weary with a long day’s journey, besides being +disheartened by rough treatment at the end of it. He was dressed in +rather an odd way, with a sort of cap on his head, the brim of +which stuck out over both ears. Though it was a summer evening, he +wore a cloak, which he kept wrapt closely about him, perhaps +because his under garments were shabby. Philemon perceived, too, +that he had on a singular pair of shoes; but, as it was now growing +dusk, and as the old man’s eyesight was none the sharpest, he +could not precisely tell in what the strangeness consisted. One +thing, certainly, seemed queer. The traveler was so wonderfully +light and active, that it appeared as if his feet sometimes rose +from the ground of their own accord, or could only be kept down by +an effort.</p> +<p>“I used to be light-footed, in my youth,” said +Philemon to the traveler. “But I always found my feet grow +heavier towards nightfall.”</p> +<p>“There is nothing like a good staff to help one +along,” answered the stranger; “and I happen to have an +excellent one, as you see.”</p> +<p>This staff, in fact, was the oddest-looking staff that Philemon +had ever beheld. It was made of olive-wood, and had something like +a little pair of wings near the top. Two snakes, carved in the +wood, were represented as twining themselves about the staff, and +were so very skillfully executed that old Philemon (whose eyes, you +know, were getting rather dim) almost thought them alive, and that +he could see them wriggling and twisting.</p> +<p>“A curious piece of work, sure enough!” said he. +“A staff with wings! It would be an excellent kind of stick +for a little boy to ride astride of!”</p> +<p>By this time Philemon and his two guests had reached the cottage +door.</p> +<p>“Friends,” said the old man, “sit down and +rest yourselves here on this bench. My good wife Baucis has gone to +see what you can have for supper. We are poor folks; but you shall +be welcome to whatever we have in the cupboard.”</p> +<p>The younger stranger threw himself carelessly on the bench, +letting his staff fall, as he did so. And here happened something +rather marvelous, though trifling enough, too. The staff seemed to +get up from the ground of its own accord, and, spreading its little +pair of wings, it half hopped, half flew, and leaned itself against +the wall of the cottage. There it stood quite still, except that +the snakes continued to wriggle. But, in my private opinion, old +Philemon’s eyesight had been playing him tricks again.</p> +<p>Before he could ask any questions, the elder stranger drew his +attention from the wonderful staff, by speaking to him.</p> +<p>“Was there not,” asked the stranger, in a remarkably +deep tone of voice, “a lake, in very ancient times, covering +the spot where now stands yonder village?”</p> +<p>“Not in my day, friend,” answered Philemon; +“and yet I am an old man, as you see. There were always the +fields and meadows, just as they are now, and the old trees, and +the little stream murmuring through the midst of the valley. My +father, nor his father before him, ever saw it otherwise, so far as +I know; and doubtless it will still be the same, when old Philemon +shall be gone and forgotten!”</p> +<p>“That is more than can be safely foretold,” observed +the stranger; and there was something very stern in his deep voice. +He shook his head, too, so that his dark and heavy curls were +shaken with the movement. “Since the inhabitants of yonder +village have forgotten the affections and sympathies of their +nature, it were better that the lake should be rippling over their +dwellings again!”</p> +<p>The traveler looked so stern that Philemon was really almost +frightened; the more so, that, at his frown, the twilight seemed +suddenly to grow darker, and that, when he shook his head, there +was a roll as of thunder in the air.</p> +<p>But, in a moment afterwards, the stranger’s face became so +kindly and mild that the old man quite forgot his terror. +Nevertheless, he could not help feeling that this elder traveler +must be no ordinary personage, although he happened now to be +attired so humbly and to be journeying on foot. Not that Philemon +fancied him a prince in disguise, or any character of that sort; +but rather some exceedingly wise man, who went about the world in +this poor garb, despising wealth and all worldly objects, and +seeking everywhere to add a mite to his wisdom. This idea appeared +the more probable, because, when Philemon raised his eyes to the +stranger’s face, he seemed to see more thought there, in one +look, than he could have studied out in a lifetime.</p> +<p>While Baucis was getting the supper, the travelers both began to +talk very sociably with Philemon. The younger, indeed, was +extremely loquacious, and made such shrewd and witty remarks that +the good old man continually burst out a-laughing, and pronounced +him the merriest fellow whom he had seen for many a day.</p> +<p>“Pray, my young friend,” said he, as they grew +familiar together, “what may I call your name?”</p> +<p>“Why, I am very nimble, as you see,” answered the +traveler. “So, if you call me Quicksilver, the name will fit +tolerably well.”</p> +<p>“Quicksilver? Quicksilver?” repeated Philemon, +looking in the traveler’s face, to see if he were making fun +of him. “It is a very odd name! And your companion there? Has +he as strange a one?”</p> +<p>“You must ask the thunder to tell it you!” replied +Quicksilver, putting on a mysterious look. “No other voice is +loud enough.”</p> +<p>This remark, whether it were serious or in jest, might have +caused Philemon to conceive a very great awe of the elder stranger, +if, on venturing to gaze at him, he had not beheld so much +beneficence in his visage. But undoubtedly here was the grandest +figure that ever sat so humbly beside a cottage door. When the +stranger conversed, it was with gravity, and in such a way that +Philemon felt irresistibly moved to tell him everything which he +had most at heart. This is always the feeling that people have when +they meet with any one wise enough to comprehend all their good and +evil, and to despise not a tittle of it.</p> +<p>But Philemon, simple and kind-hearted old man that he was, had +not many secrets to disclose. He talked, however, quite +garrulously, about the events of his past life, in the whole course +of which he had never been a score of miles from this very spot. +His wife Baucis and himself had dwelt in the cottage from their +youth upward, earning their bread by honest labor, always poor, but +still contented. He told what excellent butter and cheese Baucis +made, and how nice were the vegetables which he raised in his +garden. He said, too, that, because they loved one another so very +much, it was the wish of both that death might not separate them, +but that they should die, as they had lived, together.</p> +<p>As the stranger listened, a smile beamed over his countenance, +and made its expression as sweet as it was grand.</p> +<p>“You are a good old man,” said he to Philemon, +“and you have a good old wife to be your helpmeet. It is fit +that your wish be granted.”</p> +<p>And it seemed to Philemon, just then, as if the sunset clouds +threw up a bright flash from the west, and kindled a sudden light +in the sky.</p> +<p>Baucis had now got supper ready, and, coming to the door, began +to make apologies for the poor fare which she was forced to set +before her guests.</p> +<p>“Had we known you were coming,” said she, “my +good man and myself would have gone without a morsel, rather than +you should lack a better supper. But I took the most part of +to-day’s milk to make cheese; and our last loaf is already +half eaten. Ah me! I never feel the sorrow of being poor, save when +a poor traveler knocks at our door.”</p> +<p>“All will be very well; do not trouble yourself, my good +dame,” replied the elder stranger kindly. “An honest, +hearty welcome to a guest works miracles with the fare, and is +capable of turning the coarsest food to nectar and +ambrosia.”</p> +<p>“A welcome you shall have,” cried Baucis, “and +likewise a little honey that we happen to have left, and a bunch of +purple grapes besides.”</p> +<p>“Why, Mother Baucis, it is a feast!” exclaimed +Quicksilver, laughing; “an absolute feast! and you shall see +how bravely I will play my part at it! I think I never felt +hungrier in my life.”</p> +<p>“Mercy on us!” whispered Baucis to her husband. +“If the young man has such a terrible appetite, I am afraid +there will not be half enough supper!”</p> +<div class="figure"><a href="images/big_100.jpg"><img src= +"images/small_100.jpg" alt= +"A man pours milk into an overflowing bowl." id="img02" name= +"img02" width="360" height="568" /></a> +<p>“I AM AFRAID THERE WILL NOT BE HALF ENOUGH +SUPPER”</p> +</div> +<p>They all went into the cottage.</p> +<p>And now, my little auditors, shall I tell you something that +will make you open your eyes very wide? It is really one of the +oddest circumstances in the whole story. Quicksilver’s staff, +you recollect, had set itself up against the wall of the cottage. +Well, when its master entered the door, leaving this wonderful +staff behind, what should it do but immediately spread its little +wings, and go hopping and fluttering up the doorsteps! Tap, tap, +went the staff, on the kitchen floor; nor did it rest until it had +stood itself on end, with the greatest gravity and decorum, beside +Quicksilver’s chair. Old Philemon, however, as well as his +wife, was so taken up in attending to their guests that no notice +was given to what the staff had been about.</p> +<p>As Baucis had said, there was but a scanty supper for two hungry +travelers. In the middle of the table was the remnant of a brown +loaf, with a piece of cheese on one side of it, and a dish of +honeycomb on the other. There was a pretty good bunch of grapes for +each of the guests. A moderately sized earthen pitcher, nearly full +of milk, stood at a corner of the board; and when Baucis had filled +two bowls, and set them before the strangers, only a little milk +remained in the bottom of the pitcher. Alas! it is a very sad +business, when a bountiful heart finds itself pinched and squeezed +among narrow circumstances. Poor Baucis kept wishing that she might +starve for a week to come, if it were possible, by so doing, to +provide these hungry folks a more plentiful supper.</p> +<p>And, since the supper was so exceedingly small, she could not +help wishing that their appetites had not been quite so large. Why, +at their very first sitting down, the travelers both drank off all +the milk in their two bowls, at a draught.</p> +<p>“A little more milk, kind Mother Baucis, if you +please,” said Quicksilver. “The day has been hot, and I +am very much athirst.”</p> +<p>“Now, my dear people,” answered Baucis, in great +confusion, “I am so sorry and ashamed! But the truth is, +there is hardly a drop more milk in the pitcher. O husband, +husband, why didn’t we go without our supper?”</p> +<p>“Why, it appears to me,” cried Quicksilver, starting +up from table and taking the pitcher by the handle, “it +really appears to me that matters are not quite so bad as you +represent them. Here is certainly more milk in the +pitcher.”</p> +<p>So saying, and to the vast astonishment of Baucis, he proceeded +to fill, not only his own bowl, but his companion’s likewise, +from the pitcher that was supposed to be almost empty. The good +woman could scarcely believe her eyes. She had certainly poured out +nearly all the milk, and had peeped in afterwards, and seen the +bottom of the pitcher, as she set it down upon the table.</p> +<p>“But I am old,” thought Baucis to herself, +“and apt to be forgetful. I suppose I must have made a +mistake. At all events, the pitcher cannot help being empty now, +after filling the bowls twice over.”</p> +<p>“What excellent milk!” observed Quicksilver, after +quaffing the contents of the second bowl. “Excuse me, my kind +hostess, but I must really ask you for a little more.”</p> +<p>Now Baucis had seen, as plainly as she could see anything, that +Quicksilver had turned the pitcher upside down, and consequently +had poured out every drop of milk, in filling the last bowl. Of +course, there could not possibly be any left. However, in order to +let him know precisely how the case was, she lifted the pitcher, +and made a gesture as if pouring milk into Quicksilver’s +bowl, but without the remotest idea that any milk would stream +forth. What was her surprise, therefore, when such an abundant +cascade fell bubbling into the bowl, that it was immediately filled +to the brim, and overflowed upon the table! The two snakes that +were twisted about Quicksilver’s staff (but neither Baucis +nor Philemon happened to observe this circumstance) stretched out +their heads, and began to lap up the spilt milk.</p> +<p>And then what a delicious fragrance the milk had! It seemed as +if Philemon’s only cow must have pastured, that day, on the +richest herbage that could be found anywhere in the world. I only +wish that each of you, my beloved little souls, could have a bowl +of such nice milk, at supper-time!</p> +<p>“And now a slice of your brown loaf, Mother Baucis,” +said Quicksilver, “and a little of that honey!”</p> +<p>Baucis cut him a slice accordingly; and though the loaf, when +she and her husband ate of it, had been rather too dry and crusty +to be palatable, it was now as light and moist as if but a few +hours out of the oven. Tasting a crumb, which had fallen on the +table, she found it more delicious than bread ever was before, and +could hardly believe that it was a loaf of her own kneading and +baking. Yet, what other loaf could it possibly be?</p> +<p>But oh, the honey! I may just as well let it alone, without +trying to describe how exquisitely it smelt and looked. Its color +was that of the purest and most transparent gold; and it had the +odor of a thousand flowers; but of such flowers as never grew in an +earthly garden, and to seek which the bees must have flown high +above the clouds. The wonder is, that, after alighting on a +flower-bed of so delicious fragrance and immortal bloom, they +should have been content to fly down again to their hive in +Philemon’s garden. Never was such honey tasted, seen, or +smelt. The perfume floated around the kitchen, and made it so +delightful, that, had you closed your eyes, you would instantly +have forgotten the low ceiling and smoky walls, and have fancied +yourself in an arbor, with celestial honeysuckles creeping over +it.</p> +<p>Although good Mother Baucis was a simple old dame, she could not +but think that there was something rather out of the common way in +all that had been going on. So, after helping the guests to bread +and honey, and laying a bunch of grapes by each of their plates, +she sat down by Philemon, and told him what she had seen, in a +whisper.</p> +<p>“Did you ever hear the like?” asked she.</p> +<p>“No, I never did,” answered Philemon, with a smile. +“And I rather think, my dear old wife, you have been walking +about in a sort of a dream. If I had poured out the milk, I should +have seen through the business at once. There happened to be a +little more in the pitcher than you thought,—that is +all.”</p> +<p>“Ah, husband,” said Baucis, “say what you +will, these are very uncommon people.”</p> +<p>“Well, well,” replied Philemon, still smiling, +“perhaps they are. They certainly do look as if they had seen +better days; and I am heartily glad to see them making so +comfortable a supper.”</p> +<p>Each of the guests had now taken his bunch of grapes upon his +plate. Baucis (who rubbed her eyes, in order to see the more +clearly) was of opinion that the clusters had grown larger and +richer, and that each separate grape seemed to be on the point of +bursting with ripe juice. It was entirely a mystery to her how such +grapes could ever have been produced from the old stunted vine that +climbed against the cottage wall.</p> +<p>“Very admirable grapes these!” observed Quicksilver, +as he swallowed one after another, without apparently diminishing +his cluster. “Pray, my good host, whence did you gather +them?”</p> +<p>“From my own vine,” answered Philemon. “You +may see one of its branches twisting across the window, yonder. But +wife and I never thought the grapes very fine ones.”</p> +<p>“I never tasted better,” said the guest. +“Another cup of this delicious milk, if you please, and I +shall then have supped better than a prince.”</p> +<p>This time, old Philemon bestirred himself, and took up the +pitcher; for he was curious to discover whether there was any +reality in the marvels which Baucis had whispered to him. He knew +that his good old wife was incapable of falsehood, and that she was +seldom mistaken in what she supposed to be true; but this was so +very singular a case, that he wanted to see into it with his own +eyes. On taking up the pitcher, therefore, he slyly peeped into it, +and was fully satisfied that it contained not so much as a single +drop. All at once, however, he beheld a little white fountain, +which gushed up from the bottom of the pitcher, and speedily filled +it to the brim with foaming and deliciously fragrant milk. It was +lucky that Philemon, in his surprise, did not drop the miraculous +pitcher from his hand.</p> +<p>“Who are ye, wonder-working strangers!” cried he, +even more bewildered than his wife had been.</p> +<p>“Your guests, my good Philemon, and your friends,” +replied the elder traveler, in his mild, deep voice, that had +something at once sweet and awe-inspiring in it. “Give me +likewise a cup of the milk; and may your pitcher never be empty for +kind Baucis and yourself, any more than for the needy +wayfarer!”</p> +<p>The supper being now over, the strangers requested to be shown +to their place of repose. The old people would gladly have talked +with them a little longer, and have expressed the wonder which they +felt, and their delight at finding the poor and meagre supper prove +so much better and more abundant than they hoped. But the elder +traveler had inspired them with such reverence that they dared not +ask him any questions. And when Philemon drew Quicksilver aside, +and inquired how under the sun a fountain of milk could have got +into an old earthen pitcher, this latter personage pointed to his +staff.</p> +<p>“There is the whole mystery of the affair,” quoth +Quicksilver; “and if you can make it out, I’ll thank +you to let me know. I can’t tell what to make of my staff. It +is always playing such odd tricks as this; sometimes getting me a +supper, and, quite as often, stealing it away. If I had any faith +in such nonsense, I should say the stick was bewitched!”</p> +<p>He said no more, but looked so slyly in their faces, that they +rather fancied he was laughing at them. The magic staff went +hopping at his heels, as Quicksilver quitted the room. When left +alone, the good old couple spent some little time in conversation +about the events of the evening, and then lay down on the floor, +and fell fast asleep. They had given up their sleeping-room to the +guests, and had no other bed for themselves, save these planks, +which I wish had been as soft as their own hearts.</p> +<p>The old man and his wife were stirring, betimes, in the morning, +and the strangers likewise arose with the sun, and made their +preparations to depart. Philemon hospitably entreated them to +remain a little longer, until Baucis could milk the cow, and bake a +cake upon the hearth, and, perhaps, find them a few fresh eggs, for +breakfast. The guests, however, seemed to think it better to +accomplish a good part of their journey before the heat of the day +should come on. They, therefore, persisted in setting out +immediately, but asked Philemon and Baucis to walk forth with them +a short distance, and show them the road which they were to +take.</p> +<p>So they all four issued from the cottage, chatting together like +old friends. It was very remarkable, indeed, how familiar the old +couple insensibly grew with the elder traveler, and how their good +and simple spirits melted into his, even as two drops of water +would melt into the illimitable ocean. And as for Quicksilver, with +his keen, quick, laughing wits, he appeared to discover every +little thought that but peeped into their minds, before they +suspected it themselves. They sometimes wished, it is true, that he +had not been quite so quick-witted, and also that he would fling +away his staff, which looked so mysteriously mischievous, with the +snakes always writhing about it. But then, again, Quicksilver +showed himself so very good-humored, that they would have been +rejoiced to keep him in their cottage, staff, snakes, and all, +every day, and the whole day long.</p> +<p>“Ah me! Well-a-day!” exclaimed Philemon, when they +had walked a little way from their door. “If our neighbors +only knew what a blessed thing it is to show hospitality to +strangers, they would tie up all their dogs, and never allow their +children to fling another stone.”</p> +<p>“It is a sin and shame for them to behave so,—that +it is!” cried good old Baucis vehemently. “And I mean +to go this very day, and tell some of them what naughty people they +are!”</p> +<p>“I fear,” remarked Quicksilver; slyly smiling, +“that you will find none of them at home.”</p> +<p>The elder traveler’s brow, just then, assumed such a +grave, stern, and awful grandeur, yet serene withal, that neither +Baucis nor Philemon dared to speak a word. They gazed reverently +into his face, as if they had been gazing at the sky.</p> +<p>“When men do not feel towards the humblest stranger as if +he were a brother,” said the traveler, in tones so deep that +they sounded like those of an organ, “they are unworthy to +exist on earth, which was created as the abode of a great human +brotherhood!”</p> +<p>“And, by the by, my dear old people,” cried +Quicksilver, with the liveliest look of fun and mischief in his +eyes, “where is this same village that you talk about? On +which side of us does it lie? Methinks I do not see it +hereabouts.”</p> +<p>Philemon and his wife turned towards the valley, where, at +sunset, only the day before, they had seen the meadows, the houses, +the gardens, the clumps of trees, the wide, green-margined street, +with children playing in it, and all the tokens of business, +enjoyment, and prosperity. But what was their astonishment! There +was no longer any appearance of a village! Even the fertile vale, +in the hollow of which it lay, had ceased to have existence. In its +stead, they beheld the broad, blue surface of a lake, which filled +the great basin of the valley from brim to brim, and reflected the +surrounding hills in its bosom with as tranquil an image as if it +had been there ever since the creation of the world. For an +instant, the lake remained perfectly smooth. Then a little breeze +sprang up, and caused the water to dance, glitter, and sparkle in +the early sunbeams, and to dash, with a pleasant rippling murmur, +against the hither shore.</p> +<p>The lake seemed so strangely familiar, that the old couple were +greatly perplexed, and felt as if they could only have been +dreaming about a village having lain there. But, the next moment, +they remembered the vanished dwellings, and the faces and +characters of the inhabitants, far too distinctly for a dream. The +village had been there yesterday, and now was gone!</p> +<p>“Alas!” cried these kind-hearted old people, +“what has become of our poor neighbors?”</p> +<p>“They no longer exist as men and women,” said the +elder traveler, in his grand and deep voice, while a roll of +thunder seemed to echo it at a distance. “There was neither +use nor beauty in such a life as theirs; for they never softened or +sweetened the hard lot of mortality by the exercise of kindly +affections between man and man. They retained no image of the +better life in their bosoms; therefore, the lake, that was of old, +has spread itself forth again, to reflect the sky!”</p> +<p>“And as for those foolish people,” said Quicksilver, +with his mischievous smile, “they are all transformed to +fishes. There needed but little change, for they were already a +scaly set of rascals, and the coldest-blooded beings in existence. +So, kind Mother Baucis, whenever you or your husband have an +appetite for a dish of broiled trout, he can throw in a line, and +pull out half a dozen of your old neighbors!”</p> +<p>“Ah,” cried Baucis shuddering, “I would not, +for the world, put one of them on the gridiron!”</p> +<p>“No,” added Philemon, making a wry face, “we +could never relish them!”</p> +<p>“As for you, good Philemon,” continued the elder +traveler,—“and you, kind Baucis,—you, with your +scanty means, have mingled so much heartfelt hospitality with your +entertainment of the homeless stranger, that the milk became an +inexhaustible fount of nectar, and the brown loaf and the honey +were ambrosia. Thus, the divinities have feasted, at your board, +off the same viands that supply their banquets on Olympus. You have +done well, my dear old friends. Wherefore, request whatever favor +you have most at heart, and it is granted.”</p> +<p>Philemon and Baucis looked at one another, and then—I know +not which of the two it was who spoke, but that one uttered the +desire of both their hearts.</p> +<p>“Let us live together, while we live, and leave the world +at the same instant, when we die! For we have always loved one +another!”</p> +<p>“Be it so!” replied the stranger, with majestic +kindness. “Now, look towards your cottage!”</p> +<p>They did so. But what was their surprise on beholding a tall +edifice of white marble, with a wide-open portal, occupying the +spot where their humble residence had so lately stood!</p> +<p>“There is your home,” said the stranger, +beneficently smiling on them both. “Exercise your hospitality +in yonder palace as freely as in the poor hovel to which you +welcomed us last evening.”</p> +<p>The old folks fell on their knees to thank him; but, behold! +neither he nor Quicksilver was there.</p> +<p>So Philemon and Baucis took up their residence in the marble +palace, and spent their time, with vast satisfaction to themselves, +in making everybody jolly and comfortable who happened to pass that +way. The milk-pitcher, I must not forget to say, retained its +marvelous quality of being never empty, when it was desirable to +have it full. Whenever an honest, good-humored, and free-hearted +guest took a draught from this pitcher, he invariably found it the +sweetest and most invigorating fluid that ever ran down his throat. +But, if a cross and disagreeable curmudgeon happened to sip, he was +pretty certain to twist his visage into a hard knot, and pronounce +it a pitcher of sour milk!</p> +<p>Thus the old couple lived in their palace a great, great while, +and grew older and older, and very old indeed. At length, however, +there came a summer morning when Philemon and Baucis failed to make +their appearance, as on other mornings, with one hospitable smile +overspreading both their pleasant faces, to invite the guests of +over-night to breakfast. The guests searched everywhere, from top +to bottom of the spacious palace, and all to no purpose. But, after +a great deal of perplexity, they espied, in front of the portal, +two venerable trees, which nobody could remember to have seen there +the day before. Yet there they stood, with their roots fastened +deep into the soil, and a huge breadth of foliage overshadowing the +whole front of the edifice. One was an oak, and the other a +linden-tree. Their boughs—it was strange and beautiful to +see—were intertwined together, and embraced one another, so +that each tree seemed to live in the other tree’s bosom much +more than in its own.</p> +<p>While the guests were marveling how these trees, that must have +required at least a century to grow, could have come to be so tall +and venerable in a single night, a breeze sprang up, and set their +intermingled boughs astir. And then there was a deep, broad murmur +in the air, as if the two mysterious trees were speaking.</p> +<p>“I am old Philemon!” murmured the oak.</p> +<p>“I am old Baucis!” murmured the linden-tree.</p> +<p>But, as the breeze grew stronger, the trees both spoke at +once,—“Philemon! Baucis! Baucis! +Philemon!”—as if one were both and both were one, and +talking together in the depths of their mutual heart. It was plain +enough to perceive that the good old couple had renewed their age, +and were now to spend a quiet and delightful hundred years or so, +Philemon as an oak, and Baucis as a linden-tree. And oh, what a +hospitable shade did they fling around them! Whenever a wayfarer +paused beneath it, he heard a pleasant whisper of the leaves above +his head, and wondered how the sound should so much resemble words +like these:—</p> +<p>“Welcome, welcome, dear traveler, welcome!”</p> +<p>And some kind soul, that knew what would have pleased old Baucis +and old Philemon best, built a circular seat around both their +trunks, where, for a great while afterwards, the weary, and the +hungry, and the thirsty used to repose themselves, and quaff milk +abundantly from the miraculous pitcher.</p> +<p>And I wish, for all our sakes, that we had the pitcher here +now!</p> +<h3><a id="Touch" name="Touch">The Golden Touch</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Nathaniel Hawthorne</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Once upon a time, there lived a very rich man, and a king +besides, whose name was Midas; and he had a little daughter, whom +nobody but myself ever heard of, and whose name I either never knew +or have entirely forgotten. So, because I love odd names for little +girls, I choose to call her Marygold.</p> +<p>This King Midas was fonder of gold than of anything else in the +world. He valued his royal crown chiefly because it was composed of +that precious metal. If he loved anything better, or half so well, +it was the one little maiden who played so merrily around her +father’s footstool. But the more Midas loved his daughter, +the more did he desire and seek for wealth. He thought, foolish +man! that the best thing he could possibly do for this dear child +would be to bequeath her the immensest pile of yellow, glistening +coin, that had ever been heaped together since the world was made. +Thus, he gave all his thoughts and all his time to this one +purpose. If ever he happened to gaze for an instant at the +gold-tinted clouds of sunset, he wished that they were real gold, +and that they could be squeezed safely into his strong box. When +little Marygold ran to meet him with a bunch of buttercups and +dandelions, he used to say, “Poh, poh, child! If these +flowers were as golden as they look, they would be worth the +plucking!”</p> +<p>And yet, in his earlier days, before he was so entirely +possessed of this insane desire for riches, King Midas had shown a +great taste for flowers. He had planted a garden, in which grew the +biggest and beautifulest and sweetest roses that any mortal ever +saw or smelt. These roses were still growing in the garden, as +large, as lovely, and as fragrant as when Midas used to pass whole +hours in gazing at them and inhaling their perfume. But now, if he +looked at them at all, it was only to calculate how much the garden +would be worth if each of the innumerable rose-petals were a thin +plate of gold. And though he once was fond of music (in spite of an +idle story about his ears, which were said to resemble those of an +ass), the only music for poor Midas, now, was the chink of one coin +against another.</p> +<p>At length (as people always grow more and more foolish, unless +they take care to grow wiser and wiser), Midas had got to be so +exceedingly unreasonable, that he could scarcely bear to see or +touch any object that was not gold. He made it his custom, +therefore, to pass a large portion of every day in a dark and +dreary apartment, under ground, at the basement of his palace. It +was here that he kept his wealth. To this dismal hole—for it +was little better than a dungeon—Midas betook himself, +whenever he wanted to be particularly happy. Here, after carefully +locking the door, he would take a bag of gold coin, or a gold cup +as big as a washbowl, or a heavy golden bar, or a peck-measure of +gold-dust, and bring them from the obscure corners of the room into +the one bright and narrow sunbeam that fell from the dungeon-like +window. He valued the sunbeam for no other reason but that his +treasure would not shine without its help. And then would he reckon +over the coins in the bag; toss up the bar, and catch it as it came +down; sift the gold-dust through his fingers; look at the funny +image of his own face, as reflected in the burnished circumference +of the cup; and whisper to himself, “O Midas, rich King +Midas, what a happy man art thou!” But it was laughable to +see how the image of his face kept grinning at him, out of the +polished surface of the cup. It seemed to be aware of his foolish +behavior, and to have a naughty inclination to make fun of him.</p> +<p>Midas called himself a happy man, but felt that he was not yet +quite so happy as he might be. The very tiptop of enjoyment would +never be reached, unless the whole world were to become his +treasure-room, and be filled with yellow metal which should be all +his own.</p> +<p>Now, I need hardly remind such wise little people as you are, +that in the old, old times, when King Midas was alive, a great many +things came to pass, which we should consider wonderful if they +were to happen in our own day and country. And, on the other hand, +a great many things take place nowadays, which seem not only +wonderful to us, but at which the people of old times would have +stared their eyes out. On the whole, I regard our own times as the +strangest of the two; but, however that may be, I must go on with +my story.</p> +<p>Midas was enjoying himself in his treasure-room, one day, as +usual, when he perceived a shadow fall over the heaps of gold; and, +looking suddenly up, what should he behold but the figure of a +stranger, standing in the bright and narrow sunbeam! It was a young +man, with a cheerful and ruddy face. Whether it was that the +imagination of King Midas threw a yellow tinge over everything, or +whatever the cause might be, he could not help fancying that the +smile with which the stranger regarded him had a kind of golden +radiance in it. Certainly, although his figure intercepted the +sunshine, there was now a brighter gleam upon all the piled-up +treasures than before. Even the remotest corners had their share of +it, and were lighted up, when the stranger smiled, as with tips of +flame and sparkles of fire. As Midas knew that he had carefully +turned the key in the lock, and that no mortal strength could +possibly break into his treasure-room, he, of course, concluded +that his visitor must be something more than mortal. It is no +matter about telling you who he was. In those days, when the earth +was comparatively a new affair, it was supposed to be often the +resort of beings endowed with supernatural power, and who used to +interest themselves in the joys and sorrows of men, women, and +children, half playfully and half seriously. Midas had met such +beings before now, and was not sorry to meet one of them again. The +stranger’s aspect, indeed, was so good-humored and kindly, if +not beneficent, that it would have been unreasonable to suspect him +of intending any mischief. It was far more probable that he came to +do Midas a favor. And what could that favor be, unless to multiply +his heaps of treasure?</p> +<p>The stranger gazed about the room; and when his lustrous smile +had glistened upon all the golden objects that were there, he +turned again to Midas.</p> +<p>“You are a wealthy man, friend Midas!” he observed. +“I doubt whether any other four walls, on earth, contain so +much gold as you have contrived to pile up in this room.”</p> +<p>“I have done pretty well,—pretty well,” +answered Midas, in a discontented tone. “But, after all, it +is but a trifle, when you consider that it has taken me my whole +life to get it together. If one could live a thousand years, he +might have time to grow rich!”</p> +<p>“What!” exclaimed the stranger. “Then you are +not satisfied?”</p> +<p>Midas shook his head.</p> +<p>“And pray what would satisfy you?” asked the +stranger. “Merely for the curiosity of the thing, I should be +glad to know.”</p> +<p>Midas paused and meditated. He felt a presentiment that this +stranger, with such a golden lustre in his good-humored smile, had +come hither with both the power and the purpose of gratifying his +utmost wishes. Now, therefore, was the fortunate moment, when he +had but to speak, and obtain whatever possible, or seemingly +impossible thing, it might come into his head to ask. So he +thought, and thought, and thought, and heaped up one golden +mountain upon another, in his imagination, without being able to +imagine them big enough. At last, a bright idea occurred to King +Midas. It seemed really as bright as the glistening metal which he +loved so much.</p> +<p>Raising his head, he looked the lustrous stranger in the +face.</p> +<p>“Well, Midas,” observed his visitor, “I see +that you have at length hit upon something that will satisfy you. +Tell me your wish.”</p> +<p>“It is only this,” replied Midas. “I am weary +of collecting my treasures with so much trouble, and beholding the +heap so diminutive, after I have done my best. I wish everything +that I touch to be changed to gold!”</p> +<p>The stranger’s smile grew so very broad, that it seemed to +fill the room like an outburst of the sun, gleaming into a shadowy +dell where the yellow autumnal leaves—for so looked the lumps +and particles of gold—lie strewn in the glow of light.</p> +<p>“The Golden Touch!” exclaimed he. “You +certainly deserve credit, friend Midas, for striking out so +brilliant a conception. But are you quite sure that this will +satisfy you?”</p> +<p>“How could it fail?” said Midas.</p> +<p>“And will you never regret the possession of +it?”</p> +<p>“What could induce me?” asked Midas. “I ask +nothing else, to render me perfectly happy.”</p> +<p>“Be it as you wish, then,” replied the stranger, +waving his hand in token of farewell. “To-morrow, at sunrise, +you will find yourself gifted with the Golden Touch.”</p> +<p>The figure of the stranger then became exceedingly bright, and +Midas involuntarily closed his eyes. On opening them again, he +beheld only one yellow sunbeam in the room, and, all around him, +the glistening of the precious metal which he had spent his life in +hoarding up.</p> +<p>Whether Midas slept as usual that night, the story does not say. +Asleep or awake, however, his mind was probably in the state of a +child’s, to whom a beautiful new plaything has been promised +in the morning. At any rate, day had hardly peeped over the hills, +when King Midas was broad awake, and, stretching his arms out of +bed, began to touch the objects that were within reach. He was +anxious to prove whether the Golden Touch had really come, +according to the stranger’s promise. So he laid his finger on +a chair by the bedside, and on various other things, but was +grievously disappointed to perceive that they remained of exactly +the same substance as before. Indeed, he felt very much afraid that +he had only dreamed about the lustrous stranger, or else that the +latter had been making game of him. And what a miserable affair +would it be, if, after all his hopes, Midas must content himself +with what little gold he could scrape together by ordinary means, +instead of creating it by a touch!</p> +<p>All this while it was only the gray of the morning, with but a +streak of brightness along the edge of the sky, where Midas could +not see it. He lay in a very disconsolate mood, regretting the +downfall of his hopes, and kept growing sadder and sadder, until +the earliest sunbeam shone through the window, and gilded the +ceiling over his head. It seemed to Midas that this bright yellow +sunbeam was reflected in rather a singular way on the white +covering of the bed. Looking more closely, what was his +astonishment and delight, when he found that this linen fabric had +been transmuted to what seemed a woven texture of the purest and +brightest gold! The Golden Touch had come to him with the first +sunbeam!</p> +<p>Midas started up, in a kind of joyful frenzy, and ran about the +room, grasping at everything that happened to be in his way. He +seized one of the bed-posts, and it became immediately a fluted +golden pillar. He pulled aside a window-curtain, in order to admit +a clear spectacle of the wonders which he was performing; and the +tassel grew heavy in his hand,—a mass of gold. He took up a +book from the table. At his first touch, it assumed the appearance +of such a splendidly bound and gilt-edged volume as one often meets +with, nowadays; but, on running his fingers through the leaves, +behold! it was a bundle of thin golden plates, in which all the +wisdom of the book had grown illegible. He hurriedly put on his +clothes, and was enraptured to see himself in a magnificent suit of +gold cloth, which retained its flexibility and softness, although +it burdened him a little with its weight. He drew out his +handkerchief, which little Marygold had hemmed for him. That was +likewise gold, with the dear child’s neat and pretty stitches +running all along the border, in gold thread!</p> +<p>Somehow or other, this last transformation did not quite please +King Midas. He would rather that his little daughter’s +handiwork should have remained just the same as when she climbed +his knee and put it into his hand.</p> +<p>But it was not worth while to vex himself about a trifle. Midas +now took his spectacles from his pocket, and put them on his nose, +in order that he might see more distinctly what he was about. In +those days, spectacles for common people had not been invented, but +were already worn by kings; else, how could Midas have had any? To +his great perplexity, however, excellent as the glasses were, he +discovered that he could not possibly see through them. But this +was the most natural thing in the world; for on taking them off, +the transparent crystals turned out to be plates of yellow metal, +and, of course, were worthless as spectacles, though valuable as +gold. It struck Midas as rather inconvenient that, with all his +wealth, he could never again be rich enough to own a pair of +serviceable spectacles.</p> +<p>“It is no great matter, nevertheless,” said he to +himself, very philosophically. “We cannot expect any great +good, without its being accompanied with some small inconvenience. +The Golden Touch is worth the sacrifice of a pair of spectacles, at +least, if not of one’s very eyesight. My own eyes will serve +for ordinary purposes, and little Marygold will soon be old enough +to read to me.”</p> +<p>Wise King Midas was so exalted by his good fortune that the +palace seemed not sufficiently spacious to contain him. He +therefore went downstairs, and smiled, on observing that the +balustrade of the staircase became a bar of burnished gold, as his +hand passed over it in his descent. He lifted the door-latch (it +was brass only a moment ago, but golden when his fingers quitted +it), and emerged into the garden. Here, as it happened, he found a +great number of beautiful roses in full bloom, and others in all +the stages of lovely bud and blossom. Very delicious was their +fragrance in the morning breeze. Their delicate blush was one of +the fairest sights in the world; so gentle, so modest, and so full +of sweet tranquillity did these roses seem to be.</p> +<p>But Midas knew a way to make them far more precious, according +to his way of thinking, than roses had ever been before. So he took +great pains in going from bush to bush, and exercised his magic +touch most indefatigably; until every individual flower and bud, +and even the worms at the heart of some of them, were changed to +gold. By the time this good work was completed, King Midas was +summoned to breakfast; and as the morning air had given him an +excellent appetite, he made haste back to the palace.</p> +<p>What was usually a king’s breakfast in the days of Midas, +I really do not know, and cannot stop now to investigate. To the +best of my belief, however, on this particular morning, the +breakfast consisted of hot cakes, some nice little brook trout, +roasted potatoes, fresh boiled eggs, and coffee, for King Midas +himself, and a bowl of bread and milk for his daughter Marygold. At +all events, this is a breakfast fit to set before a king; and, +whether he had it or not, King Midas could not have had a +better.</p> +<p>Little Marygold had not yet made her appearance. Her father +ordered her to be called, and, seating himself at table, awaited +the child’s coming, in order to begin his own breakfast. To +do Midas justice, he really loved his daughter, and loved her so +much the more this morning, on account of the good fortune which +had befallen him. It was not a great while before he heard her +coming along the passage-way crying bitterly. This circumstance +surprised him, because Marygold was one of the cheerfullest little +people whom you would see in a summer’s day, and hardly shed +a thimbleful of tears in a twelvemonth. When Midas heard her sobs, +he determined to put little Marygold into better spirits, by an +agreeable surprise; so, leaning across the table, he touched his +daughter’s bowl (which was a China one, with pretty figures +all around it), and transmuted it to gleaming gold.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, Marygold slowly and disconsolately opened the door, +and showed herself with her apron at her eyes, still sobbing as if +her heart would break.</p> +<p>“How now, my little lady!” cried Midas. “Pray +what is the matter with you, this bright morning?”</p> +<p>Marygold, without taking the apron from her eyes, held out her +hand, in which was one of the roses which Midas had so recently +transmuted.</p> +<p>“Beautiful!” exclaimed her father. “And what +is there in this magnificent golden rose to make you +cry?”</p> +<p>“Ah, dear father!” answered the child, as well as +her sobs would let her; “it is not beautiful, but the ugliest +flower that ever grew! As soon as I was dressed I ran into the +garden to gather some roses for you; because I know you like them, +and like them the better when gathered by your little daughter. +But, oh dear, dear me! What do you think has happened? Such a +misfortune! All the beautiful roses, that smelled so sweet and had +so many lovely blushes, are blighted and spoilt! They are grown +quite yellow, as you see this one, and have no longer any +fragrance! What can have been the matter with them?”</p> +<p>“Poh, my dear little girl,—pray don’t cry +about it!” said Midas, who was ashamed to confess that he +himself had wrought the change which so greatly afflicted her. +“Sit down and eat your bread and milk! You will find it easy +enough to exchange a golden rose like that (which will last +hundreds of years) for an ordinary one which would wither in a +day.”</p> +<p>“I don’t care for such roses as this!” cried +Marygold, tossing it contemptuously away. “It has no smell, +and the hard petals prick my nose!”</p> +<p>The child now sat down to table, but was so occupied with her +grief for the blighted roses that she did not even notice the +wonderful transmutation of her China bowl. Perhaps this was all the +better; for Marygold was accustomed to take pleasure in looking at +the queer figures, and strange trees and houses, that were painted +on the circumference of the bowl; and these ornaments were now +entirely lost in the yellow hue of the metal.</p> +<p>Midas, meanwhile, had poured out a cup of coffee, and, as a +matter of course, the coffee-pot, whatever metal it may have been +when he took it up, was gold when he set it down. He thought to +himself, that it was rather an extravagant style of splendor, in a +king of his simple habits, to breakfast off a service of gold, and +began to be puzzled with the difficulty of keeping his treasures +safe. The cupboard and the kitchen would no longer be a secure +place of deposit for articles so valuable as golden bowls and +coffee-pots.</p> +<p>Amid these thoughts, he lifted a spoonful of coffee to his lips, +and, sipping it, was astonished to perceive that the instant his +lips touched the liquid, it became molten gold, and the next +moment, hardened into a lump!</p> +<p>“Ha!” exclaimed Midas, rather aghast.</p> +<p>“What is the matter, father?” asked little Marygold, +gazing at him, with the tears still standing in her eyes.</p> +<p>“Nothing, child, nothing!” said Midas. “Eat +your milk, before it gets quite cold.”</p> +<p>He took one of the nice little trouts on his plate, and, by way +of experiment, touched its tail with his finger. To his horror, it +was immediately transmuted from an admirably fried brook trout into +a gold-fish, though not one of those gold-fishes which people often +keep in glass globes, as ornaments for the parlor. No; but it was +really a metallic fish, and looked as if it had been very cunningly +made by the nicest goldsmith in the world. Its little bones were +now golden wires; its fins and tail were thin plates of gold; and +there were the marks of the fork in it, and all the delicate, +frothy appearance of a nicely fried fish, exactly imitated in +metal. A very pretty piece of work, as you may suppose; only King +Midas, just at that moment, would much rather have had a real trout +in his dish than this elaborate and valuable imitation of one.</p> +<p>“I don’t quite see,” thought he to himself, +“how I am to get any breakfast!”</p> +<p>He took one of the smoking-hot cakes, and had scarcely broken +it, when, to his cruel mortification, though, a moment before, it +had been of the whitest wheat, it assumed the yellow hue of Indian +meal. To say the truth, if it had really been a hot Indian cake, +Midas would have prized it a good deal more than he now did, when +its solidity and increased weight made him too bitterly sensible +that it was gold. Almost in despair, he helped himself to a boiled +egg, which immediately underwent a change similar to those of the +trout and the cake. The egg, indeed, might have been mistaken for +one of those which the famous goose, in the story-book, was in the +habit of laying; but King Midas was the only goose that had had +anything to do with the matter.</p> +<p>“Well, this is a quandary!” thought he, leaning back +in his chair, and looking quite enviously at little Marygold, who +was now eating her bread and milk with great satisfaction. +“Such a costly breakfast before me, and nothing that can be +eaten!”</p> +<p>Hoping that, by dint of great dispatch, he might avoid what he +now felt to be a considerable inconvenience, King Midas next +snatched a hot potato, and attempted to cram it into his mouth, and +swallow it in a hurry. But the Golden Touch was too nimble for him. +He found his mouth full, not of mealy potato, but of solid metal, +which so burnt his tongue that he roared aloud, and, jumping up +from the table, began to dance and stamp about the room, both with +pain and affright.</p> +<p>“Father, dear father!” cried little Marygold, who +was a very affectionate child, “pray what is the matter? Have +you burnt your mouth?”</p> +<p>“Ah, dear child,” groaned Midas dolefully, “I +don’t know what is to become of your poor father!”</p> +<p>And, truly, my dear little folks, did you ever hear of such a +pitiable case in all your lives? Here was literally the richest +breakfast that could be set before a king, and its very richness +made it absolutely good for nothing. The poorest laborer, sitting +down to his crust of bread and cup of water, was far better off +than King Midas, whose delicate food was really worth its weight in +gold. And what was to be done? Already, at breakfast, Midas was +excessively hungry. Would he be less so by dinner-time? And how +ravenous would be his appetite for supper, which must undoubtedly +consist of the same sort of indigestible dishes as those now before +him! How many days, think you, would he survive a continuance of +this rich fare?</p> +<p>These reflections so troubled wise King Midas, that he began to +doubt whether, after all, riches are the one desirable thing in the +world, or even the most desirable. But this was only a passing +thought. So fascinated was Midas with the glitter of the yellow +metal, that he would still have refused to give up the Golden Touch +for so paltry a consideration as a breakfast. Just imagine what a +price for one meal’s victuals! It would have been the same as +paying millions and millions of money (and as many millions more as +would take forever to reckon up) for some fried trout, an egg, a +potato, a hot cake, and a cup of coffee!</p> +<p>“It would be quite too dear,” thought Midas.</p> +<p>Nevertheless, so great was his hunger, and the perplexity of his +situation, that he again groaned aloud, and very grievously too. +Our pretty Marygold could endure it no longer. She sat, a moment, +gazing at her father, and trying with all the might of her little +wits to find out what was the matter with him. Then, with a sweet +and sorrowful impulse to comfort him, she started from her chair, +and, running to Midas, threw her arms affectionately about his +knees. He bent down and kissed her. He felt that his little +daughter’s love was worth a thousand times more than he had +gained by the Golden Touch.</p> +<p>“My precious, precious Marygold!” cried he.</p> +<p>But Marygold made no answer.</p> +<p>Alas, what had he done? How fatal was the gift which the +stranger bestowed! The moment the lips of Midas touched +Marygold’s forehead, a change had taken place. Her sweet, +rosy face, so full of affection as it had been, assumed a +glittering yellow color, with yellow teardrops congealing on her +cheeks. Her beautiful brown ringlets took the same tint. Her soft +and tender little form grew hard and inflexible within her +father’s encircling arms. Oh, terrible misfortune! The victim +of his insatiable desire for wealth, little Marygold was a human +child no longer, but a golden statue!</p> +<p>Yes, there she was, with the questioning look of love, grief, +and pity, hardened into her face. It was the prettiest and most +woeful sight that ever mortal saw. All the features and tokens of +Marygold were there; even the beloved little dimple remained in her +golden chin. But the more perfect was the resemblance, the greater +was the father’s agony at beholding this golden image, which +was all that was left him of a daughter. It had been a favorite +phrase of Midas, whenever he felt particularly fond of the child, +to say that she was worth her weight in gold. And now the phrase +had become literally true. And now, at last, when it was too late, +he felt how infinitely a warm and tender heart, that loved him, +exceeded in value all the wealth that could be piled up betwixt the +earth and sky!</p> +<p>It would be too sad a story, if I were to tell you how Midas, in +the fullness of all his gratified desires, began to wring his hands +and bemoan himself; and how he could neither bear to look at +Marygold, nor yet to look away from her. Except when his eyes were +fixed on the image, he could not possibly believe that she was +changed to gold. But stealing another glance, there was the +precious little figure, with a yellow tear-drop on its yellow +cheek, and a look so piteous and tender that it seemed as if that +very expression must needs soften the gold, and make it flesh +again. This, however, could not be. So Midas had only to wring his +hands, and to wish that he were the poorest man in the wide world, +if the loss of all his wealth might bring back the faintest +rose-color to his dear child’s face.</p> +<p>While he was in this tumult of despair, he suddenly beheld a +stranger standing near the door. Midas bent down his head, without +speaking; for he recognized the same figure which had appeared to +him, the day before, in the treasure-room, and had bestowed on him +this disastrous faculty of the Golden Touch. The stranger’s +countenance still wore a smile, which seemed to shed a yellow +lustre all about the room, and gleamed on little Marygold’s +image, and on the other objects that had been transmuted by the +touch of Midas.</p> +<p>“Well, friend Midas,” said the stranger, “pray +how do you succeed with the Golden Touch?”</p> +<p>Midas shook his head.</p> +<p>“I am very miserable,” said he.</p> +<p>“Very miserable, indeed!” exclaimed the stranger. +“And how happens that? Have I not faithfully kept my promise +with you? Have you not everything that your heart +desired?”</p> +<p>“Gold is not everything,” answered Midas. “And +I have lost all that my heart really cared for.”</p> +<p>“Ah! So you have made a discovery, since yesterday?” +observed the stranger. “Let us see, then. Which of these two +things do you think is really worth the most,—the gift of the +Golden Touch, or one cup of clear cold water?”</p> +<p>“O blessed water!” exclaimed Midas. “It will +never moisten my parched throat again!”</p> +<p>“The Golden Touch,” continued the stranger, +“or a crust of bread?”</p> +<p>“A piece of bread,” answered Midas, “is worth +all the gold on earth!”</p> +<p>“The Golden Touch,” asked the stranger, “or +your own little Marygold, warm, soft, and loving as she was an hour +ago?”</p> +<p>“Oh, my child, my dear child!” cried poor Midas, +wringing his hands. “I would not have given that one small +dimple in her chin for the power of changing this whole big earth +into a solid lump of gold!”</p> +<p>“You are wiser than you were, King Midas!” said the +stranger, looking seriously at him. “Your own heart, I +perceive, has not been entirely changed from flesh to gold. Were it +so, your case would indeed be desperate. But you appear to be still +capable of understanding that the commonest things, such as lie +within everybody’s grasp, are more valuable than the riches +which so many mortals sigh and struggle after. Tell me, now, do you +sincerely desire to rid yourself of this Golden Touch?”</p> +<p>“It is hateful to me!” replied Midas.</p> +<p>A fly settled on his nose, but immediately fell to the floor; +for it, too, had become gold. Midas shuddered.</p> +<p>“Go, then,” said the stranger, “and plunge +into the river that glides past the bottom of your garden. Take +likewise a vase of the same water, and sprinkle it over any object +that you may desire to change back again from gold into its former +substance. If you do this in earnestness and sincerity, it may +possibly repair the mischief which your avarice has +occasioned.”</p> +<p>King Midas bowed low; and when he lifted his head, the lustrous +stranger had vanished.</p> +<p>You will easily believe that Midas lost no time in snatching up +a great earthen pitcher (but, alas me! it was no longer earthen +after he touched it), and hastening to the riverside. As he +scampered along, and forced his way through the shrubbery, it was +positively marvelous to see how the foliage turned yellow behind +him, as if the autumn had been there, and nowhere else. On reaching +the river’s brink, he plunged headlong in, without waiting so +much as to pull off his shoes.</p> +<p>“Poof! poof! poof!” snorted King Midas, as his head +emerged out of the water. “Well; this is really a refreshing +bath, and I think it must have quite washed away the Golden Touch. +And now for filling my pitcher!”</p> +<p>As he dipped the pitcher into the water, it gladdened his very +heart to see it change from gold into the same good, honest earthen +vessel which it had been before he touched it. He was conscious, +also, of a change within himself. A cold, hard, and heavy weight +seemed to have gone out of his bosom. No doubt his heart had been +gradually losing its human substance, and transmuting itself into +insensible metal, but had now softened back again into flesh. +Perceiving a violet, that grew on the bank of the river, Midas +touched it with his finger, and was overjoyed to find that the +delicate flower retained its purple hue, instead of undergoing a +yellow blight. The curse of the Golden Touch had therefore really +been removed from him.</p> +<p>King Midas hastened back to the palace; and I suppose the +servants knew not what to make of it when they saw their royal +master so carefully bringing home an earthen pitcher of water. But +that water, which was to undo all the mischief that his folly had +wrought, was more precious to Midas, than an ocean of molten gold +could have been. The first thing he did, as you need hardly be +told, was to sprinkle it by handfuls over the golden figure of +little Marygold.</p> +<p>No sooner did it fall on her than you would have laughed to see +how the rosy color came back to the dear child’s cheek! and +how she began to sneeze and sputter!—and how astonished she +was to find herself dripping wet, and her father still throwing +more water over her!</p> +<p>“Pray do not, dear father!” cried she. “See +how you have wet my nice frock, which I put on only this +morning!”</p> +<p>For Marygold did not know that she had been a little golden +statue; nor could she remember anything that had happened since the +moment when she ran with outstretched arms to comfort poor King +Midas.</p> +<p>Her father did not think it necessary to tell his beloved child +how very foolish he had been, but contented himself with showing +how much wiser he had now grown. For this purpose he led little +Marygold into the garden, where he sprinkled all the remainder of +the water over the rose-bushes, and with such good effect that +above five thousand roses recovered their beautiful bloom. There +were two circumstances, however, which, as long as he lived, used +to put King Midas in mind of the Golden Touch. One was, that the +sands of the river sparkled like gold; the other, that little +Marygold’s hair had now a golden tinge, which he had never +observed in it before she had been transmuted by the effect of his +kiss. This change of hue was really an improvement, and made +Marygold’s hair richer than in her babyhood.</p> +<p>When King Midas had grown quite an old man, and used to trot +Marygold’s children on his knee, he was fond of telling them +this marvelous story, pretty much as I have now told it to you. And +then would he stroke their glossy ringlets, and tell them that +their hair, likewise, had a rich shade of gold, which they had +inherited from their mother.</p> +<p>“And to tell you the truth, my precious little +folks,” quoth King Midas, diligently trotting the children +all the while, “ever since that morning, I have hated the +very sight of all other gold, save this!”</p> +<h3><a id="Pomegranate" name="Pomegranate">The Pomegranate +Seeds</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Nathaniel Hawthorne</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Mother Ceres was exceedingly fond of her daughter Proserpina, +and seldom let her go alone into the fields. But, just at the time +when my story begins, the good lady was very busy, because she had +the care of the wheat, and the Indian corn, and the rye and barley, +and, in short, of the crops of every kind, all over the earth; and +as the season had thus far been uncommonly backward, it was +necessary to make the harvest ripen more speedily than usual. So +she put on her turban, made of poppies (a kind of flower which she +was always noted for wearing), and got into her car drawn by a pair +of winged dragons, and was just ready to set off.</p> +<p>“Dear mother,” said Proserpina, “I shall be +very lonely while you are away. May I not run down to the shore, +and ask some of the sea-nymphs to come up out of the waves and play +with me?”</p> +<p>“Yes, child,” answered Mother Ceres. “The +sea-nymphs are good creatures, and will never lead you into any +harm. But you must take care not to stray away from them, nor go +wandering about the fields by yourself. Young girls, without their +mothers to take care of them, are very apt to get into +mischief.”</p> +<p>The child promised to be as prudent as if she were a grown-up +woman, and, by the time the winged dragons had whirled the car out +of sight, she was already on the shore, calling to the sea-nymphs +to come and play with her. They knew Proserpina’s voice, and +were not long in showing their glistening faces and sea-green hair +above the water, at the bottom of which was their home. They +brought along with them a great many beautiful shells; and, sitting +down on the moist sand, where the surf wave broke over them, they +busied themselves in making a necklace, which they hung round +Proserpina’s neck. By way of showing her gratitude, the child +besought them to go with her a little way into the fields, so that +they might gather abundance of flowers, with which she would make +each of her kind playmates a wreath.</p> +<p>“Oh, no, dear Proserpina,” cried the sea-nymphs; +“we dare not go with you upon the dry land. We are apt to +grow faint, unless at every breath we can snuff up the salt breeze +of the ocean. And don’t you see how careful we are to let the +surf wave break over us every moment or two, so as to keep +ourselves comfortably moist? If it were not for that, we should +soon look like bunches of uprooted sea-weed dried in the +sun.”</p> +<p>“It is a great pity,” said Proserpina, “but do +you wait for me here, and I will run and gather my apron full of +flowers, and be back again before the surf wave has broken ten +times over you. I long to make you some wreaths that shall be as +lovely as this necklace of many-colored shells.”</p> +<p>“We will wait, then,” answered the sea-nymphs. +“But while you are gone, we may as well lie down on a bank of +soft sponge, under the water. The air to-day is a little too dry +for our comfort. But we will pop up our heads every few minutes to +see if you are coming.”</p> +<p>The young Proserpina ran quickly to a spot where, only the day +before, she had seen a great many flowers. These, however, were now +a little past their bloom; and wishing to give her friends the +freshest and loveliest blossoms, she strayed farther into the +fields, and found some that made her scream with delight. Never had +she met with such exquisite flowers before,—violets, so large +and fragrant,—roses, with so rich and delicate a +blush,—such superb hyacinths and such aromatic +pinks,—and many others, some of which seemed to be of new +shapes and colors. Two or three times, moreover, she could not help +thinking that a tuft of most splendid flowers had suddenly sprouted +out of the earth before her very eyes, as if on purpose to tempt +her a few steps farther. Proserpina’s apron was soon filled +and brimming over with delightful blossoms. She was on the point of +turning back in order to rejoin the sea-nymphs, and sit with them +on the moist sands, all twining wreaths together. But, a little +farther on, what should she behold? It was a large shrub, +completely covered with the most magnificent flowers in the +world.</p> +<p>“The darlings!” cried Proserpina; and then she +thought to herself, “I was looking at that spot only a moment +ago. How strange it is that I did not see the flowers!”</p> +<p>The nearer she approached the shrub, the more attractive it +looked, until she came quite close to it; and then, although its +beauty was richer than words can tell, she hardly knew whether to +like it or not. It bore above a hundred flowers of the most +brilliant hues, and each different from the others, but all having +a kind of resemblance among themselves, which showed them to be +sister blossoms. But there was a deep, glossy lustre on the leaves +of the shrub, and on the petals of the flowers, that made +Proserpina doubt whether they might not be poisonous. To tell you +the truth, foolish as it may seem, she was half inclined to turn +round and run away.</p> +<p>“What a silly child I am!” thought she, taking +courage. “It is really the most beautiful shrub that ever +sprang out of the earth. I will pull it up by the roots, and carry +it home, and plant it in my mother’s garden.”</p> +<p>Holding up her apron full of flowers with her left hand, +Proserpina seized the large shrub with the other, and pulled and +pulled, but was hardly able to loosen the soil about its roots. +What a deep-rooted plant it was! Again the girl pulled with all her +might, and observed that the earth began to stir and crack to some +distance around the stem. She gave another pull, but relaxed her +hold, fancying that there was a rumbling sound right beneath her +feet. Did the roots extend down into some enchanted cavern? Then, +laughing at herself for so childish a notion, she made another +effort; up came the shrub, and Proserpina staggered back, holding +the stem triumphantly in her hand, and gazing at the deep hole +which its roots had left in the soil.</p> +<p>Much to her astonishment this hole kept spreading wider and +wider, and growing deeper and deeper, until it really seemed to +have no bottom; and all the while, there came a rumbling noise out +of its depths, louder and louder, and nearer and nearer, and +sounding like the tramp of horses’ hoofs and the rattling of +wheels. Too much frightened to run away, she stood straining her +eyes into this wonderful cavity, and soon saw a team of four sable +horses, snorting smoke out of their nostrils, and tearing their way +out of the earth with a splendid golden chariot whirling at their +heels. They leaped out of the bottomless hole, chariot and all; and +there they were, tossing their black manes, flourishing their black +tails, and curvetting with every one of their hoofs off the ground +at once, close by the spot where Proserpina stood. In the chariot +sat the figure of a man, richly dressed, with a crown on his head, +all flaming with diamonds. He was of a noble aspect, and rather +handsome, but looked sullen and discontented; and he kept rubbing +his eyes and shading them with his hand, as if he did not live +enough in the sunshine to be very fond of its light.</p> +<div class="figure"><a href="images/big_142.jpg"><img src= +"images/small_142.jpg" alt="A chariot races towards Prosperpina" +id="img03" name="img03" width="360" height="565" /></a> +<p>THEY LEAPED OUT OF THE BOTTOMLESS HOLE, CHARIOT AND ALL; AND +THERE THEY WERE TOSSING THEIR BLACK TAILS, AND CURVETTING WITH +EVERY ONE OF THEIR HOOFS OFF THE GROUND AT ONCE, CLOSE BY THE SPOT +WHERE PROSERPINA STOOD. IN THE CHARIOT SAT THE FIGURE OF A MAN</p> +</div> +<p>As soon as this personage saw the affrighted Proserpina, he +beckoned her to come a little nearer.</p> +<p>“Do not be afraid,” said he, with as cheerful a +smile as he knew how to put on. “Come! Will not you like to +ride a little way with me, in my beautiful chariot?”</p> +<p>But Proserpina was so alarmed that she wished for nothing but to +get out of his reach. And no wonder. The stranger did not look +remarkably good-natured, in spite of his smile; and as for his +voice, its tones were deep and stern, and sounded as much like the +rumbling of an earthquake under ground as anything else. As is +always the case with children in trouble, Proserpina’s first +thought was to call for her mother.</p> +<p>“Mother, Mother Ceres!” cried she, all in a tremble. +“Come quickly and save me.”</p> +<p>But her voice was too faint for her mother to hear. Indeed, it +is most probable that Ceres was then a thousand miles off, making +the corn grow in some far-distant country. Nor could it have +availed her poor daughter, even had she been within hearing; for no +sooner did Proserpina begin to cry out, than the stranger leaped to +the ground, caught the child in his arms, and again mounting the +chariot, shook the reins, and shouted to the four black horses to +set off. They immediately broke into so swift a gallop that it +seemed rather like flying through the air than running along the +earth. In a moment, Proserpina lost sight of the pleasant vale of +Enna, in which she had always dwelt. Another instant, and even the +summit of Mount Ætna had become so blue in the distance that +she could scarcely distinguish it from the smoke that gushed out of +its crater. But still the poor child screamed, and scattered her +apron full of flowers along the way, and left a long cry trailing +behind the chariot; and many mothers, to whose ears it came, ran +quickly to see if any mischief had befallen their children. But +Mother Ceres was a great way off, and could not hear the cry.</p> +<p>As they rode on, the stranger did his best to soothe her.</p> +<p>“Why should you be so frightened, my pretty child?” +said he, trying to soften his rough voice. “I promise not to +do you any harm. What! You have been gathering flowers? Wait till +we come to my palace, and I will give you a garden full of prettier +flowers than those, all made of pearls, and diamonds, and rubies. +Can you guess who I am? They call my name Pluto, and I am the king +of diamonds and all other precious stones. Every atom of the gold +and silver that lies under the earth belongs to me, to say nothing +of the copper and iron, and of the coal-mines, which supply me with +abundance of fuel. Do you see this splendid crown upon my head? You +may have it for a plaything. Oh, we shall be very good friends, and +you will find me more agreeable than you expect, when once we get +out of this troublesome sunshine.”</p> +<p>“Let me go home!” cried Proserpina. “Let me go +home!”</p> +<p>“My home is better than your mother’s,” +answered King Pluto “It is a palace, all made of gold, with +crystal windows; and because there is little or no sunshine +thereabouts, the apartments are illuminated with diamond lamps. You +never saw anything half so magnificent as my throne. If you like, +you may sit down on it, and be my little queen, and I will sit on +the footstool.”</p> +<p>“I don’t care for golden palaces and thrones,” +sobbed Proserpina. “Oh, my mother, my mother! Carry me back +to my mother!”</p> +<p>But King Pluto, as he called himself, only shouted to his steeds +to go faster.</p> +<p>“Pray do not be foolish, Proserpina,” said he, in +rather a sullen tone. “I offer you my palace and my crown, +and all the riches that are under the earth; and you treat me as if +I were doing you an injury. The one thing which my palace needs is +a merry little maid, to run upstairs and down, and cheer up the +rooms with her smile. And this is what you must do for King +Pluto.”</p> +<p>“Never!” answered Proserpina, looking as miserable +as she could. “I shall never smile again till you set me down +at my mother’s door.”</p> +<p>But she might just as well have talked to the wind that whistled +past them; for Pluto urged on his horses, and went faster than +ever. Proserpina continued to cry out, and screamed so long and so +loudly, that her poor little voice was almost screamed away; and +when it was nothing but a whisper, she happened to cast her eyes +over a great, broad field of waving grain—and whom do you +think she saw? Who, but Mother Ceres, making the corn grow, and too +busy to notice the golden chariot as it went rattling along. The +child mustered all her strength, and gave one more scream, but was +out of sight before Ceres had time to turn her head.</p> +<p>King Pluto had taken a road which now began to grow excessively +gloomy. It was bordered on each side with rocks and precipices, +between which the rumbling of the chariot-wheels was reverberated +with a noise like rolling thunder. The trees and bushes that grew +in the crevices of the rocks had very dismal foliage; and by and +by, although it was hardly noon, the air became obscured with a +gray twilight. The black horses had rushed along so swiftly, that +they were already beyond the limits of the sunshine. But the +duskier it grew, the more did Pluto’s visage assume an air of +satisfaction. After all, he was not an ill-looking person, +especially when he left off twisting his features into a smile that +did not belong to them. Proserpina peeped at his face through the +gathering dusk, and hoped that he might not be so very wicked as +she at first thought him.</p> +<p>“Ah, this twilight is truly refreshing,” said King +Pluto, “after being so tormented with that ugly and +impertinent glare of the sun. How much more agreeable is lamplight +or torchlight, more particularly when reflected from diamonds! It +will be a magnificent sight when we get to my palace.”</p> +<p>“Is it much farther?” asked Proserpina. “And +will you carry me back when I have seen it?”</p> +<p>“We will talk of that by and by,” answered Pluto. +“We are just entering my dominions. Do you see that tall +gateway before us? When we pass those gates, we are at home. And +there lies my faithful mastiff at the threshold. Cerberus! +Cerberus! Come hither, my good dog!”</p> +<p>So saying, Pluto pulled at the reins, and stopped the chariot +right between the tall, massive pillars of the gateway. The mastiff +of which he had spoken got up from the threshold, and stood on his +hinder legs, so as to put his forepaws on the chariot-wheel. But, +my stars, what a strange dog it was! Why, he was a big, rough, +ugly-looking monster, with three separate heads, and each of them +fiercer than the two others; but, fierce as they were, King Pluto +patted them all. He seemed as fond of his three-headed dog as if it +had been a sweet little spaniel, with silken ears and curly hair. +Cerberus, on the other hand, was evidently rejoiced to see his +master, and expressed his attachment, as other dogs do, by wagging +his tail at a great rate. Proserpina’s eyes being drawn to it +by its brisk motion, she saw that this tail was neither more nor +less than a live dragon, with fiery eyes, and fangs that had a very +poisonous aspect. And while the three-headed Cerberus was fawning +so lovingly on King Pluto, there was the dragon tail wagging +against its will, and looking as cross and ill-natured as you can +imagine, on its own separate account.</p> +<p>“Will the dog bite me?” asked Proserpina, shrinking +closer to Pluto. “What an ugly creature he is!”</p> +<p>“Oh, never fear,” answered her companion. “He +never harms people unless they try to enter my dominions without +being sent for, or to get away when I wish to keep them here. Down, +Cerberus! Now, my pretty Proserpina, we will drive on.”</p> +<p>On went the chariot, and King Pluto seemed greatly pleased to +find himself once more in his own kingdom. He drew +Proserpina’s attention to the rich veins of gold that were to +be seen among the rocks, and pointed to several places where one +stroke of a pick-axe would loosen a bushel of diamonds. All along +the road, indeed, there were sparkling gems, which would have been +of inestimable value above ground, but which were here reckoned of +the meaner sort, and hardly worth a beggar’s stooping +for.