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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Famous Tales of Fact and Fancy, by Various,
+Edited by Logan Marshall
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Famous Tales of Fact and Fancy
+       Myths and Legends of the Nations of the World Retold for Boys and Girls
+
+
+Author: Various
+
+Editor: Logan Marshall
+
+Release Date: March 28, 2008  [eBook #24935]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAMOUS TALES OF FACT AND FANCY***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Sigal Alon, Marcia Brooks, Sunflower, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
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+      See 24935-h.htm or 24935-h.zip:
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+      or
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+
+
+
+
+
+FAMOUS TALES OF FACT AND FANCY
+
+Myths and Legends
+of the Nations of the World
+Retold for Boys and Girls
+
+Translated and Edited by
+
+LOGAN MARSHALL
+
+Illustrated
+With Original Plates
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Philadelphia
+The John C. Winston Company
+Publishers
+
+Copyright, MCMXIV
+L. F. Myers
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+The myths and legends here gathered together have appealed and will
+continue to appeal to every age. Nowhere in the realm of fiction are
+there stories to compare with those which took form centuries ago when
+the race was in its childhood--stories so intimately connected with the
+life and history and religion of the great peoples of antiquity that
+they have become an integral part of our own civilization, a heritage of
+wealth to every child that is born into the world.
+
+The historic basis of the tales is slight; yet who can think of the
+Greeks without remembering the story of Troy, or of Rome without a
+backward glance at AEneas, fabled founder of the race and hero of
+Virgil's world-famous Latin epic? Any understanding of German
+civilisation would be incomplete without knowledge of the mythical
+prince Siegfried, hero of the earliest literature of the Teutonic
+people, finally immortalized in the nineteenth century through the
+musical dramas of Wagner. Any understanding of English civilization
+would be similarly incomplete without the semi-historic figure of King
+Arthur, glorified through the accumulated legends of the Middle Ages and
+made to live again in the melodic idylls of the great Victorian
+laureate. And so one might go on. In many ways the mythology and
+folklore of a country are a truer index to the life of its people than
+any of the pages of actual history; for through these channels the
+imagination and the heart speak. All the chronicles of rulers and
+governing bodies are as dust in comparison.
+
+The imagination of the ancients had few if any bounds, and even Athens
+in the height of her intellectual glory accepted the fabulous tales of
+gods and half-gods. Today we read and wonder. But the child, who in his
+brief lifetime must live over in part at least the history of the whole
+race, delights in the myths and legends which made his ancestors admire
+or tremble. They are naturally not so real to him as they were to his
+forefathers; yet they open up a rich and gorgeous wonderland, without
+excursions into which every child must grow up the poorer in mind and
+spirit.
+
+To the children of America, wherever they may be, this book is
+dedicated. It is sure to bring enjoyment, because its stories have stood
+the test of time.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                                PAGE
+
+   PROMETHEUS THE FRIEND OF MAN                                    7
+
+   THE LABORS OF HERCULES                                         11
+     _From the German of Gustav Schwab._
+
+   DEUCALION AND PYRRHA                                           29
+     _From the German of Gustav Schwab._
+
+   THESEUS AND THE CENTAUR                                        33
+     _From the German of Gustav Schwab._
+
+   NIOBE                                                          37
+     _From the German of Gustav Schwab._
+
+   THE GORGON'S HEAD                                              41
+     _From Hawthorne's "Wonder Book."_
+
+   THE GOLDEN FLEECE                                              67
+     _From Hawthorne's "Tanglewood Tales."_
+
+   THE CYCLOPS                                                   106
+     _From Church's "Stories from Homer."_
+
+   OEDIPUS AND THE SPHINX                                        116
+     _Adapted from Church's "Stories from Greek Tragedians."_
+
+   ANTIGONE, A FAITHFUL DAUGHTER AND SISTER                      118
+     _Adapted from Church's "Stories from Greek Tragedians."_
+
+   THE STORY OF IPHIGENIA                                        131
+     _From Church's "Stories from Greek Tragedians."_
+
+   THE SACK OF TROY                                              153
+     _From Church's "Stories from Virgil."_
+
+   BEOWULF AND GRENDEL                                           164
+     _From Joyce Pollard's "Stories from Old English
+     Romance."_
+
+   THE GOOD KING ARTHUR                                          179
+
+   THE GREAT KNIGHT SIEGFRIED                                    214
+
+   LOHENGRIN AND ELSA THE BEAUTIFUL                              221
+     _From the German of Robert Hertwig._
+
+   FRITHIOF THE BOLD                                             226
+     _From the German of Robert Hertwig._
+
+   WAYLAND THE SMITH                                             231
+     _From the German of Robert Hertwig._
+
+   TWARDOWSKI, THE POLISH FAUST                                  237
+
+   ILIA MUROMEC OF RUSSIA                                        243
+
+   KRALEWITZ MARKO OF SERVIA                                     245
+
+   THE DECISION OF LIBUSCHA                                      248
+
+   COUNT ROLAND OF FRANCE                                        250
+     _From Church's "Stories of Charlemagne and the Peers
+     of France."_
+
+   THE CID                                                       267
+
+
+
+
+PROMETHEUS, THE FRIEND OF MAN
+
+
+Many, many centuries ago there lived two brothers, Prometheus or
+Forethought, and Epimetheus or Afterthought. They were the sons of those
+Titans who had fought against Jupiter and been sent in chains to the
+great prison-house of the lower world, but for some reason had escaped
+punishment.
+
+Prometheus, however, did not care for idle life among the gods on Mount
+Olympus. Instead he preferred to spend his time on the earth, helping
+men to find easier and better ways of living. For the children of earth
+were not happy as they had been in the golden days when Saturn ruled.
+Indeed, they were very poor and wretched and cold, without fire, without
+food, and with no shelter but miserable caves.
+
+"With fire they could at least warm their bodies and cook their food,"
+Prometheus thought, "and later they could make tools and build houses
+for themselves and enjoy some of the comforts of the gods."
+
+So Prometheus went to Jupiter and asked that he might be permitted to
+carry fire to the earth. But Jupiter shook his head in wrath.
+
+"Fire, indeed!" he exclaimed. "If men had fire they would soon be as
+strong and wise as we who dwell on Olympus. Never will I give my
+consent."
+
+Prometheus made no reply, but he didn't give up his idea of helping men.
+"Some other way must be found," he thought.
+
+Then, one day, as he was walking among some reeds he broke off one, and
+seeing that its hollow stalk was filled with a dry, soft pith,
+exclaimed:
+
+"At last! In this I can carry fire, and the children of men shall have
+the great gift in spite of Jupiter."
+
+Immediately, taking a long stalk in his hands, he set out for the
+dwelling of the sun in the far east. He reached there in the early
+morning, just as Apollo's chariot was about to begin its journey across
+the sky. Lighting his reed, he hurried back, carefully guarding the
+precious spark that was hidden in the hollow stalk.
+
+Then he showed men how to build fires for themselves, and it was not
+long before they began to do all the wonderful things of which
+Prometheus had dreamed. They learned to cook and to domesticate animals
+and to till the fields and to mine precious metals and melt them into
+tools and weapons. And they came out of their dark and gloomy caves and
+built for themselves beautiful houses of wood and stone. And instead of
+being sad and unhappy they began to laugh and sing. "Behold, the Age of
+Gold has come again," they said.
+
+But Jupiter was not so happy. He saw that men were gaining daily greater
+power, and their very prosperity made him angry.
+
+"That young Titan!" he cried out, when he heard what Prometheus had
+done. "I will punish him."
+
+But before punishing Prometheus he decided to vex the children of men.
+So he gave a lump of clay to his blacksmith, Vulcan, and told him to
+mold it in the form of a woman. When the work was done he carried it to
+Olympus.
+
+Jupiter called the other gods together, bidding them give her each a
+gift. One bestowed upon her beauty, another, kindness, another, skill,
+another, curiosity, and so on. Jupiter himself gave her the gift of
+life, and they named her Pandora, which means "all-gifted."
+
+Then Mercury, the messenger of the gods, took Pandora and led her down
+the mountain side to the place where Prometheus and his brother were
+living.
+
+[Illustration: THE HERO APPROACHED THE DREADFUL MONSTER]
+
+[Illustration: PROMETHEUS PUNISHED FOR HIS GIFT TO MAW]
+
+"Epimetheus, here is a beautiful woman that Jupiter has sent to be your
+wife," he said.
+
+Epimetheus was delighted and soon loved Pandora very deeply, because of
+her beauty and her goodness.
+
+Now Pandora had brought with her as a gift from Jupiter a golden casket.
+Athena had warned her never to open the box, but she could not help
+wondering and wondering what it contained. Perhaps it held beautiful
+jewels. Why should they go to waste?
+
+At last she could not contain her curiosity any longer. She opened the
+box just a little to take a peep inside. Immediately there was a
+buzzing, whirring sound, and before she could snap down the lid ten
+thousand ugly little creatures had jumped out. They were diseases and
+troubles, and very glad they were to be free.
+
+All over the earth they flew, entering into every household, and
+carrying sorrow and distress wherever they went.
+
+How Jupiter must have laughed when he saw the result of Pandora's
+curiosity!
+
+Soon after this the god decided that it was time to punish Prometheus.
+He called Strength and Force and bade them seize the Titan and carry him
+to the highest peak of the Caucasus Mountains. Then he sent Vulcan to
+bind him with iron chains, making arms and feet fast to the rocks.
+Vulcan was sorry for Prometheus, but dared not disobey.
+
+So the friend of man lay, miserably bound, naked to the winds, while the
+storms beat about him and an eagle tore at his liver with its cruel
+talons. But Prometheus did not utter a groan in spite of all his
+sufferings. Year after year he lay in agony, and yet he would not
+complain, beg for mercy or repent of what he had done. Men were sorry
+for him, but could do nothing.
+
+Then one day a beautiful white cow passed over the mountain, and stopped
+to look at Prometheus with sad eyes.
+
+"I know you," Prometheus said. "You are Io, once a fair and happy maiden
+dwelling in Argos, doomed by Jupiter and his jealous queen to wander
+over the earth in this guise. Go southward and then west until you come
+to the great river Nile. There you shall again become a maiden, fairer
+than ever before, and shall marry the king of that country. And from
+your race shall spring the hero who will break my chains and set me
+free."
+
+Centuries passed and then a great hero, Hercules, came to the Caucasus
+Mountains. He climbed the rugged peak, slew the fierce eagle, and with
+mighty blows broke the chains that bound the friend of man.
+
+
+
+
+THE LABORS OF HERCULES
+
+
+Before the birth of Hercules Jupiter had explained in the council of the
+gods that the first descendant of Perseus should be the ruler of all the
+others of his race. This honor was intended for the son of Perseus and
+Alcmene; but Juno was jealous and brought it about that Eurystheus, who
+was also a descendant of Perseus, should be born before Theseus. So
+Eurystheus became king in Mycene, and the later-born Hercules remained
+inferior to him.
+
+Now Eurystheus watched with anxiety the rising fame of his young
+relative, and called his subject to him, demanding that he carry through
+certain great tasks or labors. When Hercules did not immediately obey,
+Jupiter himself sent word to him that he should fulfill his service to
+the King of Greece.
+
+Nevertheless the hero son of a god could not make up his mind easily to
+render service to a mere mortal. So he traveled to Delhi and questioned
+the oracle as to what he should do. This was the answer:
+
+_The overlordship of Eurystheus will be qualified on condition that
+Hercules perform ten labors that Eurystheus shall assign him. When this
+is done, Hercules shall be numbered among the immortal gods._
+
+Hereupon Hercules fell into deep trouble. To serve a man of less
+importance than himself hurt his dignity and self-esteem; but Jupiter
+would not listen to his complaints.
+
+
+THE FIRST LABOR
+
+The first labor that Eurystheus assigned to Hercules was to bring him
+the skin of the Nemean lion. This monster dwelt on the mountain of
+Peloponnesus, in the forest between Kleona and Nemea, and could be
+wounded by no weapons made of man. Some said he was the son of the giant
+Typhon and the snake Echidna; others that he had dropped down from the
+moon to the earth.
+
+Hercules set out on his journey and came to Kleona, where a poor
+laborer, Molorchus, received him hospitably. He met the latter just as
+he was about to offer a sacrifice to Jupiter.
+
+"Good man," said Hercules, "let the animal live thirty days longer;
+then, if I return, offer it to Jupiter, my deliverer, and if I do not
+return, offer it as a funeral sacrifice to me, the hero who has attained
+immortality."
+
+So Hercules continued on his way, his quiver of arrows over his
+shoulder, his bow in one hand, and in the other a club made from the
+trunk of a wild olive tree which he had passed on Mount Helicon and
+pulled up by the roots. When he at last entered the Nemean wood, he
+looked carefully in every direction in order that he might catch sight
+of the monster lion before the lion should see him. It was mid-day, and
+nowhere could he discover any trace of the lion or any path that seemed
+to lead to his lair. He met no man in the field or in the forest: fear
+held them all shut up in their distant dwellings. The whole afternoon he
+wandered through the thick undergrowth, determined to test his strength
+just as soon as he should encounter the lion.
+
+At last, toward evening, the monster came through the forest, returning
+from his trap in a deep fissure of the earth.
+
+He was saturated with blood: head, mane and breast were reeking, and his
+great tongue was licking his jaws. The hero, who saw him coming long
+before he was near, took refuge in a thicket and waited until the lion
+approached; then with his arrow he shot him in the side. But the shot
+did not pierce his flesh; instead it flew back as if it had struck
+stone, and fell on the mossy earth.
+
+Then the animal raised his bloody head; looked around in every
+direction, and in fierce anger showed his ugly teeth. Raising his head,
+he exposed his heart, and immediately Hercules let fly another arrow,
+hoping to pierce him through the lungs. Again the arrow did not enter
+the flesh, but fell at the feet of the monster.
+
+Hercules took a third arrow, while the lion, casting his eyes to the
+side, watched him. His whole neck swelled with anger; he roared, and his
+back was bent like a bow. He sprang toward his enemy; but Hercules threw
+the arrow and cast off the lion skin in which he was clothed with the
+left hand, while with the right he swung his club over the head of the
+beast and gave him such a blow on the neck that, all ready to spring as
+the lion was, he fell back, and came to a stand on trembling legs, with
+shaking head. Before he could take another breath, Hercules was upon
+him.
+
+Throwing down his bow and quiver, that he might be entirely
+unencumbered, he approached the animal from behind, threw his arm around
+his neck and strangled him. Then for a long time he sought in vain to
+strip the fallen animal of his hide. It yielded to no weapon or no
+stone. At last the idea occurred to him of tearing it with the animal's
+own claws, and this method immediately succeeded.
+
+Later he prepared for himself a coat of mail out of the lion's skin, and
+from the neck, a new helmet; but for the present he was content to don
+his own costume and weapons, and with the lion's skin over his arm took
+his way back to Tirynth.
+
+
+THE SECOND LABOR
+
+The second labor consisted in destroying a hydra. This monster dwelt in
+the swamp of Lerna, but came occasionally over the country, destroying
+herds and laying waste the fields. The hydra was an enormous creature--a
+serpent with nine heads, of which eight were mortal and one immortal.
+
+Hercules set out with high courage for this fight. He mounted his
+chariot, and his beloved nephew Iolaus; the son of his stepbrother
+Iphicles, who for a long time had been his inseparable companion, sat by
+his side, guiding the horses; and so they sped toward Lerna.
+
+At last the hydra was visible on a hill by the springs of Amymone, where
+its lair was found. Here Iolaus left the horses stand. Hercules leaped
+from the chariot and sought with burning arrows to drive the many-headed
+serpent from its hiding place. It came forth hissing, its nine heads
+raised and swaying like the branches of a tree in a storm.
+
+Undismayed, Hercules approached it, seized it, and held it fast. But the
+snake wrapped itself around one of his feet. Then he began with his
+sword to cut off its heads. But this looked like an endless task, for no
+sooner had he cut off one head than two grew in its place. At the same
+time an enormous crab came to the help of the hydra and began biting the
+hero's foot. Killing this with his club, he called to Iolaus for help.
+
+The latter had lighted a torch, set fire to a portion of the nearby
+wood, and with brands therefrom touched the serpent's newly growing
+heads and prevented them from living. In this way the hero was at last
+master of the situation and was able to cut off even the head of the
+hydra that could not be killed. This he buried deep in the ground and
+rolled a heavy stone over the place. The body of the hydra he cut into
+half, dipping his arrows in the blood, which was poisonous.
+
+From that time the wounds made by the arrows of Hercules were fatal.
+
+
+THE THIRD LABOR
+
+The third demand of Eurystheus was that Hercules bring to him alive the
+hind Cerynitis. This was a noble animal, with horns of gold and feet of
+iron. She lived on a hill in Arcadia, and was one of the five hinds
+which the goddess Diana had caught on her first hunt. This one, of all
+the five, was permitted to run loose again in the woods, for it was
+decreed by fate that Hercules should one day hunt her.
+
+For a whole year Hercules pursued her; came at last to the river Ladon;
+and there captured the hind, not far from the city Oenon, on the
+mountains of Diana. But he knew of no way of becoming master of the
+animal without wounding her, so he lamed her with an arrow and then
+carried her over his shoulder through Arcadia.
+
+Here he met Diana herself with Apollo, who scolded him for wishing to
+kill the animal that she had held sacred, and was about to take it from
+him.
+
+"Impiety did not move me, great goddess," said Hercules in his own
+defense, "but only the direst necessity. How otherwise could I hold my
+own against Eurystheus?"
+
+And thus he softened the anger of the goddess and brought the animal to
+Mycene.
+
+
+THE FOURTH LABOR
+
+Then Hercules set out on his fourth undertaking. It consisted in
+bringing alive to Mycene a boar which, likewise sacred to Diana, was
+laying waste the country around the mountain of Erymanthus.
+
+On his wanderings in search of this adventure he came to the dwelling of
+Pholus, the son of Silenus. Like all Centaurs, Pholus was half man and
+half horse. He received his guest with hospitality and set before him
+broiled meat, while he himself ate raw. But Hercules, not satisfied with
+this, wished also to have something good to drink.
+
+"Dear guest," said Pholus, "there is a cask in my cellar; but it belongs
+to all the Centaurs jointly, and I hesitate to open it because I know
+how little they welcome guests."
+
+"Open it with good courage," answered Hercules, "I promise to defend you
+against all displeasure."
+
+As it happened, the cask of wine had been given to the Centaurs by
+Bacchus, the god of wine, with the command that they should not open it
+until, after four centuries, Hercules should appear in their midst.
+
+Pholus went to the cellar and opened the wonderful cask. But scarcely
+had he done so when the Centaurs caught the perfume of the rare old
+wine, and, armed with stones and pine clubs, surrounded the cave of
+Pholus. The first who tried to force their way in Hercules drove back
+with brands he seized from the fire. The rest he pursued with bow and
+arrow, driving them back to Malea, where lived the good Centaur, Chiron,
+Hercules' old friend. To him his brother Centaurs had fled for
+protection.
+
+But Hercules still continued shooting, and sent an arrow through the arm
+of an old Centaur, which unhappily went quite through and fell on
+Chiron's knee, piercing the flesh. Then for the first time Hercules
+recognized his friend of former days, ran to him in great distress,
+pulled out the arrow, and laid healing ointment on the wound, as the
+wise Chiron himself had taught him. But the wound, filled with the
+poison of the hydra, could not be healed; so the centaur was carried
+into his cave. There he wished to die in the arms of his friend. Vain
+wish! The poor Centaur had forgotten that he was immortal, and though
+wounded would not die.
+
+Then Hercules with many tears bade farewell to his old teacher and
+promised to send to him, no matter at what price, the great deliverer,
+Death. And we know that he kept his word.
+
+When Hercules from the pursuit of the other Centaurs returned to the
+dwelling of Pholus he found him also dead. He had drawn the deadly arrow
+from the lifeless body of one Centaur, and while he was wondering how
+so small a thing could do such great damage, the poisoned arrow slipped
+through his fingers and pierced his foot, killing him instantly.
+Hercules was very sad, and buried his body reverently beneath the
+mountain, which from that day was called Pholoe.
+
+Then Hercules continued his hunt for the boar, drove him with cries out
+of the thick of the woods, pursued him into a deep snow field, bound the
+exhausted animal, and brought him, as he had been commanded, alive to
+Mycene.
+
+
+THE FIFTH LABOR
+
+Thereupon King Eurystheus sent him upon the fifth labor, which: was one
+little worthy of a hero. It was to clean the stables of Augeas in a
+single day.
+
+Augeas was king in Elis and had great herds of cattle. These herds were
+kept, according to the custom, in a great inclosure before the palace.
+Three thousand cattle were housed there, and as the stables had not been
+cleaned for many years, so much manure had accumulated that it seemed an
+insult to ask Hercules to clean them in one day.
+
+When the hero stepped before King Augeas and without telling him
+anything of the demands of Eurystheus, pledged himself to the task, the
+latter measured the noble form in the lion-skin and could hardly refrain
+from laughing when he thought of so worthy a warrior undertaking so
+menial a work. But he said to himself: "Necessity has driven many a
+brave man; perhaps this one wishes to enrich himself through me. That
+will help him little. I can promise him a large reward if he cleans out
+the stables, for he can in one day clear little enough." Then he spoke
+confidently:
+
+"Listen, O stranger. If you clean all of my stables in one day, I will
+give over to you the tenth part of all my possessions in cattle."
+
+Hercules accepted the offer, and the king expected to see him begin to
+shovel. But Hercules, after he had called the son of Augeas to witness
+the agreement, tore the foundations away from one side of the stables;
+directed to it by means of a canal the streams of Alpheus and Peneus
+that flowed near by; and let the waters carry away the filth through
+another opening. So he accomplished the menial work without stooping to
+anything unworthy of an immortal.
+
+When Augeas learned that this work had been done in the service of
+Eurystheus, he refused the reward and said that he had not promised it;
+but he declared himself ready to have the question settled in court.
+When the judges were assembled, Phyleus, commanded by Hercules to
+appear, testified against his father, and explained how he had agreed to
+offer Hercules a reward. Augeas did not wait for the decision; he grew
+angry and commanded his son as well as the stranger to leave his kingdom
+instantly.
+
+
+THE SIXTH LABOR
+
+Hercules now returned with new adventures to Eurystheus; but the latter
+would not give him credit for the task because Hercules had demanded a
+reward for his labor. He sent the hero forth upon a sixth adventure,
+commanding him to drive away the Stymphalides. These were monster birds
+of prey, as large as cranes, with iron feathers, beaks and claws. They
+lived on the banks of Lake Stymphalus in Arcadia, and had the power of
+using their feathers as arrows and piercing with their beaks even bronze
+coats of mail. Thus they brought destruction to both animals and men in
+all the surrounding country.
+
+After a short journey Hercules, accustomed to wandering, arrived at the
+lake, which was thickly shaded by a wood. Into this wood a great flock
+of the birds had flown for fear of being robbed by wolves. The hero
+stood undecided when he saw the frightful crowd, not knowing how he
+could become master over so many enemies. Then he felt a light touch on
+his shoulder, and glancing behind him saw the tall figure of the goddess
+Minerva, who gave into his hands two mighty brass rattles made by
+Vulcan. Telling him to use these to drive away the Stymphalides, she
+disappeared.
+
+Hercules mounted a hill near the lake, and began frightening the birds
+by the noise of the rattles. The Stymphalides could not endure the awful
+noise and flew, terrified, out of the forest. Then Hercules seized his
+bow and sent arrow after arrow in pursuit of them, shooting many as they
+flew. Those who were not killed left the lake and never returned.
+
+
+THE SEVENTH LABOR
+
+King Minos of Crete had promised Neptune (Poseidon), god of the sea, to
+offer to him whatever animal should first come up out of the water, for
+he declared he had no animal that was worthy for so high a sacrifice.
+Therefore the god caused a very beautiful ox to rise out of the sea. But
+the king was so taken with the noble appearance of the animal that he
+secretly placed it among his own herds and offered another to Neptune.
+Angered by this, the god had caused the animal to become mad, and it was
+bringing great destruction to the island of Crete. To capture this
+animal, master it, and bring it before Eurystheus, was the seventh labor
+of Hercules.
+
+When the hero came to Crete and with this intention stepped before
+Minos, the king was not a little pleased over the prospect of ridding
+the island of the bull, and he himself helped Hercules to capture the
+raging animal. Hercules approached the dreadful monster without fear,
+and so thoroughly did he master him that he rode home on the animal the
+whole way to the sea.
+
+With this work Eurystheus was pleased, and after he had regarded the
+animal for a time with pleasure, set it free. No longer under Hercules'
+management, the ox became wild again, wandered through all Laconia and
+Arcadia, crossed over the isthmus to Marathon in Attica and devastated
+the country there as formerly on the island of Crete. Later it was given
+to the hero Theseus to become master over him.
+
+
+THE EIGHTH LABOR
+
+The eighth labor of Hercules was to bring the mares of the Thracian
+Diomede to Mycene. Diomede was a son of Mars and ruler of the
+Bistonians, a very warlike people. He had mares so wild and strong that
+they had to be fastened with iron chains. Their fodder was chiefly hay;
+but strangers who had the misfortune to come into the city were thrown
+before them, their flesh serving the animals as food.
+
+When Hercules arrived the first thing he did was to seize the inhuman
+king himself and after he had overpowered the keepers, throw him before
+his own mares. With this food the animals were satisfied and Hercules
+was able to drive them to the sea.
+
+But the Bistonians followed him with weapons, and Hercules was forced to
+turn and fight them. He gave the horses into the keeping of his beloved,
+companion Abderus, the son of Mercury, and while Hercules was away the
+animals grew hungry again and devoured their keeper.
+
+Hercules, returning, was greatly grieved over this loss, and later
+founded a city in honor of Abderus, naming it after his lost friend. For
+the present he was content to master the mares and drive them without
+further mishap to Eurystheus.
+
+The latter consecrated the horses to Juno. Their descendants were very
+powerful, and the great king Alexander of Macedonia rode one of them.
+
+
+THE NINTH LABOR
+
+Returning from a long journey, the hero undertook an expedition against
+the Amazons in order to finish the ninth adventure and bring to King
+Eurystheus the sword belt of the Amazon Hippolyta.
+
+The Amazons inhabited the region of the river Thermodon and were a race
+of strong women who followed the occupations of men. From their children
+they selected only such as were girls. United in an army, they waged
+great wars. Their queen, Hippolyta, wore, as a sign of her leadership, a
+girdle which the goddess of war had given her as a present.
+
+Hercules gathered his warrior companions together into a ship, sailed
+after many adventures into the Black Sea and at last into the mouth of
+the river Thermodon, and the harbor of the Amazon city Themiscira. Here
+the queen of the Amazons met him.
+
+The lordly appearance of the hero flattered her pride, and when she
+heard the object of his visit, she promised him the belt. But Juno, the
+relentless enemy of Hercules, assuming the form of an Amazon, mingled
+among the others and spread the news that a stranger was about to lead
+away their queen. Then the Amazons fought with the warriors of Hercules,
+and the best fighters of them attacked the hero and gave him a hard
+battle.
+
+The first who began fighting with him was called, because of her
+swiftness, Aella, or Bride of the Wind; but she found in Hercules a
+swifter opponent, was forced to yield and was in her swift flight
+overtaken by him and vanquished. A second fell at the first attack; then
+Prothoe, the third, who had come off victor in seven duels, also fell.
+Hercules laid low eight others, among them three hunter companions of
+Diana, who, although formerly always certain with their weapons, today
+failed in their aim, and vainly covering themselves with their shields
+fell before the arrows of the hero. Even Alkippe fell, who had sworn to
+live her whole live unmarried: the vow she kept, but not her life.
+
+After even Melanippe, the brave leader of the Amazons, was made captive,
+all the rest took to wild flight, and Hippolyta the queen handed over
+the sword belt which she had promised even before the fight. Hercules
+took it as ransom and set Melanippe free.
+
+
+THE TENTH LABOR
+
+When the hero laid the sword belt of Queen Hippolyta at the feet of
+Eurystheus, the latter gave him no rest, but sent him out immediately to
+procure the cattle of the giant Geryone. The latter dwelt on an island
+in the midst of the sea, and possessed a herd of beautiful red-brown
+cattle; which were guarded by another giant and a two-headed dog.
+
+Geryone himself was enormous, had three bodies, three heads, six arms
+and six feet. No son of earth had ever measured his strength against
+him, and Hercules realized exactly how many preparations were necessary
+for this heavy undertaking. As everybody knew, Geryone's father, who
+bore the name "Gold-Sword" because of his riches, was king of all Iberia
+(Spain). Besides Geryone he had three brave giant sons who fought for
+him; and each son had a mighty army of soldiers under his command. For
+these very reasons had Eurystheus given the task to Hercules, for he
+hoped that his hated existence would at last be ended in a war in such a
+country. Yet Hercules set out on this undertaking no more dismayed than
+on any previous expedition.
+
+He gathered together his army on the island of Crete, which he had freed
+from wild animals, and landed first in Libya. Here he met the giant
+Antaeus, whose strength was renewed as often as he touched the earth. He
+also freed Libya of birds of prey; for he hated wild animals and wicked
+men because he saw in all of them the image of the overbearing and
+unjust lord whom he so long had served.
+
+After long wandering through desert country he came at last to a
+fruitful land, through which great streams flowed. Here he founded a
+city of vast size, which he named Hecatompylos (City of a Hundred
+Gates). Then at last he reached the Atlantic Ocean and planted the two
+mighty pillars which bear his name.
+
+The sun burned so fiercely that Hercules could bear it no longer; he
+raised his eyes to heaven and with raised bow threatened the sun-god.
+Apollo wondered at his courage and lent him for his further journeys the
+bark in which he himself was accustomed to lie from sunset to sunrise.
+In this Hercules sailed to Iberia.
+
+Here he found the three sons of Gold-Sword with three great armies
+camping near each other; but he killed all the leaders and plundered the
+land. Then he sailed to the island Erythia, where Geryone dwelt with his
+herds.
+
+As soon as the two-headed dog knew of his approach he sprang toward him;
+but Hercules struck him with his club and killed him. He killed also the
+giant herdsman who came to the help of the dog. Then he hurried away
+with the cattle.
+
+But Geryone overtook him and there was a fierce struggle. Juno herself
+offered to assist the giant; but Hercules shot her with an arrow deep in
+the heart, and the goddess, wounded, fled. Even the threefold body of
+the giant which ran together in the region of the stomach, felt the
+might of the deadly arrows and was forced to yield.
+
+With glorious adventures Hercules continued his way home, driving the
+cattle across country through Iberia and Italy. At Rhegium in lower
+Italy one of his oxen got away and swam across the strait to Sicily.
+Immediately Hercules drove the other cattle into the water and swam,
+holding one by the horns, to Sicily. Then the hero pursued his way
+without misfortune through Italy, Illyria and Thrace to Greece.
+
+Hercules had now accomplished ten labors; but Eurystheus was still
+unsatisfied and there were two more tasks to be undertaken.
+
+
+THE ELEVENTH LABOR
+
+At the celebration of the marriage of Jupiter and Juno, when all the
+gods were bringing their wedding gifts to the happy pair, Mother Earth
+did not wish to be left out. So she caused to spring forth on the
+western borders of the great world-sea a many-branched tree full of
+golden apples. Four maidens called the Hesperides, daughters of Night,
+were the guardians of this sacred garden, and with them watched the
+hundred-headed dragon, Ladon, whose father was Phorkys, the parent of
+many monsters. Sleep came never to the eyes of this dragon and a fearful
+hissing sound warned one of his presence, for each of his hundred
+throats had a different voice. From this monster, so was the command of
+Eurystheus, should Hercules seize the golden apples.
+
+The hero set out on his long and adventurous journey and placed himself
+in the hands of blind chance, for he did not know where the Hesperides
+dwelt.
+
+He went first to Thessaly, where dwelt the giant Termerus, who with his
+skull knocked to death every traveler that he met; but on the mighty
+cranium of Hercules the head of the giant himself was split open.
+
+Farther on the hero came upon another monster in his way, Cycnus, the son
+of Mars and Pyrene. He, when asked concerning the garden of the
+Hesperides, instead of answering, challenged the wanderer to a duel, and
+was beaten by Hercules. Then appeared Mars, the god of war, himself, to
+avenge the death of his son; and Hercules was forced to fight with him.
+But Jupiter did not wish that his sons should shed blood, and sent his
+lightning bolt to separate the two.
+
+Then Hercules continued his way through Illyria, hastened over the river
+Eridanus, and came to the nymphs of Jupiter and Themis, who dwelt on the
+banks of the stream. To these Hercules put his question.
+
+"Go to the old river god Nereus," was their answer. "He is a seer and
+knows all things. Surprise him while he sleeps and bind him; then he
+will be forced to tell you the right way."
+
+Hercules followed this advice and became master of the river god,
+although the latter, according to his custom, assumed many different
+forms. Hercules would not let him go until he had learned in what
+locality he could find the golden apples of the Hesperides.
+
+Informed of this, he went on his way toward Libya and Egypt. Over the
+latter land ruled Busiris, the son of Neptune and Lysianassa. To him
+during the period of a nine-year famine a prophet had borne the oracular
+message that the land would again bear fruit if a stranger were
+sacrificed once a year to Jupiter. In gratitude Busiris made a beginning
+with the priest himself. Later he found great pleasure in the custom and
+killed all strangers who came to Egypt. So Hercules was seized and
+placed on the altar of Jupiter. But he broke the chains which bound him,
+and killed Busiris and his son and the priestly herald.
+
+With many adventures the hero continued his way, set free, as has been
+told elsewhere, Prometheus, the Titan, who was bound to the Caucasus
+Mountains, and came at last to the place where Atlas stood carrying the
+weight of the heavens on his shoulders. Near him grew the tree which
+bore the golden apples of the Hesperides.
+
+Prometheus had advised the hero not to attempt himself to make the
+robbery of the golden fruit, but to send Atlas on the errand. The giant
+offered to do this if Hercules would support the heavens while he went.
+This Hercules consented to do, and Atlas set out. He put to sleep the
+dragon who lived beneath the tree and killed him. Then with a trick he
+got the better of the keepers, and returned happily to Hercules with the
+three apples which he had plucked.
+
+"But," he said, "I have now found out how it feels to be relieved of
+the heavy burden of the heavens. I will not carry them any longer." Then
+he threw the apples down at the feet of the hero, and left him standing
+with the unaccustomed, awful weight upon his shoulders.
+
+Hercules had to think of a trick in order to get away. "Let me," he said
+to the giant, "just make a coil of rope to bind around my head, so that
+the frightful weight will not cause my forehead to give way."
+
+Atlas found this new demand reasonable, and consented to take over the
+burden again for a few minutes. But the deceiver was at last deceived,
+and Hercules picked up the apples from the ground and set out on his way
+back. He carried the apples to Eurystheus, who, since his object of
+getting rid of the hero had not been accomplished, gave them back to
+Hercules as a present. The latter laid them on the altar of Minerva; but
+the goddess, knowing that it was contrary to the divine wishes to carry
+away this sacred fruit, returned the apples to the garden of the
+Hesperides.
+
+
+THE TWELFTH LABOR
+
+Instead of destroying his hated enemy the labors which Eurystheus had
+imposed upon Hercules had only strengthened the hero in the fame for
+which fate had selected him. He had become the protector of all the
+wronged upon earth, and the boldest adventurer among mortals.
+
+But the last labor he was to undertake in the region in which his hero
+strength--so the impious king hoped--would not accompany him. This was a
+fight with the dark powers of the underworld. He was to bring forth from
+Hades Cerberus, the dog of Hell. This animal had three heads with
+frightful jaws, from which incessantly poison flowed. A dragon's tail
+hung from his body, and the hair of his head and of his back formed
+hissing, coiling serpents.
+
+To prepare himself for this fearful journey Hercules went to the city of
+Eleusis, in Attic territory, where, from a wise priest, he received
+secret instruction in the things of the upper and lower world, and where
+also he received pardon for the murder of the Centaur.
+
+Then, with strength to meet the horrors of the underworld, Hercules
+traveled on to Peloponnesus, and to the Laconian city of Taenarus, which
+contained the opening to the lower world. Here, accompanied by Mercury,
+he descended through a cleft in the earth, and came to the entrance of
+the city of King Pluto. The shades which sadly wandered back and forth
+before the gates of the city took flight as soon as they caught sight of
+flesh and blood in the form of a living man. Only the Gorgon Medusa and
+the spirit of Meleager remained. The former Hercules wished to overthrow
+with his sword, but Mercury touched him on the arm and told him that the
+souls of the departed were only empty shadow pictures and could not be
+wounded by mortal weapons.
+
+With the soul of Meleager the hero chatted in friendly fashion, and
+received from him loving messages for the upper world. Still nearer to
+the gates of Hades Hercules caught sight of his friends Theseus and
+Pirithous. When both saw the friendly form of Hercules they stretched
+beseeching hands towards him, trembling with the hope that through his
+strength they might again reach the upper world. Hercules grasped
+Theseus by the hand, freed him from his chains and raised him from the
+ground. A second attempt to free Pirithous did not succeed, for the
+ground opened beneath his feet.
+
+At the gate of the City of the Dead stood King Pluto, and denied
+entrance to Hercules. But with an arrow the hero shot the god in the
+shoulder, so that he feared the mortal; and when Hercules then asked
+whether he might lead away the dog of Hades he did not longer oppose
+him. But he imposed the condition that Hercules should become master of
+Cerberus without using any weapons. So the hero set out, protected only
+with cuirass and the lion skin.
+
+He found the dog camping near the dwelling of Acheron, and without
+paying any attention to the bellowing of the three heads, which was like
+the echo of fearful resounding thunder, he seized the dog by the legs,
+put his arms around his neck, and would not let him go, although the
+dragon tail of the animal bit him in the cheek.
+
+He held the neck of Cerberus firm, and did not let go until he was
+really master of the monster. Then he raised it, and through another
+opening of Hades returned in happiness to his own country. When the dog
+of Hades saw the light of day he was afraid and began to spit poison,
+from which poisonous plants sprung up out of the earth. Hercules brought
+the monster in chains to Tirynth, and led it before the astonished
+Eurystheus, who could not believe his eyes.
+
+Now at last the king doubted whether he could ever rid himself of the
+hated son of Jupiter. He yielded to his fate and dismissed the hero, who
+led the dog of Hades back to his owner in the lower world.
+
+Thus Hercules after all his labors was at last set free from the service
+of Eurystheus, and returned to Thebes.
+
+
+
+
+DEUCALION AND PYRRHA
+
+
+While the men of the Age of Bronze still dwelt upon the earth reports of
+their wickedness were carried to Jupiter. The god decided to verify the
+reports by coming to earth himself in the form of a man, and everywhere
+he went he found that the reports were much milder than the truth.
+
+One evening in the late twilight he entered the inhospitable shelter of
+the Arcadian King Lycaon, who was famed for his wild conduct. By several
+signs he let it be known that he was a god, and the crowd dropped to
+their knees; but Lycaon made light of the pious prayers.
+
+"Let us see," he said, "whether he is a mortal or a god."
+
+Thereupon he decided to destroy the guest that night while he lay in
+slumber, not expecting death. But before doing so he killed a poor
+hostage whom the Molossians had sent to him, cooked the half-living
+limbs in boiling water or broiled them over a fire, and placed them on
+the table before the guest for his evening meal.
+
+But Jupiter, who knew all this, left the table and sent a raging fire
+over the castle of the godless man. Frightened, the king fled into the
+open field. The first cry he uttered was a howl; his garments changed to
+fur; his arms to legs; he was transformed into a blood-thirsty wolf.
+
+Jupiter returned to Olympus, held counsel with the gods and decided to
+destroy the reckless race of men. At first he wanted to turn his
+lightnings over all the earth, but the fear that the ether would take
+fire and destroy the axle of the universe restrained him. He laid aside
+the thunderbolt which the Cyclops had fashioned for him, and decided to
+send rain from heaven over all the earth and so destroy the race of
+mortals.
+
+Immediately the North Wind and all the other cloud-scattering winds were
+locked in the cave of Aeolus, and only the South Wind sent out. The
+latter descended upon the earth; his frightful face was covered with
+darkness; his beard was heavy with clouds; from his white hair ran the
+flood; mists lay upon his brow; from his bosom dropped the water. The
+South Wind grasped the heavens, seized in his hands the surrounding
+clouds and began to squeeze them. The thunder rolled; floods of rain
+burst from the heavens. The standing corn was bent to the earth;
+destroyed was the hope of the farmer; destroyed the weary work of a
+whole year.
+
+Even Neptune, god of the sea, came to the assistance of his brother
+Jupiter in the work of destruction. He called all the rivers together
+and said, "Give full rein to your torrents; enter houses; break through
+all dams!"
+
+They followed his command, and Neptune himself struck the earth with his
+trident and let the flood enter. Then the waters streamed over the open
+meadows, covered the fields, dislodged trees, temples and houses.
+Wherever a palace stood, its gables were soon covered with water and the
+highest turrets were hidden in the torrent. Sea and earth were no longer
+divided; all was flood--an unbroken stretch of water.
+
+Men tried to save themselves as best they could; some climbed the high
+mountains; others entered boats and rowed, now over the roofs of the
+fallen houses, now over the hills of their ruined vineyards. Fish swam
+among the branches of the highest trees; the wild boar was caught in the
+flood; people were swept away by the water and those whom the flood
+spared died of hunger on the barren mountains.
+
+One high mountain in the country of Phocis still raised two peaks above
+the surrounding waters. It was the great Mount Parnassus. Toward this
+floated a boat containing Deucalion, the son of Prometheus, and his
+wife Pyrrha. No man, no woman, had ever been found who surpassed these
+in righteousness and piety. When, therefore, Jupiter, looking down from
+heaven upon the earth, saw that only a single pair of mortals remained
+of the many thousand times a thousand, both blameless, both devoted
+servants of the gods, he sent forth the North Wind, recalled the clouds,
+and once again separated the earth from the heavens and the heavens from
+the earth.
+
+Even Neptune, lord of the sea, laid down his trident and calmed the
+flood. The ocean resumed its banks; the rivers returned to their beds;
+forests stretched their slime-covered tree-tops out of the deep; hills
+followed; finally stretches of level land appeared and the earth was as
+before.
+
+Deucalion looked around him. The country was laid waste; it was wrapped
+in the silence of the grave. Tears rolled down his cheeks and he said to
+his wife, Pyrrha, "Beloved, solitary companion of my life, as far as I
+can see through all the surrounding country, I can discover no living
+creature. We two must people the earth; all the rest have been drowned
+by the flood. But even we are not yet certain of our lives. Every cloud
+that I see strikes terror to my soul. And even if danger is past, what
+shall we do alone on the forsaken earth? Oh, that my father Prometheus
+had taught me the art of creating men and breathing life into them!"
+
+Then the two began to weep. They threw themselves on their knees before
+the half-destroyed altar of the goddess Themis, and began to pray,
+saying, "Tell us? O goddess, by what means we can replace the race that
+has disappeared? Oh, help the earth to new life."
+
+"Leave my altar," sounded the voice of the goddess. "Uncover your heads,
+ungird your garments and cast the bones of your mother behind you."
+
+For a long time Deucalion and Pyrrha wondered over the puzzling words
+of the goddess. Pyrrha was the first to break the silence. "Pardon me, O
+noble goddess," she said, "if I do not obey you and cannot consent to
+scatter the bones of my mother."
+
+Then Deucalion had a happy thought. He comforted his wife. "Either my
+reason deceives me," he said, "or the command of the goddess is good and
+involves no impiety. The great mother of all of us is the Earth; her
+bones are the stones, and these, Pyrrha, we will cast behind us!"
+
+Both mistrusted this interpretation of the words, but what harm would it
+do to try? Thereupon they uncovered their heads, ungirded their garments
+and began casting stones behind them.
+
+Then a wonderful thing happened. The stone began to lose its hardness,
+became malleable, grew and took form--not definite at once, but rude
+figures such as an artist first hews out of the rough marble. Whatever
+was moist or earthy in the stones was changed into flesh; the harder
+parts became bones; the veins in the rock remained as veins in the
+bodies. Thus, in a little while, with the aid of the gods, the stones
+which Deucalion threw assumed the form of men; those which Pyrrha threw,
+the form of women.
+
+This homely origin the race of men does not deny; they are a hardy
+people, accustomed to work. Every moment of the day they remember from
+what sturdy stock they have sprung.
+
+
+
+
+THESEUS AND THE CENTAUR
+
+
+Theseus, the hero king of Athens, had a reputation for great strength
+and bravery; but Pirithous, the son of Ixion, one of the most famous
+heroes of antiquity, wished to put him to the test. He therefore drove
+the cattle which belonged to Theseus away from Marathon, and when he
+heard that Theseus, weapon in hand, was following him, then, indeed, he
+had what he desired. He did not flee, but turned around to meet him.
+
+When the two heroes were near enough to see each other, each was so
+filled with admiration for the beautiful form and the bravery of his
+opponent that, as if at a given signal, both threw down their weapons
+and hastened toward each other. Pirithous extended his hand to Theseus
+and proposed that the latter act as arbitrator for the settlement of the
+dispute about the cattle: whatever satisfaction Theseus would demand
+Pirithous would willingly give.
+
+"The only satisfaction which I desire," answered Pirithous, "is that you
+instead of my enemy become my friend and comrade in arms."
+
+Then the two heroes embraced each other and swore eternal friendship.
+
+Soon after this Pirithous chose the Thessalian princess, Hippodamia,
+from the race of Lapithae, for his bride, and invited Theseus to the
+wedding. The Lapithae, among whom the ceremony took place, were a famous
+family of Thessalians, rugged mountaineers, in some respects resembling
+animals--the first mortals who had learned to manage a horse. But the
+bride, who had sprung from this race, was not at all like the men of her
+people. She was of noble form, with delicate, youthful face, so
+beautiful that all the guests praised Pirithous for his good fortune.
+
+The assembled princes of Thessaly were at the wedding feast, and also
+the Centaurs, relatives of Pirithous. The Centaurs were half men; the
+offspring which a cloud, assuming the form of the goddess Hera, had born
+to Ixion, the father of Pirithous. They were the eternal enemies of the
+Lapithae. Upon this occasion, however, and for the sake of the bride,
+they had forgotten past grudges and come together to the joyful
+celebration. The noble castle of Pirithous resounded with glad tumult;
+bridal songs were sung; wine and food abounded. Indeed, there were so
+many guests that the palace would not accommodate all. The Lapithae and
+Centaurs sat at a special table in a grotto shaded by trees.
+
+For a long time the festivities went on with undisturbed happiness. Then
+the wine began to stir the heart of the wildest of the Centaurs,
+Eurytion, and the beauty of the Princess Hippodamia awoke in him the mad
+desire of robbing the bridegroom of his bride. Nobody knew how it came
+to pass; nobody noticed the beginning of the unthinkable act; but
+suddenly the guests saw the wild Eurytion lifting Hippodamia from her
+feet, while she struggled and cried for help. His deed was the signal
+for the rest of the drunken Centaurs to do likewise, and before the
+strange heroes and the Lapithae could leave their places, every one of
+the Centaurs had roughly seized one of the Thessalian princesses who
+served at the court of the king or who had assembled as guests at the
+wedding.
+
+The castle and the grotto resembled a besieged city; the cry of the
+women sounded far and wide. Quickly friends and relatives sprang from
+their places.
+
+"What delusion is this, Eurytion," cried Theseus, "to vex Pirithous
+while I still live, and by so doing arouse the anger of two heroes?"
+With these words he forced his way through the crowd and tore the stolen
+bride from the struggling robber.
+
+Eurytion said nothing, for he could not excuse his deed, but he lifted
+his hand toward Theseus and gave him a rough knock in the chest. Then
+Theseus, who had no weapon at hand, seized an iron jug of embossed
+workmanship which stood near by and flung it into the face of his
+opponent with such force that the Centaur fell backward on the ground,
+while brains and blood oozed from the wound in his head.
+
+"To arms!" the cry arose from all sides. At first beakers, flasks and
+bowls flew back and forth. Then one sacrilegious monster grabbed the
+oblations from the neighboring apartments. Another tore down the lamp
+which burned over the table, while still another fought with a
+sacrificial deer which had hung on one side of the grotto. A frightful
+slaughter ensued. Rhoetus, the most wicked of the Centaurs after
+Eurytion, seized the largest brand from the altar and thrust it into the
+gaping wound of one of the fallen Lapithae, so that the blood hissed like
+iron in a furnace. In opposition to him rose Dryas, the bravest of the
+Lapithae, and seizing a glowing log from the fire, thrust it into the
+Centaur's neck. The fate of this Centaur atoned for the death of his
+fallen companion, and Dryas turned to the raging mob and laid five of
+them low.
+
+Then the spear of the brave hero Pirithous flew forth and pierced a
+mighty Centaur, Petraus, just as he was about to uproot a tree to use it
+for a club. The spear pinned him against the knotted oak. A second,
+Dictys, fell at the stroke of the Greek hero, and in falling snapped off
+a mighty ash tree; a third, wishing to avenge him, was crushed by
+Theseus with an oak club.
+
+The most beautiful and youthful of the Centaurs was Cyllarus. His long
+hair and beard were golden; his smile was friendly; his neck, shoulders,
+hands and breast were as beautiful as if formed by an artist. Even the
+lower part of his body, the part which resembled a horse, was faultless,
+pitch-black in color, with legs and tail of lighter dye. He had come to
+the feast with his wife, the beautiful Centaur, Hylonome, who at the
+table had leaned gracefully against him and even now united with him in
+the raging fight. He received from an unknown hand a light wound near
+his heart, and sank dying in the arms of his wife. Hylonome nursed his
+dying form, kissed him and tried to retain the fleeting breath. When she
+saw that he was gone she drew a dagger from her breast and stabbed
+herself.