</p> +<p>Not far from the gateway, they came to a bridge, which seemed to +be built of iron. Pluto stopped the chariot, and bade Proserpina +look at the stream which was gliding so lazily beneath it. Never in +her life had she beheld so torpid, so black, so muddy-looking a +stream: its waters reflected no images of anything that was on the +banks, and it moved as sluggishly as if it had quite forgotten +which way it ought to flow, and had rather stagnate than flow +either one way or the other.</p> +<p>“This is the river Lethe,” observed King Pluto. +“Is it not a very pleasant stream?” “I think it a +very dismal one,” said Proserpina. “It suits my taste, +however,” answered Pluto, who was apt to be sullen when +anybody disagreed with him. “At all events, its water has one +very excellent quality; for a single draught of it makes people +forget every care and sorrow that has hitherto tormented them. Only +sip a little of it, my dear Proserpina, and you will instantly +cease to grieve for your mother, and will have nothing in your +memory that can prevent your being perfectly happy in my palace. I +will send for some, in a golden goblet, the moment we +arrive.”</p> +<p>“Oh, no, no, no!” cried Proserpina, weeping afresh. +“I had a thousand times rather be miserable with remembering +my mother than be happy in forgetting her. That dear, dear mother! +I never, never will forget her.”</p> +<p>“We shall see,” said King Pluto. “You do not +know what fine times we will have in my palace. Here we are just at +the portal. These pillars are solid gold, I assure you.”</p> +<p>He alighted from the chariot, and taking Proserpina in his arms, +carried her up a lofty flight of steps into the great hall of the +palace. It was splendidly illuminated by means of large precious +stones, of various hues, which seemed to burn like so many lamps, +and glowed with a hundred-fold radiance all through the vast +apartment. And yet there was a kind of gloom in the midst of this +enchanted light; nor was there a single object in the hall that was +really agreeable to behold, except the little Proserpina herself, a +lovely child, with one earthly flower which she had not let fall +from her hand. It is my opinion that even King Pluto had never been +happy in his palace, and that this was the true reason why he had +stolen away Proserpina, in order that he might have something to +love, instead of cheating his heart any longer with this tiresome +magnificence. And, though he pretended to dislike the sunshine of +the upper world, yet the effect of the child’s presence, +bedimmed as she was by her tears, was as if a faint and watery +sunbeam had somehow or other found its way into the enchanted +hall.</p> +<p>Pluto now summoned his domestics, and bade them lose no time in +preparing a most sumptuous banquet, and above all things, not to +fail of setting a golden beaker of the water of Lethe by +Proserpina’s plate.</p> +<p>“I will neither drink that nor anything else,” said +Proserpina. “Nor will I taste a morsel of food, even if you +keep me forever in your palace.” on the seashore, she +hastened thither as fast as she could, and there beheld the wet +faces of the poor sea-nymphs peeping over a wave. All this while, +the good creatures had been waiting on the bank of sponge, and once +every half-minute or so, had popped up their four heads above +water, to see if their playmate were yet coming back. When they saw +Mother Ceres, they sat down on the crest of the surf wave, and let +it toss them ashore at her feet.</p> +<p>“Where is Proserpina?” cried Ceres. “Where is +my child? Tell me, you naughty sea-nymphs, have you enticed her +under the sea?”</p> +<p>“Oh, no, good Mother Ceres,” said the innocent +sea-nymphs, tossing back their green ringlets, and looking her in +the face. “We never should dream of such a thing. Proserpina +has been at play with us, it is true; but she left us a long while +ago, meaning only to run a little way upon the dry land, and gather +some flowers for a wreath. This was early in the day, and we have +seen nothing of her since.”</p> +<p>Ceres scarcely waited to hear what the nymphs had to say, before +she hurried off to make inquiries all through the neighborhood. But +nobody told her anything that could enable the poor mother to guess +what had become of Proserpina. A fisherman, it is true, had noticed +her little footprints in the sand, as he went homeward along the +beach with a basket of fish; a rustic had seen the child stooping +to gather flowers; several persons had heard either the rattling of +chariot-wheels or the rumbling of distant thunder; and one old +woman, while plucking vervain and catnip, had heard a scream, but +supposed it to be some childish nonsense, and therefore did not +take the trouble to look up. The stupid people! It took them such a +tedious while to tell the nothing that they knew, that it was dark +night before Mother Ceres found out that she must seek her daughter +elsewhere. So she lighted a torch, and set forth, resolving never +to come back until Proserpina was discovered.</p> +<p>In her haste and trouble of mind, she quite forgot her car and +the winged dragons; or, it may be, she thought that she could +follow up the search more thoroughly on foot. At all events, this +was the way in which she began her sorrowful journey, holding her +torch before her, and looking carefully at every object along the +path. And as it happened, she had not gone far before she found one +of the magnificent flowers which grew on the shrub that Proserpina +had pulled up.</p> +<p>“Ha!” thought Mother Ceres, examining it by +torchlight. “Here is mischief in this flower! The earth did +not produce it by any help of mine, nor of its own accord. It is +the work of enchantment, and is therefore poisonous; and perhaps it +has poisoned my poor child.”</p> +<p>But she put the poisonous flower in her bosom, not knowing +whether she might ever find any other memorial of Proserpina.</p> +<p>All night long, at the door of every cottage and farmhouse, +Ceres knocked, and called up the weary laborers to inquire if they +had seen her child; and they stood, gaping and half asleep, at the +threshold, and answered her pityingly, and besought her to come in +and rest. At the portal of every palace, too, she made so loud a +summons that the menials hurried to throw open the gate, thinking +that it must be some great king or queen, who would demand a +banquet for supper and a stately chamber to repose in. And when +they saw only a sad and anxious woman, with a torch in her hand and +a wreath of withered poppies on her head, they spoke rudely, and +sometimes threatened to set the dogs upon her. But nobody had seen +Proserpina, nor could give Mother Ceres the least hint which way to +seek her. Thus passed the night; and still she continued her search +without sitting down to rest, or stopping to take food, or even +remembering to put down the torch; although first the rosy dawn, +and then the glad light of the morning sun, made its red flame look +thin and pale. But I wonder what sort of stuff this torch was made +of; for it burned dimly through the day, and at night was as bright +as ever, and never was extinguished by the rain or wind, in all the +weary days and nights while Ceres was seeking for Proserpina.</p> +<p>It was not merely of human beings that she asked tidings of her +daughter. In the woods and by the streams, she met creatures of +another nature, who used, in those old times, to haunt the pleasant +and solitary places, and were very sociable with persons who +understood their language and customs, as Mother Ceres did. +Sometimes, for instance, she tapped with her finger against the +knotted trunk of a majestic oak; and immediately its rude bark +would cleave asunder, and forth would step a beautiful maiden, who +was the hamadryad of the oak, dwelling inside of it, and sharing +its long life, and rejoicing when its green leaves sported with the +breeze. But not one of these leafy damsels had seen Proserpina. +Then, going a little farther, Ceres would, perhaps, come to a +fountain, gushing out of a pebbly hollow in the earth, and would +dabble with her hand in the water. Behold, up through its sandy and +pebbly bed, along with the fountain’s gush, a young woman +with dripping hair would arise, and stand gazing at Mother Ceres, +half out of the water, and undulating up and down with its +ever-restless motion. But when the mother asked whether her poor +lost child had stopped to drink out of the fountain, the naiad, +with weeping eyes (for these water-nymphs had tears to spare for +everybody’s grief), would answer, “No!” in a +murmuring voice, which was just like the murmur of the stream.</p> +<p>Often, likewise, she encountered fauns, who looked like sunburnt +country people, except that they had hairy ears, and little horns +upon their foreheads, and the hinder legs of goats, on which they +gamboled merrily about the woods and fields. They were a frolicsome +kind of creature, but grew as sad as their cheerful dispositions +would allow when Ceres inquired for her daughter, and they had no +good news to tell. But sometimes she came suddenly upon a rude gang +of satyrs, who had faces like monkeys and horses’ tails +behind them, and who were generally dancing in a very boisterous +manner, with shouts of noisy laughter. When she stopped to question +them, they would only laugh the louder, and make new merriment out +of the lone woman’s distress. How unkind of those ugly +satyrs! And once, while crossing a solitary sheep pasture, she saw +a personage named Pan, seated at the foot of a tall rock. And +making music on a shepherd’s flute. He, too, had horns and +hairy ears, and goat’s feet; but being acquainted with Mother +Ceres, he answered her question as civilly as he knew how, and +invited her to taste some milk and honey out of a wooden bowl. But +neither could Pan tell her what had become of Proserpina, any +better than the rest of these wild people.</p> +<p>And thus Mother Ceres went wandering about for nine long days +and nights, finding no trace of Proserpina, unless it were now and +then a withered flower; and these, she picked up and put in her +bosom, because she fancied that they might have fallen from her +poor child’s hand. All day she traveled onward through the +hot sun; and at night, again, the flame of the torch would redden +and gleam along the pathway, and she continued her search by its +light, without ever sitting down to rest.</p> +<p>On the tenth day, she chanced to espy the mouth of a cavern, +within which (though it was bright noon everywhere else) there +would have been only a dusky twilight: but it so happened that a +torch was burning there. It flickered and struggled with the +duskiness, but could not half light up the gloomy cavern with all +its melancholy glimmer. Ceres was resolved to leave no spot without +a search; so she peeped into the entrance of the cave, and lighted +it up a little more by holding her own torch before her. In so +doing, she caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a woman, sitting +on the brown leaves of the last autumn, a great heap of which had +been swept into the cave by the wind. This woman (if woman it were) +was by no means so beautiful as many of her sex: for her head, they +tell me, was shaped very much like a dog’s, and, by way of +ornament, she wore a wreath of snakes around it. But Mother Ceres, +the moment she saw her, knew that this was an odd kind of a person, +who put all her enjoyment in being miserable, and never would have +a word to say to other people, unless they were as melancholy and +wretched as she herself delighted to be.</p> +<p>“I am wretched enough now,” thought poor Ceres, +“to talk with this melancholy Hecate, were she ten times +sadder than ever she was yet.”</p> +<p>So she stepped into the cave, and sat down, on the withered +leaves by the dog-headed woman’s side. In all the world, +since her daughter’s loss, she had found no other +companion.</p> +<p>“O Hecate.” said she, “if ever you lose a +daughter, you will know what sorrow is. Tell me, for pity’s +sake, have you seen my poor child Proserpina pass by the mouth of +your cavern?”</p> +<p>“No.” answered Hecate, in a cracked voice, and +sighing betwixt every word or two.—“no. Mother Ceres, I +have seen nothing of your daughter. But my ears, you must know, are +made in such a way that all cries of distress and affright, all +over the world, are pretty sure to find their way to them: and nine +days ago, as I sat in my cave, making myself very miserable. I +heard the voice of a young girl, shrieking as if in great distress. +Something terrible has happened to the child, you may rest assured. +As well as I could judge, a dragon, or some other cruel monster, +was carrying her away.”</p> +<p>“You kill me by saying so,” cried Ceres, almost +ready to faint. “Where was the sound, and which way did it +seem to go?”</p> +<p>“It passed very swiftly along,” said Hecate, +“and, at the same time, there was a heavy rumbling of wheels +towards the eastward. I can tell you nothing more, except that, in +my honest opinion, you will never see your daughter again. The best +advice I can give you is to take up your abode in this cavern, +where we will be the two most wretched women in the +world.”</p> +<p>“Not yet, dark Hecate.” replied Ceres, “But do +you first come with your torch, and help me to seek for my lost +child. And when there shall be no more hope of finding her (if that +black day is ordained to come), then, if you will give me room to +fling myself down, either on these withered leaves or on the naked +rock, I will show you what it is to be miserable. But until I know +that she has perished from the face of the earth, I will not allow +myself space even to grieve.”</p> +<p>The dismal Hecate did not much like the idea of going abroad +into the sunny world. But then she reflected that the sorrow of the +disconsolate Ceres would be like a gloomy twilight round about them +both, let the sun shine ever so brightly, and that therefore she +might enjoy her bad spirits quite as well as if she were to stay in +the cave. So she finally consented to go, and they set out +together, both carrying torches, although it was broad daylight and +clear sunshine. The torchlight seemed to make a gloom; so that the +people whom they met along the road could not very distinctly see +their figures; and, indeed, if they once caught a glimpse of +Hecate, with the wreath of snakes round her forehead, they +generally thought it prudent to run away, without waiting for a +second glance.</p> +<p>As the pair traveled along in this woebegone manner, a thought +struck Ceres.</p> +<p>“There is one person.” she exclaimed, “who +must have seen my poor child, and can doubtless tell what has +become of her. Why did not I think of him before? It is +Phœbus.”</p> +<p>“What,” said Hecate, “the young man that +always sits in the sunshine? Oh, pray do not think of going near +him. He is a gay, light, frivolous young fellow, and will only +smile in your face. And besides, there is such a glare of the sun +about him, that he will quite blind my poor eyes, which I have +almost wept away already.”</p> +<p>“You have promised to be my companion,” answered +Ceres. “Come, let us make haste, or the sunshine will be +gone, and Phœbus along with it.”</p> +<p>Accordingly, they went along in quest of Phœbus, both of +them, sighing grievously, and Hecate, to say the truth, making a +great deal worse lamentation than Ceres; for all the pleasure she +had, you know, lay in being miserable, and therefore she made the +most of it. By and by, after a pretty long journey, they arrived at +the sunniest spot in the whole world. There they beheld a beautiful +young man, with long, curling ringlets, which seemed to be made of +golden sunbeams; his garments were like light summer clouds; and +the expression of his face was so exceedingly vivid, that Hecate +held her hands before her eyes, muttering that he ought to wear a +black veil. Phœbus (for this was the very person whom they +were seeking) had a lyre in his hands, and was making its chords +tremble with sweet music; at the same time singing a most exquisite +song, which he had recently composed. For besides a great many +other accomplishments, this young man was renowned for his +admirable poetry.</p> +<p>As Ceres and her dismal companion approached him, Phœbus +smiled on them so cheerfully that Hecate’s wreath of snakes +gave a spiteful hiss, and Hecate heartily wished herself back in +her cave. But as for Ceres, she was too earnest in her grief either +to know or care whether Phœbus smiled or frowned.</p> +<p>“Phœbus!” exclaimed she, “I am in great +trouble, and have come to you for assistance. Can you tell me what +has become of my dear child Proserpina?”</p> +<p>“Proserpina! Proserpina, did you call her name?” +answered Phœbus, endeavoring to recollect; for there was such +a continual flow of pleasant ideas in his mind that he was apt to +forget what had happened no longer ago than yesterday. “Ah, +yes, I remember her now. A very lovely child, indeed. I am happy to +tell you, my dear madam, that I did see the little Proserpina not +many days ago. You may make yourself perfectly easy about her. She +is safe, and in excellent hands.”</p> +<p>“Oh, where is my dear child?” cried Ceres, clasping +her hands and flinging herself at his feet.</p> +<p>“Why,” said Phœbus,—and as he spoke, he +kept touching his lyre so as to make a thread of music run in and +out among his words,—“as the little damsel was +gathering flowers (and she has really a very exquisite taste for +flowers) she was suddenly snatched up by King Pluto, and carried +off to his dominions. I have never been in that part of the +universe; but the royal palace, I am told, is built in a very noble +style of architecture, and of the most splendid and costly +materials. Gold, diamonds, pearls, and all manner of precious +stones will be your daughter’s ordinary playthings. I +recommend to you, my dear lady, to give yourself no uneasiness. +Proserpina’s sense of beauty will be duly gratified, and, +even in spite of the lack of sunshine, she will lead a very +enviable life.”</p> +<p>“Hush! Say not such a word!” answered Ceres +indignantly. “What is there to gratify her heart? What are +all the splendors you speak of, without affection? I must have her +back again. Will you go with me, Phœbus, to demand my +daughter of this wicked Pluto?”</p> +<p>“Pray excuse me,” replied Phœbus, with an +elegant obeisance. “I certainly wish you success, and regret +that my own affairs are so immediately pressing that I cannot have +the pleasure of attending you. Besides, I am not upon the best of +terms with King Pluto. To tell you the truth, his three-headed +mastiff would never let me pass the gateway; for I should be +compelled to take a sheaf of sunbeams along with me, and those, you +know, are forbidden things in Pluto’s kingdom.”</p> +<p>“Ah, Phœbus,” said Ceres, with bitter meaning +in her words, “you have a harp instead of a heart. +Farewell.”</p> +<p>“Will not you stay a moment,” asked Phœbus, +“and hear me turn the pretty and touching story of Proserpina +into extemporary verses?”</p> +<p>But Ceres shook her head, and hastened away, along with Hecate. +Phœbus (who, as I have told you, was an exquisite poet) +forthwith began to make an ode about the poor mother’s grief; +and, if we were to judge of his sensibility by this beautiful +production, he must have been endowed with a very tender heart. But +when a poet gets into the habit of using his heartstrings to make +chords for his lyre, he may thrum upon them as much as he will, +without any great pain to himself. Accordingly, though Phœbus +sang a very sad song, he was as merry all the while as were the +sunbeams amid which he dwelt.</p> +<p>Poor Mother Ceres had now found out what had become of her +daughter, but was not a whit happier than before. Her case, on the +contrary, looked more desperate than ever. As long as Proserpina +was above ground there might have been hopes of regaining her. But +now that the poor child was shut up within the iron gates of the +king of the mines, at the threshold of which lay the three-headed +Cerberus, there seemed no possibility of her ever making her +escape. The dismal Hecate, who loved to take the darkest view of +things, told Ceres that she had better come with her to the cavern, +and spend the rest of her life in being miserable. Ceres answered +that Hecate was welcome to go back thither herself, but that, for +her part, she would wander about the earth in quest of the entrance +to King Pluto’s dominions. And Hecate took her at her word, +and hurried back to her beloved cave, frightening a great many +little children with a glimpse of her dog’s face, as she +went.</p> +<p>Poor Mother Ceres! It is melancholy to think of her, pursuing +her toilsome way all alone, and holding up that never-dying torch, +the flame of which seemed an emblem of the grief and hope that +burned together in her heart. So much did she suffer, that, though +her aspect had been quite youthful when her troubles began, she +grew to look like an elderly person in a very brief time. She cared +not how she was dressed, nor had she ever thought of flinging away +the wreath of withered poppies, which she put on the very morning +of Proserpina’s disappearance. She roamed about in so wild a +way, and with her hair so dishevelled, that people took her for +some distracted creature, and never dreamed that this was Mother +Ceres, who had the oversight of every seed which the husbandman +planted. Nowadays, however, she gave herself no trouble about +seed-time nor harvest, but left the farmers to take care of their +own affairs, and the crops to fade or flourish, as the case might +be. There was nothing, now, in which Ceres seemed to feel an +interest, unless when she saw children at play or gathering flowers +along the wayside. Then, indeed, she would stand and gaze at them +with tears in her eyes. The children, too, appeared to have a +sympathy with her grief, and would cluster themselves in a little +group about her knees, and look up wistfully in her face; and +Ceres, after giving them a kiss all around, would lead them to +their homes, and advise their mothers never to let them stray out +of sight.</p> +<p>“For if you do,” said she, “it may happen to +you, as it has to me, that the iron-hearted King Pluto will take a +liking to your darlings, and snatch them up in his chariot, and +carry them away.”</p> +<p>One day, during her pilgrimage in quest of the entrance to +Pluto’s kingdom, she came to the palace of King Celeus, who +reigned at Eleusis. Ascending a lofty flight of steps, she entered +the portal, and found the royal household in very great alarm about +the queen’s baby. The infant, it seems, was sickly (being +troubled with its teeth, I suppose), and would take no food, and +was all the time moaning with pain. The queen—her name was +Metanira—was desirous of finding a nurse; and when she beheld +a woman of matronly aspect coming up the palace steps, she thought, +in her own mind that here was the very person whom she needed. So +Queen Metanira ran to the door, with the poor wailing baby in her +arms, and besought Ceres to take charge of it, or, at least, to +tell her what would do it good.”</p> +<p>“Will you trust the child entirely to me?” asked +Ceres.</p> +<p>“Yes, and gladly too,” answered the queen, “if +you will devote all your time to him. For I can see that you have +been a mother.”</p> +<p>“You are right,” said Ceres. “I once had a +child of my own. Well, I will be the nurse of this poor, sickly +boy. But beware, I warn you, that you do not interfere with any +kind of treatment which I may judge proper for him. If you do so, +the poor infant must suffer for his mother’s +folly.”</p> +<p>Then she kissed the child, and it seemed to do him good, for he +smiled and nestled closely into her bosom.</p> +<p>So Mother Ceres set her torch in a corner (where it kept burning +all the while), and took up her abode in the palace of King Celeus, +as nurse to the little Prince Demophöon. She treated him as if +he were her own child, and allowed neither the king nor the queen +to say whether he should be bathed in warm or cold water, or what +he should eat, or how often he should take the air, or when he +should be put to bed. You would hardly believe me, if I were to +tell how quickly the baby prince got rid of his ailments, and grew +fat, and rosy, and strong, and how he had two rows of ivory teeth +in less time than any other little fellow, before or since. Instead +of the palest, and wretchedest, and puniest imp in the world (as +his own mother confessed him to be when Ceres first took him in +charge), he was now a strapping baby, crowing, laughing, kicking up +his heels, and rolling from one end of the room to the other. All +the good women of the neighborhood crowded to the palace, and held +up their hands, in unutterable amazement, at the beauty and +wholesomeness of this darling little prince. Their wonder was the +greater, because he was never seen to taste any food,—not +even so much as a cup of milk.</p> +<p>“Pray, nurse,” the queen kept saying, “how is +it that you make the child thrive so?”</p> +<p>“I was a mother once,” Ceres replied always; +“and having nursed my own child, I know what other children +need.”</p> +<p>But Queen Metanira, as was very natural, had a great curiosity +to know precisely what the nurse did to her child. One night, +therefore, she hid herself in the chamber where Ceres and the +little prince were accustomed to sleep. There was a fire in the +chimney, and it had now crumbled into great coals and embers, which +lay glowing on the hearth, with a blaze flickering up now and then, +and flinging a warm and ruddy light upon the walls. Ceres sat +before the hearth with the child in her lap, and the firelight +making her shadow dance upon the ceiling overhead. She undressed +the little prince, and bathed him all over with some fragrant +liquid out of a vase. The next thing she did was to rake back the +red embers, and make a hollow place among them, just where the +backlog had been. At last, while the baby was crowing and clapping +its fat little hands, and laughing in the nurse’s face (just +as you may have seen your little brother or sister do before going +into its warm bath), Ceres suddenly laid him, all naked as he was, +in the hollow, among the red-hot embers. She then raked the ashes +over him, and turned quietly away.</p> +<p>You may imagine, if you can, how Queen Metanira shrieked, +thinking nothing less than that her dear child would be burned to a +cinder. She burst forth from her hiding-place, and running to the +hearth, raked open the fire, and snatched up poor little Prince +Demophöon out of his bed of live coals, one of which he was +griping in each of his fists. He immediately set up a grievous cry, +as babies are apt to do when rudely startled out of a sound sleep. +To the queen’s astonishment and joy, she could perceive no +token of the child’s being injured by the hot fire in which +he had lain. She now turned to Mother Ceres, and asked her to +explain the mystery.</p> +<p>“Foolish woman,” answered Ceres, “did you not +promise to intrust this poor infant entirely to me? You little know +the mischief you have done him. Had you left him to my care, he +would have grown up like a child of celestial birth, endowed with +superhuman strength and intelligence, and would have lived forever. +Do you imagine that earthly children are to become immortal without +being tempered to it in the fiercest heat of the fire? But you have +ruined your own son. For though he will be a strong man and a hero +in his day, yet, on account of your folly, he will grow old, and +finally die, like the sons of other women. The weak tenderness of +his mother has cost the poor boy an immortality. +Farewell.”</p> +<p>Saying these words, she kissed the little prince Demophöon, +and sighed to think what he had lost, and took her departure +without heeding Queen Metanira, who entreated her to remain, and +cover up the child among the hot embers as often as she pleased. +Poor baby! He never slept so warmly again.</p> +<p>While she dwelt in the king’s palace, Mother Ceres had +been so continually occupied with taking care of the young prince, +that her heart was a little lightened of its grief for Proserpina. +But now, having nothing else to busy herself about, she became just +as wretched as before. At length, in her despair, she came to the +dreadful resolution that not a stalk of grain, nor a blade of +grass, not a potato, nor a turnip, nor any other vegetable that was +good for man or beast to eat, should be suffered to grow until her +daughter were restored. She even forbade the flowers to bloom, lest +somebody’s heart should be cheered by their beauty.</p> +<p>Now, as not so much as a head of asparagus ever presumed to poke +itself out of the ground, without the especial permission of Ceres, +you may conceive what a terrible calamity had here fallen upon the +earth. The husbandmen ploughed and planted as usual; but there lay +the rich black furrows, all as barren as a desert of sand. The +pastures looked as brown in the sweet month of June as ever they +did in chill November. The rich man’s broad acres and the +cottager’s small garden-patch were equally blighted. Every +little girl’s flower-bed showed nothing but dry stalks. The +old people shook their white heads, and said that the earth had +grown aged like themselves, and was no longer capable of wearing +the warm smile of summer on its face. It was really piteous to see +the poor starving cattle and sheep, how they followed behind Ceres, +lowing and bleating, as if their instinct taught them to expect +help from her; and everybody that was acquainted with her power +besought her to have mercy on the human race, and, at all events, +to let the grass grow. But Mother Ceres, though naturally of an +affectionate disposition, was now inexorable.</p> +<p>“Never,” said she. “If the earth is ever again +to see any verdure, it must first grow along the path which my +daughter will tread in coming back to me.”</p> +<p>Finally, as there seemed to be no other remedy, our old friend +Quicksilver was sent post haste to King Pluto, in hopes that he +might be persuaded to undo the mischief he had done, and to set +everything right again, by giving up Proserpina. Quicksilver +accordingly made the best of his way to the great gate, took a +flying leap right over the three-headed mastiff, and stood at the +door of the palace in an inconceivably short time. The servants +knew him both by his face and garb; for his short cloak and his +winged cap and shoes and his snaky staff had often been seen +thereabouts in times gone by. He requested to be shown immediately +into the king’s presence; and Pluto, who heard his voice from +the top of the stairs, and who loved to recreate himself with +Quicksilver’s merry talk, called out to him to come up. And +while they settle their business together, we must inquire what +Proserpina has been doing ever since we saw her last.</p> +<p>The child had declared, as you may remember, that she would not +taste a mouthful of food as long as she should be compelled to +remain in King Pluto’s palace. How she contrived to maintain +her resolution, and at the same time to keep herself tolerably +plump and rosy, is more than I can explain; but some young ladies, +I am given to understand, possess the faculty of living on air, and +Proserpina seems to have possessed it too. At any rate, it was now +six months since she left the outside of the earth; and not a +morsel, so far as the attendants were able to testify, had yet +passed between her teeth. This was the more creditable to +Proserpina, inasmuch as King Pluto had caused her to be tempted day +after day, with all manner of sweetmeats, and richly preserved +fruits, and delicacies of every sort, such as young people are +generally most fond of. But her good mother had often told her of +the hurtfulness of these things; and for that reason alone, if +there had been no other, she would have resolutely refused to taste +them.</p> +<p>All this time, being of a cheerful and active disposition, the +little damsel was not quite so unhappy as you may have supposed. +The immense palace had a thousand rooms, and was full of beautiful +and wonderful objects. There was a never-ceasing gloom, it is true, +which half hid itself among the innumerable pillars, gliding before +the child as she wandered among them, and treading stealthily +behind her in the echo of her footsteps. Neither was all the dazzle +of the precious stones, which flamed with their own light, worth +one gleam of natural sunshine; nor could the most brilliant of the +many-colored gems which Proserpina had for playthings vie with the +simple beauty of the flowers she used to gather. But still, +wherever the girl went, among those gilded halls and chambers, it +seemed as if she carried nature and sunshine along with her, and as +if she scattered dewy blossoms on her right hand and on her left. +After Proserpina came, the palace was no longer the same abode of +stately artifice and dismal magnificence that it had before been. +The inhabitants all felt this, and King Pluto more than any of +them.</p> +<p>“My own little Proserpina,” he used to say, “I +wish you could like me a little better. We gloomy and +cloudy-natured persons have often as warm hearts at bottom as those +of a more cheerful character. If you would only stay with me of +your own accord, it would make me happier than the possession of a +hundred such palaces as this.”</p> +<p>“Ah,” said Proserpina, “you should have tried +to make me like you before carrying me off. And the best thing you +can do now is to let me go again. Then I might remember you +sometimes, and think that you were as kind as you knew how to be. +Perhaps, too, one day or other, I might come back, and pay you a +visit.”</p> +<p>“No, no,” answered Pluto, with his gloomy smile, +“I will not trust you for that. You are too fond of living in +the broad daylight, and gathering flowers. What an idle and +childish taste that is! Are not these gems, which I have ordered to +be dug for you, and which are richer than any in my +crown,—are they not prettier than a violet?”</p> +<p>“Not half so pretty,” said Proserpina, snatching the +gems from Pluto’s hand, and flinging them to the other end of +the hall. “Oh, my sweet violets, shall I never see you +again?”</p> +<p>And then she burst into tears. But young people’s tears +have very little saltness or acidity in them, and do not inflame +the eyes so much as those of grown persons; so that it is not to be +wondered at if, a few moments afterwards, Proserpina was sporting +through the hall almost as merrily as she and the four sea-nymphs +had sported along the edge of the surf wave, King Pluto gazed after +her, and wished that he, too was a child. And little Proserpina, +when she turned about, and beheld this great king standing in his +splendid hall, and looking so grand, and so melancholy, and so +lonesome, was smitten with a kind of pity. She ran back to him, +and, for the first time in all her life, put her small, soft hand +in his.</p> +<p>“I love you a little,” whispered she, looking up in +his face.</p> +<p>“Do you, indeed, my dear child?” cried Pluto, +bending his dark face down to kiss her; but Proserpina shrank away +from the kiss, for though his features were noble, they were very +dusky and grim. “Well, I have not deserved it of you, after +keeping you a prisoner for so many months, and starving you, +besides. Are you not terribly hungry? Is there nothing which I can +get you to eat?”</p> +<p>In asking this question, the king of the mines had a very +cunning purpose; for, you will recollect, if Proserpina tasted a +morsel of food in his dominions, she would never afterwards be at +liberty to quit them.</p> +<p>“No, indeed,” said Proserpina. “Your head cook +is always baking, and stewing, and roasting, and rolling out paste, +and contriving one dish or another, which he imagines may be to my +liking. But he might just as well save himself the trouble, poor, +fat little man that he is. I have no appetite for anything in the +world, unless it were a slice of bread of my mother’s own +baking, or a little fruit out of her garden.”</p> +<p>When Pluto heard this, he began to see that he had mistaken the +best method of tempting Proserpina to eat. The cook’s made +dishes and artificial dainties were not half so delicious, in the +good child’s opinion, as the simple fare to which Mother +Ceres had accustomed her. Wondering that he had never thought of it +before, the king now sent one of his trusty attendants, with a +large basket, to get some of the finest and juiciest pears, +peaches, and plums which could anywhere be found in the upper +world. Unfortunately, however, this was during the time when Ceres +had forbidden any fruits or vegetables to grow; and, after seeking +all over the earth, King Pluto’s servants found only a single +pomegranate, and that so dried up as to be not worth eating. +Nevertheless, since there was no better to be had, he brought this +dry, old, withered pomegranate home to the palace, put it on a +magnificent golden salver, and carried it up to Proserpina. Now it +happened, curiously enough, that, just as the servant was bringing +the pomegranate into the back door of the palace, our friend +Quicksilver had gone up the front steps, on his errand to get +Proserpina away from King Pluto.</p> +<p>As soon as Proserpina saw the pomegranate on the golden salver, +she told the servant he had better take it away again.</p> +<p>“I shall not touch it, I assure you,” said she. +“If I were ever so hungry, I should never think of eating +such a miserable, dry pomegranate as that.”</p> +<p>“It is the only one in the world,” said the +servant.</p> +<p>He set down the golden salver, with the wizened pomegranate upon +it, and left the room. When he was gone, Proserpina could not help +coming close to the table, and looking at this poor specimen of +dried fruit with a great deal of eagerness; for, to say the truth, +on seeing something that suited her taste, she felt all the six +months’ appetite taking possession of her at once. To be +sure, it was a very wretched-looking pomegranate, and seemed to +have no more juice in it than an oyster-shell. But there was no +choice of such things in King Pluto’s palace. This was the +first fruit she had seen there, and the last she was ever likely to +see; and unless she ate it up immediately, it would grow drier than +it already was, and be wholly unfit to eat.</p> +<p>“At least, I may smell it,” thought Proserpina.</p> +<p>So she took up the pomegranate, and applied it to her nose; and, +somehow or other, being in such close neighborhood to her mouth, +the fruit found its way into that little red cave. Dear me! what an +everlasting pity! Before Proserpina knew what she was about, her +teeth had actually bitten it, of their own accord. Just as this +fatal deed was done, the door of the apartment opened, and in came +King Pluto, followed by Quicksilver, who had been urging him to let +his little prisoner go. At the first noise of their entrance, +Proserpina withdrew the pomegranate from her mouth. But Quicksilver +(whose eyes were very keen, and his wits the sharpest that ever +anybody had) perceived that the child was a little confused; and +seeing the empty salver, he suspected that she had been taking a +sly nibble of something or other. As for honest Pluto, he never +guessed at the secret.</p> +<p>“My little Proserpina,” said the king, sitting down, +and affectionately drawing her between his knees, “here is +Quicksilver, who tells me that a great many misfortunes have +befallen innocent people on account of my detaining you in my +dominions. To confess the truth, I myself had already reflected +that it was an unjustifiable act to take you away from your good +mother. But, then, you must consider, my dear child, that this vast +palace is apt to be gloomy (although the precious stones certainly +shine very bright), and that I am not of the most cheerful +disposition, and that therefore it was a natural thing enough to +seek for the society of some merrier creature than myself. I hoped +you would take my crown for a plaything, and me—ah, you +laugh, naughty Proserpina—me, grim as I am, for a playmate. +It was a silly expectation.”</p> +<p>“Not so extremely silly,” whispered Proserpina. +“You have really amused me very much, sometimes.”</p> +<p>“Thank you,” said King Pluto, rather dryly. +“But I can see, plainly enough, that you think my palace a +dusky prison, and me the iron-hearted keeper of it. And an iron +heart I should surely have, if I could detain you here any longer, +my poor child, when it is now six months since you tasted food. I +give you your liberty. Go with Quicksilver. Hasten home to your +dear mother.”</p> +<p>Now, although you may not have supposed it, Proserpina found it +impossible to take leave of poor King Pluto without some regrets, +and a good deal of compunction for not telling him about the +pomegranate. She even shed a tear or two, thinking how lonely and +cheerless the great palace would seem to him, with all its ugly +glare of artificial light, after she herself,—his one little +ray of natural sunshine, whom he had stolen, to be sure, but only +because he valued her so much,—after she should have +departed. I know not how many kind things she might have said to +the disconsolate king of the mines, had not Quicksilver hurried her +away.</p> +<p>“Come along quickly,” whispered he in her ear, +“or his majesty may change his royal mind. And take care, +above all things, that you say nothing of what was brought you on +the golden salver.”</p> +<p>In a very short time, they had passed the great gateway (leaving +the three-headed Cerberus, barking and yelping, and growling, with +threefold din, behind them), and emerged upon the surface of the +earth. It was delightful to behold, as Proserpina hastened along, +how the path grew verdant behind and on either side of her. +Wherever she set her blessed foot, there was at once a dewy flower. +The violets gushed up along the wayside. The grass and the grain +began to sprout with tenfold vigor and luxuriance, to make up for +the dreary months that had been wasted in barrenness. The starved +cattle immediately set to work grazing, after their long fast, and +ate enormously all day, and got up at midnight to eat more. But I +can assure you it was a busy time of year with the farmers, when +they found the summer coming upon them with such a rush. Nor must I +forget to say that all the birds in the whole world hopped about +upon the newly blossoming trees, and sang together in a prodigious +ecstasy of joy.</p> +<p>Mother Ceres had returned to her deserted home, and was sitting +disconsolately on the doorstep, with her torch burning in her hand. +She had been idly watching the flame for some moments past, when, +all at once, it flickered and went out.</p> +<p>“What does this mean?” thought she. “It was an +enchanted torch, and should have kept burning till my child came +back.”</p> +<p>Lifting her eyes, she was surprised to see a sudden verdure +flashing over the brown and barren fields, exactly as you may have +observed a golden hue gleaming far and wide across the landscape, +from the just risen sun.</p> +<p>“Does the earth disobey me?” exclaimed Mother Ceres +indignantly. “Does it presume to be green, when I have bidden +it be barren until my daughter shall be restored to my +arms?”</p> +<p>“Then open your arms, dear mother,” cried a +well-known voice, “and take your little daughter into +them.”</p> +<p>And Proserpina came running, and flung herself upon her +mother’s bosom. Their mutual transport is not to be +described. The grief of their separation had caused both of them to +shed a great many tears; and now they shed a great many more, +because their joy could not so well express itself in any other +way.</p> +<p>When their hearts had grown a little more quiet, Mother Ceres +looked anxiously at Proserpina.</p> +<p>“My child,” said she, “did you taste any food +while you were in King Pluto’s palace?”</p> +<p>“Dearest mother,” answered Proserpina. “I will +tell you the whole truth. Until this very morning, not a morsel of +food had passed my lips. But to-day, they brought me a pomegranate +(a very dry one it was, and all shriveled up, till there was little +left of it but seeds and skin), and having seen no fruit for so +long a time, and being faint with hunger, I was tempted just to +bite it. The instant I tasted it, King Pluto and Quicksilver came +into the room. I had not swallowed a morsel; but—dear mother, +I hope it was no harm—but six of the pomegranate seeds, I am +afraid, remained in my mouth.”</p> +<p>“Ah, unfortunate child, and miserable me!” exclaimed +Ceres. “For each of those six pomegranate seeds you must +spend one month of each year in King Pluto’s palace. You are +but half restored to your mother. Only six months with me, and six +with that good-for-nothing King of Darkness!”</p> +<p>“Do not speak so harshly of poor King Pluto,” said +Proserpina, kissing her mother. “He has some very good +qualities, and I really think I can bear to spend six months in his +palace, if he will only let me spend the other six with you. He +certainly did very wrong to carry me off; but then, as he says, it +was but a dismal sort of life for him, to live in that great gloomy +place, all alone; and it has made a wonderful change in his spirits +to have a little girl to run up stairs and down. There is some +comfort in making him so happy; and so, upon the whole, dearest +mother, let us be thankful that he is not to keep me the whole year +round.”</p> +<h2><a id="FolkStories" name="FolkStories">OLD GREEK +FOLK-STORIES</a></h2> +<h3><a id="Orpheus" name="Orpheus">Orpheus and Eurydice</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Josephine Preston Peabody</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>When gods and shepherds piped and the stars sang, that was the +day of musicians! But the triumph of Phœbus Apollo himself +was not so wonderful as the triumph of a mortal man who lived on +earth, though some say that he came of divine lineage. This was +Orpheus, that best of harpers, who went with the Grecian heroes of +the great ship Argo in search of the Golden Fleece.</p> +<p>After his return from the quest, he won Eurydice for his wife, +and they were as happy as people can be who love each other and +every one else. The very wild beasts loved them, and the trees +clustered about their home as if they were watered with music. But +even the gods themselves were not always free from sorrow, and one +day misfortune came upon that harper Orpheus whom all men loved to +honor.</p> +<p>Eurydice, his lovely wife, as she was wandering with the nymphs, +unwittingly trod upon a serpent in the grass. Surely, if Orpheus +had been with her, playing upon his lyre, no creature could have +harmed her. But Orpheus came too late. She died of the sting, and +was lost to him in the Underworld.</p> +<p>For days he wandered from his home, singing the story of his +loss and his despair to the helpless passers-by. His grief moved +the very stones in the wilderness, and roused a dumb distress in +the hearts of savage beasts. Even the gods on Mount Olympus gave +ear, but they held no power over the darkness of Hades.</p> +<p>Wherever Orpheus wandered with his lyre, no one had the will to +forbid him entrance; and at length he found unguarded that very +cave that leads to the Underworld, where Pluto rules the spirits of +the dead. He went down without fear. The fire in his living heart +found him a way through the gloom of that place. He crossed the +Styx, the black river that the Gods name as their most sacred oath. +Charon, the harsh old ferryman who takes the shades across, forgot +to ask of him the coin that every soul must pay. For Orpheus sang. +There in the Underworld the song of Apollo would not have moved the +poor ghosts so much. It would have amazed them, like a star far off +that no one understands. But here was a human singer, and he sang +of things that grow in every human heart, youth and love and death, +the sweetness of the Earth, and the bitterness of losing aught that +is dear to us.</p> +<p>Now the dead, when they go to the Underworld, drink of the pool +of Lethe; and forgetfulness of all that has passed comes upon them +like a sleep, and they lose their longing for the world, they lose +their memory of pain, and live content with that cool twilight. But +not the pool of Lethe itself could withstand the song of Orpheus; +and in the hearts of the shades all the old dreams awoke wondering. +They remembered once more the life of men on earth, the glory of +the sun and moon, the sweetness of new grass, the warmth of their +homes, all the old joy and grief that they had known. And they +wept.</p> +<p>Even the Furies were moved to pity. Those, too, who were +suffering punishment for evil deeds ceased to be tormented for +themselves, and grieved only for the innocent Orpheus who had lost +Eurydice. Sisyphus, that fraudulent king (who is doomed to roll a +monstrous boulder uphill forever), stopped to listen. The daughters +of Danaus left off their task of drawing water in a sieve. Tantalus +forgot hunger and thirst, though before his eyes hung magical +fruits that were wont to vanish out of his grasp, and just beyond +reach bubbled the water that was a torment to his ears; he did not +hear it while Orpheus sang.</p> +<p>So, among a crowd of eager ghosts, Orpheus came, singing with +all his heart, before the king and queen of Hades. And the queen +Proserpina wept as she listened and grew homesick, remembering the +fields of Enna and the growing of the wheat, and her own beautiful +mother, Demeter. Then Pluto gave way.</p> +<p>They called Eurydice and she came, like a young guest unused to +the darkness of the Underworld. She was to return with Orpheus, but +on one condition. If he turned to look at her once before they +reached the upper air, he must lose her again and go back to the +world alone.</p> +<p>Rapt with joy, the happy Orpheus hastened on the way, thinking +only of Eurydice, who was following him. Past Lethe, across the +Styx they went, he and his lovely wife, still silent as a shade. +But the place was full of gloom, the silence weighed upon him, he +had not seen her for so long; her footsteps made no sound; and he +could hardly believe the miracle, for Pluto seldom relents. When +the first gleam of upper daylight broke through the cleft to the +dismal world, he forgot all, save that he must know if she still +followed. He turned to see her face, and the promise was +broken!</p> +<p>She smiled at him forgivingly, but it was too late. He stretched +out his arms to take her, but she faded from them, as the bright +snow, that none may keep, melts in our very hands. A murmur of +farewell came to his ears,—no more. She was gone.</p> +<p>He would have followed, but Charon, now on guard, drove him +back. Seven days he lingered there between the worlds of life and +death, but after the broken promise Hades would not listen to his +song. Back to the earth he wandered, though it was sweet to him no +longer. He died young, singing to the last, and round about the +place where his body rested, nightingales nested in the trees. His +lyre was set among the stars; and he himself went down to join +Eurydice, unforbidden.</p> +<p>Those two had no need of Lethe, for their life on earth had been +wholly fair, and now that they are together they no longer own a +sorrow.</p> +<h3><a id="Icarus" name="Icarus">Icarus and Dædalus</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Josephine Preston Peabody</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Among all those mortals who grew so wise that they learned the +secrets of the gods, none was more cunning than Dædalus.</p> +<p>He once built, for King Minos of Crete, a wonderful Labyrinth of +winding ways so cunningly tangled up and twisted around that, once +inside, you could never find your way out again without a magic +clue. But the king’s favor veered with the wind, and one day +he had his master architect imprisoned in a tower. Dædalus +managed to escape from his cell; but it seemed impossible to leave +the island, since every ship that came or went was well guarded by +order of the king.</p> +<p>At length, watching the sea-gulls in the air,—the only +creatures that were sure of liberty,—he thought of a plan for +himself and his young son Icarus, who was captive with him.</p> +<p>Little by little, he gathered a store of feathers great and +small. He fastened these together with thread, moulded them in with +wax, and so fashioned two great wings like those of a bird. When +they were done, Dædalus fitted them to his own shoulders, and +after one or two efforts, he found that by waving his arms he could +winnow the air and cleave it, as a swimmer does the sea. He held +himself aloft, wavered this way and that, with the wind, and at +last, like a great fledgling, he learned to fly.</p> +<p>Without delay, he fell to work on a pair of wings for the boy +Icarus, and taught him carefully how to use them, bidding him +beware of rash adventures among the stars. “Remember,” +said the father, “never to fly very low or very high, for the +fogs about the earth would weigh you down, but the blaze of the sun +will surely melt your feathers apart if you go too near.”</p> +<p>For Icarus, these cautions went in at one ear and out by the +other. Who could remember to be careful when he was to fly for the +first time? Are birds careful? Not they! And not an idea remained +in the boy’s head but the one joy of escape.</p> +<p>The day came, and the fair wind that was to set them free. The +father bird put on his wings, and, while the light urged them to be +gone, he waited to see that all was well with Icarus, for the two +could not fly hand in hand. Up they rose, the boy after his father. +The hateful ground of Crete sank beneath them; and the country +folk, who caught a glimpse of them when they were high above the +tree-tops, took it for a vision of the gods,—Apollo, perhaps, +with Cupid after him.</p> +<p>At first there was a terror in the joy. The wide vacancy of the +air dazed them,—a glance downward made their brains reel. But +when a great wind filled their wings, and Icarus felt himself +sustained, like a halcyon-bird in the hollow of a wave, like a +child uplifted by his mother, he forgot everything in the world but +joy. He forgot Crete and the other islands that he had passed over: +he saw but vaguely that winged thing in the distance before him +that was his father Dædalus. He longed for one draught of +flight to quench the thirst of his captivity: he stretched out his +arms to the sky and made towards the highest heavens.</p> +<p>Alas for him! Warmer and warmer grew the air. Those arms, that +had seemed to uphold him, relaxed. His wings wavered, drooped. He +fluttered his young hands vainly,—he was falling,—and +in that terror he remembered. The heat of the sun had melted the +wax from his wings; the feathers were falling, one by one, like +snowflakes; and there was none to help.</p> +<p>He fell like a leaf tossed down the wind, down, down, with one +cry that overtook Dædalus far away. When he returned, and +sought high and low for the poor boy, he saw nothing but the +bird-like feathers afloat on the water, and he knew that Icarus was +drowned.</p> +<p>The nearest island he named Icaria, in memory of the child; but +he, in heavy grief, went to the temple of Apollo in Sicily, and +there hung up his wings as an offering. Never again did he attempt +to fly.</p> +<h3><a id="Phaethon" name="Phaethon">Phaethon</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Josephine Preston Peabody</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Once upon a time, the reckless whim of a lad came near to +destroying the Earth and robbing the spheres of their wits.</p> +<p>There were two playmates, said to be of heavenly parentage. One +was Epaphus, who claimed Zeus as a father; and one was Phaethon, +the earthly child of Phœbus Apollo (or Helios, as some name +the sun-god). One day they were boasting together, each of his own +father, and Epaphus, angry at the other’s fine story, dared +him to go prove his kinship with the Sun.</p> +<p>Full of rage and humiliation, Phaethon went to his mother, +Clymene, where she sat with his young sisters, the Heliades.</p> +<p>“It is true, my child,” she said, “I swear it +in the light of yonder Sun. If you have any doubt, go to the land +whence he rises at morning and ask of him any gift you will; he is +your father, and he cannot refuse you.”</p> +<p>As soon as might be, Phaethon set out for the country of +sunrise. He journeyed by day and by night far into the east, till +he came to the palace of the Sun. It towered high as the clouds, +glorious with gold and all manner of gems that looked like frozen +fire, if that might be. The mighty walls were wrought with images +of earth and sea and sky. Vulcan, the smith of the Gods, had made +them in his workshop (for Mount Ætna is one of his forges, +and he has the central fires of the earth to help him fashion gold +and iron, as men do glass). On the doors blazed the twelve signs of +the Zodiac, in silver that shone like snow in the sunlight. +Phaethon was dazzled with the sight, but when he entered the palace +hall he could hardly bear the radiance.</p> +<p>In one glimpse through his half-shut eyes, he beheld a glorious +being, none other than Phœbus himself, seated upon a throne. +He was clothed in purple raiment, and round his head there shone a +blinding light, that enveloped even his courtiers upon the right +and upon the left,—the Seasons with their emblems, Day, +Month, Year, and the beautiful young Hours in a row. In one glance +of those all-seeing eyes, the sun-god knew his child; but in order +to try him he asked the boy his errand.</p> +<p>“O my father,” stammered Phaethon, “if you are +my father indeed”—and then he took courage; for the god +came down from his throne, put off the glorious halo that hurt +mortal eyes, and embraced him tenderly.</p> +<p>“Indeed, thou art my son,” said he. “Ask any +gift of me, and it shall be thine; I call the Styx to +witness.”</p> +<p>“Ah!” cried Phaethon rapturously. “Let me +drive thy chariot for one day!”</p> +<p>For an instant the Sun’s looks clouded. “Choose +again, my child,” said he. “Thou art only a mortal, and +this task is mine alone of all the Gods. Not Zeus himself dare +drive the chariot of the Sun. The way is full of terrors, both for +the horses and for all the stars along the roadside, and for the +Earth, who has all blessings from me. Listen, and choose +again.” And therewith he warned Phaethon of all the dangers +that beset the way,—the great steep that the steeds must +climb, the numbing dizziness of the height, the fierce +constellations that breathe out fire, and that descent in the west +where the Sun seems to go headlong.</p> +<p>But these counsels only made the reckless boy more eager to win +honor of such a high enterprise.</p> +<p>“I will take care; only let me go,” he begged.</p> +<p>Now Phœbus had sworn by the black river Styx, an oath that +none of the Gods dare break, and he was forced to keep his +promise.</p> +<p>Already Aurora, goddess of dawn, had thrown open the gates of +the east, and the stars were beginning to wane. The Hours came +forth to harness the four horses, and Phaethon looked with +exultation at the splendid creatures, whose lord he was for a day. +Wild, immortal steeds they were, fed with ambrosia, untamed as the +winds; their very pet names signified flame, and all that flame can +do,—Pyrois, Eoüs, Æthon, Phlegon.</p> +<p>As the lad stood by, watching, Phœbus anointed his face +with a philter that should make him strong to endure the terrible +heat and light, then set the halo upon his head, with a last word +of counsel.</p> +<p>“Follow the road,” said he, “and never turn +aside. Go not too high or too low, for the sake of heavens and +earth; else men and Gods will suffer. The Fates alone know whether +evil is to come of this. Yet if your heart fails you, as I hope, +abide here and I will make the journey, as I am wont to +do.”</p> +<p>But Phaethon held to his choice and bade his father farewell. He +took his place in the chariot, gathered up the reins, and the +horses sprang away, eager for the road.</p> +<p>As they went, they bent their splendid necks to see the meaning +of the strange hand upon the reins,—the slender weight in the +chariot. They turned their wild eyes upon Phaethon, to his secret +foreboding, and neighed one to another. This was no master +charioteer, but a mere lad, a feather riding the wind. It was +holiday for the horses of the Sun, and away they went.</p> +<p>Grasping the reins that dragged him after, like an enemy, +Phaethon looked down from the fearful ascent and saw the Earth far +beneath him, dim and fair. He was blind with dizziness and +bewilderment. His hold slackened and the horses redoubled their +speed, wild with new liberty. They left the old tracks. Before he +knew where he was, they had startled the constellations and +well-nigh grazed the Serpent, so that it woke from its torpor and +hissed.</p> +<p>The steeds took fright. This way and that they went, terrified +by the monsters they had never encountered before, shaking out of +their silver quiet the cool stars towards the north, then fleeing +as far to the south among new wonders. The heavens were full of +terror.</p> +<p>Up, far above the clouds, they went, and down again, towards the +defenseless Earth, that could not flee from the chariot of the Sun. +Great rivers hid themselves in the ground, and mountains were +consumed. Harvests perished like a moth that is singed in a +candle-flame.</p> +<p>In vain did Phaethon call to the horses and pull upon the reins. +As in a hideous dream, he saw his own Earth, his beautiful home and +the home of all men, his kindred, parched by the fires of this mad +chariot, and blackening beneath him. The ground cracked open and +the sea shrank. Heedless water-nymphs, who had lingered in the +shallows, were left gasping like bright fishes. The dryads shrank, +and tried to cover themselves from the scorching heat. The poor +Earth lifted her withered face in a last prayer to Zeus to save her +if he might.</p> +<p>Then Zeus, calling all the Gods to witness that there was no +other means of safety, hurled his thunderbolt; and Phaethon knew no +more.</p> +<p>His body fell through the heavens, aflame like a shooting star; +and the horses of the Sun dashed homeward with the empty +chariot.</p> +<p>Poor Clymene grieved sore over the boy’s death; but the +young Heliades, daughters of the Sun, refused all comfort. Day and +night they wept together about their brother’s grave by the +river, until the Gods took pity and changed them all into +poplar-trees. And ever after that they wept sweet tears of amber, +clear as sunlight.</p> +<h3><a id="Niobe" name="Niobe">Niobe</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Josephine Preston Peabody</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>There are so many tales of the vanity of kings and queens that +the half of them cannot be told.</p> +<p>There was Cassiopæia, queen of Æthiopia, who boasted +that her beauty outshone the beauty of all the sea-nymphs, so that +in anger they sent a horrible sea-serpent to ravage the coast. The +king prayed of an oracle to know how the monster might be appeased, +and learned that he must offer up his own daughter, Andromeda. The +maiden was therefore chained to a rock by the sea-side, and left to +her fate. But who should come to rescue her but a certain young +hero, Perseus, who was hastening homeward after a perilous +adventure with the snaky-haired Gorgons. Filled with pity at the +story of Andromeda, he waited for the dragon, met and slew him, and +set the maiden free. As for the boastful queen, the Gods forgave +her, and at her death she was set among the stars. That story ended +well.</p> +<p>But there was once a queen of Thebes, Niobe, fortunate above all +women, and yet arrogant in the face of the gods. Very beautiful she +was, and nobly born, but above all things she boasted of her +children, for she had seven sons and seven daughters.</p> +<p>Now there came the day when the people were wont to celebrate +the feast of Latona, mother of Apollo and Diana; and Niobe, as she +stood looking upon the worshipers on their way to the temple, was +filled with overweening pride.</p> +<p>“Why do you worship Latona before me?” she cried +out. “What does she possess that I have not in greater +abundance? She has but two children, while I have seven sons and as +many daughters. Nay, if she robbed me out of envy, I should still +be rich. Go back to your houses; you have not eyes to know the +rightful goddess.”</p> +<p>Such impiety was enough to frighten any one, and her subjects +returned to their daily work, awestruck and silent.</p> +<p>But Apollo and Diana were filled with wrath at this insult to +their divine mother. Not only was she a great goddess and a power +in the heavens, but during her life on earth she had suffered many +hardships for their sake. The serpent Python had been sent to +torment her; and, driven from land to land, under an evil spell, +beset with dangers, she had found no resting-place but the island +of Delos, held sacred ever after to her and her children. Once she +had even been refused water by some churlish peasants, who could +not believe in a goddess if she appeared in humble guise and +travel-worn. But these men were all changed into frogs.</p> +<p>It needed no word from Latona herself to rouse her children to +vengeance. Swift as a thought, the two immortal archers, brother +and sister, stood in Thebes, upon the towers of the citadel. Near +by, the youth were pursuing their sports, while the feast of Latona +went neglected. The sons of Queen Niobe were there, and against +them Apollo bent his golden bow. An arrow crossed the air like a +sunbeam, and without a word the eldest prince fell from his horse. +One by one his brothers died by the same hand, so swiftly that they +knew not what had befallen them, till all the sons of the royal +house lay slain. Only the people of Thebes, stricken with terror, +bore the news to Queen Niobe, where she sat with her seven +daughters. She would not believe in such a sorrow.</p> +<p>“Savage Latona,” she cried, lifting her arms against +the heavens, “never think that you have conquered. I am still +the greater.”</p> +<p>At that moment one of her daughters sank beside her. Diana had +sped an arrow from her bow that is like the crescent moon. Without +a cry, nay, even as they murmured words of comfort, the sisters +died, one by one. It was all as swift and soundless as +snowfall.</p> +<p>Only the guilty mother was left, transfixed with grief. Tears +flowed from her eyes, but she spoke not a word, her heart never +softened; and at last she turned to stone, and the tears flowed +down her cold face forever.</p> +<h3><a id="Pyramus" name="Pyramus">Pyramus and Thisbe</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Josephine Preston Peabody</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Venus did not always befriend true lovers, as she had befriended +Hippomenes, with her three golden apples. Sometimes, in the +enchanted island of Cyprus, she forgot her worshipers far away, and +they called on her in vain.</p> +<p>So it was in the sad story of Hero and Leander, who lived on +opposite borders of the Hellespont. Hero dwelt at Sestos, where she +served as a priestess, in the very temple of Venus; and +Leander’s home was in Abydos, a town on the opposite shore. +But every night this lover would swim across the water to see Hero, +guided by the light which she was wont to set in her tower. Even +such loyalty could not conquer fate. There came a great storm, one +night, that put out the beacon, and washed Leander’s body up +with the waves to Hero, and she sprang into the water to rejoin +him, and so perished.</p> +<p>Not wholly unlike this was the fate of Halcyone, a queen of +Thessaly, who dreamed that her husband Ceyx had been drowned, and +on waking hastened to the shore to look for him. There she saw her +dream come true,—his lifeless body floating towards her on +the tide; and as she flung herself after him, mad with grief, the +air upheld her and she seemed to fly. Husband and wife were changed +into birds; and there on the very water, at certain seasons, they +build a nest that floats unhurt,—a portent of calm for many +days and safe voyage for the ships. So it is that seamen love these +birds and look for halcyon weather.</p> +<p>But there once lived in Babylonia two lovers named Pyramus and +Thisbe, who were parted by a strange mischance. For they lived in +adjoining houses; and although their parents had forbidden them to +marry, these two had found a means of talking together through a +crevice in the wall.</p> +<p>Here, again and again, Pyramus on his side of the wall and +Thisbe on hers, they would meet to tell each other all that had +happened during the day, and to complain of their cruel parents. At +length they decided that they would endure it no longer, but that +they would leave their homes and be married, come what might. They +planned to meet, on a certain evening, by a mulberry-tree near the +tomb of King Ninus, outside the city gates. Once safely met, they +were resolved to brave fortune together.</p> +<p>So far all went well. At the appointed time, Thisbe, heavily +veiled, managed to escape from home unnoticed, and after a stealthy +journey through the streets of Babylon, she came to the grove of +mulberries near the tomb of Ninus. The place was deserted, and once +there she put off the veil from her face to see if Pyramus waited +anywhere among the shadows. She heard the sound of a footfall and +turned to behold—not Pyramus, but a creature unwelcome to any +tryst—none other than a lioness crouching to drink from the +pool hard by.</p> +<p>Without a cry, Thisbe fled, dropping her veil as she ran. She +found a hiding-place among the rocks at some distance, and there +she waited, not knowing what else to do.</p> +<p>The lioness, having quenched her thirst (after some ferocious +meal), turned from the spring and, coming upon the veil, sniffed at +it curiously, tore and tossed it with her reddened jaws,—as +she would have done with Thisbe herself,—then dropped the +plaything and crept away to the forest once more.</p> +<p>It was but a little after this that Pyramus came hurrying to the +meeting-place, breathless with eagerness to find Thisbe and tell +her what had delayed him. He found no Thisbe there. For a moment he +was confounded. Then he looked about for some signs of her, some +footprint by the pool. There was the trail of a wild beast in the +grass, and near by a woman’s veil, torn and stained with +blood; he caught it up and knew it for Thisbe’s.</p> +<p>So she had come at the appointed hour, true to her word; she had +waited there for him alone and defenseless, and she had fallen a +prey to some beast from the jungle! As these thoughts rushed upon +the young man’s mind, he could endure no more.</p> +<p>“Was it to meet me, Thisbe, that you came to such a +death!” cried he. “And I followed all too late. But I +will atone. Even now I come lagging, but by no will of +mine!”</p> +<p>So saying, the poor youth drew his sword and fell upon it, there +at the foot of that mulberry-tree which he had named as the +trysting-place, and his life-blood ran about the roots.</p> +<p>During these very moments, Thisbe, hearing no sound and a little +reassured, had stolen from her hiding-place and was come to the +edge of the grove. She saw that the lioness had left the spring, +and, eager to show her lover that she had dared all things to keep +faith, she came slowly, little by little, back to the +mulberry-tree.</p> +<p>She found Pyramus there, according to his promise. His own sword +was in his heart, the empty scabbard by his side, and in his hand +he held her veil still clasped. Thisbe saw these things as in a +dream, and suddenly the truth awoke her. She saw the piteous +mischance of all; and when the dying Pyramus opened his eyes and +fixed them upon her, her heart broke. With the same sword she +stabbed herself, and the lovers died together.</p> +<p>There the parents found them, after a weary search, and they +were buried together in the same tomb. But the berries of the +mulberry-tree turned red that day, and red they have remained ever +since.</p> +<h2><a id="Trojan" name="Trojan">STORIES OF THE TROJAN WAR</a></h2> +<h3><a id="Discord" name="Discord">The Apple of Discord</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Josephine Preston Peabody</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>There was once a war so great that the sound of it has come +ringing down the centuries from singer to singer, and will never +die.</p> +<p>The rivalries of men and gods brought about many calamities, but +none so heavy as this; and it would never have come to pass, they +say, if it had not been for jealousy among the immortals,—all +because of a golden apple! But Destiny has nurtured ominous plants +from little seeds; and this is how one evil grew great enough to +overshadow heaven and earth.</p> +<p>The sea-nymph Thetis (whom Zeus himself had once desired for his +wife) was given in marriage to a mortal, Peleus, and there was a +great wedding-feast in heaven. Thither all the immortals were +bidden, save one, Eris, the goddess of Discord, ever an unwelcome +guest. But she came unbidden. While the wedding-guests sat at +feast, she broke in upon their mirth, flung among them a golden +apple, and departed with looks that boded ill. Some one picked up +the strange missile and read its inscription, “For the +Fairest;” and at once discussion arose among the goddesses. +They were all eager to claim the prize, but only three +persisted.</p> +<p>Venus, the very goddess of beauty, said that it was hers by +right; but Juno could not endure to own herself less fair than +another, and even Athene coveted the palm of beauty as well as of +wisdom, and would not give it up! Discord had indeed come to the +wedding-feast. Not one of the Gods dared to decide so dangerous a +question,—not Zeus himself,—and the three rivals were +forced to choose a judge among mortals.</p> +<p>Now there lived on Mount Ida, near the city of Troy, a certain +young shepherd by the name of Paris. He was as comely as Ganymede +himself,—that Trojan youth whom Zeus, in the shape of an +eagle, seized and bore away to Olympus, to be a cup-bearer to the +gods. Paris, too, was a Trojan of royal birth, but like +Œdipus, he had been left on the mountain in his infancy, +because the oracle had foretold that he would be the death of his +kindred and the ruin of his country. Destiny saved and nurtured him +to fulfill that prophecy. He grew up as a shepherd and tended his +flocks on the mountain, but his beauty held the favor of all the +wood-folk there and won the heart of the nymph Œnone.</p> +<p>To him, at last, the three goddesses intrusted the judgment and +the golden apple. Juno first stood before him in all her glory as +queen of Gods and men, and attended by her favorite peacocks as +gorgeous to see as royal fan-bearers.</p> +<div class="figure"><a href="images/big_204.jpg"><img src= +"images/small_204.jpg" alt="Paris is cajoled by a goddess." id= +"img04" name="img04" width="620" height="360" /></a> +<p>TO HIM AT LAST THE THREE GODDESSES INTRUSTED THE JUDGMENT AND +THE GOLDEN APPLE</p> +</div> +<p>“Use but the judgment of a prince, Paris,” she said, +“and I will give thee wealth and kingly power.”</p> +<p>Such majesty and such promises would have moved the heart of any +man; but the eager Paris had at least to hear the claims of the +other rivals. Athene rose before him, a vision welcome as daylight, +with her sea-gray eyes and golden hair beneath a golden helmet.</p> +<p>“Be wise in honoring me, Paris,” she said, +“and I will give thee wisdom that shall last forever, great +glory among men, and renown in war.”</p> +<p>Last of all, Venus shone upon him, beautiful as none can ever +hope to be. If she had come, unnamed, as any country maid, her +loveliness would have dazzled him like sea-foam in the sun; but she +was girt with her magical Cestus, a spell of beauty that no one can +resist.</p> +<p>Without a bribe she might have conquered, and she smiled upon +his dumb amazement, saying, “Paris, thou shalt yet have for +wife the fairest woman in the world.”</p> +<p>At these words, the happy shepherd fell on his knees and offered +her the golden apple. He took no heed of the slighted goddesses, +who vanished in a cloud that boded storm.</p> +<p>From that hour he sought only the counsel of Venus, and only +cared to find the highway to his new fortunes. From her he learned +that he was the son of King Priam of Troy, and with her assistance +he deserted the nymph Œnone, whom he had married, and went in +search of his royal kindred.</p> +<p>For it chanced at that time that Priam proclaimed a contest of +strength between his sons and certain other princes, and promised +as prize the most splendid bull that could be found among the herds +of Mount Ida. Thither came the herdsmen to choose, and when they +led away the pride of Paris’s heart, he followed to Troy, +thinking that he would try his fortune and perhaps win back his +own.</p> +<p>The games took place before Priam and Hecuba and all their +children, including those noble princes Hector and Helenus, and the +young Cassandra, their sister. This poor maiden had a sad story, in +spite of her royalty; for, because she had once disdained Apollo, +she was fated to foresee all things, and ever to have her +prophecies disbelieved. On this fateful day, she alone was +oppressed with strange forebodings.</p> +<p>But if he who was to be the ruin of his country had returned, he +had come victoriously. Paris won the contest. At the very moment of +his honor, poor Cassandra saw him with her prophetic eyes; and +seeing as well all the guilt and misery that he was to bring upon +them, she broke into bitter lamentations, and would have warned her +kindred against the evil to come. But the Trojans gave little heed; +they were wont to look upon her visions as spells of madness. Paris +had come back to them a glorious youth and a victor; and when he +made known the secret of his birth, they cast the words of the +oracle to the winds, and received the shepherd as a long-lost +prince.