+
+For a long time still the fight between the Lapithae and the Centaurs
+continued; but at last night put an end to the tumult. Then Pirithous
+remained in undisturbed possession of his bride, and on the following
+morning Theseus departed, bidding farewell to his friend. The common
+fight had quickly welded the fresh tie of their brotherhood into an
+indestructible bond.
+
+
+
+
+NIOBE
+
+
+Niobe, Queen of Thebes, was proud of many things. Amphion, her husband,
+had received from the Muses a wonderful lyre, to the music of which the
+stones of the royal palace had of themselves assumed place. Her father
+was Tantalus, who had been entertained by the gods; and she herself was
+the ruler of a powerful kingdom and a woman of great pride of spirit and
+majestic beauty. But of none of these things was she so proud as she was
+of her fourteen lovely children, the seven sons and seven daughters to
+whom she had given birth.
+
+Indeed, Niobe was the happiest of all mothers, and so would she have
+remained if she had not believed herself so peculiarly blessed. Her very
+knowledge of her good fortune was her undoing.
+
+One day the prophetess Manto, daughter of the soothsayer Tiresias, being
+instructed of the gods, called together the women of Thebes to do honor
+to the goddess Latona and her two children, Apollo and Diana. "Put
+laurel wreaths upon your heads," were her commands, "and bring
+sacrifices with pious prayers."
+
+Then while the women of Thebes were gathering together, Niobe came
+forth, clad in a gold-embroidered garment, with a crowd of followers,
+radiant in her beauty, though angry, with her hair flowing about her
+shoulders. She stopped in the midst of the busy women, and raising her
+voice, spoke to them.
+
+"Are you not foolish to worship gods of whom stories are told to you
+when more favored beings dwell here among you? While you are making
+sacrifices on the altar of Latona, why does my divine name remain
+unknown? My father Tantalus is the only mortal who has ever sat at the
+table of the gods, and my mother Dione is the sister of the Pleiades,
+who as bright stars shine nightly in the heavens. One of my uncles is
+the giant Atlas, who on his neck supports the vaulted heavens; my
+grandfather is Jupiter, the father of the gods. The people of Phrygia
+obey me, and to me and my husband belongs the city of Cadmus, the walls
+of which were put together by the music that my husband played. Every
+corner of my palace is filled with priceless treasures; and there, too,
+are other treasures--children such as no other mother can show: seven
+beautiful daughters, seven sturdy sons, and just as many sons- and
+daughters-in-law. Ask now whether I have ground for pride. Consider
+again before you honor more than me Latona, the unknown daughter of the
+Titans, who could find no place in the whole earth in which she might
+rest and give birth to her children until the island of Delos in
+compassion offered her a precarious shelter. There she became the mother
+of two children--the poor creature! Just the seventh part of my mother
+joy! Who can deny that I am fortunate? Who will doubt that I shall
+remain happy? Fortune would have a hard time if she undertook to shatter
+my happiness. Take this or that one from my treasured children; but when
+would the number of them dwindle to the sickly two of Latona? Away with
+your sacrifices! Take the laurel out of your hair. Go back to your homes
+and let me never see such foolishness again!"
+
+Frightened at the outburst, the women removed the wreaths from their
+heads, left their sacrifices and slunk home, still honoring Latona with
+silent prayer.
+
+On the summit of the Delian mountain Cynthas stood Latona with her two
+children, watching what was taking place in distant Thebes. "See, my
+children," she said, "I, your mother, who am so proud of your birth, who
+yield place to no goddess except Juno, I am held up to ridicule by an
+upstart mortal, and if you do not defend me, my children, I shall be
+driven away from the ancient and holy altars. Yes, you too are insulted
+by Niobe, and she would like to have you set aside for her children!"
+
+Latona was about to go on, but Apollo interrupted her: "Cease your
+lamentations, mother; you only delay the punishment."
+
+Then he and his sister wrapped themselves in a magic cloud cloak that
+made them invisible, and flew swiftly through the air until they reached
+the town and castle of Cadmus.
+
+Just outside the walls of the city was an open field that was used as a
+race-course and practice ground for horses. Here the seven sons of
+Amphion were amusing themselves, when suddenly the oldest dropped his
+reins with a cry and fell from his horse, pierced to the heart by an
+arrow. One after another the whole seven were struck down.
+
+The news of the disaster soon spread through the city. Amphion, when he
+heard that all his sons had perished, fell on his own sword. Then the
+loud cries of his servants penetrated to the women's quarters.
+
+For a long time Niobe could not believe that the gods had thus brought
+vengeance. When she did, how unlike was she to the Niobe who drove the
+people from the altars of the mighty goddess and strode through the city
+with haughty mien. Crazed with grief she rushed out to the field where
+her sons had been stricken, threw herself on their dead bodies, kissing
+now this one and now that. Then, raising her arms to heaven, she cried,
+"Look now upon my distress, thou cruel Latona; for the death of these
+seven bows me to the earth. Triumph thou, O my victorious enemy!"
+
+Now the seven daughters of Niobe, clad in garments of mourning, drew
+near, and with loosened hair stood around their brothers. And the sight
+of them brought a ray of joy to Niobe's white face. She forgot her grief
+for a moment, and casting a scornful look to heaven, said, "Victor! No,
+for even in my loss I have more than thou in thy happiness!"
+
+Hardly had she spoken when there was the sound of a drawn bow. The
+bystanders grew cold with fear, but Niobe was not frightened, for
+misfortune had made her strong.
+
+Suddenly one of the sisters put her hand to her breast and drew out an
+arrow that had pierced her; then, unconscious, she sank to the ground.
+Another daughter hastened to her mother to comfort her, but before she
+could reach her she was laid low by a hidden wound. One after another
+the rest fell, until only the last was left. She had fled to Niobe's lap
+and childlike was hiding her face in her mother's garments.
+
+"Leave me only this one," cried Niobe, "just the youngest of so many."
+
+But even while she prayed the child fell lifeless from her lap, and
+Niobe sat alone among the dead bodies of her husband, her sons and her
+daughters. She was speechless with grief; no breath of air stirred the
+hair on her head; the blood left her face; the eyes remained fixed on
+the grief-stricken countenance; in the whole body there was no longer
+any sign of life. The veins ceased to carry blood; the neck stiffened;
+arms and feet grew rigid; the whole body was transformed into cold and
+lifeless stone. Nothing living remained to her except her tears, which
+continued flowing from her stony eyes.
+
+Then a mighty wind lifted the image of stone, carried it over the sea
+and set it down in Lydia, the old home of Niobe, in the barren mountains
+under the stony cliffs of Sipylus. Here Niobe remained fixed as a marble
+statue on the summit of the mountain, and to this very day you can see
+the grief-stricken mother in tears.
+
+[Illustration: THE CENTAUR FELL BACKWARD]
+
+[Illustration: PERSEUS SLAYING THE MEDUSA]
+
+
+
+
+THE GORGON'S HEAD
+
+
+Perseus was the son of Danae, who was the daughter of a king. And when
+Perseus was a very little boy, some wicked people put his mother and
+himself into a chest and set them afloat upon the sea. The wind blew
+freshly and drove the chest away from the shore, and the uneasy billows
+tossed it up and down; while Danae clasped her child closely to her
+bosom, and dreaded that some big wave would dash its foamy crest over
+them both. The chest sailed on, however, and neither sank nor was upset,
+until, when night was coming, it floated so near an island that it got
+entangled in a fisherman's nets and was drawn out high and dry upon the
+sand. This island was called Seriphus and it was reigned over by King
+Polydectes, who happened to be the fisherman's brother.
+
+This fisherman, I am glad to tell you, was an exceedingly humane and
+upright man. He showed great kindness to Danae and her little boy, and
+continued to befriend them until Perseus had grown to be a handsome
+youth, very strong and active and skilful in the use of arms. Long
+before this time King Polydectes had seen the two strangers--the mother
+and her child--who had come to his dominions in a floating chest. As he
+was not good and kind, like his brother the fisherman, but extremely
+wicked, he resolved to send Perseus on a dangerous enterprise, in which
+he would probably be killed, and then to do some great mischief to Danae
+herself. So this bad-hearted king spent a long while in considering what
+was the most dangerous thing that a young man could possibly undertake
+to perform. At last, having hit upon an enterprise that promised to turn
+out as fatally as he desired, he sent for the youthful Perseus.
+
+The young man came to the palace and found the king sitting upon his
+throne.
+
+"Perseus," said King Polydectes, smiling craftily upon him, "you are
+grown up a fine young man. You and your good mother have received a
+great deal of kindness from myself, as well as from my worthy brother
+the fisherman, and I suppose you would not be sorry to repay some of
+it."
+
+"Please, your Majesty," answered Perseus, "I would willingly risk my
+life to do so."
+
+"Well, then," continued the king, still with a cunning smile on his
+lips, "I have a little adventure to propose to you, and as you are a
+brave and enterprising youth, you will doubtless look upon it as a great
+piece of good luck to have so rare an opportunity of distinguishing
+yourself. You must know, my good Perseus, I think of getting married to
+the beautiful Princess Hippodamia, and it is customary on these
+occasions to make the bride a present of some far-fetched and elegant
+curiosity. I have been a little perplexed, I must honestly confess,
+where to obtain anything likely to please a princess of her exquisite
+taste. But this morning, I flatter myself, I have thought of precisely
+the article."
+
+"And can I assist your Majesty in obtaining it?" cried Perseus, eagerly.
+
+"You can if you are as brave a youth as I believe you to be," replied
+King Polydectes with the utmost graciousness of manner. "The bridal gift
+which I have set my heart on presenting to the beautiful Hippodamia is
+the head of the Gorgon Medusa with the snaky locks; and I depend on you,
+my dear Perseus, to bring it to me. So, as I am anxious to settle
+affairs with the princess, the sooner you go in quest of the Gorgon, the
+better I shall be pleased."
+
+"I will set out tomorrow morning," answered Perseus.
+
+"Pray do so, my gallant youth," rejoined the king. "And, Perseus, in
+cutting off the Gorgon's head, be careful to make a clean stroke, so as
+not to injure its appearance. You must bring it home in the very best
+condition in order to suit the exquisite taste of the beautiful Princess
+Hippodamia."
+
+Perseus left the palace, but was scarcely out of hearing before
+Polydectes burst into a laugh, being greatly amused, wicked king that he
+was, to find how readily the young man fell into the snare. The news
+quickly spread abroad that Perseus had undertaken to cut off the head of
+Medusa with the snaky locks. Everybody was rejoiced, for most of the
+inhabitants of the island were as wicked as the king himself and would
+have liked nothing better than to see some enormous mischief happen to
+Danae and her son. The only good man in this unfortunate island of
+Seriphus appears to have been the fisherman. As Perseus walked along,
+therefore, the people pointed after him and made mouths, and winked to
+one another and ridiculed him as loudly as they dared.
+
+"Ho, ho!" cried they; "Medusa's snakes will sting him soundly!"
+
+Now, there were three Gorgons alive at that period, and they were the
+most strange and terrible monsters that had ever been since the world
+was made, or that have been seen in after days, or that are likely to be
+seen in all time to come. I hardly know what sort of creature or
+hobgoblin to call them. They were three sisters and seem to have borne
+some distant resemblance to women, but were really a very frightful and
+mischievous species of dragon. It is, indeed, difficult to imagine what
+hideous beings these three sisters were. Why, instead of locks of hair,
+if you can believe men, they had each of them a hundred enormous snakes
+growing on their heads, all alive, twisting, wriggling, curling and
+thrusting out their venomous tongues, with forked stings at the end! The
+teeth of the Gorgons were terribly long tusks, their hands were made of
+brass, and their bodies were all over scales, which, if not iron, were
+something as hard and impenetrable. They had wings, too, and exceedingly
+splendid ones, I can assure you, for every feather in them was pure,
+bright, glittering, burnished gold; and they looked very dazzling, no
+doubt, when the Gorgons were flying about in the sunshine.
+
+But when people happened to catch a glimpse of their glittering
+brightness, aloft in the air, they seldom stopped to gaze, but ran and
+hid themselves as speedily as they could. You will think, perhaps, that
+they were afraid of being stung by the serpents that served the Gorgons
+instead of hair--or of having their heads bitten off by their ugly
+tusks--or of being torn all to pieces by their brazen claws. Well, to be
+sure, these were some of the dangers, but by no means the greatest nor
+the most difficult to avoid. For the worst thing about these abominable
+Gorgons was that if once a poor mortal fixed his eyes full upon one of
+their faces, he was certain that very instant to be changed from warm
+flesh and blood into cold and lifeless stone!
+
+Thus, as you will easily perceive, it was a very dangerous adventure
+that the wicked King Polydectes had contrived for this innocent young
+man. Perseus himself, when he had thought over the matter, could not
+help seeing that he had very little chance of coming safely through it,
+and that he was far more likely to become a stone image than to bring
+back the head of Medusa with the snaky locks. For, not to speak of other
+difficulties, there was one which it would have puzzled an older man
+than Perseus to get over. Not only must he fight with and slay this
+golden-winged, iron-scaled, long-tusked, brazen-clawed, snaky-haired
+monster, but he must do it with his eyes shut, or, at least, without so
+much as a glance at the enemy with whom he was contending. Else, while
+his arm was lifted to strike, he would stiffen into stone and stand
+with that uplifted arm for centuries, until time and the wind and
+weather should crumble him quite away. This would be a very sad thing to
+befall a young man who wanted to perform a great many brave deeds and to
+enjoy a great deal of happiness in this bright and beautiful world.
+
+So disconsolate did these thoughts make him that Perseus could not bear
+to tell his mother what he had undertaken to do. He therefore took his
+shield, girded on his sword and crossed over from the island to the
+mainland, where he sat down in a solitary place and hardly refrained
+from shedding tears.
+
+But while he was in this sorrowful mood, he heard a voice close beside
+him.
+
+"Perseus," said the voice, "why are you sad?"
+
+He lifted his head from his hands, in which he had hidden it, and
+behold! all alone as Perseus had supposed himself to be, there was a
+stranger in the solitary place. It was a brisk, intelligent and
+remarkably shrewd-looking young man, with a cloak over his shoulders, an
+odd sort of cap on his head, a strangely twisted staff in his hand and a
+short and very crooked sword hanging by his side. He was exceedingly
+light and active in his figure, like a person much accustomed to
+gymnastic exercises and well able to leap or run. Above all, the
+stranger had such a cheerful, knowing and helpful aspect (though it was
+certainly a little mischievous, into the bargain) that Perseus could not
+help feeling his spirits grow livelier as he gazed at him. Besides,
+being really a courageous youth, he felt greatly ashamed that anybody
+should have found him with tears in his eyes like a timid little
+schoolboy, when, after all, there might be no occasion for despair. So
+Perseus wiped his eyes and answered the stranger pretty briskly, putting
+on as brave a look as he could.
+
+"I am not so very sad," said he, "only thoughtful about an adventure
+that I have undertaken."
+
+"Oho!" answered the stranger. "Well, tell me all about it and possibly I
+may be of service to you. I have helped a good many young men through
+adventures that looked difficult enough beforehand. Perhaps you may have
+heard of me. I have more names than one, but the name of Quicksilver
+suits me as well as any other. Tell me what the trouble is and we will
+talk the matter over and see what can be done."
+
+The stranger's words and manner put Perseus into quite a different mood
+from his former one. He resolved to tell Quicksilver all his
+difficulties, since he could not easily be worse off than he already
+was, and, very possibly, his new friend might give him some advice that
+would turn out well in the end. So he let the stranger know in few words
+precisely what was the case--how the King Polydectes wanted the head of
+Medusa with the snaky locks as a bridal gift for the beautiful Princess
+Hippodamia and how that he had undertaken to get it for him, but was
+afraid of being turned into stone.
+
+"And that would be a great pity," said Quicksilver, with his mischievous
+smile. "You would make a very handsome marble statue, it is true, and it
+would be a considerable number of centuries before you crumbled away;
+but, on the whole, one would rather be a young man for a few years than
+a stone image for a great many."
+
+"Oh, far rather!" exclaimed Perseus, with the tears again standing in
+his eyes. "And, besides, what would my dear mother do if her beloved son
+were turned into a stone?"
+
+"Well, well, let us hope that the affair will not turn out so very
+badly," replied Quicksilver in an encouraging tone. "I am the very
+person to help you, if anybody can. My sister and myself will do our
+utmost to bring you safe through the adventure, ugly as it now looks."
+
+"Your sister?" repeated Perseus.
+
+"Yes, my sister," said the stranger. "She is very wise, I promise you;
+and as for myself, I generally have all my wits about me, such as they
+are. If you show yourself bold and cautious, and follow our advice, you
+need not fear being a stone image yet awhile. But, first of all, you
+must polish your shield till you can see your face in it as distinctly
+as in a mirror."
+
+This seemed to Perseus rather an odd beginning of the adventure, for he
+thought it of far more consequence that the shield should be strong
+enough to defend him from the Gorgon's brazen claws than that it should
+be bright enough to show him the reflection of his face. However,
+concluding that Quicksilver knew better than himself, he immediately set
+to work and scrubbed the shield with so much diligence and good will
+that it very quickly shone like the moon at harvest time. Quicksilver
+looked at it with a smile and nodded his approbation. Then taking off
+his own short and crooked sword, he girded it about Perseus, instead of
+the one which he had before worn.
+
+"No sword but mine will answer your purpose," observed he; "the blade
+has a most excellent temper and will cut through iron and brass as
+easily as through the slenderest twig. And now we will set out. The next
+thing is to find the Three Gray Women, who will tell us where to find
+the Nymphs."
+
+"The Three Gray Women!" cried Perseus, to whom this seemed only a new
+difficulty in the path of his adventure. "Pray, who may the Three Gray
+Women be? I never heard of them before."
+
+"They are three very strange old ladies," said Quicksilver, laughing.
+"They have but one eye among them, and only one tooth. Moreover, you
+must find them out by starlight or in the dusk of the evening, for they
+never show themselves by the light either of the sun or moon."
+
+"But," said Perseus, "why should I waste my time with these Three Gray
+Women? Would it not be better to set out at once in search of the
+terrible Gorgons?"
+
+"No, no," answered his friend. "There are other things to be done before
+you can find your way to the Gorgons. There is nothing for it but to
+hunt up these old ladies; and when we meet with them, you may be sure
+that the Gorgons are not a great way off. Come, let us be stirring!"
+
+Perseus by this time felt so much confidence in his companion's sagacity
+that he made no more objections, and professed himself ready to begin
+the adventure immediately. They accordingly set out and walked at a
+pretty brisk pace; so brisk, indeed, that Perseus found it rather
+difficult to keep up with his nimble friend Quicksilver. To say the
+truth, he had a singular idea that Quicksilver was furnished with a pair
+of winged shoes, which, of course, helped him along marvelously. And
+then, too, when Perseus looked sideways at him out of the corner of his
+eye, he seemed to see wings on the side of his head; although, if he
+turned a full gaze, there were no such things to be perceived, but only
+an odd kind of cap. But at all events, the twisted staff was evidently a
+great convenience to Quicksilver, and enabled him to proceed so fast
+that Perseus, though a remarkably active young man, began to be out of
+breath.
+
+"Here!" cried Quicksilver at last--for he knew well enough, rogue that
+he was, how hard Perseus found it to keep pace with him--"take you the
+staff, for you need it a great deal more than I. Are there no better
+walkers than yourself in the island of Seriphus?"
+
+"I could walk pretty well," said Perseus, glancing slyly at his
+companion's feet, "if I had only a pair of winged shoes."
+
+"We must see about getting you a pair," answered Quicksilver.
+
+But the staff helped Perseus along so bravely that he no longer felt the
+slightest weariness. In fact, the stick seemed to be alive in his hand
+and to lend some of its life to Perseus. He and Quicksilver now walked
+onward at their ease, talking very sociably together; and Quicksilver
+told so many pleasant stories about his former adventures and how well
+his wits had served him on various occasions that Perseus began to think
+him a very wonderful person. He evidently knew the world; and nobody is
+so charming to a young man as a friend who has that kind of knowledge.
+Perseus listened the more eagerly, in the hope of brightening his own
+wits by what he heard.
+
+At last, he happened to recollect that Quicksilver had spoken of a
+sister who was to lend her assistance in the adventure which they were
+now bound upon.
+
+"Where is she?" he inquired. "Shall we not meet her soon?"
+
+"All at the proper time," said his companion. "But this sister of mine,
+you must understand, is quite a different sort of character from myself.
+She is very grave and prudent, seldom smiles, never laughs and makes it
+a rule not to utter a word unless she has something particularly
+profound to say. Neither will she listen to any but the wisest
+conversation."
+
+"Dear me!" ejaculated Perseus; "I shall be afraid to say a syllable."
+
+"She is a very accomplished person, I assure you," continued
+Quicksilver, "and has all the arts and science at her fingers' ends. In
+short, she is so immoderately wise that many people call her wisdom
+personified. But to tell you the truth, she has hardly vivacity enough
+for my taste; and I think you would scarcely find her so pleasant a
+traveling companion as myself. She has her good points, nevertheless;
+and you will find the benefit of them in your encounter with the
+Gorgons."
+
+By this time it had grown quite dusk. They were now come to a very wild
+and desert place, overgrown with shaggy bushes and so silent and
+solitary that nobody seemed ever to have dwelt or journeyed there. All
+was waste and desolate in the gray twilight, which grew every moment
+more obscure. Perseus looked about him rather disconsolately and asked
+Quicksilver whether they had a great deal farther to go.
+
+"Hist! hist!" whispered his companion. "Make no noise! This is just the
+time and place to meet the Three Gray Women. Be careful that they do not
+see you before you see them, for though they have but a single eye among
+the three, it is as sharp-sighted as half a dozen common eyes."
+
+"But what must I do," asked Perseus, "when we meet them?"
+
+Quicksilver explained to Perseus how the Three Gray Women managed with
+their one eye. They were in the habit, it seems, of changing it from one
+to another, as if it had been a pair of spectacles, or--which would have
+suited them better--a quizzing glass. When one of the three had kept the
+eye a certain time, she took it out of the socket and passed it to one
+of her sisters, whose turn it might happen to be, and who immediately
+clapped it into her own head and enjoyed a peep at the visible world.
+Thus it will easily be understood that only one of the Three Gray Women
+could see, while the other two were in utter darkness; and, moreover, at
+the instant when the eye was passing from hand to hand, none of the poor
+old ladies was able to see a wink. I have heard of a great many strange
+things in my day, and have witnessed not a few, but none, it seems to
+me, that can compare with the oddity of these Three Gray Women all
+peeping through a single eye.
+
+So thought Perseus, likewise, and was so astonished that he almost
+fancied his companion was joking with him, and that there were no such
+old women in the world.
+
+"You will soon find whether I tell the truth or no," observed
+Quicksilver. "Hark! hush! hist! hist! There they come now!"
+
+Perseus looked earnestly through the dusk of the evening, and there,
+sure enough, at no great distance off, he descried the Three Gray Women.
+The light being so faint, he could not well make out what sort of
+figures they were; only he discovered that they had long gray hair, and
+as they came nearer he saw that two of them had but the empty socket of
+an eye in the middle of their foreheads. But in the middle of the third
+sister's forehead there was a very large, bright and piercing eye, which
+sparkled like a great diamond in a ring; and so penetrating did it seem
+to be that Perseus could not help thinking it must possess the gift of
+seeing in the darkest midnight just as perfectly as at noonday. The
+sight of three persons' eyes was melted and collected into that single
+one.
+
+Thus the three old dames got along about as comfortably, upon the whole,
+as if they could all see at once. She who chanced to have the eye in her
+forehead led the other two by the hands, peeping sharply about her all
+the while; insomuch that Perseus dreaded lest she should see right
+through the thick clump of bushes behind which he and Quicksilver had
+hidden themselves. My stars! it was positively terrible to be within
+reach of so very sharp an eye!
+
+But before they reached the clump of bushes, one of the Three Gray Women
+spoke.
+
+"Sister! Sister Scarecrow!" cried she, "you have had the eye long
+enough. It is my turn now!"
+
+"Let me keep it a moment longer, Sister Nightmare," answered Scarecrow.
+"I thought I had a glimpse of something behind that thick bush."
+
+"Well, and what of that?" retorted Nightmare, peevishly. "Can't I see
+into a thick bush as easily as yourself? The eye is mine as well as
+yours; and I know the use of it as well as you, or maybe a little
+better. I insist upon taking a peep immediately!"
+
+But here the third sister, whose name was Shakejoint, began to complain,
+and said that it was her turn to have the eye, and that Scarecrow and
+Nightmare wanted to keep it all to themselves. To end the dispute, old
+Dame Scarecrow took the eye out of her forehead and held it forth in her
+hand.
+
+"Take it, one of you," cried she, "and quit this foolish quarreling. For
+my part, I shall be glad of a little thick darkness. Take it quickly,
+however, or I must clap it into my own head again!"
+
+Accordingly, both Nightmare and Shakejoint put out their hands, groping
+eagerly to snatch the eye out of the hand of Scarecrow. But being both
+alike blind, they could not easily find where Scarecrow's hand was; and
+Scarecrow, being now just as much in the dark as Shakejoint and
+Nightmare, could not at once meet either of their hands in order to put
+the eye into it. Thus (as you will see with half an eye, my wise little
+auditors) these good old dames had fallen into a strange perplexity.
+For, though the eye shone and glistened like a star as Scarecrow held it
+out, yet the Gray Women caught not the least glimpse of its light and
+were all three in utter darkness from too impatient a desire to see.
+
+Quicksilver was so much tickled at beholding Shakejoint and Nightmare
+both groping for the eye, and each finding fault with Scarecrow and one
+another, that he could scarcely help laughing aloud.
+
+"Now is your time!" he whispered to Perseus. "Quick, quick! before they
+can clap the eye into either of their heads. Rush out upon the old
+ladies and snatch it from Scarecrow's hand!"
+
+In an instant, while the Three Gray Women were still scolding each
+other, Perseus leaped from behind the clump of bushes and made himself
+master of the prize. The marvelous eye, as he held it in his hand, shone
+very brightly, and seemed to look up into his face with a knowing air,
+and an expression as if it would have winked had it been provided with a
+pair of eyelids for that purpose. But the Gray Women knew nothing of
+what had happened, and each supposing that one of her sisters was in
+possession of the eye, they began their quarrel anew. At last, as
+Perseus did not wish to put these respectable dames to greater
+inconvenience than was really necessary, he thought it right to explain
+the matter.
+
+"My good ladies," said he, "pray do not be angry with one another. If
+anybody is in fault, it is myself; for I have the honor to hold your
+very brilliant and excellent eye in my own hand!"
+
+"You! you have our eye! And who are you?" screamed the Three Gray Women
+all in a breath; for they were terribly frightened, of course, at
+hearing a strange voice and discovering that their eyesight had got into
+the hands of they could not guess whom. "Oh, what shall we do, sisters?
+what shall we do? We are all in the dark! Give us our eye! Give us our
+one precious, solitary eye! You have two of your own! Give us our eye!"
+
+"Tell them," whispered Quicksilver to Perseus, "that they shall have
+back the eye as soon as they direct you where to find the Nymphs who
+have the flying slippers, the magic wallet and the helmet of darkness."
+
+"My dear, good, admirable old ladies," said Perseus, addressing the Gray
+Women, "there is no occasion for putting yourselves into such a fright.
+I am by no means a bad young man. You shall have back your eye, safe and
+sound, and as bright as ever, the moment you tell me where to find the
+Nymphs."
+
+"The Nymphs! Goodness me! sisters, what Nymphs does he mean?" screamed
+Scarecrow. "There are a great many Nymphs, people say; some that go a
+hunting in the woods, and some that live inside of trees, and some that
+have a comfortable home in fountains of water. We know nothing at all
+about them. We are three unfortunate old souls that go wandering about
+in the dusk and never had but one eye amongst us, and that one you have
+stolen away. Oh, give it back, good stranger!--whoever you are, give it
+back!"
+
+All this while the Three Gray Women were groping with their outstretched
+hands and trying their utmost to get hold of Perseus. But he took good
+care to keep out of their reach.
+
+"My respectable dames," said he--for his mother had taught him always to
+use the greatest civility--"I hold your eye fast in my hand and shall
+keep it safely for you until you please to tell me where to find these
+Nymphs. The Nymphs, I mean, who keep the enchanted wallet, the flying
+slippers and the what is it?--the helmet of invisibility."
+
+"Mercy on us, sisters! what is the young man talking about?" exclaimed
+Scarecrow, Nightmare and Shakejoint, one to another, with great
+appearance of astonishment. "A pair of flying slippers, quoth he! His
+heels would quickly fly higher than his head if he was silly enough to
+put them on. And a helmet of invisibility! How could a helmet make him
+invisible, unless it were big enough for him to hide under it? And an
+enchanted wallet! What sort of a contrivance may that be, I wonder? No,
+no, good stranger! we can tell you nothing of these marvelous things.
+You have two eyes of your own and we have but a single one amongst us
+three. You can find out such wonders better than three blind old
+creatures like us."
+
+Perseus, hearing them talk in this way, began really to think that the
+Gray Women knew nothing of the matter; and, as it grieved him to put
+them to so much trouble, he was just on the point of restoring their eye
+and asking pardon for his rudeness in snatching it away. But Quicksilver
+caught his hand.
+
+"Don't let them make a fool of you!" said he. "These Three Gray Women
+are the only persons in the world that can tell you where to find the
+Nymphs, and unless you get that information you will never succeed in
+cutting off the head of Medusa with the snaky locks. Keep fast hold on
+the eye and all will go well."
+
+As it turned out, Quicksilver was in the right. There are but few things
+that people prize so much as they do their eyesight; and the Gray Women
+valued their single eye as highly as if it had been half a dozen, which
+was the number they ought to have had. Finding that there was no other
+way of recovering it, they at last told Perseus what he wanted to know.
+No sooner had they done so than he immediately and with the utmost
+respect clapped the eye into the vacant socket in one of their
+foreheads, thanked them for their kindness and bade them farewell.
+Before the young man was out of hearing, however, they had got into a
+new dispute, because he happened to have given the eye to Scarecrow, who
+had already taken her turn of it when their trouble with Perseus
+commenced.
+
+It is greatly to be feared that the Three Gray Women were very much in
+the habit of disturbing their mutual harmony by bickerings of this sort,
+which was the more pity, as they could not conveniently do without one
+another and were evidently intended to be inseparable companions. As a
+general rule, I would advise all people, whether sisters or brothers,
+old or young, who chance to have but one eye amongst them, to cultivate
+forbearance and not all insist upon peeping through it at once.
+
+Quicksilver and Perseus, in the meantime, were making the best of their
+way in quest of the Nymphs. The old dames had given them such particular
+directions that they were not long in finding them out. They proved to
+be very different persons from Nightmare, Shakejoint and Scarecrow; for,
+instead of being old, they were young and beautiful; and instead of one
+eye amongst the sisterhood, each Nymph had two exceedingly bright eyes
+of her own, with which she looked very kindly at Perseus. They seemed to
+be acquainted with Quicksilver, and when he told them the adventure
+which Perseus had undertaken, they made no difficulty about giving him
+the valuable articles that were in their custody. In the first place,
+they brought out what appeared to be a small purse, made of deer skin
+and curiously embroidered, and bade him be sure and keep it safe. This
+was the magic wallet. The Nymphs next produced a pair of shoes or
+slippers or sandals, with a nice little pair of wings at the heel of
+each.
+
+"Put them on, Perseus," said Quicksilver. "You will find yourself as
+light-heeled as you can desire for the remainder of our journey."
+
+So Perseus proceeded to put one of the slippers on, while he laid the
+other on the ground by his side. Unexpectedly, however, this other
+slipper spread its wings, fluttered up off the ground and would probably
+have flown away if Quicksilver had not made a leap and luckily caught it
+in the air.
+
+"Be more careful," said he as he gave it back to Perseus. "It would
+frighten the birds up aloft if they should see a flying slipper amongst
+them."
+
+When Perseus had got on both of these wonderful slippers, he was
+altogether too buoyant to tread on earth. Making a step or two, lo and
+behold! upward he popped into the air high above the heads of
+Quicksilver and the Nymphs, and found it very difficult to clamber down
+again. Winged slippers and all such high-flying contrivances are seldom
+quite easy to manage until one grows a little accustomed to them.
+Quicksilver laughed at his companion's involuntary activity and told him
+that he must not be in so desperate a hurry, but must wait for the
+invisible helmet.
+
+The good-natured Nymphs had the helmet, with its dark tuft of waving
+plumes, all in readiness to put upon his head. And now there happened
+about as wonderful an incident as anything that I have yet told you. The
+instant before the helmet was put on, there stood Perseus, a beautiful
+young man, with golden ringlets and rosy cheeks, the crooked sword by
+his side and the brightly polished shield upon his arm--a figure that
+seemed all made up of courage, sprightliness and glorious light. But
+when the helmet had descended over his white brow, there was no longer
+any Perseus to be seen! Nothing but empty air! Even the helmet that
+covered him with its invisibility had vanished!
+
+"Where are you, Perseus?" asked Quicksilver.
+
+"Why, here, to be sure!" answered Perseus very quietly, although, his
+voice seemed to come out of the transparent atmosphere. "Just where I
+was a moment ago. Don't you see me?"
+
+"No, indeed!" answered his friend. "You are hidden under the helmet. But
+if I cannot see you, neither can the Gorgons. Follow me, therefore, and
+we will try your dexterity in using the winged slippers."
+
+With these words, Quicksilver's cap spread its wings, as if his head
+were about to fly away from his shoulders; but his whole figure rose
+lightly into the air and Perseus followed. By the time they had ascended
+a few hundred feet the young man began to feel what a delightful thing
+it was to leave the dull earth so far beneath him and to be able to flit
+about like a bird.
+
+It was now deep night. Perseus looked upward and saw the round, bright,
+silvery moon and thought that he should desire nothing better than to
+soar up thither and spend his life there. Then he looked downward again
+and saw the earth, with its seas and lakes, and the silver course of its
+rivers, and its snowy mountain peaks, and the breath of its fields, and
+the dark cluster of its woods, and its cities of white marble; and with
+the moonshine sleeping over the whole scene, it was as beautiful as the
+moon or any star could be. And among other objects he saw the island of
+Seriphus, where his dear mother was. Sometimes he and Quicksilver
+approached a cloud that at a distance looked as if it were made of
+fleecy silver, although when they plunged into it they found themselves
+chilled and moistened with gray mist. So swift was their flight,
+however, that in an instant they emerged from the cloud into the
+moonlight again. Once a high-soaring eagle flew right against the
+invisible Perseus. The bravest sights were the meteors that gleamed
+suddenly out as if a bonfire had been kindled in the sky and made the
+moonshine pale for as much as a hundred miles around them.
+
+As the two companions flew onward, Perseus fancied that he could hear
+the rustle of a garment close by his side; and it was on the side
+opposite to the one where he beheld Quicksilver, yet only Quicksilver
+was visible.
+
+"Whose garment is this," inquired Perseus, "that keeps rustling close
+beside me in the breeze?"
+
+"Oh, it is my sister's!" answered Quicksilver. "She is coming along with
+us, as I told you she would. We could do nothing without the help of my
+sister. You have no idea how wise she is. She has such eyes, too! Why,
+she can see you at this moment just as distinctly as if you were not
+invisible, and I'll venture to say she will be the first to discover the
+Gorgons."
+
+By this time, in their swift voyage through the air, they had come
+within sight of the great ocean and were soon flying over it. Far
+beneath them the waves tossed themselves tumultuously in mid-sea, or
+rolled a white surf line upon the long beaches, or foamed against the
+rocky cliffs, with a roar that was thunderous in the lower world,
+although it became a gentle murmur, like the voice of a baby half
+asleep, before it reached the ears of Perseus. Just then a voice spoke
+in the air close by him. It seemed to be a woman's voice and was
+melodious, though not exactly what might be called sweet, but grave and
+mild.
+
+"Perseus," said the voice, "there are the Gorgons."
+
+"Where?" exclaimed Perseus. "I cannot see them."
+
+"On the shore of that island beneath you," replied the voice. "A pebble
+dropped from your hand would strike in the midst of them."
+
+"I told you she would be the first to discover them," said Quicksilver
+to Perseus. "And there they are!"
+
+Straight downward, two or three thousand feet below him, Perseus
+perceived a small island, with the sea breaking into white foam all
+around its rocky shore, except on one side, where there was a beach of
+snowy sand. He descended toward it, and looking earnestly at a cluster
+or heap of brightness at the foot of a precipice of black rocks, behold,
+there were the terrible Gorgons! They lay fast asleep, soothed by the
+thunder of the sea; for it required a tumult that would have deafened
+everybody else to lull such fierce creatures into slumber. The moonlight
+glistened on their steely scales and on their golden wings, which
+drooped idly over the sand. Their brazen claws, horrible to look at,
+were thrust out and clutched the wave-beaten fragments of rock, while
+the sleeping Gorgons dreamed of tearing some poor mortal all to pieces.
+The snakes that served them instead of hair seemed likewise to be
+asleep, although now and then one would writhe and lift its head and
+thrust out its forked tongue, emitting a drowsy hiss, and then let
+itself subside among its sister snakes.
+
+The Gorgons were more like an awful, gigantic kind of insect--immense,
+golden-winged beetles or dragonflies or things of that sort--at once
+ugly and beautiful--than like anything else; only that they were a
+thousand and a million times as big. And with all this there was
+something partly human about them, too. Luckily for Perseus, their faces
+were completely hidden from him by the posture in which they lay, for
+had he but looked one instant at them, he would have fallen heavily out
+of the air, an image of senseless stone.
+
+"Now," whispered Quicksilver as he hovered by the side of Perseus--"now
+is your time to do the deed! Be quick, for if one of the Gorgons should
+awake, you are too late!"
+
+"Which shall I strike at?" asked Perseus, drawing his sword and
+descending a little lower. "They all three look alike. All three have
+snaky locks. Which of the three is Medusa?"
+
+It must be understood that Medusa was the only one of these dragon
+monsters whose head Perseus could possibly cut off. As for the other
+two, let him have the sharpest sword that ever was forged, and he might
+have hacked away by the hour together without doing them the least harm.
+
+"Be cautious," said the calm voice which had before spoken to him. "One
+of the Gorgons is stirring in her sleep and is just about to turn over.
+That is Medusa. Do not look at her! The sight would turn you to stone!
+Look at the reflection of her face and figure in the bright mirror of
+your shield."
+
+Perseus now understood Quicksilver's motive for so earnestly exhorting
+him to polish his shield. In its surface he could safely look at the
+reflection of the Gorgon's face. And there it was--that terrible
+countenance--mirrored in the brightness of the shield, with the
+moonlight falling over it and displaying all its horror. The snakes,
+whose venomous natures could not altogether sleep, kept twisting
+themselves over the forehead. It was the fiercest and most horrible face
+that ever was seen or imagined, and yet with a strange, fearful and
+savage kind of beauty in it. The eyes were closed and the Gorgon was
+still in a deep slumber; but there was an unquiet expression disturbing
+her features, as if the monster was troubled with an ugly dream. She
+gnashed her white tusks and dug into the sand with her brazen claws.
+
+The snakes, too, seemed to feel Medusa's dream and to be made more
+restless by it. They twined themselves into tumultuous knots, writhed
+fiercely and uplifted a hundred hissing heads without opening their
+eyes.
+
+"Now, now!" whispered Quicksilver, who was growing impatient. "Make a
+dash at the monster!"
+
+"But be calm," said the grave, melodious voice at the young man's side.
+"Look in your shield as you fly downward, and take care that you do not
+miss your first stroke."
+
+Perseus flew cautiously downward, still keeping his eyes on Medusa's
+face, as reflected in his shield. The nearer he came, the more terrible
+did the snaky visage and metallic body of the monster grow. At last,
+when he found himself hovering over her within arm's length, Perseus
+uplifted his sword, while at the same instant each separate snake upon
+the Gorgon's head stretched threateningly upward, and Medusa unclosed
+her eyes. But she awoke too late. The sword was sharp, the stroke fell
+like a lightning flash, and the head of the wicked Medusa tumbled from
+her body!
+
+"Admirably done!" cried Quicksilver. "Make haste and clap the head into
+your magic wallet."
+
+To the astonishment of Perseus, the small, embroidered wallet which he
+had hung about his neck and which had hitherto been no bigger than a
+purse, grew all at once large enough to contain Medusa's head. As quick
+as thought, he snatched it up, with the snakes still writhing upon it,
+and thrust it in.
+
+"Your task is done," said the calm voice. "Now fly, for the other
+Gorgons will do their utmost to take vengeance for Medusa's death."
+
+It was, indeed, necessary to take flight, for Perseus had not done the
+deed so quietly but that the clash of his sword and the hissing of the
+snakes and the thump of Medusa's head as it tumbled upon the sea-beaten
+sand awoke the other two monsters. There they sat for an instant,
+sleepily rubbing their eyes with their brazen fingers, while all the
+snakes on their heads reared themselves on end with surprise and with
+venomous malice against they knew not what. But when the Gorgons saw the
+scaly carcass of Medusa, headless, and her golden wings all ruffled and
+half spread out on the sand, it was really awful to hear what yells and
+screeches they set up. And then the snakes! They sent forth a
+hundredfold hiss with one consent, and Medusa's snakes answered them out
+of the magic wallet.
+
+No sooner were the Gorgons broad awake than they hurtled upward into the
+air, brandishing their brass talons, gnashing their horrible tusks and
+flapping their huge wings so wildly that some of the golden feathers
+were shaken out and floated down upon the shore. And there, perhaps,
+those very feathers lie scattered till this day. Up rose the Gorgons, as
+I tell you, staring horribly about, in hopes of turning somebody to
+stone. Had Perseus looked them in the face or had he fallen into their
+clutches, his poor mother would never have kissed her boy again! But he
+took good care to turn his eyes another way; and as he wore the helmet
+of invisibility, the Gorgons knew not in what direction to follow him;
+nor did he fail to make the best use of the winged slippers by soaring
+upward a perpendicular mile or so. At that height, when the screams of
+those abominable creatures sounded faintly beneath him, he made a
+straight course for the island of Seriphus, in order to carry Medusa's
+head to King Polydectes.
+
+I have no time to tell you of several marvelous things that befell
+Perseus on his way homeward, such as his killing a hideous sea monster
+just as it was on the point of devouring a beautiful maiden, nor how he
+changed an enormous giant into a mountain of stone merely by showing him
+the head of the Gorgon. If you doubt this latter story, you may make a
+voyage to Africa some day or other and see the very mountain, which is
+still known by the ancient giant's name.
+
+Finally, our brave Perseus arrived at the island where he expected to
+see his dear mother. But during his absence, the wicked king had treated
+Danae so very ill that she was compelled to make her escape, and had
+taken refuge in a temple, where some good old priests were extremely
+kind to her. These praiseworthy priests and the kind-hearted fisherman,
+who had first shown hospitality to Danae and little Perseus when he
+found them afloat in the chest, seem to have been the only persons on
+the island who cared about doing right. All the rest of the people, as
+well as King Polydectes himself, were remarkably ill behaved and
+deserved no better destiny than that which was now to happen.
+
+Not finding his mother at home, Perseus went straight to the palace and
+was immediately ushered into the presence of the king. Polydectes was by
+no means rejoiced to see him, for he had felt almost certain, in his own
+evil mind, that the Gorgons would have torn the poor young man to pieces
+and have eaten him up out of the way. However, seeing him safely
+returned, he put the best face he could upon the matter and asked
+Perseus how he had succeeded.
+
+"Have you performed your promise?" inquired he. "Have you brought me the
+head of Medusa with the snaky locks? If not, young man, it will cost you
+dear; for I must have a bridal present for the beautiful Princess
+Hippodamia and there is nothing else that she would admire so much."
+
+"Yes, please your Majesty," answered Perseus, in a quiet way, as if it
+were no very wonderful deed for such a young man as he to perform. "I
+have brought you the Gorgon's head, snaky locks and all!"
+
+"Indeed! Pray, let me see it," quoth King Polydectes. "It must be a very
+curious spectacle if all that travelers tell it be true!"
+
+"Your Majesty is in the right," replied Perseus. "It is really an object
+that will be pretty certain to fix the regards of all who look at it.
+And if your Majesty think fit, I would suggest that a holiday be
+proclaimed and that all your Majesty's subjects be summoned to behold
+this wonderful curiosity. Few of them, I imagine, have seen a Gorgon's
+head before and perhaps never may again!"
+
+The king well knew that his subjects were an idle set of reprobates and
+very fond of sight-seeing, as idle persons usually are. So he took the
+young man's advice and sent out heralds and messengers in all directions
+to blow the trumpet at the street corners and in the market places and
+wherever two roads met, and summon everybody to court. Thither,
+accordingly, came a great multitude of good-for-nothing vagabonds, all
+of whom, out of pure love of mischief, would have been glad if Perseus
+had met with some ill-hap in his encounter with the Gorgons. If there
+were any better people in the island (as I really hope there may have
+been, although the story tells nothing about any such), they stayed
+quietly at home, minding their business and taking care of their little
+children. Most of the inhabitants, at all events, ran as fast as they
+could to the palace and shoved and pushed and elbowed one another in
+their eagerness to get near a balcony on which Perseus showed himself,
+holding the embroidered wallet in his hand.
+
+On a platform within full view of the balcony sat the mighty King
+Polydectes, amid his evil counselors, and with his flattering courtiers
+in a semi-circle round about him. Monarch, counselors, courtiers and
+subjects all gazed eagerly toward Perseus.
+
+"Show us the head! Show us the head!" shouted the people; and there was
+a fierceness in their cry as if they would tear Perseus to pieces unless
+he should satisfy them with what he had to show. "Show us the head of
+Medusa with the snaky locks!"
+
+A feeling of sorrow and pity came over the youthful Perseus.
+
+"O King Polydectes," cried he, "and ye many people, I am very loath to
+show you the Gorgon's head!"
+
+"Ah, the villain and coward!" yelled the people more fiercely than
+before. "He is making game of us! He has no Gorgon's head! Show us the
+head if you have it, or we will take your own head for a football!"
+
+The evil counselors whispered bad advice in the king's ear; the
+courtiers murmured, with one consent, that Perseus had shown disrespect
+to their royal lord and master; and the great King Polydectes himself
+waved his hand and ordered him, with the stern, deep voice of authority,
+on his peril, to produce the head.
+
+"Show me the Gorgon's head or I will cut off your own!"
+
+And Perseus sighed.
+
+"This instant," repeated Polydectes, "or you die!"
+
+"Behold it then!" cried Perseus in a voice like the blast of a trumpet.
+
+And suddenly holding up the head, not an eyelid had time to wink before
+the wicked King Polydectes, his evil counselors and all his fierce
+subjects were no longer anything but the mere images of a monarch and
+his people. They were all fixed forever in the look and attitude of that
+moment! At the first glimpse of the terrible head of Medusa, they
+whitened into marble! And Perseus thrust the head back into his wallet
+and went to tell his dear mother that she need no longer be afraid of
+the wicked King Polydectes.
+
+
+
+
+THE GOLDEN FLEECE
+
+
+When Jason, the son of the dethroned King of Iolchos, was a little boy,
+he was sent away from his parents and placed under the queerest
+schoolmaster that ever you heard of. This learned person was one of the
+people, or quadrupeds, called Centaurs. He lived in a cavern, and had
+the body and legs of a white horse, with the head and shoulders of a
+man. His name was Chiron; and in spite of his odd appearance, he was a
+very excellent teacher and had several scholars who afterward did him
+credit by making a great figure in the world. The famous Hercules was
+one, and so was Achilles, and Philoctetes likewise, and AEsculapius, who
+acquired immense repute as a doctor. The good Chiron taught his pupils
+how to play upon the harp, and how to cure diseases, and how to use the
+sword and shield, together with various other branches of education in
+which the lads of those days used to be instructed instead of writing
+and arithmetic.
+
+I have sometimes suspected that Master Chiron was not really very
+different from other people, but that, being a kind-hearted and merry
+old fellow, he was in the habit of making believe that he was a horse,
+and scrambling about the schoolroom on all fours and letting the little
+boys ride upon his back. And so, when his scholars had grown up and
+grown old and were trotting their grandchildren on their knees, they
+told them about the sports of their school-days; and these young folks
+took the idea that their grandfathers had been taught their letters by a
+Centaur, half man and half horse. Little children, not quite
+understanding what is said to them, often get such absurd notions into
+their heads, you know.
+
+Be that as it may, it has always been told for a fact (and always will
+be told, as long as the world lasts) that Chiron, with the head of a
+schoolmaster, had the body and legs of a horse. Just imagine the grave
+old gentleman clattering and stamping into the schoolroom on his four
+hoofs, perhaps treading on some little fellow's toes, flourishing his
+switch tail instead of a rod and now and then trotting out of doors to
+eat a mouthful of grass! I wonder what the blacksmith charged him for a
+set of iron shoes.
+
+So Jason dwelt in the cave, with this four-footed Chiron from the time
+that he was an infant only a few months old, until he had grown to the
+full height of a man. He became a very good harper, I suppose, and
+skilful in the use of weapons and tolerably acquainted with herbs and
+other doctor's stuff, and above all, an admirable horseman; for, in
+teaching young people to ride, the good Chiron must have been without a
+rival among schoolmasters. At length, being now a tall and athletic
+youth, Jason resolved to seek his fortune in the world without asking
+Chiron's advice or telling him anything about the matter. This was very
+unwise, to be sure; and I hope none of you, my little hearers, will ever
+follow Jason's example. But, you are to understand, he had heard how
+that he himself was a prince royal, and how his father, King AEson, had
+been deprived of the kingdom of Iolchos by a certain Pelias, who would
+also have killed Jason had he not been hidden in the Centaur's cave. And
+being come to the strength of a man, Jason determined to set all this
+business to rights and to punish the wicked Pelias for wronging his dear
+father, and to cast him down from the throne and seat himself there
+instead.
+
+With this intention he took a spear in each hand and threw a leopard's
+skin over his shoulders to keep off the rain, and set forth on his
+travels, with his long yellow ringlets waving in the wind. The part of
+his dress on which he most prided himself was a pair of sandals that had
+been his father's. They were handsomely embroidered and were tied upon
+his feet with strings of gold. But his whole attire was such as people
+did not very often see; and as he passed along, the women and children
+ran to the doors and windows, wondering whither this beautiful youth was
+journeying, with his leopard's skin and his golden-tied sandals, and
+what heroic deeds he meant to perform, with a spear in his right hand
+and another in his left.
+
+I know not how far Jason had traveled when he came to a turbulent river,
+which rushed right across his pathway with specks of white foam along
+its black eddies, hurrying tumultuously onward and roaring angrily as it
+went. Though not a very broad river in the dry seasons of the year, it
+was now swollen by heavy rains and by the melting of the snow on the
+sides of Mount Olympus; and it thundered so loudly and looked so wild
+and dangerous that Jason, bold as he was, thought it prudent to pause
+upon the brink. The bed of the stream seemed to be strewn with sharp and
+rugged rocks, some of which thrust themselves above the water. By and by
+an uprooted tree, with shattered branches, came drifting along the
+current and got entangled among the rocks. Now and then a drowned sheep
+and once the carcass of a cow floated past.
+
+In short, the swollen river had already done a great deal of mischief.
+It was evidently too deep for Jason to wade and too boisterous for him
+to swim; he could see no bridge, and as for a boat, had there been any,
+the rocks would have broken it to pieces in an instant.
+
+"See the poor lad," said a cracked voice close to his side. "He must
+have had but a poor education, since he does not know how to cross a
+little stream like this. Or is he afraid of wetting his fine
+golden-stringed sandals? It is a pity his four-footed schoolmaster is
+not here to carry him safely across on his back!"
+
+Jason looked round greatly surprised, for he did not know that anybody
+was near. But beside him stood an old woman, with a ragged mantle over
+her head, leaning on a staff, the top of which was carved into the shape
+of a cuckoo. She looked very aged and wrinkled and infirm; and yet her
+eyes, which were as brown as those of an ox, were so extremely large and
+beautiful that when they were fixed on Jason's eyes he could see nothing
+else but them. The old woman had a pomegranate in her hand, although the
+fruit was then quite out of season.
+
+"Whither are you going, Jason?" she now asked.
+
+She seemed to know his name, you will observe; and, indeed, those great
+brown eyes looked as if they had a knowledge of everything, whether past
+or to come. While Jason was gazing at her a peacock strutted forward and
+took his stand at the old woman's side.
+
+"I am going to Iolchos," answered the young man, "to bid the wicked King
+Pelias come down from my father's throne and let me reign in his stead."
+
+"Ah, well, then," said the old woman, still with the same cracked voice,
+"if that is all your business, you need not be in a very great hurry.
+Just take me on your back, there's a good youth, and carry me across the
+river. I and my peacock have something to do on the other side, as well
+as yourself."
+
+"Good mother," replied Jason, "your business can hardly be so important
+as the pulling down a king from his throne. Besides, as you may see for
+yourself, the river is very boisterous; and if I should chance to
+stumble, it would sweep both of us away more easily than it has carried
+off yonder uprooted tree. I would gladly help you if I could, but I
+doubt whether I am strong enough to carry you across."
+
+"Then," said she very scornfully, "neither are you strong enough to pull
+King Pelias off his throne. And, Jason, unless you will help an old
+woman at her need, you ought not to be a king. What are kings made for,
+save to succor the feeble and distressed? But do as you please. Either
+take me on your back, or with my poor old limbs I shall try my best to
+struggle across the stream."
+
+Saying this, the old woman poked with her staff in the river as if to
+find the safest place in its rocky bed where she might make the first
+step. But Jason by this time had grown ashamed of his reluctance to help
+her. He felt that he could never forgive himself if this poor feeble
+creature should come to any harm in attempting to wrestle against the
+headlong current. The good Chiron, whether half horse or no, had taught
+him that the noblest use of his strength was to assist the weak; and
+also that he must treat every young woman as if she were his sister and
+every old one like a mother. Remembering these maxims, the vigorous and
+beautiful young man knelt down and requested the good dame to mount upon
+his back.
+
+"The passage seems to me not very safe," he remarked, "but as your
+business is so urgent I will try to carry you across. If the river
+sweeps you away it shall take me, too."
+
+"That, no doubt, will be a great comfort to both of us," quoth the old
+woman. "But never fear! We shall get safely across."
+
+So she threw her arms around Jason's neck; and, lifting her from the
+ground, he stepped boldly into the raging and foamy current, and began
+to stagger away from the shore. As for the peacock, it alighted on the
+old dame's shoulder. Jason's two spears, one in each hand, kept him from
+stumbling and enabled him to feel his way among the hidden rocks;
+although every instant he expected that his companion and himself would
+go down the stream together with the driftwood of shattered trees and
+the carcasses of the sheep and cow. Down came the cold, snowy torrent
+from the steep side of Olympus, raging and thundering as if it had a
+real spite against Jason or, at all events, were determined to snatch
+off his living burden from his shoulders. When he was half way across
+the uprooted tree (which I have already told you about) broke loose from
+among the rocks and bore down upon him with all its splintered branches
+sticking out like the hundred arms of the giant Briareus. It rushed
+past, however, without touching him. But the next moment his foot was
+caught in a crevice between two rocks and stuck there so fast that in
+the effort to get free he lost one of his golden-stringed sandals.
+
+At this accident Jason could not help uttering a cry of vexation.
+
+"What is the matter, Jason?" asked the old woman.
+
+"Matter enough," said the young man. "I have lost a sandal here among
+the rocks. And what sort of a figure shall I cut at the court of King
+Pelias with a golden-stringed sandal on one foot and the other foot
+bare!"
+
+"Do not take it to heart," answered his companion cheerily. "You never
+met with better fortune than in losing that sandal. It satisfies me that
+you are the very person whom the Speaking Oak has been talking about."
+
+There was no time just then to inquire what the Speaking Oak had said.
+But the briskness of her tone encouraged the young man; and, besides, he
+had never in his life felt so vigorous and mighty as since taking this
+old woman on his back. Instead of being exhausted he gathered strength
+as he went on; and, struggling up against the torrent, he at last gained
+the opposite shore, clambered up the bank and set down the old dame and
+her peacock safely on the grass. As soon as this was done, however, he
+could not help looking rather despondently at his bare foot, with only a
+remnant of the golden string of the sandal clinging round his ankle.
+
+"You will get a handsomer pair of sandals by and by," said the old
+woman, with a kindly look out of her beautiful brown eyes. "Only let
+King Pelias get a glimpse of that bare foot and you shall see him turn
+as pale as ashes, I promise you. There is your path. Go along, my good
+Jason, and my blessing go with you. And when you sit on your throne
+remember the old woman whom you helped over the river."
+
+With these words she hobbled away, giving him a smile over her shoulder
+as she departed. Whether the light of her beautiful brown eyes threw a
+glory round about her, or whatever the cause might be, Jason fancied
+that there was something very noble and majestic in her figure after
+all, and that, though her gait seemed to be a rheumatic hobble, yet she
+moved with as much grace and dignity as any queen on earth. Her peacock,
+which had now fluttered down from her shoulder, strutted behind her in
+prodigious pomp and spread out its magnificent tail on purpose for Jason
+to admire it.
+
+When the old dame and her peacock were out of sight Jason set forward on
+his journey. After traveling a pretty long distance he came to a town
+situated at the foot of a mountain and not a great way from the shore of
+the sea. On the outside of the town there was an immense crowd of
+people, not only men and women, but children, too, all in their best
+clothes and evidently enjoying a holiday. The crowd was thickest toward
+the seashore, and in that direction, over the people's heads, Jason saw
+a wreath of smoke curling upward to the blue sky. He inquired of one of
+the multitude what town it was near by and why so many persons were here
+assembled together.
+
+"This is the kingdom of Iolchos," answered the man, "and we are the
+subjects of King Pelias. Our monarch has summoned us together, that we
+may see him sacrifice a black bull to Neptune, who, they say, is his
+majesty's father. Yonder is the king, where you see the smoke going up
+from the altar."
+
+While the man spoke he eyed Jason with great curiosity; for his garb was
+quite unlike that of the Iolchians, and it looked very odd to see a
+youth with a leopard's skin over his shoulders and each hand grasping a
+spear. Jason perceived, too, that the man stared particularly at his
+feet, one of which, you remember, was bare, while the other was
+decorated with his father's golden-stringed sandal.
+
+"Look at him! only look at him!" said the man to his next neighbor. "Do
+you see? He wears but one sandal!"
+
+Upon this, first one person and then another began to stare at Jason,
+and everybody seemed to be greatly struck with something in his aspect;
+though they turned their eyes much oftener toward his feet than to any
+other part of his figure. Besides, he could hear them whispering to one
+another.
+
+"One sandal! One sandal!" they kept saying. "The man with one sandal!
+Here he is at last! Whence has he come? What does he mean to do? What
+will the king say to the one-sandaled man?"
+
+Poor Jason was greatly abashed and made up his mind that the people of
+Iolchos were exceedingly ill-bred to take such public notice of an
+accidental deficiency in his dress. Meanwhile, whether it were that they
+hustled him forward or that Jason of his own accord thrust a passage
+through the crowd, it so happened that he soon found himself close to
+the smoking altar, where King Pelias was sacrificing the black bull. The
+murmur and hum of the multitude, in their surprise at the spectacle of
+Jason with his one bare foot, grew so loud that it disturbed the
+ceremonies; and the king, holding the great knife with which he was
+just going to cut the bull's throat, turned angrily about and fixed his
+eyes on Jason. The people had now withdrawn from around him, so that the
+youth stood in an open space, near the smoking altar, front to front
+with the angry King Pelias.
+
+"Who are you?" cried the king, with a terrible frown. "And how dare you
+make this disturbance, while I am sacrificing a black bull to my father
+Neptune?"
+
+"It is no fault of mine," answered Jason. "Your majesty must blame the
+rudeness of your subjects, who have raised all this tumult because one
+of my feet happens to be bare."
+
+When Jason said this the king gave a quick, startled glance at his feet.
+
+"Ha!" muttered he, "here is the one-sandaled fellow, sure enough! What
+can I do with him?"
+
+And he clutched more closely the great knife in his hand, as if he were
+half a mind to slay Jason instead of the black bull. The people round
+about caught up the king's words, indistinctly as they were uttered; and
+first there was a murmur among them and then a loud shout.
+
+"The one-sandaled man has come! The prophecy must be fulfilled!"
+
+For you are to know that many years before King Pelias had been told by
+the Speaking Oak of Dodona that a man with one sandal should cast him
+down from his throne. On this account he had given strict orders that
+nobody should ever come into his presence unless both sandals were
+securely tied upon his feet; and he kept an officer in his palace whose
+sole business it was to examine people's sandals and to supply them with
+a new pair at the expense of the royal treasury as soon as the old ones
+began to wear out. In the whole course of the king's reign he had never
+been thrown into such a fright and agitation as by the spectacle of poor
+Jason's bare foot. But as he was naturally a bold and hard-hearted man,
+he soon took courage and began to consider in what way he might rid
+himself of this terrible one-sandaled stranger.
+
+"My good young man," said King Pelias, taking the softest tone
+imaginable in order to throw Jason off his guard, "you are excessively
+welcome to my kingdom. Judging by your dress, you must have traveled a
+long distance, for it is not the fashion to wear leopard-skins in this
+part of the world. Pray, what may I call your name, and where did you
+receive your education?"
+
+"My name is Jason," answered the young stranger. "Ever since my infancy
+I have dwelt in the cave of Chiron the Centaur. He was my instructor,
+and taught me music and horsemanship and how to cure wounds, and
+likewise how to inflict wounds with my weapons!"
+
+"I have heard of Chiron the schoolmaster," replied King Pelias, "and how
+that there is an immense deal of learning and wisdom in his head,
+although it happens to be set on a horse's body. It gives me great
+delight to see one of his scholars at my court. But to test how much you
+have profited under so excellent a teacher, will you allow me to ask you
+a single question?"
+
+"I do not pretend to be very wise," said Jason; "but ask me what you
+please and I will answer to the best of my ability."
+
+Now King Pelias meant cunningly to entrap the young man and to make him
+say something that should be the cause of mischief and destruction to
+himself. So with a crafty and evil smile upon his face, he spoke as
+follows:
+
+"What would you do, brave Jason," asked he, "if there were a man in the
+world by whom, as you had reason to believe, you were doomed to be
+ruined and slain--what would you do, I say, if that man stood before you
+and in your power?"
+
+When Jason saw the malice and wickedness which King Pelias could not
+prevent from gleaming out of his eyes, he probably guessed that the king
+had discovered what he came for, and that he intended to turn his own
+words against himself. Still, he scorned to tell a falsehood. Like an
+upright and honorable prince, as he was, he determined to speak out the
+real truth. Since the king had chosen to ask him the question and since
+Jason had promised him an answer, there was no right way save to tell
+him precisely what would be the most prudent thing to do if he had his
+worst enemy in his power.
+
+Therefore, after a moment's consideration, he spoke up with a firm and
+manly voice:
+
+"I would send such a man," said he, "in quest of the Golden Fleece!"
+
+This enterprise, you will understand, was, of all others, the most
+difficult and dangerous in the world. In the first place, it would be
+necessary to make a long voyage through unknown seas. There was hardly a
+hope or a possibility that any young man who should undertake this
+voyage would either succeed in obtaining the Golden Fleece or would
+survive to return home and tell of the perils he had run. The eyes of
+King Pelias sparkled with joy, therefore, when he heard Jason's reply.
+
+"Well said, wise man with the one sandal!" cried he. "Go, then, and at
+the peril of your life bring me back the Golden Fleece!"
+
+"I go," answered Jason composedly. "If I fail, you need not fear that I
+will ever come back to trouble you again. But if I return to Iolchos
+with the prize, then, King Pelias, you must hasten down from your lofty
+throne and give me your crown and scepter."
+
+"That I will," said the king, with a sneer. "Meantime I will keep them
+very safely for you."
+
+The first thing that Jason thought of doing after he left the king's
+presence was to go to Dodona and inquire of the Talking Oak what course
+it was best to pursue. This wonderful tree stood in the center of an
+ancient wood. Its stately trunk rose up a hundred feet into the air and
+threw a broad and dense shadow over more than an acre of ground.
+Standing beneath it, Jason looked up among the knotted branches and
+green leaves and into the mysterious heart of the old tree, and spoke
+aloud, as if he were addressing some person who was hidden in the depths
+of the foliage.
+
+"What shall I do," said he, "in order to win the Golden Fleece?"
+
+At first there was a deep silence, not only within the shadow of the
+Talking Oak, but all through the solitary wood. In a moment or two,
+however, the leaves of the oak began to stir and rustle as if a gentle
+breeze were wandering among them, although the other trees of the wood
+were perfectly still. The sound grew louder and became like the roar of
+a high wind. By and by Jason imagined that he could distinguish words,
+but very confusedly, because each separate leaf of the tree seemed to be
+a tongue and the whole myriad of tongues were babbling at once. But the
+noise waxed broader and deeper until it resembled a tornado sweeping
+through the oak and making one great utterance out of the thousand and
+thousand of little murmurs which each leafy tongue had caused by its
+rustling. And now, though it still had the tone of a mighty wind roaring
+among the branches, it was also like a deep bass voice speaking, as
+distinctly as a tree could be expected to speak, the following words:
+
+"Go to Argus, the shipbuilder, and bid him build a galley with fifty
+oars."
+
+Then the voice melted again into the indistinct murmur of the rustling
+leaves and died gradually away. When it was quite gone Jason felt
+inclined to doubt whether he had actually heard the words or whether his
+fancy had not shaped them out of the ordinary sound made by a breeze
+while passing through the thick foliage of the tree.
+
+But on inquiry among the people of Iolchos, he found that there was
+really a man in the city by the name of Argus, who was a very skilful
+builder of vessels. This showed some intelligence in the oak, else how
+should it have known that any such person existed? At Jason's request
+Argus readily consented to build him a galley so big that it should
+require fifty strong men to row it, although no vessel of such a size
+and burden had heretofore been seen in the world. So the head carpenter
+and all his journeymen and apprentices began their work; and for a good
+while afterward there they were busily employed hewing out the timbers
+and making a great clatter with their hammers, until the new ship, which
+was called the Argo, seemed to be quite ready for sea. And as the
+Talking Oak had already given him such good advice, Jason thought that
+it would not be amiss to ask for a little more. He visited it again,
+therefore, and standing beside its huge, rough trunk, inquired what he
+should do next.
+
+This time there was no such universal quivering of the leaves throughout
+the whole tree as there had been before. But after a while Jason
+observed that the foliage of a great branch which stretched above his
+head had begun to rustle as if the wind were stirring that one bough,
+while all the other boughs of the oak were at rest.
+
+"Cut me off!" said the branch, as soon as it could speak distinctly;
+"cut me off! cut me off! and carve me into a figurehead for your
+galley."
+
+Accordingly, Jason took the branch at its word and lopped it off the
+tree. A carver in the neighborhood engaged to make the figurehead. He
+was a tolerably good workman and had already carved several figureheads
+in what he intended for feminine shapes, and looking pretty much like
+those which we see nowadays stuck up under a vessel's bowsprit, with
+great staring eyes that never wink at the dash of the spray. But (what
+was very strange) the carver found that his hand was guided by some
+unseen power and by a skill beyond his own, and that his tools shaped
+out an image which he had never dreamed of. When the work was finished
+it turned out to be the figure of a beautiful woman, with a helmet on
+her head, from beneath which the long ringlets fell down upon her
+shoulders. On the left arm was a shield and in its center appeared a
+lifelike representation of the head of Medusa with the snaky locks. The
+right arm was extended as if pointing onward. The face of this wonderful
+statue, though not angry or forbidding, was so grave and majestic that
+perhaps you might call it severe; and as for the mouth, it seemed just
+ready to unclose its lips and utter words of the deepest wisdom.
+
+Jason was delighted with the oaken image and gave the carver no rest
+until it was completed and set up where a figurehead has always stood,
+from that time to this, in the vessel's prow.
+
+"And now," cried he, as he stood gazing at the calm, majestic face of
+the statue, "I must go to the Talking Oak and inquire what next to do."
+
+"There is no need of that, Jason," said a voice which, though it was far
+lower, reminded him of the mighty tones of the great oak. "When you
+desire good advice you can seek it of me."
+
+Jason had been looking straight into the face of the image when these
+words were spoken. But he could hardly believe either his ears or his
+eyes. The truth was, however, that the oaken lips had moved, and to all
+appearance, the voice had proceeded from the statue's mouth. Recovering
+a little from his surprise, Jason bethought himself that the image had
+been carved out of the wood of the Talking Oak, and that, therefore, it
+was really no great wonder, but, on the contrary, the most natural thing
+in the world, that it should possess the faculty of speech. It should
+have been very odd indeed if it had not. But certainly it was a great
+piece of good fortune that he should be able to carry so wise a block of
+wood along with him in his perilous voyage.
+
+"Tell me, wondrous image," exclaimed Jason, "since you inherit the
+wisdom of the Speaking Oak of Dodona, whose daughter you are--tell me,
+where shall I find fifty bold youths who will take each of them an oar
+of my galley? They must have sturdy arms to row and brave hearts to
+encounter perils, or we shall never win the Golden Fleece."
+
+"Go," replied the oaken image, "go, summon all the heroes of Greece."
+
+And, in fact, considering what a great deed was to be done, could any
+advice be wiser than this which Jason received from the figurehead of
+his vessel? He lost no time in sending messengers to all the cities, and
+making known to the whole people of Greece that Prince Jason, the son of
+King AEson, was going in quest of the Fleece of Gold, and he desired the
+help of forty-nine of the bravest and strongest young men alive, to row
+his vessel and share his dangers. And Jason himself would be the
+fiftieth.
+
+At this news the adventurous youths all over the country began to bestir
+themselves. Some of them had already fought with giants and slain
+dragons; and the younger ones, who had not yet met with such good
+fortune, thought it a shame to have lived so long without getting
+astride of a flying serpent or sticking their spears into a Chimaera, or
+at least thrusting their right arms down a monstrous lion's throat.
+There was a fair prospect that they would meet with plenty of such
+adventures before finding the Golden Fleece. As soon as they could
+furbish up their helmets and shields, therefore, and gird on their
+trusty swords, they came thronging to Iolchos and clambered on board the
+new galley. Shaking hands with Jason, they assured him that they did not
+care a pin for their lives, but would help row the vessel to the
+remotest edge of the world and as much further as he might think it best
+to go.
+
+Many of these brave fellows had been educated by Chiron, the four-footed
+pedagogue, and were therefore old schoolmates of Jason and knew him to
+be a lad of spirit. The mighty Hercules, whose shoulders afterward held
+up the sky, was one of them. And there were Castor and Pollux, the twin
+brothers, who were never accused of being chicken-hearted, although they
+had been hatched out of an egg; and Theseus, who was so renowned for
+killing the Minotaur; and Lynceus, with his wonderfully sharp eyes,
+which could see through a millstone or look right down into the depths
+of the earth and discover the treasures that were there; and Orpheus,
+the very best of harpers, who sang and played upon his lyre so sweetly
+that the brute beasts stood upon their hind legs and capered merrily to
+the music. Yes, and at some of his more moving tunes the rocks bestirred
+their moss-grown bulk out of the ground, and a grove of forest trees
+uprooted themselves and, nodding their tops to one another, performed a
+country dance.
+
+One of the rowers was a beautiful young woman named Atalanta, who had
+been nursed among the mountains by a bear. So light of foot was this
+fair damsel that she could step from one foamy crest of a wave to the
+foamy crest of another without wetting more than the sole of her sandal.
+She had grown up in a very wild way and talked much about the rights of
+women, and loved hunting and war far better than her needle. But in my
+opinion, the most remarkable of this famous company were two sons of the
+North Wind (airy youngsters, and of rather a blustering disposition),
+who had wings on their shoulders, and, in case of a calm, could puff
+out their cheeks and blow almost as fresh a breeze as their father. I
+ought not to forget the prophets and conjurers, of whom there were
+several in the crew, and who could foretell what would happen tomorrow,
+or the next day, or a hundred years hence, but were generally quite
+unconscious of what was passing at the moment.
+
+Jason appointed Tiphys to be helmsman, because he was a star-gazer and
+knew the points of the compass. Lynceus, on account of his sharp sight,
+was stationed as a lookout in the prow, where he saw a whole day's sail
+ahead, but was rather apt to overlook things that lay directly under his
+nose. If the sea only happened to be deep enough, however, Lynceus could
+tell you exactly what kind of rocks or sands were at the bottom of it;
+and he often cried out to his companions that they were sailing over
+heaps of sunken treasure, which yet he was none the richer for
+beholding. To confess the truth, few people believed him when he said
+it.
+
+Well! But when the Argonauts, as these fifty brave adventurers were
+called, had prepared everything for the voyage, an unforeseen difficulty
+threatened to end it before it was begun. The vessel, you must
+understand, was so long and broad and ponderous that the united force of
+all the fifty was insufficient to shove her into the water. Hercules, I
+suppose, had not grown to his full strength, else he might have set her
+afloat as easily as a little boy launches his boat upon a puddle. But
+here were these fifty heroes, pushing and straining and growing red in
+the face without making the Argo start an inch. At last, quite wearied
+out, they sat themselves down on the shore, exceedingly disconsolate and
+thinking that the vessel must be left to rot and fall in pieces and that
+they must either swim across the sea or lose the Golden Fleece.
+
+All at once Jason bethought himself of the galley's miraculous
+figurehead.
+
+"Oh, daughter of the Talking Oak," cried he, "how shall we set to work
+to get our vessel into the water?"
+
+"Seat yourselves," answered the image (for it had known what had ought
+to be done from the very first and was only waiting for the question to
+be put), "seat yourselves and handle your oars, and let Orpheus play
+upon his harp."
+
+Immediately the fifty heroes got on board, and seizing their oars, held
+them perpendicularly in the air, while Orpheus (who liked such a task
+far better than rowing) swept his fingers across the harp. At the first
+ringing note of the music they felt the vessel stir. Orpheus thrummed
+away briskly and the galley slid at once into the sea, dipping her prow
+so deeply that the figurehead drank the wave with its marvelous lips,
+and rising again as buoyant as a swan. The rowers plied their fifty
+oars, the white foam boiled up before the prow, the water gurgled and
+bubbled in their wake, while Orpheus continued to play so lively a
+strain of music that the vessel seemed to dance over the billows by way
+of keeping time to it. Thus triumphantly did the Argo sail out of the
+harbor amid the huzzas and good wishes of everybody except the wicked
+old Pelias, who stood on a promontory scowling at her and wishing that
+he could blow out of his lungs the tempest of wrath that was in his
+heart and so sink the galley with all on board. When they had sailed
+above fifty miles over the sea Lynceus happened to cast his sharp eyes
+behind, and said that there was this bad-hearted king, still perched
+upon the promontory, and scowling so gloomily that it looked like a
+black thunder-cloud in that quarter of the horizon.
+
+In order to make the time pass away more pleasantly during the voyage,
+the heroes talked about the Golden Fleece. It originally belonged, it
+appears, to a Boeotian ram, who had taken on his back two children,
+when in danger of their lives, and fled with them over land and sea as
+far as Colchis. One of the children, whose name was Helle, fell into
+the sea and was drowned. But the other (a little boy named Phrixus) was
+brought safe ashore by the faithful ram, who, however, was so exhausted
+that he immediately lay down and died. In memory of this good deed, and
+as a token of his true heart, the fleece of the poor dead ram was
+miraculously changed to gold and became one of the most beautiful
+objects ever seen on earth. It was hung upon a tree in a sacred grove,
+where it had now been kept I know not how many years, and was the envy
+of mighty kings who had nothing so magnificent in any of their palaces.
+
+If I were to tell you all the adventures of the Argonauts it would take
+me till nightfall and perhaps a great deal longer. There was no lack of
+wonderful events, as you may judge from what you have already heard. At
+a certain island they were hospitably received by King Cyzicus, its
+sovereign, who made a feast for them and treated them like brothers. But
+the Argonauts saw that this good king looked downcast and very much
+troubled, and they therefore inquired of him what was the matter. King
+Cyzicus hereupon informed them that he and his subjects were greatly
+abused and incommoded by the inhabitants of a neighboring mountain, who
+made war upon them and killed many people and ravaged the country. And
+while they were talking about it Cyzicus pointed to the mountain and
+asked Jason and his companions what they saw there.
+
+"I see some very tall objects," answered Jason, "but they are at such a
+distance that I cannot distinctly make out what they are. To tell your
+majesty the truth, they look so very strangely that I am inclined to
+think them clouds which have chanced to take something like human
+shapes."
+
+"I see them very plainly," remarked Lynceus, whose eyes, you know, were
+as far-sighted as a telescope. "They are a band of enormous giants, all
+of whom have six arms apiece, and a club, a sword or some other weapon
+in each of their hands."
+
+"You have excellent eyes," said King Cyzicus. "Yes, they are six-armed
+giants, as you say, and these are the enemies whom I and my subjects
+have to contend with."
+
+The next day, when the Argonauts were about setting sail, down came
+these terrible giants, stepping a hundred yards at a stride, brandishing
+their six arms apiece and looking very formidable so far aloft in the
+air. Each of these monsters was able to carry on a whole war by himself,
+for with one of his arms he could fling immense stones and wield a club
+with another and a sword with a third, while a fourth was poking a long
+spear at the enemy and the fifth and sixth were shooting him with a bow
+and arrow. But luckily, though the giants were so huge and had so many
+arms, they had each but one heart and that no bigger nor braver than the
+heart of an ordinary man. Besides, if they had been like the
+hundred-armed Briareus, the brave Argonauts would have given them their
+hands full of fight. Jason and his friends went boldly to meet them,
+slew a great many and made the rest take to their heels--so that if the
+giants had had six legs apiece instead of six arms, it would have served
+them better to run away with.
+
+Another strange adventure happened when the voyagers came to Thrace,
+where they found a poor blind king named Phineus, deserted by his
+subjects and living in a very sorrowful way all by himself. On Jason's
+inquiring whether they could do him any service, the king answered that
+he was terribly tormented by three great winged creatures called
+Harpies, which had the faces of women and the wings, bodies and claws of
+vultures. These ugly wretches were in the habit of snatching away his
+dinner, and allowed him no peace of his life. Upon hearing this the
+Argonauts spread a plentiful feast on the seashore, well knowing from
+what the blind king said of their greediness that the Harpies would
+snuff up the scent of the victuals and quickly come to steal them away.
+And so it turned out, for hardly was the table set before the three
+hideous vulture-women came flapping their wings, seized the food in
+their talons and flew off as fast as they could. But the two sons of the
+North Wind drew their swords, spread their pinions and set off through
+the air in pursuit of the thieves, whom they at last overtook among some
+islands, after a chase of hundreds of miles. The two winged youths
+blustered terribly at the Harpies (for they had the rough temper of
+their father), and so frightened them with their drawn swords that they
+solemnly promised never to trouble King Phineus again.
+
+Then the Argonauts sailed onward and met with many other marvelous
+incidents, any one of which would make a story by itself. At one time
+they landed on an island and were reposing on the grass, when they
+suddenly found themselves assailed by what seemed a shower of
+steel-headed arrows. Some of them stuck in the ground, while others hit
+against their shields and several penetrated their flesh. The fifty
+heroes started up and looked about them for the hidden enemy, but could
+find none nor see any spot on the whole island where even a single
+archer could lie concealed. Still, however, the steel-headed arrows came
+whizzing among them; and, at last, happening to look upward, they beheld
+a large flock of birds hovering and wheeling aloft and shooting their
+feathers down upon the Argonauts. These feathers were the steel-headed
+arrows that had so tormented them. There was no possibility of making
+any resistance, and the fifty heroic Argonauts might all have been
+killed or wounded by a flock of troublesome birds without ever setting
+eyes on the Golden Fleece if Jason had not thought of asking the advice
+of the oaken image.
+
+So he ran to the galley as fast as his legs would carry him.
+
+"O daughter of the Speaking Oak," cried he, all out of breath, "we need
+your wisdom more than ever before! We are in great peril from a flock of
+birds, who are shooting us with their steel-pointed feathers. What can
+we do to drive them away?"
+
+"Make a clatter on your shields," said the image.
+
+On receiving this excellent counsel, Jason hurried back to his
+companions (who were far more dismayed than when they fought with the
+six-armed giants) and bade them strike with their swords upon their
+brazen shields. Forthwith the fifty heroes set heartily to work, banging
+with might and main, and raised such a terrible clatter that the birds
+made what haste they could to get away; and though they had shot half
+the feathers out of their wings, they were soon seen skimming among the
+clouds, a long distance off and looking like a flock of wild geese.
+Orpheus celebrated this victory by playing a triumphant anthem on his
+harp, and sang so melodiously that Jason begged him to desist, lest, as
+the steel-feathered birds had been driven away by an ugly sound, they
+might be enticed back again by a sweet one.
+
+While the Argonauts remained on this island they saw a small vessel
+approaching the shore, in which were two young men of princely demeanor,
+and exceedingly handsome, as young princes generally were in those days.
+Now, who do you imagine these two voyagers turned out to be? Why, if you
+will believe me, they were the sons of that very Phrixus, who in his
+childhood had been carried to Colchis on the back of the golden-fleeced
+ram. Since that time Phrixus had married the king's daughter, and the
+two young princes had been born and brought up at Colchis, and had spent
+their play days on the outskirts of the grove, in the center of which
+the Golden Fleece was hanging upon a tree. They were now on their way
+to Greece, in hopes of getting back a kingdom that had been wrongfully
+taken from their father.
+
+When the princes understood whither the Argonauts were going they
+offered to turn back and guide them to Colchis. At the same time,
+however, they spoke as if it were very doubtful whether Jason would
+succeed in getting the Golden Fleece. According to their account, the
+tree on which it hung was guarded by a terrible dragon, who never failed
+to devour at one mouthful every person who might venture within his
+reach.
+
+"There are other difficulties in the way," continued the young princes.
+"But is not this enough? Ah, brave Jason, turn back before it is too
+late! It would grieve us to the heart if you and your forty-nine brave
+companions should be eaten up, at fifty mouthfuls, by this execrable
+dragon."
+
+"My young friends," quietly replied Jason, "I do not wonder that you
+think the dragon very terrible. You have grown up from infancy in the
+fear of this monster, and therefore still regard him with the awe that
+children feel for the bugbears and hobgoblins which their nurses have
+talked to them about. But in my view of the matter, the dragon is merely
+a pretty large serpent who is not half so likely to snap me up at one
+mouthful as I am to cut off his ugly head and strip the skin from his
+body. At all events, turn back who may, I will never see Greece again
+unless I carry with me the Golden Fleece."
+
+"We will none of us turn back!" cried his forty-nine brave comrades.
+"Let us get on board the galley this instant, and if the dragon is to
+make a breakfast of us, much good may it do him."
+
+And Orpheus (whose custom it was to set everything to music) began to
+harp and sing most gloriously, and made every mother's son of them feel
+as if nothing in this world were so delectable as to fight dragons and
+nothing so truly honorable as to be eaten up at one mouthful, in case of
+the worst.
+
+After this (being now under the guidance of the two princes, who were
+well acquainted with the way) they quickly sailed to Colchis. When the
+king of the country, whose name was AEetes, heard of their arrival, he
+instantly summoned Jason to court. The king was a stern and
+cruel-looking potentate, and though he put on as polite and hospitable
+an expression as he could, Jason did not like his face a whit better
+than that of the wicked King Pelias, who dethroned his father.
+
+"You are welcome, brave Jason," said King AEetes. "Pray, are you on a
+pleasure voyage?--or do you meditate the discovery of unknown
+islands?--or what other cause has procured me the happiness of seeing
+you at my court?"
+
+"Great sir," replied Jason, with an obeisance--for Chiron had taught him
+how to behave with propriety, whether to kings or beggars--"I have come
+hither with a purpose which I now beg your majesty's permission to
+execute. King Pelias, who sits on my father's throne (to which he has no
+more right than to the one on which your excellent majesty is now
+seated), has engaged to come down from it and to give me his crown and
+scepter, provided I bring him the Golden Fleece. This, as your majesty
+is aware, is now hanging on a tree here at Colchis; and I humbly solicit
+your gracious leave to take it away."
+
+In spite of himself, the king's face twisted itself into an angry frown;
+for, above all things else in the world, he prized the Golden Fleece,
+and was even suspected of having done a very wicked act in order to get
+it into his own possession. It put him into the worst possible humor,
+therefore, to hear that the gallant Prince Jason and forty-nine of the
+bravest young warriors of Greece had come to Colchis with the sole
+purpose of taking away his chief treasure.
+
+"Do you know," asked King AEetes, eyeing Jason very sternly, "what are
+the conditions which you must fulfill before getting possession of the
+Golden Fleece?"
+
+"I have heard," rejoined the youth, "that a dragon lies beneath the tree
+on which the prize hangs, and that whoever approaches him runs the risk
+of being devoured at a mouthful."
+
+"True," said the king, with a smile that did not look particularly
+good-natured. "Very true, young man. But there are other things as hard,
+or perhaps a little harder, to be done before you can even have the
+privilege of being devoured by the dragon. For example, you must first
+tame my two brazen-footed and brazen-lunged bulls, which Vulcan, the
+wonderful blacksmith, made for me. There is a furnace in each of their
+stomachs, and they breathe such hot fire out of their mouths and
+nostrils that nobody has hitherto gone nigh them without being instantly
+burned to a small, black cinder. What do you think of this, my brave
+Jason?"
+
+"I must encounter the peril," answered Jason composedly, "since it
+stands in the way of my purpose."
+
+"After taming the fiery bulls," continued King AEetes, who was determined
+to scare Jason if possible, "you must yoke them to a plow and must plow
+the sacred earth in the grove of Mars and sow some of the same dragon's
+teeth from which Cadmus raised a crop of armed men. They are an unruly
+set of reprobates, those sons of the dragon's teeth, and unless you
+treat them suitably, they will fall upon you sword in hand. You and your
+forty-nine Argonauts, my bold Jason, are hardly numerous or strong
+enough to fight with such a host as will spring up."
+
+"My master Chiron," replied Jason, "taught me long ago the story of
+Cadmus. Perhaps I can manage the quarrelsome sons of the dragon's teeth
+as well as Cadmus did."
+
+"I wish the dragon had him," muttered King AEetes to himself, "and the
+four-footed pedant, his schoolmaster, into the bargain. Why, what a
+foolhardy, self-conceited coxcomb he is! We'll see what my
+fire-breathing bulls will do for him. Well, Prince Jason," he continued
+aloud, and as complacently as he could, "make yourself comfortable for
+today, and tomorrow morning, since you insist upon it, you shall try
+your skill at the plow."
+
+While the king talked with Jason a beautiful young woman was standing
+behind the throne. She fixed her eyes earnestly upon the youthful
+stranger and listened attentively to every word that was spoken, and
+when Jason withdrew from the king's presence this young woman followed
+him out of the room.
+
+"I am the king's daughter," she said to him, "and my name is Medea. I
+know a great deal of which other young princesses are ignorant and can
+do many things which they would be afraid so much as to dream of. If you
+will trust to me I can instruct you how to tame the fiery bulls and sow
+the dragon's teeth and get the Golden Fleece."
+
+"Indeed, beautiful princess," answered Jason, "if you will do me this
+service I promise to be grateful to you my whole life long."
+
+Gazing at Medea, he beheld a wonderful intelligence in her face. She was
+one of those persons whose eyes are full of mystery; so that while
+looking into them, you seem to see a very great way, as into a deep
+well, yet can never be certain whether you see into the furthest depths
+or whether there be not something else hidden at the bottom. If Jason
+had been capable of fearing anything he would have been afraid of making
+this young princess his enemy; for, beautiful as she now looked, she
+might the very next instant become as terrible as the dragon that kept
+watch over the Golden Fleece.
+
+"Princess," he exclaimed, "you seem indeed very wise and very powerful.
+But how can you help me to do the things of which you speak? Are you an
+enchantress?"
+
+"Yes, Prince Jason," answered Medea, with a smile, "you have hit upon
+the truth. I am an enchantress. Circe, my father's sister, taught me to
+be one, and I could tell you, if I pleased, who was the old woman with
+the peacock, the pomegranate and the cuckoo staff, whom you carried over
+the river; and likewise, who it is that speaks through the lips of the
+oaken image that stands in the prow of your galley. I am acquainted with
+some of your secrets, you perceive. It is well for you that I am
+favorably inclined, for otherwise you would hardly escape being snapped
+up by the dragon."
+
+"I should not so much care for the dragon," replied Jason, "if I only
+knew how to manage the brazen-footed and fiery-lunged bulls."
+
+"If you are as brave as I think you, and as you have need to be," said
+Medea, "your own bold heart will teach you that there is but one way of
+dealing with a mad bull. What it is I leave you to find out in the
+moment of peril. As for the fiery breath of these animals, I have a
+charmed ointment here which will prevent you from being burned up and
+cure you if you chance to be a little scorched."
+
+So she put a golden box into his hand and directed him how to apply the
+perfumed unguent which it contained, and where to meet her at midnight.
+
+"Only be brave," added she, "and before daybreak the brazen bulls shall
+be tamed."
+
+The young man assured her that his heart would not fail him. He then
+rejoined his comrades, and told them what had passed between the
+princess and himself, and warned them to be in readiness in case there
+might be need of their help.
+
+At the appointed hour he met the beautiful Medea on the marble steps of
+the king's palace. She gave him a basket, in which were the dragon's
+teeth, just as they had been pulled out of the monster's jaws by Cadmus
+long ago. Medea then led Jason down the palace steps and through the
+silent streets of the city and into the royal pasture-ground, where the
+two brazen-footed bulls were kept. It was a starry night, with a bright
+gleam along the eastern edge of the sky, where the moon was soon going
+to show herself. After entering the pasture the princess paused and
+looked around.
+
+"There they are," said she, "reposing themselves and chewing their fiery
+cuds in that furthest corner of the field. It will be excellent sport, I
+assure you, when they catch a glimpse of your figure. My father and all
+his court delight in nothing so much as to see a stranger trying to yoke
+them in order to come at the Golden Fleece. It makes a holiday in
+Colchis whenever such a thing happens. For my part, I enjoy it
+immensely. You cannot imagine in what a mere twinkling of an eye their
+hot breath shrivels a young man into a black cinder."
+
+"Are you sure, beautiful Medea," asked Jason, "quite sure, that the
+unguent in the gold box will prove a remedy against those terrible
+burns?"
+
+"If you doubt, if you are in the least afraid," said the princess,
+looking him in the face by the dim starlight, "you had better never have
+been born than go a step nigher to the bulls."
+
+But Jason had set his heart steadfastly on getting the Golden Fleece,
+and I positively doubt whether he would have gone back without it even
+had he been certain of finding himself turned into a red-hot cinder, or
+a handful of white ashes the instant he made a step further. He
+therefore let go Medea's hand and walked boldly forward in the
+direction whither she had pointed. At some distance before him he
+perceived four streams of fiery vapor, regularly appearing and again
+vanishing after dimly lighting up the surrounding obscurity. These, you
+will understand, were caused by the breath of the brazen bulls, which
+was quietly stealing out of their four nostrils as they lay chewing
+their cuds.
+
+At the first two or three steps which Jason made the four fiery streams
+appeared to gush out somewhat more plentifully, for the two brazen bulls
+had heard his foot-tramp and were lifting up their hot noses to snuff
+the air. He went a little further, and by the way in which the red vapor
+now spouted forth he judged that the creatures had got upon their feet.
+Now he could see glowing sparks and vivid jets of flame. At the next
+step each of the bulls made the pasture echo with a terrible roar, while
+the burning breath which they thus belched forth lit up the whole field
+with a momentary flash.
+
+One other stride did bold Jason make; and suddenly, as a streak of
+lightning, on came these fiery animals, roaring like thunder and sending
+out sheets of white flame, which so kindled up the scene that the young
+man could discern every object more distinctly than by daylight. Most
+distinctly of all he saw the two horrible creatures galloping right down
+upon him, their brazen hoofs rattling and ringing over the ground and
+their tails sticking up stiffly into the air, as has always been the
+fashion with angry bulls. Their breath scorched the herbage before them.
+So intensely hot it was, indeed, that it caught a dry tree under which
+Jason was now standing and set it all in a light blaze. But as for Jason
+himself (thanks to Medea's enchanted ointment), the white flame curled
+around his body without injuring him a jot more than if he had been made
+of asbestos.
+
+Greatly encouraged at finding himself not yet turned into a cinder, the
+young man awaited the attack of the bulls. Just as the brazen brutes
+fancied themselves sure of tossing him into the air he caught one of
+them by the horn and the other by his screwed-up tail and held them in a
+grip like that of an iron vise, one with his right hand, the other with
+his left. Well, he must have been wonderfully strong in his arms, to be
+sure! But the secret of the matter was that the brazen bulls were
+enchanted creatures and that Jason had broken the spell of their fiery
+fierceness by his bold way of handling them. And ever since that time it
+has been the favorite method of brave men, when danger assails them, to
+do what they call "taking the bull by the horns"; and to grip him by the
+tail is pretty much the same thing--that is, to throw aside fear and
+overcome the peril by despising it.
+
+It was now easy to yoke the bulls and to harness them to the plow which
+had lain rusting on the ground for a great many years gone by, so long
+was it before anybody could be found capable of plowing that piece of
+land. Jason, I suppose, had been taught how to draw a furrow by the good
+old Chiron, who, perhaps, used to allow himself to be harnessed to the
+plow. At any rate, our hero succeeded perfectly well in breaking up the
+greensward; and by the time that the moon was a quarter of her journey
+up the sky the plowed field lay before him, a large tract of black
+earth, ready to be sown with the dragon's teeth. So Jason scattered them
+broadcast and harrowed them into the soil with a brush-harrow, and took
+his stand on the edge of the field, anxious to see what would happen
+next.
+
+"Must we wait long for harvest-time?" he inquired of Medea, who was now
+standing by his side.
+
+"Whether sooner or later, it will be sure to come," answered the
+princess. "A crop of armed men never fails to spring up when the
+dragon's teeth have been sown."
+
+[Illustration: THE DRAGON FELL AT FULL LENGTH UPON THE GROUND]
+
+[Illustration: THE BLIND OEDIPUS, LED BY HIS DAUGHTER ANTIGONE]
+
+The moon was now high aloft in the heavens and threw its bright beams
+over the plowed field, where as yet there was nothing to be seen. Any
+farmer, on viewing it, would have said that Jason must wait weeks before
+the green blades would peep from among the clods, and whole months
+before the yellow grain would be ripened for the sickle. But by and by,
+all over the field, there was something that glistened in the moonbeams
+like sparkling drops of dew. These bright objects sprouted higher and
+proved to be the steel heads of spears. Then there was a dazzling gleam
+from a vast number of polished brass helmets, beneath which, as they
+grew further out of the soil, appeared the dark and bearded visages of
+warriors, struggling to free themselves from the imprisoning earth. The
+first look that they gave at the upper world was a glare of wrath and
+defiance. Next were seen their bright breastplates; in every right hand
+there was a sword or a spear and on each left arm a shield; and when
+this strange crop of warriors had but half grown out of the earth, they
+struggled--such was their impatience of restraint--and, as it were, tore
+themselves up by the roots. Wherever a dragon's tooth had fallen, there
+stood a man armed for battle. They made a clangor with their swords
+against their shields, and eyed one another fiercely; for they had come
+into this beautiful world and into the peaceful moonlight full of rage
+and stormy passions and ready to take the life of every human brother in
+recompense for the boon of their own existence.
+
+There have been many other armies in the world that seemed to possess
+the same fierce nature with the one which had now sprouted from the
+dragon's teeth; but these in the moonlit field were the more excusable,
+because they never had women for their mothers. And now it would have
+rejoiced any great captain who was bent on conquering the world, like
+Alexander or Napoleon, to raise a crop of armed soldiers as easily as
+Jason did!
+
+For awhile the warriors stood flourishing their weapons, clashing their
+swords against their shields and boiling over with the red-hot thirst
+for battle. Then they began to shout, "Show us the enemy! Lead us to the
+charge! Death or victory! Come on, brave comrades! Conquer or die!" and
+a hundred other outcries, such as men always bellow forth on a
+battle-field and which these dragon people seemed to have at their
+tongues' ends. At last the front rank caught sight of Jason, who,
+beholding the flash of so many weapons in the moonlight, had thought it
+best to draw his sword. In a moment all the sons of the dragon's teeth
+appeared to take Jason for an enemy; and crying with one voice, "Guard
+the Golden Fleece!" they ran at him with uplifted swords and protruded
+spears. Jason knew that it would be impossible to withstand this
+blood-thirsty battalion with his single arm, but determined, since there
+was nothing better to be done, to die as valiantly as if he himself had
+sprung from a dragon's tooth.
+
+Medea, however, bade him snatch up a stone from the ground.
+
+"Throw it among them quickly!" cried she. "It is the only way to save
+yourself."
+
+The armed men were now so nigh that Jason could discern the fire
+flashing out of their enraged eyes, when he let fly the stone and saw it
+strike the helmet of a tall warrior who was rushing upon him with his
+blade aloft. The stone glanced from this man's helmet to the shield of
+his nearest comrade, and thence flew right into the angry face of
+another, hitting him smartly between the eyes. Each of the three who had
+been struck by the stone took it for granted that his next neighbor had
+given him a blow; and instead of running any further toward Jason, they
+began to fight among themselves. The confusion spread through the host,
+so that it seemed scarcely a moment before they were all hacking,
+hewing and stabbing at one another, lopping off arms, heads and legs and
+doing such memorable deeds that Jason was filled with immense
+admiration; although, at the same time, he could not help laughing to
+behold these mighty men punishing each other for an offense which he
+himself had committed. In an incredibly short space of time (almost as
+short, indeed, as it had taken them to grow up) all but one of the
+heroes of the dragon's teeth were stretched lifeless on the field. The
+last survivor, the bravest and strongest of the whole, had just force
+enough to wave his crimson sword over his head and give a shout of
+exultation, crying, "Victory! Victory! Immortal fame!" when he himself
+fell down and lay quietly among his slain brethren.
+
+And there was the end of the army that had sprouted from the dragon's
+teeth. That fierce and feverish fight was the only enjoyment which they
+had tasted on this beautiful earth.
+
+"Let them sleep in the bed of honor," said the Princess Medea, with a
+sly smile at Jason. "The world will always have simpletons enough, just
+like them, fighting and dying for they know not what, and fancying that
+posterity will take the trouble to put laurel wreaths on their rusty and
+battered helmets. Could you help smiling, Prince Jason, to see the
+self-conceit of that last fellow, just as he tumbled down?"