</p> +<p>Thus far all went happily. But Venus, whose promise had not yet +been fulfilled, bade Paris procure a ship and go in search of his +destined bride. The prince said nothing of this quest, but urged +his kindred to let him go; and giving out a rumor that he was to +find his father’s lost sister Hesione, he set sail for +Greece, and finally landed at Sparta.</p> +<p>There he was kindly received by Menelaus, the king, and his +wife, Fair Helen.</p> +<p>This queen had been reared as the daughter of Tyndarus and Queen +Leda, but some say that she was the child of an enchanted swan, and +there was indeed a strange spell about her. All the greatest heroes +of Greece had wooed her before she left her father’s palace +to be the wife of King Menelaus, and Tyndarus, fearing for her +peace, had bound her many suitors by an oath. According to this +pledge, they were to respect her choice, and to go to the aid of +her husband if ever she should be stolen away from him. For in all +Greece there was nothing so beautiful as the beauty of Helen. She +was the fairest woman in the world.</p> +<p>Now thus did Venus fulfill her promise and the shepherd win his +reward with dishonor. Paris dwelt at the court of Menelaus for a +long time, treated with a royal courtesy which he ill repaid. For +at length, while the king was absent on a journey to Crete, his +guest won the heart of Fair Helen, and persuaded her to forsake her +husband and sail away to Troy, or Ilium.</p> +<p>King Menelaus returned to find the nest empty of the swan. Paris +and the fairest woman in the world were well across the sea.</p> +<p>When this treachery came to light, all Greece took fire with +indignation. The heroes remembered their pledge, and wrath came +upon them at the wrong done to Menelaus. But they were less angered +with Fair Helen than with Paris, for they felt assured that the +queen had been lured from her country and out of her own senses by +some spell of enchantment. So they took counsel how they might +bring back Fair Helen to her home and husband.</p> +<p>Years had come and gone since that wedding-feast when Eris had +flung the apple of discord, like a firebrand, among the guests. But +the spark of dissension that had smouldered so long burst into +flame now, and, fanned by the enmities of men and the rivalries of +the Gods, it seemed like to fire heaven and earth.</p> +<p>A few of the heroes answered the call to arms unwillingly. Time +had reconciled them to the loss of Fair Helen, and they were loath +to leave home and happiness for war, even in her cause.</p> +<p>One of these was Odysseus, or Ulysses, king of Ithaca, who had +married Penelope, and was quite content with his kingdom and his +little son Telemachus. Indeed, he was so unwilling to leave them +that he feigned madness in order to escape service, appeared to +forget his own kindred, and went ploughing the seashore and sowing +salt in the furrows. But a messenger, Palamedes, who came with the +summons to war, suspected that this sudden madness might be a +stratagem, for the king was far famed as a man of many devices. He +therefore stood by, one day (while Ulysses, pretending to take no +heed of him, went ploughing the sand) and he laid the baby +Telemachus directly in the way of the ploughshare. For once the +wise man’s craft deserted him. Ulysses turned the plough +sharply, caught up the little prince, and there his fatherly wits +were manifest! After this he could no longer play madman. He had to +take leave of his beloved wife Penelope and set out to join the +heroes, little dreaming that he was not to return for twenty years. +Once embarked, however, he set himself to work in the common cause +of the heroes, and was soon as ingenious as Palamedes in rousing +laggard warriors.</p> +<p>There remained one who was destined to be the greatest warrior +of all. This was Achilles, the son of Thetis,—foretold in the +day of Prometheus as a man who should far outstrip his own father +in glory and greatness. Years had passed since the marriage of +Thetis to King Peleus, and their son Achilles was now grown to +manhood, a wonder of strength indeed, and, moreover, invulnerable. +For his mother, forewarned of his death in the Trojan War, had +dipped him in the sacred river Styx when he was a baby, so that he +could take no hurt from any weapon. From head to foot she had +plunged him in, only forgetting the little heel that she held him +by, and this alone could be wounded by any chance. But even with +such precautions Thetis was not content. Fearful at the rumors of +war to be, she had her son brought up, in woman’s dress, +among the daughters of King Lycomedes of Scyros, that he might +escape the notice of men and cheat his destiny.</p> +<p>To this very palace, however, came Ulysses in the guise of a +merchant, and he spread his wares before the royal +household,—jewels and ivory, fine fabrics, and curiously +wrought weapons. The king’s daughters chose girdles and veils +and such things as women delight in; but Achilles, heedless of the +like, sought out the weapons, and handled them with such manly +pleasure that his nature stood revealed. So he, too, yielded to his +destiny and set out to join the heroes.</p> +<p>Everywhere men were banded together, building the ships and +gathering supplies. The allied forces of Greece (the Achaians, as +they called themselves) chose Agamemnon for their +commander-in-chief. He was a mighty man, king of Mycenæ and +Argos, and the brother of the wronged Menelaus. Second to Achilles +in strength was the giant Ajax; after him Diomedes, then wise +Ulysses, and Nestor, held in great reverence because of his +experienced age and fame. These were the chief heroes. After two +years of busy preparation, they reached the port of Aulis, whence +they were to sail for Troy.</p> +<p>But here delay held them. Agamemnon had chanced to kill a stag +which was sacred to Diana, and the army was visited by pestilence, +while a great calm kept the ships imprisoned. At length the oracle +made known the reason of this misfortune and demanded for atonement +the maiden Iphigenia, Agamemnon’s own daughter. In helpless +grief the king consented to offer her up as a victim, and the +maiden was brought, ready for sacrifice. But at the last moment +Diana caught her away in a cloud, leaving a white hind in her +place, and carried her to Tauris in Scythia, there to serve as a +priestess in the temple. In the mean time, her kinsfolk, who were +at a loss to understand how she had disappeared, mourned her as +dead. But Diana had accepted their child as an offering, and +healing came to the army, and the winds blew again. So the ships +set sail.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, in Troy across the sea, the aged Priam and Hecuba +gave shelter to their son Paris and his stolen bride. They were not +without misgivings as to these guests, but they made ready to +defend their kindred and the citadel.</p> +<p>There were many heroes among the Trojans and their allies, brave +and upright men, who little deserved that such reproach should be +brought upon them by the guilt of Prince Paris. There were +Æneas and Deïphobus, Glaucus and Sarpedon, and +Priam’s most noble son Hector, chief of all the forces, and +the very bulwark of Troy. These and many more were bitterly to +regret the day that had brought Paris back to his home. But he had +taken refuge with his own people, and the Trojans had to take up +his cause against the hostile fleet that was coming across the +sea.</p> +<p>Even the Gods took sides. Juno and Athene, who had never +forgiven the judgment of Paris, condemned all Troy with him and +favored the Greeks, as did also Neptune, god of the sea. But Venus, +true to her favorite, furthered the interests of the Trojans with +all her power, and persuaded the warlike Mars to do likewise. Zeus +and Apollo strove to be impartial, but they were yet to aid now one +side, now another, according to the fortunes of the heroes whom +they loved.</p> +<p>Over the sea came the great embassy of ships, sped hither safely +by the god Neptune; and the heroes made their camp on the plain +before Troy. First of all Ulysses and King Menelaus himself went +into the city and demanded that Fair Helen should be given back to +her rightful husband. This the Trojans refused, and so began the +siege of Troy.</p> +<h3><a id="Agamemnon" name="Agamemnon">The Quarrel between +Agamemnon and Achilles</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Alfred J. Church</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>The Greeks sacked the city of Chryse, where was a temple of +Apollo, and a priest that served the temple. And when they divided +the spoil, they gave to King Agamemnon with other gifts, the +priest’s daughter, Chryseïs. Thereupon there came to the +camp Chryses, the priest, wishing to ransom his daughter. Much gold +he brought with him, and on his staff of gold he carried the holy +garland, that men might reverence him the more. He went to all the +chiefs, and to the sons of Atreus first of all, saying,— +“Loose, I pray you, my dear daughter, and take the ransom for +her; so may the gods that dwell in Olympus grant you to take the +city of Troy, and to have safe return to your homes.”</p> +<p>Then all the others spake him fair, and would have done what he +wished. Only Agamemnon would not have it so.</p> +<p>“Get thee out, graybeard!” he cried in great wrath. +“Let me not find thee lingering now by the ships, neither +coming hither again, or it shall be the worse for thee, for all thy +priesthood. And as for thy daughter, I shall carry her away to +Argos, when I shall have taken this city of Troy.”</p> +<p>Then the old man went out hastily in great fear and trouble. And +he walked in his sorrow by the shore of the sounding sea, and +prayed to his god Apollo.</p> +<p>“Hear me, god of the silver bow! If I have built thee a +temple, and offered thee fat of many bullocks and rams, hear me, +and avenge my tears on the Greeks with thine arrows!”</p> +<p>And Apollo heard him. Wroth was he that men had so dishonored +his priest, and he came down from the top of Olympus, where he +dwelt. Dreadful was the rattle of his arrows as he went, and his +coming was as the night when it cometh over the sky. Then he shot +the arrows of death, first on the dogs and the mules, and then on +the men; and soon all along the shore rolled the black smoke from +the piles of wood on which they burnt the bodies of the dead.</p> +<p>For nine days the shafts of the god went throughout the host; +but on the tenth day Achilles called the people to an assembly. So +Juno bade him, for she loved the Greeks, and grieved to see them +die. When they were gathered together he stood up among them, and +spake to Agamemnon:—</p> +<p>“Surely it were better to return home, than that we should +all perish here by war or plague. But come, let us ask some prophet +or priest or dreamer of dreams why it is that Apollo is so wroth +with us.”</p> +<p>Then stood up Calchas, best of seers, who knew what had been, +and what was, and what was to come, and spake:—</p> +<p>“Achilles, thou biddest me tell the people why Apollo is +wroth with them. Lo! I will tell thee, but thou must first swear to +stand by me, for I know that what I shall say will anger King +Agamemnon, and it goes ill with common men when kings are +angry.”</p> +<p>“Speak out, thou wise man!” cried Achilles; +“for I swear by Apollo that while I live no one shall lay +hands on thee, no, not Agamemnon’s self, though he be +sovereign lord of the Greeks.”</p> +<p>Then the blameless seer took heart, and spake: “It is not +for vow or offering that Apollo is wroth; it is for his servant the +priest, for he came to ransom his daughter, but Agamemnon scorned +him, and would not let the maiden go. Now, then, ye must send her +back to Chryse without ransom, and with her a hundred beasts for +sacrifice, so that the plague may be stayed.”</p> +<p>Then Agamemnon stood up in a fury, his eyes blazing like +fire.</p> +<p>“Never,” he cried, “hast thou spoken good +concerning me, ill prophet that thou art, and now thou tellest me +to give up this maiden! I will do it, for I would not that the +people should perish. Only take care, ye Greeks, that there be a +share of the spoil for me, for it would ill beseem the lord of all +the host that he alone should be without his share.”</p> +<p>“Nay, my lord Agamemnon,” cried Achilles, +“thou art too eager for gain. We have no treasures out of +which we may make up thy loss, for what we got out of the towns we +have either sold or divided; nor would it be fitting that the +people should give back what has been given to them. Give up the +maiden, then, without conditions, and when we shall have taken this +city of Troy, we will repay thee three and four fold.”</p> +<p>“Nay, great Achilles,” said Agamemnon, “thou +shalt not cheat me thus. If the Greeks will give me such a share as +I should have, well and good. But if not, I will take one for +myself, whether it be from thee or from Ajax or from Ulysses; for +my share I will have. But of this hereafter. Now let us see that +this maiden be sent back. Let them get ready a ship, and put her +herein, and with her a hundred victims, and let some chief go with +the ship, and see that all things be rightly done.”</p> +<p>Then cried Achilles, and his face was as black as a +thunder-storm: “Surely thou art altogether shameless and +greedy, and, in truth, an ill ruler of men. No quarrel have I with +the Trojans. They never harried oxen or sheep of mine in fertile +Phthia, for many murky mountains lie between, and a great breadth +of roaring sea. But I have been fighting in thy cause, and that of +thy brother Menelaus. Naught carest thou for that. Thou leavest me +to fight, and sittest in thy tent at ease. But when the spoil is +divided, thine is always the lion’s share. Small, indeed, is +my part,—‘a little thing, but dear.’ And this, +forsooth, thou wilt take away! Now am I resolved to go home. I have +no mind to heap up goods and gold for thee, and be myself +dishonored.”</p> +<p>And King Agamemnon answered, “Go, and thy Myrmidons with +thee! I have other chieftains as good as thou art, and ready, as +thou art not, to pay me due respect; and Zeus, the god of council, +is with me. I hate thee, for thou always lovest war and strife. And +as for the matter of the spoil, know that I will take thy share, +the girl Briseïs, and fetch her myself, if need be, that all +may know that I am sovereign lord here in the host of the +Greeks.”</p> +<p>Then Achilles was mad with anger, and he thought in his heart, +“Shall I arise and slay this caitiff, or shall I keep down +the wrath in my breast?” And as he thought he laid his hand +on his sword-hilt, and had half-drawn his sword from the scabbard, +when lo! the goddess Athene stood behind him (for Juno, who loved +both this chieftain and that, had sent her), and caught him by the +long locks of his yellow hair. But Achilles marveled much to feel +the mighty grasp, and turned and looked, and knew the goddess, but +no one else in the assembly might see her. Terrible was the flash +of his eyes as he cried, “Art thou come, child of Zeus, to +see the insolence of Agamemnon? Of a truth, I think that he will +perish for his folly.”</p> +<p>But Athene said, “Nay, but I am come from heaven to abate +thy wrath, if thou wilt hear me; white-armed Juno sent me, for she +loveth and cherisheth you both alike. Draw not thy sword; but use +bitter words, even as thou wilt. Of a truth, I tell thee that for +this insolence of to-day he will bring thee hereafter splendid +gifts, threefold and fourfold for all that he may take away. Only +refrain thyself and do my bidding.”</p> +<p>Then Achilles answered, “I will abide by thy command for +all my wrath, for the man who hearkens to the immortal gods is also +heard of them.” And as he spake he laid his heavy hand upon +the hilt, and thrust back the sword into the scabbard, and Athene +went her way to Olympus.</p> +<p>Then he turned him to King Agamemnon, and spake again, for his +anger was not spent. “Drunkard, with the eyes of a dog and +the heart of a deer! never fighting in the front of the battle, nor +daring to lie in the ambush! ’Tis a race of dastards that +thou rulest, or this had been thy last wrong. But this I tell thee, +and confirm my words with a mighty oath—by this sceptre do I +swear. Once it was the branch of a tree, but now the sons of the +Greeks bear it in their hands, even they who maintain the laws of +Zeus; as surely as it shall never again have bark, or leaves, or +shoot, so surely shall the Greeks one day miss Achilles, when they +fall in heaps before the dreadful Hector; and thou shalt eat thy +heart for rage, to think that thou hast wronged the bravest of thy +host.”</p> +<p>And as he spake he dashed the sceptre, all embossed with studs +of gold, upon the ground, and sat down. And on the other side +Agamemnon sat in furious anger. Then Nestor rose, an old man of a +hundred years and more, and counseled peace. Let them listen, he +said, to his counsel. Great chiefs in the old days, with whom no +man now alive would dare to fight, had listened. Let not Agamemnon +take away from the bravest of the Greeks the prize of war; let not +Achilles, though he was mightier in battle than all other men, +contend with Agamemnon, who was sovereign lord of all the hosts of +Greece. But he spake in vain. For Agamemnon answered,—</p> +<p>“Nestor, thou speakest well, and peace is good. But this +fellow would lord it over all; yet there are some, methinks, who +will not obey him. For if the immortal Gods have made him a great +warrior, do they therefore grant him leave to speak lawless words? +Verily he must be taught that there is one here, at least, who is +better than he.”</p> +<p>And Achilles said, “I were a slave and a coward if I owned +thee as my lord. Not so; play the master over others, but think not +to master me. As for the prize which the Greeks gave me, let them +do as they will. They gave it; let them take it away. But if thou +darest to touch aught that is mine own, that hour thy life-blood +shall redden on my spear.”</p> +<p>Then the assembly was dismissed. Chryseïs was sent to her +home with due offerings to the god, the wise Ulysses going with +her. And all the people purified themselves, and offered offerings +to the Gods; and the sweet savor went up to heaven in the wreathing +smoke.</p> +<p>But King Agamemnon would not go back from his purpose. So he +called to him the heralds, Talthybius and Eurybates, and +said,—</p> +<p>“Heralds, go to the tents of Achilles, and fetch the +maiden Briseïs. But if he will not let her go, say that I will +come myself with many others to fetch her; so will it be the worse +for him.”</p> +<p>Sorely against their will the heralds went. Along the seashore +they walked, till they came to where, amidst the Myrmidons, were +the tents of Achilles. There they found him, sitting between his +tent and his ship. He did not rejoice to see them, and they stood +in great terror and shame. But he knew in his heart wherefore they +had come, and cried aloud, “Come near, ye heralds, messengers +of Gods and men. ’Tis no fault of yours that ye are come on +such an errand.”</p> +<p>Then he turned to Patroclus (now Patroclus was his dearest +friend) and said,—</p> +<p>“Bring the maiden from her tent, and let the heralds lead +her away. But let them be witnesses, before gods and men, and +before this evil-minded king, against the day when he shall have +sore need of me to save his hosts from destruction. Fool that he +is, who knoweth not to look back and to look forward, that his +people may be safe!”</p> +<p>Then Patroclus brought forth the maiden from her tent, and gave +her to the heralds. And they led her away; but it was sorely +against her will that she went. But Achilles went apart from his +comrades, and sat upon the seashore, falling into a great passion +of tears, and stretching out his hands with loud prayer to his +mother, Thetis, daughter of the sea. She heard him where she sat in +the depths by her father, the old god of the sea, and rose from the +gray sea, as a vapor rises, and came to where he was weeping, and +stroked him with her hand, and called him by his name.</p> +<p>“What ails thee, my son?” she said.</p> +<p>Then he told her the story of his wrong, and when he had ended +he said,—</p> +<p>“Go, I pray thee, to the top of Olympus, to the palace of +Zeus. Often have I heard thee in my father’s hall boast how, +long ago, thou didst help him when the other gods would have bound +him, fetching Briareus of the hundred hands, who sat by him in his +strength, so that the Gods feared to touch him. Go now, and call +these things to his mind, and pray him that he help the sons of +Troy, and give them victory in the battle, so that the Greeks, as +they flee before them, may have joy of this king of theirs, who has +done such wrong to the bravest of his host.”</p> +<p>And his mother answered him, “Surely thine is an evil lot, +my son. This life is short, and it should of right be without tears +and full of joy; but now it seems to me to be both short and sad. +But I will go as thou sayest to Olympus, to the palace of Zeus; but +not now, for he has gone, and the other Gods with him, to a twelve +days’ feast with the pious Ethiopians. But when he cometh +back I will entreat and persuade him. And do thou sit still, nor go +forth to battle.”</p> +<p>Meanwhile Ulysses drew near to Chryse with the holy offerings. +And when they were come within the haven, they furled the sail, and +laid it in the ship, and lowered the mast, and rowed the ship to +her moorings. They cast out the anchor stones, and made fast the +cables from the stern. After that they landed, taking with them the +offerings and the maid Chryseïs. To the altar they brought the +maid, and gave her into the arms of her father, and the wise +Ulysses said, “See now; Agamemnon, King of men, sends back +thy daughter, and with her a hundred beasts for sacrifice, that we +may appease the god who hath smitten the Greeks in his +wrath.”</p> +<p>Then the priest received his daughter right gladly, and when +they had ranged the beasts about the altar, and poured out the +water of purification, and taken up handfuls of bruised barley, +then the priest prayed, “Hear me, God of the silver bow! If +before thou didst hearken to my prayer, and grievously afflict the +Greeks, so hear me now, and stay this plague which is come upon +them.”</p> +<p>So prayed he, and the god gave ear.</p> +<p>Then they cast the barley on the heads of the cattle, and slew +them, and flayed them, and they cut out the thigh-bones and wrapped +them up in folds of fat, and laid raw morsels on them. These the +priest burned on fagots, pouring on sparkling wine; and the young +men stood by, having the five-pronged forks in their hands. And +when the thighs were consumed, then they cut up the rest, and +broiled the pieces carefully on spits. This being done, they made +their meal, nor did any one lack his share. And when the meal was +ended, then they poured a little wine into the cups to serve for +libations to the Gods. After that they sat till sunset, singing a +hymn to the Archer God, and making merry; and he heard their voice +and was pleased.</p> +<p>When the sun went down, they slept beside the stern-cables; and +when the dawn appeared, then they embarked, raising the mast and +spreading the sail; and Apollo sent them a favoring wind, and the +dark blue wave hissed about the stem of the ship as she went: so +they came to the camp of the Greeks.</p> +<p>But all the time Achilles sat in wrath beside his ships; he went +not to the war, nor yet to the assembly, but sat fretting in his +heart, because he longed for the cry of the battle.</p> +<h3><a id="Menelaus" name="Menelaus">The Fight between Paris and +Menelaus</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Walter C. Perry</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>In obedience to the summons of their leaders, the great host of +the Achaians assembled on the plain of the flowing river Scamander, +innumerable as the leaves and flowers in the season of spring. And +in the midst of them stood the great ruler, Agamemnon: his head and +eyes like those of Loud-thundering Zeus; his waist like that of the +Man-slaying Mars; and with a breast like that of Neptune, the Ruler +of the Sea. As the mail-clad Argives marched on, and rushed across +the plain, the earth groaned beneath them.</p> +<p>Now Ægis-bearing Zeus sent his messenger, Iris, to the +assembly of the Trojans, with the voice of Polites, son of Priam, +their sentinel at Priam’s gate, and spake thus to Hector: +“This is no time for idle words, for stern war is already +upon you. But to thee, O Hector, do I especially speak; and do thou +obey my voice! As thou hast many allies, of diverse nations and +tongues, let each chief marshal and command his own people, and +lead them forth to war.”</p> +<p>And the glorious Hector knew the voice of the messenger, and +hastened to obey. He straightway dissolved the assembly. The gates +of Troy were then thrown open, and the Trojan host rushed forth, +with a mighty din. The blameless Hector, with his glancing helmet, +was foremost of all, and led the bravest and strongest of the men; +Æneas, son of the goddess Aphrodite, or Venus, born amidst +the peaks of Ida, led the Dardans; and of the other leaders of the +allies, the most famous were Sarpedon, son of Zeus, and blameless +Glaucus, who led the Lycians, from distant Lycia, by the +swift-eddying Xanthus.</p> +<p>And, as the countless hosts advanced, to meet each other in +deadly conflict, the Trojans marched with noisy shouts, like the +clamor of the cranes, when they fly to the streams of Oceanus, in +the early morning, screaming, and bringing death and destruction to +the Pigmy men; but the Achaieans came on in silence, breathing +dauntless courage.</p> +<p>But when they came near to each other, the goodly Paris went +before the front rank of the Trojans, and brandished his spear, and +challenged all the Argive chiefs to single combat. When the warlike +Menelaus, whom Paris had so deeply wronged by carrying off his +wife, the beautiful Helen, saw Paris there, he was glad, thinking +that he should now punish the false traitor for his wickedness. So +he leaped from his chariot, in his clanging armor, and advanced to +meet the challenger. And Paris saw him; and pale fear got hold of +him, like to a man who has trodden on a serpent, in a wooded valley +among the mountains; and he shrank back among the lordly +Trojans.</p> +<p>His brother Hector saw him, and reproached him with scornful +words. “Base deceiver of women, beautiful in appearance and +favor, but coward at heart! would that thou hadst never been born, +or that thou hadst died unwedded! Now thou seest what kind of man +is he, whose lovely wife thou hast carried off by stealth. Of no +avail will be thy sounding lyre, thy beauteous face and curling +hair, or all the gifts of golden Venus, when thou liest groveling +in the dust.”</p> +<p>And the goodly Paris answered him, “Hector, thou rightly +chidest me, and not more than I deserve. <em>Thy</em> heart is ever +undaunted, and keen as the axe, which cutteth the strong oak, in +the hands of a skillful shipwright. But reproach me not for the +lovely gifts of golden Aphrodite; for no man can obtain them by +wishing for them, for they are among the precious gifts of the +blessed Gods. But if thou desirest that I should do battle with the +valiant Menelaus, make the Trojans and the Achaians sit down; and +set me and Menelaus in the midst, to fight for Helen and for all +the treasures which were taken away with her. And whichever of us +twain shall be the victor, let him bear away the woman and the +treasure, and take them home.”</p> +<p>So spake he, and they all kept silence; but Menelaus of the loud +war-cry stood forward amongst the Greeks and made harangue, +“Hearken now to me, for my heart hath endured the greatest +grief. Whosoever of us twain shall fall, there let him lie. But now +bring a goodly sacrifice, a white ram and a black ewe, for the +Earth and for the Sun; and another for Loud-thundering Zeus; and +summon hither the great King Priam, that he may take the pledge; +for his sons are reckless and faithless; young men’s hearts +are too frivolous and fickle, but an old man looketh to the future +and the past.”</p> +<p>And Hector sent heralds to the city, to fetch two lambs, and to +summon Priam; while Agamemnon sent Talthybius for a ram. Now Iris, +in Troy, came to Helen, in the semblance of Laodice, Paris’s +sister, fairest of Priam’s daughters, wife of Helicaon, the +son of Antenor. She found Helen weaving a great purple web, on +which she was embroidering the battles of the Argives and the +Trojans. The swift-footed Iris came near her, and said, “Come +hither, dear lady, come with me, to see the wondrous deeds of the +horse-taming Trojans and the mail-clad Argives; for now the battle +is suspended, while Paris, and Menelaus, dear to Mars, will fight +alone with their spears, for <em>thee</em>; and thou wilt be the +fair wife of the victor.” So Iris spoke, and put into +Helen’s bosom a longing for her former husband, and for her +darling daughter. Then Helen veiled her face, and went straightway +to the Scæan Gate, letting fall a tear; and her two +handmaidens, Æthre and Clymene, followed her.</p> +<p>On the tower above the Scæan Gate, she found the Trojan +elders. These, on account of their age, had ceased from war, but +were still good orators, with voices like the grasshoppers which +sit upon a tree, and send forth their lily-like voice; so sat the +elders of the Trojans on the Tower. When those ancient sages saw +the fair Helen coming to them, they were astounded, and whispered +one to another, “No wonder that the Trojans and the Achaians +have suffered so many things for such a glorious woman! But, fair +as she is, let her sail away, and not stay here to trouble us and +our children after us.”</p> +<p>But the aged King Priam addressed her kindly. “Dear +Daughter! come hither, and see thy former husband and kinsmen! I do +not blame <em>thee</em>, but the Gods, and especially Venus, by +whom this sad war has been brought upon us. But tell me who is that +huge Achaian warrior? Many are taller than he, but I have never +seen a man so stately and royal.” And the fair Helen, the +daughter of Zeus, replied, “O venerable Father of my lord! +would that death had been my lot, when I followed thy son to Troy, +and left my home and husband, and my dear young daughter, and all +the loved companions of my girlhood! But that was not to be, and +therefore I mourn and weep. The man of whom thou speakest is +Atreides, the wide-ruling monarch Agamemnon, who is both a stately +king and a doughty warrior; he is the brother of Menelaus my +husband—shameless thing that I am!”</p> +<p>Then the aged Priam asked her about the other Achaian +chiefs,—Ulysses, and the gigantic Ajax, the bulwark of the +host, and the godlike Idomeneus; and the lovely Helen told him all, +and said, “I see all the other bright-eyed Achaians, and +could tell their names; but two I see not, even mine own brothers, +horse-taming Castor and the boxer Pollux; peradventure they came +not with the Achaians; or if they came, they fight not, for fear of +the revilings which men heap on me—shameless that I +am!” She knew not that the earth already covered them, in +Lacedæmon, their dear native land. Now the aged Priam drove +out through the Scæan Gate, with Antenor by his side; and, +when he had come to the Achaians and the Trojans, he descended from +his chariot, and stood on the Earth, the bounteous grain-giver. +Then Agamemnon, the king of men, and Ulysses, the man of many +devices, rose up; and the stately heralds brought the holy +oath-offerings to the gods, and mixed the ruddy wine in the +mixing-bowl, from which they gave portions to the Achaian and the +Trojan chiefs. Agamemnon raised his hands to heaven and prayed, +“O Father Zeus, most great and glorious! O Sun, who seest and +hearest all things! O ye Rivers, and thou, Mother Earth! be ye all +witnesses to our oaths! If Paris shall kill Menelaus, then let him +keep Helen and all her possessions; but if the yellow-haired +Menelaus slay Paris, then let the Trojans give back Helen and her +treasures!”</p> +<p>Then the lordly Agamemnon slew the lambs, and prayed again to +Zeus. But Priam spake unto the Achaians and the Trojans. “I +verily will return to breezy Ilium; for I cannot bear to see my own +son engaged in deadly conflict with the war-loving +Menelaus.”</p> +<p>Then the goodly Paris, lord of the fair-haired Helen, put on his +beautiful armor. First he set the splendid greaves upon his legs, +fastened round the ankles with silver clasps; then he donned the +corslet, which he had borrowed from his brother Lycaon; and he +threw over his shoulders the silver-studded sword-belt with his +sword, and took up his mighty shield; and upon his beauteous head +he placed the helmet, with a horsehair crest, and the plume nodded +terribly; and he took a strong spear in his hand.</p> +<p>Then he and Menelaus stood face to face, on the ground which +Hector and Ulysses had meted out; and they brandished their spears, +with wrath against each other. Paris drew the lot to be the first +to cast his long-shafted spear; he threw it, and it struck the +round shield of Atreides Menelaus, but did not pierce it; for the +point of the spear was turned.</p> +<p>Then Menelaus, poising his lance, prayed to Zeus, “O +Father Zeus! grant me to take vengeance on goodly Paris, who did me +such foul wrong—<em>me</em>, who had shown him so much +kindness!” He said, and hurled his strong spear, which struck +the bright shield of the son of Priam; and the sharp point passed +through it, and through his breastplate, and rent the tunic, close +to the side of his body; but Paris swerved from it, and shunned the +black fate of death. Then Menelaus drew his sword from the +silver-studded sheath, and smote on the helmet of Paris, but the +sword was shattered, and fell in pieces from his hand. Then he +looked up to heaven, and exclaimed, “O Father Zeus! thou art +the most cruel of all the Gods!”</p> +<p>So saying, he caught Paris by his horse-hair crest, and dragged +him towards the well-greaved Achaians, and the embroidered strap of +the helmet went nigh to strangle him. But Venus, daughter of great +Zeus, who loved the beauteous Paris, drew near him, and tore the +strap of leather; and the helmet came away, empty, in the strong +hand of the son of Atreus. Full of wrath, he hurled it towards his +trusty companions, and they took it up. He then rushed back again, +to slay his enemy; but golden-haired Venus, being a goddess, easily +caught up Paris, and hid him in thick darkness, and carried him +into Troy, to his high and fragrant chamber.</p> +<p>Venus, the golden Goddess of Love, then went to summon Helen, in +the likeness of an old woman, a wool-comber, who had worked for +Helen in Lacedæmon, and whom she greatly loved. She found the +white-armed Helen on the high tower, and spake: “Come hither +to Paris, who sends for thee; he is there in the fragrant chamber, +shining in beauty—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>“Not like a warrior parted from the foe,</p> +<p>But some fair dancer from the public show.”</p> +</div> +<p class="i8">(Pope’s Translation of the <em>Iliad</em>.)</p> +</div> +<p>But Helen’s heart was greatly moved; she knew the golden +Venus, saw her fair neck and sparkling eyes, and called her by her +name. “O thou strange Goddess! wouldst thou again deceive me? +Now Menelaus hath conquered Paris, and will carry me +home—accursed as I am! And now do <em>thou</em> no more +return to Olympus, but leave the dwelling of the Gods, and go and +sit by Paris, till he make <em>thee</em> his wife—or +perchance, his slave. But <em>I</em> will not go to him; for all +the Trojan women would justly blame me hereafter; I have +innumerable griefs within my heart.”</p> +<p>Then was the bright goddess sore displeased, and spake harshly +to her. “Beware! thou foolish woman! lest in my wrath I leave +thee, and henceforth hate thee, as I have loved thee until +now!” Venus spake, and Helen, daughter of great Zeus, +trembled and obeyed, wrapping her beautiful garments about her; and +the goddess led her to the fragrant chamber in the palace, and set +her on a chair before the goodly Paris.</p> +<p>But Helen looked askance at her lord, and chode him with bitter +words. “Would that thou hadst never come back from the fight, +but hadst perished by the arm of the warrior who was once my +husband! Thou didst boast thyself to be a better man than Menelaus! +Go then, and challenge him again, to meet thee face to face once +more!”</p> +<p>Yet Helen, though she could not but despise Paris, soon became +reconciled to him, partly from a remnant of her former love for +him, and partly from her fear of Venus.</p> +<p>In the meantime, Menelaus was raging through the field in search +of him. Nor could any of the Trojans find him, or they would have +given him up; for they hated him like death, as the cause of all +their sufferings.</p> +<p>And King Agamemnon said to the Trojans, “Now that the +Mars-loving Menelaus hath conquered Paris do ye give back to us +Helen and all her treasures!” But this was not to be.</p> +<h3><a id="Ajax" name="Ajax">The Duel between Hector and +Ajax</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Walter C. Perry</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>And now we must speak of Hector, the noble Trojan prince, who, +after Achilles, was the most famous warrior of the two hostile +armies. Achilles, indeed, was the son of a goddess, even +silver-footed Thetis; while Hector’s mother, Hecuba, was a +mortal woman.</p> +<p>Well knowing the dangers to which he was exposed, and how soon +he might fall in battle, Hector now bethought him of his lovely +wife, Andromache, and his little boy Astyanax. When he came to the +Scæan Gate, the Trojan women came running to him, with eager +questions about their husbands, sons, and brothers; and sorrow +filled their hearts. Among them came his fond and generous mother, +Hecuba, leading by the hand the fairest of her daughters, Laodice, +and she called him by his name, and spoke: “Dear Son! why +hast thou left the field? Do the Achaians press thee hard? Dost +thou come to make prayers to Father Zeus, from the Citadel? But +come, I will bring thee honey-sweet wine, that thou mayest pour out +a libation to Almighty Zeus, the Son of Cronos, and refresh thyself +with a draught.”</p> +<p>But Hector answered her, “Bring me no luscious wine, dear +mother! lest thou rob me of my strength and courage. Nor dare I +make a libation to Zeus, with hands unwashen and soiled with blood. +But go thou to the Temple of Athene, driver of the spoil; and lay +the finest robe, the most precious to thyself, upon her knees; and +vow to sacrifice twelve fat kine to her; and beg her to have mercy +on the Trojans, and on their wives and little children! So, +perhaps, she will hold back the terrible warrior, Tydides, from +sacred Ilium. And I will go and seek out Paris; would that the +earth would swallow him up! for Zeus hath cherished him to be the +bane of his country, and of his father Priam.”</p> +<p>Then Hecuba went to her ambrosial chamber, and took the finest +of her embroidered robes, the work of Sidonian women, which shone +like a star; and went, with other aged women, to the temple of +Athene. And the fair-cheeked Theano, daughter of Kisseus, the +priestess, wife of Antenor, opened the temple gates, and took the +shining robe, and laid it upon Athene’s knees, and prayed to +the great daughter of Zeus. But the goddess did not grant her +prayer.</p> +<p>But Hector went his way to the fair palace of Paris, and found +him in his chamber, polishing his beautiful armor, and proving his +curved bow. Then, when Hector saw him, he reproached him with +bitter words. “O thou strange man! thou dost not well to +nurse thy spite against the Trojans, who are now perishing before +the city, and all for thy sake! Rise, then, now, lest the city be +burned with fire!”</p> +<p>And the goodly Paris answered, “It is not so much by +reason of my wrath against the Trojans, but I would fain indulge my +sorrow. My wife, too, hath urged me to the battle. Tarry then +awhile, and I will don my armor; or go thou before, and I will +follow.”</p> +<p>Then the divine Helen, daughter of great Zeus, came and spoke +gently to Hector, and said, “O brother! brother of vile +<em>me</em>, who am a dog—would that, when my mother bare me, +the storm-wind had snatched me away to a mountain, or a billow of +the loud-roaring sea had swept me away, before all these evil +things had befallen me! Would that I had been mated with a better +man than Paris, whose heart is not sound, and never will be. But +come, my brother, and sit by me; for thou verily hast suffered most +for me, who am a dog, and for the grievous sin of Paris, upon whom, +surely, Zeus is bringing evil days; he will be, hereafter, a song +of scorn in the mouths of future men, through all time to +come.”</p> +<p>But noble Hector answered her, “If thou lovest me, dear +Helen, bid me not stay; for I go to succor my friends, who long for +me in my absence. But do thou try and rouse this husband of thine, +and bid him overtake me. As for me, I shall first go to my home, +and to my wife and my little son; for who knoweth whether I shall +ever return to them again?”</p> +<p>So spake the glorious Hector, and went his way to his own +well-furnished house; but he found not Andromache there; for she +had gone to the tower, with her fair-robed nurse and with her boy, +all bathed in tears. Hector asked the servants whither the +white-armed Andromache was gone; and the busy matron of the house +replied, “She is gone to the tower of holy Troy; for she +heard that the Trojans were defeated, and the Achaians +victorious.” Then Hector returned, by the same way, down the +wide streets, and came to the Scæan Gate.</p> +<p>And his peerless wife, even Andromache, daughter of the +high-minded Eëtion, king of Cilicia—she whom he had won +by countless gifts—came running to meet him. And with her +came the handmaid, the nurse, bearing in her arms Hector’s +tender boy, Astyanax, beautiful as the morning star. And Hector +smiled, and looked on his darling boy, while Andromache stood +beside him weeping. And she clasped his hand, and called him by his +name. “O my dear lord, thy dauntless courage will destroy +thee! Hast thou no pity for thy infant child, and for thy hapless +wife, who soon will be a widow? It were far better for me to die, +if I lose <em>thee</em>; for nevermore can I know comfort, but only +pain and sorrow. For I shall be utterly alone. I have neither +father nor mother; for Eëtion, my royal sire, was slain by +great Achilles. And all my seven brothers went down to Hades on the +selfsame day! they too were slain by swift-footed Pelides. But my +mother was smitten in her father’s halls, by the gentle +arrows of the archer Artemis. Lo! now, <em>thou</em> art all in all +to me, father, mother, brother, and dearly loved husband! Come, +then, take pity on us, and abide in the tower, and make not thy boy +an orphan, and thy wife a widow!”</p> +<p>And the glorious Hector of the glancing helm answered her, and +said, “Dear Wife! I too think of all these things. But how +can I shun the battle, like a coward, to be the mock of the +Trojans, and of the Trojan dames with trailing robes? I, who have +always fought in the van of battle, and won glory for my father and +myself? I know that the day will come, when sacred Ilium shall be +leveled with the ground, and Priam and the people of Priam shall +perish. But it is not so much the fate of Priam, and of my mother, +Hecuba, and of my brethren, which fills my soul with anguish; but +it is <em>thy</em> misery, dear one, in the day when some Achaian +warrior shall bear thee away, weeping, and rob thee of thy freedom. +Thou, alas! wilt abide in Argos, and ply the loom, the slave of +another woman; or bear water from the Hypereian fount, being +harshly treated! And one will say, as he looketh upon thee, +‘This was the wife of Hector, the foremost of the +horse-taming Trojans in the war round Ilium.’ But may the +deep earth cover <em>me</em>, ere I hear thee crying in the day of +thy captivity.”</p> +<p>So spake he, and held out his arms to take his darling boy. But +the child shrank crying, and nestled in the bosom of his +well-girdled nurse; for he feared the horsehair crest, nodding +terribly from the brazen helmet. Then the fond parents laughed; and +Hector doffed his helmet, and laid it on the ground. And he kissed +his dear child, and fondled him, and prayed thus to +Zeus:—</p> +<p>“O Zeus! and all ye Gods! grant that this, my son, may +like me be foremost to fight among the Trojans, and rule as a king +in Ilium; so that men may say, ‘He is far better than his +father’!”</p> +<p>Thus speaking, he laid the child in the fragrant bosom of his +dear wife Andromache; and he pitied her, and caressed her with his +hand, and called her by her name. “Dear one! be not thus +utterly cast down. No man can slay me till my hour of destiny is +come. But no man, when once he hath been born, can escape his fate, +be he a brave man or a coward. Go thou to thy house, to the distaff +and the loom, and make thy maidens ply their labors. But +<em>men</em> shall engage in war, and I the first of all in +Troy.”</p> +<p>So spake Hector of the glancing helmet, and went his way. And +his dear wife went to her home, looking back at him as she went, +shedding bitter tears. And she found her maidens there, and with +them she bewailed her lord, while yet he lived; for they feared +that he would never again return from battle.</p> +<p>And the goodly Paris donned his beautiful armor, and hastened +after his brother, whom he overtook, and he made excuse for his +long tarrying. And Hector answered him, “No man can justly +speak lightly of thy deeds, for thou art strong; but thou art slack +and careless, and I am grieved when I hear shameful things said of +thee by the Trojans, who for thee bear so much toil. But let us be +going.”</p> +<p>So the twain brothers, the glorious Hector and the goodly Paris, +went forth to the battle. And Paris slew Menesthius, of Arne, son +of Areïthous; and Hector smote noble Eïoneus in the neck, +and relaxed his limbs in death. And Glaucus, captain of the Lycian +allies, cast his spear at Iphinous, and pierced his shoulder; and +he fell from his chariot, and his limbs were loosened.</p> +<p>But when the fierce-eyed Athene saw the Trojans making havoc of +the Achaians, she rushed down from the peaks of Olympus, to sacred +Ilium. And Apollo, who favored the Trojans, saw her from Pergamus, +and hastened to meet her; and they met by the beech-tree, and +Apollo of the Silver Bow addressed her: “Why dost thou come, +O Daughter of the Loud-Thunderer? Is it to bring victory to the +Greeks? for thou hast no pity on the Trojans. But hearken unto me, +and let us stop the battle for this day—hereafter they shall +fight again.”</p> +<p>And the fierce-eyed goddess answered him, “Be it so, +Far-Darter! for this was my purpose when I came from high Olympus. +But how thinkest thou to make the war to cease?”</p> +<p>Then King Apollo spake. “Let us rouse the valiant spirit +of horse-taming Hector, to challenge one of the Greeks to deadly +single combat.” And the fierce-eyed Maid assented to his +words.</p> +<p>And the dear son of royal Priam, Helenus, the wise augur, who +knew the counsel of the Gods, drew near to Hector, and spake thus +to him: “Dear brother, who art peer of Zeus in counsel, +wouldst thou listen to me? Make the Trojans and the Achaians sit +down; and do thou challenge the bravest of the Achaians to meet +thee in single combat. I hear the voice of the deathless Gods, that +it is not yet thy lot to die.”</p> +<p>And the great Hector rejoiced at his words; and going into the +throng, he held back the companies of the Trojans with his spear, +holding it in the middle, and made them all sit down. And Agamemnon +made the well-greaved Achaians sit down. And Athene and Apollo, in +the form of vultures, sat on a lofty tree, and watched the hosts. +And Hector stood between the two armies, and spake: “Hear me, +ye Trojans and Achaians! Amongst you are the great chiefs of the +Achaians. Now let one of these be your champion, to fight with me, +Hector: and I call Zeus to witness, that if he slay me, you shall +let him carry off my armor, but give my body to the Trojans, that +they may render to me the honor of the funeral pyre. But if the +Far-Darter shall grant me glory, that I may slay <em>him</em>, then +will I strip him of his armor, and hang it in the Temple of Apollo; +but his lifeless body I will give back to the long-haired Achaians, +that they may bury him, and build him a barrow by the +Hellespont.”</p> +<p>Thus spake the glorious Hector; but all were silent; for they +were afraid to meet him. Then, at last, Menelaus, groaning deeply, +reproached the Achaians, and said, “O ye women of Achaia, no +longer <em>men!</em> surely this will be an everlasting shame to +us, if none of the Greeks dare to fight with the noble Hector! But +I myself will arm me; for the issues of victory are with the +Gods.”</p> +<p>And he began to put on his dazzling armor. And now wouldst thou, +Menelaus, have yielded up thy life at the hands of Hector; but the +great ruler, Agamemnon, rose up and stayed thee. “Art thou +mad, O foster-son of Zeus? Draw back, though with grief and pain; +and think not to fight with Hector, the man-slaying son of Priam; +for he is a far better man than thou, even godlike Achilles feareth +to meet this man in battle. Go then and sit down; and we will +choose another champion.”</p> +<p>And the fair-haired Menelaus obeyed his brother’s words, +and his henchmen gladly took off his bright armor. And the wise +Nestor arose, and upbraided all the Achaian chiefs: “Fie on +us! Shame and lamentation have come upon us all. Surely the aged +Peleus, the goodly king of the Myrmidons, would deeply groan, if he +heard that we are all cowering before great Hector; he would pray +that his soul might leave his body and go down to Hades. Would to +Zeus, and to Athene and Apollo, that I were young, as when the +Pylians met the Arcadians in battle, and Ereuthalion, the squire of +King Lycurgus of Arcadia, wearing the divine armor of +Areïthous, of the iron mace, before the walls of Pheia, by the +waters of Iardanus, challenged all our host; and they were afraid +and trembled. Then I, the youngest of all, stood up and fought with +him, and Athene gave me great glory; for he was the tallest man, +and of the greatest bulk, that I have ever slain. Would that I were +still so young and strong! But of you, leaders of the Achaians, not +one has heart enough to meet great Hector.”</p> +<p>The wise old man’s reproaches filled the Achaian chiefs +with shame; and nine of them rose up, ready to fight; namely, +Agamemnon, king of men; and the stalwart Diomedes; and Idomeneus, +and his brother in arms, Meriones, equal in fight to murderous +Mars; and Eurypylus, and Thaus, and the wily Ulysses, and two +others. Then Nestor spake again. “Now cast lots for him that +shall be champion.” Then each man marked his lot, and threw +it into Agamemnon’s helmet; and all men prayed that the lot +might fall on Ajax or Diomedes, or the king of rich Mycenæ. +Then Nestor shook the helmet, and the lot of Ajax leapt out; and +the herald placed it in the hand of mighty Ajax, and he was glad; +for he said, “I think that I shall vanquish goodly +Hector.” And they all prayed to the Son of Cronos, to give +victory to Ajax, or to grant unto each of them equal glory and +renown.</p> +<p>Then huge Ajax donned his bright armor of bronze, and came forth +like the war-god Mars when he goeth to battle. The Achaians were +glad, but the Trojans trembled; and even the brave Hector felt his +heart beat quicker in his breast. But he would not shrink from the +combat, seeing that he had himself challenged all the Achaians. And +Ajax came on, bearing a mighty shield, like a tower, which Tychius, +the cunning leather-worker, had made for him, of sevenfold hides of +lusty bulls, all overlaid with bronze. And he stood near godlike +Hector, and spake: “Now shalt thou see what manner of men the +Greeks have among them, even now when Achilles, the lion-hearted, +hath left us in his wrath. But do thou begin the fight!”</p> +<p>And Hector answered him, “Great Ajax, son of Telamon, +sprung from Zeus! speak not to me as if I were a poor weak boy, or +a woman! for I too have knowledge of war and slaughter. I know how +to charge into the midst of the chariots, or, at close quarters, to +join in the wild dance of Mars.” He said, and hurled his +long-shafted spear, and struck the sevenfold shield of Ajax; it +passed through six folds, but was stopped by the seventh.</p> +<p>Then Ajax, sprung from Zeus, threw his ponderous lance at the +shield of mighty Priam’s son. It passed right through the +bright shield, and through the well-wrought corselet, and rent his +tunic; but he swerved aside, and escaped gloomy death. Then the two +fell upon each other, like ravening lions or wild boars; and Hector +smote the shield of Ajax with his spear, but the sharp point was +turned by the stout buckler. Then Ajax leapt upon him, and drove +his spear at Hector’s neck, making a wound from which the +dark blood flowed.</p> +<p>But Hector, undismayed, took up a great stone from the ground, +and with it smote the boss of Ajax’s shield. And Ajax heaved +up a far bigger stone and threw it on the buckler of Hector, and it +fell on him like a huge millstone, and stretched him on his back! +But Apollo raised him, and set him on his legs again.</p> +<p>Then they would have furiously attacked each other with their +swords, had not the Achaian herald, Talthybius, and the Trojan +herald, Idaius, intervened and stopped the fight, holding their +staves of office between the godlike warriors; and Idaius spake to +them: “Fight no longer, brave youths; for Zeus loveth you +both; and we know well what gallant warriors ye are. Night is upon +us, whose commands it behooveth us to obey.”</p> +<p>And the Telamonian Ajax answered, “Let Hector say those +words; for it was he who challenged us.”</p> +<p>And Hector of the shining helmet said, “Ajax, since thou +hast received strength and wisdom from the Gods, and dost excel all +the Achaians in the fight, let us now cease from battle for the +day, and hereafter we will fight again, until the Gods shall give +victory to one of us. Go now, and rejoice thy friends and kinsmen +by the ships, and I will gladden the hearts of Trojan men and +long-robed dames in the holy city of King Priam. But now let us +exchange costly gifts, that Trojans and Achaians may say of us that +we, having met in this heart-gnawing strife, have parted like good +friends.” He spake, and gave to Ajax a silver-studded sword; +and Ajax gave him a purple belt. So they parted, and went their +way; the one to the ships of the Achaians, and the other to the +holy city of Troy. And the Trojans rejoiced that Hector had escaped +unhurt from the unapproachable hands of mighty Ajax.</p> +<h3><a id="Patroclus" name="Patroclus">The Death of Patroclus and +the Battle of the River</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Alfred J. Church</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Patroclus came and stood by the side of Achilles weeping. Then +said Achilles, “What ails thee, Patroclus, that thou weepest +like a girl-child that runs along by her mother’s side, and +would be taken up, holding her gown, and looking at her with +tearful eyes till she lift her in her arms? Hast thou heard evil +news from Phthia? Menoetius yet lives, they say, and Peleus. Or art +thou weeping for the Greeks, because they perish for their +folly?”</p> +<p>Then said Patroclus, “Be not wroth with me, great +Achilles, for indeed the Greeks are in grievous straits, and all +their bravest are wounded, and still thou cherishest thy wrath. +Surely Peleus was not thy father, nor Thetis thy mother; but the +rocks begat thee, and the sea brought thee forth. Or if thou goest +not to battle, fearing some warning from the Gods, yet let me go, +and thy Myrmidons with me. And let me put thy armor on me; so shall +the Greeks have breathing-space from the war.”</p> +<p>So he spake, entreating, nor knew that for his own doom he +entreated. And Achilles made reply,—</p> +<p>“It is no warning that I heed, that I keep back from the +war. But these men took from me my prize, which I won with my own +hands. But let the past be past. I said I would not rise up till +the battle should come nigh to my own ships. But thou mayest put my +armor upon thee, and lead my Myrmidons to the fight. For in truth +the men of Troy are gathered as a dark cloud about the ships, and +the Greeks have scarce standing-ground between them and the sea. +For they see not the gleam of my helmet. And Diomed is not there +with his spear; nor do I hear the voice of Agamemnon, but only the +voice of Hector as he calls the men of Troy to the battle. Go, +therefore, Patroclus, and drive the fire from the ships. And then +come thou back, nor fight any more with the Trojans, lest thou take +my glory from me. And go not near, in the delight of the battle, to +the walls of Troy, lest one of the Gods meet thee to thy hurt; and, +of a truth, the keen Archer Apollo loves the Trojans +well.”</p> +<p>But as they talked the one to the other, Ajax could hold out no +longer. For swords and javelins came thick upon him, and clattered +on his helmet, and his shoulder was weary with the great shield +which he held; and he breathed heavily and hard, and the great +drops of sweat fell upon the ground. Then at the last Hector came +near and smote his spear with a great sword, so that the head fell +off. Then was Ajax sore afraid, and gave way, and the men of Troy +set torches to the ship’s stem, and a great flame shot up to +the sky. And Achilles saw it, and smote his thigh and +spake:—</p> +<p>“Haste thee, Patroclus, for I see the fire rising up from +the ships. Put thou on the armor, and I will call my people to the +war.” So Patroclus put on the armor—corselet, and +shield, and helmet—and bound upon his shoulder the +silver-studded sword, and took a mighty spear in his hand. But the +great Pelian spear he took not, for that no man but Achilles might +wield. Then Automedon yoked the horses to the chariot, Bayard and +Piebald, and with them in the side harness, Pedasus; and they two +were deathless steeds, but he was mortal.</p> +<p>Meanwhile Achilles had called the Myrmidons to battle. Fifty +ships had he brought to Troy, and in each there were fifty men. +Five leaders they had, and the bravest of the five was +Pisander.</p> +<p>Then Achilles said, “Forget not, ye Myrmidons, the bold +words that ye spake against the men of Troy during the days of my +wrath, making complaint that I kept you from the battle against +your will. Now, therefore, ye have that which you +desired.”</p> +<p>So the Myrmidons went to the battle in close array, helmet to +helmet, and shield to shield, close as the stones with which a +builder builds a wall. And in front went Patroclus, and Automedon +in the chariot beside him. Then Achilles went to his tent and took +a great cup from the chest, which Thetis his mother had given him. +Now no man drank of that cup but he only, nor did he pour out of it +libations to any of the Gods, but only to Zeus. This first he +cleansed with sulphur, and then with water from the spring. And +after this he washed his hands, and stood in the midst of the space +before his tent, and poured out of it to Zeus, saying, “O +Zeus, I send my comrade to this battle; make him strong and bold, +and give him glory, and bring him home safe to the ships, and my +people with him.”</p> +<p>So he prayed, and Father Zeus heard him, and part he granted and +part denied.</p> +<p>But now Patroclus with the Myrmidons had come to where the +battle was raging about the ship of Protesilaus, and when the men +of Troy beheld him they thought that Achilles had forgotten his +wrath and was come forth to the war. And first Patroclus slew +Pyræchmes, who was the chief of the Pæonians who live +on the banks of the broad Axius. Then the men of Troy turned to +flee, and many chiefs of fame fell by the spears of the Greeks. So +the battle rolled back to the trench, and in the trench many +chariots of the Trojans were broken, but the horses of Achilles +went across it at a stride, so nimble were they and strong. And the +heart of Patroclus was set to slay Hector; but he could not +overtake him, so swift were his horses. Then did Patroclus turn his +chariot, and keep back those that fled, that they should not go to +the city, and rushed hither and thither, still slaying as he +went.</p> +<p>But Sarpedon, when he saw the Lycians dismayed and scattered, +called to them that they should be of good courage, saying that he +would himself make trial of this great warrior. So he leapt down +from his chariot, and Patroclus also leapt down, and they rushed at +each other as two eagles rush together. Then first Patroclus struck +down Thrasymelus, who was the comrade of Sarpedon; and Sarpedon, +who had a spear in either hand, with the one struck the horse +Pedasus, which was of mortal breed, on the right shoulder, and with +the other missed his aim, sending it over the left shoulder of +Patroclus. But Patroclus missed not his aim, driving his spear into +Sarpedon’s heart. Then fell the great Lycian chief, as an +oak, or a poplar, or a pine falls upon the hills before the axe. +But he called to Glaucus, his companion, saying, “Now must +thou show thyself a good warrior, Glaucus. First call the men of +Lycia to fight for me, and do thou fight thyself, for it would be +foul shame to thee, all thy days, if the Greeks should spoil me of +my arms.”</p> +<p>Then he died. But Glaucus was sore troubled, for he could not +help him, so grievous was the wound where Teucer had wounded him. +Therefore he prayed to Apollo, and Apollo helped him and made him +whole. Then he went first to the Lycians, bidding them fight for +their king, and then to the chiefs of the Trojans, that they should +save the body of Sarpedon. And to Hector he said, “Little +carest thou for thy allies. Lo! Sarpedon is dead, slain by +Patroclus. Suffer not the Myrmidons to carry him off and do +dishonor to his body.”</p> +<p>But Hector was troubled to hear such news, and so were all the +sons of Troy, for Sarpedon was the bravest of the allies, and led +most people to the battle. So with a great shout they charged, and +drove the Greeks back a space from the body; and then again the +Greeks did the like. And so the battle raged, till no one would +have known the great Sarpedon, so covered was he with spears and +blood and dust. But at the last the Greeks drave back the men of +Troy from the body, and stripped the arms, but the body itself they +harmed not. For Apollo came down at the bidding of Zeus, and +carried it out of the midst of the battle, and washed it with +water, and anointed it with ambrosia, and wrapped it in garments of +the Gods. And then he gave it to Sleep and Death, and these two +carried it to Lycia, his fatherland.</p> +<p>Then did Patroclus forget the word which Achilles had spoken to +him, that he should not go near to Troy, for he pursued the men of +the city even to the wall. Thrice he mounted on the angle of the +wall, and thrice Apollo himself drove him back, pushing his shining +shield. But the fourth time the god said, “Go thou back, +Patroclus. It is not for thee to take the city of Troy; no, nor for +Achilles, who is far better than thou art.”</p> +<p>So Patroclus went back, fearing the wrath of the archer god. +Then Apollo stirred up the spirit of Hector, that he should go +against Patroclus. Therefore he went, with his brother Cebriones +for driver of his chariot. But when they came near, Patroclus cast +a great stone which he had in his hand, and smote Cebriones on the +forehead, crushing it in, so that he fell headlong from the +chariot. And Patroclus mocked him, saying,—</p> +<p>“How nimble is this man! how lightly he dives! What spoil +he would take of oysters, diving from a ship, even in a stormy sea! +Who would have thought that there were such skillful divers in +Troy!”</p> +<p>Then again the battle waxed hot about the body of Cebriones, and +this too, at the last, the Greeks drew unto themselves, and spoiled +it of the arms. And this being accomplished, Patroclus rushed +against the men of Troy. Thrice he rushed, and each time he slew +nine chiefs of fame. But the fourth time Apollo stood behind him +and struck him on the head and shoulders, so that his eyes were +darkened. And the helmet fell from off his head, so that the +horse-hair plumes were soiled with dust. Never before had it +touched the ground, for it was the helmet of Achilles. And also the +god brake the spear in his hand, and struck the shield from his +arms, and loosed his corselet. All amazed he stood, and then +Euphorbus, son of Panthous, smote him on the back with his spear, +but slew him not. Then Patroclus sought to flee to the ranks of his +comrades. But Hector saw him, and thrust at him with his spear, +smiting him in the groin, so that he fell. And when the Greeks saw +him fall, they sent up a terrible cry. Then Hector stood over him +and cried,—</p> +<p>“Didst thou think to spoil our city, Patroclus, and to +carry away our wives and daughters in the ships? But lo! I have +slain thee, and the fowls of the air shall eat thy flesh; nor shall +the great Achilles help thee at all,—Achilles, who bade thee, +I trow, strip the tunic from my breast, and thou thoughtest in thy +folly to do it.”</p> +<p>But Patroclus answered, “Thou boasteth much, Hector. Yet +<em>thou</em> didst not slay me, but Apollo, who took from me my +arms, for had twenty such as thou met me, I had slain them all. And +mark thou this: death and fate are close to thee by the hand of the +great Achilles.”</p> +<p>And Hector answered, but Patroclus was dead already, “Why +dost thou prophesy death to me? Maybe the great Achilles himself +shall fall by my hand.” Then he drew his spear from the +wound, and went after Automedon, to slay him, but the swift horse +of Achilles carried him away.</p> +<p>Fierce was the fight about the body of Patroclus, and many +heroes fell, both on this side and on that.</p> +<div class="figure"><a href="images/big_252.jpg"><img src= +"images/small_252.jpg" alt= +"A large battle scene with horses and swords." id="img05" name= +"img05" width="551" height="360" /></a> +<p>FIERCE WAS THE FIGHT ABOUT THE BODY OF PATROCLUS AND MANY HEROES +FELL</p> +</div> +<p>Meanwhile Antilochus, son of Nestor, ran to Achilles and said, +“I bring ill news; Patroclus lies low. The Greeks fight for +his body, but Hector hath his arms.”</p> +<p>Then Achilles took of the dust of the plain in his hand, and +poured it on his head, and lay at his length upon the ground, and +tare his hair. And all the women wailed. And Antilochus sat +weeping; but ever he held the hands of Achilles, lest he should +slay himself in his great grief.</p> +<p>Then came his mother, hearing his cry, from where she sat in the +depths of the sea, and laid her hand on him and said,—</p> +<p>“Why weepest thou, my son? Hide not the matter from me, +but tell me.”</p> +<p>And Achilles answered, “All that Zeus promised thee for me +he hath fulfilled. But what profit have I, for my friend Patroclus +is dead, and Hector has the arms which I gave him to wear. And as +for me, I care not to live, except I can avenge me upon +him.”</p> +<p>Then said Thetis, “Nay, my son, speak not thus. For when +Hector dieth, thy doom also is near.”</p> +<p>And Achilles spake in great wrath: “Would that I might die +this hour, seeing that I could not help my friend, but am a burden +on the earth,—I, who am better in battle than all the Greeks +besides. Cursed be the wrath that sets men to strive the one with +the other, even as it set me to strive with King Agamemnon! But let +the past be past. And as for my fate—let it come when it may, +so that I first avenge myself on Hector. Wherefore, seek not to +keep me back from the battle.”</p> +<p>Then Thetis said, “Be it so; only thou canst not go +without thy arms which Hector hath. But to-morrow will I go to +Vulcan, that he may furnish thee anew.”</p> +<p>But while they talked the men of Troy pressed the Greeks more +and more, and the two heroes, Ajax the Greater and Ajax the Less, +could no longer keep Hector back, but that he should lay hold of +the body of Patroclus. And indeed he would have taken it, but that +Zeus sent Iris to Achilles, who said,—</p> +<p>“Rouse thee, son of Peleus, or Patroclus will be a prey +for the dogs of Troy.”</p> +<p>But Achilles said, “How shall I go?—for arms have I +none, nor know I whose I might wear. Haply I could shift with the +shield of Ajax, son of Telamon, but he, I know, is carrying it in +the front of the battle.”</p> +<p>Then answered Iris, “Go only to the trench and show +thyself; so shall the men of Troy tremble and cease from the +battle, and the Greeks shall have breathing-space.”</p> +<p>So he went, and Athene put her ægis about his mighty +shoulders, and a golden halo about his head, making it shine as a +flame of fire, even as the watch-fires shine at night from some +city that is beseiged. Then went he to the trench; with the battle +he mingled not, heeding his mother’s commands, but he shouted +aloud, and his voice was as the sound of a trumpet. And when the +men of Troy heard, they were stricken with fear, and the horses +backed with the chariots, and the drivers were astonished when they +saw the flaming fire above his head which Athene had kindled. +Thrice across the trench the great Achilles shouted, and thrice the +men of Troy fell back. And that hour there perished twelve chiefs +of fame, wounded by their own spears or trampled by their own +steeds, so great was the terror among the men of Troy.</p> +<p>Right gladly did the Greeks take Patroclus out of the press. +Then they laid him on a bier, and carried him to the tent, Achilles +walking with many tears by his side.</p> +<p>But on the other side the men of Troy held an assembly. Standing +they held it, for none dared to sit, lest Achilles should be upon +them.</p> +<p>Then spake Polydamas: “Let us not wait here for the +morning. It was well for us to fight at the ships while Achilles +yet kept his wrath against Agamemnon. But now it is not so, for +to-morrow he will come against us in his anger, and many will fall +before him. Wherefore, let us go back to the city, for high are the +walls and strong the gates, and he will perish before he pass +them.”</p> +<p>Then said Hector, “This is ill counsel, Polydamas. Shall +we shut ourselves up in the city, where all our goods are wasted +already, buying meat for the people? Nay, let us watch to-night, +and to-morrow will we fight with the Greeks. And if Achilles be +indeed come forth from his tent, be it so. I will not shun to meet +him, for Mars gives the victory now to one man and now to +another.”</p> +<p>So he spake, and all the people applauded, not knowing what the +morrow should bring forth.</p> +<p>Thus did it come to pass that Achilles went again into the +battle, eager above all things to meet with Hector and to slay +him.</p> +<p>But Apollo stood by Æneas, and spake to him: +“Æneas, where are now thy boastings that thou wouldst +meet Achilles face to face?”</p> +<p>Then Æneas answered, “Nay, I have stood up against +him in the day when he took the town of Lyrnessus. But I fled +before him, and only my nimble feet saved me from falling by his +spear. Surely a god is ever with him, making his spear to fly +aright.”</p> +<p>Him Apollo answered again, “Thou, too, art the son of a +goddess, and thy mother is greater than his, for she is but a +daughter of the sea. Drive straight at him with thy spear, and let +not his threats dismay thee.”</p> +<p>Then Æneas stood out from the press to meet Achilles and +Achilles said, “Fightest thou with me because thou hopest to +reign over the men of Troy, or have they given thee a choice +portion of ground, ploughland and orchard, to be thine when thou +hast slain me? Thou wilt not find it easy. Dost thou not remember +how thou fleddest before me in the day that I took +Lyrnessus?”</p> +<p>Then Æneas answered, “Think not to terrify me with +words, son of Peleus, for I, too, am the son of a goddess. Let us +make a trial one of the other.”</p> +<p>Then he cast his spear, and it struck the shield of Achilles +with so dreadful a sound that the hero feared lest it should pierce +it through, knowing not that the gifts of the Gods are not easy for +mortal man to vanquish. Two folds, indeed, it pierced, that were of +bronze, but in the gold it was stayed, and there were yet two of +tin within. Then Achilles cast his spear. Through the shield of +Æneas it passed, and though it wounded him not, yet was he +sore dismayed, so near it came. Then Achilles drew his sword, and +rushed on Æneas, and Æneas caught up a great stone to +cast at him. But it was not the will of the Gods that Æneas +should perish, seeing that he and his sons after him should rule +over the men of Troy in the ages to come. Therefore Neptune lifted +him up, and bore him over the ranks of men to the left of the +battle, but first he drew the spear out of the shield, and laid it +at the feet of Achilles. Much the hero marveled to see it, crying, +“This is a great wonder that I behold with mine eyes. For I +see my spear before me, but the man whom I sought to slay, I see +not. Of a truth Æneas spake truth, saying that he was dear to +the immortal Gods.”</p> +<p>Then he rushed into the battle, slaying as he went. And Hector +would have met him, but Apollo stood by him and said, “Fight +not with Achilles, lest he slay thee.” Therefore he went back +among the men of Troy. Many did Achilles slay, and among them +Polydorus, son of Priam, who, because he was the youngest and very +dear, his father suffered not to go to the battle. Yet he went, in +his folly, and being very swift of foot, he trusted in his speed, +running through the foremost of the fighters. But as he ran +Achilles smote him and wounded him to the death. When Hector saw +it, he could not bear any more to stand apart. Therefore he rushed +at Achilles, and Achilles rejoiced to see him, saying, “This +is the man who slew my comrade;” and to Hector he cried, +“Come hither, and taste of death.”</p> +<p>And Hector made answer, “Son of Peleus, seek not to make +me afraid with words. For though I be weaker than thou, yet victory +lieth on the knees of the Gods, and I, too, bear a +spear.”</p> +<p>Then he cast his spear, but Athene turned it aside with her +breath, and laid it again at his feet. And when Achilles leapt upon +Hector with a shout, Apollo snatched him away. Three times did +Achilles leap upon him, and three times he struck only the mist. +But the fourth time he cried with a terrible voice, “Dog, +thou hast escaped from death, Apollo helping thee; but I shall meet +thee again, and make an end of thee.”</p> +<p>Then Achilles turned to the others, and slew multitudes of them, +so that they fled, some across the plain, and some to the river, +the eddying Xanthus. And these leapt into the water as locusts leap +into a river when a fire which men light drives them from the +fields. And all the river was full of horses and men. Then Achilles +leapt into the stream, leaving his spear on the bank, resting on +the tamarisk trees. Only his sword had he, and with this he slew +many; and they were as fishes which fly from some great dolphin in +the sea. In all the bays of a harbor they hide themselves, for the +great beast devours them apace. So did the Trojans hide themselves +under the banks of the river. And when Achilles was weary of +slaying, he took twelve alive, whom he would slay on the tomb of +Patroclus.</p> +<p>Yet there was one man who dared to stand up against him, while +the others fled. This was Asteropæus, who was the grandson of +the river-god Axius, and led the men of Pæonia. And Achilles +wondered to see him, and said, “Who art thou that standest +against me?”</p> +<p>And he said, “I am the grandson of the river-god Axius, +fairest of all the streams on the earth, and I lead the men of +Pæonia.”</p> +<p>And as he spake he cast two spears, one with each hand, for he +could use either alike; and the one struck the shield, nor pierced +it through, for the gold staved it, and the other grazed the right +hand of Achilles so that the blood spurted forth. Then did Achilles +cast his spear, but missed his aim, and the great spear stood fast +in the bank. And thrice Asteropæus strove to draw it forth. +Thrice he strove in vain, and the fourth time he strove to break +the spear. But as he strove Achilles smote him that he died. Yet +had he some glory, for that he wounded the great Achilles.</p> +<p>When the River saw that Asteropæus was dead, and that +Achilles was slaying many of the Pæonians—for these +were troubled, their chief being dead—he took upon him the +shape of a man, and spake to Achilles, saying, “Truly, +Achilles, thou excellest all other men in might and deeds of blood, +for the Gods themselves protect thee. It may be that Zeus hath +given thee to slay all the sons of Troy; nevertheless, depart from +me and work thy will upon the plain; for my stream is choked with +the multitude of corpses, nor can I pass to the sea. Do thou, +therefore, cease from troubling me.”</p> +<p>To him Achilles made answer, “This shall be as thou wilt, +O Scamander. But the Trojans I will not cease from slaying till I +have driven them into their city and have made trial of Hector, +whether I shall vanquish him or he shall vanquish me.”</p> +<p>And as he spake he sped on, pursuing the Trojans. Then the River +cried to Apollo, “Little thou doest the will of thy father, +thou of the Silver Bow, who bade thee stand by the men of Troy and +help them till darkness should cover the land.” And he rushed +on with a great wave, stirring together all his streams. The dead +bodies he threw upon the shore, roaring as a bull roareth; and them +that lived he hid in the depths of his eddies. And all about +Achilles rose up the flood, beating full upon his shield, so that +he could not stand fast upon his feet. Then Achilles laid hold of a +lime-tree, fair and tall, that grew upon the bank; but the tree +brake therefrom with all its roots, and tare down the bank, and lay +across the River, staying its flood, for it had many branches. +Thereupon Achilles leapt out of the water and sped across the +plain, being sore afraid. But the River ceased not from pursuing +him, that he might stay him from slaughter and save the sons of +Troy. So far as a man may throw a spear, so far did Achilles leap; +strong as an eagle was he, the hunting-bird that is the strongest +and swiftest of all birds. And still as he fled the River pursued +after him with a great roar. Even as it is with a man that would +water his garden, bringing a stream from a fountain; he has a +pick-axe in his hand to break down all that would stay the water; +and the stream runs on, rolling the pebbles along with it, and +overtakes him that guides it. Even so did the River overtake +Achilles, for all that he was swift of foot, for indeed the Gods +are mightier than men. And when Achilles would have stood against +the River, seeking to know whether indeed all the Gods were against +him, then the great wave smote upon his shoulders; and when he +leapt into the air, it bowed his knees beneath him and devoured the +ground from under his feet. Then Achilles looked up to heaven and +groaned, crying out, “O Zeus, will none of the Gods pity me, +and save me from the River? I care not what else may befall me. +Truly my mother hath deceived me, saying that I should perish under +the walls of Troy by the arrows of Apollo. Surely it had been +better that Hector should slay me, for he is the bravest of the men +of Troy, but now I shall perish miserably in the River, as some +herd-boy perisheth whom a torrent sweeps away in a +storm.”</p> +<p>So he spake; but Poseidon and Athene stood by him, having taken +upon them the shape of men, and took him by the hand and +strengthened him with comforting words, for Poseidon spake, saying, +“Son of Peleus, tremble not, neither be afraid. It is not thy +fate to be mastered by the River. He shall soon cease from +troubling thee. And do thou heed what we say. Stay not thy hands +from the battle, till thou shalt have driven all the sons of Troy +that escape thee within the walls of the city. And when thou shalt +have slain Hector, go back to the ships; for this day is the day of +thy glory.”</p> +<p>Then the two departed from him. Now all the plain was covered +with water, wherein floated much fair armor and many dead bodies. +But Achilles went on even against the stream, nor could the River +hold him back; for Athene put great might into his heart. Yet did +not Scamander cease from his wrath, but lifted his waves yet +higher, and cried aloud to Simois, “Dear brother, let us two +stay the fury of this man, or else of a surety he will destroy the +city of Priam. Come now, fill all thy streams and rouse thy +torrents against him, and lift up against him a mighty wave with a +great concourse of tree-trunks and stones, that we may stay this +wild man from his fighting. Very high thoughts hath he, even as a +god; yet shall neither his might nor his beauty nor his fair form +profit him; for they shall be covered with much mud; and over +himself will I heap abundance of sand beyond all counting. Neither +shall the Greeks be able to gather his bones together, with such a +heap will I hide them. Surely a great tomb will I build for him; +nor will his people have need to make a mound over him when they +would bury him.”</p> +<p>Then he rushed again upon Achilles, swelling high with foam and +blood and dead bodies of men. Very dark was the wave as it rose, +and was like to have overwhelmed the man, so that Juno greatly +feared for him, lest the River should sweep him away. And she cried +to Vulcan, her son, saying, “Rouse thee, Haltfoot, my son! I +thought that thou wouldst have been a match for Scamander in +battle. But come, help us, and bring much fire with thee; and I +will call the west wind and the south wind from the sea, with such +a storm as shall consume the sons of Troy, both them and their +arms. And do thou burn the trees that are by the banks of Xanthus, +yea, and the River himself. And let him not turn thee from thy +purpose by fury or by craft; but burn till I shall bid thee +cease.”</p> +<p>Then Vulcan lit a great fire. First he burned the dead bodies +that lay upon the plain, and it dried all the plain, as the north +wind in the autumn time dries a field, to the joy of him that tills +it. After this it laid hold of the River. The lime-trees and the +willows and the tamarisks it burned; also the plants that grew in +the streams. And the eels and the fishes were sore distressed, +twisting hither and thither in the water, being troubled by the +breath of Vulcan. So the might of the River was subdued, and he +cried aloud, “O Vulcan, no one of the Gods can match himself +with thee. Cease now from consuming me; and Achilles may drive the +men of Troy from their city if he will. What have I to do with the +strife and sorrow of men?”</p> +<p>So he spake, for all his streams were boiling—as a +cauldron boils with a great fire beneath it, when a man would melt +the fat of a great hog; nor could he flow any longer to the sea, so +sorely did the breath of the Fire-god trouble him. Then he cried +aloud to Juno, entreating her: “O Juno, why doth thy son +torment me only among all? Why should I be blamed more than others +that help the men of Troy? Verily, I will cease from helping them, +if he also will cease. Nay, I will swear a great oath that I will +keep no more the day of doom from the sons of Troy; no, not when +all the city shall be consumed with fire.”</p> +<p>And Queen Juno heard him, and called to Vulcan, saying, +“Cease, my son; it doth not beseem thee to work such damage +to a god for the sake of a mortal man.”</p> +<p>So Vulcan quenched his fire, and the River flowed as he flowed +before.</p> +<h3><a id="Vulcan" name="Vulcan">Vulcan Makes Armor for +Achilles</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Walter C. Perry</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>On high Olympus, the Loud-thundering Zeus spake mockingly to his +consort, Juno, and said, “At length, thou hast what thou +desirest, and hast roused Achilles to fight against the Trojans. +Surely, the long-haired Achaians must be thine own children, since +thou lovest them so dearly!”</p> +<p>And the ox-eyed queen replied, “Dread son of Cronos! what +words are these which have passed the barrier of thy teeth? Even a +mortal man doth what he can to help another; and shall not I, the +chief of goddesses by birth and as thy wife—O thou king of +the deathless Gods!—shall not <em>I</em> avenge myself upon +the men of Troy?”</p> +<p>Thus these two strove with one another.</p> +<p>Meantime, the silver-footed Thetis came to the splendid palace +of Vulcan, bright and immortal, which shone like a star among the +mansions of the Gods. She found him at his bellows, sweating from +his mighty toil; for he was forging twenty tripods, to stand round +the walls of his well-built mansion. Beneath each of them he placed +wheels of gold; and they move, of themselves, into the assembly of +the Gods, and so return.</p> +<p>While he was thus employed, the silver-footed Thetis approached +the house. And Charis, of the shining veil, the wedded wife of +Vulcan (whose first wife had been Aphrodite or Venus), came forth +to meet her, and took her by the hand, and called her by her name. +“O long-robed Thetis! dear and honored as thou art! not oft, +I ween, dost thou come to visit us. But follow me, that I may show +thee due hospitality.”</p> +<p>Then she led the way in, and seated Thetis on a lofty chair with +silver studs, beautiful, and cunningly wrought, and placed a +footstool beneath her shining feet. And she called to Vulcan, the +divine artificer, “Come hither, Vulcan! for the silver-footed +Thetis seeketh thine aid.”</p> +<p>And the glorious lame god answered, “Revered and dear to +me is she; for she saved me, when my shameless mother threw me down +from heaven; and I should have suffered dire anguish had not +Eurynome, daughter of Oceanos, and Thetis taken me to their hearts +and comforted me. Nine years I spent with them, and fashioned all +kinds of curious work of bronze—clasps, and spiral bracelets, +and ear-rings, like the calyx of a flower, and necklaces—in +the hollow grot, while all around me roared the streams of great +Oceanus. And none of the other Gods knew where I was, but only +Thetis and Eurynome. And now that she is come, a welcome guest, to +my house, I will repay the fair-haired nymph in every way, for +saving my life.”</p> +<p>So saying, he raised his mighty bulk from the block, and, +limping on his slender legs, moved quickly; and he put away his +bellows, and placed his tools in a silver chest, and sponged his +face and hands, his strong neck and hairy breast; then he donned +his tunic, and leaning on a staff, he limped along. And golden +handmaids, in the form of living maidens, came to help their lord; +these have intelligent minds, and human voices, and skill from the +deathless Gods. And he went with halting gait, and seated himself +on a shining throne, near the silver-footed Thetis; and he took her +by the hand, and said to her, “O dear and honored Thetis of +the flowing robes! why comest thou to our house, thou, an +infrequent guest?”</p> +<p>Then the silver-footed goddess answered him, “O Vulcan! +hath Zeus, the son of Cronos, laid on any other goddess in Olympus +such grievous woes as on <em>me</em>, unhappy that I am? He chose +out me, from all the sea nymphs, to endure marriage with a mortal. +A son I bare, the greatest of heroes. I brought him up, like a +young tree in a fruitful soil, and sent him in a high-peaked ship +to war against the Trojans; but never again will he return to me, +in the halls of his aged father Peleus. And even while I yet see +him, and he beholdeth the light of the sun, he is full of grief, +and I cannot help him. For King Agamemnon took away his prize, the +dearly loved maiden Briseïs. For the loss of her, he pined and +wept; nor would he allow his Myrmidons to join in the battle, +though the Achaians were hard pressed and driven to their ships. +The chiefs of the Argives came to him with prayers and tears, and +many costly gifts. And though he refused himself to rescue them, he +suffered Patroclus to put on his divine armor, and sent many of the +Myrmidons with him to the battle. And the son of Menoetius +performed high deeds of valor, and went near to sack the city. But +the Far-Darting Apollo and glorious Hector slew him, and gained +immortal glory. And now, I come as a suppliant, to clasp thy knees, +and to pray that thou wouldst give my short-lived son a shield, a +helmet, a breastplate, and goodly greaves.”</p> +<p>Then the lame god, the famous artificer, replied, “Be of +good cheer, O silver-footed Queen, and be not troubled about these +things! Would that I could as surely save him from mournful death, +as that I will supply him with goodly armor, a wonder to +behold!”</p> +<p>And he returned to his workshop, and bade his +bellows—there were twenty of them—blow the blasts on +the fire and prepare the earthen moulds; and as Vulcan willed, the +work was done. He melted the tough bronze and tin, the gold and +silver, with the fire; and placed an anvil and took a strong hammer +in one hand, and tongs in the other, and with these he worked.</p> +<p>First, he made the shield, broad and strong, with many +decorations. Around it he placed a triple bright rim, and a silver +strap depended from it. The shield itself was formed with five +zones, in each of which he fashioned many curious works.</p> +<p>Therein he fashioned the Earth, the Sky, the Sea, the unwearied +Sun, the Moon at the full, and all the bright luminaries which +crown the azure firmament: the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas, the +Hyades, the mighty Orion, and, turning about to watch Orion, the +Bear, which alone of all the stars bathes not in the streams of +Oceanus.</p> +<p>Also, on the shield, he sculptured two fair cities of +articulate-speaking men. In one of these were wedding-festivals; +and, with a blaze of torchlight, the brides were conducted from +their chambers along the streets; while the hymeneal song was loud, +and the youths whirled round and round in the giddy dance, to the +music of flute and harp; while the women stood at their doors, +watching and admiring. In that city he also fashioned an assembly +of the people, in which a contention had arisen, about the +blood-fine or “were-geld” for a murdered man; the +people, with noisy shouts, cheered, on either side; but the heralds +stilled the tumult, holding their staves of office in their hands; +and then the judges rose up, to pronounce their verdict.</p> +<p>Around the other city lay two armies besieging it, with flashing +arms. Two plans were considered: either to destroy the town, or to +divide the wealth thereof with its citizens. But the beleaguered +garrison had not yet yielded, but armed themselves and set an +ambush. Their dear wives and children, and the old men, stood on +the walls to defend it, while the strong men went forth to fight. +And they were led by Mars and Athene, whose forms were fashioned in +gold, with golden raiment; and, as gods, he made them larger and +more beautiful than the mortals around them.</p> +<p>The men in ambush set upon the herdsmen who were driving oxen to +the watering-place of the army, and making music with their pipes. +They carried off the cattle; but the besiegers, as they sat before +the rostra, heard the lowing of the oxen and drove up, with their +high-stepping horses, to repel the raid. Then a fierce conflict +arose; and in it were seen Strife, and Uproar, and Dire Fate; like +living warriors, they rushed on one another, and haled away the +dead whom they slew.</p> +<p>In another part of the shield, he represented a rich, +deep-soiled, fallow field, thrice ploughed; and when the ploughers +came to the end of the furrow, a man would give to each of them a +goblet of sweet wine. And the ploughed ground grew black behind +them, like real soil, although it was of gold. Then there, too, was +a rich field of corn, where reapers were cutting the harvest with +their sickles and it fell in rows; and others were binding it with +bands of straw; while the lord looked on, and was glad at heart. +And under a spreading oak a feast was being made ready for the +reapers.</p> +<p>And he fashioned therein a vineyard, rich with clusters of black +grapes, which the youths and maidens, in their glee, carried in +baskets; while a boy, in their midst, made sweet music on a +clear-sounding harp; and he sang the “Song of Linos,” +and the rest kept time with their feet.</p> +<p>And there was a herd of straight-horned oxen, all of gold and +tin, hurrying to the pasture beside the gently murmuring stream and +the waving rushes. Four herdsmen, of gold, followed them, and nine +fleet dogs. And two terrible lions seized a bellowing bull. The +herdsmen followed, but they could not set on their dogs to bite the +lions, for the dogs shrank back, barking and whining, and turned +away.</p> +<p>And therein the glorious divine artist placed a wide pasture +full of white sheep, with folds and tents and huts. And he made a +dancing-ground, like that which Dædalus wrought at Gnosos for +lovely fair-haired Ariadne. There, lusty youths in shining tunics +glistening with oil, danced with fair maidens of costly wooing. The +maidens had wreaths of flowers upon their heads; and the youths +wore daggers banging from silver sword-belts. They whirled round, +with lightly tripping feet, swift as the potter’s wheel, +holding each other by the wrist; and then they ran, in lines, to +meet each other. A crowd of friends stood round and joyfully +watched the dance, and a divine minstrel made sweet music with his +harp, while a pair of tumblers diverted the crowd.</p> +<p>Lastly, around the margin of the shield, Vulcan made the stream +of the mighty river Oceanus, which encircleth the earth.</p> +<p>And when he had finished this strong and splendid shield, he +wrought the breastplate, glowing with blazing fire; and he made a +heavy helmet for the head, beautiful, and adorned with curious art; +upon it was a crest of gold. But the goodly greaves he made of +flexible tin. When he had completed the whole suit of glorious +armor, he laid it before the silver-footed Thetis, the mother of +Achilles; and she darted, swift as a hawk, from snowy Olympus, +bearing the brightly glittering arms to her dear son.</p> +<h3><a id="Hector" name="Hector">The Slaying of Hector</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Walter C. Perry</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Meantime, Achilles went on slaughtering the Trojans; and the +aged Priam stood on the sacred tower, and saw the son of Peleus +driving the Trojans before him. And he shouted aloud to the brave +warders of the gates, “Open the gates, that the fugitives may +enter!” And the Far-Darter went to the front, to save the +Trojans who were fleeing to the sheltering walls, with Achilles +behind them in hot pursuit.</p> +<p>Then would the Achaians have stormed the lofty gates of Troy, +had not Phœbus Apollo roused Agenor, a brave and noble +prince, son of Antenor. Apollo stood by this man’s side, +leaning on an oak, and shrouded in mist, and put courage into his +heart, that he might ward off fate from the Trojans. And when +Agenor saw Achilles, he stood irresolute, and said to his mighty +heart, “If I too flee before Achilles, he will catch me and +slay me as a coward. Or shall I fly by another way, and hide me in +the spurs of Ida? How, then, if I go forth to meet him? for his +flesh, too, may surely be pierced by the keen bronze, and he has +but one life, like other mortals.”</p> +<p>And his heart grew strong within him, to stay and fight. And he +cried out aloud to Achilles, “Surely, thou thinkest this very +day to sack the proud city of Troy? Fool! many terrible things will +happen before <em>that</em>; for there are many of us—many +and brave—to protect our dear parents and wives and little +children, and to guard holy Ilium. Thou, too, perhaps, mighty as +thou art, mayest here meet death.”</p> +<p>He spake and hurled a spear at Achilles with his strong hand. +And it smote him below the knee, and the tin-wrought greave rang +loudly; but the stout spear bounded off, for it could not pierce +the work of Vulcan.</p> +<p>Then Achilles rushed on godlike Agenor; but him Apollo caught in +a mist, and carried him safely out of the fray. And the god took +the form of Agenor, and ran a little way before Achilles, towards +the deep-flowing Scamander. And while Apollo thus deceived the +mighty son of Peleus, the routed Trojans ran, well pleased, to +their stronghold, and the great city was filled with their +multitude.</p> +<p>Then as he ran before Achilles, the mighty Far-Darter addressed +him, and spake: “O son of Peleus! why dost thou, being a +mortal man, pursue <em>me</em> with thy swift feet, who am a +deathless god?” Then, in wrath, the son of Peleus answered +him: “Thou hast blinded me, most mischievous of all the Gods! +and lured me away from the walls; else would many a Trojan have +fallen, or ever he had reached the city.” He then went +towards the city, with a proud heart, like a war-horse victorious +in a chariot race; and the aged Priam saw him, blazing like the +star in autumn brightest of all, which men call +“Orion’s Dog,” that bringeth fever upon wretched +mortals.</p> +<p>And the old man cried aloud, in his agony, and beat his head +with his fists, and called in a piercing voice to his dear son +Hector. For the brave hero, when all the others had escaped into +the city, remained alone at the Scæan Gate eager to fight +with Achilles. And his wretched father stretched forth his withered +hands, and pleaded piteously to his son:—</p> +<p>“Hector! dear Hector! do not meet this terrible man alone, +for he is far mightier than thou, and knoweth no pity. Already hath +he robbed me of many a brave son; and now I no longer see two of my +children, Lycaon and the goodly Polydorus, whom Laothoë, +princess among women, bare to me. But the death of others will +cause us briefer grief, if thou, dear Hector, art not slain. Come, +then, within the walls, and save the men and women of Troy! And +have pity on me, too, to whom the son of Cronos hath allotted a +terrible doom in my old age—to see my brave sons dragged +away, and my fair daughters carried off, as captives, by the cruel +hands of the Achaians. Last of all, I too shall be torn, on my own +threshold, by ravenous dogs—even the dogs which I myself have +reared with food from my table, to guard my house. They will tear +my flesh and drink my blood! It may well become a <em>young</em> +man to lie slain on the field, for he is highly honored in his +death; but when dogs defile an old man’s head and beard, this +is the most lamentable thing that befalleth wretched +mortals.”</p> +<p>And the old man tore his hair in his sore agony; but even he +prevailed not with the soul of Hector. And then his dear mother, +Hecuba, took up the plaint and spake through her piteous tears.</p> +<p>“Hector! my child! have respect to the mother who bare +thee and nursed thee on this bosom! Pity <em>me</em>! and fight the +foe from this side of the wall! For if he slay thee, not on a +funeral bed shall I, and thy dear wife, won by so many gifts, +deplore thee; but the swift dogs shall devour thee, far away from +us, by the black ships of the Argives.”</p> +<p>Thus wailed they over their glorious son, beseeching him; but +they could not prevail, for honor held him fast. Meanwhile, +Achilles drew nigh, in strength like a giant; but Hector awaited +him undismayed, leaning his shield against the tower. And he +communed thus with his brave soul: “Alas, if I go through the +gates, Polydamas will justly blame me; for he gave me good +advice—that I should lead the host into the city on that +fatal night, when the noble Achilles returned to the war. And I +would not hearken to him, although he counseled well. And now that +I have brought this evil on the city by my folly, I am ashamed to +appear before the men, and the proud dames with trailing robes, +lest some one should taunt me and say, ‘Hector in his pride +hath ruined us.’ Better then would it be for me to meet +Achilles, and either slay him or fall with glory before the city. +Or how would it be if I should lay aside all my arms, and go to +meet the son of Peleus, and offer to restore Argive Helen and all +her possessions to Menelaus and Agamemnon, and to divide the wealth +of Troy with the Achaians? But no! I might come to him unarmed, but +he is merciless, and would slay me on the spot, as if I were a +woman. But why do I hesitate? This is no time to hold dalliance +with him, from oak or rock, like youths and maidens. Better to +fight at once, and see to whom Olympian Zeus will give the +victory!”</p> +<p>While he thus pondered, Achilles, peer of Mars, came on, poising +his terrible spear of Pelian ash; and his divine armor, the work of +a god, blazed like fire or the rising sun. And when Hector saw him +he was seized with panic, and he fled from the gates in terror.</p> +<p>But Achilles, swift of foot, rushed after him. As a falcon, +swiftest of all birds, swoops upon the trembling dove, and takes no +heed of her piteous screaming, so Achilles flew straight at Hector. +And pursuer and pursued passed by the guard and the wild fig-tree, +the sport of the winds, and came to the two springs of water, which +feed the deep-whirling Scamander. Brave was he who fled, but +mightier far was he who chased him on his swift feet; and they were +racing not for some prize in the games, but for the life of the +noble horse-taming Hector. And like horses in the race for a great +prize—a tripod or a woman—so the twain ran thrice round +the sacred city of King Priam; and all the Gods were looking +on.</p> +<p>And Zeus, the great father of Gods and men, spake first: +“Alas! I see a man whom I love above all others chased round +the walls of Troy. Come now, let us take some counsel, whether to +save him or leave him to be slain by the son of Peleus.”</p> +<p>And the fierce-eyed Athene answered him, “O thou great +Lord of the Lightning, Cloud-girt King! what a word hast thou +spoken! Wouldst thou indeed save a mortal long ago doomed by Fate? +Do as thou pleasest; but we Gods shall not praise thee.”</p> +<p>And her great father, the Cloud-Gatherer, answered with gentle +words, “O Trito-born, my dear child! be of good cheer. I +spake not in earnest, and would fain please thee. Do as seemeth +good to thee.” And Athene, full of joy, sped down from high +Olympus.</p> +<p>Achilles, with all speed, was chasing the noble Hector, as the +dogs hunt the fawn of a deer through dale and woodland; and though +the fawn hideth behind a bush, they follow by the scent until they +find it; so Hector could not escape from the swift-footed son of +Peleus. Often did Hector rush along the strong walls, in hopes that +the Trojans within might succor him from above with their arrows. +But Achilles gained on him and turned him into the plain again.</p> +<p>And so, though Hector failed in his flight and Achilles in his +pursuit, yet might Hector have escaped his doom, had not this been +the last time that Apollo the Far-Darter came nigh to him, to nerve +his heart and his swift knees. Achilles had made a sign to his +comrades, and forbade them to launch their darts against the noble +Hector, lest one of them should gain high honor, and he come only +second. And when they had, for the fourth time, run round the walls +and reached the springs, then Zeus, the Great Father, raised his +golden scales, and placed in each the lot of gloomy +death,—one for Hector, and the other for Achilles. And he +held the scales by the middle, and poised them; and the noble +Hector’s scale sank down to Hades; and Phœbus Apollo +left him.</p> +<p>But the fierce-eyed goddess Athene came near to Achilles and +spake winged words: “Now, at last, O godlike Achilles! shall +we twain carry off great glory to the Achaian ships! He cannot now +escape us, though the Far-Darter should grovel at the feet of Zeus +with fruitless prayers. But do thou stay and recover thy breath; +and I will go and persuade Hector to stand up against thee in +fight.” And he gladly obeyed her voice, and stood leaning on +his ashen spear.</p> +<p>And she, Athene, came to noble Hector in the likeness of his +brother Deïphobus, and spake to him: “Dear Lord and +elder Brother, surely the fleet-footed son of Peleus hath done +great violence against thee, chasing thee round the walls! But let +us twain make a stand against him!”</p> +<p>And the great Hector answered, “Deïphobus, thou wert +ever the dearest of my brothers; now I honor thee still more, +because thou hast dared to come out from behind the walls to aid +me, while others skulk within.”</p> +<p>The fierce-eyed goddess, as Deïphobus, spake again: +“It is true that my father, and my queenly mother, and all my +comrades, besought me to stay with them, so greatly do they fear +the mighty son of Peleus; but my heart was sore for thee, dear +brother! But let us fight amain, and see whether he will carry our +spoils to his ships, or fall beneath thy spear!” And so, with +her cunning words, she led him on to death.</p> +<p>And when he and Achilles were come near to each other, the noble +Hector spake: “O mighty Achilles, thrice did I flee before +thee round the great city of Priam, and dared not await thy +onslaught. But now I will stand up against thee, to slay or to be +slain. But come, let us make a covenant with one another, and call +the Gods, the best guardians of oaths, to witness. If Zeus grant me +to take thy life, and despoil thee of thy divine armor, then will I +give back thy body to the warlike Achaians; and do thou the same by +me!”</p> +<p>And Achilles, with a malignant scowl, replied, “Speak not +to me of covenants! There is no covenant between men and lions, or +between wolves and sheep, but only eternal war. And there can be no +pledge of faith between us twain, until one of us hath sated the +murderous Mars with his blood. Therefore, show thyself a good +spearman and a brave man of war! There is no escape for thee; for +Pallas Athene hath delivered thee into my hands.”</p> +<p>He spake, and cast his long-shafted spear at Hector. But Hector +stooped, and the strong bronze spear flew over his head; but Athene +picked it up, unknown to Hector, and gave it back to Achilles. Then +Hector, rejoicing, spake to the son of Peleus: “Thou hast +missed! Nor dost thou surely know the day of my doom, as thou +pretendest. Thou shalt not plant thy spear in my back, as I flee +before thee; but in my breast, if the Gods allow it. But now, in +thy turn, avoid <em>my</em> spear!” So spake he, and smote +the middle of Achilles’ shield with his long-shafted spear, +but it bounded back from the shield. Then Hector was dismayed, for +he had no second spear to throw. And he called aloud to his +brother, Deïphobus; but no answer came, for <em>he</em> was +far away. Then Hector knew that he was betrayed, and that Athene +had deceived him, in the likeness of his brother. +“Now,” he cried, “is Death come near me, and +there is no way of escape! This is the will of Zeus and of the +Far-Darter, who once were wont to succor me. But I will not die +ingloriously, but yet perform some notable deed of arms.”</p> +<p>He said, and, with his sharp sword, swooped down upon Achilles. +But Achilles rushed at him, wild with fury, brandishing his spear, +with evil intent against noble Hector, and eyed him over, to see +where he might pierce his flesh most easily. The rest of +Hector’s body was protected by the splendid armor which he +had stripped from the body of Patroclus; but there was one chink, +between the collar-bone and the throat, through which Achilles +thrust his spear. Yet it cut not the windpipe; and Hector was able +to speak faint words to his insulting foe, after he had fallen to +the ground.</p> +<p>Achilles triumphed over him: “Ah, Hector! when thou wert +stripping Patroclus of my goodly armor, thou caredst nothing for +me, who was far away! I, his friend and avenger, was left among the +black ships—even I, a mightier man than he! Thee shall the +dogs and birds devour; but he shall have honorable +burial.”</p> +<p>Then, with his last breath, the noble Hector of the bright helm +addressed his pitiless foe: “Achilles! I pray thee, by thy +soul, and by thy parents’ heads, let not Achaian dogs devour +me by the ships! but accept great store of gold and bronze from my +father and my queenly mother, and restore my body to them, that the +Trojans may deck my funeral pyre with all due honor!”</p> +<p>And Achilles, with a grim scowl, replied, “Clasp not my +knees, vile dog! nor speak to me of parents! Such evil hast thou +done me, that I could devour thee raw! Not for thy weight in gold +would I give thee to thy queenly mother, to mourn over thee; but +dogs and birds shall batten on thy flesh!”</p> +<p>Then the dying Hector uttered his last words: “Thou +iron-hearted man! now I know thee; nor did I think to prevail upon +thee. But beware of the wrath of the Gods, when Paris and the +Far-Darter slay thee, at the Scæan Gate, brave though thou +art!”</p> +<p>He spake; and Death overshadowed him; and his soul went down to +Hades, wailing to leave beauty, youth, and vigor.</p> +<p>And Achilles spake again to the dead Hector: “Lie thou +there! And as for me, I will die when it seemeth good to the +deathless Gods!”</p> +<p>And the Achaians ran up, and looked with wonder at the noble +stature and beauty of the Trojan hero. And they all inflicted +wounds upon him, as he lay, saying, “He is easier to deal +with now than when he was burning our ships with flames of +fire.”</p> +<p>And when the son of Peleus had stripped him of his armor, he +stood up, and spake to the Achaians:—</p> +<p>“Great chiefs and counselors of the Argives! at last the +Gods have granted us to slay this man, whose single arm hath +wrought more evil to us than all the rest together. Let us now +approach the city, and learn the purpose of the Trojans; whether +they will now surrender the citadel or go on fighting, though great +Hector is no more. But why do I thus ponder in my mind? Patroclus +is lying unburied and unwept by the ships. Never can I forget him, +while I live; and even in the House of Hades, I will remember my +dearest friend. Come, then! let us raise the chant of victory, and +bear our deadliest foe to the black ships!”</p> +<p>Then he foully outraged the dead body of glorious Hector; +slitting the sinews of both feet, from heel to ankle, he passed +ox-hide straps through them, and fastened them to his chariot, +leaving the goodly head to trail upon the ground. Then he laid the +armor on the chariot; and mounting it, lashed his willing horses to +full speed. And in the dust lay the once beautiful head, with its +flowing hair; for Zeus had now given Hector up to his enemies, to +be foully used in his own native land.</p> +<p>And when his dear mother, Hecuba, saw her much-loved son dragged +along, begrimed with dust, she tore her hair, and shrieked aloud, +and tossed far away her glistening veil. And his father, King +Priam, wailed and mourned; and with him all the men and women in +the city, as if the beetling towers of Ilium were already +smouldering in fire. Hardly could they keep the aged father from +rushing through the gates; for he threw himself in the dust and +supplicated each man by name: “O friend, forbear! and if you +love me, let me go to the ships of the Achaians, and pray to this +arrogant, this fearful man!” Thus wailed old Priam; and the +men wailed with him. And Queen Hecuba led the loud lamentations of +the women. “Why,” she cried, “should I yet live, +when thou, my son, my boast, my glory, art dead? the pride and +blessing of all, both men and women of the city, who honored thee +as a god; for in thy life thou wert an honor to them all!” +Thus mourned his unhappy mother.</p> +<p>But to his wife, the noble, beautiful, tender-hearted +Andromache, no messenger had brought the fearful tidings that +Hector had remained without the gates. All unconscious, she was +sitting in the inner chamber of her lofty palace, weaving a purple +web of double woof, and embroidering it with many flowers. And she +was ordering her handmaids to prepare a warm bath for her dear +husband, when he should return from the battle; poor child! little +knowing that the fierce-eyed Athene had treacherously slain him, by +the hand of Achilles! But when she heard shrieks and lamentations +from the walls, she reeled, and the shuttle dropped from her hands. +And she spake again to her fair-haired maidens: “Surely, that +was the cry of Hector’s noble mother! Some terrible thing +must have befallen my godlike husband! Come, then, follow me, that +I may learn what has happened; I greatly fear that he has been cut +off from the city by Achilles; for he would never retreat among the +throng, or yield to any man, in his high courage.”</p> +<p>And she rushed, all frantic, through the house, followed by her +maidens, and came to the walls, and saw Hector dragged through the +dust, towards the black ships of the Achaians. Then darkness +shrouded her fair eyes, and she fell backwards in a swoon. And when +roused, she tore from her head the net, the fillet, and the nuptial +veil which golden Venus had given her, when noble Hector of the +shining helm led her forth, from King Eëtion’s palace, +as his bride. And the sisters-in-law of her dear husband gathered +round her, and raised her from the ground, all distracted as she +was and nigh unto death. When she had recovered from her swoon, she +sobbed and wailed, crying, “O Hector! to the same evil fate +were we twain born, thou in Troy, and I in Thebes, where my great +father, Eëtion, reared me as a little child. Would that I had +never been born, since thou leavest me a hapless widow! And our +son, thine and mine, ill-fated one! is but a little child; and thou +canst no more profit him, nor he be a joy to thee, since thou art +dead! A helpless orphan, he is cut off from his playmates; and if +he pluck the robe of his father’s friends, one may, in pity, +just hold the cup to his lips, but give him not to satisfy his +hunger and his thirst; while other children, whose parents still +live, will drive him from their feast, with taunts and blows, +saying, ‘Away with thee! thou hast no father at our +table!’ Then will he come back to me, his lonely mother; he, +who so lately sat on his father’s knee, and fed on the +choicest of food! and when sleep fell upon him, tired with his +childish play, he nestled in a soft bed in his nurse’s arms. +But now that his father is no more, he shall suffer untold griefs, +even he whom the Trojans called ‘Astyanax,’ king of the +city, because thou, O my beloved lord! wert the sole defense and +glory of their lofty walls.” Thus wailed the fair Andromache; +and the women moaned around her.</p> +<h3><a id="Funeral" name="Funeral">The Funeral Games in Honor of +Patroclus</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Walter C. Perry</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>The noble Achilles could not do enough in honor of his lost +friend, Patroclus, and he had determined to hold games, of every +kind, in which the mail-clad Achaians might compete for prizes; and +to this end he had brought goodly treasures from his +ships,—tripods, and caldrons, horses, mules, and oxen, +well-girdled women, and hoary iron. The first and most important +contest was a chariot race, for which he offered a woman skilled in +needlework, and a two-handled tripod, holding two-and-twenty +measures—these, for the best man of all; the second prize was +a mare, six years old, with a mule foal; the third prize was a fair +new caldron, of four measures; the fourth was two talents of bright +gold; the fifth was a two-handled vase, untarnished by the +fire.</p> +<p>And Achilles addressed the chiefs, and said, “If the race +were in honor of some other warrior, then should I enter the lists, +and bear away the prize; for ye know that my horses are immortal, +and by far the best; Neptune, the Earth-Girdler, gave them to my +father, and he to me. But I and they will stand aside; for they +have lost a noble and gentle driver, who oft-times washed them with +clear water and then poured soft oil upon their goodly manes! And +now they stand with sorrow in their breasts, and their full long +manes are trailing on the earth. But now, let whoever of you +trusteth in his horses and his strong chariot take his place in the +lists!”</p> +<p>And first came forward Eumelus, son of Admetus; next came the +mighty Diomedes, with the famous horses of Tros, which he had taken +from Æneas; then arose Menelaus,—the fair-haired, +godlike Menelaus, with Aithe, Agamemnon’s mare, and his own +horse, Podargus; and the fourth was Antilochus, son of the wise +Nestor, who yoked swift Pylian horses to his chariot.</p> +<p>His father Nestor, son of Neleus, stood by Antilochus, and gave +him good advice, although he himself was wise. “Antilochus, +my son,” he said, “though thou art young, yet Zeus and +Neptune have loved thee, and made thee a perfect horseman; and +there is little need for me to teach thee. But the other horses are +better than thine; and I fear that much trouble is in store for +thee. But skill and cunning are better than force, and so one +charioteer defeats another. Look well to the posts at either end, +and run closely by them. Now I will tell thee another thing. Some +six feet above the ground, there stands the withered stump of a +tree, with two white stones, on either side; this is the mark fixed +by the swift-footed Achilles. Do thou drive thy horses hard by +this, and lean slightly to the left, and lash the off horse and +give him rein; but let the near horse so closely skirt the post +that the nave of the wheel of thy car may seem to graze the stone; +but beware of touching it!”</p> +<p>Next, Meriones made ready his chariot; and so did the others. +Then they mounted their cars, and drew lots for their places. Great +Diomedes drew the best. Achilles ranged them all side by side, and +pointed to the turning-post, in the plain, near which he posted old +Phœnix, as umpire.</p> +<p>Then, at a signal from the son of Peleus, they raised their long +whips, together, standing upright, and lashed their horses, and +encouraged them by hand and voice. And the chariots now ran evenly +on the ground, and now bounded high in air. But when they entered +the last part of the course, driving towards the sea, the fleet +mares of Eumelus, grandson of Pheres, rushed to the front; and next +came Diomedes, with the stallions of Tros, so near that they seemed +to be mounting the car of Eumelus, and with their hot breath +covered his back and shoulders. Then Tydides would either have +gained a victory, or it would have been at least a dead heat; but +Phœbus Apollo was angry with him, and dashed his shining whip +from his hand. He shed hot tears of fury, when he saw that the +mares of Eumelus were still at their utmost speed, while his own +horses slackened their speed, no longer feeling the lash. But, +luckily for Diomedes, his constant friend Athene marked the trick +of Apollo; and, speeding after Diomedes, she gave him back the +scourge, and put fresh mettle into his steeds. She then pursued +Eumelus, and brake the yoke of his horses; they bolted from the +course, and he was hurled off his car into the dust. Meanwhile, +Tydides rushed on before the others, for Athene was shedding glory +on his head.</p> +<p>Next to him ran the horses of Menelaus, son of Atreus. Then came +Antilochus, son of Nestor, who spake thus to his father’s +Pylian horses: “I do not ask you to contend with Tydides, +whose horses Athene herself is speeding; but I pray you to catch up +the chariot of Atrides; and be not beaten by Aithe, lest she, who +is only a mare, pour ridicule upon you.” Thus spake +Antilochus, and his horses were afraid, and sped on more swiftly. +But Antilochus noted a narrow gully, where the rain had collected +and had carried away a part of the course. There Menelaus was +driving, when Antilochus turned his horses out of the way, and +followed him at one side. Then Menelaus, fearing a collision, +shouted loudly to the son of Nestor: “Antilochus, hold in thy +horses! and drive not so recklessly! close ahead there is a wider +space, where we can pass one another!” But Antilochus, as if +he heard him not, drove on more madly than ever and plied the lash; +and the golden-haired son of Atreus called again to him, reproving +him: “Antilochus, there is no man more spiteful than thou; +away with thee! wrongly have we called thee <em>wise</em>!” +Then he called on his horses, and they increased their speed, +fearing the anger of their lord, and quickly overtook the +others.</p> +<p>Now the Argive chiefs sat together, watching the race as the +chariots flew along the course. The first to see them coming was +Idomeneus, the Cretan prince, the son of Deucalion; he was sitting +apart from the rest on the highest place, and he could distinguish +the voices of the drivers. He noticed a chestnut horse, with a +white star on his forehead, round like the full moon; and he stood +up and spake: “Friends and Counselors of the Argives! can ye +see the horses as I do? To me, there appeareth a new chariot and +horses; and the mares which led at the start I can no longer +see.”</p> +<p>Then the son of Oïleus, Ajax, rebuked him in boorish +fashion: “Idomeneus, why chatterest thou before the time? +Thou art not one of the youngest, nor are thine eyes of the +sharpest. The same mares of Eumelus are still leading, and he is +standing up in the chariot.”</p> +<p>And the great chief, Idomeneus, answered in great wrath, +“Ajax, ever ready to abuse, inconsiderate slanderer! thou art +in all respects inferior to the other Argives, for thy mind is +rude.”</p> +<p>Thus spoke the Cretan hero. And the son of Oïleus rose +again, to reply with scornful words; but Achilles himself stood +forward and said, “No longer, Idomeneus and Ajax, bandy +insulting words with one another; for it is not meet! Sit ye still, +and watch; and soon will ye know which horses are leading.” +He spake; and straightway Tydides came driving up in his fair +chariot, overlaid with gold and tin, which ran lightly behind the +horses, and scarcely left a trace in the fine dust of the plain. +Checking his horses in the middle of the crowd, he leapt to the +ground and claimed the splendid prize; and the gallant Sthenelus +made no delay, but gave to his victorious comrade the woman and the +tripod to bear away.</p> +<p>Next to Diomedes came the son of Nestor, Antilochus, who had +passed by Menelaus by a clever stratagem, though his horses were +inferior; but even so, Menelaus had pressed him hard, and was +behind him only so far as a horse is from the wheel of the chariot +which he draweth.</p> +<p>But Meriones, the brave charioteer of Idomeneus, came in about +the cast of a lance behind Menelaus; for his horses were the +slowest, and he was himself but a sluggish driver. Last of all came +Eumelus, the son of Admetus, dragging his broken chariot. The +swift-footed Achilles, son of Peleus, pitied him, and spake winged +words to the chiefs: “Lo! the best man of all comes last; but +let us give him a prize—the second! And let Tydides bear away +the first!”</p> +<p>All the Achaians heard him, and shouted applause; and the noble +Achilles would have given him the mare had not Antilochus, son of +the wise and glorious Nestor, stood up in defense of his claim: +“O Achilles!” he said, “justly shall I be wroth +with thee, if thou takest away the prize which I have fairly won. +Thou thinkest only of the unlucky chance which hath befallen +Eumelus and his horses; but he ought to have made prayer to the +deathless Gods, and then he would not have come in last of all. If +thou pitiest him, there is much treasure in thy house,—gold, +and bronze, and sheep, and handmaids, and horses. Give him, if it +pleaseth thee and the Achaians, a still richer prize. But I will +not give up the mare; for she is <em>mine</em>.”</p> +<p>And Achilles smiled on his comrade Antilochus, whom he dearly +loved, and answered him, “Antilochus, I will do as thou +sayest: I will give him the bronze cuirass, edged with shining tin, +which I took from Asteropæus.”</p> +<p>But the great Menelaus arose, filled with insatiable wrath +against Antilochus. The herald placed a sceptre in his hand, and +called for silence. Then the godlike king made harangue, and said, +“Antilochus! thou who wert once accounted wise—what is +this that thou hast done? Thou hast disgraced my skill, and +discomfited my horses, by thrusting thine, which are far worse, in +front of them. Come then, great chiefs of the Argives! give +judgment, without favor, between him and me! That no one may say +hereafter, that ye favored me for my power and rank, I will myself +set the issue before you; so that no one may reproach me. Stand +forth, Antilochus, before thy chariot; and take thy whip, and lay +thy hand upon thy horses, and swear by the great Girdler and Shaker +of the Earth, that thou didst not, by set purpose and malice, +hinder my chariot in the course!”</p> +<p>Then Antilochus made prudent answer, “Be patient with me, +King Menelaus! for I am younger, and thou art in all respects my +better. Bear with me, then: and I will myself give thee the mare, +my prize, rather than lose my place in thy heart, O thou beloved of +Zeus!” Thus spake the noble-minded son of Nestor; and he gave +the mare to Menelaus, king of men.</p> +<p>And the heart of the son of Atreus rejoiced, as the ripe ears of +corn, when the dew descendeth upon them, in the glistening +cornfield. And he spake kindly to Antilochus, and said, “Lo! +at once do I put away my anger; for of old thou wert never rash or +light-minded; but now thy reason was overborne by the impetuosity +of youth. Therefore I grant thy prayer, and will even give thee the +mare; for I am in no wise covetous or unforgiving.”</p> +<p>He spake, and gave the mare to Noëmon, the comrade of +Antilochus, to lead away; but he took the bright caldron to +himself. And Meriones, who came in fourth, took the two talents of +gold. But the fifth prize, a vase with two handles, was not +obtained; and the noble Achilles gave this to Nestor, and, standing +by him, uttered winged words:—</p> +<p>“Let this, O Father! be for thee an heirloom, and a +memorial of Patroclus’ funeral games—of him, whom thou +wilt never see again! I give it to thee since thou mayest not +contend in boxing, nor in wrestling, nor in throwing the lance, nor +in the foot-race; for rueful old age weigheth heavily upon +thee.”</p> +<p>Nestor gladly received the splendid gift, and spake: “True +and fitting are thy words, dear friend! My limbs are no longer +sound, nor do my arms move easily from my shoulders; and I must +make way for younger men. But I accept thy free gift with joy, and +rejoice that thou dost remember our old friendship.”</p> +<p>Then Pelides brought forward the prizes for the rough, fierce +boxing-match: a six-year-old unbroken mule for the winner; and a +two-handled goblet for the loser. Then quickly rose the famous +boxer Epeius, and laid his hand on the stubborn mule, and boasted +aloud: “Let who will bear away the goblet; but the mule is +mine! for no one will beat me with his fists!” They all kept +silence, and feared. Only one came forward, even Euryalus, the +gallant son of King Mecistus. The famous warrior Tydides made him +ready for the fight, and bade him God speed. The twain went into +the ring, and fell to work; and terrible was the gnashing of their +teeth, and the sweat ran down from their limbs. Epeius came on +fiercely, and struck Euryalus on the cheek, and that was enough; +for all his limbs were loosened. As a fish on a weedy beach, in the +ripple caused by Boreas, leapeth high in air, so Euryalus leapt up +in his anguish. But the generous Epeius raised him again to his +feet, and his comrades led him away, with dragging feet and +drooping head, and spitting out black blood.</p> +<p>Next came the terrible wrestling match; and for this the +glorious Achilles brought out two costly prizes: for the winner, a +fireproof tripod, worth twelve oxen; and for the loser, a woman +skilled in handiwork, valued at four oxen. And he cried aloud to +the Achaians, “Stand forward all ye who will enter into this +contest!”</p> +<p>Then rose Telamonian Ajax and the crafty Ulysses, and faced each +other. And they entered the ring, and grasped each other with their +strong hands, like the rafters of a house, joined by some skillful +builder to withstand the wind. Their backbones grated and creaked +beneath the strain; the sweat poured down from their limbs, and +bloody weals streaked their sides and shoulders, as they struggled +for the well-wrought tripod. But neither could Ulysses throw the +burly Ajax, nor Ajax him. And when the Achaians grew tired of the +futile contest, Ajax spake to Ulysses: “O thou offspring of +the Gods, Laertes’ son! do thou lift me, or I will lift thee, +and the issue will be on the lap of Zeus!”</p> +<p>So saying, he raised Ulysses. But the Wily One did not forget +his craft. From behind, he struck the hollow of Ajax’s knee, +and threw him on his back; and Ulysses fell upon him; and the +people marveled. Then, in his turn, Ulysses tried to lift huge +Ajax, but could not; so he thrust his crooked knee into the hollow +of the other’s; and they again both fell to the ground, +covered with dust. When they rose for a third bout, Achilles +restrained them. “No longer wear ye one another out, with +toil and pain! Ye both have won and shall receive equal +prizes!” And they cleansed themselves, and put on their +doublets.</p> +<p>Then the noble son of Peleus offered prizes for the foot-race; +the first, a silver krater holding six measures, curiously chased +by Sidonian artists—by far the most beautiful mixing-cup in +the whole world. For the second he offered a stalled ox; and for +the third, half a talent of gold. The wondrous krater +Phœnicians had brought by sea, and given it to Thoas, the +ruler of Lemnos; and Euneus, son of Jason, inherited it from Jason, +who received it from Thoas, his father-in-law; and Euneus gave it +to the hero Patroclus, as a ransom for Lycaon, son of Priam; this +splendid goblet was offered to the swiftest of foot.</p> +<p>Then three valiant heroes arose: Ajax, son of Oïleus; +Ulysses, the wily one; and Antilochus, the best runner of the +youths. Achilles ranged them side by side, and showed them the +goal. All started at full speed; but Ajax soon took the lead; and +Ulysses came close behind him, near as the shuttle to the breast of +a fair-girdled woman when she is weaving,—so near that his +breath was warm on the back of Ajax. But as they neared the goal, +the wily Ulysses prayed to the fierce-eyed Athene, “O +goddess, come and help my feet!” And Athene heard her +favorite, and strengthened all his limbs. But just as they were +about to pounce upon the prize, Ajax slipped in the blood of the +slaughtered oxen, and fell; his mouth and nostrils were filled with +dirt and gore. So the patient Ulysses took the priceless krater, +and Ajax the fatted ox. But Ajax, holding his prize by the horn, +and spitting the filth from his mouth, spake to the Achaians: +“O fie upon it! it was the goddess who betrayed me; she who +is ever near to Ulysses, as a mother to her child.” And the +Achaians laughed merrily, to see him in such a sorry plight.</p> +<p>Antilochus, smiling, took the last prize, half a talent of gold; +and he too spake winged words to the Argives: “My friends, ye +too will agree with me that the deathless Gods show favor to the +older men. Ajax is a little older than I; but Ulysses is of a +former generation. It were not easy for any one, except Achilles, +fleet of foot, to outrun <em>him</em>.”</p> +<p>Achilles was pleased at the honor done to his swiftness. +“Not unrewarded,” he said, “shall the praise be +which thou hast bestowed on me: I give thee another half-talent of +gold.” Antilochus received it gladly. Then the assembly was +dissolved, and the Achaians dispersed, each to his own ship.</p> +<h3><a id="Horse" name="Horse">The Wooden Horse and the Fall of +Troy</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Josephine Preston Peabody</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Nine years the Greeks laid siege to Troy, and Troy held out +against every device. On both sides the lives of many heroes were +spent, and they were forced to acknowledge each other enemies of +great valor.</p> +<p>Sometimes the chief warriors fought in single combat, while the +armies looked on, and the old men of Troy, with the women, came out +to watch afar off from the city walls. King Priam and Queen Hecuba +would come, and Cassandra, sad with foreknowledge of their doom, +and Andromache, the lovely young wife of Hector, with her little +son, whom the people called the city’s king. Sometimes fair +Helen came to look across the plain to the fellow-countrymen whom +she had forsaken; and although she was the cause of all this war, +the Trojans half forgave her when she passed by, because her beauty +was like a spell, and warmed hard hearts as the sunshine mellows +apples. So for nine years the Greeks plundered the neighboring +towns, but the city Troy stood fast, and the Grecian ships waited +with folded wings.</p> +<p>In the tenth year of the war the Greeks, who could not take the +city by force, pondered how they might take it by craft. At length, +with the aid of Ulysses, they devised a plan.</p> +<p>A portion of the Grecian host broke up camp and set sail as if +they were homeward bound; but, once out of sight, they anchored +their ships behind a neighboring island. The rest of the army then +fell to work upon a great image of a horse. They built it of wood, +fitted and carved, and with a door so cunningly concealed that none +might notice it. When it was finished the horse looked like a +prodigious idol; but it was hollow, skillfully pierced here and +there, and so spacious that a band of men could lie hidden within +and take no harm. Into this hiding-place went Ulysses, Menelaus, +and the other chiefs, fully armed, and when the door was shut upon +them, the rest of the Grecian army broke camp and went away.</p> +<div class="figure"><a href="images/big_298.jpg"><img src= +"images/small_298.jpg" alt= +"The Trojan Horse with a crowd around it." id="img06" name="img06" +width="360" height="555" /></a> +<p>A GREAT IMAGE OF A HORSE. THEY BUILT IT OF WOOD, FITTED AND +CARVED, AND WITH A DOOR SO CUNNINGLY CONCEALED THAT NONE MIGHT +NOTICE IT. WHEN IT WAS FINISHED THE HORSE LOOKED LIKE A PRODIGIOUS +IDOL, BUT IT WAS HOLLOW, SKILLFULLY PIERCED HERE AND THERE</p> +</div> +<p>Meanwhile, in Troy, the people had seen the departure of the +ships, and the news had spread like wildfire. The great enemy had +lost heart,—after ten years of war! Part of the army had +gone,—the rest were going. Already the last of the ships had +set sail, and the camp was deserted. The tents that had whitened +the plain were gone like a frost before the sun. The war was +over!</p> +<p>The whole city went wild with joy. Like one who has been a +prisoner for many years, it flung off all restraint, and the people +rose as a single man to test the truth of new liberty. The gates +were thrown wide, and the Trojans—men, women, and +children—thronged over the plain and into the empty camp of +the enemy. There stood the Wooden Horse.</p> +<p>No one knew what it could be. Fearful at first, they gathered +around it, as children gather around a live horse; they marveled at +its wondrous height and girth, and were for moving it into the city +as a trophy of war.</p> +<p>At this, one man interposed,—Laocoön, a priest of +Neptune. “Take heed, citizens,” said he. “Beware +of all that comes from the Greeks. Have you fought them for ten +years without learning their devices? This is some piece of +treachery.”</p> +<p>But there was another outcry in the crowd, and at that moment +certain of the Trojans dragged forward a wretched man who wore the +garments of a Greek. He seemed the sole remnant of the Grecian +army, and as such they consented to spare his life, if he would +tell them the truth.</p> +<p>Sinon, for this was the spy’s name, said that he had been +left behind by the malice of Ulysses, and he told them that the +Greeks had built the Wooden Horse as an offering to Athene, and +that they had made it so huge in order to keep it from being moved +out of the camp, since it was destined to bring triumph to its +possessors.</p> +<p>At this the joy of the Trojans was redoubled, and they set their +wits to find out how they might soonest drag the great horse across +the plain and into the city to insure victory. While they stood +talking, two immense serpents rose out of the sea and made towards +the camp. Some of the people took flight, others were transfixed +with terror; but all, near and far, watched this new omen. Rearing +their crests, the sea-serpents crossed the shore, swift, shining, +terrible as a risen water-flood that descends upon a helpless +little town. Straight through the crowd they swept, and seized the +priest Laocoön where he stood, with his two sons, and wrapped +them all round and round in fearful coils. There was no chance of +escape. Father and sons perished together; and when the monsters +had devoured the three men, into the sea they slipped again, +leaving no trace of the horror.</p> +<p>The terrified Trojans saw an omen in this. To their minds +punishment had come upon Laocoön for his words against the +Wooden Horse. Surely, it was sacred to the Gods; he had spoken +blasphemy, and had perished before their eyes. They flung his +warning to the winds. They wreathed the horse with garlands, amid +great acclaim; and then, all lending a hand, they dragged it, +little by little, out of the camp and into the city of Troy. With +the close of that victorious day, they gave up every memory of +danger and made merry after ten years of privation.</p> +<p>That very night Sinon the spy opened the hidden door of the +Wooden Horse, and in the darkness, Ulysses, Menelaus, and the other +chiefs who had lain hidden there crept out and gave the signal to +the Grecian army. For, under cover of night, those ships that had +been moored behind the island had sailed back again, and the Greeks +were come upon Troy.</p> +<p>Not a Trojan was on guard. The whole city was at feast when the +enemy rose in its midst, and the warning of Laocoön was +fulfilled.</p> +<p>Priam and his warriors fell by the sword, and their kingdom was +plundered of all its fair possessions, women and children and +treasure. Last of all, the city itself was burned to its very +foundations.</p> +<p>Homeward sailed the Greeks, taking as royal captives poor +Cassandra and Andromache and many another Trojan. And home at last +went fair Helen, the cause of all this sorrow, eager to be forgiven +by her husband, King Menelaus. For she had awakened from the +enchantment of Venus, and even before the death of Paris she had +secretly longed for her home and kindred. Home to Sparta she came +with the king after a long and stormy voyage, and there she lived +and died the fairest of women.</p> +<p>But the kingdom of Troy was fallen. Nothing remained of all its +glory but the glory of its dead heroes and fair women, and the +ruins of its citadel by the river Scamander. There even now, +beneath the foundations of later homes that were built and burned, +built and burned, in the wars of a thousand years after, the ruins +of ancient Troy lie hidden, like mouldered leaves deep under the +new grass. And there, to this very day, men who love the story are +delving after the dead city as you might search for a buried +treasure.</p> +<h2><a id="UlyssesWanderings" name="UlyssesWanderings">THE +WANDERINGS OF ULYSSES</a></h2> +<h3><a id="Cyclops" name="Cyclops">An Adventure with the +Cyclops</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Alfred J. Church</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p class="quote">[After the fall of Troy the Greeks set out for +home, but many of them had troubles and dangers to meet before they +saw again the shores of their native land. The one who suffered +most was Ulysses, and the following is his story of his adventure +with the one-eyed giant, the Cyclops.]</p> +<p>The wind that bore me from Troy brought me to Ismarus, a city of +the Ciconians. This I sacked, slaying the people that dwelt +therein. Much spoil did we take out of the city, dividing it among +the people, so that each man had his share. And when we had done +this, I commanded my men that they should depart with all speed; +but they, in their folly, would not hear me. For there was much +wine to drink, and sheep and kine to slay; therefore they sat on +the shore and feasted. Meanwhile the people of the city fetched +others, their kinsmen that dwelt in the mountains, and were more in +number and more valiant than they, and skillful in all manner of +fighting. In the early morning they assembled themselves together, +thick as the flowers and the leaves that grow in the springtime, +and set the battle in array. Then we fought with them; while the +day waxed we prevailed over them, and beat them back, though they +were more in number than we; but when the sun was descending in the +heavens, then the Cicones overcame us, and drave us to our ships. +Six from each ship perished, but the remnant of us escaped from +death.</p> +<p>On the tenth day after this we came to the land where the lotus +grows—a wondrous fruit of which whosoever eats cares not to +see country or wife or children again. Now the Lotus-Eaters, for +they so called the people of the land, were a kindly folk, and gave +of the fruit to some of the sailors, not meaning them any harm, but +thinking it to be the best that they had to give. These, when they +had eaten, said that they would not sail any more over the sea; +which, when I heard, I bade their comrades bind them and carry +them, sadly complaining, to the ships.</p> +<p>Then, the wind having abated, we took to our oars, and rowed for +many days till we came to the country where the Cyclops dwell. Now, +a mile or so from the shore there was an island, very fair and +fertile, but no man dwells there or tills the soil, and in the +island a harbor where a ship may be safe from all winds, and at the +head of the harbor a stream falling from a rock, and whispering +alders all about it. Into this the ships passed safely, and were +hauled up on the beach, and the crews slept by them, waiting for +the morning.</p> +<p>When the dawn appeared, then we wandered through the island; and +the nymphs of the land started the wild goats that my company might +have food to eat. Thereupon we took our bows and our spears from +the ships, and shot at the goats; and the Gods gave us plenty of +prey. Twelve ships I had in my company, and each ship had nine +goats for its share, and my own portion was ten.</p> +<p>Then all the day we sat and feasted, drinking the sweet wine +which we had taken from the city of the Cicones, and eating the +flesh of the goats; and as we sat we looked across to the land of +the Cyclops, seeing the smoke and hearing the voices of the men and +of the sheep and of the goats. And when the sun set and darkness +came over the land, we lay down upon the seashore and slept.</p> +<p>The next day I gathered my men together, and said, “Abide +ye here, dear friends; I with my own ship and my own company will +go and make trial of the folk that dwell in yonder island, whether +they are just or unjust.”</p> +<p>So I climbed into my ship, and bade my company follow me; so we +came to the land of the Cyclops. Close to the shore was a cave, +with laurels round about the mouth. This was the dwelling of the +Cyclops. Alone he dwelt, a creature without law. Nor was he like to +mortal men, but rather to some wooded peak of the hills that stands +out apart from all the rest.</p> +<p>Then I bade the rest of my comrades abide by the ship, and keep +it, but I took twelve men, the bravest that there were in the crew, +and went forth. I had with me a goat-skin full of the wine, dark +red, and sweet, which the priest of Apollo at Ismarus had given me. +Because we kept him and his wife and child from harm when we sacked +the city, reverencing the god, therefore did he give it me. Three +things did he give me,—seven talents of gold, and a +mixing-bowl of silver, and of wine twelve jars. So precious was it +that none in his house knew of it saving himself and his wife and +one dame that kept the house. When they drank of it they mixed +twenty measures of water with one of wine, and the smell that went +up from it was wondrous sweet. No man could easily refrain from +drinking it. With this wine I filled a great skin and bore it with +me; also I bare corn in a wallet, for my heart within me boded that +I should need it.</p> +<p>So we entered the cave, and judged that it was the dwelling of +some rich and skillful shepherd. For within there were pens for the +young of the sheep and of the goats, divided all according to their +age, and there were baskets full of cheeses, and full milkpails +ranged along the wall. But the Cyclops himself was away in the +pastures. Then my companions besought me that I would depart, +taking with me, if I would, a store of cheeses and sundry of the +lambs and of the kids. But I would not, for I wished to see, after +my wont, what manner of host this strange shepherd might be, and, +if it might be, to take a gift from his hand, such as is the due of +strangers. Verily, his coming was not to be a joy to my +company.</p> +<p>It was evening when the Cyclops came home,—a mighty giant, +very tall of stature, and when we saw him we fled into the sacred +place of the cave in great fear. On his shoulder he bore a vast +bundle of pine logs for his fire, and threw them down outside the +cave with a great crash, and drove the flocks within, and closed +the entrance with a huge rock, which twenty wagons and more could +not bear. Then he milked the ewes and all the she-goats, and half +of the milk he curdled for cheese, and half he set ready for +himself, when he should sup. Next he kindled a fire with the pine +logs, and the flame lighted up all the cave, showing to him both me +and my comrades.</p> +<p>“Who are ye?” cried Polyphemus, for that was the +giant’s name. “Are ye traders, or, haply, +pirates?”</p> +<p>I shuddered at the dreadful voice and shape, but bare me +bravely, and answered, “We are no pirates, mighty sir, but +Greeks sailing back from Troy, and subjects of the great King +Agamemnon, whose fame is spread from one end of heaven to the +other. And we are come to beg hospitality of thee in the name of +Zeus, who rewards or punishes hosts and guests, according as they +be faithful the one to the other, or no.”</p> +<p>“Nay,” said the giant; “it is but idle talk to +tell me of Zeus and the other Gods. We Cyclops take no account of +gods, holding ourselves to be much better and stronger than they. +But come, tell me, where have you left your ship?”</p> +<p>But I saw his thought when he asked about the ship, how he was +minded to break it, and take from us all hope of flight. Therefore +I answered him craftily,—</p> +<p>“Ship have we none, for that which was ours King Neptune +brake, driving it on a jutting rock on this coast, and we whom thou +seest are all that are escaped from the waves.”</p> +<p>Polyphemus answered nothing, but without more ado caught up two +of the men, as a man might catch up the whelps of a dog, and dashed +them on the ground, and tare them limb from limb, and devoured +them, with huge draughts of milk between, leaving not a morsel, not +even the very bones. But we that were left, when we saw the +dreadful deed, could only weep and pray to Zeus for help. And when +the giant had filled his maw with human flesh and with the milk of +the flocks, he lay down among his sheep and slept.</p> +<p>Then I questioned much in my heart whether I should slay the +monster as he slept, for I doubted not that my good sword would +pierce to the giant’s heart, mighty as he was. But my second +thought kept me back, for I remembered that, should I slay him, I +and my comrades would yet perish miserably. For who should move +away the great rock that lay against the door of the cave? So we +waited till the morning, with grief in our hearts. And the monster +woke, and milked his flocks, and afterwards, seizing two men, +devoured them for his meal. Then he went to the pastures, but put +the great rock on the mouth of the cave, just as a man puts down +the lid upon his quiver.</p> +<p>All that day I was thinking what I might best do to save myself +and my companions, and the end of my thinking was this: there was a +mighty pole in the cave, green wood of an olive-tree, big as a +ship’s mast, which Polyphemus purposed to use, when the smoke +should have dried it, as a walking-staff. Of this I cut off a +fathom’s length, and my comrades sharpened it and hardened it +in the fire, and then hid it away. At evening the giant came back, +and drove his sheep into the cave, nor left the rams outside, as he +had been wont to do before, but shut them in. And having duly done +his shepherd’s work, he took, as before, two of my comrades, +and devoured them. And when he had finished his supper, I came +forward, holding the wineskin in my hand, and said,—</p> +<p>“Drink, Cyclops, now that thou hast feasted. Drink, and +see what precious things we had in our ship. But no one hereafter +will come to thee with such like, if thou dealest with strangers as +cruelly as thou hast dealt with us.”</p> +<p>Then the Cyclops drank, and was mightily pleased, and said, +“Give me again to drink, and tell me thy name, stranger, and +I will give thee a gift such as a host should give. In good truth +this is a rare liquor. We, too, have vines, but they bear not wine +like this, which, indeed, must be such as the Gods drink in +heaven.”</p> +<p>Then I gave him the cup again, and he drank. Thrice I gave it to +him, and thrice he drank, not knowing what it was, and how it would +work within his brain.</p> +<p>Then I spake to him: “Thou didst ask my name, Cyclops. My +name is No Man. And now that thou knowest my name, thou shouldst +give me thy gift.”</p> +<p>And he said, “My gift shall be that I will eat thee last +of all thy company.”</p> +<p>And as he spake, he fell back in a drunken sleep. Then I bade my +comrades be of good courage, for the time was come when they should +be delivered. And they thrust the stake of olive-wood into the fire +till it was ready, green as it was, to burst into flame, and they +thrust it into the monster’s eye; for he had but one eye, and +that in the midst of his forehead, with the eyebrow below it. And +I, standing above, leant with all my force upon the stake, and +turned it about, as a man bores the timber of a ship with a drill. +And the burning wood hissed in the eye, just as the red-hot iron +hisses in the water when a man seeks to temper steel for a +sword.</p> +<p>Then the giant leapt up, and tore away the stake, and cried +aloud, so that all the Cyclops who dwelt on the mountain-side heard +him and came about his cave, asking him, “What aileth thee, +Polyphemus, that thou makest this uproar in the peaceful night, +driving away sleep? Is any one robbing thee of thy sheep, or +seeking to slay thee by craft or force?”</p> +<p>And the giant answered, “No Man slays me by +craft.”</p> +<p>“Nay, but,” they said, “if no man does thee +wrong we cannot help thee. The sickness which great Zeus may send, +who can avoid? Pray to our father, Neptune, for help.”</p> +<p>So they spake, and I laughed in my heart when I saw how I had +beguiled them by the name that I had given.</p> +<p>But the Cyclops rolled away the great stone from the door of the +cave, and sat in the midst, stretching out his hands, to feel +whether perchance the men within the cave would seek to go out +among the sheep.</p> +<p>Long did I think how I and my comrades should best escape. At +last I lighted upon a device that seemed better than all the rest, +and much I thanked Zeus for that this once the giant had driven the +rams with the other sheep into the cave. For, these being great and +strong, I fastened my comrades under the bellies of the beasts, +tying them with osier twigs, of which the giant made his bed. One +ram I took, and fastened a man beneath it, and two rams I set, one +on either side. So I did with the six, for but six were left out of +the twelve who had ventured with me from the ship. And there was +one mighty ram far larger than all the others, and to this I clung, +grasping the fleece tight with both my hands. So we all waited for +the morning. And when the morning came, the rams rushed forth to +the pasture; but the giant sat in the door and felt the back of +each as it went by, nor thought to try what might be underneath. +Last of all went the great ram. And the Cyclops knew him as he +passed, and said,—</p> +<p>“How is this, thou who art the leader of the flock? Thou +art not wont thus to lag behind. Thou hast always been the first to +run to the pastures and streams in the morning, and the first to +come back to the fold when evening fell; and now thou art last of +all. Perhaps thou art troubled about thy master’s eye, which +some wretch—No Man, they call him—has destroyed, having +first mastered me with wine. He has not escaped, I ween. I would +that thou couldst speak, and tell me where he is lurking. Of a +truth, I would dash out his brains upon the ground, and avenge me +of this No Man.”</p> +<p>So speaking, he let the ram pass out of the cave. But when we +were now out of reach of the giant, I loosed my hold of the ram, +and then unbound my comrades. And we hastened to our ship, not +forgetting to drive the sheep before us, and often looking back +till we came to the seashore. Right glad were those that had abode +by the ship to see us. Nor did they lament for those that had died, +though we were fain to do so, for I forbade, fearing lest the noise +of their weeping should betray us to the giant, where we were. Then +we all climbed into the ship, and sitting well in order on the +benches smote the sea with our oars, laying to right lustily, that +we might the sooner get away from the accursed land. And when we +had rowed a hundred yards or so, so that a man’s voice could +yet be heard by one who stood upon the shore, I stood up in the +ship and shouted,—</p> +<p>“He was no coward, O Cyclops, whose comrades thou didst so +foully slay in thy den. Justly art thou punished, monster, that +devourest thy guests in thy dwelling. May the Gods make thee suffer +worse things than these!”</p> +<p>Then the Cyclops in his wrath brake off the top of a great hill, +a mighty rock, and hurled it where he had heard the voice. Right in +front of the ship’s bow it fell, and a great wave rose as it +sank, and washed the ship back to the shore. But I seized a long +pole with both hands, and pushed the ship from the land, and bade +my comrades ply their oars, nodding with my head, for I would not +speak, lest the Cyclops should know where we were. Then they rowed +with all their might and main.</p> +<div class="figure"><a href="images/big_316.jpg"><img src= +"images/small_316.jpg" alt="The Cyclops throws rocks at a ship." +id="img07" name="img07" width="538" height="360" /></a> +<p>THE CYCLOPS IN HIS WRATH BRAKE OFF THE TOP OF A GREAT HILL</p> +</div> +<p>And when we had gotten twice as far as before I made as if I +would speak again; but my comrades sought to hinder me, saying, +“Nay, my lord, anger not the giant any more. Surely we +thought we were lost before, when he threw the great rock, and +washed our ship back to the shore. And if he hear thee now, he may +crush our ship and us, for the man throws a mighty bolt, and throws +it far.”</p> +<p>But I would not be persuaded, but stood up and said, +“Hear, Cyclops! If any man ask who blinded thee, say that it +was the warrior Ulysses, son of Laertes, dwelling in +Ithaca.”</p> +<h3><a id="Circe" name="Circe">Circe’s Palace</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Nathaniel Hawthorne</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>At one time in the course of Ulysses’ weary voyage, he +arrived at an island that looked very green and pleasant, but the +name of which was unknown to him. For, only a little while before +he came thither, he had met with a terrible hurricane, or rather a +great many hurricanes at once, which drove his fleet of vessels +into a strange part of the sea, where neither himself nor any of +his mariners had ever sailed. This misfortune was entirely owing to +the foolish curiosity of his shipmates, who, while Ulysses lay +asleep, had untied some very bulky leathern bags, in which they +supposed a valuable treasure to be concealed. But in each of these +stout bags, King Æolus, the ruler of the winds, had tied up a +tempest, and had given it to Ulysses to keep, in order that he +might be sure of a favorable passage homeward to Ithaca; and when +the strings were loosened, forth rushed the whistling blasts, like +air out of a blown bladder, whitening the sea with foam, and +scattering the vessels nobody could tell whither.