+
+"It made me very sad," answered Jason gravely. "And to tell you the
+truth, princess, the Golden Fleece does not appear so well worth the
+winning, after what I have here beheld."
+
+"You will think differently in the morning," said Medea. "True, the
+Golden Fleece may not be so valuable as you have thought it; but then
+there is nothing better in the world, and one must needs have an object,
+you know. Come! Your night's work has been well performed; and tomorrow
+you can inform King AEetes that the first part of your allotted task is
+fulfilled."
+
+Agreeably to Medea's advice, Jason went betimes in the morning to the
+palace of king AEetes. Entering the presence chamber, he stood at the
+foot of the throne and made a low obeisance.
+
+"Your eyes look heavy, Prince Jason," observed the king; "you appear to
+have spent a sleepless night. I hope you have been considering the
+matter a little more wisely and have concluded not to get yourself
+scorched to a cinder in attempting to tame my brazen-lunged bulls."
+
+"That is already accomplished, may it please your majesty," replied
+Jason. "The bulls have been tamed and yoked; the field has been plowed;
+the dragon's teeth have been sown broadcast and harrowed into the soil;
+the crop of armed warriors has sprung up and they have slain one another
+to the last man. And now I solicit your majesty's permission to
+encounter the dragon, that I may take down the Golden Fleece from the
+tree and depart with my forty-nine comrades."
+
+King AEetes scowled and looked very angry and excessively disturbed; for
+he knew that, in accordance with his kingly promise, he ought now to
+permit Jason to win the fleece if his courage and skill should enable
+him to do so. But since the young man had met with such good luck in the
+matter of the brazen bulls and dragon's teeth, the king feared that he
+would be equally successful in slaying the dragon. And therefore, though
+he would gladly have seen Jason snapped up at a mouthful, he was
+resolved (and it was a very wrong thing of this wicked potentate) not to
+run any further risk of losing his beloved fleece.
+
+"You never would have succeeded in this business, young man," said he,
+"if my undutiful daughter Medea had not helped you with her
+enchantments. Had you acted fairly, you would have been at this instant
+a black cinder or a handful of white ashes. I forbid you, on pain of
+death, to make any more attempts to get the Golden Fleece. To speak my
+mind plainly, you shall never set eyes on so much as one of its
+glistening locks."
+
+Jason left the king's presence in great sorrow and anger. He could think
+of nothing better to be done than to summon together his forty-nine
+brave Argonauts, march at once to the grove of Mars, slay the dragon,
+take possession of the Golden Fleece, get on board the Argo and spread
+all sail for Iolchos. The success of this scheme depended, it is true,
+on the doubtful point whether all the fifty heroes might not be snapped
+up as so many mouthfuls by the dragon. But as Jason was hastening down
+the palace steps, the Princess Medea called after him and beckoned him
+to return. Her black eyes shone upon him with such a keen intelligence
+that he felt as if there were a serpent peeping out of them, and
+although she had done him so much service only the night before, he was
+by no means very certain that she would not do him an equally great
+mischief before sunset. These enchantresses, you must know, are never to
+be depended upon.
+
+"What says King AEetes, my royal and upright father?" inquired Medea,
+slightly smiling. "Will he give you the Golden Fleece without any
+further risk or trouble?"
+
+"On the contrary," answered Jason, "he is very angry with me for taming
+the brazen bulls and sowing the dragon's teeth. And he forbids me to
+make any more attempts, and positively refuses to give up the Golden
+Fleece, whether I slay the dragon or no."
+
+"Yes, Jason," said the princess, "and I can tell you more. Unless you
+set sail from Colchis before tomorrow's sunrise, the king means to burn
+your fifty-oared galley and put yourself and your forty-nine brave
+comrades to the sword. But be of good courage. The Golden Fleece you
+shall have if it lies within the power of my enchantments to get it for
+you. Wait for me here an hour before midnight."
+
+At the appointed hour you might again have seen Prince Jason and the
+Princess Medea, side by side, stealing through the streets of Colchis on
+their way to the sacred grove, in the center of which the Golden Fleece
+was suspended to a tree. While they were crossing the pasture ground the
+brazen bulls came toward Jason, lowing, nodding their heads and
+thrusting forth their snouts, which, as other cattle do, they loved to
+have rubbed and caressed by a friendly hand. Their fierce nature was
+thoroughly tamed; and with their fierceness, the two furnaces in their
+stomaches had likewise been extinguished, insomuch that they probably
+enjoyed far more comfort in grazing and chewing their cuds than ever
+before. Indeed, it had heretofore been a great inconvenience to these
+poor animals that, whenever they wished to eat a mouthful of grass, the
+fire out of their nostrils had shriveled it up before they could manage
+to crop it. How they contrived to keep themselves alive is more than I
+can imagine. But now, instead of emitting jets of flame and streams of
+sulphurous vapor, they breathed the very sweetest of cow breath.
+
+After kindly patting the bulls, Jason followed Medea's guidance into the
+Grove of Mars, where the great oak trees that had been growing for
+centuries threw so thick a shade that the moonbeams struggled vainly to
+find their way through it. Only here and there a glimmer fell upon the
+leaf-strewn earth, or now and then a breeze stirred the boughs aside and
+gave Jason a glimpse of the sky, lest in that deep obscurity he might
+forget that there was one overhead. At length, when they had gone
+further and further into the heart of the duskiness, Medea squeezed
+Jason's hand.
+
+"Look yonder," she whispered. "Do you see it?"
+
+Gleaming among the venerable oaks there was a radiance, not like the
+moonbeams, but rather resembling the golden glory of the setting sun. It
+proceeded from an object which appeared to be suspended at about a man's
+height from the ground, a little further within the wood.
+
+"What is it?" asked Jason.
+
+"Have you come so far to seek it," exclaimed Medea, "and do you not
+recognize the meed of all your toils and perils when it glitters before
+your eyes? It is the Golden Fleece."
+
+Jason went onward a few steps further, and then stopped to gaze. Oh, how
+beautiful it looked, shining with a marvelous light of its own, that
+inestimable prize which so many heroes had longed to behold but had
+perished in the quest of it, either by the perils of their voyage or by
+the fiery breath of the brazen-lunged bulls.
+
+"How gloriously it shines!" cried Jason in a rapture. "It has surely
+been dipped in the richest gold of sunset. Let me hasten onward and take
+it to my bosom."
+
+"Stay," said Medea, holding him back. "Have you forgotten what guards
+it?"
+
+To say the truth, in the joy of beholding the object of his desires, the
+terrible dragon had quite slipped out of Jason's memory. Soon, however,
+something came to pass that reminded him what perils were still to be
+encountered. An antelope that probably mistook the yellow radiance for
+sunrise came bounding fleetly through the grove. He was rushing straight
+toward the Golden Fleece, when suddenly there was a frightful hiss and
+the immense head and half the scaly body of the dragon was thrust forth
+(for he was twisted round the trunk of the tree on which the fleece
+hung), and seizing the poor antelope, swallowed him with one snap of his
+jaws.
+
+After this feat, the dragon seemed sensible that some other living
+creature was within reach, on which he felt inclined to finish his meal.
+In various directions he kept poking his ugly snout among the trees,
+stretching out his neck a terrible long way, now here, now there and now
+close to the spot where Jason and the princess were hiding behind an
+oak. Upon my word, as the head came waving and undulating through the
+air and reaching almost within arm's length of Prince Jason, it was a
+very hideous and uncomfortable sight. The gape of his enormous jaws was
+nearly as wide as the gateway of the king's palace.
+
+"Well, Jason," whispered Medea (for she was ill natured, as all
+enchantresses are, and wanted to make the bold youth tremble), "what do
+you think now of your prospect of winning the Golden Fleece?"
+
+Jason answered only by drawing his sword and making a step forward.
+
+"Stay, foolish youth," said Medea, grasping his arm. "Do not you see you
+are lost without me as your good angel? In this gold box I have a magic
+potion which will do the dragon's business far more effectually than
+your sword."
+
+The dragon had probably heard the voices, for swift as lightning his
+black head and forked tongue came hissing among the trees again, darting
+full forty feet at a stretch. As it approached, Medea tossed the
+contents of the gold box right down the monster's wide-open throat.
+Immediately, with an outrageous hiss and a tremendous wriggle--flinging
+his tail up to the tip-top of the tallest tree and shattering all its
+branches as it crashed heavily down again--the dragon fell at full
+length upon the ground and lay quite motionless.
+
+"It is only a sleeping potion," said the enchantress to Prince Jason.
+"One always finds a use for these mischievous creatures sooner or later;
+so I did not wish to kill him outright. Quick! Snatch the prize and let
+us begone. You have won the Golden Fleece."
+
+Jason caught the fleece from the tree and hurried through the grove, the
+deep shadows of which were illuminated as he passed, by the golden glory
+of the precious object that he bore along. A little way before him he
+beheld the old woman whom he had helped over the stream, with her
+peacock beside her. She clapped her hands for joy, and beckoning him to
+haste, disappeared among the duskiness of the trees. Espying the two
+winged sons of the North Wind (who were disporting themselves in the
+moonlight a few hundred feet aloft), Jason bade them tell the rest of
+the Argonauts to embark as speedily as possible. But Lynceus, with his
+sharp eyes, had already caught a glimpse of him, bringing the Golden
+Fleece, although several stone walls, a hill, and the black shadows of
+the Grove of Mars intervened between. By his advice the heroes had
+seated themselves on the benches of the galley, with their oars held
+perpendicularly, ready to let fall into the water.
+
+As Jason drew near he heard the Talking Image calling to him with more
+than ordinary eagerness, in its grave, sweet voice:
+
+"Make haste. Prince Jason! For your life, make haste!"
+
+With one bound he leaped aboard. At sight of the glorious radiance of
+the Golden Fleece, the forty-nine heroes gave a mighty shout, and
+Orpheus, striking his harp, sang a song of triumph, to the cadence of
+which the galley flew over the water, homeward bound, as if careering
+along with wings!
+
+
+
+
+THE CYCLOPS
+
+
+When the great city of Troy was taken, all the chiefs who had fought
+against it set sail for their homes. But there was wrath in heaven
+against them, for indeed they had borne themselves haughtily and cruelly
+in the day of their victory. Therefore they did not all find a safe and
+happy return. For one was shipwrecked and another was shamefully slain
+by his false wife in his palace, and others found all things at home
+troubled and changed and were driven to seek new dwellings elsewhere.
+And some, whose wives and friends and people had been still true to them
+through those ten long years of absence, were driven far and wide about
+the world before they saw their native land again. And of all, the wise
+Ulysses was he who wandered farthest and suffered most.
+
+He was well-nigh the last to sail, for he had tarried many days to do
+pleasure to Agamemnon, lord of all the Greeks. Twelve ships he had with
+him--twelve he had brought to Troy--and in each there were some fifty
+men, being scarce half of those that had sailed in them in the old days,
+so many valiant heroes slept the last sleep by Simois and Scamander and
+in the plain and on the seashore, slain in battle or by the shafts of
+Apollo.
+
+First they sailed northwest to the Thracian coast, where the Ciconians
+dwelt, who had helped the men of Troy. Their city they took, and in it
+much plunder, slaves and oxen, and jars of fragrant wine, and might have
+escaped unhurt, but that they stayed to hold revel on the shore. For the
+Ciconians gathered their neighbors, being men of the same blood, and did
+battle with the invaders and drove them to their ship. And when Ulysses
+numbered his men, he found that he had lost six out of each ship.
+
+Scarce had he set out again when the wind began to blow fiercely; so,
+seeing a smooth, sandy beach, they drove the ships ashore and dragged
+them out of reach of the waves, and waited till the storm should abate.
+And the third morning being fair, they sailed again and journeyed
+prosperously till they came to the very end of the great Peloponnesian
+land, where Cape Malea looks out upon the southern sea. But contrary
+currents baffled them, so that they could not round it, and the north
+wind blew so strongly that they must fain drive before it. And on the
+tenth day they 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 so they call 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 the wise Ulysses heard, he bade their comrades
+bind them and carry them, sadly complaining, to the ships.
+
+Then, the wind having abated, they took to their oars and rowed for many
+days till they came to the country where the Cyclopes 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 the 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. And the next day they hunted the wild
+goats, of which there was great store on the island, and feasted right
+merrily on what they caught, with draughts of red wine which they had
+carried off from the town of the Ciconians.
+
+But on the morrow, Ulysses, for he was ever fond of adventure and would
+know of every land to which he came what manner of men they were that
+dwelt there, took one of his twelve ships and bade row to the land.
+There was a great hill sloping to the shore, and there rose up here and
+there a smoke from the caves where the Cyclopes dwelt apart, holding no
+converse with each other, for they were a rude and savage folk, but
+ruled each his own household, not caring for others. Now very close to
+the shore was one of these caves, very huge and deep, with laurels round
+about the mouth, and in front a fold with walls built of rough stone and
+shaded by tall oaks and pines. So Ulysses chose out of the crew the
+twelve bravest, and bade the rest guard the ship, and went to see what
+manner of dwelling this was and who abode there. He had his sword by his
+side, and on his shoulder a mighty skin of wine, sweet smelling and
+strong, with which he might win the heart of some fierce savage, should
+he chance to meet with such, as indeed his prudent heart forecasted that
+he might.
+
+So they entered the cave and judged that it was the dwelling of some
+rich and skilful 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 milk pails ranged along the
+wall. But the Cyclops himself was away in the pastures. Then the
+companions of Ulysses besought him that he would depart, taking with
+him, if he would, a store of cheeses and sundry of the lambs and of the
+kids. But he would not, for he wished to see, after his wont, what
+manner of host this strange shepherd might be. And truly he saw it to
+his cost!
+
+It was evening when the Cyclops came home, a mighty giant, twenty feet
+in height or more. 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 Ulysses
+and his comrades.
+
+"Who are ye?" cried Polyphemus, for that was the giant's name. "Are ye
+traders or, haply, pirates?"
+
+For in those days it was not counted shame to be called a pirate.
+
+Ulysses shuddered at the dreadful voice and shape, but bore him 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."
+
+"Nay," said the giant, "it is but idle talk to tell me of Zeus and the
+other gods. We Cyclopes 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?"
+
+But Ulysses saw his thought when he asked about the ship, how he was
+minded to break it and take from them all hope of flight. Therefore he
+answered him craftily:
+
+"Ship have we none, for that which was ours King Poseidon brake, driving
+it on a jutting rock on this coast, and we whom thou seest are all that
+are escaped from the waves."
+
+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 tore them limb from limb and devoured them, with huge
+draughts of milk between, leaving not a morsel, not even the very
+bones. But the others, when they saw the dreadful deed, could only weep
+and pray to Zeus for help. And when the giant had ended his foul meal,
+he lay down among his sheep and slept.
+
+Then Ulysses questioned much in his heart whether he should slay the
+monster as he slept, for he doubted not that his good sword would pierce
+to the giant's heart, mighty as he was. But, being very wise, he
+remembered that, should he slay him, he and his comrades would yet
+perish miserably. For who should move away the great rock that lay
+against the door of the cave? So they waited till the morning. And the
+monster woke and milked his flocks, and afterward, 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.
+
+All that day the wise Ulysses was thinking what he might best do to save
+himself and his companions, and the end of his 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 he cut off a fathom's length,
+and his 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 made his
+cruel feast as before. Then Ulysses came forward with the wine skin in
+his hand and said:
+
+"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."
+
+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 no wine like this, which indeed must
+be such as the gods drink in heaven."
+
+Then Ulysses gave him the cup again and he drank. Thrice he gave it to
+him and thrice he drank, not knowing what it was and how it would work
+within his brain.
+
+Then Ulysses spake to him. "Thou didst ask my name, Cyclops. Lo! my name
+is No Man. And now that thou knowest my name, thou shouldst give me thy
+gift."
+
+And he said, "My gift shall be that I will eat thee last of all thy
+company."
+
+And as he spake he fell back in a drunken sleep. Then Ulysses bade his
+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 Ulysses leaned with all his
+force upon the stake and thrust it in with might and main. 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.
+
+Then the giant leapt up and tore away the stake and cried aloud, so that
+all the Cyclopes 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?"
+
+And the giant answered, "No Man slays me by craft."
+
+"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, Poseidon, for help."
+
+Then they departed, and Ulysses was glad at heart for the good success
+of his device when he said that he was No Man.
+
+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.
+
+Long did Ulysses think how he and his comrades should best escape. At
+last he lighted upon a good device, and much he 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, he fastened his comrades under
+the bellies of the beasts, tying them with osier twigs, of which the
+giant made his bed. One ram he took and fastened a man beneath it, and
+two others he set, one on either side. So he did with the six, for but
+six were left out of the twelve who had ventured with him from the ship.
+And there was one mighty ram, far larger than all the others, and to
+this Ulysses clung, grasping the fleece tight with both his hands. So
+they 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:
+
+"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."
+
+So speaking, he let him pass out of the cave. But when they were out of
+reach of the giant, Ulysses loosed his hold of the ram and then unbound
+his comrades. And they hastened to their ship, not forgetting to drive
+before them a good store of the Cyclops' fat sheep. Right glad were
+those that had abode by the ship to see them. Nor did they lament for
+those that had died, though they were fain to do so, for Ulysses
+forbade, fearing lest the noise of their weeping should betray them to
+the giant, where they were. Then they all climbed into the ship, and
+sitting well in order on the benches, smote the sea with their oars,
+laying-to right lustily, that they might the sooner get away from the
+accursed land. And when they had rowed a hundred yards or so, so that a
+man's voice could yet be heard by one who stood upon the shore, Ulysses
+stood up in the ship and shouted:
+
+"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 yet worse things than
+these."
+
+Then the Cyclops in his wrath broke 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 Ulysses seized a long pole with both
+hands and pushed the ship from the land and bade his comrades ply their
+oars, nodding with his head, for he was too wise to speak, lest the
+Cyclops should know where they were. Then they rowed with all their
+might and main.
+
+And when they had gotten twice as far as before, Ulysses made as if he
+would speak again; but his comrades sought to hinder him, saying, "Nay,
+my lord, anger not the giant any more. Surely we thought before we were
+lost, 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."
+
+But Ulysses 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."
+
+And the Cyclops answered with a groan, "Of a truth, the old oracles are
+fulfilled, for long ago there came to this land one Telemus, a prophet,
+and dwelt among us even to old age. This man foretold me that one
+Ulysses would rob me of my sight. But I looked for a great man and a
+strong, who should subdue me by force, and now a weakling has done the
+deed, having cheated me with wine. But come thou hither, Ulysses, and I
+will be a host indeed to thee. Or, at least, may Poseidon give thee such
+a voyage to thy home as I would wish thee to have. For know that
+Poseidon is my sire. May be that he may heal me of my grievous wound."
+
+And Ulysses said, "Would to God, I could send thee down to the abode of
+the dead, where thou wouldst be past all healing, even from Poseidon's
+self."
+
+Then Cyclops lifted up his hands to Poseidon and prayed:
+
+"Hear me, Poseidon, if I am indeed thy son and thou my father. May this
+Ulysses never reach his home! or, if the Fates have ordered that he
+should reach it, may he come alone, all his comrades lost, and come to
+find sore trouble in his house!"
+
+And as he ended he hurled another mighty rock, which almost lighted on
+the rudder's end, yet missed it as if by a hair's breadth. So Ulysses
+and his comrades escaped and came to the island of the wild goats, where
+they found their comrades, who indeed had waited long for them, in sore
+fear lest they had perished. Then Ulysses divided among his company all
+the sheep which they had taken from the Cyclops. And all, with one
+consent, gave him for his share the great ram which had carried him out
+of the cave, and he sacrificed it to Zeus. And all that day they feasted
+right merrily on the flesh of sheep and on sweet wine, and when the
+night was come, they lay down upon the shore and slept.
+
+
+
+
+OEDIPUS AND THE SPHINX
+
+
+It befell in times past that the gods, being angry with the inhabitants
+of Thebes, sent into their land a very troublesome beast which men
+called the Sphinx. Now this beast had the face and breast of a fair
+woman, but the feet and claws of a lion; and it was wont to ask a riddle
+of such as encountered it, and such as answered not aright it would tear
+and devour.
+
+When it had laid waste the land many days, there chanced to come to
+Thebes one Oedipus, who had fled from the city of Corinth that he
+might escape the doom which the gods had spoken against him. And the men
+of the place told him of the Sphinx, how she cruelly devoured the
+people, and that he who should deliver them from her should have the
+kingdom. So Oedipus, being very bold, and also ready of wit, went
+forth to meet the monster. And when she saw him she spake, saying:
+
+    "Read me this riddle right, or die:
+    What liveth there beneath the sky,
+    Four-footed creature that doth choose
+    Now three feet and now twain to use,
+    And still more feebly o'er the plain
+    Walketh with three feet than with twain?"
+
+And Oedipus made reply:
+
+    "'Tis man, who in life's early day
+    Four-footed crawleth on his way;
+    When time hath made his strength complete,
+    Upright his form and twain his feet;
+    When age hath bound him to the ground
+    A third foot in his staff is found."
+
+And when the Sphinx found that her riddle was answered she cast herself
+from a high rock and perished.
+
+As a reward Oedipus received the great kingdom of Thebes and the hand
+of the widowed queen Jocasta in marriage. Four children were born to
+them--two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, and two daughters, Antigone and
+Ismene.
+
+Now the gods had decreed that Oedipus should murder his own father and
+marry his own mother, and by a curious chance this was precisely what he
+had done. As a baby he had been left to die lest he should live to
+fulfil the doom, but had been rescued by an old shepherd and brought up
+at the court of Corinth. Fleeing from there that he might not murder him
+whom he believed to be his father, he had come to Thebes, and on the way
+had met Laius, his true father, the king, and killed him.
+
+While he remained ignorant of the facts Oedipus was very happy and
+reigned in great power and glory; but when pestilence fell upon the land
+and he discovered the truth of the almost forgotten oracle, he was very
+miserable, and in the madness of grief put out his own eyes.
+
+
+
+
+ANTIGONE. A FAITHFUL DAUGHTER AND SISTER
+
+
+Jocasta, when she learned that Oedipus was really her son, was so
+filled with horror and distress that she took her own life. But Antigone
+and Ismene were sorry for their father, whom they loved very dearly, and
+sought by every means they knew to render his suffering less.
+
+Longing to see again the land of Corinth which he had left seized the
+blind Oedipus, and like a beggar, staff in hand, he set out. Only
+Antigone accompanied him, guiding his step and striving daily to keep up
+his courage.
+
+After much wandering Oedipus was finally cast into prison. Then the
+two sons took possession of the kingdom, making agreement between
+themselves that each should reign for the space of one year. And the
+elder of the two, whose name was Eteocles, first had the kingdom; but
+when his year was come to an end, he would not abide by his promise, but
+kept that which he should have given up, and drove out his younger
+brother from the city. Then the younger, whose name was Polynices, fled
+to Argos, to King Adrastus. And after a while he married the daughter of
+the king, who made a covenant with him that he would bring him back with
+a high hand to Thebes and set him on the throne of his father. Then the
+king sent messengers to certain of the princes of Greece, entreating
+that they would help in this matter. And of these some would not, but
+others hearkened to his words, so that a great army was gathered
+together and followed the king and Polynices to make war against Thebes.
+So they came and pitched their camp over against the city. And after
+they had been there many days, the battle grew fierce about the wall.
+But the chiefest fight was between the two brothers, for the two came
+together in an open space before the gates. And first Polynices prayed
+to Here, for she was the goddess of the great city of Argos, which had
+helped him in this enterprise, and Eteocles prayed to Pallas of the
+Golden Shield, whose temple stood hard by. Then they crouched, each
+covered with his shield and holding his spear in his hand, if by chance
+his enemy should give occasion to smite him; and if one showed so much
+as an eye above the rim of his shield the other would strike at him. But
+after a while King Eteocles slipped upon a stone that was under his
+foot, and uncovered his leg, at which straightway Polynices took aim
+with his spear, piercing the skin. But so doing he laid his own shoulder
+bare, and King Eteocles gave him a wound in the breast. He brake his
+spear in striking and would have fared ill but that with a great stone
+he smote the spear of Polynices and brake this also in the middle. And
+now were the two equal, for each had lost his spear. So they drew their
+swords and came yet closer together. But Eteocles used a device which he
+had learnt in the land of Thessaly; for he drew his left foot back, as
+if he would have ceased from the battle, and then of a sudden moved the
+right forward; and so smiting sideways, drove his sword right through
+the body of Polynices. But when, thinking that he had slain him, he set
+his weapons in the earth and began to spoil him of his arms, the other,
+for he yet breathed a little, laid his hand upon his sword, and though
+he had scarce strength to smite, yet gave the king a mortal blow, so
+that the two lay dead together on the plain. And the men of Thebes
+lifted up the bodies of the dead and bare them both into the city.
+
+When these two brothers, the sons of King Oedipus, had fallen each by
+the hand of the other, the kingdom fell to Creon, their uncle. For not
+only was he the next of kin to the dead, but also the people held him in
+great honor because his son Menoeceus had offered himself with a
+willing heart that he might deliver his city from captivity.
+
+Now when Creon was come to the throne he made a proclamation about the
+two princes, commanding that they should bury Eteocles with all honor,
+seeing that he died as beseemed a good man and a brave, doing battle for
+his country, that it should not be delivered into the hands of the
+enemy; but as for Polynices, he bade them leave his body to be devoured
+by the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field, because he had
+joined himself to the enemy and would have beaten down the walls of the
+city and burned the temples of the gods with fire and led the people
+captive. Also he commanded that if any man should break this decree he
+should suffer death by stoning.
+
+Now Antigone, who was sister to the two princes, heard that the decree
+had gone forth, and chancing to meet her sister Ismene before the gates
+of the palace, spake to her, saying:
+
+"O my sister, hast thou heard this decree that the king hath put forth
+concerning our brethren that are dead?"
+
+Then Ismene made answer: "I have heard nothing, my sister, only that we
+are bereaved of both of our brethren in one day and that the army of the
+Argives is departed in this night that is now past. So much I know, but
+no more."
+
+"Hearken then. King Creon hath made a proclamation that they shall bury
+Eteocles with all honor, but that Polynices shall lie unburied, that the
+birds of the air and the beasts of the field may devour him, and that
+whosoever shall break this decree shall suffer death by stoning."
+
+"But if it be so, my sister, how can we avail to change it?"
+
+"Think whether or no thou wilt share with me the doing of this deed."
+
+"What deed? What meanest thou?"
+
+"To pay due honor to this dead body."
+
+"What? Wilt thou bury him when the king hath forbidden it?"
+
+"Yes, for he is my brother and also thine, though perchance thou wouldst
+not have it so. And I will not play him false."
+
+"O my sister, wilt thou do this when Creon hath forbidden it?"
+
+"Why should he stand between me and mine?"
+
+"But think now what sorrows are come upon our house. For our father
+perished miserably, having first put out his own eyes; and our mother
+hanged herself with her own hands; our two brothers fell in one day,
+each by the other's spear; and now we two only are left. And shall we
+not fall into a worse destruction than any, if we transgress these
+commands of the king? Think, too, that we are women and not men, and of
+necessity obey them that are stronger. Wherefore, as for me, I will pray
+the dead to pardon me, seeing that I am thus constrained; but I will
+obey them that rule."
+
+"I advise thee not, and if thou thinkest thus, I would not have thee for
+helper. But know that I will bury my brother, nor could I better die
+than for doing such a deed. For as he loved me, so also do I love him
+greatly. And shall not I do pleasure to the dead rather than to the
+living, seeing that I shall abide with the dead for ever? But thou, if
+thou wilt do dishonor to the laws of the gods?"
+
+"I dishonor them not. Only I cannot set myself against the powers that
+be."
+
+"So be it; but I will bury my brother."
+
+"O my sister, how I fear for thee!"
+
+"Fear for thyself. Thine own lot needeth all thy care."
+
+"Thou wilt at least keep thy counsel, nor tell the thing to any man."
+
+"Not so: hide it not. I shall scorn thee more if thou proclaim it not
+aloud to all."
+
+So Antigone departed; and after a while came to the same place King
+Creon, clad in his royal robes and with his scepter in his hand, and set
+forth his counsel to the elders who were assembled, how he had dealt
+with the two princes according to their deserving, giving all honor to
+him that loved his country and casting forth the other unburied. And he
+bade them take care that this decree should be kept, saying that he had
+also appointed certain men to watch the dead body.
+
+And he had scarcely left speaking when there came one of these same
+watchers, and said:
+
+"I have not come hither in haste, O King; nay, I doubted much, while I
+was yet on the way, whether I should not turn again. For now I thought,
+'Fool, why goest thou where thou shalt suffer for it'; and then, again,
+'Fool, the king will hear the matter elsewhere, and then how wilt thou
+fare?' But at the last I came as I had purposed, for I know that nothing
+may happen to me contrary to fate."
+
+"But say," said the king, "what troubles thee so much?"
+
+"First hear my case. I did not the thing and know not who did it, and it
+were a grievous wrong should I fall into trouble for such a cause."
+
+"Thou makest a long preface, excusing thyself, but yet hast, as I judge,
+something to tell."
+
+"Fear, my lord, ever causeth delay."
+
+"Wilt thou not speak out thy news and then begone?"
+
+"I will speak it. Know then that some man hath thrown dust upon this
+dead corpse, and done besides such things as are needful."
+
+"What sayest thou? Who hath dared to do this deed?"
+
+"That I know not, for there was no mark as of spade or pick-axe; nor was
+the earth broken, nor had wagon passed thereon. We were sore dismayed
+when the watchman showed the thing to us; for the body we could not see.
+Buried indeed it was not, but rather covered with dust. Nor was there
+any sign as of wild beast or of dog that had torn it. Then there arose a
+contention among us, each blaming the other, and accusing his fellows,
+and himself denying that he had done the deed or was privy to it. And
+doubtless we had fallen to blows but that one spake a word which made us
+all tremble for fear, knowing that it must be as he said. For he said
+that the thing must be told to thee, and in no wise hidden. So we drew
+lots, and by evil chance the lot fell upon me. Wherefore I am here, not
+willingly, for no man loveth him that bringeth evil tidings."
+
+Then said the chief of the old men:
+
+"Consider, O King, for haply this thing is from the gods."
+
+But the king cried:
+
+"Thinkest thou that the gods care for such an one as this dead man, who
+would have burnt their temples with fire, and laid waste the land which
+they love; and set at naught the laws? Not so. But there are men in this
+city who have long time had ill will to me, not bowing their necks to my
+yoke; and they have persuaded these fellows with money to do this thing.
+Surely there never was so evil a thing as money, which maketh cities
+into ruinous heaps and banisheth men from their houses and turneth their
+thoughts from good unto evil. But as for them that have done this deed
+for hire, of a truth they shall not escape, for I say to thee, fellow,
+if ye bring not here before my eyes the man that did this thing, I will
+hang you up alive. So shall ye learn that ill gains bring no profit to a
+man."
+
+So the guard departed, but as he went he said to himself:
+
+"Now may the gods grant that the man be found; but however this may be,
+thou shalt not see me come again on such errand as this, for even now
+have I escaped beyond all hope."
+
+Notwithstanding, after a space he came back with one of his fellows; and
+they brought with them the maiden Antigone, with her hands bound
+together.
+
+And it chanced that at the same time King Creon came forth from the
+palace. Then the guard set forth the thing to him, saying:
+
+"We cleared away the dust from the dead body, and sat watching it. And
+when it was now noon, and the sun was at his height, there came a
+whirlwind over the plain, driving a great cloud of dust. And when this
+had passed, we looked, and lo! this maiden whom we have brought hither
+stood by the dead corpse. And when she saw that it lay bare as before,
+she sent up an exceeding bitter cry, even as a bird whose young ones
+have been taken from the nest. Then she cursed them that had done this
+deed, and brought dust and sprinkled it upon the dead man, and poured
+water upon him three times. Then we ran and laid hold upon her and
+accused her that she had done this deed; and she denied it not. But as
+for me, 'tis well to have escaped from death, but it is ill to bring
+friends into the same. Yet I hold that there is nothing dearer to a man
+than his life."
+
+Then said the king to Antigone:
+
+"Tell me in a word, didst thou know my decree?"
+
+"I knew it. Was it not plainly declared?"
+
+"How daredst thou to transgress the laws?"
+
+"Zeus made not such laws, nor Justice that dwelleth with the gods below.
+I judged not that thy decrees had such authority that a man should
+transgress for them the unwritten sure commandments of the gods. For
+these, indeed, are not of today or yesterday, but they live forever, and
+their beginning no man knoweth. Should I, for fear of thee, be found
+guilty against them? That I should die I knew. Why not? All men must
+die. And if I die before my time, what loss? He who liveth among many
+sorrows even as I have lived, counteth it gain to die. But had I left my
+own mother's son unburied, this had been loss indeed."
+
+Then said the king:
+
+"Such stubborn thoughts have a speedy fall and are shivered even as the
+iron that hath been made hard in the furnace. And as for this woman and
+her sister--for I judge her sister to have had a part in this
+matter--though they were nearer to me than all my kindred, yet shall
+they not escape the doom of death. Wherefore let some one bring the
+other woman hither."
+
+And while they went to fetch the maiden Ismene, Antigone said to the
+king:
+
+"Is it not enough for thee to slay me? What need to say more? For thy
+words please me not, nor mine thee. Yet what nobler thing could I have
+done than to bury my mother's son? And so would all men say, but fear
+shutteth their mouths."
+
+"Nay," said the king, "none of the children of Cadmus thinketh thus, but
+thou only. But, hold, was not he that fell in battle with this man thy
+brother also?"
+
+"Yes, truly, my brother he was."
+
+"And dost thou not dishonor him when thou honorest his enemy?"
+
+"The dead man would not say it, could he speak."
+
+"Shall then the wicked have like honor with the good?"
+
+"How knowest thou but that such honor pleaseth the gods below?"
+
+"I have no love for them I hate, though they be dead."
+
+"Of hating I know nothing; 'tis enough for me to love."
+
+"If thou wilt love, go love the dead. But while I live no woman shall
+rule me."
+
+Then those that had been sent to fetch the maiden Ismene brought her
+forth from the palace. And when the king accused her that she had been
+privy to the deed she denied not, but would have shared one lot with her
+sister.
+
+But Antigone turned from her, saying:
+
+"Not so; thou hast no part or lot in the matter. For thou hast chosen
+life and I have chosen death; and even so shall it be."
+
+And when Ismene saw that she prevailed nothing with her sister, she
+turned to the king and said:
+
+"Wilt thou slay the bride of thy son?"
+
+"Ay," said he, "there are other brides to win!"
+
+"But none," she made reply, "that accord so well with him."
+
+"I will have no evil wives for my sons," said the king.
+
+Then cried Antigone:
+
+"O Haemon, whom I love, how thy father wrongeth thee!"
+
+Then the king bade the guards lead the two into the palace. But scarcely
+had they gone when there came to the place the Prince Haemon, the king's
+son, who was betrothed to the maiden Antigone. And when the king saw
+him, he said:
+
+"Art thou content, my son, with thy father's judgment?"
+
+And the young man answered:
+
+"My father, I would follow thy counsels in all things."
+
+Then said the king:
+
+"'Tis well spoken, my son. This is a thing to be desired, that a man
+should have obedient children. But if it be otherwise with a man, he
+hath gotten great trouble for himself and maketh sport for them that
+hate him. And now as to this matter. There is naught worse than an evil
+wife. Wherefore I say let this damsel wed a bridegroom among the dead.
+For since I have found her, alone of all this people, breaking my
+decree, surely she shall die. Nor shall it profit her to claim kinship
+with me, for he that would rule a city must first deal justly with his
+own kindred. And as for obedience, this it is that maketh a city to
+stand both in peace and in war."
+
+To this the Prince Haemon made answer:
+
+"What thou sayest, my father, I do not judge. Yet bethink thee, that I
+see and hear on thy behalf what is hidden from thee. For common men
+cannot abide thy look if they say that which pleaseth thee not. Yet do I
+hear it in secret. Know then that all the city mourneth for this maiden,
+saying that she dieth wrongfully for a very noble deed, in that she
+buried her brother. And 'tis well, my father, not to be wholly set on
+thy thoughts, but to listen to the counsels of others."
+
+"Nay," said the king; "shall I be taught by such an one as thou?"
+
+"I pray thee regard my words, if they be well, and not my years."
+
+"Can it be well to honor them that transgress? And hath not this woman
+transgressed?"
+
+"The people of this city judge not so."
+
+"The people, sayest thou? Is it for them to rule, or for me?"
+
+"No city is the possession of one man only."
+
+So the two answered one the other, and their anger waxed hot. And at the
+last the king cried:
+
+"Bring this accursed woman and slay her before his eyes."
+
+And the prince answered:
+
+"That thou shalt never do. And know this also, that thou shalt never see
+my face again."
+
+So he went away in a rage; and the old men would have appeased the
+king's wrath, but he would not hearken to them, but said that the two
+maidens should die.
+
+"Wilt thou then slay them both?" said the old men.
+
+"'Tis well said," the king made answer. "Her that meddled not with the
+matter, I harm not."
+
+"And how wilt thou deal with the other?"
+
+"There is a desolate place, and there I will shut her up alive in a
+sepulchre; yet giving her so much of food as shall quit us of guilt in
+the matter, for I would not have the city defiled. There let her
+persuade Death, whom she loveth so much, that he harm her not."
+
+So the guards led Antigone away to shut her up alive in the sepulchre.
+But scarcely had they departed when there came an old prophet Tiresias,
+seeking the king. Blind he was, so that a boy led him by the hand; but
+the gods had given him to see things to come.
+
+And when the king saw him he asked:
+
+"What seekest thou, wisest of men?"
+
+Then the prophet answered:
+
+"Hearken, O King, and I will tell thee. I sat in my seat, after my
+custom, in the place whither all manner of birds resort. And as I sat I
+heard a cry of birds that I knew not, very strange and full of wrath.
+And I knew that they tare and slew each other, for I heard the fierce
+flapping of their wings. And being afraid, I made inquiry about the
+fire, how it burned upon the altars. And this boy, for as I am a guide
+to others so he guideth me, told me that it shone not at all, but
+smouldered and was dull, and that the flesh which was burnt upon the
+altar spluttered in the flame and wasted away into corruption and
+filthiness. And now I tell thee, O King, that the city is troubled by
+thy ill counsels. For the dogs and the birds of the air tear the flesh
+of this dead son of Oedipus, whom thou sufferest not to have due
+burial, and carry it to the altars, polluting them therewith. Wherefore
+the gods receive not from us prayer or sacrifice, and the cry of the
+birds hath an evil sound, for they are full of the flesh of a man.
+Therefore I bid thee be wise in time. For all men may err; but he that
+keepeth not his folly, but repenteth, doeth well; but stubbornness
+cometh to great trouble."
+
+Then the king answered:
+
+"Old man, I know the race of prophets full well, how ye sell your art
+for gold. But make thy trade as thou wilt, this man shall not have
+burial; yea, though the eagles of Zeus carry his flesh to their master's
+throne in heaven, he shall not have it."
+
+And when the prophet spake again, entreating him and warning, the king
+answered him after the same fashion, that he spake not honestly, but had
+sold his art for money.
+
+But at the last the prophet spake in great wrath, saying:
+
+"Know, O King, that before many days shall pass thou shalt pay a life
+for a life, even one of thine own children, for them with whom thou hast
+dealt unrighteously, shutting up the living with the dead and keeping
+the dead from them to whom they belong. Therefore the Furies lie in wait
+for thee and thou shalt see whether or no I speak these things for
+money. For there shall be mourning and lamentation in thine own house,
+and against thy people shall be stirred up many cities. And now, my
+child, lead me home and let this man rage against them that are younger
+than I."
+
+So the prophet departed and the old men were sore afraid and said:
+
+"He hath spoken terrible things, O King; nor ever since these gray hairs
+were black have we known him say that which was false."
+
+"Even so," said the king, "and I am troubled in heart and yet am loath
+to depart from my purpose."
+
+"King Creon," said the old men, "thou needest good counsel."
+
+"What, then, would ye have done?"
+
+"Set free the maiden from the sepulchre and give this dead man burial."
+
+Then the king cried to his people that they should bring bars wherewith
+to loosen the doors of the sepulchre, and hastened with them to the
+place. But coming on their way to the body of Prince Polynices, they
+took it up and washed it, and buried that which remained of it, and
+raised over the ashes a great mound of earth. And this being done, they
+drew near to the place of the sepulchre; and as they approached, the
+king heard within a very piteous voice, and knew it for the voice of his
+son. Then he bade his attendants loose the door with all speed; and when
+they had loosed it, they beheld within a very piteous sight. For the
+maiden Antigone had hanged herself by the girdle of linen which she
+wore, and the young man Prince Haemon stood with his arms about her dead
+body, embracing it. And when the king saw him, he cried to him to come
+forth; but the prince glared fiercely upon him and answered him not a
+word, but drew his two-edged sword. Then the king, thinking that his son
+was minded in his madness to slay him, leapt back, but the prince drove
+the sword into his own heart and fell forward on the earth, still
+holding the dead maiden in his arms. And when they brought the tidings
+of these things to Queen Eurydice, the wife of King Creon and mother to
+the prince, she could not endure the grief, being thus bereaved of her
+children, but laid hold of a sword and slew herself therewith.
+
+So the house of King Creon was left desolate unto him that day, because
+he despised the ordinances of the gods.
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF IPHIGENIA
+
+
+King Agamemnon sat in his tent at Aulis, where the army of the Greeks
+was gathered together, being about to sail against the great city of
+Troy. And it was now past midnight; but the king slept not, for he was
+careful and troubled about many things. And he had a lamp before him and
+in his hand a tablet of pine wood, whereon he wrote. But he seemed not
+to remain in the same mind about that which he wrote; for now he would
+blot out the letters, and then would write them again; and now he
+fastened the seal upon the tablet and then brake it. And as he did this
+he wept and was like to a man distracted. But after a while he called to
+an old man, his attendant (the man had been given in time past by
+Tyndareus to his daughter, Queen Clytaemnestra) and said:
+
+"Old man, thou knowest how Calchas the soothsayer bade me offer for a
+sacrifice to Artemis, who is goddess of this place, my daughter
+Iphigenia, saying that so only should the army have a prosperous voyage
+from this place to Troy, and should take the city and destroy it; and
+how when I heard these words I bade Talthybius the herald go throughout
+the army and bid them depart, every man to his own country, for that I
+would not do this thing; and how my brother, King Menelaues, persuaded me
+so that I consented to it. Now, therefore, hearken to this, for what I
+am about to tell thee three men only know, namely, Calchas the
+soothsayer, and Menelaues, and Ulysses, king of Ithaca. I wrote a letter
+to my wife the queen, that she should send her daughter to this place,
+that she might be married to King Achilles; and I magnified the man to
+her, saying that he would in no wise sail with us unless I would give
+him my daughter in marriage. But now I have changed my purpose and have
+written another letter after this fashion, as I will now set forth to
+thee: '_Daughter of Leda, send not thy child to the land of Euboea,
+for I will give her in marriage at another time._'"
+
+"Aye," said the old man, "but how wilt thou deal with King Achilles?
+Will he not be wroth, hearing that he hath been cheated of his wife?"
+
+"Not so," answered the king, "for we have indeed used his name, but he
+knoweth nothing of this marriage. And now make haste. Sit not thou down
+by any fountain in the woods, and suffer not thine eyes to sleep. And
+beware lest the chariot bearing the queen and her daughter pass thee
+where the roads divide. And see that thou keep the seal upon this letter
+unbroken."
+
+So the old man departed with the letter. But scarcely had he left the
+tent when King Menelaues spied him and laid hands on him, taking the
+letter and breaking the seal. And the old man cried out:
+
+"Help, my lord; here is one hath taken thy letter!"
+
+Then King Agamemnon came forth from his tent, saying, "What meaneth this
+uproar and disputing that I hear?"
+
+And Menelaues answered, "Seest thou this letter that I hold in my hand?"
+
+"I see it: it is mine. Give it to me."
+
+"I give it not till I have read that which is written therein to all the
+army of the Greeks."
+
+"Where didst thou find it?"
+
+"I found it while I waited for thy daughter till she should come to the
+camp."
+
+"What hast thou to do with that? May I not rule my own household?"
+
+Then Menelaues reproached his brother because he did not continue in one
+mind. "For first," he said, "before thou wast chosen captain of the
+host, thou wast all things to all men, greeting every man courteously,
+and taking him by the hand, and talking with him, and leaving thy doors
+open to any that would enter; but afterwards, being now chosen, thou
+wast haughty and hard of access. And next, when this trouble came upon
+the army, and thou wast sore afraid lest thou shouldst lose thy office
+and so miss renown, didst thou not hearken to Calchas the soothsayer,
+and promise thy daughter for sacrifice, and send for her to the camp,
+making pretence of giving her in marriage to Achilles? And now thou art
+gone back from thy word. Surely this is an evil day for Greece, that is
+troubled because thou wantest wisdom."
+
+Then answered King Agamemnon: "What is thy quarrel with me? Why blamest
+thou me if thou couldst not rule thy wife? And now to win back this
+woman, because forsooth she is fair, thou castest aside both reason and
+honor. And I, if I had an ill purpose and now have changed it for that
+which is wiser, dost thou charge me with folly? Let them that sware the
+oath to Tyndareus go with thee on this errand. Why should I slay my
+child and work for myself sorrow and remorse without end that thou
+mayest have vengeance for thy wicked wife?"
+
+Then Menelaues turned away in a rage, crying, "Betray me if thou wilt. I
+will betake myself to other counsels and other friends."
+
+But even as he spake there came a messenger, saying, "King Agamemnon, I
+am come, as thou badest me, with thy daughter Iphigenia. Also her
+mother, Queen Clytaemnestra, is come, bringing with her her little son
+Orestes. And now they are resting themselves and their horses by the
+side of a spring, for indeed the way is long and weary. And all the army
+is gathered about them to see them and greet them. And men question
+much wherefore they are come, saying 'Doth the king make a marriage for
+his daughter; or hath he sent for her, desiring to see her?' But I know
+thy purpose, my lord; wherefore we will dance and shout and make merry,
+for this is a happy day for the maiden."
+
+But the King Agamemnon was sore dismayed when he knew that the queen was
+come, and spake to himself, "Now what shall I say to my wife? For that
+she is rightly come to the marriage of her daughter, who can deny? But
+what will she say when she knoweth my purpose? And of the maiden, what
+shall I say? Unhappy maiden whose bridegroom shall be death! For she
+will cry to me, 'Wilt thou kill me, my father?' And the little Orestes
+will wail, not knowing what he doeth, seeing he is but a babe. Cursed be
+Paris, who hath wrought this woe!"
+
+And now King Menelaues came back, saying that it repented him of what he
+had said, "For why should thy child die for me? What hath she to do with
+Helen? Let the army be scattered, so that this wrong be not done."
+
+Then said King Agamemnon, "But how shall I escape from this strait? For
+the whole host will compel me to this deed?"
+
+"Not so," said King Menelaues, "if thou wilt send back the maiden to
+Argos."
+
+"But what shall that profit," said the king; "for Calchas will cause the
+matter to be known, or Ulysses, saying that I have failed of my promise;
+and if I fly to Argos, they will come and destroy my city and lay waste
+my land. Woe is me! in what a strait am I set! But take thou care, my
+brother, that Clytaemnestra hear nothing of these things."
+
+And when he had ended speaking, the queen herself came unto the tent,
+riding in a chariot, having her daughter by her side. And she bade one
+of the attendants take out with care the caskets which she had brought
+for her daughter, and bade others help her daughter to alight and
+herself also, and to a fourth she said that he should take the young
+Orestes. Then Iphigenia greeted her father, saying, "Thou hast done well
+to send for me, my father."
+
+"'Tis true and yet not true, my child."
+
+"Thou lookest not well pleased to see me, my father."
+
+"He that is a king and commandeth a host hath many cares."
+
+"Put away thy cares awhile and give thyself to me."
+
+"I am glad beyond measure to see thee."
+
+"Glad art thou? Then why dost thou weep?"
+
+"I weep because thou must be long time absent from me."
+
+"Perish all these fightings and troubles!"
+
+"They will cause many to perish, and me most miserably of all."
+
+"Art thou going a journey from me, my father?"
+
+"Aye, and thou also hast a journey to make."
+
+"Must I make it alone, or with my mother?"
+
+"Alone; neither father nor mother may be with thee."
+
+"Sendest thou me to dwell elsewhere?"
+
+"Hold thy peace: such things are not for maidens to inquire."
+
+"Well, my father, order matters with the Phrygians and then make haste
+to return."
+
+"I must first make a sacrifice to the gods."
+
+"'Tis well. The gods should have due honor."
+
+"Aye, and thou wilt stand close to the altar."
+
+"Shall I lead the dances, my father?"
+
+"O my child, how I envy thee, that thou knowest naught! And now go into
+the tent; but first kiss me and give me thy hand, for thou shalt be
+parted from thy father for many days."
+
+And when she was gone within, he cried, "O fair bosom and very lovely
+cheeks and yellow hair of my child! O city of Priam, what woe thou
+bringest on me! But I must say no more."
+
+Then he turned to the queen and excused himself that he wept when he
+should rather have rejoiced for the marriage of his daughter. And when
+the queen would know of the estate of the bridegroom he told her that
+his name was Achilles and that he was the son of Peleus by his wife
+Thetis, the daughter of Nereus of the sea, and that he dwelt in Phthia.