</p> +<p>Immediately after escaping from this peril, a still greater one +had befallen him. Scudding before the hurricane, he reached a place +which, as he afterwards found, was called Læstrygonia, where +some monstrous giants had eaten up many of his companions, and had +sunk every one of his vessels, except that in which he himself +sailed, by flinging great masses of rock at them, from the cliffs +along the shore. After going through such troubles as these, you +cannot wonder that King Ulysses was glad to moor his tempest-beaten +bark in a quiet cove of the green island, which I began with +telling you about. But he had encountered so many dangers from +giants, and one-eyed Cyclops, and monsters of the sea and land, +that he could not help dreading some mischief, even in this +pleasant and seemingly solitary spot. For two days, therefore, the +poor weather-worn voyagers kept quiet, and either stayed on board +of their vessel or merely crept along under cliffs that bordered +the shore; and to keep themselves alive, they dug shell-fish out of +the sand, and sought for any little rill of fresh water that might +be running towards the sea.</p> +<p>Before the two days were spent, they grew very weary of this +kind of life; for the followers of King Ulysses, as you will find +it important to remember, were terrible gormandizers, and pretty +sure to grumble if they missed their regular meals, and their +irregular ones besides. Their stock of provisions was quite +exhausted, and even the shell-fish began to get scarce, so that +they had now to choose between starving to death or venturing into +the interior of the island, where, perhaps, some huge three-headed +dragon or other horrible monster had his den. Such misshapen +creatures were very numerous in those days; and nobody ever +expected to make a voyage or take a journey without running more or +less risk of being devoured by them.</p> +<p>But King Ulysses was a bold man as well as a prudent one; and on +the third morning he determined to discover what sort of a place +the island was, and whether it were possible to obtain a supply of +food for the hungry mouths of his companions. So, taking a spear in +his hand, he clambered to the summit of a cliff, and gazed round +about him. At a distance, towards the centre of the island, he +beheld the stately towers of what seemed to be a palace, built of +snow-white marble, and rising in the midst of a grove of lofty +trees. The thick branches of these trees stretched across the front +of the edifice, and more than half concealed it, although, from the +portion which he saw, Ulysses judged it to be spacious and +exceedingly beautiful, and probably the residence of some great +nobleman or prince. A blue smoke went curling up from the chimney, +and was almost the pleasantest part of the spectacle to Ulysses. +For, from the abundance of this smoke, it was reasonable to +conclude that there was a good fire in the kitchen, and that, at +dinnertime, a plentiful banquet would be served up to the +inhabitants of the palace, and to whatever guests might happen to +drop in.</p> +<p>With so agreeable a prospect before him, Ulysses fancied that he +could not do better than to go straight to the palace gate, and +tell the master of it that there was a crew of poor shipwrecked +mariners, not far off, who had eaten nothing for a day or two save +a few clams and oysters, and would therefore be thankful for a +little food. And the prince or nobleman must be a very stingy +curmudgeon, to be sure, if, at least, when his own dinner was over, +he would not bid them welcome to the broken victuals from the +table.</p> +<p>Pleasing himself with this idea, King Ulysses had made a few +steps in the direction of the palace, when there was a great +twittering and chirping from the branch of a neighboring tree. A +moment afterwards, a bird came flying towards him, and hovered in +the air, so as almost to brush his face with its wings. It was a +very pretty little bird, with purple wings and body, and yellow +legs, and a circle of golden feathers round its neck, and on its +head a golden tuft, which looked like a king’s crown in +miniature. Ulysses tried to catch the bird. But it fluttered nimbly +out of his reach, still chirping in a piteous tone, as if it could +have told a lamentable story, had it only been gifted with human +language. And when he attempted to drive it away, the bird flew no +farther than the bough of the next tree, and again came fluttering +about his head, with its doleful chirp, as soon as he showed a +purpose of going forward.</p> +<p>“Have you anything to tell me, little bird?” asked +Ulysses.</p> +<p>And he was ready to listen attentively to whatever the bird +might communicate; for at the siege of Troy and elsewhere he had +known such odd things to happen that he would not have considered +it much out of the common run had this little feathered creature +talked as plainly as himself.</p> +<p>“Peep!” said the bird. “Peep, peep, +pe—weep!” And nothing else would it say, but only, +“Peep, peep, pe—weep!” in a melancholy cadence, +and over and over and over again. As often as Ulysses moved +forward, however, the bird showed the greatest alarm, and did its +best to drive him back, with the anxious flutter of its purple +wings. Its unaccountable behavior made him conclude, at last, that +the bird knew of some danger that awaited him, and which must needs +be very terrible, beyond all question, since it moved even a little +fowl to feel compassion for a human being. So he resolved, for the +present, to return to the vessel, and tell his companions what he +had seen.</p> +<p>This appeared to satisfy the bird. As soon as Ulysses turned +back, it ran up the trunk of a tree, and began to pick insects out +of the bark with its long, sharp bill; for it was a kind of +woodpecker, you must know, and had to get its living in the same +manner as other birds of that species. But every little while, as +it pecked at the bark of the tree, the purple bird bethought itself +of some secret sorrow, and repeated its plaintive note of +“Peep, peep, pe—weep!”</p> +<p>On his way to the shore, Ulysses had the good luck to kill a +large stag by thrusting his spear into its back. Taking it on his +shoulders (for he was a remarkably strong man), he lugged it along +with him, and flung it down before his hungry companions. I have +already hinted to you what gormandizers some of the comrades of +King Ulysses were. From what is related of them, I reckon that +their favorite diet was pork, and that they had lived upon it until +a good part of their physical substance was swine’s flesh, +and their tempers and dispositions were very much akin to the hog. +A dish of venison, however, was no unacceptable meal to them, +especially after feeding so long on oysters and clams. So, +beholding the dead stag, they felt of its ribs in a knowing way, +and lost no time in kindling a fire, of drift-wood, to cook it. The +rest of the day was spent in feasting; and if these enormous eaters +got up from table at sunset, it was only because they could not +scrape another morsel off the poor animal’s bones.</p> +<p>The next morning their appetites were as sharp as ever. They +looked at Ulysses, as if they expected him to clamber up the cliff +again, and come back with another fat deer upon his shoulders. +Instead of setting out, however, he summoned the whole crew +together, and told them it was in vain to hope that he could kill a +stag every day for their dinner, and therefore it was advisable to +think of some other mode of satisfying their hunger.</p> +<p>“Now,” said he, “when I was on the cliff +yesterday, I discovered that this island is inhabited. At a +considerable distance from the shore stood a marble palace, which +appeared to be very spacious, and had a great deal of smoke curling +out of one of its chimneys.”</p> +<p>“Aha!” muttered some of his companions, smacking +their lips. “That smoke must have come from the kitchen fire. +There was a good dinner on the spit; and no doubt there will be as +good a one to-day.”</p> +<p>“But,” continued the wise Ulysses, “you must +remember, my good friends, our misadventure in the cavern of +one-eyed Polyphemus, the Cyclops! Instead of his ordinary milk +diet, did he not eat up two of our comrades for his supper, and a +couple more for breakfast, and two at his supper again? Methinks I +see him yet, the hideous monster, scanning us with that great red +eye, in the middle of his forehead, to single out the fattest. And +then again, only a few days ago, did we not fall into the hands of +the king of the Læstrygons, and those other horrible giants, +his subjects, who devoured a great many more of us than are now +left? To tell you the truth, if we go to yonder palace, there can +be no question that we shall make our appearance at the +dinner-table; but whether seated as guests or served up as food, is +a point to be seriously considered.”</p> +<p>“Either way,” murmured some of the hungriest of the +crew, “it will be better than starvation; particularly if one +could be sure of being well fattened beforehand and daintily cooked +afterwards.”</p> +<p>“That is a matter of taste,” said King Ulysses, +“and, for my own part, neither the most careful fattening nor +the daintiest of cookery would reconcile me to being dished at +last. My proposal is, therefore, that we divide ourselves into two +equal parties, and ascertain, by drawing lots, which of the two +shall go to the palace, and beg for food and assistance. If these +can be obtained, all is well. If not, and if the inhabitants prove +as inhospitable as Polyphemus or the Læstrygons, then there +will but half of us perish, and the remainder may set sail and +escape.”</p> +<p>As nobody objected to this scheme, Ulysses proceeded to count +the whole band, and found that there were forty-six men, including +himself. He then numbered off twenty-two of them, and put +Eurylochus (who was one of his chief officers, and second only to +himself in sagacity) at their head. Ulysses took command of the +remaining twenty-two men, in person. Then, taking off his helmet, +he put two shells into it, on one of which was written, +“Go,” and on the other, “Stay.” Another +person now held the helmet, while Ulysses and Eurylochus drew out +each a shell; and the word “Go” was found written on +that which Eurylochus had drawn. In this manner it was decided that +Ulysses and his twenty-two men were to remain at the seaside until +the other party should have found out what sort of treatment they +might expect at the mysterious palace. As there was no help for it, +Eurylochus immediately set forth at the head of his twenty-two +followers, who went off in a very melancholy state of mind, leaving +their friends in hardly better spirits than themselves.</p> +<p>No sooner had they clambered up the cliff, than they discerned +the tall marble towers of the palace, ascending, as white as snow, +out of the lovely green shadow of the trees which surrounded it. A +gush of smoke came from a chimney in the rear of the edifice. This +vapor rose high in the air, and meeting with a breeze, was wafted +seaward, and made to pass over the heads of the hungry mariners. +When people’s appetites are keen, they have a very quick +scent for anything savory in the wind.</p> +<p>“That smoke comes from the kitchen!” cried one of +them, turning up his nose as high as he could, and snuffing +eagerly. “And, as sure as I’m a half-starved vagabond, +I smell roast meat in it.”</p> +<p>“Pig, roast pig!” said another. “Ah, the +dainty little porker! My mouth waters for him.”</p> +<p>“Let us make haste,” cried the others, “or we +shall be too late for the good cheer!”</p> +<p>But scarcely had they made half a dozen steps from the edge of +the cliff, when a bird came fluttering to meet them. It was the +same pretty little bird, with the purple wings and body, the yellow +legs, the golden collar round its neck, and the crown-like tuft +upon its head, whose behavior had so much surprised Ulysses. It +hovered about Eurylochus, and almost brushed his face with its +wings.</p> +<p>“Peep, peep, pe—weep!” chirped the bird.</p> +<p>So plaintively intelligent was the sound, that it seemed as if +the little creature were going to break its heart with some mighty +secret that it had to tell, and only this one poor note to tell it +with.</p> +<p>“My pretty bird,” said Eurylochus,—for he was +a wary person, and let no token of harm escape his +notice,—“my pretty bird, who sent you hither? And what +is the message which you bring?”</p> +<p>“Peep, peep, pe—weep!” replied the bird, very +sorrowfully.</p> +<p>Then it flew towards the edge of the cliff, and looked round at +them, as if exceedingly anxious that they should return whence they +came. Eurylochus and a few of the others were inclined to turn +back. They could not help suspecting that the purple bird must be +aware of something mischievous that would befall them at the +palace, and the knowledge of which affected its airy spirit with a +human sympathy and sorrow. But the rest of the voyagers, snuffing +up the smoke from the palace kitchen, ridiculed the idea of +returning to the vessel. One of them (more brutal than his fellows, +and the most notorious gormandizer in the whole crew) said such a +cruel and wicked thing, that I wonder the mere thought did not turn +him into a wild beast in shape, as he already was in his +nature.</p> +<p>“This troublesome and impertinent little fowl,” said +he, “would make a delicate titbit to begin dinner with. Just +one plump morsel, melting away between the teeth. If he comes +within my reach, I’ll catch him, and give him to the palace +cook to be roasted on a skewer.”</p> +<p>The words were hardly out of his mouth, before the purple bird +flew away, crying, “Peep, peep, pe—weep,” more +dolorously than ever.</p> +<p>“That bird,” remarked Eurylochus, “knows more +than we do about what awaits us at the palace.”</p> +<p>“Come on, then,” cried his comrades, “and +we’ll soon know as much as he does.”</p> +<p>The party, accordingly, went onward through the green and +pleasant wood. Every little while they caught new glimpses of the +marble palace, which looked more and more beautiful the nearer they +approached it. They soon entered a broad pathway, which seemed to +be very neatly kept, and which went winding along with streaks of +sunshine falling across it, and specks of light quivering among the +deepest shadows that fell from the lofty trees. It was bordered, +too, with a great many sweet-smelling flowers, such as the mariners +had never seen before. So rich and beautiful they were that, if the +shrubs grew wild here and were native in the soil, then this island +was surely the flower-garden of the whole earth; or, if +transplanted from some other clime, it must have been from the +Happy Islands that lay towards the golden sunset.</p> +<p>“There has been a great deal of pains foolishly wasted on +these flowers,” observed one of the company; and I tell you +what he said, that you may keep in mind what gormandizers they +were. “For my part, if I were the owner of the palace, I +would bid my gardener cultivate nothing but savory potherbs to make +a stuffing for roast meat, or to flavor a stew with.”</p> +<p>“Well said!” cried the others. “But I’ll +warrant you there’s a kitchen garden in the rear of the +palace.”</p> +<p>At one place they came to a crystal spring, and paused to drink +at it for want of liquor which they liked better. Looking into its +bosom, they beheld their own faces dimly reflected, but so +extravagantly distorted by the gush and motion of the water, that +each one of them appeared to be laughing at himself and all his +companions. So ridiculous were these images of themselves, indeed, +that they did really laugh aloud, and could hardly be grave again +as soon as they wished. And after they had drunk, they grew still +merrier than before.</p> +<p>“It has a twang of the wine-cask in it,” said one, +smacking his lips.</p> +<p>“Make haste!” cried his fellows; “we’ll +find the wine-cask itself at the palace; and that will be better +than a hundred crystal fountains.”</p> +<p>Then they quickened their pace, and capered for joy at the +thought of the savory banquet at which they hoped to be guests. But +Eurylochus told them that he felt as if he were walking in a +dream.</p> +<p>“If I am really awake,” continued he, “then, +in my opinion, we are on the point of meeting with some stranger +adventure than any that befell us in the cave of Polyphemus, or +among the gigantic man-eating Læstrygons, or in the windy +palace of King Æolus, which stands on a brazen-walled island. +This kind of dreamy feeling always comes over me before any +wonderful occurrence. If you take my advice, you will turn +back.”</p> +<p>“No, no,” answered his comrades, snuffing the air, +in which the scent from the palace kitchen was now very +perceptible. “We would not turn back, though we were certain +that the king of the Læstrygons, as big as a mountain, would +sit at the head of the table, and huge Polyphemus, the one-eyed +Cyclops, at its foot.”</p> +<p>At length they came within full sight of the palace, which +proved to be very large and lofty, with a great number of airy +pinnacles upon its roof. Though it was now midday, and the sun +shone brightly over the marble front, yet its snowy whiteness and +its fantastic style of architecture made it look unreal, like the +frostwork on a window-pane, or like the shapes of castles which one +sees among the clouds by moonlight. But just then a puff of wind +brought down the smoke of the kitchen chimney among them, and +caused each man to smell the odor of the dish that he liked best; +and, after scenting it, they thought everything else moonshine, and +nothing real save this palace, and save the banquet that was +evidently ready to be served up in it.</p> +<p>So they hastened their steps towards the portal, but had not got +half-way across the wide lawn, when a pack of lions, tigers, and +wolves came bounding to meet them. The terrified mariners started +back, expecting no better fate than to be torn to pieces and +devoured. To their surprise and joy, however, these wild beasts +merely capered around them, wagging their tails, offering their +heads to be stroked and patted, and behaving just like so many +well-bred house-dogs, when they wish to express their delight at +meeting their master or their master’s friends. The biggest +lion licked the feet of Eurylochus; and every other lion, and every +wolf and tiger, singled out one of his two and twenty followers, +whom the beast fondled as if he loved him better than a +beef-bone.</p> +<p>But, for all that, Eurylochus imagined that he saw something +fierce and savage in their eyes; nor would he have been surprised, +at any moment, to feel the big lion’s terrible claws, or to +see each of the tigers make a deadly spring, or each wolf leap at +the throat of the man whom he had fondled. Their mildness seemed +unreal, and a mere freak; but their savage nature was as true as +their teeth and claws.</p> +<p>Nevertheless, the men went safely across the lawn with the wild +beasts frisking about them, and doing no manner of harm; although, +as they mounted the steps of the palace, you might possibly have +heard a low growl, particularly from the wolves, as if they thought +it a pity, after all, to let the strangers pass without so much as +tasting what they were made of.</p> +<p>Eurylochus and his followers now passed under a lofty portal, +and looked through the open doorway into the interior of the +palace. The first thing that they saw was a spacious hall, and a +fountain in the middle of it, gushing up towards the ceiling out of +a marble basin, and falling back into it with a continual plash. +The water of this fountain, as it spouted upward, was constantly +taking new shapes, not very distinctly, but plainly enough for a +nimble fancy to recognize what they were. Now it was the shape of a +man in a long robe, the fleecy whiteness of which was made out of +the fountain’s spray; now it was a lion, or a tiger, or a +wolf, or an ass, or, as often as anything else, a hog, wallowing in +the marble basin as if it were his sty. It was either magic or some +very curious machinery that caused the gushing waterspout to assume +all these forms. But, before the strangers had time to look closely +at this wonderful sight, their attention was drawn off by a very +sweet and agreeable sound. A woman’s voice was singing +melodiously in another room of the palace, and with her voice was +mingled the noise of a loom, at which she was probably seated, +weaving a rich texture of cloth, and intertwining the high and low +sweetness of her voice into a rich tissue of harmony.</p> +<p>By and by the song came to an end; and then, all at once, there +were several feminine voices, talking airily and cheerfully, with +now and then a merry burst of laughter, such as you may always hear +when three or four young women sit at work together.</p> +<p>“What a sweet song that was!” exclaimed one of the +voyagers.</p> +<p>“Too sweet, indeed,” answered Eurylochus, shaking +his head. “Yet it was not so sweet as the song of the Sirens, +those birdlike damsels who wanted to tempt us on the rocks, so that +our vessel might be wrecked, and our bones left whitening along the +shore.”</p> +<p>“But just listen to the pleasant voices of those maidens, +and that buzz of the loom, as the shuttle passes to and fro,” +said another comrade. “What a domestic, household, homelike +sound it is! Ah, before that weary siege of Troy, I used to hear +the buzzing loom and the women’s voices under my own roof. +Shall I never hear them again? nor taste those nice little savory +dishes which my dearest wife knew how to serve up?”</p> +<p>“Tush! we shall fare better here,” said another. +“But how innocently those women are babbling together, +without guessing that we overhear them! And mark that richest voice +of all, so pleasant and familiar, but which yet seems to have the +authority of a mistress among them. Let us show ourselves at once. +What harm can the lady of the palace and her maidens do to mariners +and warriors like us?”</p> +<p>“Remember,” said Eurylochus, “that it was a +young maiden who beguiled three of our friends into the palace of +the king of the Læstrygons, who ate up one of them in the +twinkling of an eye.”</p> +<p>No warning or persuasion, however, had any effect on his +companions. They went up to a pair of folding-doors at the farther +end of the hall, and, throwing them wide open, passed into the next +room. Eurylochus, meanwhile, had stepped behind a pillar. In the +short moment while the folding-doors opened and closed again, he +caught a glimpse of a very beautiful woman rising from the loom and +coming to meet the poor weather-beaten wanderers, with a hospitable +smile and her hand stretched out in welcome. There were four other +young women, who joined their hands and danced merrily forward, +making gestures of obeisance to the strangers. They were only less +beautiful than the lady who seemed to be their mistress. Yet +Eurylochus fancied that one of them had sea-green hair, and that +the close-fitting bodice of a second looked like the bark of a +tree, and that both the others had something odd in their aspect, +although he could not quite determine what it was, in the little +while that he had to examine them.</p> +<p>The folding-doors swung quickly back, and left him standing +behind the pillar, in the solitude of the outer hall. There +Eurylochus waited until he was quite weary, and listened eagerly to +every sound, but without hearing anything that could help him to +guess what had become of his friends. Footsteps, it is true, seemed +to be passing and repassing in other parts of the palace. Then +there was a clatter of silver dishes, or golden ones, which made +him imagine a rich feast in a splendid banqueting-hall. But by and +by he heard a tremendous grunting and squealing, and then a sudden +scampering, like that of small, hard hoofs over a marble floor, +while the voices of the mistress and her four handmaidens were +screaming all together, in tones of anger and derision. Eurylochus +could not conceive what had happened, unless a drove of swine had +broken into the palace, attracted by the smell of the feast. +Chancing to cast his eyes at the fountain, he saw that it did not +shift its shape, as formerly, nor looked either like a long-robed +man, or a lion, a tiger, a wolf, or an ass. It looked like nothing +but a hog, which lay wallowing in the marble basin, and filled it +from brim to brim.</p> +<p>But we must leave the prudent Eurylochus waiting in the outer +hall, and follow his friends into the inner secrecy of the palace. +As soon as the beautiful woman saw them, she arose from the loom, +as I have told you, and came forward, smiling, and stretching out +her hand. She took the hand of the foremost among them, and bade +him and the whole party welcome.</p> +<p>“You have been long expected, my good friends,” said +she. “I and my maidens are well acquainted with you, although +you do not appear to recognize us. Look at this piece of tapestry, +and judge if your faces must not have been familiar to +us.”</p> +<p>So the voyagers examined the web of cloth which the beautiful +woman had been weaving in her loom; and to their vast astonishment +they saw their own figures perfectly represented in different +colored threads. It was a lifelike picture of their recent +adventures, showing them in the cave of Polyphemus, and how they +had put out his one great moony eye; while in another part of the +tapestry they were untying the leathern bags, puffed out with +contrary winds; and farther on, they beheld themselves scampering +away from the gigantic king of the Læstrygons, who had caught +one of them by the leg. Lastly, there they were, sitting on the +desolate shore of this very island, hungry and downcast, and +looking ruefully at the bare bones of the stag which they devoured +yesterday. This was as far as the work had yet proceeded; but when +the beautiful woman should again sit down at her loom, she would +probably make a picture of what had since happened to the +strangers, and of what was now going to happen.</p> +<p>“You see,” she said, “that I know all about +your troubles; and you cannot doubt that I desire to make you happy +for as long a time as you may remain with me. For this purpose, my +honored guests, I have ordered a banquet to be prepared. Fish, +fowl, and flesh, roasted, and in luscious stews, and seasoned, I +trust, to all your tastes, are ready to be served up. If your +appetites tell you it is dinner-time, then come with me to the +festal saloon.”</p> +<p>At this kind invitation, the hungry mariners were quite +overjoyed; and one of them, taking upon himself to be spokesman, +assured their hospitable hostess that any hour of the day was +dinner-time with them, whenever they could get flesh to put in the +pot, and fire to boil it with. So the beautiful woman led the way; +and the four maidens (one of them had sea-green hair, another a +bodice of oak-bark, a third sprinkled a shower of water-drops from +her fingers’ ends, and the fourth had some other oddity, +which I have forgotten), all these followed behind, and hurried the +guests along, until they entered a magnificent saloon. It was built +in a perfect oval, and lighted from a crystal dome above. Around +the walls were ranged two and twenty thrones, overhung by canopies +of crimson and gold, and provided with the softest of cushions, +which were tasseled and fringed with gold cord. Each of the +strangers was invited to sit down; and there they were, two and +twenty storm-beaten mariners, in worn and tattered garb, sitting on +two and twenty cushioned and canopied thrones, so rich and gorgeous +that the proudest monarch had nothing more splendid in his +stateliest hall.</p> +<p>Then you might have seen the guests nodding, winking with one +eye, and leaning from one throne to another, to communicate their +satisfaction in hoarse whispers.</p> +<p>“Our good hostess has made kings of us all,” said +one. “Ha! do you smell the feast? I’ll engage it will +be fit to set before two-and-twenty kings.”</p> +<p>“I hope,” said another, “it will be, mainly, +good substantial joints, sirloins, spareribs, and hinder quarters, +without too many kickshaws. If I thought the good lady would not +take it amiss, I should call for a fat slice of fried bacon to +begin with.”</p> +<p>Ah, the gluttons and gormandizers! You see how it was with them. +In the loftiest seats of dignity, on royal thrones, they could +think of nothing but their greedy appetite, which was the portion +of their nature that they shared with wolves and swine; so that +they resembled those vilest of animals far more than they did +kings,—if, indeed, kings were what they ought to be.</p> +<p>But the beautiful woman now clapped her hands; and immediately +there entered a train of two and twenty serving-men, bringing +dishes of the richest food, all hot from the kitchen fire, and +sending up such a steam that it hung like a cloud below the crystal +dome of the saloon. An equal number of attendants brought great +flagons of wine, of various kinds, some of which sparkled as it was +poured out, and went bubbling down the throat; while, of other +sorts, the purple liquor was so clear that you could see the +wrought figures at the bottom of the goblet. While the servants +supplied the two and twenty guests with food and drink, the hostess +and her four maidens went from one throne to another, exhorting +them to eat their fill, and to quaff wine abundantly, and thus to +recompense themselves, at this one banquet, for the many days when +they had gone without a dinner. But, whenever the mariners were not +looking at them (which was pretty often, as they looked chiefly +into the basins and platters), the beautiful woman and her damsels +turned aside and laughed. Even the servants, as they knelt down to +present the dishes, might be seen to grin and sneer, while the +guests were helping themselves to the offered dainties.</p> +<p>And once in a while the strangers seemed to taste something that +they did not like.</p> +<p>“Here is an odd kind of a spice in this dish,” said +one. “I can’t say it quite suits my palate. Down it +goes, however.”</p> +<p>“Send a good draught of wine down your throat,” said +his comrade on the next throne. “That is the stuff to make +this sort of cookery relish well. Though I must needs say, the wine +has a queer taste too. But the more I drink of it the better I like +the flavor.”</p> +<p>Whatever little fault they might find with the dishes, they sat +at dinner a prodigiously long while; and it would really have made +you ashamed to see how they swilled down the liquor and gobbled up +the food. They sat, on golden thrones, to be sure; but they behaved +like pigs in a sty, and, if they had had their wits about them, +they might have guessed that this was the opinion of their +beautiful hostess and her maidens. It brings a blush into my face +to reckon up, in my own mind, what mountains of meat and pudding, +and what gallons of wine, these two and twenty guzzlers and +gormandizers ate and drank. They forgot all about their homes, and +their wives, and children, and all about Ulysses, and everything +else, except this banquet, at which they wanted to keep feasting +forever. But at length they began to give over, from mere +incapacity to hold any more.</p> +<p>“That last bit of fat is too much for me,” said +one.</p> +<p>“And I have not room for another morsel,” said his +next neighbor, heaving a sigh. “What a pity! My appetite is +as sharp as ever.”</p> +<p>In short, they all left off eating, and leaned back on their +thrones, with such a stupid and helpless aspect as made them +ridiculous to behold. When their hostess saw this, she laughed +aloud; so did her four damsels; so did the two-and-twenty serving +men that bore the dishes, and their two-and-twenty fellows that +poured out the wine. And the louder they all laughed, the more +stupid and helpless did the two-and-twenty gormandizers look. Then +the beautiful woman took her stand in the middle of the saloon, and +stretching out a slender rod (it had been all the while in her +hand, although they never noticed it till this moment), she turned +it from one guest to another, until each had felt it pointed at +himself. Beautiful as her face was, and though there was a smile on +it, it looked just as wicked and mischievous as the ugliest serpent +that ever was seen; and fat-witted as the voyagers had made +themselves, they began to suspect that they had fallen into the +power of an evil-minded enchantress.</p> +<p>“Wretches,” cried she, “you have abused a +lady’s hospitality; and in this princely saloon your behavior +has been suited to a hogpen. You are already swine in everything +but the human form, which you disgrace, and which I myself should +be ashamed to keep a moment longer, were you to share it with me. +But it will require only the slightest exercise of magic to make +the exterior conform to the hoggish disposition. Assume your proper +shapes, gormandizers, and begone to the sty!”</p> +<p>Uttering these last words, she waved her wand; and stamping her +foot imperiously, each of the guests was struck aghast at +beholding, instead of his comrades in human shape, one and twenty +hogs sitting on the same number of golden thrones. Each man (as he +still supposed himself to be) essayed to give a cry of surprise, +but found that he could merely grunt, and that, in a word, he was +just such another beast as his companions. It looked so intolerably +absurd to see hogs on cushioned thrones, that they made haste to +wallow down upon all fours, like other swine. They tried to groan +and beg for mercy, but forthwith emitted the most awful grunting +and squealing that ever came out of swinish throats. They would +have wrung their hands in despair, but, attempting to do so, grew +all the more desperate for seeing themselves squatted on their +hams, and pawing the air with their fore trotters. Dear me! what +pendulous ears they had! what little red eyes, half buried in fat! +and what long snouts, instead of Grecian noses!</p> +<p>But brutes as they certainly were, they yet had enough of human +nature in them to be shocked at their own hideousness; and still +intending to groan, they uttered a viler grunt and squeal than +before. So harsh and ear-piercing it was, that you would have +fancied a butcher was sticking his knife into each of their +throats, or, at the very least, that somebody was pulling every hog +by his funny little twist of a tail.</p> +<p>“Begone to your sty!” cried the enchantress, giving +them some smart strokes with her wand; and then she turned to the +serving-men. “Drive out these swine, and throw down some +acorns for them to eat.”</p> +<p>The door of the saloon being flung open, the drove of hogs ran +in all directions save the right one, in accordance with their +hoggish perversity, but were finally driven into the back yard of +the palace. It was a sight to bring tears into one’s eyes +(and I hope none of you will be cruel enough to laugh at it) to see +the poor creatures go snuffing along, picking up here a cabbage +leaf and there a turnip-top, and rooting their noses in the earth +for whatever they could find. In their sty, moreover, they behaved +more piggishly than the pigs that had been born so; for they bit +and snorted at one another, put their feet in the trough, and +gobbled up their victuals in a ridiculous hurry; and, when there +was nothing more to be had, they made a great pile of themselves +among some unclean straw and fell fast asleep. If they had any +human reason left, it was just enough to keep them wondering when +they should be slaughtered, and what quality of bacon they should +make.</p> +<p>Meantime, as I told you before, Eurylochus had waited, and +waited, and waited, in the entrance-hall of the palace, without +being able to comprehend what had befallen his friends. At last, +when the swinish uproar resounded through the palace, and when he +saw the image of a hog in the marble basin, he thought it best to +hasten back to the vessel, and inform the wise Ulysses of these +marvelous occurrences. So he ran as fast as he could down the +steps, and never stopped to draw breath till he reached the +shore.</p> +<p>“Why do you come alone?” asked King Ulysses, as soon +as he saw him. “Where are your two and twenty +comrades?”</p> +<p>At these questions Eurylochus burst into tears.</p> +<p>“Alas!” cried he, “I greatly fear that we +shall never see one of their faces again.”</p> +<p>Then he told Ulysses all that had happened, as far as he knew +it, and added that he suspected the beautiful woman to be a vile +enchantress, and the marble palace, magnificent as it looked, to be +only a dismal cavern in reality. As for his companions, he could +not imagine what had become of them, unless they had been given to +the swine to be devoured alive. At this intelligence all the +voyagers were greatly affrighted. But Ulysses lost no time in +girding on his sword, and hanging his bow and quiver over his +shoulders, and taking a spear in his right hand. When his followers +saw their wise leader making these preparations, they inquired +whither he was going, and earnestly besought him not to leave +them.</p> +<p>“You are our king,” cried they; “and what is +more, you are the wisest man in the whole world, and nothing but +your wisdom and courage can get us out of this danger. If you +desert us, and go to the enchanted palace, you will suffer the same +fate as our poor companions, and not a soul of us will ever see our +dear Ithaca again.”</p> +<p>“As I am your king,” answered Ulysses, “and +wiser than any of you, it is therefore the more my duty to see what +has befallen our comrades, and whether anything can yet be done to +rescue them. Wait for me here until to-morrow. If I do not then +return, you must hoist sail, and endeavor to find your way to our +native land. For my part, I am answerable for the fate of these +poor mariners, who have stood by my side in battle, and been so +often drenched to the skin, along with me, by the same tempestuous +surges. I will either bring them back with me or perish.”</p> +<p>Had his followers dared, they would have detained him by force. +But King Ulysses frowned sternly on them, and shook his spear, and +bade them stop him at their peril. Seeing him so determined, they +let him go, and sat down on the sand, as disconsolate a set of +people as could be, waiting and praying for his return.</p> +<p>It happened to Ulysses, just as before, that, when he had gone a +few steps from the edge of the cliff, the purple bird came +fluttering towards him, crying, “Peep, peep, +pe—weep!” and using all the art it could to persuade +him to go no farther.</p> +<p>“What mean you, little bird?” cried Ulysses. +“You are arrayed like a king in purple and gold, and wear a +golden crown upon your head. Is it because I too am a king that you +desire so earnestly to speak with me? If you can talk in human +language, say what you would have me do.”</p> +<p>“Peep!” answered the purple bird, very dolorously. +“Peep, peep, pe—we—ep!”</p> +<p>Certainly there lay some heavy anguish at the little +bird’s heart; and it was a sorrowful predicament that he +could not, at least, have the consolation of telling what it was. +But Ulysses had no time to waste in trying to get at the mystery. +He therefore quickened his pace, and had gone a good way along the +pleasant wood-path, when there met him a young man of very brisk +and intelligent aspect, and clad in a rather singular garb. He wore +a short cloak, and a sort of cap that seemed to be furnished with a +pair of wings; and from the lightness of his step, you would have +supposed that there might likewise be wings on his feet. To enable +him to walk still better (for he was always on one journey or +another), he carried a winged staff, around which two serpents were +wriggling and twisting. In short, I have said enough to make you +guess that it was Quicksilver; and Ulysses (who knew him of old, +and had learned a great deal of his wisdom from him) recognized him +in a moment.</p> +<p>“Whither are you going in such a hurry, wise +Ulysses?” asked Quicksilver. “Do you not know that this +island is enchanted? The wicked enchantress (whose name is Circe, +the sister of King Æetes) dwells in the marble palace which +you see yonder among the trees. By her magic arts, she changes +every human being into the brute, beast, or fowl whom he happens +most to resemble.”</p> +<p>“That little bird which met me at the edge of the +cliff,” exclaimed Ulysses; “was he a human being +once?”</p> +<p>“Yes,” answered Quicksilver. “He was once a +king, named Picus, and a pretty good sort of a king too, only +rather too proud of his purple robe, and his crown, and the golden +chain about his neck; so he was forced to take the shape of a +gaudy-feathered bird. The lions, and wolves, and tigers who will +come running to meet you, in front of the palace, were formerly +fierce and cruel men, resembling in their dispositions the wild +beasts whose forms they now rightfully wear.”</p> +<p>“And my poor companions,” said Ulysses. “Have +they undergone a similar change, through the arts of this wicked +Circe?”</p> +<p>“You well know what gormandizers they were,” replied +Quicksilver; and, rogue that he was, he could not help laughing at +the joke. “So you will not be surprised to hear that they +have all taken the shapes of swine! If Circe had never done +anything worse, I really should not think her so very much to +blame.”</p> +<p>“But can I do nothing to help them?” inquired +Ulysses.</p> +<p>“It will require all your wisdom,” said Quicksilver, +“and a little of my own into the bargain, to keep your royal +and sagacious self from being transformed into a fox. But do as I +bid you, and the matter may end better than it has +begun.”</p> +<p>While he was speaking, Quicksilver seemed to be in search of +something; he went stooping along the ground, and soon laid his +hand on a little plant with a snow-white flower, which he plucked +and smelt of. Ulysses had been looking at that very spot only just +before; and it appeared to him that the plant had burst into full +flower the instant when Quicksilver touched it with his +fingers.</p> +<p>“Take this flower, King Ulysses,” said he. +“Guard it as you do your eyesight; for I can assure you it is +exceedingly rare and precious, and you might seek the whole earth +over without ever finding another like it. Keep it in your hand, +and smell of it frequently after you enter the palace, and while +you are talking with the enchantress. Especially when she offers +you food, or a draught of wine out of her goblet, be careful to +fill your nostrils with the flower’s fragrance. Follow these +directions, and you may defy her magic arts to change you into a +fox.”</p> +<p>Quicksilver then gave him some further advice how to behave, +and, bidding him be bold and prudent, again assured him that, +powerful as Circe was, he would have a fair prospect of coming +safely out of her enchanted palace. After listening attentively, +Ulysses thanked his good friend, and resumed his way. But he had +taken only a few steps, when, recollecting some other questions +which he wished to ask, he turned round again, and beheld nobody on +the spot where Quicksilver had stood; for that winged cap of his, +and those winged shoes with the help of the winged staff, had +carried him quickly out of sight.</p> +<p>When Ulysses reached the lawn in front of the palace, the lions +and other savage animals came bounding to meet him, and would have +fawned upon him and licked his feet. But the wise king struck at +them with his long spear, and sternly bade them begone out of his +path; for he knew that they had once been bloodthirsty men, and +would now tear him limb from limb, instead of fawning upon him, +could they do the mischief that was in their hearts. The wild +beasts yelped and glared at him, and stood at a distance while he +ascended the palace steps.</p> +<p>On entering the hall, Ulysses saw the magic fountain in the +centre of it. The up-gushing water had now again taken the shape of +a man in a long, white, fleecy robe, who appeared to be making +gestures of welcome. The king likewise heard the noise of the +shuttle in the loom, and the sweet melody of the beautiful +woman’s song, and then the pleasant voices of herself and the +four maidens talking together, with peals of merry laughter +intermixed. But Ulysses did not waste much time in listening to the +laughter or the song. He leaned his spear against one of the +pillars of the hall, and then, after loosening his sword in the +scabbard, stepped boldly forward, and threw the folding-doors wide +open. The moment she beheld his stately figure standing in the +doorway, the beautiful woman rose from the loom, and ran to meet +him with a glad smile throwing its sunshine over her face, and both +her hands extended.</p> +<p>“Welcome, brave stranger!” cried she. “We were +expecting you.”</p> +<p>And the nymph with the sea-green hair made a courtesy down to +the ground, and likewise bade him welcome; so did her sister with +the bodice of oaken bark, and she that sprinkled dew-drops from her +fingers’ ends, and the fourth one with some oddity which I +cannot remember. And Circe, as the beautiful enchantress was called +(who had deluded so many persons that she did not doubt of being +able to delude Ulysses, not imagining how wise he was), again +addressed him.</p> +<p>“Your companions,” said she, “have already +been received into my palace, and have enjoyed the hospitable +treatment to which the propriety of their behavior so well entitles +them. If such be your pleasure, you shall first take some +refreshment, and then join them in the elegant apartments which +they now occupy. See, I and my maidens have been weaving their +figures into this piece of tapestry.”</p> +<p>She pointed to the web of beautifully woven cloth in the loom. +Circe and the four nymphs must have been very diligently at work +since the arrival of the mariners; for a great many yards of +tapestry had now been wrought, in addition to what I before +described. In this new part, Ulysses saw his two and twenty friends +represented as sitting on cushioned and canopied thrones, greedily +devouring dainties and quaffing deep draughts of wine. The work had +not yet gone any further. Oh, no, indeed! The enchantress was far +too cunning to let Ulysses see the mischief which her magic arts +had since brought upon the gormandizers.</p> +<p>“As for yourself, valiant sir,” said Circe, +“judging by the dignity of your aspect, I take you to be +nothing less than a king. Deign to follow me, and you shall be +treated as befits your rank.”</p> +<p>So Ulysses followed her into the oval saloon, where his two and +twenty comrades had devoured the banquet which ended so +disastrously for themselves. But all this while he had held the +snow-white flower in his hand, and had constantly smelt of it while +Circe was speaking; and as he crossed the threshold of the saloon, +he took good care to inhale several long and deep snuffs of its +fragrance. Instead of two and twenty thrones, which had before been +ranged around the wall, there was now only a single throne, in the +centre of the apartment. But this was surely the most magnificent +seat that ever a king or an emperor reposed himself upon, all made +of chased gold, studded with precious stones, with a cushion that +looked like a soft heap of living roses, and overhung by a canopy +of sunlight which Circe knew how to weave into drapery. The +enchantress took Ulysses by the hand, and made him sit down upon +this dazzling throne. Then, clapping her hands, she summoned the +chief butler.</p> +<p>“Bring hither,” said she, “the goblet that is +set apart for kings to drink out of. And fill it with the same +delicious wine which my royal brother, King Æetes, praised so +highly, when he visited me with my fair daughter Medea. That good +and amiable child! Were she now here, it would delight her to see +me offering this wine to my honored guest.”</p> +<p>But Ulysses, while the butler was gone for the wine, held the +snow-white flower to his nose.</p> +<p>“Is it a wholesome wine?” he asked.</p> +<p>At this the four maidens tittered; whereupon the enchantress +looked round at them, with an aspect of severity.</p> +<p>“It is the wholesomest juice that ever was squeezed out of +the grape,” said she; “for, instead of disguising a +man, as other liquor is apt to do, it brings him to his true self, +and shows him as he ought to be.”</p> +<p>The chief butler liked nothing better than to see people turned +into swine, or making any kind of a beast of themselves; so he made +haste to bring the royal goblet, filled with a liquid as bright as +gold, and which kept sparkling upward, and throwing a sunny spray +over the brim. But, delightfully as the wine looked, it was mingled +with the most potent enchantments that Circe knew how to concoct. +For every drop of the pure grape-juice there were two drops of the +pure mischief; and the danger of the thing was, that the mischief +made it taste all the better. The mere smell of the bubbles, which +effervesced at the brim, was enough to turn a man’s beard +into pig’s bristles, or make a lion’s claws grow out of +his fingers, or a fox’s brush behind him.</p> +<p>“Drink, my noble guest,” said Circe, smiling as she +presented him with the goblet. “You will find in this draught +a solace for all your troubles.”</p> +<p>King Ulysses took the goblet with his right hand, while with his +left he held the snow-white flower to his nostrils, and drew in so +long a breath that his lungs were quite filled with its pure and +simple fragrance. Then, drinking off all the wine, he looked the +enchantress calmly in the face.</p> +<p>“Wretch,” cried Circe, giving him a smart stroke +with her wand, “how dare you keep your human shape a moment +longer? Take the form of the brute whom you most resemble. If a +hog, go join your fellow swine in the sty; if a lion, a wolf, a +tiger, go howl with the wild beasts on the lawn; if a fox, go +exercise your craft in stealing poultry. Thou hast quaffed off my +wine, and canst be man no longer.”</p> +<p>But, such was the virtue of the snow-white flower, instead of +wallowing down from his throne in swinish shape or taking any other +brutal form, Ulysses looked even more manly and kinglike than +before. He gave the magic goblet a toss, and sent it clashing over +the marble floor, to the farthest end of the saloon. Then, drawing +his sword, he seized the enchantress by her beautiful ringlets, and +made a gesture as if he meant to strike off her head at one +blow.</p> +<p>“Wicked Circe,” cried he, in a terrible voice, +“this sword shall put an end to thy enchantments. Thou shalt +die, vile wretch, and do no more mischief in the world, by tempting +human beings into the vices which make beasts of them.”</p> +<p>The tone and countenance of Ulysses were so awful, and his sword +gleamed so brightly and seemed to have so intolerably keen an edge, +that Circe was almost killed by the mere fright, without waiting +for a blow. The chief butler scrambled out of the saloon, picking +up the golden goblet as he went; and the enchantress and the four +maidens fell on their knees, wringing their hands and screaming for +mercy.</p> +<p>“Spare me!” cried Circe,—“spare me, +royal and wise Ulysses. For now I know that thou art he of whom +Quicksilver forewarned me, the most prudent of mortals, against +whom no enchantments can prevail. Thou only couldst have conquered +Circe. Spare me, wisest of men. I will show thee true hospitality, +and even give myself to be thy slave, and this magnificent palace +to be henceforth thy home.”</p> +<p>The four nymphs, meanwhile, were making a most piteous ado; and +especially the ocean nymph, with the sea-green hair, wept a great +deal of salt water, and the fountain nymph, besides scattering +dewdrops from her fingers’ ends, nearly melted away into +tears. But Ulysses would not be pacified until Circe had taken a +solemn oath to change back his companions, and as many others as he +should direct, from their present forms of beast or bird into their +former shapes of men.</p> +<p>“On these conditions,” said he, “I consent to +spare your life. Otherwise you must die upon the spot.”</p> +<p>With a drawn sword hanging over her, the enchantress would +readily have consented to do as much good as she had hitherto done +mischief, however little she might like such employment. She +therefore led Ulysses out of the back entrance of the palace, and +showed him the swine in their sty. There were about fifty of these +unclean beasts in the whole herd; and though the greater part were +hogs by birth and education, there was wonderfully little +difference to be seen betwixt them and their new brethren who had +so recently worn the human shape. To speak critically, indeed, the +latter rather carried the thing to excess, and seemed to make it a +point to wallow in the miriest part of the sty, and otherwise to +outdo the original swine in their own natural vocation. When men +once turn to brutes, the trifle of man’s wit that remains in +them adds tenfold to their brutality.</p> +<p>The comrades of Ulysses, however, had not quite lost the +remembrance of having formerly stood erect. When he approached the +sty, two and twenty enormous swine separated themselves from the +herd, and scampered towards him, with such a chorus of horrible +squealing as made him clap both hands to his ears. And yet they did +not seem to know what they wanted, nor whether they were merely +hungry or miserable from some other cause. It was curious, in the +midst of their distress, to observe them thrusting their noses into +the mire, in quest of something to eat. The nymph with the bodice +of oaken bark (she was the hamadryad of an oak) threw a handful of +acorns among them; and the two and twenty hogs scrambled and fought +for the prize, as if they had tasted not so much as a noggin of +sour milk for a twelvemonth.</p> +<p>“These must certainly be my comrades,” said Ulysses. +“I recognize their dispositions. They are hardly worth the +trouble of changing them into the human form again. Nevertheless, +we will have it done, lest their bad example should corrupt the +other hogs. Let them take their original shapes, therefore, Dame +Circe, if your skill is equal to the task. It will require greater +magic, I trow, than it did to make swine of them.”</p> +<p>So Circe waved her wand again, and repeated a few magic words, +at the sound of which the two and twenty hogs pricked up their +pendulous ears. It was a wonder to behold how their snouts grew +shorter and shorter, and their mouths (which they seemed to be +sorry for, because they could not gobble so expeditiously) smaller +and smaller, and how one and another began to stand upon his hind +legs, and scratch his nose with his fore trotters. At first the +spectators hardly knew whether to call them hogs or men, but by and +by came to the conclusion that they rather resembled the latter. +Finally, there stood the twenty-two comrades of Ulysses, looking +pretty much the same as when they left the vessel.</p> +<p>You must not imagine, however, that the swinish quality had +entirely gone out of them. When once it fastens itself into a +person’s character, it is very difficult getting rid of it. +This was proved by the hamadryad, who, being exceedingly fond of +mischief, threw another handful of acorns before the twenty-two +newly restored people; whereupon down they wallowed, in a moment, +and gobbled them up in a very shameful way. Then, recollecting +themselves, they scrambled to their feet, and looked more than +commonly foolish.</p> +<p>“Thanks, noble Ulysses!” they cried. “From +brute beasts you have restored us to the condition of men +again.”</p> +<p>“Do not put yourselves to the trouble of thanking +me,” said the wise king. “I fear I have done but little +for you.”</p> +<p>To say the truth, there was a suspicious kind of a grunt in +their voices, and for a long time afterwards they spoke gruffly, +and were apt to set up a squeal.</p> +<p>“It must depend on your own future behavior,” added +Ulysses, “whether you do not find your way back to the +sty.”</p> +<p>At this moment, the note of a bird sounded from the branch of a +neighboring tree.</p> +<p>“Peep, peep, pe—wee—ep!”</p> +<p>It was the purple bird, who, all this while, had been sitting +over their heads, watching what was going forward, and hoping that +Ulysses would remember how he had done his utmost to keep him and +his followers out of harm’s way. Ulysses ordered Circe +instantly to make a king of this good little fowl, and leave him +exactly as she found him. Hardly were the words spoken, and before +the bird had time to utter another “Pe—weep,” +King Picus leaped down from the bough of the tree, as majestic a +sovereign as any in the world, dressed in a long purple robe and +gorgeous yellow stockings, with a splendidly wrought collar about +his neck, and a golden crown upon his head. He and King Ulysses +exchanged with one another the courtesies which belonged to their +elevated rank. But from that time forth, King Picus was no longer +proud of his crown and his trappings of royalty, nor of the fact of +his being a king; he felt himself merely the upper servant of his +people, and that it must be his lifelong labor to make them better +and happier.</p> +<p>As for the lions, tigers, and wolves (though Circe would have +restored them to their former shapes at his slightest word), +Ulysses thought it advisable that they should remain as they now +were, and thus give warning of their cruel dispositions, instead of +going about under the guise of men, and pretending to human +sympathies, while their hearts had the blood-thirstiness of wild +beasts. So he let them howl as much as they liked, but never +troubled his head about them. And, when everything was settled +according to his pleasure, he sent to summon the remainder of his +comrades, whom he had left at the seashore. These being arrived, +with the prudent Eurylochus at their head, they all made themselves +comfortable in Circe’s enchanted palace until quite rested +and refreshed from the toils and hardships of their voyage.</p> +<h3><a id="Sirens" name="Sirens">The Sirens—Scylla and +Charybdis</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>Translated by George Herbert Palmer</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>I turned me toward my ship, and called my crew to come on board +and loose the cables. Quickly they came, took places at the pins, +and sitting in order smote the foaming water with their oars. And +for our aid behind our dark-bowed ship came a fair wind to fill our +sail, a welcome comrade, sent us by fair-haired Circe, the mighty +goddess, human of speech. When we had done our work at the several +ropes about the ship, we sat us down, while wind and helmsman kept +her steady.</p> +<p>Now to my men, with aching heart, I said, “My friends, it +is not right for only one or two to know the oracles which Circe +told, that heavenly goddess. Therefore I speak, that, knowing all, +we so may die, or fleeing death and doom, we may escape. She warns +us first against the marvelous Sirens, and bids us flee their voice +and flowery meadow. Only myself she bade to hear their song; but +bind me with galling cords, to hold me firm, upright upon the +mast-block,—round it let the rope be wound. And if I should +entreat you, and bid you set me free, thereat with still more +fetters bind me fast.”</p> +<p>Thus I, relating all my tale, talked with my comrades. Meanwhile +our stanch ship swiftly neared the Sirens’ island; a fair +wind swept her on. On a sudden the wind ceased; there came a +breathless calm; Heaven hushed the waves. My comrades, rising, +furled the sail, stowed it on board the hollow ship, then sitting +at their oars whitened the water with the polished blades. But I +with my sharp sword cut a great cake of wax into small bits, which +I then kneaded in my sturdy hands. Soon the wax warmed, forced by +the powerful pressure and by the rays of the exalted sun, the lord +of all. Then one by one I stopped the ears of all my crew; and on +the deck they bound me hand and foot, upright upon the mast-block, +round which they wound the rope; and sitting down they smote the +foaming water with their oars. But when we were as far away as one +can call, and driving swiftly onward, our speeding ship, as it drew +near, did not escape the Sirens, and thus they lifted up their +penetrating voice:—</p> +<p>“Come hither, come, Ulysses, whom all praise! great glory +to the Achaians! Bring on your ship, and listen to our song. For +none has ever passed us in a black-hulled ship till from our lips +he heard ecstatic song, then went his way rejoicing and with larger +knowledge. For we know all that on the plain of Troy Argives and +Trojans suffered at the Gods’ behest; we know whatever +happens on the bounteous earth.”</p> +<p>So spoke they, sending forth their glorious song, and my heart +longed to listen. Knitting my brows, I signed my men to set me +free; but bending forward, on they rowed. And straightway Perimedes +and Eurylochus arose and laid upon me still more cords, and drew +them tighter. Then, after passing by, when we could hear no more +the Sirens’ voice nor any singing, quickly my trusty crew +removed the wax with which I stopped their ears, and set me free +from bondage.</p> +<p>Soon after we left the island, I observed a smoke, I saw high +waves and heard a plunging sound. From the hands of my frightened +men down fell the oars, and splashed against the current. There the +ship stayed, for they worked the tapering oars no more. Along the +ship I passed, inspiriting my men with cheering words, standing by +each in turn:—</p> +<p>“Friends, hitherto we have not been untried in danger. +Here is no greater danger than when the Cyclops penned us with +brutal might in the deep cave. Yet out of that, through energy of +mine, through will and wisdom, we escaped. These dangers, too, I +think some day we shall remember. Come then, and what I say let us +all follow. You with your oars strike the deep breakers of the sea, +while sitting at the pins, and see if Zeus will set us free from +present death and let us go in safety. And, helmsman, these are my +commands for you; lay them to heart, for you control the rudders of +our hollow ship: keep the ship off that smoke and surf and hug the +crags, or else, before you know it, she may veer off that way, and +you will bring us into danger.”</p> +<p>So I spoke, and my words they quickly heeded. But Scylla I did +not name,—that hopeless horror,—for fear through fright +my men might cease to row, and huddle all together in the hold. I +disregarded too the hard behest of Circe, when she had said I must +by no means arm. Putting on my glittering armor and taking in my +hands my two long spears, I went upon the ship’s fore-deck, +for thence I looked for the first sight of Scylla of the rocks, who +brought my men disaster. Nowhere could I descry her; I tried my +eyes with searching up and down the dusky cliff.</p> +<p>So up the strait we sailed in sadness; for here lay Scylla, and +there divine Charybdis fearfully sucked the salt sea-water down. +Whenever she belched it forth, like a kettle in fierce flame all +would foam swirling up, and overhead spray fell upon the tops of +both the crags. But when she gulped the salt sea-water down, then +all within seemed in a whirl; the rock around roared fearfully, and +down below the bottom showed, dark with the sand. Pale terror +seized my men; on her we looked and feared to die.</p> +<p>And now it was that Scylla snatched from the hollow ship six of +my comrades who were best in skill and strength. Turning my eyes +toward my swift ship to seek my men, I saw their feet and hands +already in the air as they were carried up. They screamed aloud and +called my name for the last time, in agony of heart. As when a +fisher, on a jutting rock, with long rod throws a bait to lure the +little fishes, casting into the deep the horn of stall-fed ox; +then, catching a fish, flings it ashore writhing,—even so +were these drawn writhing up the rocks. There at her door she ate +them, loudly shrieking and stretching forth their hands in mortal +pangs toward me. That was the saddest sight my eyes have ever seen, +in all my toils, searching the ocean pathways.</p> +<h2><a id="UlyssesIthaca" name="UlyssesIthaca">ULYSSES IN +ITHACA</a></h2> +<h3><a id="UlyssesLands" name="UlyssesLands">Ulysses Lands on the +Shore of Ithaca</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By F.S. Marvin, R.J.C. Mayor, and F.M. +Stowell</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p class="quote">[For ten years Ulysses was driven hither and +thither over the water, seeking for his homeland, Ithaca. At length +he was shipwrecked on the shores of Phœacia. The king, +Alcinous, entertained him most hospitably, and Ulysses related to +him the story of his wanderings.]</p> +<p>When Ulysses had finished his story, there was silence in the +hall till Alcinous said, “Ulysses, now that you have come to +my house after all these troubles, you shall return without more +wandering to your home.” And then he bade the princes go home +for the night and meet again in the morning to bring their +gifts.</p> +<p>So next day the Sea-kings went down to the ship and put their +gifts on board and then returned to the palace and sacrificed an ox +to Zeus. And then they feasted and drank their good wine and waited +till the sun went down. And the minstrel sang to them, but Ulysses +kept looking at the sun impatiently, like a hungry ploughman tired +out at the close of day. At last the time arrived, and then Ulysses +said, “Alcinous, let me go now, and fare you well. My escort +and my gifts are all prepared, and I could wish no more. May I but +find my wife and my dear ones all safe and sound at home! And may +Heaven grant you, too, happy homes and every blessing and no +distress among your people!” And to Queen Arete he said, +“Lady, may you live happily with your husband and children, +and all this people, till old age comes to you and death, which +must come to all!”</p> +<p>Then the herald led the way and Ulysses followed to the ship, +and the queen sent her servants with him to carry warm clothing for +the voyage and food and drink. And when they had stored the ship he +lay down silently in the stern, and the rowers took their places in +the benches and plied their oars, while a deep, sweet sleep fell +upon him, like the sleep of death. Then the wonderful ship leapt +forward on her way, like a team of chariot horses plunging beneath +the whip, and the great dark wave roared round the stern. No hawk +could fly so quickly as that ship flew through the waves, and the +hawk is the swiftest of all birds. And as she sped, the man who had +suffered so much and was as wise as the Gods lay peacefully asleep, +and forgot his sufferings.</p> +<p>But when the bright star rose that tells of the approach of day, +the ship drew near the island of Ithaca. There is a haven there +between two steep headlands which break the waves, so that ships +can ride in safety without a mooring rope, and at the head of it an +olive-tree, and a shadowy cave where the water fairies come and +tend their bees and weave their sea-blue garments on the hanging +looms and mix their wine in bowls and jars of stone. There are +springs of water in the cave, and two ways into it, one to the +north for men to enter, and one to the south where none but the +Gods may pass.</p> +<p>The Sea-kings knew this harbor and rowed straight into it and +ran their ship half a keel’s length ashore. Then they lifted +Ulysses out of the stern, wrapt in the rugs and coverlet, and laid +him still asleep upon the sand. And the gifts they placed in a heap +by the trunk of the olive-tree, a little out of the road, so that +no passer-by might rob him as he slept.</p> +<p>Then they sailed away; and after they were gone Ulysses awoke, +but he could not recognize the land where he lay, for Athene had +cast a mist about him so that everything looked strange, though he +was the lord of it all. There were the mountain paths and the +sheltering creeks, the high, steep rocks and the trees in bloom; +but he could not see it aright, and started up and smote his hands +upon his thighs and cried aloud,—</p> +<p>“What land have I come to now? And what can I do with all +this treasure? If the Sea-kings did not really mean to send me back +to Ithaca they should have conveyed me to some other people who +would have sent me home.” And then he counted the gifts over, +the golden vessels, and the beautiful garments, and found nothing +missing, but they gave him no pleasure; and he turned sadly to walk +along the shore and dream of home, when a young herdsman met him, +of noble figure, with a javelin in his hand and a fine mantle in +double folds upon his shoulders. Ulysses was glad to greet him, and +asked what country he had reached. It was Athene in disguise, and +she answered, “Truly, stranger, you must have come from far +indeed. For this is a famous island that all men know, whether they +live in the east or in the west. It is a rugged land, and no place +for horses and chariots, but though it is narrow, it is not so +poor; for there are stores of corn and wine, plenty of water for +the cattle and plenty of wood. Its name is Ithaca, and some men +have heard of it even at Troy, which they say is a long way +off.”</p> +<p>Then brave Ulysses rejoiced in his heart to hear that it was his +native land; but he would not tell the herdsman who he was, and +made up a cunning story that he had escaped as an outlaw from Crete +and had been left upon the island by a Phœnician crew. And +the goddess smiled to hear him, and stood forth in her own true +form, a wise and noble woman, tall and fair, and put her hand upon +his shoulder, and said,—</p> +<p>“Come, let us practice no more craft on one another, +Ulysses, for we are both famous for our wit and wiles, you among +mortals and I among the Gods. I am Pallas Athene, daughter of Zeus, +and I have stood beside you and protected you in all your +wanderings and toil. And now I have come here to tell you of the +troubles that await you in your house, and to help you with my +counsel. But you must still endure in silence, and tell no one that +Ulysses has returned.”</p> +<p>And Ulysses made answer, “It is hard, goddess, for a +mortal to know you, wise though he may be, for you come in many +shapes. Truly I have known your kindness from of old in Troy, but +when we went on board the ships, I never saw you at my side again. +Tell me, I pray you, if this is Ithaca indeed, my native +land.”</p> +<p>Then the goddess answered, “I see, Ulysses, that you keep +your ready wit and steadfast mind. I could not show myself your +friend before for fear of angering Neptune, my own father’s +brother. But come now, and I will show you Ithaca; there is the +haven and the olive with its slender leaves, and the cave where you +once made many an offering to the water nymphs.”</p> +<p>And then she rolled away the mist, and the long-suffering hero +rejoiced to see his native land again. He kissed the kindly earth, +and vowed to the nymphs that he would bring them offerings as of +old if he lived to see his dear son a man.</p> +<p>Then the goddess bade him be of good cheer, and showed him a +hiding-place in the cavern for the gifts. And then they sat down by +the trunk of the olive-tree, and Athene told him all the misdeeds +of the suitors, and how his wife had beguiled them and kept them +waiting till his return, and how he must avenge himself and +her.</p> +<p>Then Ulysses said, “Truly, I should have perished in my +own halls, like Agamemnon, if you had not warned me. Help me, +therefore, with your wisdom, and stand beside me again and put +strength and courage within me as in the days of Troy. For with you +by my side I could fight against three hundred men.”</p> +<p>And Pallas Athene made answer, “I will be with you, +Ulysses, when the hour of the conflict is come, and the blood of +the suitors who eat up your substance shall be shed at last. But +now I will change you into a poor beggar, so old and so wretched +that no one will know you, and in that guise you must go and stay +with the herdsman Eumæus, who tends your swine, until I have +brought your son Telemachus from Sparta, where he has gone to seek +tidings of you.”</p> +<p>Then she touched him with her magic wand, and the fair flesh +withered on his limbs, and the golden locks fell from his head, and +he was changed into an old man. His skin was shriveled and his +bright eyes dimmed, and for his covering she gave him a tattered +wrap, begrimed with smoke, and a worn deerskin on his shoulder, and +a wallet and a staff in his hand.</p> +<p>Then she vanished, and left him to take his way alone across the +hills.</p> +<h3><a id="Swineherd" name="Swineherd">Ulysses at the House of the +Swineherd</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By F.S. Marvin, R.J.C. Mayor, and F.M. +Stowell</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Ulysses went up along the rough mountain path, through the +forest and over the hills, till he came to the house where his +faithful steward lived. It stood in an open space, and there was a +large courtyard in front with a wall of heavy stones and hawthorn +boughs and a stout oak palisade. Inside the yard there were twelve +sties for the pigs, and the swineherd kept four watch-dogs to guard +the place, great beasts and fierce as wolves, that he had reared +himself. Ulysses found him at home, sitting in the porch alone, and +cutting himself a pair of sandals from a brown oxhide.</p> +<p>The dogs caught sight of the king as soon as he came up and flew +at him, barking, but he had the wit to let go his staff and sit +down at once on the ground. Still it might have gone hard with him +there in front of his own servant’s house had not +Eumæus rushed out of the porch, dropping the leather in his +haste, and scolded the dogs, driving them off with a volley of +stones.</p> +<p>Then he said to Ulysses, “A little more, old man, and the +dogs would have torn you in pieces, and disgraced me forever. And I +have my full share of trouble as it is, for I have lost the best +master in all the world and must sit here to mourn for him and +fatten his swine for other men, while he is wandering somewhere in +foreign lands, hungry and thirsty perhaps, if he is still alive at +all. But now come in yourself, and let me give you food and drink +and tell me your own tale.”</p> +<p>So he took Ulysses into the house and made a seat for him with a +pile of brushwood boughs and a great thick shaggy goat-skin which +he used for his own bed, and all with so kind a welcome that it +warmed the king’s heart and made him pray the Gods to bless +him for his goodness. But Eumæus only said, “How could +I neglect a stranger, though he were a worse man than you? All +strangers and beggars are sent to us by Zeus. Take my gift and +welcome, though it is little enough I have to give, a servant such +as I, with new masters to lord it over him. For we have lost the +king who would have loved me and given me house and lands and all +that a faithful servant ought to have, whose work is blest by the +Gods and prospers, as mine does here. Alas! he is dead and gone! he +went away with Agamemnon to fight at Troy and never came home +again.”</p> +<p>So saying, the good swineherd rose and fetched what meat and +wine he had, and set it before Ulysses, grieving that he had +nothing better for him because the shameless suitors plundered +everything.</p> +<p>But Ulysses ate and drank eagerly, and when his strength had +come again he asked Eumæus, “My friend, who is this +master of yours you tell me of? Did you not say he was lost for +Agamemnon’s sake? Perhaps I may have seen him, for I have +traveled far.”</p> +<p>But the swineherd answered, “Old man, his wife and son +will believe no traveler’s tale. They have heard too many +such. Every wandering beggar who comes to Ithaca goes to my +mistress with some empty story to get a meal for himself, and she +welcomes him and treats him kindly and asks him about it all, with +the tears running down her cheeks in a woman’s way. Yes, even +you, old man, might learn to weave such tales if you thought they +would get you a cloak or a vest. No, he is dead, and dogs and birds +have eaten him, or else he has fed the fishes and his bones lie +somewhere on the seashore, buried in the sand. And he has left us +all to grieve for him, but no one more than me, who can never have +so kind a master again, not though I had my heart’s desire +and went back to my native land and saw my father and mother, and +the dear home where I was born. It is Ulysses above all whom I long +to see once more. There, stranger, I have called him by his name, +and that I should not do; for he is still my dear master though he +is far away.”</p> +<p>Then Ulysses said, “My friend, your hope has gone and you +will never believe me. But I tell you this and seal it with an +oath: Ulysses will return! Poor as I am, I will take no reward for +my news till he comes to his own again, but you shall give me a new +vest and cloak that day, and I will wear them.”</p> +<p>But the swineherd answered, “Ah, my friend, I shall never +need to pay you that reward. He will never come back again. But now +drink your wine in peace, and let us talk of something else, and do +not call to mind the sorrow that almost breaks my heart. Tell me of +yourself and your own troubles and who you are, and what ship +brought you here, for you will not say you came afoot.”</p> +<p>Then Ulysses pretended he was a Cretan and had fought at Troy, +and told Eumæus a long tale of adventures and how he had been +wrecked at last on the coast of Epirus. The king of the country, he +said, had rescued him, and he had learned that Ulysses had been +there a little while before, and was already on his way to +Ithaca.</p> +<p>The swineherd listened eagerly to it all, but when Ulysses had +finished he said, “Poor friend, my heart aches to hear of all +your sufferings. But there is one thing you should not have said, +one thing I can never believe, and that is that Ulysses will +return. And why need you lie to please me? I can see for myself +that you are old and unhappy, a wanderer whom the Gods have sent to +me. It is not for such a tale I will show you the kindness that you +need, but because I pity you myself and reverence the law of +Zeus.”