+And when she inquired of the time of the marriage, he said that it
+should be in the same moon, on the first lucky day; and as to the place,
+that it must be where the bridegroom was sojourning, that is to say, in
+the camp. "And I," said the king, "will give the maiden to her husband."
+
+"But where," answered the queen, "is it your pleasure that I should be?"
+
+"Thou must return to Argos and care for the maidens there."
+
+"Sayest thou that I must return? Who then will hold up the torch for the
+bride?"
+
+"I will do that which is needful. For it is not seemly that thou
+shouldst be present where the whole army is gathered together."
+
+"Aye, but it is seemly that a mother should give her daughter in
+marriage."
+
+"But the maidens at home should not be left alone."
+
+"They are well kept in their chambers."
+
+"Be persuaded, lady."
+
+"Not so: thou shalt order that which is without the house, but I that
+which is within."
+
+But now came Achilles to tell the king that the army was growing
+impatient, saying that unless they might sail speedily to Troy they
+would return each man to his home. And when the queen heard his
+name--for he had said to the attendant, "Tell thy master that Achilles,
+the son of Peleus, would speak with him"--she came forth from the tent
+and greeted him and bade him give her his right hand. And when the young
+man was ashamed (for it was not counted a seemly thing that men should
+speak with women) she said:
+
+"But why art thou ashamed, seeing that thou art about to marry my
+daughter?"
+
+And he answered, "What sayest thou, lady? I cannot speak for wonder at
+thy words."
+
+"Often men are ashamed when they see new friends and the talk is of
+marriage."
+
+"But, lady, I never was suitor for thy daughter. Nor have the sons of
+Atreus said aught to me of the matter."
+
+But the queen was beyond measure astonished, and cried, "Now this is
+shameful indeed, that I should seek a bridegroom for my daughter in such
+fashion."
+
+But when Achilles would have departed, to inquire of the king what this
+thing might mean, the old man that had at the first carried the letter
+came forth and bade him stay. And when he had assurance that he should
+receive no harm for what he should tell them, he unfolded the whole
+matter. And when the queen had heard it, she cried to Achilles, "O son
+of Thetis of the sea! help me now in this strait and help this maiden
+that hath been called thy bride, though this indeed be false. 'Twill be
+a shame to thee if such wrong be done under thy name; for it is thy name
+that hath undone us. Nor have I any altar to which I may flee, nor any
+friend but thee only in this army."
+
+Then Achilles made answer, "Lady, I learnt from Chiron, who was the most
+righteous of men, to be true and honest. And if the sons of Atreus
+govern according to right, I obey them; and if not, not. Know, then,
+that thy daughter, seeing that she hath been given, though but in word
+only, to me, shall not be slain by her father. For if she so die, then
+shall my name be brought to great dishonor, seeing that through it thou
+hast been persuaded to come with her to this place. This sword shall see
+right soon whether any one will dare to take this maiden from me."
+
+And now King Agamemnon came forth, saying that all things were ready for
+the marriage, and that they waited for the maiden, not knowing that the
+whole matter had been revealed to the queen. Then she said:
+
+"Tell me now, dost thou purpose to slay thy daughter and mine?" And when
+he was silent, not knowing, indeed, what to say, she reproached him with
+many words, that she had been a loving and faithful wife to him, for
+which he made her an ill recompense slaying her child.
+
+And when she had made an end of speaking, the maiden came forth from the
+tent, holding the young child Orestes in her arms, and cast herself upon
+her knees before her father and besought him, saying, "I would, my
+father, that I had the voice of Orpheus, who made even the rocks to
+follow him, that I might persuade thee; but now all that I have I give,
+even these tears. O my father, I am thy child; slay me not before my
+time. This light is sweet to look upon. Drive me not from it to the land
+of darkness. I was the first to call thee father; and the first to whom
+thou didst say 'my child.' And thou wouldst say to me, 'Some day, my
+child, I shall see thee a happy wife in the home of a good husband.' And
+I would answer, 'And I will receive thee with all love when thou art
+old, and pay thee back for all the benefits thou hast done unto me,'
+This I indeed remember, but thou forgettest; for thou art ready to slay
+me. Do it not, I beseech thee, by Pelops thy grandsire, and Atreus thy
+father, and this my mother, who travailed in childbirth of me and now
+travaileth again in her sorrow. And thou, O my brother, though thou art
+but a babe, help me. Weep with me; beseech thy father that he slay not
+thy sister. O my father, though he be silent, yet, indeed, he beseecheth
+thee. For his sake, therefore, yea, and for mine own, have pity upon me
+and slay me not."
+
+But the king was sore distracted; knowing not what he should say or do,
+for a terrible necessity was upon him, seeing that the army could not
+make their journey to Troy unless this deed should first be done. And
+while he doubted came Achilles, saying that there was a horrible tumult
+in the camp, the men crying out that the maiden must be sacrificed, and
+that when he would have stayed them from their purpose, the people had
+stoned him with stones, and that his own Myrmidons helped him not, but
+rather were the first to assail him. Nevertheless, he said that he would
+fight for the maiden, even to the utmost, and that there were faithful
+men who would stand with him and help him. But when the maiden heard
+these words, she stood forth and said, "Hearken to me, my mother. Be not
+wroth with my father, for we cannot fight against fate. Also we must
+take thought that this young man suffer not, for his help will avail
+naught and he himself will perish. Therefore I am resolved to die; for
+all Greece looketh to me; for without me the ships cannot make their
+voyage, nor the city of Troy be taken. Thou didst bear me, my mother,
+not for thyself only, but for this whole people. Wherefore I will give
+myself for them. Offer me for an offering, and let the Greeks take the
+city of Troy, for this shall be my memorial forever."
+
+Then said Achilles, "Lady, I should count myself most happy if the gods
+would grant thee to be my wife. For I love thee well when I see how
+noble thou art. And if thou wilt, I will carry thee to my home. And I
+doubt not that I shall save thee, though all the men of Greece be
+against me."
+
+But the maiden answered, "What I say, I say with full purpose. Nor will
+I that any man should die for me, but rather will I save this land of
+Greece."
+
+And Achilles said, "If this be thy will, lady, I cannot say nay, for it
+is a noble thing that thou doest."
+
+Nor was the maiden turned from her purpose though her mother besought
+her with many tears. So they that were appointed led her to the grove of
+Artemis, where there was built an altar, and the whole army of the
+Greeks gathered about it. But when the king saw her going to her death
+he covered his face with his mantle; but she stood by him, and said, "I
+give my body with a willing heart to die for my country and for the
+whole land of Greece. I pray the gods that ye may prosper and win the
+victory in this war and come back safe to your homes. And now let no man
+touch me, for I will die with a good heart."
+
+And all men marveled to see the maiden of what a good courage she was.
+And all the army stood regarding the maiden and the priest and the
+altar.
+
+Then there befell a marvelous thing. For suddenly the maiden was not
+there. Whither she had gone no one knew; but in her stead there lay
+gasping a great hind, and all the altar was red with the blood thereof.
+
+And Calchas said, "See ye this, men of Greece, how the goddess hath
+provided this offering in the place of the maiden, for she would not
+that her altar should be defiled with innocent blood. Be of good
+courage, therefore, and depart every man to his ship, for this day ye
+shall sail across the sea to the land of Troy."
+
+Then the goddess carried away the maiden to the land of the Taurians,
+where she had a temple and an altar. Now on this altar the king of the
+land was wont to sacrifice any stranger, being Greek by nation, who was
+driven by stress of weather to the place, for none went thither
+willingly. And the name of the king was Thoas, which signifieth in the
+Greek tongue, "swift of foot."
+
+Now when the maiden had been there many years she dreamed a dream. And
+in the dream she seemed to have departed from the land of the Taurians
+and to dwell in the city of Argos, wherein she had been born. And as she
+slept in the women's chamber there befell a great earthquake, and cast
+to the ground the palace of her fathers, so that there was left one
+pillar only which stood upright. And as she looked on this pillar,
+yellow hair seemed to grow upon it as the hair of a man, and it spake
+with a man's voice. And she did to it as she was wont to do to the
+strangers that were sacrificed upon the altar, purifying it with water
+and weeping the while. And the interpretation of the dream she judged to
+be that her brother Orestes was dead, for that male children are the
+pillars of a house, and that she only was left to the house of her
+father.
+
+Now it chanced that at this same time Orestes, with Pylades that was his
+friend, came in a ship to the land of the Taurians. And the cause of his
+coming was this. After that he had slain his mother, taking vengeance
+for the death of King Agamemnon his father, the Furies pursued him. Then
+Apollo, who had commanded him to do this deed, bade him go to the land
+of Athens that he might be judged. And when he had been judged and
+loosed, yet the Furies left him not. Wherefore Apollo commanded that he
+should sail for the land of the Taurians and carry thence the image of
+Artemis and bring it to the land of the Athenians, and that after this
+he should have rest. Now when the two were come to the place, they saw
+the altar that it was red with the blood of them that had been slain
+thereon. And Orestes doubted how they might accomplish the things for
+the which he was come, for the walls of the temple were high and the
+gates not easy to be broken through. Therefore he would have fled to the
+ship, but Pylades consented not, seeing that they were not wont to go
+back from that to which they had set their hand, but counseled that they
+should hide themselves during the day in a cave that was hard by the
+seashore, not near to the ship, lest search should be made for them, and
+that by night they should creep into the temple by a space that there
+was between the pillars, and carry off the image, and so depart.
+
+So they hid themselves in a cavern by the sea. But it chanced that
+certain herdsmen were feeding their oxen in pastures hard by the shore;
+one of these, coming near to the cavern, spied the young men as they sat
+therein, and stealing back to his fellows, said, "See ye not them that
+sit yonder. Surely they are gods;" for they were exceeding tall and fair
+to look upon. And some began to pray to them, thinking that they might
+be the Twin Brethren or of the sons of Nereus. But another laughed and
+said, "Not so; these are shipwrecked men who hide themselves, knowing
+that it is our custom to sacrifice strangers to our gods." To him the
+others gave consent and said that they should take the men prisoners
+that they might be sacrificed to the gods.
+
+But while they delayed, Orestes ran forth from the cave, for the madness
+was come upon him, crying out, "Pylades, seest thou not that dragon from
+hell; and that who would kill me with the serpents of her mouth, and
+this again that breatheth out fire, holding my mother in her arms to
+cast her upon me?" And first he bellowed as a bull and then howled as a
+dog, for the Furies, he said, did so. But the herdsmen, when they saw
+this, gathered together in great fear and sat down. But when Orestes
+drew his sword and leapt, as a lion might leap, into the midst of the
+herd, slaying the beasts (for he thought in his madness that he was
+contending with the Furies), then the herdsmen, blowing on shells,
+called to the people of the land; for they feared the young men, so
+strong they seemed and valiant. And when no small number was gathered
+together, they began to cast stones and javelins at the two. And now the
+madness of Orestes began to abate, and Pylades tended him carefully,
+wiping away the foam from his mouth and holding his garments before him
+that he should not be wounded by the stones. But when Orestes came to
+himself and beheld in what straits they were, he groaned aloud and
+cried, "We must die, O Pylades, only let us die as befitteth brave men.
+Draw thy sword and follow me." And the people of the land dared not to
+stand before them; yet while some fled, others would cast stones at
+them. For all that no man wounded them. But at the last, coming about
+them with a great multitude, they smote the swords out of their hands
+with stones, and so bound them and took them to King Thoas. And the king
+commanded that they should be taken to the temple, that the priestess
+might deal with them according to the custom of the place.
+
+So they brought the young men bound to the temple. Now the name of the
+one they knew, for they had heard his companion call to him, but the
+name of the other they knew not. And when Iphigenia saw them, she bade
+the people loose their bonds, for that being holy to the goddess they
+were free. And then--for she took the two for brothers--she asked them,
+saying, "Who is your mother and your father and your sister, if a sister
+you have? She will be bereaved of noble brothers this day. And whence
+come ye?"
+
+To her Orestes answered, "What meanest thou, lady, by lamenting in this
+fashion over us? I hold it folly in him who must die that he should
+bemoan himself. Pity us not; we know what manner of sacrifices ye have
+in this land."
+
+"Tell me now, which of ye two is called Pylades?"
+
+"Not I, but this my companion."
+
+"Of what city in the land of Greece are ye? And are ye brothers born of
+one mother?"
+
+"Brothers we are, but in friendship, not in blood."
+
+"And what is thy name?"
+
+"That I tell thee not. Thou hast power over my body, but not over my
+name."
+
+"Wilt thou not tell me thy country?"
+
+And when he told her that his country was Argos, she asked him many
+things, as about Troy, and Helen, and Calchas the prophet, and Ulysses;
+and at last she said, "And Achilles, son of Thetis of the sea, is he yet
+alive?"
+
+"He is dead and his marriage that was made at Aulis is of no effect."
+
+"A false marriage it was, as some know full well."
+
+"Who art thou that inquirest thus about matters in Greece?"
+
+"I am of the land of Greece and was brought thence yet being a child.
+But there was a certain Agamemnon, son of Atreus; what of him?"
+
+"I know not. Lady, leave all talk of him."
+
+"Say not so; but do me a pleasure and tell me."
+
+"He is dead."
+
+"Woe is me! How died he?"
+
+"What meaneth thy sorrow? Art thou of his kindred?"
+
+"'Tis a pity to think how great he was, and now he hath perished."
+
+"He was slain in a most miserable fashion by a woman, but ask no more."
+
+"Only this one thing. Is his wife yet alive?"
+
+"Nay; for the son whom she bare slew her, taking vengeance for his
+father."
+
+"A dreadful deed, but righteous withal."
+
+"Righteous indeed he is, but the gods love him not."
+
+"And did the king leave any other child behind him?"
+
+"One daughter, Electra by name."
+
+"And is his son yet alive?"
+
+"He is alive, but no man more miserable."
+
+Now when Iphigenia heard that he was alive and knew that she had been
+deceived by the dreams which she had dreamt; she conceived a thought in
+her heart and said to Orestes, "Hearken now, for I have somewhat to say
+to thee that shall bring profit both to thee and to me. Wilt thou, if I
+save thee from this death, carry tidings of me to Argos to my friends
+and bear a tablet from me to them? For such a tablet I have with me,
+which one who was brought captive to this place wrote for me, pitying
+me, for he knew that I caused not his death, but the law of the goddess
+in this place. Nor have I yet found a man who should carry this thing to
+Argos. But thou, I judge, art of noble birth and knowest the city and
+those with whom I would have communication. Take then this tablet and
+thy life as a reward, and let this man be sacrificed to the goddess."
+
+Then Orestes made answer, "Thou hast said well, lady, save in one thing
+only. That this man should be sacrificed in my stead pleaseth me not at
+all. For I am he that brought this voyage to pass; and this man came
+with me that he might help me in my troubles. Wherefore it would be a
+grievous wrong that he should suffer in my stead and I escape. Give then
+the tablet to him. He shall take it to the city of Argos and thou shalt
+have what thou wilt. But as for me, let them slay me if they will."
+
+"'Tis well spoken, young man. Thou art come, I know, of a noble stock.
+The gods grant that my brother--for I have a brother, though he be far
+hence--may be such as thou. It shall be as thou wilt. This man shall
+depart with the tablet and thou shalt die."
+
+Then Orestes would know the manner of the death by which he must die.
+And she told him that she slew not the victims with her own hand, but
+that there were ministers in the temple appointed to this office, she
+preparing them for sacrifice beforehand. Also she said that his body
+would be burned with fire.
+
+And when Orestes had wished that the hand of his sister might pay due
+honor to him in his death, she said, "This may not be, for she is far
+away from this strange land. But yet, seeing that thou art a man of
+Argos, I myself will adorn thy tomb and pour oil of olives and honey on
+thy ashes." Then she departed, that she might fetch the tablet from her
+dwelling, bidding the attendants keep the young men fast, but without
+bonds.
+
+But when she was gone, Orestes said to Pylades, "Pylades, what thinkest
+thou? Who is this maiden? She had great knowledge of things in Troy and
+Argos, and of Calchas the wise soothsayer, and of Achilles and the rest.
+And she made lamentation over King Agamemnon. She must be of Argos."
+
+And Pylades answered, "This I cannot say; all men have knowledge of what
+befell the king. But hearken to this. It were shame to me to live if
+thou diest. I sailed with thee and will die with thee. For otherwise men
+will account lightly of me both in Argos and in Phocis, which is my own
+land, thinking that I betrayed thee or basely slew thee, that I might
+have thy kingdom, marrying thy sister, who shall inherit it in thy
+stead. Not so: I will die with thee and my body shall be burnt together
+with thine."
+
+But Orestes answered, "I must bear my own troubles. This indeed would be
+a shameful thing, that when thou seekest to help me I should destroy
+thee. But as for me, seeing how the gods deal with me, it is well that I
+should die. Thou, indeed, art happy, and thy house is blessed; but my
+house is accursed. Go, therefore, and my sister, whom I have given thee
+to wife, shall bear thee children, and the house of my father shall not
+perish. And I charge thee that when thou art safe returned to the city
+of Argos, thou do these things. First, thou shalt build a tomb for me,
+and my sister shall make an offering there of her hair and of her tears
+also. And tell her that I died, slain by a woman of Argos that offered
+me as an offering to her gods; and I charge thee that thou leave not my
+sister, but be faithful to her. And now farewell, true friend and
+companion in my toils; for indeed I die, and Phoebus hath lied unto
+me, prophesying falsely."
+
+And Pylades swore to him that he would build him a tomb and be a true
+husband to his sister. After this Iphigenia came forth, holding a tablet
+in her hand. And she said, "Here is the tablet of which I spake. But I
+fear lest he to whom I shall give it shall haply take no account of it
+when he is returned to the land. Therefore I would fain bind him with an
+oath that he will deliver it to them that should have it in the city of
+Argos." And Orestes consented, saying that she also should bind herself
+with an oath that she would deliver one of the two from death. So she
+sware by Artemis that she would persuade the king, and deliver Pylades
+from death. And Pylades sware on his part by Zeus, the father of heaven,
+that he would give the tablet to those whom it should concern. And
+having sworn it, he said, "But what if a storm overtake me and the
+tablet be lost and I only be saved?"
+
+"I will tell thee what hath been written in the tablet; and if it
+perish, thou shalt tell them again; but if not, then thou shalt give it
+as I bid thee."
+
+"And to whom shall I give it?"
+
+"Thou shalt give it to Orestes, son of Agamemnon. And that which is
+written therein is this: '_I that was sacrificed in Aulis, even
+Iphigenia, who am alive and yet dead to my own people, bid thee----_'"
+
+But when Orestes heard this, he brake in, "Where is this Iphigenia? Hath
+the dead come back among the living?"
+
+"Thou seest her in me. But interrupt me not. '_I bid thee fetch me
+before I die to Argos from a strange land, taking me from the altar that
+is red with the blood of strangers, whereat I serve._' And if Orestes
+ask by what means I am alive, thou shalt say that Artemis put a hind in
+my stead, and that the priest, thinking that he smote me with the knife,
+slew the beast, and that the goddess brought me to this land."
+
+Then said Pylades, "My oath is easy to keep. Orestes, take thou this
+tablet from thy sister."
+
+Then Orestes embraced his sister, crying--for she turned from him, not
+knowing what she should think--"O my sister, turn not from me; for I am
+thy brother whom thou didst not think to see."
+
+And when she yet doubted, he told her of certain things by which she
+might know him to be Orestes--how that she had woven a tapestry wherein
+was set forth the strife between Atreus and Thyestes concerning the
+golden lamb; and that she had given a lock of her hair at Aulis to be a
+memorial of her; and that there was laid in her chamber at Argos the
+ancient spear of Pelops, her father's grandsire, with which he slew
+Oenomaues and won Hippodamia to be his wife.
+
+And when she heard this, she knew that he was indeed Orestes, whom,
+being an infant and the latest born of his mother, she had in time past
+held in her arms. But when the two had talked together for a space,
+rejoicing over each other and telling the things that had befallen them,
+Pylades said, "Greetings of friends after long parting are well; but we
+must needs consider how best we shall escape from this land of the
+barbarians."
+
+But Iphigenia answered, "Yet nothing shall hinder me from knowing how
+fareth my sister Electra."
+
+"She is married," said Orestes, "to this Pylades, whom thou seest."
+
+"And of what country is he and who is his father?"
+
+"His father is Strophius the Phocian; and he is a kinsman, for his
+mother was the daughter of Atreus and a friend also such as none other
+is to me."
+
+Then Orestes set forth to his sister the cause of his coming to the land
+of the Taurians. And he said, "Now help me in this, my sister, that we
+may bear away the image of the goddess; for so doing I shall be quit of
+my madness, and thou wilt be brought to thy native country and the house
+of thy father shall prosper. But if we do it not, then shall we perish
+altogether."
+
+And Iphigenia doubted much how this thing might be done. But at the last
+she said, "I have a device whereby I shall compass the matter. I will
+say that thou art come hither, having murdered thy mother, and that thou
+canst not be offered for a sacrifice till thou art purified with the
+water of the sea. Also that thou hast touched the image, and that this
+also must be purified in like manner. And the image I myself will bear
+to the sea; for, indeed, I only may touch it with my hands. And of this
+Pylades also I will say that he is polluted in like manner with thee. So
+shall we three win our way to the ship. And that this be ready it will
+be thy care to provide."
+
+And when she had so said, she prayed to Artemis: "Great goddess, that
+didst bring me safe in days past from Aulis, bring me now also, and
+these that are with me, safe to the land of Greece, so that men may
+count thy brother Apollo to be a true prophet. Nor shouldst thou be
+unwilling to depart from this barbarous land and to dwell in the fair
+city of Athens."
+
+After this came King Thoas, inquiring whether they had offered the
+strangers for sacrifice and had duly burnt their bodies with fire. To
+him Iphigenia made answer, "These were unclean sacrifices that thou
+broughtest to me, O King."
+
+"How didst thou learn this?"
+
+"The image of the goddess turned upon her place of her own accord and
+covered also her face with her hands."
+
+"What wickedness, then, had these strangers wrought?"
+
+"They slew their mother and had been banished therefor from the land of
+Greece."
+
+"O monstrous! Such deeds we barbarians never do. And now what dost thou
+purpose?"
+
+"We must purify these strangers before we offer them for a sacrifice."
+
+"With water from the river, or in the sea?"
+
+"In the sea. The sea cleanseth away all that is evil among men."
+
+"Well, thou hast it here, by the very walls of the temple."
+
+"Aye, but I must seek a place apart from men."
+
+"So be it; go where thou wilt; I would not look on things forbidden."
+
+"The image also must be purified."
+
+"Surely, if the pollution from these murderers of their mother hath
+touched it. This is well thought of in thee."
+
+Then she instructed the king that he should bring the strangers out of
+the temple, having first bound them and veiled their heads. Also that
+certain of his guards should go with her, but that all the people of the
+city should be straitly commanded to stay within doors, that so they
+might not be defiled; and that he himself should abide in the temple and
+purify it with fire, covering his head with his garments when the
+strangers should pass by. "And be not troubled," she said, "if I seem to
+be long doing these things."
+
+"Take what time thou wilt," he said, "so that thou do all things in
+order."
+
+So certain of the king's guards brought the two young men from out of
+the temple, and Iphigenia led them towards the place where the ship of
+Orestes lay at anchor. But when they were come near to the shore, she
+bade them halt nor come over-near, for that she had that to do in which
+they must have no part. And she took the chain wherewith the young men
+were bound in her hands and set up a strange song as of one that sought
+enchantments. And after that the guards sat where she bade them for a
+long time, they began to fear lest the strangers should have slain the
+priestess and so fled. Yet they moved not, fearing to see that which was
+forbidden. But at the last with one consent they rose up. And when they
+were come to the sea, they saw the ship trimmed to set forth, and fifty
+sailors on the benches having oars in their hands ready for rowing; and
+the two young men were standing unbound upon the shore near to the
+stern. And other sailors were dragging the ship by the cable to the
+shore that the young men might embark. Then the guards laid hold of the
+rudder and sought to take it from its place, crying, "Who are ye that
+carry away priestesses and the images of our gods?" Then Orestes said,
+"I am Orestes, and I carry away my sister." But the guards laid hold of
+Iphigenia; and when the sailors saw this they leapt from the ship; and
+neither the one nor the other had swords in their hands, but they fought
+with their fists and their feet also. And as the sailors were strong and
+skilful, the king's men were driven back sorely bruised and wounded. And
+when they fled to a bank that was hard by and cast stones at the ship,
+the archers standing on the stern shot at them with arrows. Then--for
+his sister feared to come farther--Orestes leapt into the sea and raised
+her upon his shoulder and so lifted her into the ship, and the image of
+the goddess with her. And Pylades cried, "Lay hold of your oars, ye
+sailors, and smite the sea, for we have that for the which we came to
+this land." So the sailors rowed with all their might; and while the
+ship was in the harbor it went well with them, but when it was come to
+the open sea a great wave took it, for a violent wind blew against it
+and drove it backwards to the shore.
+
+And one of the guards when he saw this ran to King Thoas and told him,
+and the king made haste and sent messengers mounted upon horses, to call
+the men of the land that they might do battle with Orestes and his
+comrade. But while he was yet sending them, there appeared in the air
+above his head the goddess Athene, who spake, saying, "Cease, King
+Thoas, from pursuing this man and his companions; for he hath come
+hither on this errand by the command of Apollo; and I have persuaded
+Poseidon that he make the sea smooth for him to depart."
+
+And King Thoas answered, "It shall be as thou wilt, O goddess; and
+though Orestes hath borne away his sister and the image, I dismiss my
+anger, for who can fight against the gods?"
+
+So Orestes departed and came to his own country and dwelt in peace,
+being set free from his madness, according to the word of Apollo.
+
+[Illustration: IPHIGENIA ABOUT TO BE SACRIFICED]
+
+[Illustration: THE TROJAN HORSE]
+
+
+
+
+THE SACK OF TROY
+
+
+For ten years King Agamemnon and the men of Greece laid siege to Troy.
+But though sentence had gone forth against the city, yet the day of its
+fall tarried, because certain of the gods loved it well and defended it,
+as Apollo and Mars, the god of war, and Father Jupiter himself.
+Wherefore Minerva put it into the heart of Epeius, Lord of the Isles,
+that he should make a cunning device wherewith to take the city. Now the
+device was this: he made a great horse of wood, feigning it to be a
+peace-offering to Minerva, that the Greeks might have a safe return to
+their homes. In the belly of this there hid themselves certain of the
+bravest of the chiefs, as Menelaues, and Ulysses, and Thoas the AEtolian,
+and Machaon the great physician, and Pyrrhus, son of Achilles (but
+Achilles himself was dead, slain by Paris, Apollo helping, even as he
+was about to take the city), and others also, and with them Epeius
+himself. But the rest of the people made as if they had departed to
+their homes; only they went not further than Tenedos, which was an
+island near to the coast.
+
+Great joy was there in Troy when it was noised abroad that the men of
+Greece had departed. The gates were opened, and the people went forth to
+see the plain and the camp. And one said to another as they went, "Here
+they set the battle in array, and there were the tents of the fierce
+Achilles, and there lay the ships." And some stood and marveled at the
+great peace-offering to Minerva, even the horse of wood. And
+Thymoetes, who was one of the elders of the city, was the first who
+advised that it should be brought within the walls and set in the
+citadel. Now whether he gave this counsel out of a false heart or
+because the gods would have it so, no man knows. But Capys, and others
+with him, said that it should be drowned in water or burned with fire,
+or that men should pierce it and see whether there were aught within.
+And the people were divided, some crying one thing and some another.
+Then came forward the priest Laocoon, and a great company with him,
+crying, "What madness is this? Think ye that the men of Greece are
+indeed departed or that there is any profit in their gifts? Surely there
+are armed men in this mighty horse; or haply they have made it that they
+may look down upon our walls. Touch it not, for as for these men of
+Greece, I fear them, even though they bring gifts in their hands."
+
+And as he spake he cast his great spear at the horse, so that it sounded
+again. But the gods would not that Troy should be saved.
+
+Meanwhile there came certain shepherds dragging with them one whose
+hands were bound behind his back. He had come forth to them, they said,
+of his own accord when they were in the field. And first the young men
+gathered about him mocking him, but when he cried aloud, "What place is
+left for me, for the Greeks suffer me not to live and the men of Troy
+cry for vengeance upon me?" they rather pitied him, and bade him speak
+and say whence he came and what he had to tell.
+
+Then the man spake, turning to King Priam: "I will speak the truth,
+whatever befall me. My name is Sinon and I deny not that I am a Greek.
+Haply thou hast heard the name of Palamedes, whom the Greeks slew, but
+now, being dead, lament; and the cause was that because he counseled
+peace, men falsely accused him of treason. Now, of this Palamedes I was
+a poor kinsman and followed him to Troy. And when he was dead, through
+the false witness of Ulysses, I lived in great grief and trouble, nor
+could I hold my peace, but sware that if ever I came back to Argos I
+would avenge me of him that had done this deed. Then did Ulysses seek
+occasion against me, whispering evil things, nor rested till at the
+last, Calchas the soothsayer helping him--but what profit it that I
+should tell these things? For doubtless ye hold one Greek to be even as
+another. Wherefore slay me and doubtless ye will do a pleasure to
+Ulysses and the sons of Atreus."
+
+Then they bade him tell on, and he said:
+
+"Often would the Greeks have fled to their homes, being weary of the
+war, but still the stormy sea hindered them. And when this horse that ye
+see had been built, most of all did the dreadful thunder roll from the
+one end of the heaven to the other. Then the Greeks sent one who should
+inquire of Apollo; and Apollo answered them thus: 'Men of Greece, even
+as ye appeased the winds with blood when ye came to Troy, so must ye
+appease them with blood now that ye would go from thence.' Then did men
+tremble to think on whom the doom should fall, and Ulysses, with much
+clamor, drew forth Calchas the soothsayer into the midst, and bade him
+say who it was that the gods would have as a sacrifice. Then did many
+forbode evil for me. Ten days did the soothsayer keep silence, saying
+that he would not give any man to death. But then, for in truth the two
+had planned the matter beforehand, he spake, appointing me to die. And
+to this thing they all agreed, each being glad to turn to another that
+which he feared for himself. But when the day was come and all things
+were ready, the salted meal for the sacrifice and the garlands, lo! I
+burst my bonds and fled and hid myself in the sedges of a pool, waiting
+till they should have set sail, if haply that might be. But never shall
+I see country or father or children again. For doubtless on these will
+they take vengeance for my flight. Only do thou, O King, have pity on
+me, who have suffered many things, not having harmed any man."
+
+And King Priam had pity on him, and bade them loose his bonds, saying,
+"Whoever thou art, forget now thy country. Henceforth thou art one of
+us. But tell me true: why made they this huge horse? Who contrived it?
+What seek they by it--to please the gods or to further their siege?"
+
+Then said Sinon, and as he spake he stretched his hands to the sky, "I
+call you to witness, ye everlasting fires of heaven, that with good
+right I now break my oath of fealty and reveal the secrets of my
+countrymen. Listen then, O King. All our hope has ever been in the help
+of Minerva. But from the day when Diomede and Ulysses dared, having
+bloody hands, to snatch her image from her holy place in Troy, her face
+was turned from us. Well do I remember how the eyes of the image,
+well-nigh before they had set it in the camp, blazed with wrath, and how
+the salt sweat stood upon its limbs, aye, and how it thrice leapt from
+the ground, shaking shield and spear. Then Calchas told us that we must
+cross the seas again and seek at home fresh omens for our war. And this,
+indeed, they are doing even now, and will return anon. Also the
+soothsayer said, 'Meanwhile ye must make the likeness of a horse, to be
+a peace-offering to Minerva. And take heed that ye make it huge of bulk,
+so that the men of Troy may not receive it into their gates, nor bring
+it within their walls and get safety for themselves thereby. For if,' he
+said, 'the men of Troy harm this image at all, they shall surely perish;
+but if they bring it into their city, then shall Asia lay siege
+hereafter to the city of Pelops, and our children shall suffer the doom
+which we would fain have brought on Troy.'"
+
+These words wrought much on the men of Troy, and as they pondered on
+them, lo! the gods sent another marvel to deceive them. For while
+Laocoon, the priest of Neptune, was slaying a bull at the altar of his
+god, there came two serpents across the sea from Tenedos, whose heads
+and necks, whereon were thick manes of hair, were high above the waves,
+and many scaly coils trailed behind in the waters. And when they reached
+the land they still sped forward. Their eyes were red as blood and
+blazed with fire and their forked tongues hissed loud for rage. Then all
+the men of Troy grew pale with fear and fled away, but these turned not
+aside this way or that, seeking Laocoon where he stood. And first they
+wrapped themselves about his little sons, one serpent about each, and
+began to devour them. And when the father would have given help to his
+children, having a sword in his hand, they seized upon himself and bound
+him fast with their folds. Twice they compassed him about his body, and
+twice about his neck, lifting their heads far above him. And all the
+while he strove to tear them away with his hands, his priest's garlands
+dripping with blood. Nor did he cease to cry horribly aloud, even as a
+bull bellows when after an ill stroke of the axe it flees from the
+altar. But when their work was done, the two glided to the citadel of
+Minerva and hid themselves beneath the feet and the shield of the
+goddess. And men said one to another, "Lo! the priest Laocoon has been
+judged according to his deeds; for he cast his spear against this holy
+thing, and now the gods have slain him." Then all cried out together
+that the horse of wood must be drawn to the citadel. Whereupon they
+opened the Scaean Gate and pulled down the wall that was thereby, and put
+rollers under the feet of the horse and joined ropes thereto. So in much
+joy they drew it into the city, youths and maidens singing about it the
+while and laying their hands to the ropes with great gladness. And yet
+there wanted no signs and tokens of evil to come. Four times it halted
+on the threshold of the gate, and men might have heard a clashing of
+arms within. Cassandra also opened her mouth, prophesying evil; but no
+man heeded her, for that was ever the doom upon her, not to be believed,
+though speaking truth. So the men of Troy drew the horse into the city.
+And that night they kept a feast to all the gods with great joy not
+knowing that the last day of the great city had come.
+
+But when night was now fully come and the men of Troy lay asleep, lo!
+from the ship of King Agamemnon there rose up a flame for a signal to
+the Greeks; and these straightway manned their ships and made across the
+sea from Tenedos, there being a great calm and the moon also giving them
+light. Sinon likewise opened a secret door that was in the great horse
+and the chiefs issued forth therefrom and opened the gates of the city,
+slaying those that kept watch.
+
+Meanwhile there came a vision to AEneas, who now, Hector being dead, was
+the chief hope and stay of the men of Troy. It was Hector's self that he
+seemed to see, but not such as he had seen him coming back rejoicing
+with the arms of Achilles or setting fire to the ships, but even as he
+lay after that Achilles dragged him at his chariot wheels, covered with
+dust, and blood, his feet swollen and pierced through with thongs. To
+him said. AEneas, not knowing what he said, "Why hast thou tarried so
+long? Much have we suffered waiting for thee! And what grief hath marked
+thy face, and whence these wounds?"
+
+But to this the spirit answered nothing, but said, groaning the while,
+"Fly, son of Venus, fly and save thee from these flames. The enemy is in
+the walls and Troy hath utterly perished. If any hand could have saved
+our city, this hand had done so. Thou art now the hope of Troy. Take
+then her gods and flee with them for company, seeking the city that thou
+shalt one day build across the sea."
+
+And now the alarm of battle came nearer and nearer, and AEneas, waking
+from sleep, climbed upon the roof and looked on the city. As a shepherd
+stands and sees a fierce flame sweeping before the south wind over the
+corn-fields or a flood rushing down from the mountains, so he stood. And
+as he looked, the great palace of Deiphobus sank down in the fire and
+the house of Ucalegon that was hard by, blazed forth, till the sea by
+Sigeuem shone with the light. Then, scarce knowing what he sought, he
+girded on his armor, thinking perchance that he might yet win some place
+of vantage or at the least might avenge himself on the enemy or find
+honor in his death. But as he passed from out of his house there met him
+Panthus, the priest of Apollo that was on the citadel, who cried to him,
+"O AEneas, the glory is departed from Troy and the Greeks have the
+mastery in the city; for armed men are coming forth from the great horse
+of wood and thousands also swarm in at the gates, which Sinon hath
+treacherously opened." And as he spake others came up under the light of
+the moon, as Hypanis and Dymas and young Coroebus, who had but newly
+come to Troy, seeking Cassandra to be his wife. To whom AEneas spake: "If
+ye are minded, my brethren, to follow me to the death, come on. For how
+things fare this night ye see. The gods who were the stay of this city
+have departed from it; nor is aught remaining to which we may bring
+succor. Yet can we die as brave men in battle. And haply he that counts
+his life to be lost may yet save it." Then, even as ravening wolves
+hasten through the mist seeking for prey, so they went through the city,
+doing dreadful deeds. And for a while the men of Greece fled before
+them.
+
+First of all there met them Androgeos with a great company following
+him, who, thinking them to be friends, said, "Haste, comrades; why are
+ye so late? We are spoiling this city of Troy and ye are but newly come
+from the ships." But forthwith, for they answered him not as he had
+looked for, he knew that he had fallen among enemies. Then even as one
+who treads upon a snake unawares among thorns and flies from it when it
+rises angrily against him with swelling neck, so Androgeos would have
+fled. But the men of Troy rushed on and, seeing that they knew all the
+place and that great fear was upon the Greeks, slew many men. Then said
+Coroebus, "We have good luck in this matter, my friends. Come now, let
+us change our shields and put upon us the armor of these Greeks. For
+whether we deal with our enemy by craft or by force, who will ask?" Then
+he took to himself the helmet and shield of Androgeos and also girded
+the sword upon him. In like manner did the others, and thus, going
+disguised among the Greeks, slew many, so that some again fled to the
+ships and some were fain to climb into the horse of wood. But lo! men
+came dragging by the hair from the temple of Minerva the virgin
+Cassandra, whom when Coroebus beheld, and how she lifted up her eyes
+to heaven (but as for her hands, they were bound with iron), he endured
+not the sight, but threw himself upon those that dragged her, the others
+following him. Then did a grievous mischance befall them, for the men of
+Troy that stood upon the roof of the temple cast spears against them,
+judging them to be enemies. The Greeks also, being wroth that the virgin
+should be taken from them, fought the more fiercely, and many who had
+before been put to flight in the city came against them and prevailed,
+being indeed many against few. Then first of all fell Coroebus, being
+slain by Peneleus the Boeotian, and Rhipeus also, the most righteous
+of all the sons of Troy. But the gods dealt not with him after his
+righteousness. Hypanis also was slain and Dymas, and Panthus escaped not
+for all that more than other men he feared the gods and was also the
+priest of Apollo.
+
+Then was AEneas severed from the rest, having with him two only, Iphitus
+and Pelias, Iphitus being an old man and Pelias sorely wounded by
+Ulysses. And these, hearing a great shouting, hastened to the palace of
+King Priam, where the battle was fiercer than in any place beside. For
+some of the Greeks were seeking to climb the walls, laying ladders
+thereto, whereon they stood, holding forth their shields with their left
+hands and with their right grasping the roofs. And the men of Troy, on
+the other hand, being in the last extremity, tore down the battlements
+and the gilded beams wherewith the men of old had adorned the palace.
+Then AEneas, knowing of a secret door whereby the unhappy Andromache in
+past days had been wont to enter, bringing her son Astyanax to his
+grandfather, climbed on to the roof and joined himself to those that
+fought therefrom. Now upon this roof there was a tower, whence all Troy
+could be seen and the camp of the Greeks and the ships. This the men of
+Troy loosened from its foundations with bars of iron, and thrust it
+over, so that it fell upon the enemy, slaying many of them. But not the
+less did others press forward, casting the while stones and javelins and
+all that came to their hands.
+
+Meanwhile others sought to break down the gates of the palace, Pyrrhus,
+son of Achilles, being foremost among them, clad in shining armor of
+bronze. Like to a serpent was he, which sleeps indeed during the winter,
+but in the spring comes forth into the light, full-fed on evil herbs,
+and, having cast his skin and renewed his youth, lifts his head into the
+light of the sun and hisses with forked tongue. And with Pyrrhus were
+tall Periphas, and Automedon, who had been armor-bearer to his father
+Achilles, and following them the youth of Scyros, which was the kingdom
+of his grandfather Lycomedes. With a great battle-axe he hewed through
+the doors, breaking down also the door-posts, though they were plated
+with bronze, making, as it were, a great window, through which a man
+might see the palace within, the hall of King Priam and of the kings who
+had reigned aforetime in Troy. But when they that were within perceived
+it, there arose a great cry of women wailing aloud and clinging to the
+doors and kissing them. But ever Pyrrhus pressed on, fierce and strong
+as ever was his father Achilles, nor could aught stand against him,
+either the doors or they that guarded them. Then, as a river bursts its
+banks and overflows the plain, so did the sons of Greece rush into the
+palace.
+
+But old Priam, when he saw the enemy in his hall, girded on him his
+armor, which now by reason of old age he had long laid aside, and took a
+spear in his hand and would have gone against the adversary, only Queen
+Hecuba called to him from where she sat. For she and her daughters had
+fled to the great altar of the household gods and sat crowded about it
+like unto doves that are driven by a storm. Now the altar stood in an
+open court that was in the midst of the palace, with a great bay-tree
+above it. So when she saw Priam, how he had girded himself with armor as
+a youth, she cried to him and said, "What hath bewitched thee, that thou
+girdest thyself with armor? It is not the sword that shall help us this
+day; no, not though my own Hector were here, but rather the gods and
+their altars. Come hither to us, for here thou wilt be safe, or at the
+least wilt die with us."
+
+So she made the old man sit down in the midst. But lo! there came flying
+through the palace, Polites, his son, wounded to death by the spear of
+Pyrrhus, and Pyrrhus close behind him. And he, even as he came into the
+sight of his father and his mother, fell dead upon the ground. But when
+King Priam saw it he contained not himself, but cried aloud, "Now may
+the gods, if there be any justice in heaven, recompense thee for this
+wickedness, seeing that thou hast not spared to slay the son before his
+father's eyes. Great Achilles, whom thou falsely callest thy sire, did
+not thus to Priam, though he was an enemy, but reverenced right and
+truth and gave the body of Hector for burial and sent me back to my
+city."
+
+And as he spake the old man cast a spear, but aimless and without force,
+which pierced not even the boss of the shield. Then said the son of
+Achilles, "Go thou and tell my father of his unworthy son and all these
+evils deeds. And that thou mayest tell him die!" And as he spake he
+caught in his left hand the old man's white hair and dragged him,
+slipping the while in the blood of his own son, to the altar, and then,
+lifting his sword high for a blow, drove it to the hilt in the old man's
+side. So King Priam, who had ruled mightily over many peoples and
+countries in the land of Asia, was slain that night, having first seen
+Troy burning about him and his citadel laid even with the ground. So was
+his carcass cast out upon the earth, headless and without a name.
+
+
+
+
+BEOWULF AND GRENDEL
+
+
+Long ago there ruled over the Danes a king called Hrothgar. He gained
+success and glory in war, so that his loyal kinsmen willingly obeyed
+him, and everything prospered in his land.
+
+One day it came into his mind that he would build a princely
+banquet-hall, where he might entertain both the young and old of his
+kingdom; and he had the work widely made known to many a tribe over the
+earth, so that they might bring rich gifts to beautify the hall.
+
+In course of time the banquet-house was built and towered aloft, high
+and battlemented. Then Hrothgar gave it the name of Heorot, and called
+his guests to the banquet, and gave them gifts of rings and other
+treasures; and afterwards every day the joyous sound of revelry rang
+loud in the hall, with the music of the harp and the clear notes of the
+singers.
+
+But it was not long before the pleasure of the king's men was broken,
+for a wicked demon began to work mischief against them. This cruel
+spirit was called Grendel, and he dwelt on the moors and among the fens.
+One night he came to Heorot when the noble guests lay at rest after the
+feast, and seizing thirty thanes as they slept, set off on his homeward
+journey, exulting in his booty.
+
+At break of day his deed was known to all men, and great was the grief
+among the thanes. The good King Hrothgar also sat in sorrow, suffering
+heavy distress for the death of his warriors.
+
+Not long afterwards Grendel again appeared, and wrought a yet worse deed
+of murder. After that the warriors no longer dared to sleep at Heorot,
+but sought out secret resting-places, leaving the great house empty.
+
+A long time passed. For the space of twelve winters Grendel waged a
+perpetual feud against Hrothgar and his people; the livelong night he
+roamed over the misty moors, visiting Heorot, and destroying both the
+tried warriors and the young men whenever he was able. Hrothgar was
+broken-hearted, and many were the councils held in secret to deliberate
+what it were best to do against these fearful terrors; but nothing
+availed to stop the fiend's ravages.
+
+Now the tale of Grendel's deeds went forth into many lands; and amongst
+those who heard of it were the Geats, whose king was Higelac. Chief of
+his thanes was a noble and powerful warrior named Beowulf, who resolved
+to go to the help of the Danes. He bade his men make ready a good
+sea-boat, that he might go across the wild swan's path to seek out
+Hrothgar and aid him; and his people encouraged him to go on that
+dangerous errand even though he was dear to them.
+
+So Beowulf chose fourteen of his keenest warriors, and sailed away over
+the waves in his well-equipped vessel, till he came within sight of the
+cliffs and mountains of Hrothgar's kingdom. The Danish warder, who kept
+guard over the coast, saw them as they were making their ship fast and
+carrying their bright weapons on shore. So he mounted his horse and rode
+to meet them, bearing in his hand his staff of office; and he questioned
+them closely as to whence they came and what their business was.
+
+Then Beowulf explained their errand, and the warder, when he had heard
+it, bade them pass onwards, bearing their weapons, and gave orders that
+their ship should be safely guarded.
+
+Soon they came within sight of the fair palace Heorot, and the warder
+showed them the way to Hrothgar's court, and then bade them farewell,
+and returned to keep watch upon the coast.
+
+Then the bold thanes marched forward to Heorot, their armor and their
+weapons glittering as they went. Entering the hall, they set their
+shields and bucklers against the walls, placed their spears upright in a
+sheaf together, and sat down on the benches, weary with their seafaring.
+
+Then a proud liegeman of Hrothgar's stepped forward and asked:
+
+"Whence bring ye your shields, your gray war-shirts and frowning
+helmets, and this sheaf of spears? Never saw I men of more valiant
+aspect."
+
+"We are Higelac's boon companions," answered Beowulf. "Beowulf is my
+name, and I desire to declare my errand to the great prince, thy lord,
+if he will grant us leave to approach him."
+
+So Wulfgar, another of Hrothgar's chieftains, went out to the king where
+he sat with the assembly of his earls and told him of the arrival of the
+strangers, and Hrothgar received the news with joy, for he had known
+Beowulf when he was a boy, and had heard of his fame as a warrior.
+Therefore he bade Wulfgar bring him to his presence, and soon Beowulf
+stood before him and cried:
+
+"Hail to thee, Hrothgar! I have heard the tale of Grendel, and my
+people, who know my strength and prowess, have counseled me to seek thee
+out. For I have wrought great deeds in the past, and now I shall do
+battle against this monster. Men say that so thick is his tawny hide
+that no weapon can injure him. I therefore disdain to carry sword or
+shield into the combat, but will fight with the strength of my arm only,
+and either I will conquer the fiend or he will bear away my dead body to
+the moor. Send to Higelac, if I fall in the fight, my beautiful
+breastplate. I have no fear of death, for Destiny must ever be obeyed."
+
+Then Hrothgar told Beowulf of the great sorrow caused to him by
+Grendel's terrible deeds, and of the failure of all the attempts that
+had been made by the warriors to overcome him; and afterwards he bade
+him sit down with his followers to partake of a meal.
+
+So a bench was cleared for the Geats, and a thane waited upon them, and
+all the noble warriors gathered together, and a great feast was held
+once more in Heorot with song and revelry. Waltheow, Hrothgar's queen,
+came forth also, and handed the wine-cup to each of the thanes, pledging
+the king in joyful mood and thanking Beowulf for his offer of help.
+
+At last all the company arose to go to rest; and Hrothgar entrusted the
+guardianship of Heorot to Beowulf with cheering words, and so bade him
+good night. Then all left the hall, save only a watch appointed by
+Hrothgar, and Beowulf himself with his followers, who laid themselves
+down to rest.
+
+No long time passed before Grendel came prowling from his home on the
+moors under the misty slopes. Full of his evil purpose, he burst with
+fury into the hall and strode forward raging, a hideous, fiery light
+gleaming from his eyes. In the hall lay the warriors asleep, and Grendel
+laughed in his heart as he gazed at them, thinking to feast upon them
+all. Quickly he seized a sleeping warrior and devoured him; then,
+stepping forward, he reached out his hand towards Beowulf as he lay at
+rest.
+
+But the hero was ready for him, and seized his arm in a deadly grip such
+as Grendel had never felt before. Terror arose in the monster's heart,
+and his mind was bent on flight; but he could not get away.
+
+Then Beowulf stood upright and grappled with him firmly, and the two
+rocked to and fro in the struggle, knocking over benches and shaking the
+hall with the violence of their fight. Suddenly a new and terrible cry
+arose, the cry of Grendel in fear and pain, for never once did Beowulf
+relax his hold upon him. Then many of Beowulf's earls drew their swords
+and rushed to aid their master; but no blade could pierce him and
+nothing but Beowulf's mighty strength could prevail.
+
+At last the monster's arm was torn off at the shoulder, and sick unto
+death, he fled to the fens, there to end his joyless life. Then Beowulf
+rejoiced at his night's work, wherein he had freed Heorot forever from
+the fiend's ravages.
+
+Now on the morrow the warriors flocked to the hall; and when they heard
+what had taken place, they went out and followed Grendel's tracks to a
+mere upon the moors, into which he had plunged and given up his life.
+Then, sure of his death, they returned rejoicing to Heorot, talking of
+Beowulf's glorious deed; and there they found the king and queen and a
+great company of people awaiting them.
+
+And now there was great rejoicing and happiness. Fair and gracious were
+the thanks that Hrothgar gave to Beowulf, and great was the feast
+prepared in Heorot. Cloths embroidered with gold were hung along the
+walls and the hall was decked in every possible way.
+
+When all were seated at the feast, Hrothgar bade the attendants bring
+forth his gifts to Beowulf as a reward of victory. He gave him an
+embroidered banner, a helmet and breastplate, and a valuable sword, all
+adorned with gold and richly ornamented. Also he gave orders to the
+servants to bring into the court eight horses, on one of which was a
+curiously adorned and very precious saddle, which the king was wont to
+use himself when he rode to practice the sword-game. These also he gave
+to Beowulf, thus like a true man requiting his valiant deeds with horses
+and other precious gifts. He bestowed treasures also on each of
+Beowulf's followers and gave orders that a price should be paid in gold
+for the man whom the wicked Grendel had slain.
+
+After this there arose within the hall the din of voices and the sound
+of song; the instruments also were brought out and Hrothgar's minstrel
+sang a ballad for the delight of the warriors. Waltheow too came forth,
+bearing in her train presents for Beowulf--a cup, two armlets, raiment
+and rings, and the largest and richest collar that could be found in all
+the world.
+
+Now when evening came Hrothgar departed to his rest, and the warriors
+cleared the hall and lay down to sleep once more, with their shields and
+armor beside them as was their custom. But Beowulf was not with them,
+for another resting-place had been assigned to him that night, for all
+thought that there was now no longer any danger to be feared.
+
+But in this they were mistaken, as they soon learnt to their cost. For
+no sooner were they all asleep than Grendel's mother, a monstrous witch
+who dwelt at the bottom of a cold mere, came to Heorot to avenge her son
+and burst into the hall. The thanes started up in terror, hastily
+grasping their swords; but she seized upon Asher, the most beloved of
+Hrothgar's warriors, who still lay sleeping, and bore him off with her
+to the fens, carrying also with her Grendel's arm, which lay at one end
+of the hall.
+
+Then there arose an uproar and the sound of mourning in Heorot. In
+fierce and gloomy mood Hrothgar summoned Beowulf and told him the
+ghastly tale, begging him, if he dared, to go forth to seek out the
+monster and destroy it.
+
+Full of courage, Beowulf answered with cheerful words, promising that
+Grendel's mother should not escape him; and soon he was riding forth
+fully equipped on his quest, accompanied by Hrothgar and many a good
+warrior. They were able to follow the witch's tracks right through the
+forest glades and across the gloomy moor, till they came to a spot where
+some mountain trees bent over a hoar rock, beneath which lay a dreary
+and troubled lake; and there beside the water's edge lay the head of
+Asher, and they knew that the witch must be at the bottom of the water.
+
+Full of grief, the warriors sat down, while Beowulf arrayed himself in
+his cunningly fashioned coat of mail and his richly ornamented helmet.
+Then he turned to Hrothgar and spoke a last word to him.
+
+"If the fight go against me, great chieftain, be thou a guardian to my
+thanes, my kinsmen and my trusty comrades; and send thou to Higelac
+those treasures that thou gavest me, that he may know thy kindness to
+me. Now will I earn glory for myself, or death shall take me away."
+
+So saying, he plunged into the gloomy lake, at the bottom of which was
+Grendel's mother. Very soon she perceived his approach, and rushing
+forth, grappled with him and dragged him down to her den, where many
+horrible sea-beasts joined in the fight against him. This den was so
+fashioned that the water could not enter it, and it was lit by the light
+of a fire that shone brightly in the midst of it.
+
+And now Beowulf drew his sword and thrust at his terrible foe; but the
+weapon could not injure her, and he was forced to fling it away and
+trust in the powerful grip of his arms as he had done with Grendel.
+Seizing the witch, he shook her till she sank down on the ground; but
+she quickly rose again and requited him with a terrible hand-clutch,
+which caused Beowulf to stagger and then fall. Throwing herself upon
+him, she seized a dagger to strike him; but he wrenched himself free and
+once more stood upright.
+
+Then he suddenly perceived an ancient sword hanging upon the wall of the
+den, and seized it as a last resource. Fierce and savage, but well-nigh
+hopeless, he struck the monster heavily upon the neck with it. Then, to
+his joy, the blade pierced right through her body and she sank down
+dying.
+
+At that moment the flames of the fire leapt up, throwing a brilliant
+light over the den; and there against the wall Beowulf beheld the dead
+body of Grendel lying on a couch. With one swinging blow of the powerful
+sword he struck off his head as a trophy to carry to Hrothgar.
+
+But now a strange thing happened, for the blade of the sword began to
+melt away even as ice melts, and soon nothing was left of it save the
+hilt. Carrying this and Grendel's head, Beowulf now left the den and
+swam upwards to the surface of the lake.
+
+There the thanes met him with great rejoicings, and some quickly helped
+him to undo his armor, while others prepared to carry the great head of
+Grendel back to Heorot. It took four men to carry it, and ghastly,
+though wonderful, was the sight of it.
+
+And now once more the warriors assembled in Heorot, and Beowulf
+recounted to Hrothgar the full tale of his adventure and presented to
+him the hilt of the wonderful sword. Again the king thanked him from the
+depth of his heart for his valiant deeds; and as before a fair feast was
+prepared and the warriors made merry till night came and they repaired
+to rest, certain this time of their safety.
+
+Now on the morrow Beowulf and his nobles made ready to depart to their
+own land; and when they were fully equipped they went to bid farewell to
+Hrothgar. Then Beowulf spoke, saying:
+
+"Now are we voyagers eager to return to our lord Higelac. We have been
+right well and heartily entertained, O king, and if there is aught
+further that I can ever do for thee, then I shall be ready for thy
+service. If ever I hear that thy neighbors are again persecuting thee, I
+will bring a thousand thanes to thy aid; and I know that Higelac will
+uphold me in this."
+
+"Dear are thy words to me, O Beowulf," Hrothgar made answer, "and great
+is thy wisdom. If Fate should take away the life of Higelac; the Geats
+could have no better king than thou; and hereafter there shall never
+more be feuds between the Danes and the Geats, for thou by thy great
+deeds hast made a lasting bond of friendship between them."
+
+Then Hrothgar gave more gifts to Beowulf and bade him seek his beloved
+people and afterwards come back again to visit him, for so dearly had he
+grown to love him that he longed to see him again.
+
+So the two embraced and bade each other farewell with great affection,
+and then at last Beowulf went down to where his ship rode at anchor and
+sailed away with his followers to his own country, taking with him the
+many gifts that Hrothgar had made to him. And coming to Higelac's court,
+he told him of his adventures, and having shown him the treasure, gave
+it all up to him, so loyal and true was he. But Higelac in return gave
+Beowulf a goodly sword and seven thousand pieces of gold and a
+manor-house, also a princely seat for him to dwell in. There Beowulf
+lived in peace, and not for many years was he called to fresh
+adventures.
+
+
+BEOWULF AND THE FIRE-DRAGON
+
+After his return to the land of the Geats, Beowulf served Higelac
+faithfully till the day of the king's death, which befell in an
+expedition that he made to Friesland. Beowulf was with him on that
+disastrous journey, and only with difficulty did he escape with his
+life. But when he returned as a poor solitary fugitive to his people,
+Hygd, Higelac's wife, offered him the kingdom and the king's treasures,
+for she feared that her young son Heardred was not strong enough to hold
+the throne of his fathers against invading foes.
+
+Beowulf, however, would not accept the kingdom, but rather chose to
+uphold Heardred among the people, giving him friendly counsel and
+serving him faithfully and honorably.
+
+But before very long Heardred was killed in battle, and then at last
+Beowulf consented to become king of the Geats.
+
+For fifty years he ruled well and wisely and his people prospered. But
+at last trouble came in the ravages of a terrible dragon, and once more
+Beowulf was called forth to a terrific combat.
+
+For three hundred years this dragon had kept watch over a hoard of
+treasure on a mountain by the seashore in the country of the Geats. The
+treasure had been hidden in a cave under the mountain by a band of
+sea-robbers; and when the last of them was dead the dragon took
+possession of the cave and of the treasure and kept fierce watch over
+them.
+
+But one day a poor man came to the spot while the dragon was fast asleep
+and carried off part of the treasure to his master.
+
+When the dragon awoke he soon discovered the man's footprints, and on
+examining the cave he found that part of the gold and splendid jewels
+had disappeared. In wrathful and savage mood he sought all round the
+mountain for the robber, but could find no one.
+
+So when evening came he went forth eager for revenge, and throwing out
+flashes of fire in every direction, he began to set fire to all the
+land. Beowulf's own princely manor-house was burnt down and terrible
+destruction was wrought on every hand, till day broke and the
+fire-dragon returned to his den.
+
+Great was Beowulf's grief at this dire misfortune, and eager was his
+desire for vengeance. He scorned to seek the foe with a great host
+behind him, nor did he dread the combat in any way, for he called to
+mind his many feats of war, and especially his fight with Grendel.
+
+So he quickly had fashioned a mighty battle-shield, made entirely of
+iron, for he knew that the wooden one that he was wont to use would be
+burnt up by the flames of the fire-dragon. Then he chose out eleven of
+his earls, and together they set out for the mountain, led thither by
+the man who had stolen the treasure.
+
+When they came to the mouth of the cave Beowulf bade farewell to his
+companions, for he was resolved to fight single-handed against the foe.
+
+"Many a fight have I fought in my youth," he said, "and now once more
+will I, the guardian of my people, seek the combat. I would not bear any
+sword or other weapon against the dragon if I thought that I could
+grapple with him as I did with the monster Grendel. But I fear that I
+shall not be able to approach so close to this foe, for he will send
+forth hot, raging fire and venomous breath. Yet am I resolute in mood,
+fearless and resolved not to yield one foot's-breadth to the monster.
+
+"Tarry ye here on the hill, my warriors, and watch which of us two will
+survive the deadly combat, for this is no enterprise for you. I only can
+attempt it, because such great strength has been given to me. Therefore
+I will do battle alone and will either slay the dragon and win the
+treasure for my people or fall in the fight, as destiny shall appoint."
+
+When he had spoken thus Beowulf strode forward to the fight, armed with
+his iron shield, his sword and his dagger. A stone arch spanned the
+mouth of the cave, and on one side a boiling stream, hot as though with
+raging fires, rushed forth. Undaunted by it, Beowulf uttered a shout to
+summon the dragon to the fight. Immediately a burning breath from the
+monster came out of the rock, the earth rumbled and then the dragon
+rushed forth to meet his fate.
+
+Standing with his huge shield held well before him, Beowulf received the
+attack and struck from beneath his shield at the monster's side. But his
+blade failed him and turned aside, and the blow but served to enrage
+the dragon, so that he darted forth such blasting rays of deadly fire
+that Beowulf was well nigh overwhelmed and the fight went hard with him.
+
+Now his eleven chosen comrades could see the combat from where they
+stood; and one of them, Beowulf's kinsman Wiglaf, was moved to great
+sorrow at the sight of his lord's distress. At last he could bear it no
+longer, but grasped his wooden shield and his sword and cried to the
+other thanes:
+
+"Remember how we promised our lord in the banquet-hall, when he gave us
+our helmets and swords and battle-gear, that we would one day repay him
+for his gifts. Now is the day come that our liege lord has need of the
+strength of good warriors. We must go help him, even though he thought
+to accomplish this mighty work alone, for we can never return to our
+homes if we have not slain the enemy and saved our king's life. Rather
+than live when he is dead, I will perish with him in this deadly fire."
+
+Then he rushed through the noisome smoke to his lord's side, crying:
+
+"Dear Beowulf, take courage. Remember thy boast that thy valor shall
+never fail thee in thy lifetime, and defend thyself now with all thy
+might, and I will help thee."
+
+But the other warriors were afraid to follow him, so that Beowulf and
+Wiglaf stood alone to face the dragon.
+
+As soon as the monster advanced upon them, Wiglaf's wooden shield was
+burnt away by the flames, so that he was forced to take refuge behind
+Beowulf's iron shield; and this time when Beowulf struck with his sword,
+it was shivered to pieces. Then the dragon flung himself upon him and
+caught him up in his arms, crushing him till he lay senseless and
+covered with wounds.
+
+But now Wiglaf showed his valor and strength, and smote the monster with
+such mighty blows that at last the fire coming forth from him began to
+abate somewhat. Then Beowulf came once more to his senses, and drawing
+his deadly knife, struck with it from beneath; and at last the force of
+the blows from the two noble kinsmen felled the fierce fire-dragon and
+he sank down dead beside them.
+
+But Beowulf's wounds were very great, and he knew that the joys of life
+were ended for him and that death was very near. So while Wiglaf with
+wonderful tenderness unfastened his helmet for him and refreshed him
+with water, he spoke, saying:
+
+"Though I am sick with mortal wounds, there is yet some comfort
+remaining for me. For I have governed my people for fifty winters and
+kept them safe from invading foes; yet have not sought out quarrels nor
+led my kinsmen to dire slaughter when there was no need. Therefore the
+Ruler of all men will not blame me when my life departs from my body.
+
+"And now go thou quickly, dear Wiglaf, to spy out the treasure within
+the cave, so that I may see what wealth I have won for my people before
+I die."
+
+So Wiglaf went into the cave and there he saw many precious jewels, old
+vessels, helmets, gold armlets and other treasures, which excelled in
+beauty and number any that mankind has ever known. Moreover, high above
+the treasure flapped a marvelous gilded standard, from which came a ray
+of light which lit up all the cave.
+
+Then Wiglaf seized as much as he could carry of the precious spoils, and
+taking the standard also, hastened back to his lord, dreading lest he
+should find him already dead.
+
+Beowulf was very near his life's end, but when Wiglaf had again revived
+him with water, he had strength to speak once more.
+
+[Illustration: SIEGFRIED CAME OFF VICTOR IN EVERY ENCOUNTER]
+
+[Illustration: BEOWULF FACE TO FACE WITH THE FIRE-BREATHING DRAGON]
+
+"Glad am I," he said, "that I have been able before my death to gain so
+much for my people. But now I may no longer abide here. Bid the gallant
+warriors burn my body on the headland here which juts into the sea, and
+afterwards raise a huge mound on the same spot, that the sailors who
+drive their vessels over the misty floods may call it Beowulf's Mound."
+
+Then the dauntless prince undid the golden collar from his neck and gave
+it to Wiglaf with his helmet and coat of mail, saying:
+
+"Thou art the last of all our race, for Fate has swept away all my
+kindred save thee to their doom, and now I also must join them," and
+with these words the aged king fell back dead.
+
+Now as Wiglaf sat by his lord, grieving sorely at his death, the other
+ten thanes who had shown themselves to be faithless and cowardly
+approached with shame to his side. Then Wiglaf turned to them, crying
+bitterly:
+
+"Truly our liege lord flung away utterly in vain the battle-gear that he
+gave ye. Little could he boast of his comrades when the hour of need
+came. I myself was able to give him some succor in the fight, but ye
+should have stood by him also to defend him. But now the giving of
+treasure shall cease for ye and ye will be shamed and will lose your
+land-right when the nobles learn of your inglorious deed. Death is
+better for every earl than ignominious life."
+
+After this Wiglaf summoned the other earls and told them of all that had
+happened and of the mound that Beowulf wished them to build. Then they
+gathered together at the mouth of the cave and gazed with tears upon
+their lifeless lord and looked with awe upon the huge dragon as it lay
+stiff in death beside its conqueror. Afterwards, led by Wiglaf, seven
+chosen earls entered the cave and brought forth all the treasure, while
+others busied themselves in preparing the funeral pyre.
+
+When all was ready and the huge pile of wood had been hung with helmets,
+war-shields and bright coats of mail, as befitted the funeral pyre of a
+noble warrior, the earls brought their beloved lord's body to the spot
+and laid it on the wood. Then they kindled the fire and stood by
+mourning and uttering sorrowful chants, while the smoke rose up and the
+fire roared and the body was consumed away. Afterwards they built a
+mound on the hill, making it high and broad so that it could be seen
+from very far away. Ten days they spent in building it; and because they
+desired to pay the highest of honors to Beowulf, they buried in it the
+whole of the treasure that the dragon had guarded, for no price was too
+heavy to pay as a token of their love for their lord. So the treasure
+even now remains in the earth, as useless as it was before.
+
+When at last the mound was completed, the noble warriors gathered
+together and rode around it, lamenting their king and singing the praise
+of his valor and mighty deeds.
+
+Thus mourned the people of the Geats for the fall of Beowulf, who of all
+kings in the world was the mildest and kindest, the most gracious to his
+people, and the most eager to win their praise.
+
+
+
+
+THE GOOD KING ARTHUR
+
+
+Probably every one knows the story of the great King Arthur who, the
+legends say, ruled in Britain so many, many years ago and gathered about
+him in his famous Round Table, knights of splendid courage, tried and
+proven. So well loved was the story of Arthur in other countries as well
+as in England that it was among the very first works ever printed in
+Europe, and it was still welcomed centuries later when the great English
+poet, Alfred Tennyson, told it in his _Idylls of the King_.
+
+The boy Arthur was really the son of King Uther Pendragon, but few
+persons knew of his birth. Uther had given him into the care of the
+enchanter Merlin, who had carried him to the castle of Sir Hector,[1] an
+old friend of Uther's. Here the young prince lived as a child of the
+house.
+
+Now Merlin was a very wise man, and when King Uther died several years
+later the noblemen asked his advice in choosing a new king.
+
+"Gather together in St. Stephen's Church in London, on Christmas Day,"
+was all the enchanter answered.
+
+So the knights assembled, and when the mass was over and they passed out
+into the churchyard, there they beheld a large block of stone, upon
+which rested a heavy anvil. The blade of a jeweled sword was sunk deeply
+into the anvil.
+
+Wondering, the noblemen drew near. One of them discovered an inscription
+upon the hilt which said that none but the man who could draw out the
+sword should ever rule in Uther's place. One by one they tried, but the
+sword was firmly imbedded. No one could draw it forth.
+
+Arthur was only a baby at this time, but some years later Sir Hector
+traveled up to London, bringing with him his own son, Sir Kay, and his
+foster son, Arthur. Sir Kay had just reached manhood and was to take
+part in his first tournament. Imagine his distress, therefore, when, on
+arriving at the tourney ground, he discovered that he had forgotten to
+bring his sword.
+
+"I will fetch it for you," cried the young Arthur, anxious to be of
+service.
+
+He found the apartment of Sir Kay closed and locked; but he was
+determined to get a sword for his brother, and remembering the huge
+anvil he had seen in the churchyard, he hurried toward it. Grasping the
+hilt of the projecting sword, he drew it out easily.
+
+Happy over his good fortune, Arthur returned to the tourney ground and
+gave the new sword to his foster brother. Sir Hector, who stood near,
+recognized it.
+
+"Where did you get that sword?" he asked.
+
+"From the great anvil in the churchyard of St. Stephen's I drew it," was
+the answer.
+
+But Sir Hector still doubted, and when the tournament was over, he and
+all the principal nobles of the realm rode back to the churchyard.
+
+Arthur replaced the sword in the anvil and stood aside while all present
+tried to draw it forth. None succeeded. Then Arthur again stepped up,
+grasped the hilt and pulled out the blade.
+
+"The king, the king!" the people cried; for they knew that at last they
+had found a worthy successor to the good King Uther.
+
+So Arthur was crowned king and entered upon that wise and kingly rule of
+which the praises have so often been sung.
+
+Following are the stories of the coming and passing of Arthur as they
+are related by Tennyson:
+
+    THE COMING OF ARTHUR
+
+      Leodogran, the King of Cameliard,
+    Had one fair daughter, and none other child;
+    And she was fairest of all flesh on earth,
+    Guinevere, and in her his one delight.
+
+      For many a petty king ere Arthur came
+    Ruled in this isle, and ever waging war
+    Each upon other, wasted all the land;
+    And still from time to time the heathen host
+    Swarm'd overseas, and harried what was left.
+    And so there grew great tracts of wilderness,
+    Wherein the beast was ever more and more,
+    But man was less and less, till Arthur came.
+    For first Aurelius lived and fought and died,
+    And after him King Uther fought and died,
+    But either fail'd to make the kingdom one.
+    And after these King Arthur for a space,
+    And thro' the puissance of his Table Round,
+    Drew all their petty princedoms under him,
+    Their king and head, and made a realm, and reign'd.
+
+      And thus the land of Cameliard was waste,
+    Thick with wet woods, and many a beast therein,
+    And none or few to scare or chase the beast;
+    So that wild dog and wolf and boar and bear
+    Came night and day, and rooted in the fields,
+    And wallow'd in the gardens of the King.
+    And ever and anon the wolf would steal
+    The children and devour, but now and then,
+    Her own brood lost or dead, lent her fierce teat
+    To human sucklings; and the children housed
+    In her foul den, there at their meat would growl,
+    And mock their foster-mother on four feet,
+    Till, straighten'd, they grew up to wolf-like men,
+    Worse than the wolves. And King Leodogran
+    Groan'd for the Roman legions here again,
+    And Caesar's eagle: then his brother king,
+    Urien, assail'd him: last a heathen horde,
+    Reddening the sun with smoke and earth with blood,
+    And on the spike that split the mother's heart
+    Spitting the child, brake on him, till, amazed,
+    He knew not whither he should turn for aid.
+
+      But--for he heard of Arthur newly crown'd,
+    Tho' not without an uproar made by those
+    Who cried, "He is not Uther's son"--the King
+    Sent to him, saying, "Arise, and help us thou!
+    For here between the man and beast we die."
+
+      And Arthur yet had done no deed of arms,
+    But heard the call, and came: and Guinevere
+    Stood by the castle walls to watch him pass;
+    But since he neither wore on helm or shield
+    The golden symbol of his kinglihood,
+    But rode a simple knight among his knights,
+    And many of these in richer arms than he,
+    She saw him not, or mark'd not, if she saw,
+    One among many, tho' his face was bare.
+    But Arthur, looking downward as he past,
+    Felt the light of her eyes into his life
+    Smite on the sudden, yet rode on, and pitch'd
+    His tents beside the forest. Then he drave
+    The heathen; after, slew the beast, and fell'd
+    The forest, letting in the sun, and made
+    Broad pathways for the hunter and the knight,
+    And so return'd.
+
+                    For while he linger'd there,
+    A doubt that ever smoulder'd in the hearts
+    Of those great Lords and Barons of his realm
+    Flash'd forth and into war: for most of these,
+    Colleaguing with a score of petty kings,
+    Made head against him, crying, "Who is he
+    That he should rule us? who hath proven him
+    King Uther's son? for lo! we look at him,
+    And find nor face nor bearing, limbs nor voice,
+    Are like to those of Uther whom we knew.
+    This is the son of Gorlois, not the King;
+    This is the son of Anton, not the King."
+
+      And Arthur, passing thence to battle, felt
+    Travail, and throes and agonies of the life,
+    Desiring to be join'd with Guinevere;
+    And thinking as he rode, "Her father said
+    That there between the man and beast they die.
+    Shall I not lift her from this land of beasts
+    Up to my throne, and side by side with me?
+    What happiness to reign a lonely king,
+    Vext--O ye stars that shudder over me,
+    O earth that soundest hollow under me,
+    Vext with waste dreams? for saving I be join'd
+    To her that is the fairest under heaven,
+    I seem as nothing in the mighty world,
+    And cannot will my will, nor work my work
+    Wholly, nor make myself in mine own realm
+    Victor and lord. But were I join'd with her,
+    Then might we live together as one life,
+    And reigning with one will in everything
+    Have power on this dark land to lighten it,
+    And power on this dead world to make it live."
+
+      Thereafter--as he speaks who tells the tale--
+    When Arthur reached a field-of-battle bright
+    With pitch'd pavilions of his foe, the world
+    Was all so clear about him, that he saw
+    The smallest rock far on the faintest hill,
+    And even in high day the morning star.
+    So when the King had set his banner broad,
+    At once from either side, with trumpet-blast,
+    And shouts, and clarions shrilling unto blood,
+    The long-lanced battle let their horses run.
+    And now the barons and the kings prevail'd,
+    And now the King, as here and there that war
+    Went swaying; but the Powers who walk the world
+    Made lightnings and great thunders over him,
+    And dazed all eyes, till Arthur by main might
+    And mightier of his hands with every blow,
+    And leading all his knighthood threw the kings
+    Carados, Urien, Cradlemont of Wales,
+    Claudias, and Clariance of Northumberland,
+    The King Brandagoras of Latangor,
+    With Anguisant of Erin, Morganore,
+    And Lot of Orkney. Then, before a voice
+    As dreadful as the shout of one who sees
+    To one who sins, and deems himself alone
+    And all the world asleep, they swerved and brake
+    Flying, and Arthur call'd to stay the brands
+    That hack'd among the flyers, "Ho! they yield!"
+    So like a painted battle the war stood
+    Silenced, the living quiet as the dead,
+    And in the heart of Arthur joy was lord.
+    He laugh'd upon his warrior whom he loved
+    And honor'd most. "Thou dost not doubt me King,
+    So well thine arm hath wrought for me today."
+    "Sir and my liege," he cried, "the fire of God
+    Descends upon thee in the battle-field:
+    I know thee for my King!" Whereat the two,
+    For each had warded either in the fight,
+    Sware on the field of death a deathless love.
+    And Arthur said, "Man's word is God in man:
+    Let chance what will, I trust thee to the death."
+
+      Then quickly from the foughten field he sent
+    Ulfius, and Brastias, and Bedivere,
+    His new-made knights, to King Leodogran,
+    Saying, "If I in aught have served thee well,
+    Give me thy daughter Guinevere to wife."
+
+      Whom when he heard, Leodogran in heart
+    Debating--"How should I that am a king,
+    However much he help me at my need,
+    Give my one daughter saving to a king,
+    And a king's son?"--lifted his voice, and call'd
+    A hoary man, his chamberlain, to whom
+    He trusted all things, and of him required
+    His counsel: "Knowest thou aught of Arthur's birth?"
+
+      Then spake the hoary chamberlain and said,
+    "Sir King, there be but two old men that know:
+    And each is twice as old as I; and one
+    Is Merlin, the wise man that ever served
+    King Uther thro' his magic art; and one
+    Is Merlin's master (so they call him) Bleys,
+    Who taught him magic; but the scholar ran
+    Before the master, and so far, that Bleys
+    Laid magic by, and sat him down, and wrote
+    All things and whatsoever Merlin did
+    In one great annal-book, where after-years
+    Will learn the secret of our Arthur's birth."
+
+      To whom the King Leodogran replied,
+    "O friend, had I been holpen half as well
+    By this King Arthur as by thee today,
+    Then beast and man had had their share of me:
+    But summon here before us yet once more
+    Ulfius, and Brastias, and Bedivere."
+
+      Then, when they came before him, the King said,
+    "I have seen the cuckoo chased by lesser fowl,
+    And reason in the chase: but wherefore now
+    Do these your lords stir up the heat of war,
+    Some calling Arthur born of Gorlois,
+    Others of Anton? Tell me, ye yourselves,
+    Hold ye this Arthur for King Uther's son?"
+
+      And Ulfius and Brastias answer'd, "Ay."
+    Then Bedivere, the first of all his knights,
+    Knighted by Arthur at his crowning, spake--
+    For bold in heart and act and word was he,
+    Whenever slander breathed against the King--
+
+      "Sir, there be many rumors on this head:
+    For there be those who hate him in their hearts,
+    Call him base-born, and since his ways are sweet,
+    And theirs are bestial, hold him less than man:
+    And there be those who deem him more than man,
+    And dream he dropt from heaven: but my belief
+    In all this matter--so ye care to learn--
+    Sir, for ye know that in King Uther's time
+    The prince and warrior Gorlois, he that held
+    Tintagil castle by the Cornish sea,
+    Was wedded with a winsome wife, Ygerne:
+    And daughters had she borne him--one whereof,
+    Lot's wife, the Queen of Orkney, Bellicent,
+    Hath ever like a loyal sister cleaved
+    To Arthur--but a son she had not borne.
+    And Uther cast upon her eyes of love:
+    But she, a stainless wife to Gorlois,
+    So loathed the bright dishonor of his love,
+    That Gorlois and King Uther went to war:
+    And overthrown was Gorlois and slain.
+    Then Uther in his wrath and heat besieged
+    Ygerne within Tintagil, where her men,
+    Seeing the mighty swarm about their walls,
+    Left her and fled, and Uther enter'd in,
+    And there was none to call to but himself.
+    So, compass'd by the power of the King,
+    Enforced she was to wed him in her tears,
+    And with a shameful swiftness: afterward,
+    Not many moons, King Uther died himself,
+    Moaning and wailing for an heir to rule
+    After him, lest the realm should go to wrack.
+    And that same night, the night of the new year;
+    By reason of the bitterness and grief
+    That vext his mother, all before his time
+    Was Arthur born, and all as soon as born
+    Deliver'd at a secret postern-gate
+    To Merlin, to be holden far apart
+    Until his hour should come; because the lords
+    Of that fierce day were as the lords of this,
+    Wild beasts, and surely would have torn the child
+    Piecemeal among them, had they known; for each
+    But sought to rule for his own self and hand,
+    And many hated Uther for the sake
+    Of Gorlois. Wherefore Merlin took the child,
+    And gave him to Sir Anton, an old knight
+    And ancient friend of Uther; and his wife
+    Nursed the young prince, and rear'd him with her own;
+    And no man knew. And ever since the lords
+    Have foughten like wild beasts among themselves,
+    So that the realm has gone to wrack: but now,
+    This year, when Merlin (for his hour had come)
+    Brought Arthur forth, and set him in the hall,
+    Proclaiming, 'Here is Uther's heir, your king,'
+    A hundred voices cried, 'Away with him!
+    No king of ours! A son of Gorlois he,
+    Or else the child of Anton and no king,
+    Or else base-born.' Yet Merlin thro' his craft,
+    And while the people clamor'd for a king,
+    Had Arthur crown'd; but after, the great lords
+    Banded, and so brake out in open war."
+
+      Then while the King debated with himself
+    If Arthur were the child of shamefulness,
+    Or born the son of Gorlois, after death,
+    Or Uther's son, and born before his time,
+    Or whether there were truth in anything
+    Said by these three, there came to Cameliard,
+    With Gawain and young Modred, her two sons,
+    Lot's wife, the Queen of Orkney, Bellicent;
+    Whom as he could, not as he would, the King
+    Made feast for, saying, as they sat at meat:
+
+      "A doubtful throne is ice on summer seas.
+    Ye come from Arthur's court. Victor his men
+    Report him! Yea, but ye--think ye this king--
+    So many those that hate him, and so strong,
+    So few his knights, however brave they be--
+    Hath body enow to hold his foemen down?"
+
+      "O King," she cried, "and I will tell thee: few,
+    Few, but all brave, all of one mind with him;
+    For I was near him when the savage yells
+    Of Uther's peerage died and Arthur sat
+    Crown'd on the dais, and his warriors cried,
+    'Be thou the king, and we will work thy will,
+    Who love thee.' Then the King in low deep tones,
+    And simple words of great authority,
+    Bound them by so strait vows to his own self,
+    That when they rose, knighted from kneeling, some
+    Were pale as at the passing of a ghost.
+    Some flush'd, and others dazed, as one who wakes
+    Half-blinded at the coming of a light.
+
+      "But when he spake and cheer'd his Table Round
+    With large, divine and comfortable words,
+    Beyond my tongue to tell thee--I beheld
+    From eye to eye thro' all their Order flash
+    A momentary likeness of the King:
+    And ere it left their faces, thro' the cross
+    And those around it and the Crucified,
+    Down from the casement over Arthur, smote
+    Flame-color, vert, and azure, in three rays,
+    One falling upon each of three fair queens,
+    Who stood in silence near his throne, the friends
+    Of Arthur, gazing on him, tall, with bright
+    Sweet faces, who will help him at his need.
+
+      "And there I saw mage Merlin, whose vast wit
+    And hundred winters are but as the hands
+    Of loyal vassals toiling for their liege.
+
+      "And near him stood the Lady of the Lake,
+    Who knows a subtler magic than his own--
+    Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful.
+    She gave the King his huge cross-hilted sword,
+    Whereby to drive the heathen out: a mist
+    Of incense curl'd about her, and her face
+    Well-nigh was hidden in the minster gloom;
+    But there was heard among the holy hymns
+    A voice as of the waters, for she dwells
+    Down in a deep, calm, whatsoever storms
+    May shake the world, and when the surface rolls,
+    Hath power to walk the waters like our Lord.
+
+      "There likewise I beheld Excalibur
+    Before him at his crowning borne, the sword
+    That rose from out the bosom of the lake,
+    And Arthur row'd across and took it--rich
+    With jewels, elfin Urim, on the hilt,
+    Bewildering heart and eye--the blade so bright
+    That men are blinded by it--on one side,
+    Graven in the oldest tongue of all this world,
+    'Take me,' but turn the blade and ye shall see,
+    And written in the speech ye speak yourself,
+    'Cast me away!' And sad was Arthur's face
+    Taking it, but old Merlin counseled him,
+    'Take thou and strike! the time to cast away
+    Is yet far-off.' So this great brand the king
+    Took, and by this will beat his foemen down."
+
+      Thereat Leodogran rejoiced, but thought
+    To sift his doubtings to the last, and ask'd,
+    Fixing full eyes of question on her face,
+    "The swallow and the swift are near akin,
+    But thou art closer to this noble prince,
+    Being his own dear sister"; and she said,
+    "Daughter of Gorlois and Ygerne am I";
+    "And therefore Arthur's sister?" asked the King.
+    She answered, "These be secret things," and sign'd
+    To those two sons to pass and let them be.
+    And Gawain went, and breaking into song
+    Sprang out, and follow'd by his flying hair
+    Ran like a colt, and leapt at all he saw:
+    But Modred laid his ear beside the doors,
+    And there half heard; the same that afterward
+    Struck for the throne, and striking found his doom.
+
+      And then the Queen made answer, "What know I?
+    For dark my mother was in eyes and hair,
+    And dark in hair and eyes am I; and dark
+    Was Gorlois, yea and dark was Uther too,
+    Well-nigh to blackness; but this King is fair
+    Beyond the race of Britons and of men.
+    Moreover, always in my mind I hear
+    A cry from out the dawning of my life,
+    A mother weeping, and I hear her say,
+    'O that ye had some brother, pretty one,
+    To guard thee on the rough ways of the world.'"
+
+      "Ay," said the King, "and hear ye such a cry?
+    But when did Arthur chance upon thee first?"
+
+      "O King!" she cried, "and I will tell thee true:
+    He found me first when yet a little maid:
+    Beaten I had been for a little fault
+    Whereof I was not guilty; and out I ran
+    And flung myself down on a bank of heath,
+    And hated this fair world and all therein,
+    And wept and wish'd that I were dead; and he--
+    I know not whether of himself he came,
+    Or brought by Merlin, who, they say, can walk
+    Unseen at pleasure--he was at my side,
+    And spake sweet words, and comforted my heart,
+    And dried my tears, being a child with me.
+    And many a time he came, and evermore
+    As I grew greater grew with me; and sad
+    At times he seem'd, and sad with him was I,
+    Stern too at times, and then I loved him not,
+    But sweet again, and then I loved him well.
+    And now of late I see him less and less,
+    But those first days had golden hours for me,
+    For then I surely thought he would be king.
+
+      "But let me tell thee now another tale:
+    For Bleys, our Merlin's master, as they say,
+    Died but of late, and sent his cry to me,
+    To hear him speak before he left his life.
+    Shrunk like a fairy changeling lay the mage;
+    And when I enter'd told me that himself
+    And Merlin ever served about the King,
+    Uther, before he died; and on the night
+    When Uther in Tintagil past away
+    Moaning and wailing for an heir, the two
+    Left the still King, and passing forth to breathe,
+    Then from the castle gateway by the chasm
+    Descending thro' the dismal night--a night
+    In which the bounds of heaven and earth were lost--
+    Beheld, so high upon the dreary deeps
+    It seem'd in heaven, a ship, the shape thereof
+    A dragon wing'd, and all from stem to stern
+    Bright with a shining people on the decks,
+    And gone as soon as seen. And then the two
+    Dropt to the cove, and watch'd the great sea fall,
+    Wave after wave, each mightier than the last,
+    Till last, a ninth one, gathering half the deep
+    And full of voices, slowly rose and plunged
+    Roaring, and all the wave was in a flame:
+    And down the wave and in the flame was borne
+    A naked babe, and rode to Merlin's feet,
+    Who stoopt and caught the babe, and cried 'The King!
+    Here is an heir for Uther!' And the fringe
+    Of that great breaker, sweeping up the strand,
+    Lash'd at the wizard as he spake the word.
+    And all at once all round him rose in fire,
+    So that the child and he were clothed in fire.
+    And presently thereafter follow'd calm,
+    Free sky and stars: 'And this same child,' he said,
+    'Is he who reigns: nor could I part in peace
+    Till this were told.' And saying this the seer
+    Went thro' the strait and dreadful pass of death,
+    Not ever to be question'd any more
+    Save on the further side; but when I met
+    Merlin, and ask'd him if these things were truth--
+    The shining dragon and the naked child
+    Descending in the glory of the seas--
+    He laugh'd as is his wont, and answer'd me
+    In riddling triplets of old time, and said:
+
+      "'Rain, rain, and sun! a rainbow in the sky!
+    A young man will be wiser by and by;
+    An old man's wit may wander ere he die.
+
+      "'Rain, rain, and sun! a rainbow on the lea!
+    And truth is this to me, and that to thee;
+    And truth or clothed or naked let it be.
+
+      "'Rain, sun, and rain! and the free blossom blows;
+    Sun, rain, and sun! and where is he who knows?
+    From the great deep to the great deep he goes.'
+
+      "So Merlin riddling anger'd me; but thou
+    Fear not to give this King thine only child,
+    Guinevere: so great bards of him will sing
+    Hereafter; and dark sayings from of old
+    Ranging and ringing thro' the minds of men,
+    And echo'd by old folk beside their fires
+    For comfort after their wage-work is done,
+    Speak of the King; and Merlin in our time
+    Hath spoken also, not in jest, and sworn
+    Tho' men may wound him that he will not die,
+    But pass, again to come; and then or now
+    Utterly smite the heathen under foot,
+    Till these and all men hail him for their king."
+
+      She spake and King Leodogran rejoiced,
+    But musing "Shall I answer yea or nay?"
+    Doubted and drowsed, nodded and slept, and saw,
+    Dreaming, a slope of land that ever grew,
+    Field after field, up to a height, the peak
+    Haze-hidden, and thereon a phantom king,
+    Now looming, and now lost: and on the slope
+    The sword rose, the hind fell, the herd was driven,
+    Fire glimpsed; and all the land from roof and rick,
+    In drifts of smoke before a rolling wind,
+    Stream'd to the peak, and mingled with the haze
+    And made it thicker; while the phantom king
+    Sent out at times a voice; and here or there
+    Stood one who pointed toward the voice, the rest
+    Slew on and burnt, crying, "No king of ours,
+    No son of Uther, and no king of ours";
+    Till with a wink his dream was changed, the haze
+    Descended, and the solid earth became
+    As nothing, but the king stood out in heaven
+    Crown'd. And Leodogran awoke, and sent
+    Ulfius, and Brastias, and Bedivere,
+    Back to the court of Arthur answering yea.
+
+      Then Arthur charged his warrior whom he loved
+    And honor'd most, Sir Lancelot, to ride forth
+    And bring the Queen;--and watch'd him from the gates;
+    And Lancelot past away among the flowers,
+    (For then was latter April) and return'd
+    Among the flowers, in May, with Guinevere.
+    To whom arrived, by Dubric the high saint,
+    Chief of the church in Britain, and before
+    The stateliest of her altar-shrines, the King
+    That morn was married, while in stainless white,
+    The fair beginners of a nobler time,
+    And glorying in their vows and him, his knights
+    Stood round him, and rejoicing in his joy.
+    Far shone the fields of May thro' open door,
+    The sacred altar blossom'd white with May,
+    The Sun of May descended on their King,
+    They gazed on all earth's beauty in their Queen,
+    Roll'd incense, and there past along the hymns
+    A voice as of the waters, while the two
+    Sware at the shrine of Christ a deathless love:
+    And Arthur said, "Behold, thy doom is mine.
+    Let chance what will, I love thee to the death!"
+    To whom the Queen replied with drooping eyes,
+    "King and my lord, I love thee to the death!"
+    And holy Dubric spread his hands and spake,
+    "Reign ye, and live and love, and make the world
+    Other, and may thy Queen be one with thee,
+    And all this Order of thy Table Round
+    Fulfil the boundless purpose of their King!"
+
+      So Dubric said; but when they left the shrine
+    Great Lords from Rome before the portal stood.
+    In scornful stillness gazing as they past;
+    Then while they paced a city all on fire
+    With sun and cloth of gold, the trumpets blew,
+    And Arthur's knighthood sang before the King:--
+
+      "Blow trumpet, for the world is white with May;
+    Blow trumpet, the long night hath roll'd away!
+    Blow thro' the living world--'Let the King reign.'
+
+      "Shall Rome or heathen rule in Arthur's realm?
+    Flash brand and lance, fall battle-axe upon helm,
+    Fall battle-axe, and flash brand! Let the King reign.
+
+      "Strike for the King and live! his knights have heard
+    That God hath told the King a secret word.
+    Fall battle-axe, and flash brand! Let the King reign.
+
+      "Blow trumpet! he will lift us from the dust.
+    Blow trumpet! live the strength and die the lust!
+    Clang battle-axe, and clash brand! Let the King reign.
+
+      "Strike for the King and die! and if thou diest,
+    The King is King, and ever wills the highest.
+    Clang battle-axe, and clash brand! Let the King reign.
+
+      "Blow, for our Sun is mighty in his May!
+    Blow, for our Sun is mightier day by day!
+    Clang battle-axe, and clash brand! Let the King reign.
+
+      "The King will follow Christ, and we the King,
+    In whom high God hath breathed a secret thing.
+    Fall battle-axe, and clash brand! Let the King reign."
+
+      So sang the knighthood, moving to their hall.
+    There at the banquet those great Lords from Rome,
+    The slowly-fading mistress of the world,
+    Strode in, and claim'd their tribute as of yore.
+    But Arthur spake, "Behold, for these have sworn
+    To wage my wars, and worship me their King;
+    The old order changeth, yielding place to new;
+    And we that fight for our fair father Christ,
+    Seeing that ye be grown too weak and old
+    To drive the heathen from your Roman wall,
+    No tribute will we pay": so those great lords
+    Drew back in wrath, and Arthur strove with Rome.
+
+      And Arthur and his knighthood for a space
+    Were all one will, and thro' that strength the King
+    Drew in the petty princedoms under him,
+    Fought, and in twelve great battles overcame
+    The heathen hordes, and made a realm and reign'd.
+
+
+    THE PASSING OF ARTHUR
+
+    That story which the bold Sir Bedivere,
+    First made and latest left of all the knights,
+    Told, when the man was no more than a voice
+    In the white winter of his age, to those
+    With whom he dwelt, new faces, other minds.
+
+      For on their march to westward, Bedivere,
+    Who slowly paced among the slumbering host;
+    Heard in his tent the moanings of the King:
+
+      "I found Him in the shining of the stars,
+    I mark'd Him in the flowering of His fields,
+    But in His ways with men I find Him not.
+    I waged His wars, and now I pass and die.
+    O me! for why is all around us here
+    As if some lesser god had made the world,
+    But had not force to shape it as he would,
+    Till the High God behold it from beyond,
+    And enter it, and make it beautiful?
+    Or else as if the world were wholly fair,
+    But that these eyes of men are dense and dim,
+    And have not power to see it as it is:
+    Perchance, because we see not to the close;--
+    For I, being simple, thought to work His will,
+    And have but stricken with the sword in vain;
+    And all whereon I lean'd in wife and friend
+    Is traitor to my peace, and all my realm
+    Reels back into the beast, and is no more.
+    My God, thou hast forgotten me in my death:
+    Nay--God my Christ--I pass but shall not die."
+
+      Then, ere that last weird battle in the west,
+    There came on Arthur sleeping, Gawain kill'd
+    In Lancelot's war, the ghost of Gawain blown
+    Along a wandering wind, and past his ear
+    Went shrilling, "Hollow, hollow all delight!
+    Hail King! tomorrow thou shalt pass away.
+    Farewell! there is an isle of rest for thee.
+    And I am blown along a wandering wind,
+    And hollow, hollow, hollow all delight."
+    And fainter onward, like wild birds that change
+    Their season in the night and wail their way
+    From cloud to cloud, down the long wind the dream
+    Shrill'd; but in going mingled with dim cries
+    Far in the moonlit haze among the hills,
+    As of some lonely city sack'd by night,
+    When all is lost, and wife and child with wail
+    Pass to new lords! and Arthur woke and call'd,
+    "Who spake? A dream. O light upon the wind,
+    Thine, Gawain, was the voice--are these dim cries
+    Thine? or doth all that haunts the waste and wild
+    Mourn, knowing it will go along with me?"
+
+      This heard the bold Sir Bedivere and spake:
+    "O me, my King, let pass whatever will,
+    Elves, and the harmless glamour of the field;
+    But in their stead thy name and glory cling
+    To all high places like a golden cloud
+    For ever: but as yet thou shalt not pass.
+    Light was Gawain in life, and light in death
+    Is Gawain, for the ghost is as the man;
+    And care not thou for dreams from him, but rise--
+    I hear the steps of Modred in the west,
+    And with him many of thy people, and knights
+    Once thine, whom thou hast loved, but grosser grown
+    Than heathen, spitting at their vows and thee.
+    Right well in heart they know thee for the King.
+    Arise, go forth and conquer as of old."
+
+      Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere:
+    "Far other is this battle in the west
+    Whereto we move, than when we strove in youth,
+    And brake the petty kings, and fought with Rome,
+    Or thrust the heathen from the Roman wall,
+    And shook him thro' the north. Ill doom is mine
+    To war against my people and my knights.
+    The king who fights his people fights himself.
+    And they my knights, who loved me once, the stroke
+    That strikes them dead is as my death to me.
+    Yet let us hence, and find or feel a way
+    Thro' this blind haze, which ever since I saw
+    One lying in the dust at Almesbury,
+    Hath folded in the passes of the world."
+
+      Then rose the King and moved his host by night,
+    And ever push'd Sir Modred, league by league,
+    Back to the sunset bound of Lyonnesse--
+    A land of old upheaven from the abyss
+    By fire, to sink into the abyss again;
+    Where fragments of forgotten peoples dwelt,
+    And the long mountains ended in a coast
+    Of ever-shifting sand, and far away
+    The phantom circle of a moaning sea.
+    There the pursuer could pursue no more,
+    And he that fled no further fly the King;
+    And there, that day when the great light of heaven
+    Burn'd at his lowest in the rolling year,
+    On the waste sand by the waste sea they closed.
+    Nor ever yet had Arthur fought a fight
+    Like this last dim, weird battle of the west.
+    A death-white mist slept over sand and sea:
+    Whereof the chill, to him who breathed it, drew
+    Down with his blood, till all his heart was cold
+    With formless fear; and ev'n on Arthur fell
+    Confusion, since he saw not whom he fought,
+    For friend and foe were shadows in the mist,
+    And friend slew friend not knowing whom he slew;
+    And some had visions out of golden youth,
+    And some beheld the faces of old ghosts
+    Look in upon the battle; and in the mist
+    Was many a noble deed, many a base,
+    And chance and craft and strength in single fights,
+    And ever and anon with host to host
+    Shocks, and the splintering spear, the hard mail hewn,
+    Shield-breakings, and the clash of brands, the crash
+    Of battle-axes on shattered helms, and shrieks
+    After the Christ, of those who falling down
+    Look'd up for heaven, and only saw the mist:
+    And shouts of heathen and the traitor knights,
+    Oaths, insult, filth, and monstrous blasphemies,
+    Sweat, writhing, anguish, laboring of the lungs
+    In that close mist, and cryings for the light,
+    Moans of the dying, and voices of the dead.
+
+      Last, as by some one death-bed after wail
+    Of suffering, silence follows, or thro' death
+    Or deathlike swoon, thus over all that shore,
+    Save for some whisper of the seething seas,
+    A dead hush fell; but when the dolorous day
+    Grew drearier toward twilight falling, came
+    A bitter wind, clear from the North, and blew
+    The mist aside, and with that wind the tide
+    Rose, and the pale King glanced across the field
+    Of battle: but no man was moving there;
+    Nor any cry of Christian heard thereon,
+    Nor yet of heathen; only the wan wave
+    Brake in among dead faces, to and fro
+    Swaying the helpless hands, and up and down
+    Tumbling the hollow helmets of the fallen,
+    And shiver'd brands that once had fought with Rome,
+    And rolling far along the gloomy shores
+    The voice of days of old and days to be.
+
+      Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere,
+    And whiter than the mist that all day long
+    Had held the field of battle was the King:
+      "Hearest thou this great voice that shakes the world
+    And wastes the narrow realm whereon we move,
+    And beats upon the faces of the dead,
+    My dead, as tho' they had not died for me?--
+    O Bedivere, for on my heart hath fall'n
+    Confusion, till I know not what I am,
+    Nor whence I am, nor whether I be King.