</p> +<p>“If I lie,” Ulysses answered, “you may have me +thrown from the cliff as a warning to other cheats. I swear it, and +call the Gods to witness.”</p> +<p>But the true-hearted swineherd only said, “I should get a +good name by that, my friend, if I took you into nay house and had +you for my guest, and then murdered you brutally! Do you think I +could pray to Zeus after that without a fear? But now it is +supper-time, and my men will be coming home.” While they +spoke, the herdsmen came up with the swine, and the sows were +driven into the pens, grunting and squealing noisily as they +settled in for the night. Then Eumæus called out, +“Bring in the fattest boar, and let us make a sacrifice in +honor of our guest, and get some reward ourselves for all the +trouble we have spent upon the drove,—trouble lost, since +strangers take the fruit of it all.”</p> +<p>So they brought in a big fat white-tusked boar, while +Eumæus split the wood for the fire. And he did not forget the +Immortals, for he had a pious heart: he made the due offerings +first and prayed for his master’s return, and then he stood +up at the board to carve, and gave each man his share and a special +slice for his guest from the whole length of the chine. Ulysses +took it and thanked him with all his heart:—</p> +<p>“May Father Zeus be your friend, Eumæus, and give +you what I would give you for your kindness to a poor old man like +me.”</p> +<p>But the swineherd said, “Take it, my good friend, take it +and enjoy it. Zeus will give or withhold as it may please him, for +he can do all things.”</p> +<p>So they sat down to the feast, and after they had had their fill +the swineherd’s servant cleared everything away, and then +they made ready for sleep. The evening closed in black and stormy, +and a west wind sprang up bringing the rain with it, and blew hard +all the night; so Eumæus made up a bed of fleeces for Ulysses +by the fire and gave him a great thick cloak as well, that he kept +for the roughest weather. But he could not bring himself to stay +there too, away from his herd of pigs, and he wrapped himself up +warmly and went out to sleep beside them in the open. Ulysses saw, +and smiled to see, what care he took of everything, while he +thought his master was far away.</p> +<p>[On the following morning] Ulysses and the swineherd were +already preparing their breakfast when Telemachus came up. The dogs +knew him and played round him lovingly. “Eumæus,” +said Ulysses, “some friend of yours is coming, for I hear +footsteps, and the dogs are pleased and do not bark.”</p> +<p>He had hardly finished speaking when his own dear son stood in +the doorway. The swineherd started up and dropped the vessels in +which he was mixing the wine. He went to meet his young master and +fell on his neck and kissed him as a father would kiss an only son +escaped from death. “Light of my eyes, dear son, have you +come home at last? When you sailed away to Pylos, I never thought +to see you again. But come in and let me feast my eyes upon you; +for you do not often visit us, but are kept at home in the town, +watching that crowd of ruinous suitors.”</p> +<p>And Telemachus answered, “Gladly, good father; I have come +to see you, and to hear tidings of my mother.”</p> +<p>Then the swineherd told him that his mother still waited +patiently at home, and spent her days and nights in weeping.</p> +<div class="figure"><a href="images/big_376.jpg"><img src= +"images/small_376.jpg" alt="A man kisses his son." id="img08" name= +"img08" width="360" height="563" /></a> +<p>“DEAR SON, HAVE YOU COME HOME AT LAST? WHEN YOU SAILED +AWAY TO PYLOS, I NEVER THOUGHT TO SEE YOU AGAIN. BUT COME IN AND +LET ME FEAST MY EYES UPON YOU; FOR YOU DO NOT OFTEN VISIT US, BUT +ARE KEPT AT HOME IN THE TOWN, WATCHING THAT CROWD OF RUINOUS +SUITORS.” AND TELEMACHUS ANSWERED, “GLADLY, GOOD +FATHER; I HAVE COME TO SEE YOU, AND TO HEAR TIDINGS OF MY +MOTHER.” THEN THE SWINEHERD TOLD HIM THAT HIS MOTHER STILL +WAITED PATIENTLY AT HOME.</p> +</div> +<p>Then Telemachus went into the house, and as he came up Ulysses +rose to give him his seat, but he would not take it, and said, +“Keep your seat, stranger, this man shall make up another for +me.” So Ulysses sat down again, and the swineherd made a seat +for Telemachus of the green brushwood and put a fleece upon it. +Then he set food before them, and when they had eaten, Telemachus +asked who the stranger was, and how he had come to Ithaca. And +Eumæus told him Ulysses’s own story and begged him to +protect the wanderer. But Telemachus thought of the suitors and did +not wish to take him to the palace.</p> +<p>“I will give him a coat and a vest,” he said, +“and shoes for his feet, and a two-edged sword, and I will +send him on his way. But I cannot take him into the house, where +the suitors would mock at him and use him ill. One man cannot +restrain them, and he so young as I.”</p> +<p>Then Ulysses said, “Sir, if I may speak, I would say foul +wrong is done you in your house, and my heart burns at the thought. +Do your people hate you, or will your brothers give you no support? +Would that I were as young as you are, and were Ulysses’s son +or Ulysses himself. I would go to the palace and fall upon all the +throng, and die there, one man against a hundred, sooner than see +the shameful deeds that are done in that glorious house.”</p> +<p>And Telemachus answered, “Hear me, stranger, and I will +tell you all. My people do not hate me, and I have no quarrel with +them. But I have no brothers to stand by me, for Zeus has never +given more than one son to each generation of our line. And there +are many foemen in the house, all the princes of the islands, and +they too woo my mother and threaten my life, and I cannot see how +it will end.”</p> +<p>Then he said to Eumæus, “Go up to the house, old +father, as quickly as you can, and tell my mother that I am come +back safe from Pylos, and I will wait for you here.”</p> +<p>And Eumæus answered, “I hear, master, and +understand. But shall I not go to Laertes on my way and tell him +too? For since you set sail for Pylos, they say he has not eaten or +drunk or gone about his work, but sits in his house sorrowing and +wasting away with grief.”</p> +<p>But Telemachus bade him go straight to the palace and return at +once, and let the queen send word to Laertes by one of the maids. +So Eumæus went forth, and when Athene saw him go, she drew +near, and came and stood by the gateway and showed herself to +Ulysses, a tall and beautiful woman, with wisdom in her look. The +dogs saw her too and were afraid, and shrank away whining into the +corner of the yard, but Telemachus could not see her. Then the +goddess nodded to Ulysses, and he went out and stood before her, +and she said, “Noble Ulysses, now is the time to reveal +yourself to your son, and go forth with him to the town, with death +and doom for the suitors. I shall be near you in the battle and +eager to fight.”</p> +<p>Then she touched him with her golden wand and gave him his +beauty and stature once more, and his old bronzed color came back +and his beard grew thick and his garments shone bright again: and +so she sent him to the hut. And when Telemachus saw him, he +marveled and turned away his eyes, for he thought it must be a +god.</p> +<p>“Stranger,” he said, “you are changed since a +moment ago; your color is not the same, nor your garments. If you +are one of the Immortals, be gracious to us, and let us offer you +gifts and sacrifice.”</p> +<p>Then Ulysses cried out, “I am no god, but your own dear +father, for whose sake you are suffering cruel wrongs and the spite +of men.” And then he kissed his son and let his tears take +their way at last.</p> +<p>But Telemachus could not believe it, and said, “You cannot +be my father, but a god come down to deceive me and make me grieve +still more. No mortal could do what you have done, for a moment +since you were old and wretched, and poorly clad, and now you seem +like one of the heavenly Gods.”</p> +<p>Then his father answered, “My son, no other Ulysses will +ever come back to you. Athene has done this wonder, for she is a +goddess and can make men what she will, now poor, now rich, now +old, now young; such power have the lords of heaven to exalt us or +bring us low.”</p> +<p>Then Telemachus fell on his neck, and they wept aloud together. +And they would have wept out their hearts till evening, had not +Telemachus asked his father how he had come to Ithaca at last; and +Ulysses told him that the sea-kings had brought him and put him on +shore asleep, and that Athene had sent him to the swineherd’s +hut. “But now tell me of the suitors. How many are they and +what manner of men? Can the two of us make head against the +throng?”</p> +<p>“Father,” he answered, “I know well your fame, +mighty and wise in war. But this we could never dare, two men +against a host. They are a hundred and twenty in all, the best +fighting men from Ithaca and the islands round. Think, if you can, +of some champion who would befriend us and give us help.”</p> +<p>And Ulysses made answer, “What think you, if Father Zeus +and the goddess Athene stood by our side? Should we still need +other help?”</p> +<p>“Truly they are the best of champions,” said +Telemachus, “though they sit on high among the clouds; and +they rule both men and Gods.” “And they will be with +us,” said his father, “when we come to the trial of +war. Now at daybreak you must go home and mix with the suitors, and +later on the swineherd will bring me to the town, disguised again +as the old beggar-man; and if they ill-treat me or even strike me +or drag me out of the house, you must look on and bear it. You may +check them by speaking, but they will not listen, for the day of +their doom is at hand. And tell no one that Ulysses has come home, +not even Laertes nor the swineherd nor Penelope herself; we must +keep the secret until we are sure of our friends.”</p> +<p>Then Telemachus said that his father might trust him, and so +they talked on together. Meanwhile Eumæus had reached the +palace with the tidings that Telemachus had returned; and the +suitors who were in the hall heard it and were dismayed, for they +saw that their plot had failed. They went out of the palace and sat +down before the gates, and were talking of sending word to their +ship that was lying in wait for Telemachus, when the ship itself +came into the harbor, with the other princes on board. So they all +went up together to the public square and debated what to do, and +they resolved to murder Telemachus as soon as they found another +chance. Then they went back and sat down again on the polished +seats in the hall.</p> +<p>Now Medon the herald had heard them plotting together in the +square, and went and told Penelope all they had said, and how they +had purposed putting her son to death. She went down at once to the +hall with her women, and stood in the doorway with her bright veil +before her face and spoke to Antinous and said, “Wicked and +insolent man, can it be that they call you in Ithaca one of their +wisest men? No, it is a fool’s work you are doing, plotting +to kill my son. He is helpless before you now, but Zeus is the +friend of the helpless and avenges their wrongs. Impious and +ungrateful too! Did not Ulysses once shield your father from his +enemies and save his life? Yet you waste his substance and would +murder his son?”</p> +<p>Then Eurymachus spoke and tried to soothe her. No one, he said, +should injure Telemachus while he was alive, for he loved him more +than any man on earth. Eurymachus’s words were fair, and +Penelope could say no more; yet all the while he was planning the +death of her son.</p> +<p>In the evening the swineherd reached his hut again, and found +Ulysses changed to the old beggar-man once more, preparing supper +with Telemachus.</p> +<p>“What news, good Eumæus?” said the young man. +“Have the proud lords come home from their ambush, or are +they still waiting out yonder to take me as I return?” And +Eumæus replied, “I did not stay, master, to go through +the town and find out the news, for when I had given my message I +wanted to be at home. But one thing I saw from the brow of the hill +as I came along. A swift ship was entering the harbor, full of +armor and armed men. They may have been the princes, but I cannot +say.”</p> +<p>As he heard this, Telemachus looked at his father and smiled, +but he took good care that the swineherd should not see.</p> +<h3><a id="Vengeance" name="Vengeance">The Vengeance of +Ulysses</a></h3> +<h4><a id="Reception" name="Reception">A. His Reception at the +Palace</a></h4> +<p class="byline"><em>By F.S. Marvin, R.J.C. Mayor, and F.M. +Stowell</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Early next morning, when the rosy-fingered dawn was in the sky, +Telemachus bound on his sandals and took his stout spear in his +hand, and said to the swineherd, “Old friend, I must now be +off to the city and let my mother see me, for I know she will weep +and sigh until I am there myself. And as for this poor stranger, I +would have you take him to the town and let him beg for bite and +sup from door to door, and those who choose can give. For I cannot +be host to every wanderer with all the trouble I have to bear. And +if that makes him angry—well! it is only the worse for him; I +am a man that speaks his mind.”</p> +<p>Then Ulysses answered readily, “Sir, I do not ask to stay +here myself; a beggar should not beg in the fields. Nor am I young +enough to work on a farm at a master’s beck and call. So go +your ways, and your man shall take me with him to the town. But I +will wait till the sun is high, for I am afraid of the morning +frost with these threadbare rags of mine.”</p> +<p>So Telemachus strode away until he reached the palace, and went +into the hall. The old nurse Eurycleia was there with the maids, +spreading fleeces on the inlaid stools and chairs; and she saw him +at once and went up to him with tears in her eyes, and then all the +women gathered round and kissed him and welcomed him home again. +And Penelope came down from her chamber and flung her arms round +her son, and kissed his head and both his eyes, and said to him +tearfully, “You have come home, Telemachus, light of my eyes! +I thought I should never see you again, when you sailed away to +Pylos secretly, against my will, to get tidings of your father. And +now tell me all you heard.”</p> +<p>But Telemachus said to her, “Mother, why make me think of +trouble now, when I have just escaped from death? Rather put on +your fairest robes, and go and pray the Gods to grant us a day of +vengeance. But I must be off to the public square to meet a guest +of mine whom I brought here in my ship. I sent him on before me +with the crew, and bade one of them take him to his house until I +came myself.”</p> +<p>So Penelope went away and prayed to the Gods, while the prince +went down to the public square and found Theoclymenus and brought +him back to the palace, and they sat down together in the hall. +Then one of the old servants brought up a polished table and spread +it for them with good things for their meal, and Penelope came and +sat beside the door, spinning her fine soft yarn. She did not speak +till they had finished, but then she said to her son, +“Telemachus, I see I must go up to my room and lie down on my +bed, the bed I have watered with my tears ever since Ulysses went +away to Troy; for you are determined not to talk to me and tell me +the news of your father before the suitors come into the +hall!”</p> +<p>Then Telemachus said, “Mother, I will tell you all I know. +We reached Pylos and found Nestor there, and he took me into his +splendid house, and welcomed me as lovingly as though I had been a +long-lost son of his own. But he could tell me nothing of my +father, not even if he were alive or dead, and so he sent me on to +Sparta, to the house of Menelaus. There I saw Helen, the fairest of +women, for whom the Greeks and Trojans fought and suffered so long. +Menelaus asked me why I came and I told him about the suitors and +all the wrong they did. Then he cried, ‘Curse on them! The +dastards in the hero’s place! Oh, that Ulysses would return! +They would soon have cause enough to hate this suit of +theirs!’ And then he told me how he had heard tidings of my +father from Proteus, the wizard of the sea. He was living still, so +the wizard said, on an island far away, in the cave of a wood nymph +called Calypso, who kept him there against his will, and he had no +ship to carry him over the broad sea. That was all Menelaus could +tell me; and when I had done my errand I came away, and the Gods +have brought me home in safety.”</p> +<p>And as Penelope listened her heart filled with sorrow; but +Theoclymenus, the seer, said to her, “Listen to me, wife of +Ulysses, and I will prophesy to you; for your son has heard nothing +certain, but I have seen omens that are sure. I swear by Zeus, the +ruler of the Gods, and by the board and the hearth of Ulysses +himself where I am standing now, he is already here in Ithaca, he +knows of all this wickedness, and is waiting to punish the suitors +as they deserve.”</p> +<p>At that moment the princes came in from their sport and flung +their cloaks aside, and set about slaughtering the sheep and the +fatted goats and the swine for their feast.</p> +<p>Meanwhile Ulysses was starting for the town, with the swineherd +to show him the way. He had slung the tattered wallet across his +shoulder, and Eumæus had given him a staff, and every one who +met them would have taken the king for a poor old beggar-man, +hobbling along with his crutch.</p> +<p>So they went down the rocky path till they reached a running +spring by the wayside where the townsfolk got their water. There +was a grove of tall poplars round it, and the cool stream bubbled +down from the rock overhead, and above the fountain there was an +altar to the nymphs where the passers-by laid their offerings.</p> +<p>There they chanced to meet Melanthius, the king’s +goatherd, driving his fattest goats to the town for the +suitors’ feast. He was a favorite of theirs, and did all he +could to please them. Now as soon as he saw the two he broke out +into scoffs and gibes, till the heart of Ulysses grew hot with +anger.</p> +<p>“Look there!” he shouted, “one rascal leading +another! Trust a man to find his mate! A plague on you, swineherd, +where are you taking that pitiful wretch? Another beggar, I +suppose, to hang about the doors and cringe for the scraps and +spoil our feasts? Now if you would only let me have him to watch my +farm and sweep out my stalls and fetch fodder for my kids, he could +drink as much whey as he liked and get some flesh on his bones. But +no! His tricks have spoilt him for any honest work!”</p> +<p>So he jeered at them in his folly, and as he passed he kicked +Ulysses on the thigh, but the king stood firm, and took the blow in +silence, though he could have found it in his heart to strike the +man dead on the spot. But Eumæus turned round fiercely, and +cried to the Gods for vengeance.</p> +<p>“Nymphs of the spring,” he prayed, “if ever my +master honored you, hear my prayer, and send him home again! He +would make a sweep of all your insolence, you good-for-nothing +wretch, loitering here in the city while your flocks are left to +ruin!”</p> +<p>“Oho!” cried Melanthius. “Listen to the +foul-mouthed dog! I must put him on board a ship and sell him in a +foreign land, and make some use of him that way! Why, Ulysses will +never see the day of his return! He is dead and gone; I wish his +son would follow him!”</p> +<p>With that he turned on his heel and hastened away to the palace +hall, where he sat down with the suitors at their feast. And the +other two followed slowly until they reached the gate. There they +paused, and Ulysses caught the swineherd by the hand, and +cried,—</p> +<p>“Eumæus, this must be the palace of the king! No one +could mistake it. See, there is room after room, and a spacious +courtyard with a wall and coping-stones and solid double doors to +make it safe. And I am sure that a great company is seated there at +the banquet, for I can smell the roasted meat and hear the sound of +the lyre.”</p> +<p>Then Eumæus said, “Your wits are quick enough; it is +the very place. And now tell me: would you rather go in alone and +face the princes while I wait here, or will you stay behind and let +me go in first? But if you wait here, you must not wait too long, +for some one might catch sight of you and strike you and drive you +from the gate.”</p> +<p>Then the hero said to him, “I understand; I knew what I +had to meet. Do you go first and I will wait behind. For I have +some knowledge of thrusts and blows, and my heart has learned to +endure; for I have suffered much in storm and battle, and I can +bear this like the rest.”</p> +<p>But while they were talking, a dog who was lying there lifted +his head and pricked his ears. It was the hound Argus, whom Ulysses +had reared himself long ago before the war, but had to leave behind +when he went away to Troy. Once he used to follow the hunters to +the chase, but no one cared for him now when his master was away, +and he lay there covered with vermin, on a dung-heap in front of +the gates. Yet even so, when he felt that Ulysses was near him, he +wagged his tail and dropped his ears; but he had not strength +enough to drag himself up to his master. And when Ulysses saw it, +he turned away his face so that Eumæus should not see the +tears in his eyes, and said, “Eumæus, it is strange +that they let that dog lie there in the dung. He looks a noble +creature, but perhaps he has never been swift enough for the chase, +and they have only kept him for his beauty.”</p> +<p>“Ah, yes!” Eumæus answered, “it is easy +to see that he has no master now. If you had been here when Ulysses +went to Troy, you would have wondered at the creature’s pace +and strength. In the thickest depth of the forest no quarry could +escape him, and no hound was ever keener-scented. But now he is old +and wretched and his lord has perished far away, and the heedless +women take no care of him. Slaves can do nothing as they ought when +the master is not there, for a man loses half his manhood when he +falls into slavery.”</p> +<p>Then Eumæus went on into the palace and up to the hall +where the suitors were. But Argus had seen his master again at +last, and when he had seen him, he died.</p> +<p>As soon as the swineherd came in, Telemachus caught sight of +him, and beckoned him to a stool at his side, and gave him his +share of the feast. After a little while Ulysses came up too, and +sat down on the threshold like a poor old beggar-man. Then his son +sent him meat and bread by the swineherd, and said that a beggar +should be bold, and he ought to go among the princes and ask each +man for a dole. So he went round from one to the other, stretching +out his hand for a morsel in the true beggar’s way. And every +one else felt some pity and gave him an alms, but Antinous mocked +at them all and told them they were ready enough to be generous +with another’s wealth. And at last he grew angry and cursed +Ulysses for a whining rascal, and hurled a footstool at his head, +bidding him begone and trouble them no more. The stool struck +Ulysses on the shoulder, but he stood like a rock, motionless and +silent, with black thoughts in his heart. Then he went back +straight to the threshold and sat down and spoke to all the +company:—</p> +<p>“Listen to me, my lords! No man bears any rancor for a +blow in open war, but Antinous has struck me because I am a beggar +and know the curse of hunger. If there be any gods who avenge the +poor man’s cause, I pray that he may die before his marriage +day!”</p> +<p>At that the others felt shame, and told Antinous he did wrong to +strike the homeless wanderer.</p> +<p>“Who knows?” they said. “He might be one of +the heavenly Gods, and woe to you if he were! For sometimes the +Immortals take upon themselves the likeness of strangers, and enter +our cities, and go about among men, watching the good and evil that +they do.”</p> +<p>Thus they warned him, but he cared little for all they said. And +Telemachus sat there full of rage and grief to see his father +struck, but he kept back the tears and held his peace.</p> +<p>Now Penelope was sitting in her room behind the hall, and she +saw what had happened, and was angry with Antinous, and called the +swineherd to her side.</p> +<p>“Go, good Eumæus, and tell the stranger to come +here. And I will ask him if he has ever heard of Ulysses, for he +looks like a man who has wandered far.”</p> +<p>And the swineherd said, “Yes, he is a Cretan, and has had +all kinds of adventures before he was driven here, and he could +tell you stories that would charm you like a minstrel’s +sweetest song, and you would never tire of listening. And he says +that he has heard of Ulysses, near home, in the rich land of +Epirus, and that he is already on his way to us, bringing a store +of treasures with him.”</p> +<p>Then Penelope said, “Quick, bring the stranger here at +once, and let him speak with me face to face. And if I see that he +tells the truth I will give him a vest and a cloak for +himself.”</p> +<p>So the swineherd hurried back with the message; but Ulysses said +he dared not face the princes a second time and it would be better +to speak with Penelope later in the evening, alone by the fireside; +and when the queen heard this, she said that the stranger was +right. By this time it was afternoon, and Eumæus went up to +Telemachus and whispered that he must be off to his work again. +Telemachus said he might go, but bade him have supper first and +told him to come back next morning without fail. So the swineherd +took his food in the hall, and then started home for his farm, to +look after his pigs and everything that he had charge of there.</p> +<h4><a id="Bow" name="Bow">B. The Trial of the Bow</a></h4> +<p class="byline"><em>Translated by George Herbert Palmer</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>And now the goddess, clear-eyed Athene, put in the mind of +Icarius’s daughter, heedful Penelope, to offer to the suitors +in the hall the bow and the gray steel, as means of sport and +harbingers of death. She mounted the long stairway of her house, +holding a crooked key in her firm hand,—a goodly key of +bronze, having an ivory handle,—and hastened with her damsels +to a far-off room where her lord’s treasure lay, bronze, +gold, and well-wrought steel. Here also lay his curved bow and the +quiver for his arrows,—and many grievous shafts were in it +still,—gifts which a friend had given Ulysses when he met him +once in Lacedæmon,—Iphitus, son of Eurytus, a man like +the Immortals. At Messene the two met, in the house of wise +Orsilochus. Ulysses had come hither to claim a debt, which the +whole district owed him; for upon ships of many oars Messenians +carried off from Ithaca three hundred sheep together with their +herdsmen. In the long quest for these, Ulysses took the journey +when he was but a youth; for his father and the other elders sent +him forth. Iphitus, on the other hand, was seeking horses; for +twelve mares had been lost, which had as foals twelve hardy mules. +These afterwards became the death and doom of Iphitus when he met +the stalwart son of Zeus, the hero Hercules, who well knew deeds of +daring; for Hercules slew Iphitus in his own house, although his +guest, and recklessly did not regard the anger of the Gods nor yet +the proffered table, but slew the man and kept at his own hall the +strong-hoofed mares. It was when seeking these that Iphitus had met +Ulysses and given the bow which in old days great Eurytus was wont +to bear, and which on dying in his lofty hall he left his son. To +Iphitus Ulysses gave a sharp-edged sword and a stout spear, as the +beginning of a loving friendship. They never sat, however, at one +another’s table; ere that could be, the son of Zeus slew +godlike Iphitus, the son of Eurytus, who gave the bow. Royal +Ulysses, when going off to war in the black ships, would never take +this bow. It always stood in its own place at home, as a memorial +of his honored friend. In his own land he bore it.</p> +<p>Now when the royal lady reached this room and stood on the oaken +threshold,—which long ago the carpenter had smoothed with +skill and leveled to the line, fitting the posts thereto and +setting the shining doors,—then quickly from its ring she +loosed the strap, thrust in the key, and with a careful aim shot +back the door-bolts. As a bull roars when feeding in the field, so +roared the goodly door touched by the key, and open flew before +her. She stepped to a raised dais where stood some chests in which +lay fragrant garments. Thence reaching up, she took from its peg +the bow in the glittering case which held it. And now she sat her +down and laid the case upon her lap, and loudly weeping drew her +lord’s bow forth. But when she had had her fill of tears and +sighs, she hastened to the hall to meet the lordly suitors, bearing +in hand the curved bow and the quiver for the arrows, and many +grievous shafts were in it still. Beside her, damsels bore a box in +which lay many a piece of steel and bronze, implements of her +lord’s for games like these. And when the royal lady reached +the suitors, she stood beside a column of the strong-built roof, +holding before her face her delicate wimple, the while a faithful +damsel stood on either hand. And straightway she addressed the +suitors, speaking thus:—</p> +<p>“Hearken, you haughty suitors who beset this house, eating +and drinking ever, now my husband is long gone; no word of excuse +can you suggest except your wish to marry me and win me for your +wife. Well then, my suitors,—since before you stands your +prize,—I offer you the mighty bow of prince Ulysses; and +whoever with his hands shall lightliest bend the bow and shoot +through all twelve axes, him will I follow and forsake this home, +this bridal home, so very beautiful and full of wealth, a place I +think I ever shall remember, even in my dreams.”</p> +<p>So saying, she bade Eumæus, the noble swineherd, deliver +to the suitors the bow and the gray steel. With tears Eumæus +took the arms and laid them down before them. Near by, the neatherd +also wept to see his master’s bow. But Antinous rebuked them, +and spoke to them and said,—</p> +<p>“You stupid boors, who only mind the passing minute, +wretched pair, what do you mean by shedding tears, troubling this +lady’s heart, when already her heart is prostrated with grief +at losing her dear husband? Sit down and eat in silence, or else go +forth and weep, but leave the bow behind, a dread ordeal for the +suitors; for I am sure this polished bow will not be bent with +ease. There is not a man of all now here so powerful as Ulysses. I +saw him once myself, and well recall him, though I was then a +child.”</p> +<p>He spoke, but in his breast his heart was hoping to draw the +string and send an arrow through the steel; yet he was to be the +first to taste the shaft of good Ulysses, whom he now wronged +though seated in his hall, while to like outrage he encouraged all +his comrades. To these now spoke revered Telemachus:—</p> +<p>“Ha! Zeus the son of Cronos has made me play the fool! My +mother—and wise she is—says she will follow some +strange man and quit this house; and I but laugh and in my silly +soul am glad. Come then, you suitors, since before you stands your +prize, a lady whose like cannot be found throughout Achaian land, +in sacred Pylos, Argos, or Mycenæ, in Ithaca itself, or the +dark mainland, as you yourselves well know,—what needs my +mother praise?—come then, delay not with excuse nor longer +hesitate to bend the bow, but let us learn what is to be. I too +might try the bow. And if I stretch it and send an arrow through +the steel, then with no shame to me my honored mother may forsake +this house and follow some one else, leaving me here behind; for I +shall then be able to wield my father’s arms.”</p> +<p>He spoke, and flung his red cloak from his shoulders, rising +full height, and put away the sharp sword also from his shoulder. +First then he set the axes, marking one long furrow for them all, +aligned by cord. The earth on the two sides he stamped down flat. +Surprise filled all beholders to see how properly he set them, +though he had never seen the game before. Then he went and stood +upon the threshold and began to try the bow. Three times he made it +tremble as he sought to make it bend. Three times he slacked his +strain, still hoping in his heart to draw the string and send an +arrow through the steel. And now he might have drawn it by force of +a fourth tug, had not Ulysses shaken his head and stayed the eager +boy. So to the suitors once more spoke revered +Telemachus:—</p> +<p>“Fie! Shall I ever be a coward and a weakling, or am I +still but young and cannot trust my arm to right me with the man +who wrongs me first? But come, you who are stronger men than I, +come try the bow and end the contest.”</p> +<p>So saying, he laid by the bow and stood it on the ground, +leaning it on the firm-set polished door. The swift shaft, too, he +likewise leaned against the bow’s fair knob, and once more +took the seat from which he first arose. Then said to them +Antinous, Eupeithes’ son,—</p> +<p>“Rise up in order all, from left to right, beginning where +the cupbearer begins to pour the wine.”</p> +<p>So said Antinous, and his saying pleased them. Then first arose +Leiodes, son of Œnops, who was their soothsayer and had his +place beside the goodly mixer, farthest along the hall. To him +alone their lawlessness was hateful; he abhorred the suitor crowd. +He it was now who first took up the bow and the swift shaft; and +going to the threshold, he stood and tried the bow. He could not +bend it. Tugging the string wearied his hands,—his soft, +unhorny hands,—and to the suitors thus he spoke:—</p> +<p>“No, friends, I cannot bend it. Let some other take the +bow. Ah, many chiefs this bow shall rob of life and breath! Yet +better far to die than live and still to fail in that for which we +constantly are gathered, waiting expectantly from day to day! Now +each man hopes and purposes at heart to win Penelope, +Ulysses’ wife. But when he shall have tried the bow and seen +his failure, then to some other fair-robed woman of Achaia let each +go, and offer her his suit and woo her with his gifts. So may +Penelope marry the man who gives her most and comes with fate to +favor!”</p> +<p>When he had spoken, he laid by the bow, leaning it on the +firm-set polished door. The swift shaft, too, he likewise leaned +against the bow’s fair knob, and once more took the seat from +which he first arose. But Antinous rebuked him, and spoke to him, +and said,—</p> +<p>“Leiodes, what words have passed the barrier of your +teeth? Strange words and harsh! Vexatious words to hear! As if this +bow must rob our chiefs of life and breath because you cannot bend +it! Why, your good mother did not bear you for a brandisher of bows +and arrows. But others among the lordly suitors will bend it by and +by.”</p> +<p>So saying, he gave an order to Melanthius, the goatherd: +“Hasten, Melanthius, and light a fire in the hall and set a +long bench near, with fleeces on it; then bring me the large cake +of fat which lies inside the door, that after we have warmed the +bow and greased it well, we young men may try the bow and end the +contest.”</p> +<p>He spoke, and straightway Melanthius kindled a steady fire, and +set a bench beside it with a fleece thereon, and brought out the +large cake of fat which lay inside the door, and so the young men +warmed the bow and made their trial. But yet they could not bend +it; they fell far short of power. Antinous, however, still held +back, and prince Eurymachus, who were the suitors’ leaders; +for they in manly excellence were quite the best of all.</p> +<p>Meanwhile out of the house at the same moment came two men, +princely Ulysses’ herdsmen of the oxen and the swine; and +after them came royal Ulysses also from the house. And when they +were outside the gate, beyond the yard, speaking in gentle words +Ulysses said,—</p> +<p>“Neatherd, and you too, swineherd, may I tell a certain +tale, or shall I hide it still? My heart bids me speak. How ready +would you be to aid Ulysses if he should come from somewhere, thus, +on a sudden, and a god should bring him home? Would you support the +suitors or Ulysses? Speak freely, as your heart and spirit bid you +speak.”</p> +<p>Then said to him the herdsman of the cattle, “O father +Zeus, grant this my prayer! May he return and Heaven be his guide! +Then shall you know what might is mine and how my hands +obey.”</p> +<p>So prayed Eumæus too to all the Gods, that wise Ulysses +might return to his own home. So when he knew with certainty the +heart of each, finding his words once more Ulysses said,—</p> +<p>“Lo, it is I, through many grievous toils now in the +twentieth year come to my native land! And yet I know that of my +servants none but you desire my coming. From all the rest I have +not heard one prayer that I return. To you then I will truly tell +what shall hereafter be. If God by me subdues the lordly suitors, I +will obtain you wives and give you wealth and homes established +near my own; and henceforth in my eyes you shall be friends and +brethren of Telemachus. Come, then, and I will show you too a very +trusty sign,—that you may know me certainly and be assured in +heart,—the scar the boar dealt long ago with his white tusk, +when I once journeyed to Parnassus with Autolycus’s +sons.”</p> +<p>So saying, he drew aside his rags from the great scar. And when +the two beheld and understood it all, their tears burst forth; they +threw their arms round wise Ulysses, and passionately kissed his +face and neck. So likewise did Ulysses kiss their heads and hands. +And daylight had gone down upon their weeping had not Ulysses +stayed their tears and said,—</p> +<p>“Have done with grief and wailing, or somebody in coming +from the hall may see, and tell the tale indoors. Nay, go in one by +one, not all together. I will go first, you after. And let this be +agreed: the rest within, the lordly suitors, will not allow me to +receive the bow and quiver. But, noble Eumæus, bring the bow +along the room and lay it in my hands. Then tell the women to lock +the hall’s close-fitting doors; and if from their inner room +they hear a moaning or a strife within our walls, let no one +venture forth, but stay in silence at her work. And noble +Philoetius, in your care I put the courtyard gates. Bolt with the +bar and quickly lash the fastening.”</p> +<p>So saying, Ulysses made his way into the stately house, and went +and took the seat from which he first arose. And soon the +serving-men of princely Ulysses entered too.</p> +<p>Now Eurymachus held the bow and turned it up and down, trying to +heat it at the glowing fire. But still, with all his pains, he +could not bend it; his proud soul groaned aloud. Then bitterly he +spoke; these were the words he said,—</p> +<p>“Ah! here is woe for me and woe for all! Not that I so +much mourn missing the marriage, though vexed I am at that. Still, +there are enough more women of Achaia, both here in sea-girt Ithaca +and in the other cities. But if in strength we fall so short of +princely Ulysses that we cannot bend his bow—oh, the disgrace +for future times to know!”</p> +<p>Then said Antinous, Eupeithes’ son, “Not so, +Eurymachus, and you yourself know better. To-day throughout the +land is the archer-god’s high feast. Who then could bend a +bow? Nay, quietly lay it by; and for the axes, what if we leave +them standing? Nobody. I am sure, will carry one away and trespass +on the house of Laertes’ son, Ulysses. Come then, and let the +wine-pourer give pious portions to our cups, that after a libation +we may lay aside curved bows. To-morrow morning tell Melanthius, +the goatherd, to drive us here the choicest goats of all his flock; +and we will set the thighs before the archer-god, Apollo, then try +the bow and end the contest.”</p> +<p>So said Antinous, and his saying pleased them. Pages poured +water on their hands; young men brimmed bowls with drink and served +to all, with a first pious portion for the cups. And after they had +poured and drunk as their hearts would, then in his subtlety said +wise Ulysses,—</p> +<p>“Hearken, you suitors of the illustrious queen, and let me +tell you what the heart within me bids. I beg a special favor of +Eurymachus, and great Antinous too; for his advice was wise, that +you now drop the bow and leave the matter with the Gods, and in the +morning God shall grant the power to whom he may. But give me now +the polished bow, and let me in your presence prove my skill and +power and see if I have yet such vigor left as once there was +within my supple limbs, or whether wanderings and neglect have +ruined all.”</p> +<p>At these his words all were exceeding wroth, fearing that he +might bend the polished bow. But Antinous rebuked him, and spoke to +him and said, “You scurvy stranger, with not a whit of sense, +are you not satisfied to eat in peace with us, your betters, +unstinted in your food and hearing all we say? Nobody else, +stranger or beggar, hears our talk. ’Tis wine that goads you, +honeyed wine, a thing that has brought others trouble, when taken +greedily and drunk without due measure. Wine crazed the Centaur, +famed Eurytion, at the house of bold Peirithous, on his visit to +the Lapithæ. And when his wits were crazed with wine, he +madly wrought foul outrage on the household of Peirithous. So +indignation seized the heroes. Through the porch and out of doors +they rushed, dragging Eurytion forth, shorn by the pitiless sword +of ears and nose. Crazed in his wits, he went his way, bearing in +his bewildered heart the burden of his guilt. And hence arose a +feud between the Centaurs and mankind; but the beginning of the woe +he himself caused by wine. Even so I prophesy great harm to you, if +you shall bend the bow. No kindness will you meet from any in our +land, but we will send you by black ship straight to King Echetus, +the bane of all mankind, out of whose hands you never shall come +clear. Be quiet, then, and take your drink! Do not presume to vie +with younger men!”</p> +<p>Then said to him heedful Penelope, “Antinous, it is +neither honorable nor fitting to worry strangers who may reach this +palace of Telemachus. Do you suppose the stranger, if he bends the +great bow of Ulysses, confident in his skill and strength of arm, +will lead me home and take me for his wife? He in his inmost soul +imagines no such thing. Let none of you sit at the table disturbed +by such a thought; for that could never, never, be!”</p> +<p>Then answered her Eurymachus, the son of Polybus, +“Daughter of Icarius, heedful Penelope, we do not think the +man will marry you. Of course that could not be. And yet we dread +the talk of men and women, and fear that one of the baser sort of +the Achaians say,’Men far inferior sue for a good man’s +wife, and cannot bend his polished bow. But somebody else—a +wandering beggar—came, and easily bent the bow and sent an +arrow through the steel.’ This they will say, to us a shame +indeed.”</p> +<p>Then said to him heedful Penelope, “Eurymachus, men cannot +be in honor in the land and rudely rob the household of their +prince. Why, then, count this a shame? The stranger is right tall, +and well-knit too, and calls himself the son of a good father. Give +him the polished bow, and let us see. For this I tell you, and it +shall be done: if he shall bend it and Apollo grants his prayer, I +will clothe him in a coat and tunic, goodly garments, give him a +pointed spear to keep off dogs and men, a two-edged sword, and +sandals for his feet, and I will send him where his heart and soul +may bid him go.”</p> +<p>Then answered her discreet Telemachus, “My mother, no +Achaian has better right than I to give or to refuse the bow to any +as I will. And out of all who rule in rocky Ithaca, or in the +islands off toward grazing Elis, none may oppose my will, even if I +wished to put the bows into the stranger’s hands and let him +take them once for all away. Then seek your chamber and attend to +matters of your own,—the loom, the distaff,—and bid the +women ply their tasks. Bows are for men, for all, especially for +me; for power within this house rests here.”</p> +<p>Amazed, she turned to her own room again, for the wise saying of +her son she laid to heart. And coming to the upper chamber with her +maids, she there bewailed Ulysses, her dear husband, till on her +lids clear-eyed Athene caused a sweet sleep to fall.</p> +<p>Meanwhile the noble swineherd, taking the curved bow, was +bearing it away. But the suitors all broke into uproar in the hall, +and a rude youth would say, “Where are you carrying the +curved bow, you miserable swineherd? Crazy fool! Soon out among the +swine, away from men, swift dogs shall eat you,—dogs you +yourself have bred,—will but Apollo and the other deathless +Gods be gracious!” At these their words the bearer of the bow +laid it down where he stood, frightened because the crowd within +the hall cried out upon him. But from the other side Telemachus +called threatening aloud, “Nay, father! Carry on the bow! You +cannot well heed all. Take care, or I, a nimbler man than you, will +drive you to the fields with pelting stones. Superior in strength I +am to you. Ah, would I were as much beyond the others in the house, +beyond these suitors, in my skill and strength of arm! Then would I +soon send somebody away in sorrow from my house; for men work evil +here.”</p> +<p>He spoke, and all burst into merry laughter and laid aside their +bitter anger with Telemachus. And so the swineherd, bearing the bow +along the hall, drew near to wise Ulysses and put it in his hands; +then calling aside nurse Eurycleia, thus he said,—</p> +<p>“Telemachus bids you, heedful Eurycleia, to lock the +hall’s close-fitting doors; and if a woman from the inner +room hears moaning or a strife within our walls, let her not +venture forth, but stay in silence at her work.”</p> +<p>Such were his words; unwinged, they rested with her. She locked +the doors of the stately hall. Then silently from the house +Philoetius stole forth and straightway barred the gates of the +fenced court. Beneath the portico there lay a curved ship’s +cable, made of biblus plant. With this he lashed the gates, then +passed indoors himself, and went and took the seat from which he +first arose, eyeing Ulysses. Now Ulysses already held the bow and +turned it round and round, trying it here and there to see if worms +had gnawed the horn while its lord was far away. And glancing at +his neighbor one would say,—</p> +<p>“A sort of fancier and a trickster with the bow this +fellow is. No doubt at home he has himself a bow like that, or +means to make one like it. See how he turns it in his hands this +way and that, ready for mischief,—rascal!”</p> +<p>Then would another rude youth answer thus: “Oh, may he +always meet with luck as good as when he is unable now to bend the +bow!”</p> +<p>So talked the suitors. Meantime wise Ulysses, when he had +handled the great bow and scanned it closely,—even as one +well skilled to play the lyre and sing stretches with ease round +its new peg a string, securing at each end the twisted sheep-gut, +so without effort did Ulysses string the mighty bow. Holding it now +with his right hand, he tried its cord; and clear to the touch it +sang, voiced like the swallow. Great consternation came upon the +suitors. All faces then changed color. Zeus thundered loud for +signal. And glad was long-tried royal Ulysses to think the son of +crafty Cronos had sent an omen. He picked up a swift shaft which +lay beside him on the table, drawn. Within the hollow quiver still +remained the rest, which the Achaians soon should prove. Then +laying the arrow on the arch, he drew the string and arrow notches, +and forth from the bench on which he sat let fly the shaft, with +careful aim, and did not miss an axe’s ring from first to +last, but clean through all sped on the bronze-tipped arrow; and to +Telemachus he said,—</p> +<p>“Telemachus, the guest now sitting in your hall brings you +no shame. I did not miss my mark, nor in the bending of the bow +make a long labor. My strength is sound as ever, not what the +mocking suitors here despised. But it is time for the Achaians to +make supper ready, while it is daylight still; and then for us in +other ways to make them sport,—with dance and lyre; for these +attend a feast.”</p> +<p>He spoke and frowned the sign. His sharp sword then Telemachus +girt on, the son of princely Ulysses clasped his right hand around +his spear, and close beside his father’s seat he took his +stand, armed with the gleaming bronze.</p> +<h4><a id="Suitors" name="Suitors">C. The Slaying of the +Suitors</a></h4> +<p class="byline"><em>By F.S. Marvin, R.J.C. Mayor, and F.M. +Stowell</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Ulysses sprang to the great threshold with the bow and quiver in +his hand. He poured out the arrows at his feet, and shouted to the +princes, “So ends the game you could not play! Now for +another mark which no man has ever hit before!”</p> +<p>With that he shot at Antinous. He, as it chanced, was just +lifting a golden cup from the board, never dreaming that death +would meet him there with all his comrades round him at the feast. +But before the wine touched his lips the arrow struck him in the +throat, and the cup dropped from his hand, and he fell dying to the +floor. The princes sprang to their feet when they saw their comrade +fallen, and looked round the walls for armor, but there was not a +spear or shield to be found. Then they turned in fury on Ulysses: +“Madman, are you shooting at men? You have slain the noblest +youth in Ithaca, and you shall not live to draw bow +again.”</p> +<p>But Ulysses faced them sternly and said, “Dogs, you +thought that I should never return. You have rioted in my home, and +outraged the women of my household, and you have wooed my own wife +while I was yet a living man. You took no thought for the Gods who +rule in heaven, nor for the indignation of men in days hereafter. +Now your time is come.”</p> +<p>All grew pale as he spoke, and Eurymachus alone found words: +“If you are in truth King Ulysses, your words are just; there +have been many shameful deeds done upon your lands and in your +house. But Antinous, who was the cause of all, lies dead; it was he +who lead us on, hoping that he might take your kingdom for himself. +Spare us now that he has met his doom, for we are your own people; +and we will make you full atonement for all that has been eaten and +drunk in your halls.”</p> +<p>“Eurymachus, you might give me all you have, but even then +I would not hold my hands until I had taken vengeance for every +wrong. You have your choice. Fight, or fly, if you think that +flight can save you.”</p> +<p>At that their knees shook beneath them, but Eurymachus cried, +“Comrades, this man will have no mercy. He has got the bow in +his hands, and he will shoot us down from the threshold, so long as +there is one of us left alive. Draw your swords, and guard +yourselves, with the tables; and let us all set upon him at once +and drive him from the doorway. If we can reach the city, we are +safe.”</p> +<p>As he spoke he drew his sword and sprang forward with a cry; and +at the same moment Ulysses shot. The arrow struck him in the +breast, and he dropped forward over the table, while the mist of +death sank upon his eyes. Then Amphinomus made a rush on the +doorway. But Telemachus was too quick for him; he hurled his spear +and struck him from behind between the shoulders, and he fell +crashing on the floor. Telemachus sprang back, leaving the spear, +for he dared not wait to draw it out. He darted to his +father’s side. “Father, we ought to have armor; I will +go and get weapons for us.”</p> +<p>“Run and bring them,” said. Ulysses, “while I +have arrows left; when these are gone I cannot hold the doorway +against them all.”</p> +<p>So Telemachus ran to the armory and hurried back with helmets +and shields and spears; and he armed himself and made the two +servants do the same, and they took their stand beside the king. +While the arrows lasted, Ulysses shot, and struck down the wooers +man by man. And then he leant the bow against the doorpost, and +slung the shield about him and put on the helmet and took two +spears in his hand.</p> +<p>Now there was a postern in the hall, close beside the great +doorway and opening on the corridor. Ulysses had put the swineherd +to guard it, and now the boldest of the suitors said to the rest, +“Could not some of us force a passage there and raise the cry +for rescue?”</p> +<p>“Little use in that,” said Melanthius, “the +great doorway is too close, and one brave man might stop us all +before we reached the court. I have a better plan. Ulysses and his +son have stowed away the weapons, and I think I know where they +are. I will go and fetch you what you need.”</p> +<p>With these words he clambered up through the lights of the hall +and got into the armory, and fetched out twelve shields and as many +spears and helmets, and brought them to the princes. The heart of +Ulysses misgave him when he saw the armor and the long spears in +their hands; and he felt that the fight would go hard, and said to +Telemachus, “Melanthius or one of the women has betrayed +us.”</p> +<p>“Father, it was my fault,” said Telemachus; “I +left the door of the armory open, and one of them must have kept +sharper watch than I did. Go, Eumæus, make fast the door, and +see whether this is the doing of Melanthius, as I guess.”</p> +<p>While they spoke, Melanthius went again to fetch more armor, and +the swineherd spied him and said, “There is the villain going +to the armory, as we thought; tell me, shall I kill him, if I can +master him, or shall I bring him here to suffer for his +sins?” “Telemachus and I will guard the doorway +here,” said Ulysses, “and you and the shepherd shall +bind him hand and foot and leave him in the chamber to wait his +doom.”</p> +<p>So the two went up to the armory, and stood in wait on either +side of the door; and as Melanthius came out, they leapt upon him +and dragged him back by the hair and flung him on the ground and +bound him tightly to a pillar hand and foot. “Lie +there,” said Eumæus, “and take your ease: the +dawn will not find you sleeping, when it is time for you to rise +and drive out your goats.” With that they went back to join +Ulysses, and the four stood together at the threshold,—four +men against a host.</p> +<p>Then Athene came among them in the likeness of Mentor, and +Ulysses knew her and rejoiced. “Mentor,” he shouted, +“help me in my need, for we are comrades from of old.” +And the wooers sent up another shout, “Do not listen to him, +Mentor; or your turn will come when he is slain.” But Athene +taunted Ulysses and spurred him to the fight: “Have you lost +your strength and courage, Ulysses? It was not thus you did battle +for Helen in the ten years’ war at Troy. Is it so hard to +face the suitors in your own house and home? Come, stand by me, and +see if Mentor forgets old friendship.” Yet she left the +victory still uncertain, that she might prove his courage to the +full. She turned herself into a swallow and flew up into the roof +and perched on a blackened rafter overhead.</p> +<p>Then the wooers took courage, when they saw that Mentor was +gone, and that the four stood alone in the doorway. And one of them +said to the rest, “Let six of us hurl our spears together at +Ulysses. If once he falls, there will be little trouble with the +rest.” So they flung their spears as he bade them; but all of +them missed the mark. Then Ulysses gave the word to his men, and +they all took steady aim and threw, and each one killed his man; +and the wooers fell back into the farther end of the hall, while +the four dashed on together and drew out their spears from the +bodies of the slain. Once more the suitors hurled, and Telemachus +and the swineherd were wounded; but the other spears fell wide. +Then at last Athene lifted her shield of war high +overhead,—the shield that brings death to men,—and +panic seized the wooers, and they fled through the hall like a +drove of cattle when the gadfly stings them. But the four leapt on +them like vultures swooping from the clouds; and they fled left and +right through the hall, but there was no escape.</p> +<p>Only Phemius, the minstrel, whom the wooers had forced to sing +before them, sprang forward and clasped the knees of Ulysses and +said, “Have mercy on me, Ulysses: you would not slay a +minstrel, who gladdens the hearts of Gods and men? The princes +forced me here against my will.”</p> +<p>And Telemachus heard and said to his father, “Do not hurt +him, for he is not to blame: and let us save the herald too, if he +is yet alive, for he took care of me when I was a child.”</p> +<p>Now the herald had hidden himself under a stool and pulled an +ox-hide over him, and when he heard this he crept out and clasped +the knees of Telemachus and begged that he would plead for him. +“Have no fear,” said Ulysses; “my son has saved +your life. Go out, you and the minstrel, and wait in the courtyard, +for I have other work to do within.” So the two went out into +the courtyard, and sat down beside the altar, looking for their +death each moment.</p> +<p>Then Ulysses searched through the hall, to see if any one was +yet lurking alive. But they all lay round him fallen in the dust +and blood, heaped upon each other like fishes on a sunny beach when +the fisherman has drawn his net to land. Then he told Telemachus to +call out the old nurse Eurycleia. She came and found Ulysses +standing among the bodies of the slain, with his hands and feet all +stained with blood, and she was ready to shout aloud for triumph +when she saw the great work accomplished. But Ulysses checked her +cry and said, “Keep your joy unspoken, old nurse; there +should be no shout of triumph over the slain. It is the judgment of +Heaven that has repaid them for the evil deeds they did.”</p> +<p>Then he gave orders that the bodies of the dead should be +carried out and that the blood should be washed away. And when this +was done he turned to Eurycleia and said, “Bring fire and +sulphur now and I will purify the hall. Then bid Penelope meet me +here.”</p> +<p>“Yes, my child,” said the old nurse, “I will +obey you. But let me bring you a mantle first: it is not fitting +that you should stand here with only your rags to cover you.” +But Ulysses said that she must do his bidding at once. So she +brought sulphur and lit a fire, and Ulysses purified the hall.</p> +<h4><a id="Penelope" name="Penelope">D. Penelope Recognizes +Ulysses</a></h4> +<p class="byline"><em>Translated by George Herbert Palmer</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>The old woman, full of glee, went to the upper chamber to tell +her mistress her dear lord was in the house. Her knees grew strong; +her feet outran themselves. By Penelope’s head she paused, +and thus she spoke:—</p> +<p>“Awake, Penelope, dear child, to see with your own eyes +what you have hoped to see this many a day! Ulysses is here! He has +come home at last, and slain the haughty suitors, the men who vexed +his house, devoured his substance, and oppressed his +son.”</p> +<p>Then heedful Penelope said to her, “Dear nurse, the Gods +have crazed you. They can befool one who is very wise, and often +they have set the simple in the paths of prudence. They have +confused you; you were sober-minded heretofore. Why mock me when my +heart is full of sorrow, telling wild tales like these? And why +arouse me from the sleep that sweetly bound me and kept my eyelids +closed? I have not slept so soundly since Ulysses went away to see +accursed Ilium,—name never to be named. Nay then, go down, +back to the hall. If any other of my maids had come and told me +this and waked me out of sleep, I would soon have sent her off in +sorry wise into the hall once more. This time age serves you +well.”</p> +<p>Then said to her the good nurse Eurycleia, “Dear child, I +do not mock you. In very truth it is Ulysses; he is come, as I have +said. He is the stranger whom everybody in the hall has set at +naught. Telemachus knew long ago that he was here, but out of +prudence hid his knowledge of his father till he should have +revenge from those bold men for wicked deeds.”</p> +<p>So spoke she; and Penelope was glad, and, springing from her +bed, fell on the woman’s neck, and let the tears burst from +her eyes; and, speaking in winged words, she said,—</p> +<p>“Nay, tell me, then, dear nurse, and tell me truly; if he +is really come as you declare, how was it he laid hands upon the +shameless suitors, being alone, while they were always here +together?”</p> +<p>Then answered her the good nurse Eurycleia, “I did not +see; I did not ask; I only heard the groans of dying men. In a +corner of our protected chamber we sat and trembled,—the +doors were tightly closed,—until your son Telemachus called +to me from the hall; for his father bade him call. And there among +the bodies of the slain I found Ulysses standing. All around, +covering the trodden floor, they lay, one on another. It would have +warmed your heart to see him, like a lion, dabbled with blood and +gore. Now all the bodies are collected at the courtyard gate, while +he is fumigating the fair house by lighting a great fire. He sent +me here to call you. Follow me, then, that you may come to gladness +in your true hearts together, for sorely have you suffered. Now the +long hope has been at last fulfilled. He has come back alive to his +own hearth, and found you still, you and his son, within his hall; +and upon those who did him wrong, the suitors, on all of them here +in his home he has obtained revenge.”</p> +<p>Then heedful Penelope said to her, “Dear nurse, be not too +boastful yet, nor filled with glee. You know how welcome here the +sight of him would be to all, and most to me and to the son we had. +But this is no true tale you tell. Nay, rather some immortal slew +the lordly suitors, in anger at their galling insolence and wicked +deeds; for they respected nobody on earth, bad man or good, who +came among them. So for their sins they suffered. But Ulysses, far +from Achaia, lost the hope of coming home; nay, he himself was +lost.”</p> +<p>Then answered her the good nurse Eurycleia, “My child, +what word has passed the barrier of your teeth, to say your +husband, who is now beside your hearth, will never come! Your heart +is always doubting. Come, then, and let me name another sign most +sure,—the scar the boar dealt long ago with his white tusk. I +found it as I washed him, and I would have told you then; but he +laid his hand upon my mouth, and in his watchful wisdom would not +let me speak. But follow me. I stake my very life; if I deceive +you, slay me by the vilest death.”</p> +<p>Then heedful Penelope answered her, “Dear nurse, +‘tis hard for you to trace the counsels of the everlasting +Gods, however wise you are. Nevertheless, let us go down to meet my +son, and see the suitors who are dead, and him who slew +them.”</p> +<p>So saying, she went from her chamber to the hall, and much her +heart debated whether aloof to question her dear husband, or to +draw near and kiss his face and take his hand. But when she +entered, crossing the stone threshold, she sat down opposite +Ulysses, in the firelight, beside the farther wall. He sat by a +tall pillar, looking down, waiting to hear if his stately wife +would speak when she should look his way. But she sat silent long; +amazement filled her heart. Now she would gaze with a long look +upon his face, and now she would not know him for the mean clothes +that he wore. But Telemachus rebuked her, and spoke to her and +said,—</p> +<p>“Mother, hard mother, of ungentle heart, why do you hold +aloof so from my father, and do not sit beside him, plying him with +words and questions? There is no other woman of such stubborn +spirit to stand off from the husband who, after many grievous +toils, comes in the twentieth year home to his native land. Your +heart is always harder than a stone!”</p> +<p>Then said to him heedful Penelope, “My child, my soul +within is dazed with wonder. I cannot speak to him, nor ask a +question, nor look him in the face. But if this indeed is Ulysses, +come at last, we certainly shall know each other better than others +know; for we have signs which we two understand,—signs hidden +from the rest.”</p> +<p>As she, long tried, spoke thus, royal Ulysses smiled, and said +to Telemachus forthwith in winged words, “Telemachus, leave +your mother in the hall to try my truth. She soon will know me +better. Now, because I am foul and dressed in sorry clothes, she +holds me in dishonor, and says I am not he. But you and I have yet +to plan how all may turn out well. For whoso kills one man among a +tribe, though the man leaves few champions behind, becomes an +exile, quitting kin and country. We have destroyed the pillars of +the state, the very noblest youths of Ithaca. Form, then, a plan, I +pray.”</p> +<p>Then answered him discreet Telemachus, “Look you to that, +dear father. Your wisdom is, they say, the best among mankind. No +mortal man can rival you. Zealously will we follow, and not fail, I +think, in daring, so far as power is ours.”</p> +<p>Then wise Ulysses answered him and said, “Then I will tell +you what seems best to me. First wash and put on tunics, and bid +the maids about the house array themselves. Then let the sacred +bard with tuneful lyre lead us in sportive dancing, that men may +say, hearing us from without, ‘It is a wedding,’ +whether such men be passers-by or neighboring folk; and so broad +rumor may not reach the town about the suitors’ murder till +we are gone to our well-wooded farm. There will we plan as the +Olympian shall grant us wisdom.”</p> +<p>So he spoke, and willingly they heeded and obeyed. For first +they washed themselves and put on tunics, and the women also put on +their attire. And then the noble bard took up his hollow lyre, and +in them stirred desire for merry music and the gallant dance; and +the great house resounded to the tread of lusty men and gay-girt +women. And one who heard the dancing from without would say, +“Well, well! some man has married the long-courted queen. +Hard-hearted! For the husband of her youth she would not guard her +great house to the end, till he should come.” So they would +say, but knew not how things were.</p> +<p>Meanwhile within the house Eurynome, the housekeeper, bathed +resolute Ulysses and anointed him with oil, and on him put a goodly +robe and tunic. Upon his face Athene cast great beauty; she made +him taller than before, and stouter to behold, and made the curling +locks to fall round his head as on the hyacinth flower. As when a +man lays gold on silver,—some skillful man whom Vulcan and +Pallas Athene have trained in every art, and he fashions graceful +work, so did she cast a grace upon his head and shoulders. Forth +from the bath he came, in bearing like the Immortals, and once more +took the seat from which he first arose, facing his wife, and spoke +to her these words:—</p> +<p>“Lady, a heart impenetrable beyond the sex of women the +dwellers on Olympus gave to you. There is no other woman of such +stubborn spirit to stand off from the husband who, after many +grievous toils, comes in the twentieth year home to his native +land. Come, then, good nurse, and make my bed, that I may lie +alone. For certainly of iron is the heart within her +breast.”</p> +<p>Then said to him heedful Penelope, “Nay, sir, I am not +proud, nor contemptuous of you, nor too much dazed with wonder. I +very well remember what you were when you went upon your long-oared +ship away from Ithaca. However, Eurycleia, make up his massive bed +outside that stately chamber which he himself once built. Move the +massive frame out there, and throw the bedding on,—the +fleeces, robes, and bright-hued rugs.”</p> +<p>She said this in the hope to prove her husband, but Ulysses +spoke in anger to his faithful wife: “Woman, these are bitter +words which you have said! Who set my bed elsewhere? A hard task +that would be for one, however skilled,—unless a god should +come and by his will set it with ease upon some other spot; but +among men no living being, even in his prime, could lightly shift +it; for a great token is inwrought into its curious frame. I built +it; no one else. There grew a thick-leaved olive shrub inside the +yard, full-grown and vigorous, in girth much like a pillar. Round +this I formed my chamber, and I worked till it was done, building +it out of close-set stones, and roofing it over well. Framed and +tight-fitting doors I added to it. Then I lopped the thick-leaved +olive’s crest, cutting the stem high up above the roots, +neatly and skillfully smoothed with my axe the sides, and to the +line I kept all true to shape my post, and with an auger I bored it +all along. Starting with this, I fashioned me the bed till it was +finished, and I inlaid it well with gold, with silver, and with +ivory. On it I stretched a thong of ox-hide, gay with purple. This +is the token I now tell. I do not know whether the bed still stands +there, wife, or whether somebody has set it elsewhere, cutting the +olive trunk.”</p> +<p>As he spoke thus, her knees grew feeble and her very soul, when +she recognized the tokens which Ulysses exactly told. Then bursting +into tears, she ran straight toward him, threw her arms round +Ulysses’ neck and kissed his face, and said,—</p> +<p>“Ulysses, do not scorn me! Ever before, you were the +wisest of mankind. The Gods have sent us sorrow, and grudged our +staying side by side to share the joys of youth and reach the +threshold of old age. But do not be angry with me now, nor take it +ill that then when I first saw you I did not greet you thus; for +the heart within my breast was always trembling. I feared some man +might come and cheat me with his tale. Many a man makes wicked +schemes for gain. Nay, Argive Helen, the daughter of Zeus, would +not have given herself to love a stranger if she had known how +warrior sons of the Achaians would bring her home again, back to +her native land. And yet it was a god prompted her deed of shame. +Before, she did not cherish in her heart such sin, such grievous +sin, from which began the woe which stretched to us. But now, when +you have clearly told the tokens of our bed, which no one else has +seen, but only you and I and the single servant, Actoris, whom my +father gave me on my coming here to keep the door of our closed +chamber,—you make even my ungentle heart believe.”</p> +<p>So she spoke, and stirred still more his yearning after tears; +and he began to weep, holding his loved and faithful wife. As when +the welcome land appears to swimmers, whose sturdy ship Neptune +wrecked at sea, confounded by the winds and solid waters; a few +escape the foaming sea and swim ashore; thick salt foam crusts +their flesh; they climb the welcome land, and are escaped from +danger; so welcome to her gazing eyes appeared her husband. From +round his neck she never let her white arms go. And rosy-fingered +dawn had found them weeping, but a different plan the goddess +formed, clear-eyed Athene. She checked the long night in its +passage, and at the ocean-stream she stayed the gold-throned dawn, +and did not suffer it to yoke the swift-paced horses which carry +light to men, Lampus and Phaethon, which bear the dawn. And now to +his wife said wise Ulysses,—</p> +<p>“O wife, we have not reached the end of all our trials +yet. Hereafter comes a task immeasurable, long and severe, which I +must needs fulfill; for so the spirit of Tiresias told me, that day +when I descended to the house of Hades to learn about the journey +of my comrades and myself. But come, my wife, let us to bed, that +there at last we may refresh ourselves with pleasant +sleep.”</p> +<p>Then said to him heedful Penelope, “The bed shall be +prepared whenever your heart wills, now that the Gods have let you +reach your stately house and native land. But since you speak of +this, and God inspires your heart, come, tell that trial. In time +to come, I know, I shall experience it. To learn about it now, +makes it no worse.”</p> +<p>Then wise Ulysses answered her and said, “Lady, why urge +me so insistently to tell? Well, I will speak it out; I will not +hide it. Yet your heart will feel no joy; I have no joy myself; for +Tiresias bade me go to many a peopled town, bearing in hand a +shapely oar, till I should reach the men that know no sea and do +not eat food mixed with salt. These, therefore, have no knowledge +of the red-cheeked ships, nor of the shapely oars which are the +wings of ships. And this was the sign, he said, easy to be +observed. I will not hide it from you. When another traveler, +meeting me, should say I had a winnowing-fan on my white shoulder, +there in the ground he bade me fix my oar and make fit offerings to +lord Neptune,—a ram, a bull, and the sow’s mate, a +boar,—and, turning homeward, to offer sacred hecatombs to the +immortal gods who hold the open sky, all in the order due. And on +myself death from the sea shall very gently come and cut me off, +bowed down with hale old age. Round me shall be a prosperous +people. All this, he said, should be fulfilled.”</p> +<p>Then said to him heedful Penelope, “If gods can make old +age the better time, then there is hope there will be rest from +trouble.”</p> +<p>So they conversed together. Meanwhile, Eurynome and the nurse +prepared their bed with clothing soft, under the light of blazing +torches. And after they had spread the comfortable bed, with busy +speed, the old woman departed to her room to rest; while the +chamber-servant, Eurynome, with torch in hand, walked on before, as +they two came to bed. She brought them to their chamber, and then +she went her way. So they came gladly to their old bed’s +rites. And now Telemachus, the neatherd, and the swineherd stayed +their feet from dancing, and bade the women stay, and all betook +themselves to rest throughout the dusky halls.</p> +<p>So when the pair had joyed in happy love, they joyed in talking +too, each one relating; she, the royal lady, what she endured at +home, watching the wasteful throng of suitors, who, making excuse +of her, slew many cattle, beeves, and sturdy sheep, and stores of +wine were drained from out the casks; he, high-born Ulysses, what +miseries he brought on other men and what he bore himself in +anguish,—all he told, and she was glad to listen. No sleep +fell on her eyelids till he had told her all.</p> +<p>He began with how at first he conquered the Ciconians, and came +thereafter to the fruitful land of Lotus-Eaters; then what the +Cyclops did, and how he took revenge for the brave comrades whom +the Cyclops ate, and never pitied; then how he came to Æolus, +who gave him hearty welcome and sent him on his way; but it was +fated that he should not reach his dear land yet, for a sweeping +storm bore him once more along the swarming sea, loudly lamenting; +how he came to Telepylus in Læstrygonia, where the men +destroyed his ships and his mailed comrades, all of them; Ulysses +fled in his black ship alone. He told of Circe, too, and all her +crafty guile; and how on a ship of many oars he came to the +mouldering house of Hades, there to consult the spirit of Teiresias +of Thebes, and looked on all his comrades, and on the mother who +had borne him and cared for him when little; how he had heard the +full-voiced Sirens’ song; how he came to the Wandering Rocks, +to dire Charybdis and to Scylla, past whom none goes unharmed; how +then his crew slew the Sun’s kine; how Zeus with a blazing +bolt smote his swift ship,—Zeus, thundering from on +high,—and his good comrades perished, utterly, all, while he +escaped their evil doom; how he came to the island of Ogygia and to +the nymph Calypso, who held him in her hollow grotto, wishing him +to be her husband, cherishing him, and saying she would make him an +immortal, young forever, but she never beguiled the heart within +his breast; then how he came through many toils to the +Phæacians, who honored him exceedingly, as if he were a god, +and brought him on his way to his native land, giving him stores of +bronze and gold and clothing. This was the latest tale he told, +when pleasant sleep fell on him, easing his limbs and from his +heart removing care.</p> +<h2><a id="TrojanWanderings" name="TrojanWanderings">THE WANDERINGS +OF THE TROJAN ÆNEAS</a></h2> +<h3><a id="Flight" name="Flight">The Flight of Æneas from the +Ruins of Troy</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Alfred J. Church</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Æneas, a famous Trojan warrior, fought bravely as long as +the city stood; but when it had fallen, he bethought himself of his +father Anchises, and his wife Creusa, and of his little son +Ascanius, and how he had left them without defense at home. But as +he turned to seek them, the night being now, by reason of many +fires, as clear as the day, he espied Helen sitting in the temple +of Vesta, where she had sought sanctuary; for she feared the men of +Troy, to whom she had brought ruin and destruction, and not less +her own husband, whom she had deceived. Then was his wrath kindled, +and he spake to himself, “Shall this evil woman return safe +to Sparta? Shall she see again her home and her children, with +Trojan women forsooth to be her handmaidens? Shall Troy be burnt +and King Priam be slain, and she take no harm? Not so; for though +there be no glory to be won from such a deed, yet shall I satisfy +myself, taking vengeance upon her for my kinsmen and my +countrymen.” But while he thought these things in his heart, +lo! there appeared unto him Venus, his mother, made manifest as he +had never seen her before, as fair and as tall as the dwellers in +heaven behold her. Then Venus spake thus: “What meaneth all +this rage, my son? Hast thou no care for me? Hast thou forgotten +thy father Anchises, and thy wife, and thy little son? Of a surety +the fire and the sword had consumed them long since but that I +cared for them and saved them. It is not Helen, no, nor Paris, that +hath laid low this great city of Troy, but the wrath of the Gods. +See now, for I will take away the mist that covers thine eyes; see +how Neptune with his trident is overthrowing the walls and rooting +up the city from its foundations; and how Juno stands with spear +and shield in the Scæan Gate and calls fresh hosts from the +ships; and how Pallas sits on the height with the storm-cloud about +her and her Gorgon shield; and how Father Jupiter himself stirs up +the enemy against Troy. Fly, therefore, my son. I will not leave +thee till thou shalt reach thy father’s house.” And as +she spake she vanished in the darkness.