+    Behold, I seem but King among the dead."
+
+      Then spake the bold Sir Bedivere: "My King,
+    King everywhere! and so the dead have kings,
+    There also will I worship thee as King.
+    Yet still thy life is whole, and still I live
+    Who love thee; but who hates thee, he that brought
+    The heathen back among us, yonder stands,
+    Modred, unharm'd, the traitor of thine house."
+
+      Then spake the King: "My house had been my doom,
+    But call not thou this traitor of my house
+    Who hath but dwelt beneath one roof with me.
+    My house are rather they who sware my vows,
+    Yea, even while they brake them, own'd me King.
+    And well for thee, saying in my dark hour,
+    When all the purport of my throne hath fail'd,
+    That quick or dead thou holdest me for King.
+    King am I, whatsoever be their cry;
+    And one last act of kinghood shalt thou see
+    Yet, ere I pass." And uttering this the King
+    Made at the man: then Modred smote his liege
+    Hard on that helm which many a heathen sword
+    Had beaten thin; while Arthur at one blow,
+    Striking the last stroke with Excalibur,
+    Slew him, and but slain himself, he fell.
+
+      So all day long the noise of battle roll'd
+    Among the mountains by the winter sea;
+    Until King Arthur's Table, man by man,
+    Had fall'n in Lyonnesse about their lord,
+    King Arthur. Then, because his wound was deep,
+    The bold Sir Bedivere uplifted him,
+    And bore him to a chapel nigh the field,
+    A broken chancel with a broken cross,
+    That stood on a dark strait of barren land:
+    On one side lay the Ocean, and on one
+    Lay a great water, and the moon was full.
+
+      Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere:
+    "The sequel of today unsolders all
+    The goodliest fellowship of famous knights
+    Whereof this world holds record. Such a sleep
+    They sleep--the men I loved. I think that we
+    Shall never more, at any future time,
+    Delight our souls with talk of knightly deeds,
+    Walking about the gardens and the halls
+    Of Camelot, as in the days that were.
+    I perish by this people which I made,--
+    Tho' Merlin sware that I should come again
+    To rule once more; but, let what will be, be,
+    I am so deeply smitten thro' the helm
+    That without help I cannot last till morn.
+    Thou therefore take my brand Excalibur,
+    Which was my pride: for thou rememberest how
+    In those old days, one summer noon, an arm
+    Rose up from out the bosom of the lake,
+    Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
+    Holding the sword--and how I row'd across
+    And took it, and have worn it, like a king;
+    And, wheresoever I am sung or told
+    In after-time, this also shall be known:
+    But now delay not: take Excalibur,
+    And fling him far into the middle mere:
+    Watch what thou seest, and lightly bring me word."
+
+      To him replied the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "It is not meet, Sir King, to leave thee thus,
+    Aidless, alone, and smitten thro' the helm--
+    A little thing may harm a wounded man:
+    Yet I thy hest will all perform at full,
+    Watch what I see, and lightly bring thee word."
+
+      So saying, from the ruin'd shrine he stept,
+    And in the moon athwart the place of tombs,
+    Where lay the mighty bones of ancient men,
+    Old knights, and over them the sea-wind sang
+    Shrill, chill, with flakes of foam. He, stepping down
+    By zigzag paths, and juts of pointed rock,
+    Came on the shining levels of the lake.
+
+      There drew he forth the brand Excalibur,
+    And o'er him, drawing it, the winter moon,
+    Brightening the skirts of a long cloud, ran forth
+    And sparkled keen with frost against the hilt:
+    For all the haft twinkled with diamond sparks,
+    Myriads of topaz-lights, and jacinth-work
+    Of subtlest jewellery. He gazed so long
+    That both his eyes were dazzled as he stood,
+    This way and that dividing the swift mind,
+    In act to throw: but at the last it seem'd
+    Better to leave Excalibur conceal'd
+    There in the many-knotted water-flags,
+    That whistled stiff and dry about the marge.
+    So strode he back slow to the wounded King.
+
+      Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere:
+    "Hast thou perform'd my mission which I gave?"
+    What is it thou hast seen? or what hast heard?
+
+      And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "I heard the ripple washing in the reeds,
+    And the wild water lapping on the crag."
+
+      To whom replied King Arthur, faint and pale:
+    "Thou hast betray'd thy nature and thy name,
+    Not rendering true answer, as beseem'd
+    Thy fealty, nor like a noble knight:
+    For surer sign had follow'd, either hand,
+    Or voice, or else a motion of the mere.
+    This is a shameful thing for men to lie.
+    Yet now, I charge thee, quickly go again,
+    As thou art lief and dear, and do the thing
+    I bade thee, watch, and lightly bring me word."
+
+      Then went Sir Bedivere the second time
+    Across the ridge, and paced beside the mere,
+    Counting the dewy pebbles, fix'd in thought;
+    But when he saw the wonder of the hilt,
+    How curiously and strangely chased, he smote
+    His palms together, and he cried aloud:
+
+      "And if indeed I cast the brand away,
+    Surely a precious thing, one worthy note,
+    Should thus be lost for ever from the earth,
+    Which might have pleased the eyes of many men.
+    What good should follow this, if this were done?
+    What harm, undone? Deep harm to disobey,
+    Seeing obedience is the bond of rule.
+    Were it well to obey then, if a king demand
+    An act unprofitable, against himself?
+    The King is sick, and knows not what he does.
+    What record, or what relic of my lord
+    Should be to after-time, but empty breath
+    And rumors of a doubt? But were this kept,
+    Stored in some treasure-house of mighty kings,
+    Some one might show it at a joust of arms,
+    Saying, 'King Arthur's sword, Excalibur,
+    Wrought by the lonely maiden of the Lake.
+    Nine years she wrought it, sitting in the deeps
+    Upon the hidden bases of the hills.'
+    So might some old man speak in the after-time
+    To all the people, winning reverence.
+    But now much honor and much fame were lost."
+
+      So spake he, clouded with his own conceit,
+    And hid Excalibur the second time,
+    And so strode back slow to the wounded King.
+
+      Then spoke King Arthur, breathing heavily:
+    "What is it thou hast seen? or what hast heard?"
+
+      And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "I heard the water lapping on the crag,
+    And the long ripple washing in the reeds."
+
+      To whom replied King Arthur, much in wrath:
+    "Ah, miserable and unkind, untrue,
+    Unknightly, traitor-hearted! Woe is me!
+    Authority forgets a dying king,
+    Laid widow'd of the power in his eye
+    That bow'd the will. I see thee what thou art,
+    For thou, the latest-left of all my knights,
+    In whom should meet the offices of all,
+    Thou wouldst betray me for the precious hilt;
+    Either from lust of gold, or like a girl
+    Valuing the giddy pleasure of the eyes.
+    Yet, for a man may fail in duty twice,
+    And the third time may prosper, get thee hence:
+    But, if thou spare to fling Excalibur,
+    I will arise and slay thee with my hands."
+
+      Then quickly rose Sir Bedivere, and ran,
+    And, leaping down the ridges lightly, plunged
+    Among the bulrush beds, and clutch'd the sword,
+    And strongly wheel'd and threw it. The great brand
+    Made lightnings in the splendor of the moon,
+    And flashing round and round, and whirl'd in an arch,
+    Shot like a streamer of the northern morn,
+    Seen where the moving isles of winter shook
+    By night, with noises of the Northern Sea.
+    So flash'd and fell the brand Excalibur:
+    But ere he dipt the surface, rose an arm
+    Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
+    And caught him by the hilt, and brandish'd him
+    Three times, and drew him under in the mere.
+    And lightly went the other to the King.
+
+      Then spoke King Arthur, drawing thicker breath:
+    "Now see I by thine eyes that this is done.
+    Speak out: what is it thou hast heard, or seen?"
+
+      And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "Sir King, I closed mine eyelids, lest the gems
+    Should blind my purpose, for I never saw,
+    Nor shall see, here or elsewhere, till I die,
+    Not tho' I live three lives of mortal men,
+    So great a miracle as yonder hilt.
+    Then with both hands I flung him, wheeling him;
+    But when I look'd again, behold an arm,
+    Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
+    That caught him by the hilt and brandish'd him
+    Three times, and drew him under in the mere."
+
+      And answer made King Arthur, breathing hard:
+    "My end draws nigh; 'tis time that I were gone.
+    Make broad thy shoulders to receive my weight,
+    And bear me to the margin; yet I fear
+    My wound hath taken cold, and I shall die."
+
+      So saying, from the pavement he half rose,
+    Slowly, with pain, reclining on his arm,
+    And looking wistfully with wide blue eyes
+    As in a picture. Him Sir Bedivere
+    Remorsefully regarded thro' his tears,
+    And would have spoken, but he found not words;
+    Then took with care, and kneeling on one knee,
+    O'er both his shoulders drew the languid hands,
+    And rising bore him thro' the place of tombs.
+
+      But, as he walk'd, King Arthur panted hard,
+    Like one that feels a nightmare on his bed
+    When all the house is mute. So sigh'd the King,
+    Muttering and murmuring at his ear, "Quick, quick!
+    I fear it is too late, and I shall die."
+    But the other swiftly strode from ridge to ridge,
+    Clothed with his breath, and looking, as he walk'd,
+    Larger than human on the frozen hills.
+    He heard the deep behind him, and a cry
+    Before. His own thought drove him like a goad.
+    Dry clash'd his harness in the icy caves
+    And barren chasms, and all to left and right
+    The bare black cliff clang'd round him, as he based
+    His feet on juts of slippery crag that rang
+    Sharp-smitten with the dint of armed heels
+    And on a sudden, lo! the level lake,
+    And the long glories of the winter moon.
+
+      Then saw they how there hove a dusky barge,
+    Dark as a funeral scarf from stem to stern,
+    Beneath them; and descending they were ware
+    That all the decks were dense with stately forms,
+    Black-stoled, black-hooded, like a dream--by these
+    Three Queens with crowns of gold: and from them rose
+    A cry that shiver'd to the tingling stars,
+    And, as it were one voice, an agony
+    Of lamentation, like a wind that shrills
+    All night in a waste land, where no one comes,
+    Or hath come, since the making of the world.
+
+      Then murmur'd Arthur, "Place me in the barge."
+    So to the barge they came. There those three Queens
+    Put forth their hands, and took the King, and wept.
+    But she, that rose the tallest of them all
+    And fairest, laid his head upon her lap,
+    And loosed the shatter'd casque, and chafed his hands,
+    And call'd him by his name, complaining loud,
+    And dropping bitter tears against a brow
+    Striped with dark blood: for all his face was white
+    And colorless, and like the wither'd moon
+    Smote by the fresh beam of the springing east;
+    And all his greaves and cuisses dash'd with drops
+    Of onset; and the light and lustrous curls--
+    That made his forehead like a rising sun
+    High from the dais-throne--were parch'd with dust;
+    Or, clotted into points and hanging loose,
+    Mix'd with the knightly growth that fringed his lips.
+    So like a shatter'd column lay the King;
+    Not like that Arthur who, with lance in rest,
+    From spur to plume a star of tournament,
+    Shot thro' the lists at Camelot, and charged
+    Before the eyes of ladies and of kings.
+
+      Then loudly cried the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "Ah! my Lord Arthur, whither shall I go?
+    Where shall I hide my forehead and my eyes?
+    For now I see the true old times are dead,
+    When every morning brought a noble chance,
+    And every chance brought out a noble knight.
+    Such times have been not since the light that led
+    The holy Elders with the gift of myrrh.
+    But now the whole Round Table is dissolved
+    Which was an image of the mighty world
+    And I, the last, go forth companionless,
+    And the days darken round me, and the years,
+    Among new men, strange faces, other minds."
+
+      And slowly answer'd Arthur from the barge:
+    "The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
+    And God fulfils himself in many ways,
+    Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.
+    Comfort thyself: what comfort is in me?
+    I have lived my life, and that which I have done
+    May He within himself make pure! but thou,
+    If thou shouldst never see my face again,
+    Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer
+    Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
+    Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
+    For what are men better than sheep or goats
+    That nourish a blind life within the brain,
+    If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
+    Both for themselves and those who call them friend?
+    For so the whole round earth is every way
+    Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.
+    But now farewell. I am going a long way
+    With these thou seest--if indeed I go
+    (For all my mind is clouded with a doubt)--
+    To the island-valley of Avilion;
+    Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow,
+    Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies
+    Deep-meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard lawns
+    And bowery hollows crown'd with summer sea,
+    Where I will heal me of my grievous wound."
+
+      So said he, and the barge with oar and sail
+    Moved from the brink, like some full-breasted swan
+    That, fluting a wild carol ere her death,
+    Ruffles her pure cold plume, and takes the flood
+    With swarthy webs. Long stood Sir Bedivere
+    Revolving many memories, till the hull
+    Look'd one black dot against the verge of dawn,
+    And on the mere the wailing died away.
+
+      But when that moan had past for evermore,
+    The stillness of the dead world's winter dawn
+    Amazed him, and he groan'd, "The King is gone."
+    And therewithal came on him the weird rhyme,
+    "From the great deep to the great deep he goes."
+
+      Whereat he slowly turn'd and slowly clomb
+    The last hard footstep of that iron crag;
+    Thence mark'd the black hull moving yet, and cried,
+    "He passes to be King among the dead,
+    And after healing of his grievous wound
+    He comes again; but--if he come no more--
+    O me, be yon dark Queens in yon black boat,
+    Who shriek'd and wail'd, the three whereat we gazed
+    On that high day, when, clothed with living light,
+    They stood before his throne in silence, friends
+    Of Arthur, who should help him at his need?"
+
+      Then from the dawn it seem'd there came, but faint,
+    As from beyond the limit of the world,
+    Like the last echo born of a great cry,
+    Sounds, as if some fair city were one voice
+    Around a king returning from his wars.
+
+      Thereat once more he moved about, and clomb
+    Ev'n to the highest he could climb, and saw,
+    Straining his eyes beneath an arch of hand,
+    Or thought he saw, the speck that bare the King,
+    Down that long water opening on the deep
+    Somewhere far off, pass on and on, and go
+    From less to less and vanish into light.
+    And the new sun rose bringing the new year.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] This name is otherwise given as _Sir Ector_, and by Tennyson as
+_Sir Anton_.
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT KNIGHT SIEGFRIED
+
+
+Once upon a time there lived in the Netherlands, in Xante, a wonderful
+castle on the river Rhine, a mighty king and queen. Siegmund and
+Sieglinde were their names, and far and wide were they known. Yet their
+son, the glorious hero Siegfried, was still more widely celebrated. Even
+as a boy he performed so many daring feats that his bravery was talked
+of in all German lands.
+
+The two most remarkable of these feats were the slaying of a frightful
+monster known as the "Dragon of the Linden-tree" and the capture of the
+rich treasure of the Nibelungs. The hoard was an ancient one and had
+this wonderful property--that no matter how much was taken from it the
+quantity was never less.
+
+All this happened before Siegfried reached the age of manhood. When it
+was time for the youth to be knighted, King Siegmund sent invitations
+far and wide throughout the country, and a great celebration took place.
+Siegfried was solemnly girded with a sword and permitted to take his
+place among the warriors of the kingdom. Then there was a great
+tournament, a wonderful occasion for Siegfried, who came off victor in
+every encounter, although many tried warriors matched their skill
+against his. Altogether the festivities lasted seven whole days.
+
+After the guests had departed, Siegfried asked permission of his parents
+to travel into Burgundy to seek as bride for himself Kriemhild, the
+maiden of whose great beauty and loveliness he had heard.
+
+Gunther, the king of Burgundy, recognizing the young hero, went out to
+meet him and politely inquired the cause of his visit. Imagine his
+dismay when Siegfried proposed a single combat, in which the victor
+might claim the land and allegiance of the vanquished. Neither Gunther
+nor any of his knights would accept the challenge; but Gunther and his
+brother hastened forward with proffers of unbounded hospitality.
+
+Siegfried lingered a year in Gunther's palace, and though he never
+caught a glimpse of the fair maid Kriemhild, she often admired his
+strength and manly beauty from behind the palace windows.
+
+One day a herald arrived from King Ludeger of Saxony and King Ludegast
+of Denmark, announcing an invasion. Gunther was dismayed; but the brave
+Siegfried came to the rescue, saying that if Gunther would give him only
+one thousand brave men he would repel the enemy. This was done and the
+little army marched into Saxony and routed the twenty thousand valiant
+soldiers of the enemy's force. All the men did brave work, but Siegfried
+was the bravest of them all.
+
+When the hero returned, a great celebration was held in his honor, and
+Kriemhild, Ute and all the ladies of the court were invited to be
+present at the tournament. It was there that Siegfried first saw the
+fair maiden. Her beauty was more wonderful than he had ever been able to
+imagine. What was his delight, then, to learn that he had been appointed
+her escort.
+
+On the way to the tournament Kriemhild murmured her thanks for the good
+work Siegfried had done for her, and Siegfried vowed that he would
+always serve her brothers because of his great love for her.
+
+Soon after the tournament Gunther announced his intention of winning for
+his wife, Brunhild, the princess of Issland, who had vowed to marry no
+man but the one who could surpass her in jumping, throwing a stone and
+casting a spear. Gunther proposed that Siegfried go with him, promising
+him, in return for his services, the hand of Kriemhild. Such an offer
+was not to be despised, and Siegfried immediately consented; advising
+Gunther to take only Hagen and Dankwart with him.
+
+Gunther and the three knights set out in a small vessel. Siegfried bade
+his companions represent him as Gunther's vassal only; but Brunhild,
+seeing his giant figure and guessing its strength, imagined that he had
+come to woo her. She was dismayed, therefore, when she heard that he had
+held the stirrup for Gunther to dismount. When he entered her hall, she
+advanced to meet him; but he drew aside, saying that honor was due to
+his master Gunther.
+
+Brunhild ordered preparations for the evening contest, and Gunther,
+Hagen and Dankwart trembled when they saw four men staggering under the
+weight of Brunhild's shield and three more staggering under the weight
+of her spear. Siegfried, meantime, had donned his magic cloud cloak and
+bade Gunther rely upon his aid.
+
+The combat opened. Brunhild poised her spear and flung it with such
+force that both heroes staggered; but before she could cry out her
+victory Siegfried had caught the spear and flung it back with such
+violence that the princess fell and was obliged to acknowledge defeat.
+
+Undaunted, she caught up a huge stone, flung it far into the distance,
+and then leaping, alighted beside it. No sooner had she done this than
+Siegfried seized the stone, flung it still farther, and lifting Gunther
+by his broad girdle bounded through the air with him and alighted beyond
+the stone. Then Brunhild knew that she had found her master.
+
+"Come hither all my kinsmen and followers," she said, "and acknowledge
+my superior. I am no longer your mistress. Gunther is your lord."
+
+The wedding was fitly celebrated and then Gunther and his bride were
+escorted back to Issland by a thousand Nibelung warriors whom Siegfried
+had gathered for the purpose. A great banquet was given upon their
+return, at which the impatient Siegfried ventured to remind Gunther of
+his promise. Brunhild protested that Gunther should not give his only
+sister to a menial, but Gunther gave his consent and the marriage took
+place immediately. The two bridal couples then sat side by side.
+Kriemhild's face was very happy; Brunhild's was dark and frowning.
+
+You see, Brunhild was not pleased with the husband she had gained and
+preferred Siegfried. Alone with her husband the first night she bound
+him with her girdle and suspended him from a corner of her apartment.
+There she let him hang till morning. Released, Gunther sought out
+Siegfried and told him of the disgraceful affair.
+
+The following evening Siegfried again donned his cloud cloak and entered
+the apartments of Gunther and Brunhild. As he entered he blew out the
+lights, caught Brunhild's hands and wrestled with her until she pleaded
+for mercy.
+
+"Great king, forbear," she said. "I will henceforth be thy dutiful wife.
+I will do nothing to anger thee. Thou art my lord and master."
+
+Having accomplished his purpose, Siegfried left the room, but first he
+took Brunhild's girdle and her ring. These he carried with him when
+after the festivities he and Kriemhild returned to Xante on the Rhine.
+
+Siegmund and Sieglinde abdicated in favor of their son, and for ten
+years Siegfried and Kriemhild reigned happily. Then they were invited to
+pay a visit to Gunther and Brunhild. They accepted, leaving their little
+son Gunther in the care of the Nibelungs.
+
+Brunhild received Kriemhild graciously, but at heart she was jealous
+and wanted Kriemhild to acknowledge her as superior. One day they had a
+hot dispute, Kriemhild declaring that her husband was without peer in
+the world, and Brunhild retorting that since he was Gunther's vassal he
+must be his inferior. Kriemhild made an angry avowal that she would
+publicly assert her rank.
+
+Both queens parted in a rage and proceeded to attire themselves in the
+most gorgeous costumes they possessed. Accompanied by their
+ladies-in-waiting they met at the church door. Brunhild bade Kriemhild
+stand aside while she entered, and Kriemhild would not. A storm of words
+followed. Finally Kriemhild insulted the other queen by declaring that
+Brunhild was not a faithful wife.
+
+"You loved Siegfried better than Gunther," she declared. "Here are your
+girdle and ring which my husband gave to me." So saying, she displayed
+the girdle and ring which Siegfried had unwisely given her when he
+confided to her the story of Gunther's wooing.
+
+Brunhild summoned Gunther to defend her, and he sent for Siegfried. The
+latter publicly swore that his wife had not told the truth and that
+Brunhild had never loved him or he her.
+
+"This quarrel is disgraceful," he said. "I will teach my wife better
+manners for the future." Gunther promised to do likewise.
+
+The guests departed, but Brunhild still smarted from the insult and
+longed for revenge. Hagen, finding her in tears, undertook to avenge
+her. He continually reminded Gunther of the insult his wife had
+received. The king at first paid no attention to the insinuations, but
+at last he consented to an assault on Siegfried.
+
+He asked the great hero to help him in a war which he pretended his old
+enemy Ludeger was about to bring upon him. Siegfried consented, and
+Kriemhild, because she loved her husband very deeply, was much
+troubled. In her distress she confided to Hagen that Siegfried was
+invulnerable except in one spot, between the shoulder blades, where a
+lime leaf had rested and the dragon's blood had not touched him.
+
+"Never fear," said Hagen, "I myself will help to protect him. You sew a
+tiny cross on Siegfried's doublet, just over the vulnerable spot, that I
+may be the better able to shield him."
+
+Brunhild promised to obey his instructions, and Hagen departed, well
+pleased, to carry the news to Gunther.
+
+At last the day came for Siegfried to leave his queen. He talked to her
+and comforted her and kissed her rosy lips.
+
+"Dear heart," he said, "why all these tears? I shall not be gone long."
+
+But she was thinking of what she had told Hagen, and wept and wept and
+would not be comforted.
+
+When Siegfried joined Gunther's party he was surprised to learn that the
+rebellion had been quelled and that he was invited to join in a hunt
+instead of a fray.
+
+So he joined the hunting party. Now Siegfried was as great a hunter as
+he was a warrior, and while the noonday meal was being prepared he
+scoured the forest, slew several wild boars, caught a bear alive and in
+a spirit of mischief turned him loose among the guests. Then, tired and
+thirsty, he sat down, calling for a drink.
+
+Not a bit of wine was at hand; it had all been carried to another part
+of the forest. Hagen pointed out a spring near by and Siegfried proposed
+a race, offering to run in full armor while the others ran without armor
+or weapons. In spite of the handicap, Siegfried reached the spring
+first.
+
+Always polite, Siegfried bade his host, Gunther, drink first, while he
+himself disarmed. Siegfried then stooped over the spring to drink, and
+as he stooped, Hagen, gliding behind him, drove his spear into his body
+at the exact spot where Kriemhild had embroidered the fatal mark.
+
+Siegfried struggled to avenge himself, but found nothing but his shield
+within reach. This he flung with such force at his murderer that it
+knocked him down. Exhausted by the effort, the hero fell back upon the
+grass, cursing the treachery of Gunther and Hagen.
+
+Curses soon gave way to thoughts of Kriemhild, however, and overcoming
+his anger he recommended her to the care of her brother Gunther. Then
+the great hero died.
+
+The hunting party agreed to carry the body back to Worms and say that
+they had found it in the forest. But Hagen, bolder than the rest,
+ordered the bearers to deposit the corpse at Kriemhild's door, where she
+would see it when she went out for early mass the next morning. As he
+expected, Kriemhild discovered her dead lord and fell senseless upon
+him. Recovering, she cried out that he had been murdered: no foeman in a
+fair fight could have killed the glorious knight.
+
+A great funeral took place and Siegfried's body was laid in state in the
+cathedral at Worms. Thither many came to view it and to express their
+sympathy for the widow Kriemhild. The latter, suspecting treachery,
+refused to listen to Gunther until he promised that all of those present
+at the hunt should touch the body.
+
+"Blood will flow afresh at the murderer's touch," he said.
+
+One by one the hunters advanced, and when Hagen touched the great
+warrior's form, lo, the blood flowed again from his wounds. At this the
+Nibelung warriors wanted to avenge the dead, but Kriemhild would not
+permit them to interrupt the funeral. So the ceremonies were concluded
+and Siegfried's body was laid to rest.
+
+
+
+
+LOHENGRIN AND ELSA THE BEAUTIFUL
+
+
+The young Duchess of Brabant, Elsa the Beautiful, had gone into the
+woods hunting, and becoming separated from her attendants, sat down to
+rest under a wide-branching linden-tree.
+
+She was sorely troubled, for many lords and princes were asking for her
+hand in marriage. More urgent than all the others was the invincible
+hero, Count Telramund, her former guardian, who since the death of her
+father had ruled over the land with masterly hand. Now the duke, her
+father, on his death-bed had promised Telramund that he might have Elsa
+for wife, should she be willing; and Telramund was continually reminding
+her of this. But Elsa blushed with shame at the mere thought of such a
+union, for Telramund was a rough warrior, as much hated for his cruelty
+as he was feared for his strength. To make matters worse he was now at
+the court of the chosen King Henry of Saxony, threatening her with war
+and even worse calamities.
+
+In the shade of the linden Elsa thought of all this, and pitied her own
+loneliness in that no brother or friend stood at her side to help her.
+Then the sweet singing of birds seemed to comfort her, and she dropped
+into a gentle sleep. As she dreamed it seemed to her that a young knight
+stepped out of the depths of the forest. Holding up a small silver bell,
+he spoke in friendly tones:
+
+"If you should need my help, just ring this."
+
+Elsa tried to take the trinket, but she could neither rise nor reach the
+outstretched hand. Then she awoke.
+
+Thinking over the apparition Elsa noted a falcon circling over her
+head. It came nearer and finally settled on her shoulder. Around his
+neck hung a bell exactly like that she had seen in the dream. She
+loosened it, and as she did so the bird rose and flew away. But she
+still held the little bell in her hand, and in her soul was fresh hope
+and peace.
+
+When she returned to the castle she found there a message, bidding her
+appear before the king in Cologne on the Rhine. Filled with confidence
+in the protection of higher powers, she did not hesitate to obey. In
+gorgeous costume, with many followers, she set out.
+
+King Henry was a man who loved justice and exercised it, but his kingdom
+was in constant danger from inroads by wild Huns, and for this reason he
+wished to do whatever would win the favor of the powerful Count
+Telramund. When, however, he saw Elsa in all her beauty and innocence he
+hesitated in his purpose.
+
+The plaintiff brought forward three men who testified that the duchess
+had entered into a secret union with one of her vassals. Only two of
+these men were shown to be perfidious; the testimony of the other seemed
+valid, though this was not enough to condemn her.
+
+Then Telramund seized his sword, crying out that God Himself should be
+the judge, and that a duel should decide the matter. So a duel was
+arranged to take place three days later.
+
+Elsa cast her eyes around the circle of nobles, but saw no one grasp his
+sword in defense of her Innocence. Fear of the mighty warrior Telramund
+filled them all.
+
+Remembering the little bell, she drew it forth from her pocket and rang
+it. The clear tones broke the stillness, grew louder and louder until
+they reached even the distant mountains.
+
+"My champion will appear in the contest," she said; where-upon the
+count let forth such a mocking laugh that the hearts of all were filled
+with intense fear.
+
+The day of the contest was at hand. The king sat on his high throne and
+watched the majestic river that sent its mighty waters through the
+valley. Princes and brave knights were gathered together. Before them
+stood Telramund, clad in armor, and at his side the accused Elsa,
+adorned with every grace that Nature can bestow.
+
+Three times the mighty hero challenged some one to come forward as a
+champion for the accused girl, but no one stirred. Then arose from the
+Rhine the sound of sweet music; something silvery gleamed in the
+distance, and as it came nearer it was plain that it was a swan with
+silver feathers. With a silver chain he was pulling a small ship, in
+which lay sleeping a knight clad in bright armor.
+
+When the bark landed, the knight awoke, rose, and blew three times on a
+golden horn. This was the signal that he took up the challenge. Quickly
+he strode into the lists.
+
+"Your name and descent?" cried the herald.
+
+"My name is Lohengrin," answered the stranger, "my origin royal: more it
+is not necessary to tell."
+
+"Enough," broke in the king, "nobility is written on your brow."
+
+Trumpets gave the signal for the fight to begin. Telramund's strokes
+fell thick as hail, but suddenly the stranger knight rose and with one
+fearful stroke split the count's helmet and cut his head.
+
+"God has decided," cried the king. "His judgment is right; but you,
+noble knight, will help us in the campaign against the barbarian hordes
+and will be the leader of the detachment which the fair duchess will
+send from Brabant."
+
+Gladly Lohengrin consented, and amid cries of delight from the assembled
+people he rode over to Elsa, who greeted him as her deliverer.
+
+Lohengrin escorted Elsa back to Brabant, and on the way love awoke in
+their hearts, and they knew that they were destined for each other. In
+the castle of Antwerp they were pledged, and a few weeks later the
+marriage took place. As the bridal couple were leaving the cathedral,
+Lohengrin said to Elsa:
+
+"One thing I must ask of you, and that is that you never inquire
+concerning my origin, for in the hour that you put that question must I
+surely part from you."
+
+It was not long after the ceremony that the cry to arms came from King
+Henry, and Elsa accompanied her husband and his troops to Cologne, where
+all the counts of the kingdom were assembled. Here there were many
+inquiries concerning Lohengrin, and when none seemed to know of his
+origin, some jealously claimed that he was the son of a heathen
+magician, and that he gained his victories by the power of black arts.
+
+Elsa, who had heard rumors of these charges, was deeply grieved; for she
+knew the noble heart of her husband. He had even relieved her fears for
+his safety by the assurance that he was under the protection of powers
+higher than human.
+
+But she could not banish the evil rumors from her mind, and forgetting
+the warning her husband had given her on the day of her marriage, she
+dropped to her knees and asked him concerning his birth.
+
+"Dear wife," he cried in great distress, "now will I tell to you and to
+the king and to all the assembled princes, what up to this time I have
+kept secret; but know that the time of our parting is at hand."
+
+Then the hero led his trembling wife before the king and his nobles who
+were assembled on the banks of the Rhine.
+
+[Illustration: ELSA ON HER KNEES BEFORE LOHENGRIN]
+
+[Illustration: FRITHIOF AND INGEBORG IN THE TEMPLE OF BALDER]
+
+"The son of Parsifal am I," he said, "the son of Parsifal, the keeper of
+the Holy Grail. Gladly would I have helped you, O King, in your fight
+against the barbarians, but an unavoidable fate calls me away. You will,
+however, be victorious, and under your descendants will Germany become a
+powerful nation."
+
+When he finished speaking there was a deep silence, and then, as upon
+his arrival, there rose the sound of music--not joyful this time, but
+solemn, like a chant at the grave of the dead. It came nearer and again
+the swan and the boat appeared.
+
+"Farewell, dear one," Lohengrin cried, folding his wife in his arms.
+"Too dearly did I hold you and your pleasant land of earth; now a higher
+duty calls me."
+
+Weeping, Elsa clung to him; but the swan song sounded louder, like a
+warning. He tore himself free and stepped into the boat. Was it the ship
+of death and destruction, or only the ship that carried the blessed to
+the sacred place of the Grail? No one knew.
+
+Elsa, lonely and sad, did not live long after the separation. Her only
+hope was that she would be reunited to her dear husband; and she parted
+willingly with her own life, as other children of earth have done when
+they have lost all that they held most precious.
+
+
+
+
+FRITHIOF THE BOLD
+
+
+Frithiof was a Norwegian hero, grandson of Viking, who was the largest
+and strongest man of his time. Viking had sailed the sea in a dragon
+ship, meeting with many adventures, and Thorsten, Frithiof's father, had
+likewise sailed abroad, capturing many priceless treasures and making a
+great name for himself.
+
+Frithiof was entrusted to the care of Hilding, his foster father, and in
+his care, also, were Halfdan and Helge, King Bele's sons, and, some
+years later, their little sister, Ingeborg. Frithiof and Ingeborg became
+firm friends, and as the lad increased in bravery and strength, the girl
+increased in beauty and loveliness of soul. Hilding, noticing how each
+day they became fonder of each other, called Frithiof to him and bade
+him remember that he was only a humble subject and could never hope to
+wed Ingeborg, the king's only daughter, descended from the great god
+Odin. The warning, however, came too late, for Frithiof already loved
+the fair maiden, and vowed that he would have her for his bride at any
+cost.
+
+Soon after this the king died, leaving his kingdom to his two sons and
+giving instructions that his funeral mound should be erected in sight of
+that of his dear friend Thorsten, so that their spirits might not be
+separated even in death. Then Ingeborg went to live with her brothers,
+the Kings of Sogn, while Frithiof retired to his own home at Framnas,
+closed in by the mountains and the sea.
+
+Frithiof was now one of the wealthiest and most envied of land-owners.
+His treasures were richer by far than those of any king.
+
+In the spring he held a great celebration, which the kings of Sogn and
+their sister Ingeborg, among many other guests, attended. Frithiof and
+Ingeborg were much together, and Frithiof was very happy to learn that
+Ingeborg returned his affection.
+
+Great was his grief when the time came for her to sail away. Not long
+had she been gone, however, when he vowed to Bjorn, his chief companion,
+that he would follow after her and ask for her hand. His ship was
+prepared and soon he touched the shore near the temple of the god
+Balder.
+
+His request was not granted and Helge dismissed him contemptuously. In a
+rage at the insult Frithiof lifted his sword; but remembering that he
+stood on consecrated ground near Bele's tomb, he spared the king, only
+cutting his heavy shield in two to show the strength of his blade.
+
+Soon after his departure another suitor, the aged King Ring of Norway
+sought the hand of Ingeborg in marriage, and being refused, collected an
+army and prepared to make war on Helge and Halfdan.
+
+Then the two brothers were glad to send a messenger after Frithiof,
+asking his aid. The hero, still angry, refused; but he hastened at once
+to Ingeborg. He found her in tears at the shrine of Balder, and although
+it was considered a sin for a man and woman to exchange words in the
+sacred temple, he spoke to her, again making known his love.
+
+The kings, her brothers, were away at war, but Frithiof stayed near
+Ingeborg, and when they returned, promised to free them from the
+oppression of Sigurd Ring if in return they would promise him the hand
+of their sister. But the kings had heard of how Frithiof had spoken to
+Ingeborg in the temple, and although they feared Sigurd they would not
+grant the request. Instead he was condemned in punishment to sail away
+to the Orkney Islands to claim tribute from the king Angantyr.
+
+Frithiof departed in his ship Ellida, and Ingeborg stayed behind,
+weeping bitterly. And as soon as the vessel was out of sight the
+brothers sent for two witches--Heid and Ham--bidding them stir up such a
+tempest on the sea that even the god-given ship Ellida could not
+withstand its fury.
+
+But no tempest could frighten the brave Frithiof. Singing a cheery song
+he stood at the helm, caring nothing for the waves that raged about the
+ship. He comforted his crew, and then climbed the mast to keep a sharp
+lookout for danger.
+
+From there he spied a huge whale, upon which the two witches were
+seated, delighted at the tempest they had stirred up. Speaking to his
+good ship, which could both hear and obey, he bade it run down the whale
+and the witches.
+
+This Ellida did. Whale and witches sank; the sea grew red with their
+blood; the waves were calmed. Again the sun smiled over the hardy
+sailors. But many of the crew were worn out by the battle with the
+elements and had to be carried ashore by Frithiof and Bjorn when they
+reached the Orkney Islands.
+
+Now the watchman at Angantyr's castle had reported the ship and the
+gale, and Angantyr had declared that only Frithiof and Ellida could
+weather such a storm. One of his vassals, Atle, caught up his weapons
+and hurried forth to challenge the great hero.
+
+Frithiof had no weapons, but with a turn of his wrist he threw his
+opponent.
+
+"Go and get your weapons," Atle said, when he saw that Frithiof would
+have killed him.
+
+Knowing that Atle was a true soldier and would not run away, Frithiof
+left him in search of his sword; but when he returned and found his
+opponent calmly awaiting death, he was generous, and bade him rise and
+live.
+
+Angantyr vowed that he owed no tribute to Helge, and would pay him none,
+but to Frithiof he gave a vast treasure, telling him that he might
+dispose of it as he would.
+
+So Frithiof sailed back to the kings of Sogn, confident that he could
+win Ingeborg. What was his dismay, therefore, to learn that Helge and
+Halfdan had already given their sister in marriage to Sigurd Ring. In a
+rage he bade his men destroy all the vessels in the harbor, while he
+strode toward the temple of Balder where Helge and his wife were. He
+flung Angantyr's purse of gold in Helge's face, and seeing the ring he
+had given to Ingeborg on the hand of Helge's wife snatched it roughly
+from her. In trying to get it back she dropped the image of the god,
+which she had just been anointing, into the fire. It was quickly
+consumed; while the rising flames set fire to the temple.
+
+Horror-stricken, Frithiof tried to stop the blaze, and when he could
+not, hurried away to his ship.
+
+So Frithiof became an exile, and a wanderer on the face of the earth.
+For many years he lived the life of a pirate or viking; exacting tribute
+from other ships or sacking them if they would not pay tribute; for this
+occupation in the days of Frithiof was considered wholly respectable. It
+was followed again and again by the brave men of the North.
+
+But Frithiof was often homesick, and longed to enter a harbor, and lead
+again a life of peace.
+
+At last he decided to visit the court of Sigurd Ring and find out
+whether Ingeborg was really happy. Landing, he wrapped himself in an old
+cloak and approached the court. He found a seat on a bench near the
+door, as beggars usually did; but when one insulting courtier mocked him
+he lifted the offender in his mighty hand and swung him high over his
+head.
+
+At this Sigurd Ring invited the old man to remove his mantle and take a
+seat near him. With surprise Sigurd and his courtiers saw step from the
+tattered mantle a handsome warrior, richly clad; but only Ingeborg knew
+who he was.
+
+"Who are you who comes to us thus?" asked Sigurd Ring.
+
+"I am Thiolf, a thief," was the answer, "and I have grown to manhood in
+the Land of Sorrow."
+
+Sigurd invited him to remain, and he soon became the almost constant
+companion of the king and queen.
+
+One spring day Sigurd and Frithiof had ridden away on a hunting
+expedition and the old king being tired from the chase lay down on the
+ground to rest, feigning sleep. The birds and beasts of the forest drew
+near and whispered to Frithiof that he should slay the king and have
+Ingeborg for his own wife. But Frithiof was too fine and loyal to listen
+to such suggestions.
+
+Awaking, Sigurd Ring called Frithiof to him.
+
+"You are Frithiof the Bold," he said, "and from the first I knew you. Be
+patient now a little longer and you shall have Ingeborg, for my end is
+near."
+
+Soon after this Sigurd died, commending his wife to the young hero's
+loving care. And at his own request the funeral feast was closed by the
+public betrothal of Ingeborg and Frithiof.
+
+The people, admiring his bravery, wanted to make Frithiof king, but he
+would not listen to their pleadings. Instead he lifted the little son of
+Sigurd upon his shield.
+
+"Behold your king," he cried, "and until he is grown to manhood I will
+stand beside him."
+
+So Frithiof married his beloved Ingeborg, and later, so the story runs,
+he returned to his own country and built again the temple of Balder,
+more beautiful by far than any before.
+
+
+
+
+WAYLAND THE SMITH
+
+
+King Nidung had one daughter and three sons. The oldest son, Otvin, was
+away from court, guarding the outposts of the country; the other two
+sons were still children.
+
+One day the two boys came with their bows to the great smith Wayland,
+asking him to make arrows for them.
+
+"Not today," the smith answered. "I have not time; and besides, even
+though you are the sons of the king, I may not work for you without the
+wish and consent of your father. If he is willing, you may come again;
+but you must promise to do exactly as I tell you."
+
+"What is that?" one of the boys ventured.
+
+"You must," said Wayland, "come on a day when snow has freshly fallen,
+and you must walk facing backward all the way."
+
+The children cared little whether they walked backward or forward, as
+long as they got their arrows, and so they promised. To their delight
+next morning they found that snow had fallen. Quickly they set out for
+the smithy, walking backward all the way.
+
+"O Wayland, make us the arrows," they cried. "The king, our father, has
+said that we might have them."
+
+But Wayland had no intention of making the arrows, for the king had
+treated him unjustly and cruelly, and he saw the opportunity for
+revenge. With his mighty hammer he struck the two children on the head
+and killed them. Then he threw their bodies into a cave adjoining the
+smithy.
+
+When the children did not return the castle messengers were sent out to
+find them. They inquired at the smithy.
+
+"The boys have gone," said Wayland. "I made arrows for them, and no
+doubt they have gone into the woods to shoot birds."
+
+Returning to the castle the messengers saw the footprints in the snow,
+and since they pointed toward home, decided that the children must have
+gone back. But they were not there. Then Nidung sent his servants far
+and wide throughout the country, and when the boys were nowhere to be
+found, he concluded that they must have been devoured by wild animals.
+
+When all the searches were over, Wayland brought forth the bodies of the
+two children, stripped the bones of flesh, whitened them, and made them
+into goblets and vessels for the king's table, mounting them with silver
+and gold. The king was delighted with them, and had them placed upon his
+board whenever there were guests of honor present.
+
+A long time later, Badhild, the king's daughter, while playing with her
+companions in the garden one day, broke a costly ring that Nidung had
+given her. She was greatly vexed and feared to tell her father.
+
+"Why not take it to Wayland to mend?" suggested one of her trusted
+maidens.
+
+So Badhild gave the trinket to the girl and bade her take it to Wayland.
+She brought it back with her.
+
+"Without the command of the king he will not mend it," she said, "unless
+the king's daughter herself will come to him."
+
+Badhild set out immediately for the smithy. There Wayland substituted
+for her ring his own, which, had the curious magic power of making its
+wearer fall in love with the smith.
+
+The smith slipped the jewel on her finger, gazed into her eyes and said,
+"This ring you shall keep as well as your own, if you will be my
+bride."
+
+[Illustration: WAYLAND THE SMITH, WEARING THE WINGS HE HAD FASHIONED]
+
+[Illustration: ZIDOVIN THREW THE IRON CLUB INTO THE AIR AND CAUGHT IT
+WITH ONE HAND]
+
+The maiden could not refuse, and so the two were married, agreeing to
+keep their union a secret.
+
+About this time Eigil, the brother of Wayland, came to the court of
+Nidung. He was a celebrated man and the most skilful master of the bow
+to be found anywhere in the world. The king welcomed him, and he
+remained a long time at the court. One day Nidung proposed that, since
+he was such a skilful bowman, he should try shooting an apple from the
+head of his own son. Eigil agreed.
+
+"You may have only one trial," the king said.
+
+So an apple was placed on the head of Eigil's three-year-old son, and
+Eigil, taking his bow, aimed, and with the first arrow struck the apple
+in the center, so that it fell from the child's head.
+
+"Why did you have three arrows?" the king asked.
+
+"Sire," replied Eigil, "I will not lie to you. If I had pierced my son
+with the first arrow, the other two would have pierced you."
+
+The king, strange to say, did not take offense at this speech, but on
+the contrary showed Eigil still greater favor than he had in the past.
+
+The archer frequently visited his brother Wayland, but Badhild came but
+seldom to her husband's house. One day the two came together at
+Wayland's special request. When they were leaving Wayland embraced
+Badhild and said to her:
+
+"You will be the mother of a boy--your child and mine. It may be that I
+shall go away from here and never see his face; but you must tell him
+that I have made for him worthy weapons and stowed them in safety in the
+place where the water enters and the wind goes out (the forge)."
+
+The next time Wayland saw Eigil he bade him bring to him all kinds of
+feathers, large and small.
+
+"I wish to make for myself a doublet of feathers," he explained.
+
+Then Eigil shot many birds of prey and brought their feathers to
+Wayland. From them he made a flying shirt, clad in which he looked more
+like an eagle than a man.
+
+Eigil admired the workmanship and Wayland asked him to try it.
+
+"How shall I rise, how fly, and how alight?" asked Eigil.
+
+"You must rise against the wind, and fly first low and then high, but
+you must alight with the wind."
+
+Eigil did as he was told, and had a good deal of trouble in alighting.
+Finally he knocked his head with such force on the ground that he lost
+consciousness. When he came to himself Wayland spoke:
+
+"Tell me, brother Eigil, do you like the shirt?"
+
+"If it were as easy to alight as it is to fly," was the answer, "I
+should fly away and you would never see me again."
+
+"I will alter what is wrong," said the smith, making a slight change in
+the shirt. Then with Eigil's help he put on the feathers, flapped his
+wings and rose into the air. He lighted on a turret of the castle and
+called down to Eigil.
+
+"I did not tell you the truth when I said that you should alight _with_
+the wind, for I knew that if you found out how easy it was to fly you
+would never give me the shirt back again. You can see for yourself that
+all birds rise against the wind and alight in the same way. I am going
+home to my own country, but first I must have a few words with Nidung.
+And, remember, if he bids you shoot me, shoot under the left wing, for
+there I have fastened a bladder filled with blood."
+
+With these words Wayland flew to the highest tower of the king's castle
+and called to the king as he passed with his courtiers.
+
+"Are you a bird, Wayland?" asked the king.
+
+"Sometimes I am a bird and sometimes a man," was the reply; "but now I
+am going away from here and never again will you have me in your power.
+Listen while I speak. You promised once to give me your daughter and the
+half of your kingdom, but you made of me instead an outcast--because I
+defended myself and killed the wretches who would have taken my life.
+
+"You surprised me while I slept and stole my arms and my treasures; and
+not satisfied with that you laid a net for my feet and made of me a
+cripple. But I have had my revenge. Do you know where your sons are?"
+
+"My sons!" cried Nidung. "Oh, tell me what you know of them."
+
+"I will tell you, but first you must swear to me by the deck of the ship
+and the edge of the shield, by the back of the horse and the blade of
+the sword that you will do no harm to my wife and child."
+
+Nidung swore and Wayland began his speech:
+
+"Go to my smithy, and there in the cave you will find the remains of
+your sons. I killed them, and of their bones made vessels for your
+table. Your daughter Badhild is my wife. So have I repaid evil with
+evil, and our connection is ended."
+
+With these words he flew away, while Nidung in great anger cried:
+"Eigil, shoot at Wayland."
+
+"I cannot harm my own brother," replied Eigil.
+
+"Shoot," cried the king, "or I will kill you."
+
+Then Eigil laid an arrow in his bow and shot Wayland as he had been
+instructed, under his left arm, until the blood flowed and everyone
+thought that the great smith had received his death wound.
+
+But Wayland, unharmed, flew away to Zealand and made his home there in
+his father's land.
+
+Nidung, meantime, was sad and unhappy, and it was not long before he
+died and Otvin, his son, succeeded to the throne.
+
+Otvin was soon loved and honored throughout the kingdom because of his
+great justice and kindness. His sister lived with him at court, and
+there her son, Widge, was born.
+
+One day Wayland sent messengers to Otvin, asking for peace and pardon,
+and when these were granted he traveled again to Jutland and was
+received with great honor.
+
+The mighty smith was very glad to see his wife again and very proud of
+his three-year-old son; but he would not yield to Otvin's request that
+he remain in Jutland. Instead he returned to Zealand with Badhild and
+Widge, and there they lived happily for many years.
+
+Wayland was known throughout all the world for his knowledge and skill,
+and his son Widge was a powerful hero, whose praises were much
+celebrated in song.
+
+So ends the story of Wayland, the great smith of the northern
+countries.
+
+
+
+
+TWARDOWSKI, THE POLISH FAUST
+
+
+Toward the close of the eighteenth century there was pointed out to
+visitors in the old town of Krakau the house of the magician Twardowski,
+who quite properly was called the Faust of Poland, because of his
+dealings with the Evil One.
+
+In his youth Twardowski had followed the study of medicine, and with
+such industry, such eagerness and such a clear mind did he practice his
+profession that it was not long before he was the most celebrated doctor
+in all Poland. But Twardowski was not satisfied with this. He craved
+greater and still greater power.
+
+At last one day, as he was reading, he found in an old book of magic
+that for which he had long been seeking--the formula for summoning the
+devil. When night came a storm had risen, but caring not for that he
+hurried away to the lonely mountain Kremenki. There, in a rudely
+constructed hut, he began his incantations.
+
+Before long there was an earthquake; great rocks were loosened, the
+ground opened at Twardowski's feet and flames leaped out; and in the
+flames appeared the Evil One himself, in the form of a man, clad in a
+red cloak with the well-known pointed red cap.
+
+"What do you wish?" the devil asked.
+
+"The power of your most secret wisdom," was the answer.
+
+"And how is this to be done?"
+
+"You shall make me the most celebrated of all the learned men of the
+century, and shall besides give me such happiness as no man has ever
+enjoyed upon this earth before."
+
+"So be it," said the devil. "But on condition that at the end of seven
+years I gain possession of your soul."
+
+"You may take me," answered Twardowski, "but only in Rome may you have
+power over me. Thither, at the end of seven years, will I go."
+
+The devil hesitated over this clause, but thinking of the fun he could
+have in the holy city, finally agreed. Leaning against the wall of stone
+he wrote the compact, which Twardowski, making a slight wound in his
+arm, signed with his own blood.
+
+When Twardowski descended from the mountain and made his way, book under
+arm, through the valley, he heard the bells in all the towers of the
+city ringing out clearly and solemnly on the still night air. He
+listened, wondering at the unaccustomed noise, then hurried into the
+town, inquiring from every one he met what the occasion was. But no one
+seemed to have heard the sound.
+
+Then a deep feeling of sadness came over him as he realized the meaning
+of the bells. They were the funeral knell of his own soul.
+
+When morning came, however, doubts were forgotten, and Twardowski was
+glad to have the devil at his command. The first thing that he demanded
+was to have all the silver of Poland gathered together in one place and
+covered over with great mounds of sand.
+
+Similar requests followed, and it was not long before the devil repented
+of his bargain. One day it would please Twardowski to fly without wings
+through the air; on another, to the delight of the crowd, to gallop
+backward on a cock; on another to float in a boat without a rudder or
+sail, accompanied by some maiden who for the moment had inflamed his
+heart. One day, by the use of his magic mirror, he set fire to the
+castle of an enemy a mile away. This last feat made him greatly feared
+by people far and wide.
+
+At last the seven years were up. The devil appeared to Twardowski and
+said:
+
+"Twardowski, the time of our pact is over, and I command you to fulfill
+your promise and go to Rome."
+
+"What shall I do there?"
+
+"Give me your immortal soul," was the answer.
+
+"Do you think I am a fool?" asked Twardowski.
+
+"You gave me your promise to go to Rome after seven years."
+
+"That I have already done," said Twardowski, "and I did not promise to
+stay in Rome."
+
+"Noble deceiver!" exclaimed the Evil One.
+
+"Stupid devil!" cried Twardowski.
+
+Then after a struggle the devil vanished and Twardowski returned home.
+
+For over a year he pored incessantly over his books of magic, until at
+last he found a formula for warding off death. Then he called his
+disciple Famulus to him and explained that he was going to test the
+formula.
+
+"You have always obliged me without question," said Twardowski, "and I
+expect you to now. Take this knife and thrust it into my heart."
+
+"God forbid!" cried Famulus.
+
+"Why are you frightened? I know what, I am doing. Take the knife and
+kill me, as the parchment directs."
+
+"I cannot."
+
+"You must," insisted Twardowski.
+
+"It is impossible!"
+
+"No more exclamations. Do as I tell you."
+
+"Oh, oh, oh!" wailed Famulus.
+
+"Strike!" thundered Twardowski, "or I will kill you this instant."
+
+Then Famulus did as he was bid and forced the blade into his master's
+heart.
+
+Twardowski uttered a low cry, fell, and was soon dead.
+
+Famulus dropped trembling into a chair and covered his face with his
+hands. Then he remembered that he must read the remainder of the
+parchment in order to find out what he must do to restore the body to
+life.
+
+Then he set about the task, severed the limbs of the dead body; and
+worked and brewed and distilled until the elixir described in the
+parchment was prepared.
+
+With the elixir he rubbed the members of the master's body, put them
+together, and laid the corpse in a coffin. This he buried on the
+following night, explaining to Twardowski's friends that such had been
+the master's wish.
+
+Now the parchment stated that the body must remain in the grave seven
+years, seven months, seven days and seven hours; so Famulus could do
+nothing but wait. At last the time had expired, and on a snowy, cold
+December night he found his way to the grave. He dug out the coffin,
+brushed off the snow and earth, opened the casket and found--not the
+body of Twardowski, but that of a child who lay sleeping in a bed of
+fragrant violets.
+
+"The child is like Twardowski," Famulus thought, and he gathered him up
+under his cloak and carried him home. The next morning the child was the
+size of a twelve-year old; and after seven weeks he was a full-grown
+man.
+
+Twardowski, who now seemed quite himself, only younger and stronger,
+thanked Famulus and resumed again his study of magic. He desired, above
+all things, to be freed forever from his compact with the devil. This,
+he read in one of the books, he might do if he would brave the terrors
+of the underworld.
+
+So Twardowski determined to enter the gates of hell. At his magic speech
+the ground opened and he began the path of descent. Blue flames lighted
+the way. Deeper and deeper he went through dark and winding passages.
+At last he reached the underworld itself, and many awful sights did he
+behold.
+
+And the farther he went the more frightened did he become. He could not
+help feeling that the devil had plotted something against him. Finally
+he found himself in a small room, and cast a hasty glance around,
+looking for a means of escape.
+
+Seeing a child in a cradle in one corner of the room he seized it
+hastily, threw his cloak around it, and was about to leave when the door
+opened and the Evil One entered.
+
+He made a respectful bow and said, "Will you be good enough to go with
+me now?"
+
+"Why so?" asked Twardowski, obstinately.
+
+"Because of our agreement."
+
+"But," said the magician, "only in Rome have you power over me."
+
+"Yes," replied the devil, "and Rome is the name of this house."
+
+"You think to trick me by a pun; but you cannot. I carry this talisman
+of innocence," and throwing aside his cloak, he disclosed the sleeping
+child.
+
+Anger showed in the face of the devil; but he stepped nearer to
+Twardowski and said softly:
+
+"What are you thinking of, Twardowski? Have you forgotten your promise?
+The nobleman's word is sacred to him."
+
+Pride awoke in the breast of the magician.
+
+"I must keep my word," he said, laying the child back in the crib, and
+surrendering himself.
+
+On the shoulders of the devil two wings appeared, like the wings of a
+bat. He seized Twardowski and flew away with him, mounting higher and
+higher into the night. The magician was so terrified and suffered such
+anguish in the clutches of the Evil One that in a few moments he was
+changed into an old man, but he did not lose consciousness. At last so
+high were they that cities appeared like flies and Krakau with its
+mighty turrets like two spiders. Deeply moved, Twardowski looked down
+upon the scene of all his struggles and all his joys.
+
+But higher and higher they went--higher than any eagle has ever
+flown--and more lonely and more fearful did it seem to Twardowski. Only
+occasionally bright stars passed by them, or fiery meteors, leaving a
+long streak of light behind.
+
+At last they came to the moon, which stared at them with dead eyes. Then
+a song that Twardowski had read in his mother's hymn book rose to his
+lips. And as he repeated mechanically the prayer his mother had taught
+him an angel suddenly appeared and said:
+
+"Satan, let Twardowski go; and you, Twardowski, hang you there between
+heaven and earth, to atone for your sin until the Last Judgment. Then
+will you be reunited with your mother in heaven. The prayer which you
+remembered in your hour of need has saved you."
+
+And so, according to the story, Twardowski is suspended in the vault of
+heaven to this very day.
+
+
+
+
+ILIA MUROMEC OF RUSSIA
+
+
+When we think of Russia we think of a great dark country--a country of
+long winters and abundant snow and ice. It was here, long ago, in the
+city of Kiev, that the hero Ilia Muromec was born.
+
+There was at that time a great castle in the city, and this was well
+protected by Ilia Muromec and his twelve armed knights. For thirty long
+years had they kept watch at their post and no stranger had ever passed
+by them.
+
+But one morning Dobrnja, the knight after Ilia Muromec most powerful,
+perceived on the ground the imprint of a horse's hoof. Then he said to
+the knights:
+
+"Now is the mighty Zidovin in the neighborhood of our castle. What is
+your will?"
+
+The knights with one accord agreed that Dobrnja should ride out against
+the stranger. So Dobrnja mounted his war-horse and galloped forth to
+meet Zidovin, calling to him in a deep, gruff voice:
+
+"Here, my insolent sir, you have come all the way to our castle and have
+omitted to send greeting to our captain Ilia Muromec, or to inform him
+of your approach."
+
+When Zidovin heard these words he turned quickly and rode toward Dobrnja
+with such force that springs and lakes appeared wherever the hoofs of
+his black horse touched the ground. And the trembling of the earth
+caused great waves to rise on the sea.
+
+Dobrnja was so frightened that he jerked his horse about and with the
+swiftness of a cyclone galloped back to the castle. When he entered,
+almost exhausted, he told in great excitement of his encounter.
+
+Immediately Ilia decided to go forth himself against the enemy, and all
+the entreaties of his knights could not restrain him. So he rode out to
+a high point where he could see Zidovin, watch him as he threw his
+hundred-weight club up into the clouds, caught it with one hand, and
+swung it around in the air as if it had been a feather.
+
+Then Ilia spurred his horse and rode toward Zidovin. A horrible fight
+ensued. Swords clashed and deep fissures were made in the earth, but
+neither knight fell. It seemed as if both heroes had grown fast to their
+saddles, so unshakable were they.
+
+At last they jumped from their horses and fought hand to hand with
+lances. All day long and all night long they struggled, until Ilia
+finally fell wounded to the ground. Zidovin kneeled on his breast, drew
+out his sharp knife, and was about to cut off the head of his enemy.
+
+Ilia meantime was thinking, "Surely the holy fathers did not lie to me
+when they said that I should not lose my life in battle."
+
+Then suddenly he felt his strength redoubled, and he hurled Zidovin from
+him with such force that his body touched the clouds before it fell
+again in the moist earth at his feet. Cutting off the warrior's head, he
+mounted his horse and rode back to the castle. To his knights he said:
+
+"Thirty years have I ridden in the field and thirty years have I fought
+with heroes and tested my strength; but such a mighty man as Zidovin
+have I in all that time never met."
+
+
+
+
+KRALEWITZ MARKO OF SERVIA
+
+
+Kralewitz Marko was the son of a Servian king who lived many, many years
+ago. He was very fond of hunting, and one day he rode forth on his horse
+Saria to the mountain Sargau. Being tired, he dismounted, tied his horse
+to a tree, sat down in its shade and fell asleep.
+
+And as he slept it happened that Arbanes Neda with his seven brothers
+rode by. They all dismounted, lifted Kralewitz, bound him to his horse,
+and rode away with him to Jedrena, where they presented him to the
+vizier.
+
+Highly pleased over the gift, the vizier took the king's son and threw
+him into prison. Two long years Kralewitz lay there, longing for liberty
+and home. Then he learned that in a few days he was to be executed.
+
+Immediately he wrote a letter to his friend, Milos Obilis, asking for
+help. This important message he entrusted to his only companion, a white
+falcon. Tying the letter under the bird's wing he set it free.
+
+The falcon easily found its way, alighted on Milos' window, and was
+admitted. Scarcely had Milos read the letter, when he and two of his
+friends were ready to set out for Jedrena. They reached there the day
+before the execution.
+
+In the morning the gate of the city was opened and Marko was led out.
+Milos and his companions accompanied the mournful procession to an open
+field in which the execution was to take place. Two Arabs stood up with
+gleaming swords prepared to cut off Marko's head.
+
+"Hold on, brothers," cried Milos. "I will give you a sharper sword with
+which to cut off the malicious head of the noble Piam. See, with this
+sword did the good-for-nothing treacherously slay my father. Cursed be
+his hand!"
+
+With these words he rushed to Marko's side; then with one swift stroke
+he cut off the head of one Arab, and with another the head of the other.
+
+With still another stroke he severed the chains that bound Marko, and
+Marko, seizing a sword, swung himself into his saddle, and with his
+friends began to attack the horde of Turks. Frightened, the Turks fled
+before them, and Marko and his companions returned to their own country.
+
+Marko waited for and soon found the opportunity of showing his gratitude
+to his friend, for Milos and two of his brothers were thrown into prison
+in Varadin. Milos wrote with his own blood a letter to Marko, asking for
+help.
+
+Then the king's son sprang to his horse Saria and rode to Varadin.
+Outside of the city he dismounted, stuck his spear in the earth, tied
+Saria and began drinking the black wine which he had brought with him.
+He poured it into huge beakers, half of which, he drank himself, and
+half of which he gave to Saria.
+
+At the same time a beautiful maiden, the daughter-in-law of the general,
+passed by. When she saw the king's son she was frightened and ran and
+told her father-in-law.
+
+Then the general sent out his son Velimir with three hundred men to take
+Marko prisoner. The knights encircled Kralewitz Marko, but he continued
+drinking his wine and paid no attention to them. But Saria noticed them,
+and drawing near her master began beating the ground with her hoofs.
+
+At this Marko looked up and saw himself surrounded. He emptied his
+beaker, threw it to the ground, and sprang to his horse.
+
+Like a falcon among doves Marko charged against the enemy. He cut off
+the heads of some and drove the rest before him into the Danube.
+Velimir tried to flee, but Marko threw him from his horse, tied his
+hands and feet and bound him to Saria. Then again he began to drink his
+wine.
+
+All this the maiden watched and reported to her father. He gathered
+together three thousand knights and rode forth against the stranger.
+They surrounded Marko, but he was undismayed. Bravely he charged against
+them, his sword in his right hand, his spear in his left, and the reins
+held between his teeth.
+
+Every knight he touched with either sword or spear fell instantly to the
+ground, and when Vuca, the general, wholly dismayed, tried to escape on
+his fiery Arabian horse, Marko followed him, threw him, bound him, and
+led him to the place where his son lay. Then he bound the two together,
+tossed them on the saddle of the Arabian horse and rode home. There he
+put them in prison.
+
+Hearing this, the wife of the general wrote a letter to Marko, begging
+for mercy for her husband and son. Marko promised to release them on
+condition that she release Milos and his brothers. This she did,
+honoring them and making them rich presents.
+
+"Now, for the love of Heaven," said she, "see that my husband and my son
+return to me."
+
+"Never fear," answered Milos. "Give me the general's black horse; adorn
+him as the general adorned him; give me a golden chariot with twelve
+horses, such as the general rides in when he journeys to the emperor in
+Vienna; and give me the robe that the general wears on state occasions."
+
+The wife provided all that he asked, and gave the prisoners for
+themselves a thousand ducats. Then they rode away.
+
+Marko welcomed them, released the general and his son and provided them
+with a strong body-guard back to Varadin. Then Milos and his brothers
+divided the ducats among them, kissed the hand of the king's son, and
+rode away into their own country.
+
+
+
+
+THE DECISION OF LIBUSCHA
+
+
+There dwelt once in the neighborhood of Gruenberg Castle in Bohemia two
+brothers--Staglow and Chrudis, of the distinguished family of
+Klemowita--and these two had fallen into a fierce dispute over the
+inheritance of their father's lands. The older son Chrudis thought that
+he should inherit all of the estate--and that is the custom in some
+countries, you know--while the younger son, Staglow, declared that the
+property should be equally divided.
+
+Now it happened that a sister of the princess Libuscha Vyched lived at
+the court. She entreated the princess to settle the quarrel according to
+law.
+
+The princess yielded to her wish, and decided that the brothers should
+either inherit their father's estate jointly or divide it into equal
+shares.
+
+All the lords of the country assembled to hear the rendering of the
+decision--brave knights from far and near. Chrudis and Staglow, of
+course, were present, very curious to hear what their princess would
+decide. Pungel of Hadio, proclaimed far and wide as the bravest of all
+the knights of Bohemia, was also among the company.
+
+The princess herself rendered the decision, standing in white robes
+before her people. The two brothers stood near, and scarcely had the
+last word been uttered when the knight Chrudis, who, as first-born,
+claimed the estate for himself, sprang excitedly to his feet, mocking
+and insulting the princess. "Poor people," he said, addressing the
+assembly, "I am sorry for you who have to be ruled over by a girl."
+
+Deeply grieved, the maiden-princess Libuscha rose, explaining that she
+would no longer rule alone. She commanded the people to choose her a
+husband.
+
+"No matter whom you choose," she declared, "I will abide by your
+decision."
+
+Thereupon the assembled subjects cried out that they would have Pungel
+of Hadio as prince; and Libuscha, stepping toward him, extended her hand
+to him in token of her agreement.
+
+Thus did Pungel become the liege lord of the Bohemian nobles.
+
+No one knows how long ago all this happened, for the manuscript that
+tells the story was very old when it was discovered in the year 1817. It
+had lain for many, many years among other old documents in the great
+chests that lined the walls of the courtroom in the ancient Castle
+Gruenberg in Bohemia. The manuscript is now in a great museum in Prague,
+and perhaps, some day, when you go there, you will see it for yourself.
+
+
+
+
+COUNT ROLAND OF FRANCE
+
+
+The trumpets sounded and the army went on its way to France. The next
+day King Charles called his lords together. "You see," said he, "these
+narrow passes. Whom shall I place to command the rear-guard? Choose you
+a man yourselves."
+
+Said Ganelon, "Whom should we choose but my son-in-law, Count Roland?
+You have no man in your host so valiant. Of a truth he will be the
+salvation of France."
+
+The King said when he heard these words, "What ails you, Ganelon? You
+look like to one possessed."
+
+When Count Roland knew what was proposed concerning him, he spake out as
+a true knight should speak: "I am right thankful to you, father-in-law,
+that you have caused me to be put in this place. Of a truth the King of
+France shall lose nothing by my means, neither charger, nor mule, nor
+pack-horse, nor beast of burden."
+
+Then Roland turned to the King and said, "Give me twenty thousand only,
+so they be men of valor, and I will keep the passes in all safety. So
+long as I shall live, you need fear no man."
+
+Then Roland mounted his horse. With him were Oliver, his comrade, and
+Otho and Berenger, and Gerard of Roussillon, an aged warrior, and
+others, men of renown. And Turpin the Archbishop cried, "By my head, I
+will go also." So they chose twenty thousand warriors with whom to keep
+the passes.
+
+Meanwhile King Charles had entered the valley of Roncesvalles. High were
+the mountains on either side of the way, and the valleys were gloomy and
+dark. But when the army had passed through the valley, they saw the
+fair land of Gascony, and as they saw it they thought of their homes and
+their wives and daughters. There was not one of them but wept for very
+tenderness of heart. But of all that company there was none sadder than
+the King himself, when he thought how he had left his nephew Count
+Roland behind him in the passes of Spain.
+
+And now the Saracen King Marsilas began to gather his army. He laid a
+strict command on all his nobles and chiefs that they should bring with
+them to Saragossa as many men as they could gather together. And when
+they were come to the city, it being the third day from the issuing of
+the King's command, they saluted the great image of Mahomet, the false
+prophet, that stood on the topmost tower. This done they went forth from
+the city gates. They made all haste, marching across the mountains and
+valleys of Spain till they came in sight of the standard of France,
+where Roland and Oliver and the Twelve Peers were ranged in battle
+array.
+
+The Saracen champions donned their coats of mail, of double substance
+most of them, and they set upon their heads helmets of Saragossa of
+well-tempered metal, and they girded themselves with swords of Vienna.
+Fair were their shields to view; their lances were from Valentia; their
+standards were of white, blue, and red. Their mules they left with the
+servants, and, mounting their chargers, so moved forwards. Fair was the
+day and bright the sun, as their armor flashed in the light, and the
+drums were beaten so loudly that the Frenchmen heard the sound.
+
+Said Oliver to Roland, "Comrade, methinks we shall soon do battle with
+the Saracens."
+
+"God grant it," answered Roland. "'Tis our duty to hold the place for
+the King, and we will do it, come what may. As for me, I will not set an
+ill example."
+
+Oliver climbed to the top of a hill; and saw from thence the whole army
+of the heathen. He cried to Roland his companion, "I see the flashing of
+arms. We men of France shall have no small trouble therefrom. This is
+the doing of Ganelon the traitor."
+
+"Be silent," answered Roland, "till you shall know; say no more about
+him."
+
+Oliver looked again from the hilltop, and saw how the Saracens came on.
+So many there were that he could not count their battalions. He
+descended to the plain with all speed, and came to the array of the
+French, and said, "I have seen more heathen than man ever yet saw
+together upon the earth. There are a hundred thousand at the least. We
+shall have such a battle with them as has never before been fought. My
+brethren of France, quit you like men, be strong; stand firm that you be
+not conquered." And all the army shouted with one voice, "Cursed be he
+that shall fly."
+
+Then Oliver turned to Roland, and said, "Sound your horn; my friend,
+Charles will hear it, and will return."
+
+"I were a fool," answered Roland, "so to do. Not so; but I will deal
+these heathen some mighty blows with Durendal, my sword. They have been
+ill-advised to venture into these passes. I swear that they are
+condemned to death, one and all."
+
+After a while, Oliver said again, "Friend Roland, sound your horn of
+ivory. Then will the King return, and bring his army with him, to our
+help." But Roland answered again, "I will not do dishonor to my kinsmen,
+or to the fair land of France. I have my sword; that shall suffice for
+me. These evil-minded heathen are gathered together against us to their
+own hurt. Surely not one of them shall escape from death."
+
+"As for me," said Oliver, "I see not where the dishonor would be. I saw
+the valleys and the mountains covered with the great multitude of
+Saracens. Theirs is, in truth, a mighty array, and we are but few."
+
+"So much the better," answered Roland. "It makes my courage grow. 'Tis
+better to die than to be disgraced. And remember, the harder our blows
+the more the King will love us."
+
+Roland was brave, but Oliver was wise. "Consider," he said, "comrade.
+These enemies are over-near to us, and the King over-far. Were he here,
+we should not be in danger; but there are some here today who will never
+fight in another battle."
+
+Then Turpin the Archbishop struck spurs into his horse, and rode to a
+hilltop. Then he turned to the men of France, and spake: "Lords of
+France, King Charles has left us here; our King he is, and it is our
+duty to die for him. Today our Christian Faith is in peril: do ye fight
+for it. Fight ye must; be sure of that, for there under your eyes are
+the Saracens. Confess, therefore, your sins, and pray to God that He
+have mercy upon you. And now for your soul's health I will give you all
+absolution. If you die, you will be God's martyrs, every one of you, and
+your places are ready for you in His Paradise."
+
+Thereupon the men of France dismounted, and knelt upon the ground, and
+the Archbishop blessed them in God's name. "But look," said he, "I set
+you a penance--smite these pagans." Then the men of France rose to their
+feet. They had received absolution, and were set free from all their
+sins, and the Archbishop had blessed them in the name of God. After this
+they mounted their swift steeds, and clad themselves in armor, and made
+themselves ready for the battle.
+
+Said Roland to Oliver, "Brother, you know that it is Ganelon who has
+betrayed us. Good store he has had of gold and silver as a reward; 'tis
+the King Marsilas that has made merchandise of us, but verily it is
+with our swords that he shall be paid." So saying, he rode on to the
+pass, mounted on his good steed Veillantif. His spear he held with the
+point to the sky; a white flag it bore with fringes of gold which fell
+down to his hands. A stalwart man was he, and his countenance was fair
+and smiling. Behind him followed Oliver, his friend; and the men of
+France pointed to him, saying, "See our champion!" Pride was in his eye
+when he looked towards the Saracens; but to the men of France his regard
+was all sweetness and humility. Full courteously he spake to them:
+
+"Ride not so fast, my lords," he said; "verily these heathen are come
+hither, seeking martyrdom. 'Tis a fair spoil that we shall gather from
+them today. Never has King of France gained any so rich." And as he
+spake, the two hosts came together.
+
+Said Oliver, "You did not deem it fit, my lord, to sound your horn.
+Therefore you lack the help which the King would have sent. Not his the
+blame, for he knows nothing of what has chanced. But do you, lords of
+France, charge as fiercely as you may, and yield not one whit to the
+enemy. Think upon these two things only--how to deal a straight blow and
+to take it. And let us not forget King Charles' cry of battle."
+
+Then all the men of France with one voice cried out, "Mountjoy!" He that
+heard them so cry had never doubted that they were men of valor. Proud
+was their array as they rode on to battle, spurring their horses that
+they might speed the more. And the Saracens, on their part, came forward
+with a good heart. Thus did the Frenchmen and the heathen meet in the
+shock of battle.
+
+Full many of the heathen warriors fell that day. Not one of the Twelve
+Peers of France but slew his man. But of all none bore himself so
+valiantly as Roland. Many a blow did he deal to the enemy with his
+mighty spear, and when the spear was shivered in his hand, fifteen
+warriors having fallen before it, then he seized his good sword
+Durendal, and smote man after man to the ground. Red was he with the
+blood of his enemies, red was his hauberk, red his arms, red his
+shoulders, aye, and the neck of his horse. Not one of the Twelve
+lingered in the rear, or was slow to strike, but Count Roland was the
+bravest of the brave. "Well done, sons of France!" cried Turpin the
+Archbishop, when he saw them lay on in such sort.
+
+Next to Roland for valor and hardihood came Oliver, his companion. Many
+a heathen warrior did he slay, till at last his spear was shivered in
+his hand. "What are you doing, comrade?" cried Roland, when he was aware
+of the mishap. "A man wants no staff in such a battle as this. 'Tis the
+steel and nothing else that he must have. Where is your sword Hautclere,
+with its hilt of gold and its pommel of crystal?"
+
+"On my word," said Oliver, "I have not had time to draw it; I was so
+busy with striking." But as he spake he drew the good sword from its
+scabbard, and smote a heathen knight, Justin of the Iron Valley. A
+mighty blow it was, cleaving the man in twain down to his saddle--aye,
+and the saddle itself with its adorning of gold and jewels, and the very
+backbone also of the steed whereon he rode, so that horse and man fell
+dead together on the plains. "Well done!" cried Roland; "you are a true
+brother of mine. 'Tis such strokes as this that make the King love us."
+
+Nevertheless, for all the valor of Roland and his fellows the battle
+went hard with the men of France. Many lances were shivered, many flags
+torn, and many gallant youths cut off in their prime. Never more would
+they see mother and wife. It was an ill deed that the traitor Ganelon
+wrought when he sold his fellows to King Marsilas!
+
+And now there befell a new trouble. King Almaris, with a great host of
+heathen, coming by an unknown way, fell upon the rear of the host where
+there was another pass. Fiercely did the noble Walter that kept the same
+charge the newcomers, but they overpowered him and his followers. He was
+wounded with four several lances, and four times did he swoon, so that
+at the last he was constrained to leave the field of battle, that he
+might call the Count Roland to his aid. But small was the aid which
+Roland could give him or any one. Valiantly he held up the battle, and
+with him Oliver, and Turpin the Archbishop, and others also; but the
+lines of the men of France were broken, and their armor thrust through
+and their spears shivered, and their flags trodden in the dust. For all
+this they made such slaughter among the heathen that King Almaris, who
+led the armies of the enemy, scarcely could win back his way to his own
+people, wounded in four places and sorely spent. A right good warrior
+was he; had he but been a Christian, but few had matched him in battle.
+
+Count Roland saw how grievously his people had suffered and spake thus
+to Oliver his comrade: "Dear comrade, you see how many brave men lie
+dead upon the ground. Well may we mourn for fair France, widowed as she
+is of so many valiant champions. But why is our King not here? O Oliver,
+my brother, what shall we do to send him tidings of our state?" "I know
+not," answered Oliver. "Only this I know--that death is to be chosen
+rather than dishonor."
+
+After a while Roland said again, "I shall blow my horn; King Charles
+will hear it, where he has encamped beyond the passes, and he and his
+host will come back."
+
+"That would be ill done," answered Oliver, "and shame both you and your
+race. When I gave you this counsel you would have none of it. Now I like
+it not. 'Tis not for a brave man to sound the horn and cry for help now
+that we are in such case."
+
+[Illustration: ROLAND'S OWN DEATH WAS VERY NEAR]
+
+[Illustration: THE YOUTHFUL CID AVENGING THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER]
+
+"The battle is too hard for us," said Roland again, "and I shall sound
+my horn, that the King may hear."
+
+And Oliver answered again, "When I gave you this counsel, you scorned
+it. Now I myself like it not. 'Tis true that had the King been here, we
+had not suffered this loss. But the blame is not his. 'Tis your folly,
+Count Roland, that has done to death all these men of France. But for
+that we should have conquered in this battle, and have taken and slain
+King Marsilas. But now we can do nothing for France and the King. We can
+but die. Woe is me for our country, aye, and for our friendship, which
+will come to a grievous end this day."
+
+The Archbishop perceived that the two friends were at variance, and
+spurred his horse till he came where they stood, "Listen to me," he
+said, "Sir Roland and Sir Oliver. I implore you not to fall out with
+each other in this fashion. We, sons of France, that are in this place,
+are of a truth condemned to death, neither will the sounding of your
+horn save us, for the King is far away, and cannot come in time.
+Nevertheless, I hold it to be well that you should sound it. When the
+King and his army shall come, they will find us dead--that I know full
+well. But they will avenge us, so that our enemies shall not go away
+rejoicing. And they will also recover our bodies, and will carry them
+away for burial in holy places, so that the dogs and wolves shall not
+devour them."
+
+"You say well," cried Roland, and he put his horn to his lips, and gave
+so mighty a blast upon it, that the sound was heard thirty leagues away.
+King Charles and his men heard it, and the King said, "Our countrymen
+are fighting with the enemy." But Ganelon answered, "Sire, had any but
+you so spoken, I had said that he spoke falsely."
+
+Then Roland blew his horn a second time; with great pain and anguish of
+body he blew it, and the red blood gushed from his lips; but the sound
+was heard yet farther than at first. Again the King heard it, and all
+his nobles, and all his men. "That," said he, "is Roland's horn; he
+never had sounded it were he not in battle with the enemy." But Ganelon
+answered again: "Believe me, Sire, there is no battle. You are an old
+man, and you have the fancies of a child. You know what a mighty man of
+valor is this Roland. Think you that any one would dare to attack him?
+No one, of a truth. Ride on, Sire; why halt you here? The fair land of
+France is yet far away."
+
+Roland blew his horn a third time, and when the King heard it he said,
+"He that blew that horn drew a deep breath." And Duke Naymes cried out,
+"Roland is in trouble; on my conscience he is fighting with the enemy.
+Some one has betrayed him; 'tis he, I doubt not, that would deceive you
+now. To arms, Sire! utter your war-cry, and help your own house and your
+country. You have heard the cry of the noble Roland."
+
+Then King Charles bade all the trumpets sound, and forthwith all the men
+of France armed themselves, with helmets, and hauberks, and swords with
+pommels of gold. Mighty were their shields, and their lances strong, and
+the flags that they carried were white and red and blue. And when they
+made an end of their arming they rode back with all haste. There was not
+one of them but said to his comrade, "If we find Roland yet alive, what
+mighty strokes will we strike for him!"
+
+But Ganelon the King handed over to the knaves of his kitchen. "Take
+this traitor," said he, "who has sold his country." Ill did Ganelon fare
+among them. They pulled out his hair and his beard and smote him with
+their staves; then they put a great chain, such as that with which a
+bear is bound, about his neck, and made him fast to a pack-horse.
+
+This done, the King and his army hastened with all speed to the help of
+Roland. In the van and the rear sounded the trumpets as though they
+would answer Roland's horn. Full of wrath was King Charles as he rode;
+full of wrath were all the men of France. There was not one among them
+but wept and sobbed; there was not one but prayed, "Now, may God keep
+Roland alive till we come to the battle-field, so that we may strike a
+blow for him." Alas! it was all in vain; they could not come in time for
+all their speed.
+
+Count Roland looked round on the mountain-sides and on the plains. Alas!
+how many noble sons of France he saw lying dead upon them! "Dear
+friends," he said, weeping as he spoke, "may God have mercy on you and
+receive you into His Paradise! More loyal followers have I never seen.
+How is the fair land of France widowed of her bravest, and I can give
+you no help. Oliver, dear comrade, we must not part. If the enemy slay
+me not here, surely I shall be slain by sorrow. Come then, let us smite
+these heathen."
+
+Thus did Roland again charge the enemy, his good sword Durendal in his
+hand; as the stag flies before the hounds, so did the heathen fly before
+Roland. "By my faith," cried the Archbishop when he saw him, "that is a
+right good knight! Such courage, and such a steed, and such arms I love
+well to see. If a man be not brave and a stout fighter, he had better by
+far be a monk in some cloister where he may pray all day long for our
+sins."
+
+Now the heathen, when they saw how few the Frenchmen were, took fresh
+courage. And the Caliph, spurring his horse, rode against Oliver and
+smote him in the middle of his back, making his spear pass right through
+him. "That is a shrewd blow," he cried; "I have avenged my friends and
+countrymen upon you."
+
+Then Oliver knew he was stricken to death, but he would not fall
+unavenged. With his great sword Hautclere he smote the Caliph on his
+head and cleft it to the teeth. "Curse on you, pagan. Neither your wife
+nor any woman in the land of your birth shall boast that you have taken
+a penny's worth from King Charles!" But to Roland he cried, "Come,
+comrade, help me; well I know that we two shall part in great sorrow
+this day."
+
+Roland came with all speed, and saw his friend, how he lay all pale and
+fainting on the ground and how the blood gushed in great streams from
+his wound. "I know not what to do," he cried. "This is an ill chance
+that has befallen you. Truly France is bereaved of her bravest son." So
+saying he went near to swoon in the saddle as he sat. Then there befell
+a strange thing. Oliver had lost so much of his blood that he could not
+any more see clearly or know who it was that was near him. So he raised
+up his arm and smote with all his strength that yet remained to him on
+the helmet of Roland his friend. The helmet he cleft in twain to the
+visor; but by good fortune it wounded not the head.
+
+Roland looked at him and said in a gentle voice, "Did you this of set
+purpose? I am Roland your friend, and have not harmed you."
+
+"Ah!" said Oliver, "I hear you speak, but I cannot see you. Pardon me
+that I struck you; it was not done of set purpose."
+
+"It harmed me not," answered Roland; "with all my heart and before God I
+forgive you." And this was the way these two friends parted at the last.
+
+And now Oliver felt the pains of death come over him. He could no longer
+see nor hear. Therefore he turned his thoughts to making his peace with
+God, and clasping his hands lifted them to heaven and made his
+confession. "O Lord," he said, "take me into Paradise. And do Thou bless
+King Charles and the sweet land of France." And when he had said thus
+he died. And Roland looked at him as he lay. There was not upon earth a
+more sorrowful man than he. "Dear comrade," he said, "this is indeed an
+evil day. Many a year have we two been together. Never have I done wrong
+to you; never have you done wrong to me. How shall I bear to live
+without you?" And he swooned where he sat on his horse. But the stirrup
+held him up that he did not fall to the ground.
+
+When Roland came to himself he looked about him and saw how great was
+the calamity that had befallen his army. For now there were left alive
+to him two only, Turpin the Archbishop and Walter of Hum. Walter had but
+that moment come down from the hills where he had been fighting so
+fiercely with the heathen that all his men were dead; now he cried to
+Roland for help. "Noble Count, where are you? I am Walter of Hum, and am
+not unworthy to be your friend. Help me therefore. For see how my spear
+is broken and my shield cleft in twain. My hauberk is in pieces, and my
+body sorely wounded. I am about to die; but I have sold my life at a
+great price."
+
+When Roland heard him cry he set spurs to his horse and galloped to him.
+"Walter," said he, "you are a brave warrior and a trustworthy. Tell me
+now where are the thousand valiant men whom you took from my army. They
+were right good soldiers; and I am in sore need of them."
+
+"They are dead," answered Walter; "you will see them no more. A sore
+battle we had with the Saracens yonder on the hills; they had the men of
+Canaan there and the men of Armenia and the Giants; there were no better
+men in their army than these. We dealt with them so that they will not
+boast themselves of this day's work. But it cost us dear; all the men of
+France lie dead on the plain, and I am wounded to the death. And now,
+Roland, blame me not that I fled; for you are my lord, and all my trust
+is in you."
+
+"I blame you not," said Roland, "only as long as you live help me
+against the heathen." And as he spake he took his cloak and rent it into
+strips and bound up Walter's wounds therewith. This done he and Walter
+and the Archbishop set fiercely on the enemy. Five-and-twenty did Roland
+slay, and Walter slew six, and the Archbishop five. Three valiant men of
+war they were; fast and firm they stood one by the other; hundreds there
+were of the heathen, but they dared not come near to these three valiant
+champions of France. They stood far off, and cast at the three spears
+and darts and javelins and weapons of every kind. Walter of Hum was
+slain forthwith; and the Archbishop's armor was broken, and he wounded,
+and his horse slain under him. Nevertheless he lifted himself from the
+ground, still keeping a good heart in his breast. "They have not
+overcome me yet," said he; "as long as a good soldier lives, he does not
+yield."
+
+Roland took his horn once more and sounded it, for he would know whether
+King Charles were coming. Ah me! it was a feeble blast that he blew. But
+the King heard it, and he halted and listened. "My lords!" said he,
+"things go ill for us, I doubt not. Today we shall lose, I fear me much,
+my brave nephew Roland. I know by the sound of his horn that he has but
+a short time to live. Put your horses to their full speed, if you would
+come in time to help him, and let a blast be sounded by every trumpet
+that there is in the army." So all the trumpets in the host sounded a
+blast; all the valleys and hills re-echoed with the sound; sore
+discouraged were the heathen when they heard it.
+
+"King Charles has come again," they cried; "we are all as dead men. When
+he comes he shall not find Roland alive." Then four hundred of them, the
+strongest and most valiant knights that were in the army of the
+heathen, gathered themselves into one company, and made a yet fiercer
+assault on Roland.
+
+Roland saw them coming, and waited for them without fear. So long as he
+lived he would not yield himself to the enemy or give place to them.
+"Better death than flight," said he, as he mounted his good steed
+Veillantif, and rode towards the enemy. And by his side went Turpin the
+Archbishop on foot. Then said Roland to Turpin, "I am on horseback and
+you are on foot. But let us keep together; never will I leave you; we
+two will stand against these heathen dogs. They have not, I warrant,
+among them such a sword as Durendal."
+
+"Good," answered the Archbishop. "Shame to the man who does not smite
+his hardest. And though this be our last battle, I know well that King
+Charles will take ample vengeance for us."
+
+When the heathen saw these two stand together they fell back in fear and
+hurled at them spears and darts and javelins without number. Roland's
+shield they broke and his hauberk; but him they hurt not; nevertheless
+they did him a grievous injury, for they killed his good steed
+Veillantif. Thirty wounds did Veillantif receive, and he fell dead under
+his master. At last the Archbishop was stricken and Roland stood alone,
+for the heathen had fled from his presence.
+
+When Roland saw that the Archbishop was dead, his heart was sorely
+troubled in him. Never did he feel a greater sorrow for comrade slain,
+save Oliver only. "Charles of France," he said, "come as quickly as you
+may! Many a gallant knight have you lost in Roncesvalles. But King
+Marsilas, on his part, has lost his army. For one that has fallen on
+this side there have fallen full forty on that." So saying he turned to
+the Archbishop; he crossed the dead man's hands upon his breast and
+said, "I commit thee to the Father's mercy. Never has man served God
+with a better will, never since the beginning of the world has there
+lived a sturdier champion of the faith. May God be good to you and give
+you all good things!"
+
+Now Roland felt that his own death was near at hand. In one hand he took
+his horn, and in the other his good sword Durendal, and made his way the
+distance of a furlong or so till he came to a plain, and in the midst of
+the plain a little hill. On the top of the hill in the shade of two fair
+trees were four marble steps. There Roland fell in a swoon upon the
+grass. There a certain Saracen spied him. The fellow had feigned death,
+and had laid himself down among the slain, having covered his body and
+his face with blood. When he saw Roland, he raised himself from where he
+was lying among the slain and ran to the place, and, being full of pride
+and fury, seized the Count in his arms, crying aloud, "He is conquered,
+he is conquered, he is conquered, the famous nephew of King Charles!
+See, here is his sword; 'tis a noble spoil that I shall carry back with
+me to Arabia." Thereupon he took the sword in one hand, with the other
+he laid hold of Roland's beard.
+
+But as the man laid hold, Roland came to himself, and knew that some one
+was taking his sword from him. He opened his eyes but not a word did he
+speak save this only, "Fellow, you are none of ours," and he smote him a
+mighty blow upon his helmet. The steel he brake through and the head
+beneath, and laid the man dead at his feet. "Coward," he said, "what
+made you so bold that you dared lay hands on Roland? Whosoever knows him
+will think you a fool for your deed."
+
+And now Roland knew that death was near at hand. He raised himself and
+gathered all his strength together--ah me! how pale his face was!--and
+took in his hand his good sword Durendal. Before him was a great rock
+and on this in his rage and pain he smote ten mighty blows. Loud rang
+the steel upon the stone; but it neither brake nor splintered. "Help
+me," he cried, "O Mary, our Lady! O my good sword, my Durendal, what an
+evil lot is mine! In the day when I must part with you, my power over
+you is lost. Many a battle I have won with your help; and many a kingdom
+have I conquered, that my lord Charles possesses this day. Never has any
+one possessed you that would fly before another. So long as I live, you
+shall not be taken from me, so long have you been in the hands of a
+loyal knight."
+
+Then he smote a second time with the sword, this time upon the marble
+steps. Loud rang the steel, but neither brake nor splintered. Then
+Roland began to bemoan himself. "O my good Durendal," he said, "how
+bright and clear thou art, shining as shines the sun! Well I mind me of
+the day when a voice that seemed to come from heaven bade King Charles
+give thee to a valiant captain; and forthwith the good King girded it on
+my side. Many a land have I conquered with thee for him, and now how
+great is my grief! Can I die and leave thee to be handled by some
+heathen?" And the third time he smote a rock with it. Loud rang the
+steel, but it brake not, bounding back as though it would rise to the
+sky. And when Count Roland saw that he could not break the sword, he
+spake again but with more content in his heart. "O Durendal," he said,
+"a fair sword art thou, and holy as fair. There are holy relics in thy
+hilt, relics of St. Peter and St. Denis and St. Basil. These heathen
+shall never possess thee; nor shalt thou be held but by a Christian
+hand."
+
+And now Roland knew that death was very near to him. He laid himself
+down with his head upon the grass, putting under him his horn and his
+sword, with his face turned towards the heathen foe. Ask you why he did
+so? To show, forsooth, to Charlemagne and the men of France that he
+died in the midst of victory. This done, he made a loud confession of
+his sins, stretching his hand to heaven, "Forgive me, Lord," he cried,
+"my sins, little and great, all that I have committed since the day of
+my birth to this hour in which I am stricken to death." So he prayed;
+and, as he lay, he thought of many things, of the countries which he had
+conquered, and of his dear fatherland France, and of his kinsfolk, and
+of the good King Charles. Nor, as he thought, could he keep himself from
+sighs and tears; yet one thing he remembered beyond all others--to pray
+for forgiveness of his sins. "O Lord," he said, "who art the God of
+truth, and didst save Daniel Thy prophet from the lions, do Thou save my
+soul and defend it against all perils!" So speaking he raised his right
+hand, with the gauntlet yet upon it, to the sky, and his head fell back
+upon his arm and the angels carried him to heaven. So died the great
+Count Roland.
+
+
+
+
+THE CID
+
+
+Unlike some of the other heroes told about in this book, the Cid was a
+real man, whose name was Rodrigo Diaz, or Ruydiez. He was born in Burgos
+in the eleventh century and won the name of "Cid," which means
+"Conqueror," by defeating five Moorish kings. This happened after Spain
+had been in the hands of the Arabs for more than three hundred years, so
+it is small wonder that the Spaniards looked upon their hero as a very
+remarkable man.
+
+When Rodrigo was still a youth, his father, Diego Laynez, was grossly
+insulted by Don Gomez. The custom in those days was to avenge such an
+insult by slaying the offender; but Diego was too old and feeble to bear
+arms. When he finally told his son of the wrong, Rodrigo sought out Don
+Gomez and challenged him to fight. So bravely and skilfully did Rodrigo
+manage his weapons that he slew his father's enemy. Then he cut off the
+head and carried it to Diego.
+
+Soon after this Diego bade his son do homage at King Ferdinand's court.
+Rodrigo appeared before the king, but his bearing was so defiant that
+Ferdinand was frightened, and banished him.
+
+Rodrigo departed with three hundred followers, encountered some Moors,
+who were invading Castile, defeated them and took five of their kings
+captive, releasing them only after they had promised to pay tribute and
+to refrain from further warfare. It was these kings who first called him
+"Cid."
+
+In return for his brave service Rodrigo was restored to favor and given
+place among the king's courtiers.
+
+One day Dona Ximena, daughter of Don Gomez, appeared and demanded
+justice from the king. Recognizing Rodrigo among the courtiers, she
+called to him to slay her also. But both demand and cry were unheeded,
+for the king had been too well served by Rodrigo to listen to any
+accusation against him.
+
+Three times the maiden returned with the same request, and each time she
+came she heard greater praise of the young hero. At last she decided to
+alter her demand. A fourth time she returned, consenting to forego all
+thoughts of vengeance if the king would order the young hero to marry
+her. The Cid was very willing, for he had learned to love the girl,
+admiring her beauty and spirit.
+
+The marriage was celebrated with great pomp and the king gave Rodrigo
+four cities as a marriage portion. Rodrigo, vowing that he would not be
+worthy of his wife until he had won five battles, after a pious
+pilgrimage to the shrine of the patron saint, hastened off to Calahorra,
+a frontier town claimed by two kings--the kings of Castile and Oregon.
+
+It had been decided that the dispute over the town should be settled by
+combat. Rodrigo became the champion of Ferdinand of Castile. The other
+champion, Martin Gonzalez, began, as soon as the combat opened, to taunt
+the Cid.
+
+"Never again will you mount your favorite steed Babieca," he said,
+"never will you return to your castle; never will you see your beloved
+Ximena again."
+
+But the Cid was undaunted, and had soon laid his enemy low. Great praise
+then was given to the Cid--so great that the knights of Castile were
+jealous and plotted to kill him. But the Moorish kings whom he had
+captured and released warned him in time to avert the danger.
+
+Then the Cid aided Ferdinand in defeating the hostile Moors in
+Estremadura, after a siege of Coimbra lasting seven months. Several
+other victories over his country's enemies were added to this, and then
+Rodrigo returned to his beloved wife.
+
+But not for long was he permitted to remain in the quiet of home. Henry
+III, Emperor of Germany, complained to the Pope that King Ferdinand had
+refused to acknowledge his superiority. The Pope sent a message to
+Ferdinand, demanding homage and tribute. The demand angered both
+Ferdinand and the Cid.
+
+"Never yet have we done homage," cried the Cid, "and shall we now bow to
+a stranger?"
+
+A proud refusal was then sent to the Pope, and he, knowing of no better
+way to settle the dispute, bade Henry send a champion to meet Rodrigo.
+The emperor's champion was, of course, defeated, and all of Ferdinand's
+enemies were so awed by the outcome of the fight that none ever again
+demanded homage or tribute. Rodrigo was, indeed, a very useful subject.
+When Ferdinand died, he was succeeded by his son, Don Sancho. The
+latter, planning a visit to Rome, selected the Cid to accompany him.
+Arriving, they found that in the preparations that had been made for
+their reception a lower seat had been prepared for Don Sancho than for
+the King of France. The Cid would not suffer such a slight, and became
+so violent that the Pope excommunicated him. Nevertheless, the seats
+were made of equal height, and the Cid, who was a good Catholic, humbled
+himself before the Pope and was forgiven.
+
+It was an age of great wars, and the Cid aided his king in many a brave
+fight. At last, in the siege of Zamora, the king was treacherously
+murdered, and, as he had no sons, Don Alfonso, his brother, succeeded.
+When he arrived at Zamora the Cid refused to acknowledge Alfonso until
+he should swear that he had no part in the murder. The king, angered by
+the Cid's attitude, plotted revenge. Opportunity came during a war with
+the Moors, and the Cid was banished upon a slight pretext.
+
+"I obey, O king," replied the Cid, when he heard the decree. "I am more
+ready to serve you than you are to reward me. I pray that you may never
+more in battle need the right arm and sword that so often served your
+father."
+
+Then the Cid rode away, through a crowd of weeping people, and camped
+outside of the city until he could make definite plans. The people
+longed to bring him food or offer him shelter, but they feared the
+displeasure of the king. One old man, however, crept outside of the city
+with food, declaring that he cared "not a fig" for Alfonso's commands.
+
+The Cid needed money, and to get it he pledged two locked coffers to
+some Jews. The Jews in those days were much despised by the Christians,
+though usually very wealthy. The men, thinking that the boxes contained
+vast treasures, when in reality they were filled with sand, advanced the
+Cid 600 marks of gold. Then the hero bade farewell to his wife and
+children and rode away, vowing that he would return, covered with glory
+and carrying with him rich spoils.
+
+Within two weeks' time the Cid and his little band of followers had
+captured two Moorish strongholds and carried off much spoil. The Cid
+then prepared a truly royal present and sent it to the king. Alfonso,
+upon receiving the gift, pardoned the Cid, and published an edict
+permitting all who wished to join in the fight against the Moors to join
+Rodrigo and his band.
+
+Toledo, thanks to the valor of the Cid, soon fell into the hands of
+Alfonso, but a misunderstanding arose and the king insulted the Cid.
+The latter, in great rage, left the army and made a sudden raid on
+Castile. Then the Moors, knowing that the Cid had departed, took courage
+and captured Valencia. But the Cid, hearing of the disaster, promptly
+returned, recaptured the city, and sent a message to Alfonso asking for
+his wife and daughters. At the same time he sent more than the promised
+sum of money to the Jews, who up to this time had not learned that the
+coffers were filled with sand. To the messenger he said:
+
+"Tell them, that although they can find nothing in the coffers but sand,
+they will find that the pure gold of my truth lies beneath the sand