</p> +<p>Then did Æneas see dreadful forms and gods who were +enemies of Troy, and before his eyes the whole city seemed to sink +down into the fire. Even as a mountain oak upon the hills on which +the woodmen ply their axes bows its head while all its boughs shake +about it, till at last, as blow comes after blow, with a mighty +groan it falls crashing down from the height, even so the city +seemed to fall. Then did Æneas pass on his way, the goddess +leading him, and the flames gave place to him, and the javelins +harmed him not.</p> +<p>But when he was come to his house he bethought him first of the +old man his father; but when he would have carried him to the +hills, Anchises would not, being loath to live in some strange +country when Troy had perished. “Nay,” said he, +“fly ye who are strong and in the flower of your days. But as +for me, if the Gods had willed that I should live, they had saved +this dwelling for me. Enough it is, yea, and more than enough, that +once I have seen this city taken, and lived. Bid me, then, farewell +as though I were dead. Death will I find for myself. And truly I +have long lingered here a useless stock and hated of the Gods, +since Jupiter smote me with the blast of his thunder.”</p> +<p>Nor could the old man be moved from his purpose, though his son +and his son’s wife, and even the child Ascanius, besought him +with many tears that he should not make yet heavier the doom that +was upon them. Then was Æneas minded to go back to the battle +and die. For what hope was left? “Thoughtest thou, my +father,” he cried, “that I should flee and leave thee +behind? What evil word is this that has fallen from thy lips? If +the Gods will have it that nought of Troy should be left, and thou +be minded that thou and thine should perish with the city, be it +so. The way is easy; soon will Pyrrhus be here: Pyrrhus, red with +Priam’s blood; Pyrrhus, who slays the son before the face of +the father, and the father at the altar. Was it for this, kind +Mother Venus, that thou broughtest me safe through fire and sword, +to see the enemy in my home, and my father and my wife and my son +lying slaughtered together? Comrades, give me my arms, and take me +back to the battle. At the least I will die avenged.”</p> +<p>But as he girded on his arms and would have departed from the +house, his wife Creusa caught his feet upon the threshold, staying +him, and held out the little Ascanius, saying, “If thou goest +to thy death, take wife and child with thee; but if thou hopest +aught from arms, guard first the house where thou hast father and +wife and child.”</p> +<p>And lo! as she spake there befell a mighty marvel, for before +the face of father and mother there was seen to shine a light on +the head of the boy Ascanius, and to play upon his waving hair and +glitter on his temples. And when they feared to see this thing, and +would have stifled the flame or quenched it with water, the old man +Anchises in great joy raised his eyes to heaven, and cried aloud, +“O Father Jupiter, if prayer move thee at all, give thine aid +and make this omen sure.” And even as he spake the thunder +rolled on his left hand, and a star shot through the skies, leaving +a long trail of light behind, and passed over the house-tops till +it was hidden in the woods of Ida. Then the old man lifted himself +up and did obeisance to the star, and said, “I delay no more: +whithersoever ye lead I will follow. Gods of my country, save my +house and my grandson. This omen is of you. And now, my son, I +refuse not to go.”</p> +<p>Then said Æneas, and as he spake the fire came nearer, and +the light was clearer to see, and the heat more fierce, +“Climb, dear father, on my shoulders; I will bear thee, nor +grow weary with the weight. We will be saved or perish together. +The little Ascanius shall go with me, and my wife follow behind, +not over near. And ye, servants of my house, hearken to me; ye mind +how that to one who passes out of the city there is a tomb and a +temple of Ceres in a lonely place, and an ancient cypress-tree hard +by. There will we gather by divers ways. And do thou, my father, +take the holy images in thy hands, for as for me, who have but +newly come from battle, I may not touch them till I have washed me +in the running stream.”</p> +<p>And as he spake he put a cloak of lion’s skin upon his +shoulders, and the old man sat thereon. Ascanius also laid hold of +his hand, and Creusa followed behind. So he went in much dread and +trembling. For indeed before sword and spear of the enemy he had +not feared, but now he feared for them that were with him. But when +he was come nigh unto the gates, and the journey was well-nigh +finished, there befell a grievous mischance, for there was heard a +sound as of many feet through the darkness; and the old man cried +to him, “Fly, my son, fly; they are coming. I see the +flashing of shields and swords.” But as Æneas hasted to +go, Creusa his wife was severed from him. But whether she wandered +from the way or sat down in weariness, no man may say. Only he saw +her no more, nor knew her to be lost, till all his company being +met at the temple of Ceres, she only was found wanting. Very +grievous did the thing seem to him, nor did he cease to cry out in +his wrath against Gods and men. Also he bade his comrades have a +care of his father and his son, and of the household gods, and +girded him again with arms, and so passed into the city. And first +he went to the wall and to the gate by which he had come forth, and +then to his house, if haply she had returned thither. But there +indeed the men of Greece were come, and the fire had well-nigh +mastered it. And after that he went to the citadel and to the +palace of King Priam. And lo! in the porch of Juno’s temple, +Phœnix and Ulysses were keeping guard over the spoil, even +the treasure of the temples, tables of the Gods, and solid cups of +gold, and raiment, and a long array of them that had been taken +captive, children and women. But not the less did he seek his wife +through all the streets of the city, yea, and called her aloud by +name. But lo! as he called, the image of her whom he sought seemed +to stand before him, only greater than she had been while she was +yet alive. And the spirit spake, saying, “Why art thou vainly +troubled? These things have not befallen us against the pleasure of +the Gods. The ruler of Olympus willeth not that Creusa should bear +thee company in thy journey. For thou hast a long journey to take, +and many seas to cross, till thou come to the Hesperian shore, +where Lydian Tiber flows softly through a good land and a fertile. +There shalt thou have great prosperity, and take to thyself a wife +of royal race. Weep not, then, for Creusa, whom thou lovest, nor +think that I shall be carried away to be a bond-slave to some +Grecian woman. Such fate befits not a daughter of Dardanus and +daughter-in-law of Venus. The mighty mother of the Gods keepeth me +in this land to serve her. And now, farewell, and love the young +Ascanius, even thy son and mine.”</p> +<div class="figure"><a href="images/big_434.jpg"><img src= +"images/small_434.jpg" alt= +"A man carries another on his back, while a woman and child follow." +id="img09" name="img09" width="360" height="558" /></a> +<p>AND AS HE SPAKE HE PUT A CLOAK OF LION’S SKIN UPON HIS +SHOULDERS, AND THE OLD MAN SAT THEREON. ASCANIUS ALSO LAID HOLD OF +HIS HAND, AND CREUSA FOLLOWED BEHIND. SO HE WENT IN MUCH DREAD AND +TREMBLING, FOR INDEED BEFORE SWORD AND SPEAR OF THE ENEMY HE HAD +NOT FEARED, BUT NOW HE FEARED MUCH FOR THEM THAT WERE WITH HIM</p> +</div> +<p>So spake the spirit, and when Æneas wept and would have +spoken, vanished out of his sight. Thrice he would have cast his +arms about her neck, and thrice the image mocked him, being thin as +air and fleeting as a dream. Then, the night being now spent, he +sought his comrades, and found with much joy and wonder that a +great company of men and women were gathered together, and were +willing, all of them, to follow him whithersoever he went. And now +the morning star rose over Mount Ida, and Æneas, seeing that +the Greeks held the city, and that there was no longer any hope of +succor, went his way to the mountains, taking with him his +father.</p> +<h3><a id="Harpies" name="Harpies">Æneas’s Adventure +with the Harpies</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Charles Henry Hanson</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p class="quote">[For three days the vessels of Æneas were +tossed about by terrible storm winds.]</p> +<p>At last, on the fourth day, the fury of the storm abated, and +they came in sight of land,—at first lofty mountains, and +afterwards, as they drew nearer, rich grassy plains, on which the +wanderers saw herds of cattle and flocks of goats grazing without a +keeper. As soon as the storm-beaten vessels could be brought to the +shore, the Trojans hastened to land, and slaughtered some of the +cattle, preparing a luxurious banquet. But this they were not +destined to enjoy in peace; for scarcely had they stretched +themselves on the couches they had hurriedly prepared beside the +food when there was a sudden rushing of wings, and three ghastly +creatures swooped down upon the feast, devoured a large part of it, +and so defiled the rest with their loathsome touch that very little +was eatable. These were the Harpies, and by their appearance +Æneas knew that he and his companions had arrived at the +Strophades, two islands in the Ionian Sea which for many years had +been given up to the monsters. They were fearful of aspect: down to +the breast they resembled women, with scanty black hair and glaring +red-rimmed eyes, and on their faces ever a famine-stricken look; +but they had wings instead of arms, and their bodies and lower +limbs were those of huge birds, foul and uncleanly. These hateful +creatures had long before been sent by the Gods to plague Pheneus +the Blind, king of Thrace, who had cruelly treated his sons. +Whenever a meal was spread for the king, the Harpies used to +descend and devour it. At last some brave warriors, who were +passing through Thrace, were persuaded by the promise of rewards +from Pheneus to rid him of the monsters, and drove them to the far +Strophades, where they had ever since dwelt.</p> +<p>Irritated at the loss of their feast, Æneas and his +companions prepared more food, and determined, if necessary, to +defend it with their swords. They accordingly concealed their +weapons in the grass, and stationed one of their number on the +watch, to give notice with the sound of a trumpet when the Harpies +were approaching. This was done accordingly, and the obscene +creatures, when they again swooped down to seize on the cooked +meats, which they relished more than any other food, were driven +off, though not without difficulty. But one of them, perching on a +high rock, croaked forth to the astonished mariners this dismal +prophecy:—</p> +<p>“Woe to you, Trojans! Do you dare to make war upon us +after having slain our oxen, and to banish the innocent Harpies +from the kingdom which is theirs by right? Fix, then, in your minds +these words, which the father of Gods and men revealed to +Phœbus Apollo, and Apollo to me. Italy is the land you seek, +and Italy you shall reach at last, after many perils; but you shall +not build up the walls of your new-founded city until dire famine +and suffering, visiting you because you have injured us, shall +compel you to devour your tables as well as the food that is upon +them.”</p> +<p>The gloomy prediction terrified most of the wanderers, and they +urged Æneas to endeavor to propitiate the unclean monsters +with invocations and sacrifices. But Anchises, after imploring +Jupiter to ward off the threatened calamities, commanded that the +expedition should at once quit that melancholy shore. After passing +the rugged cliffs of Ithaca, and uttering maledictions on the land +that bred Ulysses, the most cunning enemy of Troy, the exiles +arrived in safety at the harbor of Leucadia, where the ships were +anchored, and the travelers landed to rest awhile after the +fatigues of the voyage. Here they celebrated the games of their +country; and Æneas hung on the door-posts of an ancient and +famous temple of Apollo a suit of armor, which he had taken from a +Greek warrior slain before Troy, placing above it an inscription, +“These arms Æneas won from the victorious +Greeks.”</p> +<h3><a id="Cyclops2" name="Cyclops2">Æneas in the Land of the +Cyclops</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Charles Henry Hanson</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>A day’s sail over the blue Mediterranean brought +Æneas and his followers in sight of the southeastern shores +of Italy; and as they saw the swelling hills and grassy plains of +the promised land, they broke into cries of joy. The ships were run +into a secure harbor, and sacrifices offered up for the +propitiation of Minerva and of Juno; after which, mindful of the +injunctions of Helenus to avoid those parts of Italy which lay +nearest to Greece, the adventurers resumed their voyage. Keeping +near the coast, they passed the Bay of Tarentum and the lofty +promontories of Calabria. Now came in sight the immense bulk of +Etna, lifting its fire-crowned head into the clouds; and the +roaring of the terrible Charybdis could be distinctly heard. +Remembering the warnings of Helenus, they hastily turned to the +left, and avoided the perilous strait, but sought refuge in a place +scarcely less dangerous; for they landed in the country of the +Cyclops, where, only a little while before, Ulysses had been with +his comrades, and had endured great sufferings at the hands of the +giant Polyphemus. The Cyclops, it will be remembered, were a race +of savage shepherds, of immense stature, having each but one eye in +the middle of his forehead. They dwelt in caves, and kept great +flocks and herds. Polyphemus was the largest and fiercest of them +all; and when Ulysses and his companions entered his cave he kept +them prisoners, and devoured several of them. The hero himself and +the rest of his followers had escaped him by making him drunk with +wine they had brought on shore from their ships, and then putting +out his eye with a sharpened stake, the point of which they had +hardened in the fire. The knowledge of this adventure came to +Æneas and his Trojans in a strange fashion. On the morning +after their arrival in the country of the Cyclops, they were on the +shore, when they were surprised to see a man emerge from the woods, +and approach them with suppliant gestures. His appearance was wild +and emaciated, his beard overgrown, his garments ragged; but +nevertheless it was easy to perceive that he was a Greek. When he +saw that the voyagers wore Trojan dress and arms, he paused in +fear, but the next moment he hurried toward them with tears and +entreaties.</p> +<p>“I conjure you,” he cried, “by the stars, by +the powers above, by the light of heaven, ye Trojans, take me +hence. Carry me where you will, do with me what you will, I shall +be content. I confess that I was one who bore arms against Troy; if +you deem that a crime, put me to death for it. At least I shall +have the satisfaction of dying by the hands of men.”</p> +<p>Æneas and Anchises received the stranger kindly, assured +him of his safety, and asked him who he was, and how he came to be +in that desolate country. He answered that he was an Ithacan, his +name Achæmenides, and that he had been one of the companions +of Ulysses in his wanderings. He related the adventures of the +Ithacan hero in the cave of Polyphemus, and told how he himself, +having been by accident left behind when his comrades escaped, had +since led a wretched existence in the woods, living on wild berries +and roots, and continually in dread lest he should be seen by the +Cyclops. He advised Æneas to lose no time in quitting the +country, lest the ferocious shepherds should discover and destroy +them. Even as Achæmenides spoke, Polyphemus was seen +accompanying his flock to their pasture. So tall was he of stature +that he carried the trunk of a pine-tree as a staff to guide his +footsteps. Reaching the sea he stepped into it, and bent down to +bathe the wound inflicted by Ulysses. The Trojans hastened to cut +their cables, and rowed out to sea. The giant heard the sound of +their oars, and turned to follow them; but in his blindness he +dared not follow far, and therefore he called on his brethren with +a cry so loud that the very sea was shaken in its depths. Forthwith +the huge Cyclops came trooping to the shore, like a wood of lofty +trees endued with life and motion; but by this time the Trojan +vessels had got beyond their reach.</p> +<h3><a id="Dido" name="Dido">Æneas and Queen Dido</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Alfred J. Church</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p class="quote">[Æneas was driven by a storm upon the shores +of Carthage.]</p> +<p>Now it came to pass on the next day that Æneas, having +first hidden his ships in a bay that was well covered with trees, +went forth to spy out the new land whither he was come, and Achates +only went with him. And Æneas had in each hand a +broad-pointed spear. And as he went there met him in the middle of +the wood his mother, but habited as a Spartan virgin, for she had +hung a bow from her shoulders after the fashion of a huntress, and +her hair was loose, and her tunic short to the knees, and her +garments gathered in a knot upon her breast. Then first the false +huntress spake: “If perchance ye have seen one of my sisters +wandering hereabouts, make known to me the place. She is girded +with a quiver, and is clothed with the skin of a spotted lynx, or, +maybe, she hunts a wild boar with horn and hound.”</p> +<p>To whom Æneas, “I have not seen nor heard sister of +thine, O virgin—for what shall I call thee? for, of a surety, +neither is thy look as of a mortal woman, nor yet thy voice. A +goddess certainly thou art, sister of Phœbus, or, haply, one +of the nymphs. But whosoever thou art, look favorably upon us and +help us. Tell us in what land we be, for the winds have driven us +hither, and we know not aught of place or people.”</p> +<p>And Venus said, “Nay, stranger, I am not such as ye think. +We virgins of Tyre are wont to carry a quiver and to wear a buskin +of purple. For indeed it is a Tyrian city that is hard by, though +the land be Libya. And of this city Dido is queen, having come +hither from Tyre, flying from the wrong-doing of her brother. And +indeed the story of the thing is long, but I will recount the chief +matter thereof to thee. The husband of this Dido was one +Sichæus, richest among all the men of Phœnicia, and +greatly beloved of his wife, whom he married from a virgin. Now the +brother of this Sichæus was Pygmalion, the king of the +country, and he exceeded all men in wickedness. And when there +arose a quarrel between them, the king, being exceedingly mad after +gold, took him unaware, even as he did sacrifice at the altar, and +slew him. And the king hid the matter many days from Dido, and +cheated her with false hopes. But at the last there came to her in +her dreams the likeness of the dead man, baring his wounds and +showing the wickedness which had been done. Also he bade her make +haste and fly from that land, and, that she might do this the more +easily, told her of great treasure, gold and silver, that was +hidden in the earth. And Dido, being much moved by these things, +made ready for flight; also she sought for companions, and there +came together to her as many as hated the king or feared him. Then +did they seize ships that chanced to be ready and laded them with +gold, even the treasure of King Pygmalion, and so fled across the +sea. And in all this was a woman the leader. Then came they to this +place, where thou seest the walls and citadel of Carthage, and +bought so much land as they could cover with a bull’s hide. +And now do ye answer me this, Whence come ye, and whither do ye +go?”</p> +<p>Then answered Æneas, “Should I tell the whole story +of our wanderings, and thou have leisure to hear, evening would +come ere I could make an end. We are men of Troy, who, having +journeyed over many seas, have now been driven by storms to this +shore of Libya. And as for me, men call me Prince Æneas. The +land I seek is Italy, and my race is from Jupiter himself. With +twenty ships did I set sail, going in the way whereon the Gods sent +me. And of these scarce seven are left. And now, seeing that Europe +and Asia endure me not, I wander over the desert places of +Africa.”</p> +<p>But Venus suffered him not to speak more, but said, +“Whoever thou art, stranger, that art come to this Tyrian +city, thou art surely beloved by the Gods. And now go, show thyself +to the queen. And as for thy ships and thy companions, I tell thee +that they are safe in the haven, if I have not learnt augury in +vain. See those twenty swans, how joyously they fly! And now there +cometh an eagle swooping down from the sky, putting them to +confusion, but now again they move in due order, and some are +settling on the earth and some are preparing to settle. Even so +doth it fare with thy ships, for either are they already in the +haven or enter thereinto with sails full set.”</p> +<p>And as she spoke she turned away, and there shone a rosy light +from her neck, also there came from her hair a sweet savor as of +ambrosia, and her garments grew under her feet; and Æneas +perceived that she was his mother, and cried aloud,—</p> +<p>“O my mother, why dost thou mock me so often with false +shows, nor sufferest me to join my hand unto thy hand, and to speak +with thee face to face?”</p> +<p>And he went towards the walls of the city. But Venus covered him +and his companions with a mist, that no man might see them, or +hinder them, or inquire of their business, and then departed to +Paphos, where was her temple and also many altars of incense. Then +the men hastened on their way, and mounting a hill which hung over +the city, marveled to behold it, for indeed it was very great and +noble, with mighty gates and streets, and a multitude that walked +therein. For some built the walls and the citadel, rolling great +stones with their hands, and others marked out places for houses. +Also they chose those that should give judgment and bear rule in +the city. Some, too, digged out harbors, and others laid the +foundations of a theatre, and cut out great pillars of stone. Like +to bees they were, when, the summer being newly come, the young +swarms go forth, or when they labor filling the cells with honey, +and some receive the burdens of those that return from the fields, +and others keep off the drones from the hive. Even so labored the +men of Tyre. And when Æneas beheld them he cried, +“Happy ye, who even now have a city to dwell in!” And +being yet hidden by the mist, he went in at the gate and mingled +with the men, being seen of none.</p> +<p>Now in the midst of the city was a wood, very thick with trees, +and here the men of Carthage, first come to the land from their +voyage, had digged out of the ground that which Juno had said +should be a sign to them, even a horse’s head; for that, +finding this, their city would be mighty in war, and full of +riches. Here, then, Dido was building a temple to Juno, very +splendid, with threshold of bronze, and many steps thereunto; of +bronze also were the door-posts and the gates. And here befell a +thing which gave much comfort and courage to Æneas; for as he +stood and regarded the place, waiting also for the queen, he saw +set forth in order upon the walls the battles that had been fought +at Troy, the sons of Atreus also, and King Priam, and fierce +Achilles. Then said he, not without tears, “Is there any +land, O Achates, that is not filled with our sorrows? Seest thou +Priam? Yet withal there is a reward for virtue here also, and tears +and pity for the troubles of men. Fear not, therefore. Surely the +fame of these things shall profit us.”</p> +<p>Then he looked, satisfying his soul with the paintings on the +walls. For there was the city of Troy. In this part of the field +the Greeks fled and the youth of Troy pursued them, and in that the +men of Troy fled, and Achilles followed hard upon them in his +chariot. Also he saw the white tents of Rhesus, king of Thrace, +whom the fierce Diomed slew in his sleep, when he was newly come to +Troy, and drave his horses to the camp before they ate of the grass +of the fields of Troy or drank the waters of Nanthus. There also +Troilus was pictured, ill matched in battle with Achilles. His +horses bare him along; but he lay on his back in the chariot, yet +holding the reins, and his neck and head were dragged upon the +earth, and the spear-point made a trail in the dust. And in another +place the women of Troy went suppliant-wise to the temple of +Minerva, bearing a great and beautiful robe, sad and beating their +breasts, and with hair unbound; but the goddess regarded them not. +Also Achilles dragged the body of Hector three times round the +walls of Troy, and was selling it for gold. And Æneas groaned +when he saw the man whom he loved, and the old man Priam reaching +out helpless hands. Also he knew himself, fighting in the midst of +the Grecian chiefs; black Memnon also he knew, and the hosts of the +East; and Penthesilea leading the army of the Amazons with shields +shaped as the moon. Fierce she was to see, with one breast bared +for battle, and a golden girdle beneath it, a damsel daring to +fight with men.</p> +<p>But while Æneas marveled to see these things, lo! there +came, with a great throng of youths behind her, Dido, most +beautiful of women, fair as Diana, when, on the banks of Eurotas or +on the hills of Cynthus, she leads the dance with a thousand nymphs +of the mountains about her. On her shoulder she bears a quiver, and +overtops them all, and her mother, even Latona, silently rejoices +to behold her. So fair and seemly to see was Dido as she bare +herself right nobly in the midst, being busy in the work of her +kingdom. Then she sat herself down on a lofty throne in the gate of +the temple, with many armed men about her. And she did justice +between man and man; also she divided the work of the city, sharing +it equally or parting by lot.</p> +<p>Then of a sudden Æneas heard a great clamor, and saw a +company of men come quickly to the place, among whom were Antheus +and Sergestus and Cloanthus, and others of the men of Troy that had +been parted from him in the storm. Right glad was he to behold +them, yet was not without fear; and though he would fain have come +forth and caught them by the hand, yet did he tarry, waiting to +hear how the men had fared, where they had left their ships, and +wherefore they were come.</p> +<p>Then Ilioneus, leave being now given that he should speak, thus +began: “O Queen, whom Jupiter permits to build a new city in +these lands, we men of Troy, whom the winds have carried over many +seas, pray thee that thou save our ships from fire, and spare a +people that serveth the Gods. For, indeed, we are not come to waste +the dwellings of this land, or to carry off spoils to our ships. +For, of a truth, they who have suffered so much think not of such +deeds. There is a land which the Greeks call Hesperia, but the +people themselves Italy, after the name of their chief; an ancient +land, mighty in arms and fertile of corn. Hither, were we +journeying, when a storm arising scattered our ships, and only +these few that thou seest escaped to the land. And can there be +nation so savage that it receiveth not shipwrecked men on its +shore, but beareth arms against them, and forbiddeth them to land? +Nay, but if ye care not for men, yet regard the Gods, who forget +neither them that do righteously nor them that transgress. We had a +king, Æneas, than whom there lived not a man more dutiful to +Gods and men, and greater in war. If indeed he be yet alive, then +we fear not at all. For of a truth it will not repent thee to have +helped us. And if not, other friends have we, as Acestes of Sicily. +Grant us, therefore, to shelter our ships from the wind; also to +fit them with fresh timber from the woods, and to make ready oars +for rowing, so that, finding again our king and our companions, we +may gain the land of Italy. But if he be dead, and Ascanius his son +lost also, then there is a dwelling ready for us in the land of +Sicily, with Acestes, who is our friend.”</p> +<p>Then Dido, her eyes bent on the ground, thus spake: “Fear +not, men of Troy. If we have seemed to deal harshly with you, +pardon us, seeing that, being newly settled in this land, we must +keep watch and ward over our coasts. But as for the men of Troy, +and their deeds in arms, who knows them not? Think not that we in +Carthage are so dull of heart, or dwell so remote from man, that we +are ignorant of these things. Whether, therefore, ye will journey +to Italy or rather return to Sicily and King Acestes, know that I +will give you all help, and protect you; or, if ye will, settle in +this land of ours. Yours is this city which I am building. I will +make no difference between man of Troy and man of Tyre. Would that +your king also were here! Surely I will send those that shall seek +him in all parts of Libya, lest haply he should be gone astray in +any forest or strange city of the land.”</p> +<p>And when Æneas and Achates heard these things they were +glad, and would have come forth from the cloud, and Achates said, +“What thinkest thou? Lo, thy comrades are safe, saving him +whom we saw with our own eyes drowned in the waves; and all other +things are according as thy mother said.”</p> +<p>And even as he spake the cloud parted from about them, and +Æneas stood forth, very bright to behold, with face and +breast as of a god, for his mother had given to him hair beautiful +to see, and cast about him the purple light of youth, even as a +workman sets ivory in some fair ornament, or compasseth about +silver or marble of Paros with gold. Then spake he to the queen: +“Lo! I am he whom ye seek, even Æneas of Troy, scarcely +saved from the waters of the sea. And as for thee, O Queen, seeing +that thou only hast been found to pity the unspeakable sorrows of +Troy, and biddest us, though we be but poor exiles and lacking all +things, to share thy city and thy home, may the Gods do so to thee +as thou deservest. And, of a truth, so long as the rivers run to +the seas, and the shadows fall on the hollows of the hills, so long +will thy name and thy glory survive, whatever be the land to which +the Gods shall bring me.” Then gave he his right hand to +Ilioneus, and his left hand to Sergestus, and greeted them with +great joy.</p> +<p>And Dido, hearing these things, was silent for a while, but at +the last she spake. “What ill fortune brings thee into perils +so great? what power drave thee to these savage shores? Well do I +mind me how in days gone by there came to Sidon one Teucer, who, +having been banished from his country, sought help from Belus that +he might find a kingdom for himself. And it chanced that in those +days Belus, my father, had newly conquered the land of Cyprus. From +that day did I know the tale of Troy, and thy name also, and the +chiefs of Greece. Also I remember that Teucer spake honorably of +the men of Troy, saying that he was himself sprung of the old +Teucrian stock. Come ye, therefore to my palace. I too have +wandered far, even as you, and so have come to this land, and +having suffered much, have learnt to succor them that +suffer.”</p> +<p>So saying she led Æneas into her palace; also she sent to +his companions in the ships great store of provisions, even twenty +oxen and a hundred bristly swine and a hundred ewe sheep with their +lambs. But in the palace a great feast was set forth, couches +covered with broidered purple and silver vessels without end, and +cups of gold, whereon were embossed the mighty deeds of the men of +old time.</p> +<p>And in the mean time Æneas sent Achates in haste to the +ships, that he might fetch Ascanius to the feast. Also he bade that +the boy should bring with him gifts of such things as they had +saved from the ruins of Troy,—a mantle stiff with broidery of +gold and a veil bordered with yellow acanthus, which the fair Helen +had taken with her, flying from her home; but Leda, her mother, had +given them to Helen; a sceptre likewise which Ilione, first-born of +the daughters of Priam, had carried, and a necklace of pearls and a +double crown of jewels and gold.</p> +<p>But Venus was troubled in heart, fearing evil to her son should +the men of Tyre be treacherous, after their wont, and Juno remember +her wrath. Wherefore, taking counsel with herself, she called to +the winged boy, even Love, that was her son, and spake: “My +son, who art all my power and strength, who laughest at the +thunders of Jupiter, thou knowest how Juno, being exceedingly wroth +against thy brother Æneas, causeth him to wander out of the +way over all lands. This day Dido hath him in her palace, and +speaketh him fair; but I fear me much how these things may end. +Wherefore hear thou that which I purpose. Thy brother hath even now +sent for the boy Ascanius, that he may come to the palace, bringing +with him gifts of such things as they saved from the ruins of Troy. +Him will I cause to fall into a deep sleep and hide in Cythera or +Idalium, and do thou for one night take upon thee his likeness. And +when Queen Dido at the feast shall hold thee in her lap, and kiss +and embrace thee, do thou breathe by stealth thy fire into her +heart.”</p> +<p>Then did Love as his mother bade him, and put off his wings, and +took upon him the shape of Ascanius, but on the boy Venus caused +there to fall a deep sleep, and carried him to the woods of +Idalium, and lapped him in sweet-smelling flowers. And in his stead +Love carried the gifts to the queen. And when he was come they sat +down to the feast, the queen being in the midst under a canopy. +Æneas also and the men of Troy lay on coverlets of purple, to +whom serving-men brought water and bread in baskets and napkins; +and within fifty handmaids were ready to replenish the store of +victual and to fan the fire; and a hundred others, with pages as +many, loaded the tables with dishes and drinking-cups. Many men of +Tyre also were bidden to the feast. Much they marveled at the gifts +of Æneas, and much at the false Ascanius. Dido also could not +satisfy herself with looking on him, nor knew what trouble he was +preparing for her in the time to come. And he, having first +embraced the father who was not his father, and clung about his +neck, addressed himself to Queen Dido, and she ever followed him +with her eyes, and sometimes would hold him on her lap. And still +he worked upon her that she should forget the dead Sichæus +and conceive a new love in her heart.</p> +<p>But when they first paused from the feast, lo! men set great +bowls upon the table and filled them to the brim with wine. Then +did the queen call for a great vessel of gold, with many jewels +upon it, from which Belus, and all the kings from Belus, had drunk, +and called for wine, and having filled it she cried, “O +Jupiter, whom they call the god of hosts and guests, cause that +this be a day of joy for the men of Troy and for them of Tyre, and +that our children remember it forever. Also Bacchus, giver of joy, +be present, and kindly Juno.” And when she had touched the +wine with her lips, she handed the great cup to Prince Bitias, who +drank thereout a mighty draught, and the other princes after him. +Then the minstrel Iopas, whom Atlas himself had taught, sang to the +harp, of the moon, how she goes on her way, and of the sun, how his +light is darkened. He sang also of men, and of the beasts of the +field, whence they come; and of the stars, Arcturus, and the +Greater Bear and the Less, and the Hyades; and of the winter sun, +why he hastens to dip himself in the ocean; and of the winter +nights, why they tarry so long. The queen also talked much of the +story of Troy, of Priam, and of Hector, asking many things, as of +the arms of Memnon, and of the horses of Diomed, and of Achilles, +how great he was. And at last she said to Æneas, “Tell +us now thy story, how Troy was taken, and thy wanderings over land +and sea.” And Æneas made answer, “Nay, O Queen, +but thou biddest me renew a sorrow unspeakable. Yet, if thou art +minded to hear these things, hearken.” And he told her all +that had befallen him, even to the day when his father Anchises +died.</p> +<p>Much was Queen Dido moved by the story, and much did she marvel +at him that told it, and scarce could sleep for thinking of him. +And the next day she spake to Anna, her sister, “O my sister, +I have been troubled this night with ill dreams, and my heart is +disquieted within me. What a man is this stranger that hath come to +our shores! How noble of mien! How bold in war! Sure I am that he +is of the sons of the Gods. What fortunes have been his! Of what +wars he told us! Surely were I not steadfastly purposed that I +would not yoke me again in marriage, this were the man to whom I +might yield. Only he—for I will tell thee the truth, my +sister—only he, since the day when Sichæus died by our +brother’s hand, hath moved my heart. But may the earth +swallow me up, or the almighty Father strike me with lightning, ere +I stoop to such baseness. The husband of my youth hath carried with +him my love, and he shall keep it in his grave.”</p> +<p>So she spake, with many tears. And her sister made answer, +“Why wilt thou waste thy youth in sorrow, without child or +husband? Thinkest thou that there is care or remembrance of such +things in the grave? No suitors indeed have pleased thee here or in +Tyre, but wilt thou also contend with a love that is after thine +own heart? Think too of the nations among whom thou dwellest, how +fierce they are, and of thy brother at Tyre, what he threatens +against thee. Surely it was by the will of the Gods, and of Juno +chiefly, that the ships of Troy came hither. And this city, which +thou buildest, to what greatness will it grow if only thou wilt +make for thyself such alliance! How great will be the glory of +Carthage if the strength of Troy be joined unto her! Only do thou +pray to the Gods and offer sacrifices; and, for the present, seeing +that the time of sailing is now past, make excuse that these +strangers tarry with thee awhile.”</p> +<p>Thus did Anna comfort her sister and encourage her. And first +the two offered sacrifice to the Gods, chiefly to Juno, who careth +for the bond of marriage. Also, examining the entrails of slain +beasts, they sought to learn the things that should happen +thereafter. And ever Dido would company with Æneas, leading +him about the walls of the city which she builded. And often she +would begin to speak and stay in the midst of her words. And when +even was come, she would hear again and again at the banquet the +tale of Troy, and while others slept would watch, and while he was +far away would seem to see him and to hear him. Ascanius, too, she +would embrace for love of his father, if so she might cheat her own +heart. But the work of the city was stayed meanwhile; nor did the +towers rise in their places, nor the youth practice themselves in +arms.</p> +<p>Then Juno, seeing how it fared with the queen, spake to Venus: +“Are ye satisfied with your victory, thou and thy son, that +ye have vanquished, the two of you, one woman? Well I knew that +thou fearedst lest this Carthage should harm thy favorite. But why +should there be war between us? Thou hast what thou seekest. Let us +make alliance. Let Dido obey a Phrygian husband, and bring the men +of Tyre as her dowry.”</p> +<p>But Venus knew that she spake with ill intent, to the end that +the men of Troy should not reign in the land of Italy. Nevertheless +she dissembled with her tongue, and spake: “Who would not +rather have peace with thee than war? Only I doubt whether this +thing shall be to the pleasure of Jupiter. This thou must learn, +seeing that thou art his wife, and where thou leadest I will +follow.”</p> +<p>So the two, taking counsel together, ordered things in this +wise. The next day a great hunting was prepared. For as soon as +ever the sun was risen upon the earth, the youth of the city +assembled, with nets and hunting spears and dogs that ran by scent. +And the princes of Carthage waited for the queen at the palace +door, where her horse stood champing the bit, with trappings of +purple and gold. And after a while she came forth, with many +following her. And she had upon her a Sidonian mantle, with a +border wrought with divers colors; of gold was her quiver, and of +gold the knot of her hair, and of gold the clasp to her mantle. +Æneas likewise came forth, beautiful as is Apollo when he +leaveth Lydia and the stream of Xanthus, coming to Delos, and hath +about his hair a wreath of bay-leaves and a circlet of gold. So +fair was Æneas to see. And when the hunters came to the hills +they found great store of goats and stags, which they chased. And +of all the company Ascanius was the foremost, thinking scorn of +such hunting, and wishing that a wild boar or a lion out of the +hills would come forth to be his prey.</p> +<p>And now befell a great storm, with much thunder and hail, from +which the hunters sought shelter. But Æneas and the queen, +being left of all their company, came together to the same cave. +And there they plighted their troth one to the other. Nor did the +queen after that make secret of her love, but called Æneas +her husband.</p> +<p>Straightway went Rumor and told these things through the cities +of Libya. Now Rumor, men say, is the youngest daughter of Earth, a +marvelous creature, moving very swiftly with feet and wings, and +having many feathers upon her, and under every feather an eye and a +tongue and a mouth and an ear. In the night she flieth between +heaven and earth, and sleepeth not; and in the day she sitteth on +some housetop or lofty tower, or spreadeth fear over mighty cities; +and she loveth that which is false even as she loveth that which is +true. So now she went telling through Libya how Æneas of Troy +was come, and Dido was wedded to him, and how they lived careless +and at ease, and thinking not of the work to which they were +called.</p> +<p>And first of all she went to Prince Iarbas, who himself had +sought Dido in marriage. And Iarbas was very wroth when he heard +it, and, coming to the temple of Jupiter, spread his grief before +the Gods, how that he had given a place on his coasts to this Dido, +and would have taken her to wife, but that she had married a +stranger from Phrygia, another Paris, whose dress and adornments +were of a woman rather than of a man.</p> +<p>And Jupiter saw that this was so, and he said to Mercury, who +was his messenger, “Go speak to Æneas these words: +‘Thus saith the king of Gods and men. Is this what thy mother +promised of thee, twice saving thee from the spear of the Greeks? +Art thou he that shall rule Italy and its mighty men of war, and +spread thy dominion to the ends of the world? If thou thyself +forgettest these things, dost thou grudge to thy son the citadels +of Rome? What doest thou here? Why lookest thou not to Italy? +Depart and tarry not.’”</p> +<p>Then Mercury fitted the winged sandals to his feet, and took the +wand with which he driveth the spirits of the dead, and came right +soon to Mount Atlas, which standeth bearing the heaven on his head, +and having always clouds about his top, and snow upon his +shoulders, and a beard that is stiff with ice. There Mercury stood +awhile; then, as a bird which seeks its prey in the sea, shot +headlong down, and came to Æneas where he stood, with a +yellow jasper in his sword-hilt, and a cloak of purple shot with +gold about his shoulders, and spake: “Buildest thou Carthage, +forgetting thine own work? The Almighty Father saith to thee, +‘What meanest thou? Why tarriest thou here? If thou carest +not for thyself, yet think of thy son, and that the Fates have +given to him Italy and Rome.’”</p> +<p>And Æneas saw him no more. And he stood stricken with fear +and doubt. Fain would he obey the voice, and go as the Gods +commanded. But how should he tell this purpose to the queen? But at +the last it seemed good to him to call certain of the chiefs, as +Mnestheus, and Sergestus, and Antheus, and bid them make ready the +ships in silence, and gather together the people, but dissemble the +cause, and he himself would watch a fitting time to speak and +unfold the matter to the queen.</p> +<p>Yet was not Dido deceived, for love is keen of sight. Rumor also +told her that they made ready the ships for sailing. Then, flying +through the city, even as one on whom has come the frenzy of +Bacchus flies by night over Mount Cithæron, she came upon +Æneas, and spake: “Thoughtest thou to hide thy crime, +and to depart in silence from this land? Carest thou not for her +whom thou leavest to die? And hast thou no fear of winter storms +that vex the sea? By all that I have done for thee and given thee, +if there be yet any place for repentance, repent thee of this +purpose. For thy sake I suffer the wrath of the princes of Libya +and of my own people; and if thou leavest me, for what should I +live?—till my brother overthrow my city, or Iarbas carry me +away captive? If but I had a little Æneas to play in my halls +I should not seem so altogether desolate.”</p> +<p>But Æneas, fearing the words of Jupiter, stood with eyes +that relented not. At the last he spake: “I deny not, O +Queen, the benefits that thou hast done unto me, nor ever, while I +live, shall I forget Dido. I sought not to fly by stealth; yet did +I never promise that I would abide in this place. Could I have +chosen according to my will I had built again the city of Troy +where it stood; but the Gods command that I should seek Italy. Thou +hast thy Carthage; why dost thou grudge Italy to us? Nor may I +tarry. Night after night have I seen my father Anchises warning me +in dreams. Also even now the messenger of Jupiter came to +me—with these ears I heard him—and bade me +depart.”</p> +<p>Then, in great wrath, with eyes askance, did Dido break forth +upon him: “Surely no goddess was thy mother, nor art thou +come of the race of Dardanus. The rocks of Caucasus brought thee +forth, and an Hyrcanian tigress gave thee suck. For why should I +dissemble? Was he moved at all my tears? Did he pity my love? Nay, +the very Gods are against me. This man I took to myself when he was +shipwrecked and ready to perish. I brought back his ships, his +companions from destruction. And now forsooth comes the messenger +of Jupiter with dreadful commands from the Gods. As for thee, I +keep thee not. Go, seek thy Italy across the seas: only, if there +is any vengeance in heaven, thou wilt pay the penalty for this +wrong, being wrecked on some rock in their midst. Then wilt thou +call on Dido in vain. Aye, and where-ever thou shalt go I will +haunt thee, and rejoice in the dwellings below to hear thy +doom.”</p> +<p>Then she turned, and hasted to go into the house. But her spirit +left her, so that her maidens bare her to her chamber and laid her +on her bed.</p> +<p>Then Æneas, though indeed he was much troubled in heart, +and would fain have comforted the queen, was obedient to the +heavenly word, and departed to his ships. And the men of Troy +busied themselves in making them ready for the voyage. Even as the +ants spoil a great heap of corn and store it in their dwellings +against winter, moving in a black line across the field, and some +carry the great grains, and some chide those that linger, even so +did the Trojans swarm along the ways and labor at the work.</p> +<p>But when Dido saw it she called to Anna her sister and said, +“Seest thou how they hasten the work along the shore? Even +now the sails are ready for the winds, and the sailors have +wreathed the ships with garlands, as if for departure. Go +thou—the deceiver always trusted thee, and thou knowest how +best to move him—go and entreat him. I harmed not him nor his +people; let him then grant me this only. Let him wait for a fairer +time for his journey. I ask not that he give up his purpose; only +that he grant me a short breathing space, till I may learn how to +bear this sorrow.”</p> +<p>And Anna hearkened to her sister, and took the message to +Æneas, yet profited nothing, for the Gods shut his ears that +he should not hear. Even as the oak stands firm when the north wind +would root it up from the earth,—its leaves are scattered all +around, yet doth it remain firm, for its roots go down to the +regions below, even as far as its branches reach to +heaven,—so stood Æneas firm, and, though he wept many +tears, changed not his purpose.</p> +<p>Then did Dido grow weary of her life. For when she did +sacrifice, the pure water would grow black and the wine be changed +to blood. Also from the shrine of her husband, which was in the +midst of her palace, was heard a voice calling her, and the owl +cried aloud from the house-top. And in her dreams the cruel +Æneas seemed to drive her before him; or she seemed to be +going a long way with none to bear her company, and be seeking her +own people in a land that was desert. Therefore, hiding the thing +that was in her heart, she spake to her sister, saying, “I +have found a way, my sister, that shall bring him back to me or set +me free from him. Near the shore of the Great Sea, where the +Æthiopians dwell, is a priestess, who guards the temple of +the daughters of Hesperus, being wont to feed the dragons that kept +the apples of gold. She is able by her charms to loose the heart +from care or to bind it, and to stay rivers also, and to turn the +courses of the stars, and to call up the spirits of the dead. Do +thou, therefore—for this is what the priestess +commands—build a pile in the open court, and put thereon the +sword which he left hanging in our chamber, and the garments he +wore, and the couch on which he lay, even all that was his, so that +they may perish together.”</p> +<p>And when these things were done—for Anna knew not of her +purpose—and also an image of Æneas was laid upon the +pile, the priestess, with her hair unbound, called upon all the +gods that dwell below, sprinkling thereon water that was drawn, she +said, from the lake of Avernus, and scattering evil herbs that had +been cut at the full moon with a sickle of bronze. Dido also, with +one foot bare and her garments loosened, threw meal upon the fire +and called upon the gods, if haply there be any, that look upon +those that love and suffer wrong.</p> +<p>In the mean time Æneas lay asleep in the hind part of his +ship, when there appeared to him in a dream the god Mercury, even +as he had seen him when he brought the commandment of Jupiter. And +Mercury spake, saying, “Son of Venus, canst thou sleep? seest +thou not what perils surround thee, nor hearest how the favorable +west wind calls? The queen purposes evil against thee. If thou +lingerest till the morning come thou wilt see the shore covered +with them that wish thee harm. Fly, then, and tarry not; for a +woman is ever of many minds.”</p> +<p>Then did Æneas in great fear start from his sleep, and +call his companions, saying, “Wake, and sit on the benches, +and loose the sails. ’Tis a god thus bids us fly.” And +even as he spake he cut the cable with his sword. And all hasted to +follow him, and sped over the sea.</p> +<p>And now it was morning, and Queen Dido, from her watch-tower, +saw the ships upon the sea. Then she smote upon her breast and tore +her hair, and cried, “Shall this stranger mock us thus? +Hasten to follow him. Bring down the ships from the docks, make +ready sword and fire. And this was the man who bare upon his +shoulders his aged father. Why did I not tear him to pieces, and +slay his companions with the sword, and serve up the young Ascanius +at his meal? And if I had perished, what then? for I die to-day. O +Sun, that regardest all the earth, and Juno, that carest for +marriage bonds, and Hecate, Queen of the dead, and ye Furies that +take vengeance on evil-doers, hear me. If it be ordered that he +reach that land, yet grant that he suffer many things from his +enemies, and be driven from his city, and beg for help from +strangers, and see his people cruelly slain with the sword; and, +when he shall have made peace on ill conditions, that he enjoy not +long his kingdoms, but die before his day, and lie unburied on the +plain. And ye, men of Tyre, hate his children and his people +forever. Let there be no love or peace between you. And may some +avenger arise from my grave who shall persecute the race of +Dardanus with fire and sword. So shall there be war forever between +him and me.”</p> +<p>Then she spake to old Barce, who had been nurse to her husband +Sichæus, “Bid my sister bathe herself in water, and +bring with her beasts for sacrifice. And do thou also put a garland +about thy head, for I am minded to finish this sacrifice which I +have begun, and to burn the image of the man of Troy.”</p> +<p>And when the old woman made haste to do her bidding, Queen Dido +ran to the court where the pile was made for the burning, and +mounted on the pile, and drew the sword of Æneas from the +scabbard. Then did she throw herself upon the bed, and cry,</p> +<p>“Now do I yield up my life. I have finished my course. I +have built a mighty city. I have avenged my husband on him that +slew him. Happy had I been, yea, too happy! had the ships of Troy +never come to this land.” Then she kissed the bed and cried, +“Shall I die unavenged? Nevertheless let me die. The man of +Troy shall see this fire from the sea whereon he journeys, and +carry with him an augury of death.”</p> +<p>And when her maidens looked, lo! she had fallen upon the sword, +and the blood was upon her hands. And a great cry went up through +the palace, exceeding loud and bitter, even as if the enemy had +taken Carthage or ancient Tyre, and the fire were mounting over the +dwellings of men and of Gods. And Anna her sister heard it, and +rushing through the midst called her by name: “O my sister, +was this thy purpose? Were the pile and the sword and the fire for +this? Why wouldst thou not suffer that I should die with thee? For +surely, my sister, thou hast slain thyself, and me, and thy people, +and thy city. But give me water, ye maidens, that I may wash her +wounds, and if there be any breath left in her, we may yet stay +it.”</p> +<p>Then she climbed on to the pile, and caught her sister in her +arms, and sought to staunch the blood with her garments. Three +times did Dido strive to raise her eyes; three times did her spirit +leave her. Three times she would have raised herself upon her +elbow; three times she fell back upon the bed, looking with +wandering eyes for the light, and groaning that she yet beheld +it.</p> +<p>Then Juno, looking down from heaven, saw that her pain was long, +and pitied her, and sent down Iris, her messenger, that she might +loose the soul that struggled to be free. For, seeing that she died +not by nature, nor yet by the hand of man, but before her time and +of her own madness, Queen Proserpine had not shred the ringlet from +her head which she shreds from them that die. Wherefore Iris, +flying down with dewy wings from heaven, with a thousand colors +about her from the light of the sun, stood about her head and said, +“I give thee to death, even as I am bidden, and loose thee +from thy body.” Then she shred the lock, and Queen Dido gave +up the ghost.</p> +<h3><a id="Anchises" name="Anchises">The Funeral Games of +Anchises</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Charles Henry Hanson</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Æneas called together all his followers, and reminded +minded them that a year had now passed since the death of his +father. Not of their own purpose, but doubtless by the will of the +Gods, they had now returned to the friendly land where his bones +had been laid. It was therefore his intention to celebrate funeral +games. For eight days there should be feasting, for which Acestes +had generously provided two oxen for each ship; and on the ninth +day he would give prizes to be contested in the foot-race, in +shooting with the bow, and in boxing with the cestus.</p> +<p>Having thus spoken, the hero, according to the custom of that +time, placed a wreath of myrtle upon his head and proceeded to the +tomb of his father, where he poured out, as a libation to the Gods, +two bowls of wine, two of new milk, and two of sacred blood. Then +he scattered flowers over the tomb, and offered up a prayer to his +father’s shade. Immediately there came forth from the tomb a +huge snake with glittering scales of blue and gold, which, after +tasting of what had been poured out, retired again to the recesses +of the vault. Believing this creature to be an attendant on his +father’s spirit, Æneas offered rich +sacrifices—ewes, sows, and bullocks—and his companions +followed his example. The eight days of feasting passed pleasantly +enough, and the morning appointed for the funeral games dawned +bright and serene. A joyous crowd assembled on the shore, some to +take part in the contests, and others to watch them. The first of +the games was a race between galleys, and four ships had been +entered to take part in it. The first was the Pristis, or Shark, of +which Mnestheus was the captain. The Chimera, a vessel of immense +size, was commanded by Gyas. The other vessels were the Centaur and +the Scylla,—the first commanded by Sergestus, and the second +by Cloanthus. Some way out in the sea, opposite to the +starting-point, a rock rose amid the restless waters. The galleys +were to round this rock, on which Æneas had planted an +oak-tree as a mark, and then return to the shore. The vessels were +assigned their places by lot, and the captain of each took his +place on the poop; while the rowers, stripped to the waist, their +shoulders glistening with oil, sat with their arms stretched to the +oars, eager for the signal. At the blast of a trumpet all the oars +struck the sea at once, and beat it into foam, and the vessels shot +forward amid the loud shouts of the multitude. The Chimera, under +Gyas’s skillful guidance, took the lead; next followed the +Scylla, whose rowers were more efficient, but were unable to make +such progress, because the vessel was naturally slower. Behind the +Shark and the Centaur followed close together, and first the one +and then the other gained a slight advantage. The two leading +vessels were rapidly nearing the rock when Gyas perceived that his +helmsman, Menoetes, was keeping a course too far to the right, in +fear of some hidden crags, and was thus losing the advantage that +had been gained. He urged him to steer more to the left, nor to +care even if the oars grazed the rock; but Menoetes was afraid to +obey the command. And now Cloanthus in the Scylla, taking the very +course Gyas had wished to follow, ran boldly between the Chimera +and the rock, and so got round the goal in front of his antagonist. +When Gyas beheld this he was full of wrath. Rushing to the helm, he +seized the over-cautious Menoetes and hurled him into the sea; then +he himself took the helm, and at once guided his ship and issued +commands and cries of encouragement to his oarsmen. The luckless +Menoetes with difficulty contrived to scramble out of the sea onto +the rock, and sat there in his dripping garments, while the +spectators roared with laughter at his misadventure. But now +Mnestheus in the Shark and Sergestus in the Centaur pushed forward +with redoubled zeal in the hope of obtaining the lead. Sergestus +got a little in front of his competitor, but Mnestheus, walking +among his rowers, urged them to put forth their utmost strength, +and at least not to suffer the disgrace of being last. In response +to his appeal they bent to the oar with new vigor; the ship +trembled under their strokes and the water seemed to fly from +beneath her keel. Suddenly, while the Centaur, in full career, was +pressing close to the rock to prevent the Shark from passing on the +inner side, she ran upon a jutting point where she remained fast, +while the oars were shattered against the hard rocks. In a moment +the Shark shot past, and having rounded the goal, dashed on the +homeward way. Ere long Mnestheus had overtaken the Chimera, which +had lost ground because she was deprived of her steersman. +Cloanthus in the Scylla was now alone in front of the Shark; and +though the race was nearly over, the frantic efforts of +Mnestheus’ crew might have gained him the victory, but that +Cloanthus poured forth passionate prayers to the marine deities, +and promised them ample offerings if the first prize became his. +They heard his vows, and gathering underneath his vessel, pushed it +forward, so that it entered the harbor just in front of the Shark. +Then Æneas proclaimed Cloanthus the victor, and gave him a +mantle embroidered with gold and ornamented with a thick fringe of +the costly Melibœan purple. On Mnestheus, who had so +gallantly gained the second place, he bestowed a ponderous coat of +mail worked in gold and brass, which he had himself taken from a +famous Greek warrior, Demoleus, whom he had slain before Troy. Gyas +received two caldrons of brass, and some silver bowls ornamented +with rich carvings. Lastly, when Sergestus had slowly brought back +to port his crippled galley, his chief bestowed on him, in reward +for having rescued the vessel from her perilous position, a Cretan +female slave with her two children.</p> +<p>Thus ended the galley race; and the assembled multitude now +proceeded to a grassy plain a little way inland, where thrones were +placed for Acestes, Æneas, and the other leaders. Here the +remaining games were to be celebrated, and first of all a foot +race. Among the competitors in this were Euryalus, a Trojan youth +distinguished for his personal beauty; Nisus, a brave warrior, who +was his constant friend and companion; Diores, Salius, and Patron, +three other Trojans; and two Sicilian youths famous for their +speed, named Elymus and Panopes. Æneas announced that he +would give two Cretan javelins of bright steel and a carved +battle-axe of silver to each who took part in the race, and to the +three who came in first other rich prizes: to the first a war-horse +with costly trappings; to the second a quiver full of Thracian +arrows, with a gold belt and jeweled buckle; and to the third a +Grecian helmet. The runners having been placed in proper order, the +signal was given, and they darted forward like a tempest. Nisus led +the way, Salius coming second, and Euryalus third, with the rest +following close behind. Already Nisus was near the goal, when +unluckily his foot slipped at a spot where some victims had been +sacrificed for the altar, and the blood soaking into the grass had +made it slippery. Down he fell into the puddle, and in a moment his +chance of victory had disappeared. But even then, in spite of his +disappointment, he was mindful of his affection for Euryalus, and +resolved that since he could not win the race, his friend should do +so. He rose to his feet just as Salius was coming up, and contrived +to stand in his way so as to overturn him. Euryalus, who had still +kept the third place, now sprang forward, and was easily victorious +amid the applause of the crowd. Elymus came in next, and close +behind him Diores. But Salius loudly demanded that the first prize +of right belonged to him, because he had been deprived of the +victory by unfair means. The spectators, however, favored the claim +of Euryalus because of his youth and beauty; and Diores vehemently +took the same side, since, if Salius were adjudged the victory, he +would not receive a prize at all. Æneas speedily silenced all +contention by declaring that the promised rewards should go to the +three who had arrived first at the winning-post; but he added that +he would show his sympathy for the disaster which had befallen +Salius, and therefore bestowed on him the shaggy hide of a Getulian +lion, still retaining the claws, which had been gilt. Upon this, +Nisus also merrily asked for some consolation, since but for an +accident the first prize would have been his, and he showed his +face and limbs all besmeared with mud. His chief entered into the +jest, and gave him a buckler, finely carved, which had once hung on +the walls of Neptune’s temple at Troy.</p> +<div class="figure"><a href="images/big_474.jpg"><img src= +"images/small_474.jpg" alt="A fracas at a foot race." id="img10" +name="img10" width="360" height="571" /></a> +<p>HE ROSE TO HIS FEET JUST AT THE MOMENT THAT SALIUS WAS COMING +UP, AND CONTRIVED TO STAND IN HIS WAY SO AS TO OVERTURN HIM. +EURYALUS, WHO HAD STILL KEPT THE THIRD PLACE, NOW SPRANG FORWARD, +AND WAS EASILY VICTORIOUS AMID THE APPLAUSE OF THE CROWD. ELYMUS +CAME IN NEXT, AND CLOSE BEHIND HIM DIORES. BUT SALIUS LOUDLY +DEMANDED THAT THE FIRST PRIZE OF RIGHT BELONGED TO HIM.</p> +</div> +<p>The next contest was that with the cestus, the boxing-glove of +the ancients, a formidable implement, intended not to soften the +blows dealt by the boxers, but to make them more painful, for it +was composed of strips of hardened oxhide. To the competitors in +this sport—if such it could be called—Æneas +offered two prizes,—the first a bullock, decked with gold and +fillets, and the second a sword and a shining helmet. A noted +Trojan warrior named Dares, a man of immense strength and bulk, who +was also celebrated for his skill with the cestus, presented +himself to contest this prize. He brandished his huge fists in the +air, and paced vaingloriously backward and forward in the arena, +challenging any one in the assembly to meet him. But there was no +response; his friends were too well acquainted with his skill, and +the Sicilians were awed by his formidable appearance. At last, +therefore, imagining that nobody would venture to encounter him, he +advanced to Æneas and asked that the prize might be given up +to him. It seemed, indeed, that this would have to be done, when +King Acestes turned to one of his elders, a venerable Sicilian +chief named Entellus, and asked how it was that he thus allowed +such splendid prizes to be taken before his eyes without striking a +blow for them. Entellus had, in his younger days, been a great +champion with the cestus, having been taught the use of the weapon +by none other than Eryx, at that time king of Sicily, and one of +the most expert boxers in the world. So confident had Eryx been in +his powers, that when the mighty Hercules passed through Sicily on +his way from Spain, where he had slain King Geryon and carried off +his splendid cattle, the Sicilian monarch ventured to challenge the +hero to a combat with the cestus, staking his kingdom against the +cattle which Hercules was bearing away to Greece. Hercules had +accepted the challenge, and had slain Eryx in the encounter; but +the tradition of his skill had been preserved by his pupil +Entellus. The chief was now old, and disinclined for exertion; but +when thus urged by King Acestes, he slowly rose and threw into the +arena the gauntlets which King Eryx had been accustomed to use. +Terrible weapons indeed they-were, with heavy pieces of iron and +lead sewn into them underneath the oxhide. At the mere sight of +them Dares shrank back appalled, and refused to fight with such +implements. “These,” said Entellus, “were the +gauntlets with which my master Eryx encountered Hercules; and +these, after his death, I myself was accustomed to use. But if +Dares likes not such gloves, let Æneas provide others for +both of us.” With these words he threw off his upper garments +and bared his massive shoulders and sinewy arms. The Trojan chief +brought out two pairs of gauntlets of less formidable make, with +which the two champions armed themselves; and then they stood face +to face, and both raised their arms for the encounter. For some +time they stood parrying each other’s blows and watching for +an opportunity. Presently, as they grew warmer, many heavy strokes +were given on each side, now on the head, now on the breast. +Entellus stood stiff and unmoved in the same firm posture, only +bending to evade Dares’s blows, and always closely watching +his antagonist, who, more active, wheeled round him, trying first +one method of attack, then another. At last Entellus uplifted his +right arm, thinking he saw an opportunity for delivering a decisive +stroke; but Dares with great agility slipped out of the way, and as +the arm of Entellus encountered no resistance save from the empty +air, he fell forward on the ground through the violence of his own +effort. Acclamations burst from all the onlookers, and Acestes +himself stepped forward to assist his old companion to his feet. +But the mishap had only aroused Entellus’s anger; he no +longer acted on the defensive, but rushed upon his opponent with +irresistible ardor, and smote blow after blow, driving Dares +headlong over the field, pouring down strokes as incessantly as a +shower of hail rattles upon the house-tops. Æneas now deemed +it high time to put a stop to the combat, and called upon Dares, +who indeed was quite overpowered, to yield. His comrades led the +beaten champion to the ships, with the blood flowing from his +battered head and face, and on his behalf they took away the helmet +and sword, leaving the bull to the conqueror. Entellus, proud of +his victory, laid hold of the animal, and exclaimed, “Behold, +O chief, and you Trojans, from this what my strength once was, and +also from what death you have saved Dares.” With these words +he smote the bull on the forehead with the cestus so mightily that +the skull was battered in and the brute sank dead at his feet.</p> +<p>After this exciting competition came a more peaceful +sport,—a trial of skill with the bow. A mast was planted on a +sward, and to the top of it a living dove was secured by a cord. +This was the mark, and four archers came forward to contend for the +prizes,—Hippocoön, the brother of Nisus and one of +Æneas’s dearest friends; Mnestheus, the winner of the +second prize in the galley race; Eurytion, a brother of that +Pandarus who was one of the most skillful archers that fought in +the Trojan war, and who, after wounding Menelaus, was slain by +Diomedes; and lastly, King Acestes himself. Hippocoön shot +first, and his arrow, whizzing past the fluttering dove, pierced +the pole to which she was fastened. This, though it did not hit the +mark, was an excellent shot, and it won loud applause from the +spectators. Mnestheus next discharged his dart, taking a long and +steady aim; but his arrow, instead of striking the bird, cut in two +the cord by which she was fastened, and, spreading her wings, the +dove at once flew away. Instantly, however, Eurytion raised his +bow, and shot with so true an aim that he struck the bird even in +mid-flight, and brought her lifeless to the earth. There was thus +no longer a mark at which Acestes could aim; but notwithstanding he +drew his bow and discharged a shaft high into the air. And now a +strange prodigy happened; for the arrow, soaring upward, took fire +as it flew, and marked out a path of flame, till, being quite +consumed, it vanished into the air. This spectacle naturally +excited the wonder and reverence of the assembled multitude; and +Æneas, embracing Acestes, declared that the incident was an +omen from the Gods awarding to him the first prize. He therefore +bestowed on him a splendid bowl, embossed with figures, which had +once belonged to Anchises, nor did the other competitors dispute +the justice of the decision.</p> +<p>But the games were not yet ended. The Trojan chief had prepared +a closing spectacle as a surprise for the spectators. He sent a +messenger to summon Ascanius, and in the mean time ordered a large +space of ground to be cleared. Then suddenly his son entered on +horseback at the head of a numerous company,—all the youths +of the expedition. They were attired alike, with garlands on their +heads and circles of gold about their necks; and each carried two +spears of cornel-wood, tipped with steel. The young equestrians +were divided into three companies; one was commanded by Ascanius +himself, mounted on a beautiful Sidonian steed which had been given +him by Queen Dido; a second by the youthful Priam, a son of that +Polites whom Pyrrhus slew at the fall of Troy; and the third by +Atys, a boy who was Ascanius’ especial friend and companion. +They went through a series of evolutions, now advancing in line, +again forming in different bands and pretending to charge one +another, and afterwards going through many other intricate +manœuvres. The scene was a most picturesque one, and gave +great pleasure to those who witnessed it.</p> +<h3><a id="LowerWorld" name="LowerWorld">Æneas’s Visit +to the Lower World</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Charles Henry Hanson</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Continuing his voyage, Æneas reached the shore of the +country afterwards named Campania, the modern province of Naples. +Here the ships were carefully moored, and the crews disembarked. +Some busied themselves in kindling fires and preparing a meal; +others explored the country in search of game. Æneas, +however, hastened at once to seek the temple of Apollo and the +adjoining cave of the Cumæan Sibyl,—the most famous of +all the oracles of antiquity. The temple and cave were situated in +a thick wood, closely adjoining the gloomy lake of Avernus, a black +pool of unknown depth, hedged in by precipitous cliffs, and +emitting gases so poisonous that no bird was able to fly over it in +safety. In the rocks at one side of the lake there yawned a sombre +cavern, which was believed in those days to be the entrance to the +kingdom of Pluto—the abode of the dead.</p> +<p>Æneas was surveying the temple,—an edifice of great +splendor, adorned with pictures wrought in metal by the cunning +hand of Dædalus,—when Achates, whom he had sent before +him to the Sibyl’s cave, approached, conducting the +priestess. “O prince,” she said, “this is not the +time for admiring the works of men. It will be more fitting for you +to propitiate the god with sacrifices, so that he may inspire +me.” With this mandate the hero at once complied, and then +the Sibyl summoned him and his followers to the entrance of her +cave,—a vast apartment carved out of the living rock, whence +issued a hundred corridors. Scarcely had the Trojans approached the +threshold when the virgin exclaimed, “Now is the time to +consult your fate! The god! lo, the god!” As she cried out +thus her looks suddenly changed, her color came and went, her hair +fell in disorder over her shoulders, her bosom heaved, and she was +shaken by an uncontrollable passion. Her very form seemed to +dilate, and the tone of her voice was no longer that of a mere +mortal, since she was inspired by the influence of the god. +“Trojan Æneas!” she exclaimed, “delay no +longer to offer thy prayers for the knowledge which thou seekest; +for not till then can I reveal to thee the secrets of the +future.”</p> +<p>Earnestly did Æneas implore pity and aid from Apollo; and +of the Sibyl he entreated that she should proclaim her revelations +by word of mouth, and not, as was her custom, write them on leaves +of trees, lest they should become the sport of the winds. At first +the prophetess did not answer; she was not yet fully possessed by +the spirit of the god, and raved in wild ecstasy in the cave, +struggling, as it were, to resist the will of Phœbus, who, on +his part, wearied her foaming lips, subdued her fierce heart, and +moulded her to his will. Then all at once the hundred doors of the +cavern flew open of their own accord, and the Sibyl proclaimed the +divine response,—</p> +<p>“O thou who hast at length overpassed the perils of the +ocean, yet more terrible trials await thee on shore. Thou and thy +Trojans shall indeed reach the promised land—that is assured; +but ye shall wish that ye had never come thither. Wars, horrid +wars, I foresee, and Tiber foaming with a deluge of blood. Another +Achilles awaits thee in Latium—he also the son of a goddess. +Nor shall the persecutions of Juno cease to follow the Trojans +wherever they may be; and in your distress you will humbly +supplicate all the surrounding Italian states for aid. Once more +shall a marriage with a foreign wife be a source of affliction to +you. But yield not under your sufferings; encounter them resolutely +in the teeth of adverse fortune, and when you least expect it, the +means of deliverance shall come to you from a Greek +city.”</p> +<p>So, under the inspiration of Apollo, spoke the Sibyl. When she +had ceased, Æneas answered that no prospect of further trials +could appall him, for he was prepared to endure the worst that +could befall. But he now entreated, since it was said that the +entrance to the shades was near, that the Sibyl should conduct him +into those dark regions, in order that he might obtain an interview +with the spectre of his father. It was Anchises’ self, he +added, who had bidden him make this request; and filial devotion +would enable him to perform a task which Orpheus had achieved out +of love for his wife Eurydice, and Pollux through his attachment to +his brother Castor.</p> +<p>“Æneas,” replied the priestess, “easy is +the descent into Hades: grim Pluto’s gate stands open night +and day, but to retrace your steps and escape to the upper regions +will be a difficult task indeed, and one which few have hitherto +been able to accomplish. If, however, you are fixed in the resolve +to pursue so desperate an enterprise, learn what first is to be +done. There is in the dark woods which surround the Lake of Avernus +a certain tree, dense of foliage, on which grows a single bough of +gold, with leaves and twigs of the same precious metal, and no +living mortal can enter Hades unless he has first found and plucked +this bough, which is demanded by Proserpine, the consort of Pluto +and queen of the infernal realms, as her peculiar tribute. When the +bough is torn off, another always grows in its place. Therefore +search for it diligently, and when you have discovered it grasp it +with your hand. If the Fates are propitious to your enterprise, you +will be able to pluck it easily; if otherwise, your whole strength +could not tear it from the tree, nor could you ever sever it with +your sword. In the mean time the body of one of your friends lies +lifeless, and demands the funeral rites. First bury him with proper +ceremonies, and then return to me with black cattle for the +sacrifices; and then you shall be able to visit the realms of +Hades, to which most living men are denied an entrance.”</p> +<p>With sorrowful thoughts Æneas, closely followed by +Achates, now withdrew from the shrine, and took the way to the +shore. Both were greatly perplexed to know what was the corpse +needing burial of which the Sibyl had spoken. But while they were +wondering they came to the beach, and there, before them, they saw +lying the body of Misenus, who had come to a lamentable end. +Misenus was the most skilled among all the Trojans in the art of +blowing the trumpet. He had been, besides, a famous warrior, and +during the siege of Troy was accustomed to be the companion of +Hector in the field, and to fight by his side. When Hector fell, he +attached himself to Æneas, scorning to follow any less +illustrious chief, and so had formed one of the band which the hero +was conducting to Latium. But he was inordinately vain of his skill +with the trumpet, and believed himself superior even to the +Tritons, the sea-deities whose especial province it was to lull the +seas at the command of Neptune by blowing upon instruments made of +shells. These Tritons Misenus had challenged to a trial of skill, +and by way of defiance had blown so loud a note that the deities +were afraid to respond to his challenge; but being full of +jealousy, they had now contrived to lure him into the sea and drown +him. The discovery of his lifeless body filled all his comrades +with sadness. They gathered about him with loud lamentations, and +then prepared to erect his funeral pyre, hastening with axes into +the thick surrounding woods, and cutting down huge oaks and pines +and ash-trees.</p> +<p>Æneas himself led the way in the performance of this task, +and while he was engaged in it he could not help exclaiming, as his +glance surveyed the wide forest, “Would that I could now +perceive the golden bough which I must find before entering Hades; +for in this ample forest, how can I begin to search for it?” +Scarcely had he spoken when two pigeons suddenly swooped down from +the upper air and alighted at his feet. He guessed at once that +these doves, his mother’s favorite birds, had been sent for +his guidance, and he entreated them to conduct him to the place +where the precious bough was growing. The doves, feeding and flying +by turns, advanced through the wood at such a speed that +Æneas could easily keep them in sight, and presently, having +reached the very edge of Lake Avernus, both rose at once into the +air, and settled on a great tree of very dense foliage. The hero +hastened to the spot, and there indeed, on one of the lower limbs +of the tree, gleamed the bough, the rich yellow lustre of its +leaves and twigs contrasting vividly with the deep green of the +surrounding foliage. Æneas with delight grasped it, and +plucked it from its place, and, bearing it carefully in his hand, +hastened to rejoin his companions.</p> +<p>They, in the mean time, had reared on the shore a vast pile of +logs of pine and oak, the sides of which they had interlaced with +smaller boughs. After having carefully washed and purified the body +of Misenus, they first made a couch upon the pyre, with the apparel +of the dead man, and then, with renewed cries of grief, placed the +body upon it. His arms, too, they laid beside him, and having +poured incense and oil abundantly upon the pile, they set it on +fire. When only smouldering embers were left, these were quenched +with wine, and the ashes of the dead were carefully collected and +placed in a brazen urn. This urn was afterwards deposited in a +lofty tomb which Æneas erected on a promontory that +henceforth bore the name of Misenus.</p> +<p>The funeral ceremonies having thus duly been performed, the hero +proceeded to the cave of the Sibyl, and called upon her to fulfill +her promise, and accompany him to the kingdom of the dead. She led +him to the mouth of the black cavern at the side of Lake Avernus, +and there offered up sacrifices of black cattle and sheep, uttering +various invocations. Presently the ground began to rumble beneath +their feet; upon which the Sibyl ordered those of +Æneas’s followers who had attended him to withdraw from +the spot, and exhorted the chief himself, drawing his sword from +its sheath, to march firmly forward. So saying she plunged into the +cave, nor did he hesitate to follow.</p> +<p>At first they moved along through a region that was utterly +waste, void, and covered with an intense gloom, deep as that of a +winter’s night when the moon is obscured by clouds. But this +desolate tract was not wholly untenanted, for Æneas saw +flitting about certain hideous shadowy forms. The spirits of Grief +and Revenge and pale Disease, Fear and Famine and deformed +Indigence, had their abode in this vestibule of Hades; and so, too, +Death and Toil, and murderous War, and frantic Discord, her head +crowned with curling vipers and bound by a blood-dyed fillet. Here, +also, were the iron chambers in which dwelt the terrible Furies. In +the midst rose a gloomy elm, which was the haunt of vain Dreams, +who dwelt under every leaf. Beyond this tree were many huge and +misshapen monsters,—Centaurs, and double-formed Scyllas, and +the great dragon of the Lernæan lake, which, when it plagued +the upper earth, was slain by Hercules. Here, also, was the huge +Chimæra, with its three heads vomiting flames; Gorgons, +Harpies, and other ghastly forms flitted about. At so fearful a +sight. Æneas was seized with sudden fear; he drew his sword, +and would have struck at the monsters, if the Sibyl had not +restrained his hand and reminded him that they were but disembodied +shadows.</p> +<p>The path now led them to a place where the three infernal +rivers, Acheron, Cocytus, and Styx, met in one deep, black, and +boiling flood. Here there kept guard the grim ferryman Charon, an +infernal deity of fearful aspect. A long gray beard fell all +tangled and neglected from his chin; his filthy and ragged garments +were knotted over his shoulders; his eyes glittered with baleful +light. He sat on a great black barge, which he pushed to and fro +across the river with a pole. An immense crowd of shades was +incessantly pouring to the banks,—young and old, matrons and +virgins, warriors who had endured the toils of a long life and +tender boys who had died while yet under the care of their parents. +All were eager to cross the stream, and stretched their hands in +earnest entreaty to Charon to admit them into his boat. But the +sullen ferryman only consented to receive some; others he drove +back with his pole, and would on no account permit them to +cross.</p> +<p>Æneas was amazed at this scene, and asked the Sibyl to +explain to him its meaning. “You see before you,” she +replied, “the deep pools of Cocytus, and the Stygian lake, by +which the Gods are accustomed to swear when they take an oath which +they dare not violate. All that crowd which Charon will not ferry +across is composed of persons who after death received not the +rites of burial; those only are permitted to enter the boat who +have been interred with proper ceremonies. As for the others, they +wander unquiet about these shores for a hundred years before they +are allowed to cross to the regions beyond.”</p> +<p>When Æneas heard this he was filled with sadness, for +among the spectres of the unburied who crowded on the bank he saw +many of his own comrades who had perished during the storms he had +had to encounter during his long voyages. As he looked, there +advanced, slow and mournful, the pilot Palinurus, who had been +thrown overboard by Somnus during the recent voyage from Sicily. +The hero accosted him, and asked him what god had torn him from his +post and overwhelmed him in the midst of the ocean. The oracle of +Apollo, he said, had assured him that Palinurus would be safe on +the sea, and would arrive on the Italian coast; and yet it would +seem that the oracle had been falsified. The shade of Palinurus, +knowing nothing of the enchantment which had been wrought on him by +Somnus, replied that no god had destroyed him, and that the oracle +had spoken truly. He had fallen into the sea through being overcome +by slumber, and having kept afloat for three days and nights, had +on the fourth day reached the Italian shore alive, but had been +cruelly murdered by the savage people while clambering up the +cliffs. Now his body was tossing on the waves, sometimes thrown on +the shore and then washed off again. But he passionately entreated +Æneas either to find his corpse and inter it with proper +solemnities, or else to contrive some means of taking him as his +companion across the black waters of Styx, unburied as he was, that +at last his soul might find rest. The Sibyl, however, rebuked him +for expressing so impious a desire, and for hoping that the fixed +decrees of the Gods could be violated for the benefit of one +insignificant mortal. But by way of consolation she informed him +that the people of the country where he had met with his death, +compelled by terrible plagues sent by Jupiter, would offer solemn +atonement to his remains, erect a tomb to his memory, and give his +name to the place where it stood.</p> +<p>Æneas and the Sibyl now advanced toward the river; but +when Charon saw them approaching, he called out, “Whoever +thou mayest be that art now coming armed and in life to our rivers, +say quickly on what errand thou art coming. This is the region of +ghosts and death; to waft over the bodies of the living in my boat +is not permitted. Nor was it joyful to me to receive Hercules when +he came, nor Theseus and Pirithous, though they were descendants of +the Gods and unconquerable in war. Hercules dared to bind in chains +Cerberus himself, the keeper of the gate of Tartarus, and dragged +him trembling from the very throne of Pluto. The others attempted a +feat scarcely less perilous, for they sought to carry off our queen +Proserpine.”</p> +<p>“Be not disturbed,” answered the Sibyl; “we at +least meditate no such plots, nor does this mortal bring with him +his arms for any purpose of violence. He is Æneas of Troy, +illustrious for piety and skill in arms, and he penetrates these +gloomy abodes to have converse with his father Anchises. If your +compassion is not moved by his filial devotion, at least pay regard +to this branch.” And so saying, she produced the golden +bough. The surly ferryman, though filled with rage at being forced +to obey, was at once silenced. He brought his boat to the bank, and +silently received into it Æneas and his companion, driving +back the ghosts that at the same time eagerly strove to enter the +vessel. It was old and leaky, and sank deep in the black flood +under the unaccustomed weight of living mortals; but Charon ferried +them safely across, and landed them on the farther side, where, in +a huge den at the gate of the infernal regions, lay Cerberus, the +terrible three-headed dog which was the guardian of the +place—a ferocious brute which only Hercules among living men +had been able to subdue. When Æneas approached he opened his +huge jaws and made all Hades resound with his barking; but the +Sibyl threw to him a medicated cake, which he at once devoured, and +was thereby lulled into profound sleep. The way was now safe; the +Trojan chief and his companion passed quickly through the open +gate, and entered the dread region where Minos and his fellow +judges pronounced on the fate of each ghost that came before +them.</p> +<p>The first place within the gate was assigned to the shades of +infants, cut off in the very beginning of life, who filled their +allotted region with loud wailings and weeping. Beyond these were +placed persons who had been put to death in consequence of false +accusations. Not even the unjust suffering which such persons had +endured on earth could at once procure for them a place among those +happy spirits declared free of guilt. Here they were doomed to wait +till the inexorable Minos examined each case and gave his award. +Immediately adjoining was the place allotted to those who, though +unstained by crime, had become weary of life and had committed +self-destruction. Gladly, indeed, would they have now returned to +the upper world they had despised, but no such return was possible +to them.</p> +<p>Æneas and his companion next viewed a region named the +Fields of Mourning,—a wide tract, with shady paths and thick +myrtle groves, dedicated to those who had died through unrequited +love, and were held to have been emancipated by the miseries they +had endured on earth from suffering any punishment below. Here were +to be seen, wandering disconsolately, many women of whom +Æneas had heard in old legends of Greece and Troy. Among them +he beheld, with sorrow and pity, the ill-starred Queen of Carthage, +the wound she had herself inflicted yet gaping in her fair bosom. +“Dido!” he exclaimed with tears, “was it then a +true rumor that reached me of your having died after my departure, +and by your own hand? If I have been the cause of your death, I am +indeed unhappy. By all I hold sacred, fair queen, I swear to you +that it was against my own will I quitted Carthage. The will of the +Gods, which now has brought me, while yet living, into these +melancholy realms, drove me from you; but I dreamt not that our +separation would bring upon you such extreme suffering. Why will +you not speak to me? Why do you fly from me? Never again will the +Fates permit us to meet together.” But all his entreaties and +his tears were vain. The spectre gazed upon him awhile with eyes of +inexorable hate, and then turned away, with a gesture of +unrelenting aversion, to a shady recess near by, where she was +joined by the ghost of her first lord, Sichæus, who by the +compassion of Pluto had been permitted to bear her company. +Æneas resumed his journey, pondering sadly over the fate of +the woman who but a little since had loved him so ardently and to +whom he had unwillingly brought such misfortunes. He and his guide +now came to a place dedicated to the shades of renowned warriors. +Here he saw numbers of those brave Trojans, once his companions in +arms, who had fallen before Troy. They eagerly crowded around him, +pressed his hands, and questioned him as to the circumstances which +had brought him, while yet alive, amongst them. There, too, were +many Greeks who had perished during the Trojan war; but when they +beheld the hero in the flesh, and wearing his gleaming armor, they +fled from him in dismay. As he passed on, after exchanging +affectionate words with many of his old comrades, he met +Deïphobus, that son of Priam who, after the death of Paris, +became the husband of Helen. The spectre of the prince was cruelly +mutilated,—so that Æneas scarcely knew him. “Who, +O Deïphobus,” he exclaimed, “could have inflicted +such shameful wounds upon you? After I had escaped from Troy a +story was brought to me that you had indeed perished, but honorably +and in fair fight, having slain many of the enemy. Then I erected +in your honor an empty tomb on the shore under Mount Ida, and +offered proper funeral rites, for your body I was unable to +find.”</p> +<p>“You, my friend,” answered Deïphobus, +“omitted no duty towards my corpse that you could perform. +But I owe my death and these infamous wounds to the wickedness of +Helen; they are the marks of her love. On the night after the fatal +horse was brought into Troy, I was lying asleep in my chamber, +enjoying needful repose. Then my faithless wife removed all the +arms from my palace, and even took away my sword from the side of +my couch. That done, she threw open the gates, and herself summoned +her former husband, Menelaus, and he and Ulysses burst into my +apartment and inflicted on me these wounds, for which I pray the +Gods that they may be requited.”</p> +<p>Æneas would have spent yet more time in conversing with +the shades of his former comrades; but the Sibyl reminded him that +the hour was approaching when he must return to the upper world. +“Here,” she said, “the path is divided. To the +right, past the palace of Pluto, lies our way to the Elysian +Fields; on the left is the way to Tartarus, the place of punishment +for the wicked.”</p> +<p>As they proceeded toward Elysium, Æneas looked around him, +and beheld to the left a vast prison, enclosed by mighty walls, at +the foot of which ran Phlegethon, the river of fire, whirling along +great rocks in its furious current. Across the stream, just +opposite to where he was standing, was a lofty gate, with columns +of solid adamant. In an iron tower adjoining sat Tisiphone, the +eldest of the Furies, watching the gate. From within sounds were +heard—groans of pain, the sound of cruel lashes, and the +clanking of chains. Æneas asked his companion what +punishments were being inflicted within, and who were the +sufferers. “This,” replied the Sibyl, “is +Tartarus, whereinto no righteous person can enter. Here +Rhadamanthus presides: he searches into the deeds of all who are +sent hither, obliges them to confess all the crimes they have +committed in the upper world, and awards the punishment. As soon as +the sentence is pronounced, Tisiphone scourges the doomed one with +a whip of scorpions, and then consigns him to the fierce attendants +of her sister Furies. Immediately the gates, creaking on their +hinges, fly open. Within, the entrance is guarded by a hideous +Hydra, with fifty black and gaping mouths. In the pit of Tartarus +beyond, the giants who waged war against the ruler of the Gods lie +prostrated by his thunderbolts. Beside them, enduring terrible +tortures, is Salmoneus. He was a king of Elis in Greece, and was so +puffed up by pride that he rode through his city on a high chariot +drawn by four prancing horses, waving in his hand a torch, and +pretending to be Jupiter himself, wielding his thunderbolts. The +Almighty Sire punished his impiety by hurling from Olympus a real +thunderbolt, which deprived him of life; and now he pays the +penalty of his mad pride by eternal sufferings in Tartarus. There +also lies Tityus, the huge giant who, having insulted the goddess +Latona, was slain by the darts of her children, Apollo and Diana, +and whose writhing body now lies extended over nine acres of +ground, while insatiable vultures perpetually prey on his vitals, +that are renewed as fast as they are devoured. Beyond him is Ixion, +bound to a wheel that never ceases to revolve, while he is scourged +by attendant Furies. He it was who, being admitted to Olympus by +the generosity of Jupiter himself, dared to seek the love of the +queen of the Gods. Not less dreadful is the punishment allotted to +Pirithous, who, along with Theseus, endeavored to carry off the +Queen of Hades, Proserpine, from the side of Pluto. Over his head +hangs a huge rock, which every moment seems about to fall and crush +him, but yet never actually descends; moreover, he is plagued with +a gnawing hunger, and a rich banquet is always before him, which +yet he is never able to reach. Myriads of other unhappy shades, +whose course on earth has been stained by detestable crime, here +expiate the evil they have done; but had I a hundred mouths and a +hundred tongues, I could not recount all their offenses and the +varieties of their punishment. It is necessary that we should go +forward, since yonder stands the palace of Pluto, where thou, O +Æneas, must deposit the bough which has gained thee admission +here.”</p> +<p>Obedient to his guide, Æneas advanced to the vast portals +of the palace where Pluto, the brother of Jupiter and monarch of +the infernal kingdom, had his abode with his lovely queen +Proserpine, the daughter of Ceres, whom ages before he had carried +off from the upper world. There he made due reverence before the +goddess, and deposited the golden bough at her feet. Advancing +beyond, Æneas and the Sibyl came at last to the Elysian +Fields,—the abode of joy assigned to those who during life +had been distinguished for piety, virtue, and heroic actions. Here +were lovely green fields and pleasant groves; the air was pure and +balmy, the sky was blue, and all was glowing-in the light of the +blessed sun. Some of the happy spirits who dwelt in this region +were amusing themselves by wrestling on the greensward, and other +sports in which they had delighted on earth, such as +chariot-racing, exercises with the spear and the bow. Others were +dancing and singing to the delicious notes which Orpheus, the most +skillful of musicians, produced from his lyre. On the bank of the +river Eridanus, which pours its clear waters through Elysium over +sands of gold, were gathered a band whose heads were adorned with +snow-white fillets. These were priests who had kept unstained the +purity and sanctity of their office; poets who had sung the praises +of the Gods in immortal verse; and those who had made human life +more happy by the invention of useful arts. Among them the Sibyl +sought out Musseus, the father of the poets, and besought him to +reveal in what retreat they should find Anchises, on whose account +she and her companion had traversed all the regions of the +shades.</p> +<p>“None of us,” answered the venerable shade, +“have here any fixed abode. We wander at our will among the +shady groves and by the pleasant banks of the river. But if you +mount with me this little eminence, I will show you him whom you +seek.”</p> +<p>As he spoke, he led them to a spot where they could survey all +the shining plains around, and pointed to where Anchises, reclined +in a secluded vale, was surveying the souls of his descendants who +were destined in future times to visit the earth, and were enacting +beforehand the achievements they were fated to accomplish during +life. As soon as he saw Æneas advancing toward him, he rose +with hands stretched out and joyful tears pouring down his +face.</p> +<p>“Are you indeed,” he exclaimed, “come to me at +last, my son? Am I permitted once more to see your face, and to +listen to the tones of your dear voice? Now indeed the hopes which +I cherished are fulfilled. By how many dangers have you been +threatened since we parted! I was filled with dread lest you should +be prevented from accomplishing your task by the temptations which +beset you at Carthage.”</p> +<p>“Thy apparition, beloved father,” answered +Æneas, “continually appearing to me in dreams, urged me +forward even to these regions. Permit me now to clasp thee in my +arms, and do not withdraw from my embrace.” Thrice did he +attempt to throw his arms about the shade, which being only +composed of thin air, was not perceptible to his touch. While the +two conversed together, Æneas observed at no great distance +from them a stream, at which prodigious numbers of ghosts were +incessantly crowding to drink, swarming like bees round their hive. +Astonished at this spectacle, the hero inquired of his father what +that stream was, and why those spectres were so eager to drink of +it. “These,” answered Anchises, “are souls +destined by fate to occupy other bodies in the upper world; and the +stream is Lethe, one draught of which is sufficient to destroy all +recollection of their former condition.”</p> +<p>“But surely,” said Æneas, “it is not to +be believed that any souls which have tasted the delights of this +abode will be desirous to return again to the life of earth, with +its uncertainties and its miseries. How comes it that this impulse +possesses them?”</p> +<p>In reply to this question, Anchises entered into a long +explanation, the substance of which was that all the spirits of the +departed had to endure in the regions below a process of expiation +for their earthly sins, longer or shorter according to the nature +of their transgressions. Those that were not consigned to the pains +of Tartarus entered the Elysian Fields, where, after they had +remained a thousand years, they were summoned to drink of the +waters of Lethe, and thus lose all recollection of their former +lives; after which, being purified from all stain, they were fitted +to return to the upper world and inhabit new bodies. Anchises added +that he would show to his son the forms of his own descendants in +the Italian kingdom he was destined to establish, and would trace +for him their achievements. Leading Æneas and the Sibyl onto +a rising ground, in the midst of the souls which were crowding +about the magic stream of Lethe, he pointed out to him a long array +of future kings of Latium,—Silvius, who was to be the son of +Æneas’s old age by his consort Lavinia; Procas, Capys, +and Numitor, destined to be monarchs of Alba Longa; and Romulus, +the future founder of the great city of Rome, which would extend +over seven hills, and would spread her dominion over the whole +earth. Not far from these were the souls of Romulus’s +successors in the’ early days of Rome,—Numa Pompilius, +who first would give his country laws, and encourage the arts of +peace; Tullus Hostilius, who would wage victorious wars, and extend +the territories of Rome; Ancus Martius, not less successful in the +field; and Tarquin, destined to lose the throne through his +oppressive reign. Anchises proceeded to indicate to his wondering +son many of the patriots and generals who in future years were to +contribute to the glory and power of the Roman State,—more +especially the great Julius Caesar, the lineal descendant of +Æneas himself; and Augustus, who would once more establish +the golden age in Latium, and whose empire would extend to +countries as yet unknown. The venerable shade concluded his +forecast of the future with a splendid description of the part +which Rome was destined to play in the world’s +history:—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>“Let others better mould the running mass</p> +<p>Of metals, and inform the breathing brass,</p> +<p>And soften into flesh a marble face;</p> +<p>Plead better at the bar; describes the skies,</p> +<p>And when the stars descend, and when they rise:</p> +<p>But Rome! ’tis thine alone, with awful sway</p> +<p>To rule mankind, and make the world obey,</p> +<p>Disposing peace and war thy own majestic way;</p> +<p>To tame the proud, the fettered slave to free,—</p> +<p>These are imperial arts, and worthy thee.”</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>Having thus inspired Æneas with renewed determination by +showing him the brilliant future that was awaiting his descendants, +Anchises conducted him over those parts of the Elysian Fields which +he had not yet visited, and showed him everything that was of +peculiar interest. As they went, he discoursed to him respecting +the wars which he would have to wage in Latium, and gave him +counsel as to the means by which he should overcome every +difficulty. Then at last, having brought him to the ivory gate +whence the gods were accustomed to send false dreams to the upper +world, he bade him farewell. By that gate Æneas and the Sibyl +quitted the abodes of the dead, and ascended without difficulty or +adventure to the cave of the oracle, whence the hero hastened at +once to his ships. Without loss of time he ordered the sails to be +spread, and the ships were steered along the coast, drawing nearer +ever hour to their final destination.</p> +<h3><a id="Battle" name="Battle">Æneas’s First Great +Battle with the Latins</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Charles Henry Hanson</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p class="quote">[Æneas finally lands in Italy, the country +promised him by the Gods as a home for his race. The Italian king, +Latinus, has been warned by signs and omens that the hand of his +daughter Lavinia must not be given to an Italian prince, but to a +stranger coming from a far country. He believes that Æneas is +the hero chosen by the Fates as her husband, and greets him in most +friendly manner. Queen Amata, however, is influenced by the +Trojan-hating Juno to oppose this marriage. Turnus, chief of the +Rutuli, a suitor of Lavinia, is next aroused, and soon the whole +kingdom is in a turmoil. A fierce battle ensues.]</p> +<p>Turnus, having brought the bulk of his forces from before the +beseiged camp, hurled them against the army of Æneas before +its ranks were properly formed, and a furious conflict at once +began to rage. The Trojan hero, rejoicing to find himself once more +on a field of battle, first encountered the Latian warriors, who +chanced to be in his front. Their leader was Theron, a man of +gigantic stature, who did not hesitate to engage Æneas hand +to hand; but he paid dearly for his rashness, for the sword which +Vulcan had forged—so keen was its edge, so excellent its +temper—pierced through his brazen buckler and his tunic +stiffened by bars of gold, and penetrating his side, drained the +life-blood. Next the hero struck down Lycas; and rushing onward, +encountered two stalwart rustics, Cisseus and Gyas, who were making +havoc among the Trojans by beating them down with ponderous clubs. +On the divine armor the heavy blows of these rude weapons fell +harmless, while the spear of Æneas proved fatal to both those +who wielded them. An insolent warrior named Pharus was defying the +hero from a short distance with taunting speech, when he hurled a +javelin, which struck the boaster full in the mouth, and +transfixing the throat, silenced him forever. Now a band of seven +brothers, the sons of Phorcus, all at once attacked Æneas +with darts, throwing them together. Some of the weapons struck his +helmet and shield, and rebounded; others, turned aside by the care +of Venus, grazed his skin. Æneas called to Achates to bring +him more spears, and snatching one as soon as it was offered, +hurled it against Mæon, one of the brothers, with such force +that it penetrated his shield and corselet, and inflicted a mortal +wound in his breast. Another brother, Alcanor, hurrying up to +Mæon’s assistance, he smote with a second spear, just +where the arm and shoulder join, leaving the arm hanging to the +body only by two or three shreds of skin and muscle. Seeing the +slaughter that Æneas was spreading around him, Halæsus +and Messapus hurried up with their bands to confront him, and so in +that part of the field the battle grew still more furious.</p> +<p>In another part, where Pallas was fighting at the head of his +Arcadian horsemen, the ground had been rendered so uneven by the +winter torrents that they were obliged to dismount, and being +unaccustomed to fight on foot, they began to retreat before the +fierce assault of the Rutulians. At this sight their brave young +leader was overwhelmed with shame and mortification. +“Whither,” he cried, “my fellow countrymen, do +you fly? I implore you, by the memory of your gallant deeds in the +past, by the name of Evander, the king you love, by my own hopes of +glory, not to flee. Your way lies through your foes, not from them; +with your swords must you cut a passage where they crowd most +densely. These are not gods who pursue us; they are mortals, like +ourselves, and they are not stronger or more numerous than we. The +ocean hems us in with an impassable barrier on the one side; the +enemy confronts us on the other, and separates us from our friends. +Whether shall we fly into the sea, or force our way toward the +Trojans?” So saying, he turned, and dashed into the midst of +the hostile ranks. Tagus was the first who fell a victim to his +noble wrath; for as he was stooping to pick up a heavy stone, the +spear of Pallas struck him in the middle of the back, and shattered +the spine and ribs. As the young hero was withdrawing the weapon, +Hisbon rushed on and struck at him from above; but the blow fell +short, and before he could recover his guard Pallas buried his +sword deep in his body. Warrior after warrior he struck down, +restored the confidence of his followers, and spread confusion and +dismay in the opposite ranks, raging among them as the flames lit +by the husbandman in the autumn spread through the stubble, and +destroy everything in their path. But now the Auruncian chief, +Halæsus, summoned by some of his followers to their aid, +opposed the advance of the Arcadians. He was a tried and fierce +warrior, and he slew five of the bravest of Pallas’s men +before the young chief could confront him. Then, however, the son +of Evander hurled a spear with such skill and certainty of aim that +he pierced Halæsus’s heart, and the grim leader of the +Aurunci sank lifeless on the field. His fall was a sore +discouragement to the troops of Turnus, which would have sought +safety in flight, had not Lausus, the gallant son of +Mezentius,—noble and upright offspring of an unworthy +father,—suddenly come to their aid. First encountering Abas, +leader of the Populonians, he slew him with a single blow of his +sword, and followed up his success with a furious slaughter of +Arcadians and Etrurians. Thus the battle continued: on the one side +Pallas impetuously urged the attack; on the other Lausus not less +obstinately maintained the defense. They were equal in years, and +in beauty and grace of form; and to both alike the Fates had +assigned a place among the victims of the war. But the Gods had +ordained that they should not encounter hand to hand; each was +destined to succumb to a superior foe.</p> +<p>Turnus was leading his troops in another quarter of the field, +when he was summoned to hasten to the assistance of Lausus, who +alone was bearing up the battle against Pallas and his Arcadians. +Quickly he turned his chariot in that direction, and as soon as he +reached the spot, called on his warriors to withdraw from the +conflict. “I alone,” he said, “will encounter +Pallas; to me his life is given. Would to Heaven his father were +here to witness our combat.” The Rutulians obeyed the command +of their king, and fell back; while Pallas, amazed at their retreat +and the sudden appearance of Turnus, gazed on his opponent. Then, +in reply to his vaunting speech, he said, “Now, either by +carrying off thy spoils or by a noble death at thy hands, I shall +be rendered famous. My sire knows how to bear either extremity of +fortune. Cease thy threatenings and let us engage.” As he +spoke, the hearts of the Arcadians, who loved him, were filled with +fear and sorrow. Turnus sprang from his chariot, and came forward +to the encounter on foot, advancing as a lion bounds toward his +prey. As soon as Pallas thought him within reach of his spear, he +prepared to throw it, and uttered this prayer to Hercules: +“By my father’s hospitality, and that abode which thou, +his guest, didst visit, O Alcides, aid, I implore thee, my arduous +attempt. May the dying eyes of Turnus behold me strip him, +expiring, of his bloody armor, and endure the sight of a victorious +foe.” Hercules, from his place on Olympus, heard the prayer, +and knowing that the decree of Fate was otherwise, answered with +heavy groans and unavailing tears. These were not unseen by +Jupiter, who strove to console his immortal son. “To every +one,” he said, “his day is fixed; a short and +irretrievable term of life is given to all; but to lengthen out +fame by heroic deeds is the best that man can do. Under the lofty +walls of Troy many sons of gods themselves perished,—among +them the heroic Sarpedon, my own offspring, perished; Turnus, too, +is summoned by the Fates, and has nearly reached his term of +life.” He spoke, and turned away his gaze from the +battlefield, himself pitying the untimely death of Pallas.</p> +<p>And now the brave son of Evander with his utmost force hurled +his spear, and then hastened to draw his sword from its scabbard. +The weapon struck Turnus where the shoulder was protected by the +corselet, and piercing through the solid brass, slightly grazed the +hero’s body. Then Turnus, poising a steel-tipped javelin, +darted it at Pallas, exclaiming, “See whether mine be not the +more penetrating shaft.” Cast with irresistible might, it +tore its way through the youth’s shield, composed though it +was of thick plates of brass and iron, and through his cuirass, and +inflicted a ghastly wound in his breast. In vain he wrenched out +the deadly missile from his body; even as he withdrew it life +deserted his quivering form, and he fell to the ground. Bestriding +the corpse, Turnus cried, “Ye Arcadians, faithfully report to +Evander this message,—I send him back his Pallas in such a +plight as he deserved. Whatever honor is in a tomb, whatever solace +in the performance of funeral rites, I freely grant him. His league +with the Trojan intruder shall cost him dear.” So saying, he +pressed his foot on the body, and tore away a massive belt, adorned +with figures richly carved in gold. This spoil Turnus exultingly +clasped around his own body, little dreaming that the time would +come when he would wish that he had never taken it, and that he and +Pallas had never met. But now the lifeless corpse of the youth, +stripped of its arms and still bleeding from the fatal wound +inflicted by the Rutulian chief, was laid on a shield and borne +away by his weeping followers. Thus the first day on which he took +a part in war saw also the young hero’s death, though not, +indeed, before he had strewn the plain with Rutulian corpses.</p> +<p>Speedily the news of this sad disaster, and of the consequent +retreat of his forces in that part of the field, was borne to +Æneas. Rendered furious by the event, he impetuously mowed +with his sword a bloody passage through the hostile ranks in search +of Turnus, on whom he was eager to avenge the death of his friend. +The thought of the bright youth who had thus perished in his cause, +of the hoary father bereaved of all that made life dear to him, +filled his heart with sorrow as he recalled the kindness which both +had shown to him, and the pledges of enduring friendship he had +exchanged with them. Eight Rutulian warriors he struck down, and +captured them alive, destining them as victims to be offered to the +shade of Pallas, and to drench with their blood the flames of the +hero’s funeral pyre. Next, Æneas having hurled a +javelin at a Latian named Magus, the trembling wretch evaded the +dart by stooping, and as Æneas rushed upon him with uplifted +sword, he clasped his knees, and implored him to spare his life, +proffering a large ransom of silver and gold which lay concealed +underground in his house. Sternly the Trojan chief bade him keep +his treasures for his sons; as for showing mercy, that was +forbidden to him from the moment that Pallas fell by the hand of +Turnus. Then grasping the suppliant’s helmet, and forcing +back his head so as to expose the neck, even as Magus renewed his +petition he plunged the sword into his body to the hilt. Near by, +the luckless Æmonides, a priest of Apollo and Diana, who wore +a sacred fillet on his temples and shone in burnished armor, fell a +victim to his relentless spear, and the splendid arms he had worn +were carried off by Serestus as an offering to Mars. The Rutulians +fled in terror before the raging chief; but King Cæculus of +Præneste, and Umbro, the leader of the Marsians, renewed the +struggle. A huge warrior named Tarquitus, the son of the nymph +Dryope, dared to oppose himself to Æneas, but his fate was +soon decided. The hero first pierced his corselet with a spear, and +then, as he lay wounded and imploring mercy, smote off his head +with his sword. Spurning the bleeding trunk, he furiously cried, +“Lie there, haughty champion! Thee no tender mother shall +lodge in the earth, or place a tomb above thy body; to birds of +prey thou shalt be left, or cast in the sea to be devoured by +fishes.” Still insatiable of slaughter, he drove into +terrified flight Antæus and Lycas, two of Turnus’s +bravest followers. But now the fierce Lucagus approached in a +chariot drawn by two snow-white coursers. These were guided by his +brother Liger, while he himself flourished his sword in the air, +and prepared to encounter Æneas, who on his part rushed +forward to meet them. “These,” cried Liger, “are +not the steeds of Diomedes, nor this the plain of Troy. Here an end +shall be put at once to thy life and to the war.” Against +these insults Æneas prepared to give an answer otherwise than +in words, and as Lucagus bent forward in readiness for the fight, +the Trojan javelin whizzed through the rim of his shield, smote him +in the groin, and hurled him, quivering in the pangs of death, out +of the chariot. Æneas assailed his dying ears with a bitter +scoff: “It is not, O Lucagus, the slowness of thy steeds in +flight that hath lost thee thy chariot, but thou thyself, springing +from thy seat, hast abandoned it.” So saying, he seized the +chariot; and now the miserable Liger, extending his hands in +supplication, begged for his life. “It was not in this +fashion that thou spokest a little while since,” replied the +relentless hero. “It would not be fitting that thou shouldst +desert thy brother. Die, therefore, and attend him to the +shades.” With that he thrust the avenging sword through his +heart, whence the trembling soul fled with a shriek.</p> +<p>So Æneas spread havoc amid the hostile ranks, and drove +the forces of Turnus back in headlong rout, so that Ascanius and +those who had hitherto been shut up in the fortifications were able +to issue forth into the field. Meanwhile Jupiter, watching from +Olympus the fortunes of the day, accosted his consort. “Thou +art in the right, my cherished queen, in alleging that Venus gives +her aid to the Trojans; for without divine aid, how would it be +possible for any mortal to achieve such deeds as Æneas is now +accomplishing?” “Why,” submissively answered +Juno, “dost thou tease me, who am already oppressed with +anguish for the fate of the people I befriend? Had I that share in +your love which I once enjoyed, and which it is fitting for me to +possess, thou surely couldst not refuse me this much, that I might +have permission to rescue Turnus from the fate that threatens him, +and restore him safe to his father Daunus. But since that cannot +be, let him die, and glut the vengeance of the Trojan with his +blood; yet his origin is divine, and often has he piled thy altars +with sacrifices.” Not unmoved, the ruler of the Gods replied, +“If you plead for a respite from immediate death, and a +little breathing-time for the youth, I grant you to bear him from +the field, and for a short time to preserve him. So far I will +indulge you; but if you hope to gain any greater favor, and imagine +that the whole predetermined course of the war is to be altered at +your entreaty, you delude yourself with empty hopes.” With +tears Juno responded, “What if thou shouldst grant in thy +heart what in words thou dost refuse, and continue the life of +Turnus for its natural duration? I fear much that a speedy end +awaits the brave youth; but oh! I pray that I may be misled by +groundless alarms, and that thou, to whom all power belongs, may +alter thy purpose for the better.”</p> +<p>Not daring to say more, the queen of heaven hastily descended +from Olympus towards the contending armies. Then she devised an +airy phantom, wearing armor which exactly resembled that of +Æneas, and imitating to the life his walk and mien. This +shadow she caused to flutter in the forefront of the battle, full +in the view of Turnus, and to provoke him with darts and insolent +words. The enraged Rutulian eagerly pressed upon it, and from a +distance hurled against it a spear. Immediately the spectre, +wheeling about, took to flight. Turnus, imagining that in very +truth it was the Trojan chief who feared to meet him, and filled +with baseless exultation, cried out, “Æneas, whither +dost thou fly? Desert not thus thy promised bride; with this right +hand will I bestow upon thee the settled abode thou hast sought in +vain through so many lands and seas.” Thus vociferating, he +madly pursued the deceitful phantom. It chanced that near the shore +there lay a vessel, joined to the land by a temporary bridge of +planks. Hither Juno led the shadow, and caused it in seeming fear +to leap on board and throw itself into a hiding-place. With not +less speed Turnus followed, bounded along the bridge, and mounted +to the lofty prow of the ship in search of the supposed fugitive. +Instantly the goddess severed the cable, and drove the vessel over +the foaming waves. Then the phantom melted into the air, and the +Rutulian, utterly bewildered, gazed about him in despair, nor did +he feel at all thankful to the guardian deity for having thus +preserved him from the arms of Æneas. “Almighty +Father,” he cried, raising his eyes and hands towards heaven, +“why dost thou think me worthy of such shame as this? What +have I done to merit such a punishment? whither am I borne? How +shall I venture again to enter the walls of Laurentum or look upon +my camp? What will be said of me by the warriors who have followed +me into this war, and whom—unutterable shame!—I have +abandoned to the bloodthirsty Trojans! O winds! take pity on me, I +entreat you; dash this vessel on some rugged crag, and overwhelm me +so that I can no longer be conscious either of my humiliation or of +the reproaches of my Rutulians.” While he thus lamented, he +was uncertain whether he should put an end to his own life with his +sword or plunge into the sea and endeavor to regain the land by +swimming. Three times he attempted each expedient, and as often +Juno, full of pity, restrained him. Carried along by a favorable +wind, the ship bore him safely to the capital of his father, King +Daunus.</p> +<p>Meanwhile Æneas raged through the battle-field in search +of the victim whom the queen of the Gods had thus snatched from his +conquering hands. Under his leadership the Trojans and their +allies, flushed with success, pressed more eagerly on their +discomfited foe; but Mezentius now advanced to restore the courage +of the Rutulians. The Etrurians, as soon as they saw their expelled +monarch, out of hostility to whom they had engaged in the war, +rushed upon him with shouts of rage; but he, as fearless as he was +wicked, stood as firmly against them as a great rock on the shore +meets all the fury of the winds and waves. Three warriors he +overthrew in quick succession: Hebrus he cut down with his sword, +Latagus he slew by hurling a great stone which battered in his +face, and at Palmus he threw a javelin which pierced his thigh and +extended him helpless on the ground. Then the raging king slew Evas +the Phrygian, and a Trojan named Mimas, who in former days had been +the companion of Paris, having been born in Troy on the same night +that gave to the light the ill-starred son of Priam. Paris now lay +in eternal repose amid the ruins of his native city, while to Mimas +the sword of Mezentius assigned an unknown grave on the distant +shore of Italy. And just as when an old wild boar, chased from his +retreat amid the wooded Alps, stands at bay among the underwood, +and the hunters, afraid to approach him, ply him with darts from a +distance, while he gnashes his tusks with rage and faces them +undaunted, so stood Mezentius; while his former subjects, though +filled with just anger against him, and eager for his destruction, +dare not come within reach of his dreaded sword, but galled him +with spears and useless clamor. It chanced that a Greek from +Corytus, named Acron, presented himself in the front, conspicuous +in nodding plumes, and in purple trappings that had been worked for +him by his betrothed wife. His gay attire caught the eye of +Mezentius, who rushed forward and smote down the luckless Greek; +then, as the others fell back, he cut off the retreat of an +Etrurian chief, Orodes, forced him to engage hand to hand, and +speedily slew him. Pressing his foot on the expiring warrior to +draw out his lance from his body, Mezentius cried to his followers, +“Behold, friends! Orodes has fallen—not the meanest of +our foes.” The Rutulians raised a joyful shout, but the dying +Orodes faintly answered, “Not long shall thou rejoice with +impunity over me; a similar fate awaits thyself, and soon shalt +thou also be stretched lifeless on this same field.” Smiling +scornfully, Mezentius returned, “Die thou, and leave my fate +to the Gods, in whose hands it rests.” His example inspired +other of the Rutulians; they pressed fiercely forward and drove +back the troops of Æneas. Mezentius advanced at their head, +and as he strode along, the Trojan hero espied him, and hastened +towards him. Unawed by the prospect of an encounter even with so +terrible a foe, Mezentius stood firm, and poising a huge spear in +his hand, exclaimed,—for he was a contemner of the Gods, and +never offered invocations to them,—“Now let this right +hand and this good dart be my aid; and then I vow that my son, my +dear Lausus, shall be clad in the bright arms torn from the body of +yon Trojan pirate.” With these words he drew the spear. Sent +with a true aim, it struck the shield of Æneas, but glanced +from the hardened surface, and turning aside, pierced the side of +Antores, a faithful follower of Evander, who had come with Pallas +to the war. Thus died Antores, by a weapon never aimed at him, but +he was speedily avenged. Æneas, putting all his might into +the cast, now in his turn hurled his spear. It tore its way through +the triple plates of Mezentius’ shield, through his corselet, +and inflicted a severe wound in his groin, though its force was so +far spent that the injury was not mortal.</p> +<p>Overjoyed at the sight of his enemy’s blood, Æneas +drew his sword from its sheath, and rushed upon Mezentius, who was +as yet bewildered by the blow. When Lausus saw his father in such +peril he sprang forward and stood before Æneas, while +Mezentius fell back among his friends, the Trojan lance still +trailing in his armor. Lausus received the first stroke of +Æneas’ sword on his buckler, while the Rutulians with +loud shouts applauded him, and poured on the Trojan hero a tempest +of darts. Against this he protected himself with his shield, and +meanwhile, pitying the youth and courage of Lausus, spoke to him in +words of warning: “Why do you thus rush on your own +destruction, and attempt what is beyond your strength? Your filial +devotion blinds you to your danger.” But Lausus, resolute to +defend his wounded sire, returned a haughty defiance. Then +Æneas could no longer control his wrath; he exerted all his +strength, and thrust his terrible sword up to the hilt through the +body of the youth, who sank lifeless on the blood-steeped ground. +When Æneas saw the comely young warrior stretched dead before +him, his heart was filled with pity. “Ill-fated youth!” +he cried, “how can I testify my reverence for thy filial +piety and thy undaunted valor? Thou shalt at least retain those +arms which it was thy delight to wear, and thy body shall be given +up unspoiled to thy friends.” With that he summoned the +dismayed followers of Lausus, and with his own hands raised from +the ground the comely body, all disfigured with blood and wounds. +Meantime Mezentius had retreated to the bank of the Tiber, where he +took off his armor, and bathed his wound with water. While he was +thus resting from the fatigues of the battle, he was full of +anxiety for his son, and sent messenger after messenger to recall +him from the fight. But too soon a crowd of weeping warriors +appeared, carrying the corpse of Lausus in their arms. The +sorrowing father divined what had occurred from their lamentations, +even before the body was brought to him. He threw dust upon his +head, he clasped the loved form in his arms, and bedewed the pallid +face with his tears. “O my son,” he exclaimed, +“was I possessed with such a fond desire of life as to suffer +thee to offer thyself in my place to the relentless foe? Am I +preserved at the cost of these cruel wounds? Now, indeed, I feel +the calamity of exile. My crimes have cost thee not only thy +paternal throne and sceptre, but thy life also. It was I that owed +expiation to my country, and should have satisfied my people by a +deserved death. And yet I live! yet I do not quit the detested +light! but I will quickly follow thee.” Then he rose up, and +though crippled by the wound in his thigh, and suffering anguish +from its smart, he did not flinch, but ordered his attendants to +bring his courser. This was a horse famous for its speed and its +prompt obedience to the rein. When it was brought, he accosted it: +“Long have we lived together, Rhœbus, and many great +deeds have we accomplished. To-day we shall either bear away the +head of Æneas and his arms all spattered with his blood, or +we shall perish together; for I am assured that thou wilt never +condescend to bear a Trojan lord.” Then mounting the noble +steed, he filled both hands with darts, and dashed recklessly into +the midst of the battle. His heart swelling with rage and shame and +grief, he thrice loudly summoned Æneas to the combat. +Æneas heard, and rejoiced at the challenge; and with +threatening spear advanced to meet his foe. “Barbarous +wretch,” cried Mezentius, “thinkest thou to affright me +with thy weapons, now that thou hast robbed me of my son? That was +the only means by which thou couldst destroy me. I fear neither +death nor the anger of any of your gods. Forbear threats; now am I +come hither to die, but first I bring you these gifts.” So +saying, he rapidly hurled one dart after another at the hero, +whirling swiftly round him on his horse; but the shield framed by +Vulcan’s hands received all the shafts and repelled them. +Wearied at last of so unequal a fight, in which he had to endure +ceaseless attacks without striking a blow, Æneas stepped +forward, and hurled his spear against the charger, piercing its +skull betwixt the ears. The fiery horse reared upward in the death +agony, and then fell backward upon his rider, pressing him to the +earth. The spectators of this fierce combat uplifted their voices +in shouts, some in joy and others in sorrow, as Æneas rushed +up to the fallen warrior, and lifting his sword to deal the fatal +blow, cried, “Where is now the stern Mezentius?” The +Etrurian, on the other hand, replied, “Spiteful foe, why dost +thou threaten and insult before thou strikest? Thou wilt do me no +wrong in slaying me. I sought thee expecting nothing else, and +neither I nor my son has asked mercy at thy hands. One favor alone +I implore of thee, that thou wilt give burial to my corpse. I know +well that the hate of my former subjects would pursue me after +death. Defend my remains, I entreat, from outrage, and grant me a +grave along with my son.” He said no more, but extended his +throat to receive the fatal blow, which descended and drew forth +his life as the blood poured over his armor.</p> +<p>The shades of night were now gathering, and as the Rutulians and +Latins had quitted the field in confusion, the conflicts of that +sanguinary day were at last, ended.</p> +<h3><a id="Conquers" name="Conquers">Æneas Finally Conquers +the Latins</a></h3> +<p class="byline"><em>By Alfred J. Church</em></p> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Prince Turnus was filled with rage. Even as a lion which a +hunter hath wounded breaketh the arrow wherewith he hath been +stricken, and rouseth himself to battle, shaking his mane and +roaring, so Turnus arose. And first he spake to King Latinus, +saying, “I will meet this man face to face, and slay him +while ye look on; or, if the Gods will that he vanquish me so, he +shall rule over you, and have Lavinia to wife.”</p> +<p>But King Latinus made answer, “Yet think awhile, my son. +Thou hast the kingdom of thy father Daunus; and there are other +noble virgins in Latium whom thou mayest have to wife. Wilt thou +not then be content? For to give my daughter to any husband of this +nation I was forbidden, as thou knowest. Yet did I disobey, being +moved by love of thee, my wife also beseeching me with many tears. +Thou seest what troubles I and my people, and thou more than all, +have suffered from that time. Twice have we fled in the battle, and +now the city only is left to us. If I must yield me to these men, +let me yield whilst thou art yet alive. For what doth it profit me +that thou shouldst die? Nay, but all men would cry shame on me if I +gave thee to death!” Now for a space Turnus spake not for +wrath. Then he said, “Be not troubled for me, my father. For +I, too, can smite with the spear; and as for this Æneas, his +mother will not be at hand to snatch him in a cloud from my +sight.”</p> +<p>Then Amata cried to him, saying, “Fight not, I beseech +thee, with these men of Troy, my son; for surely what thou +sufferest I also shall suffer. Nor will I live to see Æneas +my son-in-law.”</p> +<p>And Lavinia heard the voice of her mother, and wept. As a man +stains ivory with crimson, or as roses are seen mixed with lilies, +even so the virgin’s face burned with crimson. And Turnus, +regarding her, loved her exceedingly, and made answer, +“Trouble me not with tears or idle words, my mother, for to +this battle I must go. And do thou, Idmon the herald, say to the +Phrygian king, ‘To-morrow, when the sun shall rise, let the +people have peace, but we two will fight together. And let him that +prevaileth have Lavinia to wife.’”</p> +<p>Then first he went to the stalls of his horses. The wife of the +North Wind gave them to Pilumnus. Whiter than snow were they, and +swifter than the wind. Then he put the coat of mail about his +shoulders, and fitted a helmet on his head, and took the great +sword which Vulcan had made for Daunus his father, and had dipped +it when it was white-hot in the river of Styx. His spear also he +took where it stood against a pillar, saying, “Serve me well, +my spear, that hast never failed me before, that I may lay low this +womanish robber of Phrygia, and soil with dust his curled and +perfumed hair.” The next day the men of Italy and the men of +Troy measured out a space for the battle. And in the midst they +builded an altar of turf. And the two armies sat on the one side +and on the other, having fixed their spears in the earth and laid +down their shields. Also the women and the old men stood on the +towers and roofs of the city, that they might see the fight.</p> +<p>But Queen Juno spake to Juturna, the sister of Turnus, saying, +“Seest thou how these two are now about to fight, face to +face? And indeed Turnus goeth to his death. As for me, I endure not +to look upon this covenant or this battle. But if thou canst do +aught for thy brother, lo! the time is at hand.” And when the +nymph wept and beat her breast, Juno said, “This is no time +for tears. Save thy brother, if thou canst, from death; or cause +that they break this covenant.”</p> +<p>After this came the kings, that they might make the covenant +together. And King Latinus rode in a chariot with four horses, and +he had on his head a crown with twelve rays of gold, for he was of +the race of the sun; and Turnus came in a chariot with two white +horses, having a javelin in either hand; and Æneas had donned +the arms which Vulcan had made, and with him was the young Iulus. +And after due offering Æneas sware, calling on all the Gods, +“If the victory shall fall this day to Turnus, the men of +Troy shall depart to the city of Evander, nor trouble this land any +more. But if it fall to me, I will not that the Latins should serve +the men of Troy. Let the nations be equal one with the other. The +gods that I bring we will worship together, but King Latinus shall +reign as before. A new city shall the men of Troy build for me, and +Lavinia shall call it after her own name.”</p> +<p>Then King Latinus sware, calling on the gods that are above and +the gods that are below, saying, “This covenant shall stand +forever, whatsoever may befall. As sure as this sceptre which I +bear—once it was a tree, but a cunning workman closed it in +bronze, to be the glory of the Latian kings—shall never again +bear twig or leaf, so surely shall this covenant be +kept.”</p> +<p>But the thing pleased not the Latins; for before, indeed, they +judged that the battle would not be equal between two; and now were +they the more assured, seeing them when they came together, and +that Turnus walked with eyes cast to the ground, and was pale and +wan. Wherefore there arose a murmuring among the people, which when +Juturna perceived, she took upon herself the likeness of Camertus, +who was a prince and a great warrior among them, and passed through +the host saying, “Are ye not ashamed, men of Italy, that one +man should do battle for you all? For count these men; surely they +are scarce one against two. And if he be vanquished, what shame for +you! As for him, indeed, though he die, yet shall his glory reach +to the heavens; but ye shall suffer disgrace, serving these +strangers forever.”</p> +<p>And when she saw that the people were moved, she gave also a +sign from heaven. For lo! an eagle, that drave a crowd of sea-fowl +before him, swooped down to the water, and caught a great swan; and +even while the Italians looked, the birds that before had fled +turned and pursued the eagle, and drave him before them, so that he +dropped the swan and fled away. Which thing when the Italians +perceived they shouted, and made them ready for battle. And the +augur Tolumnius cried, “This is the token that I have looked +for. For this eagle is the stranger, and ye are the birds, which +before, indeed, have fled, but shall now make him to +flee.”</p> +<p>And he ran forward and cast his spear, smiting a man of Arcadia +below the belt, upon the groin. One of nine brothers was he, sons +of a Tuscan mother, but their father was a Greek; and they, when +they saw him slain, caught swords and spears, and ran forward. And +straightway the battle was begun. First they brake down the altars, +that they might take firebrands therefrom; and King Latinus fled +from the place. Then did Messapus drive his horses against King +Aulestes of Mantua, who, being fain to fly, stumbled upon the altar +and fell headlong on the ground. And Messapus smote him with a +spear that was like a weaver’s beam, saying, “This, of +a truth, is a worthier victim.” After this Coryneus, the +Arcadian, when Ebysus would have smitten him, snatched a brand from +the altar and set fire to the beard of the man, and, before he came +to himself, caught him by the hair, and thrusting him to the +ground, so slew him. And when Podalirius pursued Alsus the +shepherd, and now held his sword over him ready to strike, the +other turned, and with a battle-axe cleft the man’s head from +forehead to chin.</p> +<p>But all the while the righteous Æneas, having his head +bare, and holding neither spear nor sword, cried to the people, +“What seek ye? what madness is this? The covenant is +established, and I only have the right to do battle.” But +even while he spake an arrow smote him, wounding him. But who let +it fly no man knoweth; for who, of a truth, would boast that he had +wounded Æneas? And he departed from the battle.</p> +<p>Now when Turnus saw that Æneas had departed from the +battle he called for his chariot. And when he had mounted thereon +he drave it through the host of the enemy, slaying many valiant +heroes, as Sthenelus and Pholus, and the two sons of Imbrasus the +Lycian, Glaucus and Lades. Then he saw Eumedes, son of that Dolon +who would have spied out the camp of the Greeks, asking as his +reward the horses of Achilles (but Diomed slew him). Him Turnus +smote with a javelin from afar, and, when he fell, came near and +put his foot upon him, and taking his sword drave it into his neck, +saying, “Lo! now thou hast the land which thou soughtest. Lie +there and measure out Italy for thyself.” Many others he +slew, for the army fled before him. Yet did one man, Phegeus by +name, stand against him, and would have stayed the chariot, +clutching the bridles of the horses in his hand. But as he clung to +the yoke and was dragged along, Turnus broke his cuirass with his +spear, and wounded him. And when the man set his shield before him, +and made at Turnus with his sword, the wheels dashed him to the +ground, and Turnus struck him between the helmet and the +breastplate and smote off his head.</p> +<p>But in the meanwhile Mnestheus and Achates and Iulus led +Æneas to the camp, leaning on his spear. Very wroth was he, +and strove to draw forth the arrow. And when he could not, he +commanded that they should open the wound with the knife, and so +send him back to the battle. Iapis also, the physician, ministered +to him. Now this Iapis was dearer than all other men to Apollo, and +when the god would have given him all his arts, even prophecy and +music and archery, he chose rather to know the virtues of herbs and +the art of healing, that so he might prolong the life of his +father, who was even ready to die. This Iapis, then, having his +garments girt about him in healer’s fashion, would have drawn +forth the arrow with the pincers, but could not. And while he +strove, the battle came nearer, and the sky was hidden by clouds of +dust, and javelins fell thick into the camp. But when Venus saw how +grievously her son was troubled, she brought from Ida, which is a +mountain of Crete, the herb dittany. A hairy stalk it hath and a +purple flower. The wild goats know it well if so be that they have +been wounded by arrows. This, then, Venus, having hidden her face, +brought and dipped into the water, and sprinkled there with +ambrosia and sweet-smelling panacea.</p> +<p>And Iapis, unawares, applied the water that had been healed; and +lo! the pain was stayed and the blood was staunched and the arrow +came forth, though no man drew it, and Æneas’s strength +came back to him as before. Then said lapis, “Art of mine +hath not healed thee, my son. The Gods call thee to thy +work.” Then did Æneas arm himself again, and when he +had kissed Iulus and bidden him farewell, he went forth to the +battle. And all the chiefs went with him, and the men of Troy took +courage and drave back the Latins. Then befell a great slaughter, +for Gyas slew Ufens, who was the leader of the Æquians; also +Tolumnius, the great augur, was slain, who had first broken the +covenant, slaying a man with his spear. But Æneas deigned not +to turn his hand against any man, seeking only for Turnus, that he +might fight with him. But when the nymph Juturna perceived this she +was sore afraid. Therefore she came near to the chariot of her +brother, and thrust out Metiscus, his charioteer, where he held the +reins, and herself stood in his room, having made herself like to +him in shape and voice. Then as a swallow flies through the halls +and arcades of some rich man’s house, seeking food for its +young, so Juturna drave the chariot of her brother hither and +thither. And ever Æneas followed behind, and called to him +that he should stay; but whenever he espied the man, and would have +overtaken him by running, then again did Juturna turn the horses +about and flee. And as he sped Messapus cast a spear at him. But +Æneas saw it coming, and put his shield over him, resting on +his knee. Yet did the spear smite him on the helmet-top and shear +off the crest. Then indeed was his wrath kindled, and he rushed +into the army of the enemy, slaying many as he went.</p> +<p>Then was there a great slaughter made on this side and on that. +But after a while Venus put it into the heart of Æneas that +he should lead his army against the city. Therefore he called +together the chiefs, and, standing in the midst of them on a mound, +spake, saying, “Hearken now to my words, and delay not to +fulfill them, for of a truth Jupiter is on our side. I am purposed +this day to lay this city of Latinus even with the ground, if they +still refuse to obey. For why should I wait for Turnus till it +please him to meet me in battle?”</p> +<p>Then did the whole array make for the walls of the city. And +some carried firebrands, and some scaling-ladders, and some slew +the warders at the gates, and cast javelins at them who stood on +the walls. And then there arose a great strife in the city, for +some would have opened the gates that the men of Troy might enter, +and others made haste to defend the walls. Hither and thither did +they run with much tumult, even as bees in a hive in a rock which a +shepherd hath filled with smoke, having first shut all the doors +thereof.</p> +<p>Then also did other ill fortune befall the Latins, for when +Queen Amata saw from the roof of the palace that the enemy were +come near to the walls, and saw not anywhere the army of the +Latins, she supposed Turnus to have fallen in the battle. +Whereupon, crying out that she was the cause of all these woes, she +made a noose of the purple garment wherewith she was clad, and +hanged herself from a beam of the roof. Then did lamentation go +through the city, for the women wailed and tore their hair, and +King Latinus rent his clothes and threw dust upon his head.</p> +<p>But the cry that went up from the city came to the ears of +Turnus where he fought in the farthest part of the plain. And he +caught the reins and said, “What meaneth this sound of +trouble and wailing that I hear?” And the false Metiscus, who +was in truth his sister, made answer, “Let us fight, O +Turnus, here where the Gods give us victory. There are enough to +defend the city.” But Turnus spake, saying, “Nay, my +sister, for who thou art I have known even from the beginning; it +must not be so. Why camest thou down from heaven? Was it to see thy +brother die? And now what shall I do? Have I not seen Murranus die, +and Ufens the Æquian? And shall I suffer this city to be +destroyed? Shall this land see Turnus flee before his enemies? Be +ye kind to me, O gods of the dead, seeing that the gods of heaven +hate me. I come down to you a righteous spirit, and not unworthy of +my fathers.”</p> +<p>And even as he spake came Saces, riding on a horse that was +covered with foam, and on his face was the wound of an arrow. And +he cried, “O Turnus, our last hopes are in thee. For +Æneas is about to destroy the city, and the firebrands are +cast upon the roofs. And King Latinus is sore tried with doubt, and +the Queen hath laid hands upon herself and is dead. And now only +Messapus and Atinas maintain the battle, and the fight grows fierce +around them, whilst thou drivest thy chariot about these empty +fields.”</p> +<p>Then for a while Turnus stood speechless, and shame and grief +and madness were in his soul; and he looked to the city, and lo! +the fire went up even to the top of the tower which he himself had +builded upon the walls to be a defense against the enemy. And when +he saw it, he cried, “It is enough, my sister; I go whither +the Gods call me. I will meet with Æneas face to face, and +endure my doom.”</p> +<p>And as he spake he leapt down from his chariot, and ran across +the plain till he came near to the city, even where the blood was +deepest upon the earth, and the arrows were thickest in the air. +And he beckoned with the hand and called to the Italians, saying, +“Stay now your arrows. I am come to fight this battle for you +all.” And when they heard it they left a space in the midst. +Æneas also, when he heard the name of Turnus, left attacking +the city, and came to meet him, mighty as Athos, or Eryx, or Father +Apenninus, that raiseth his snowy head to the heavens. And the men +of Troy and the Latins and King Latinus marveled to see them meet, +so mighty they were.</p> +<p>First they cast their spears at each other, and then ran +together, and their shields struck one against the other with a +crash that went up to the sky. And Jupiter held the balance in +heaven, weighing their doom. Then Turnus, rising to the stroke, +smote fiercely with his sword. And the men of Troy and the Latins +cried out when they saw him strike. But the treacherous sword brake +in the blow. And when he saw the empty hilt in his hand he turned +to flee. They say that when he mounted his chariot that day to +enter the battle, not heeding the matter in his haste, he left his +father’s sword behind him, and took the sword of Metiscus, +which, indeed, served him well while the men of Troy fled before +him, but brake, even as ice breaks, when it came to the shield +which Vulcan had made. Thereupon Turnus fled, and Æneas, +though the wound which the arrow had made hindered him, pursued. +Even as a hound follows a stag that is penned within some narrow +space, for the beast flees hither and thither, and the staunch +Umbrian hound follows close upon him, and almost holds him, and +snaps his teeth, yet bites him not, so did Æneas follow hard +on Turnus. And still Turnus cried out that some one should give him +his sword, and Æneas threatened that he would destroy the +city if any should help him. Five times about the space they ran; +not for some prize they strove, but for the life of Turnus. Now +there stood in the plain the stump of a wild olive-tree. The tree +was sacred to Faunus, but the men of Troy had cut it, and the stump +only was left. Herein the spear of Æneas was fixed, and now +he would have drawn it forth that he might slay Turnus therewith, +seeing that he could not overtake him by running. Which when Turnus +perceived, he cried to Faunus, saying, “O Faunus, if I have +kept holy for thee that which the men of Troy have profaned, hold +fast this spear.” And the god heard him; nor could +Æneas draw it forth. But while he strove, Juturna, taking +again the form of Metiscus, ran and gave to Turnus his sword. And +Venus, perceiving it, wrenched forth the spear from the stump. So +the two stood again face to face.</p> +<p>Then spake Jupiter to Juno, where she sat in a cloud watching +the battle, “How long wilt thou fight against fate? What +purpose hast thou now in thy heart? Was it well that +Juturna—for what could she avail without thy +help?—should give back to Turnus his sword? Thou hast driven +the men of Troy over land and sea, and kindled a dreadful war, and +mingled the song of marriage with mourning. Further thou mayest not +go.”</p> +<p>And Juno humbly made answer, “This is thy will, great +Father; else had I not sat here, but stood in the battle smiting +the men of Troy. And indeed I spake to Juturna that she should help +her brother; but aught else I know not. And now I yield. Yet grant +me this. Suffer not that the Latins should be called after the name +of Troy, nor change their speech, nor their garb. Let Rome rule the +world, but let Troy perish forever.”</p> +<p>Then spake with a smile the Maker of all things, “Truly +thou art a daughter of Saturn, so fierce is the wrath of thy soul. +And now what thou prayest I give. The Italians shall not change +name, nor speech, nor garb. The men of Troy shall mingle with them, +and I will give them a new worship, and call them all Latins. Nor +shall any race pay thee more honor than they.”</p> +<p>Then Jupiter sent a fury from the pit. And she took the form of +a bird, even of an owl that sitteth by night on the roof of a +desolate house, and flew before the face of Turnus and flapped her +wings against his shield. Then was Turnus stricken with great fear, +so that his hair stood up and his tongue clave to the roof of his +mouth. And when Juturna knew the sound of the false bird what it +was, she cried aloud for fear, and left her brother and fled, +hiding herself in the river of Tiber.</p> +<p>But Æneas came on, shaking his spear that was like unto a +tree, and said, “Why delayest thou, O Turnus? Why drawest +thou back? Fly now if thou canst through the air, or hide thyself +in the earth.” And Turnus made answer, “I fear not thy +threats, but the Gods and Jupiter, that are against me this +day.” And as he spake he saw-a great stone which lay hard by, +the landmark of a field. Scarce could twelve chosen men, such as +men are now, lift it on their shoulders. This he caught from the +earth and cast it at his enemy, running forward as he cast. But he +knew not, so troubled was he in his soul, that he ran or that he +cast, for his knees tottered beneath him and his blood grew cold +with fear. And the stone fell short, nor reached the mark. Even as +in a dream, when dull sleep is on the eyes of a man, he would fain +run but cannot, for his strength faileth him, neither cometh there +any voice when he would speak; so it fared with Turnus. For he +looked to the Latins and to the city, and saw the dreadful spear +approach, nor knew how he might fly, neither how he might fight, +and could not spy anywhere his chariot or his sister. And all the +while Æneas shook his spear and waited that his aim should be +sure. And at the last he threw it with all his might. Even as a +whirlwind it flew, and brake through the seven folds of the shield +and pierced the thigh. And Turnus dropped with his knee bent to the +ground. And all the Latins groaned aloud to see him fall. Then he +entreated Æneas, saying, “I have deserved my fate. Take +thou that which thou hast won. Yet perchance thou mayest have pity +on the old man, my father, even Daunus, for such an one was thy +father Anchises, and give me back to my own people, if it be but my +body that thou givest. Yet hast thou conquered, and the Latins have +seen me beg my life of thee, and Lavinia is thine. Therefore I pray +thee, stay now thy wrath.” Then for a while Æneas stood +doubting; aye, and might have spared the man, when lo! he spied +upon his shoulders the belt of Pallas, whom he had slain. And his +wrath was greatly kindled, and he cried with a dreadful voice, +“Shalt thou who art clothed with the spoils of my friends +escape me? ’Tis Pallas slays thee with this wound, and takes +vengeance on thy accursed blood.” And as he spake he drave +the steel into his breast. And with a groan the wrathful spirit +passed into darkness.</p> +<hr class="short" /> +<p>According to the old legends Æneas wedded the fair +Lavinia, founded his city of Lavinium, and ruled over it for three +years. Then in a battle with the Rutulians, or some other Italian +people, he disappeared; and as his body was not found after the +conflict was over, it was believed that the Gods had taken him up +to heaven. His son Ascanius peacefully succeeded him, and removed +the capital of his kingdom to Alba Longa, which city again, after +the lapse of centuries, gave birth to mighty Rome.</p> +<hr /> +<h2>End of Volume III</h2> + +<p> </p> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14752 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |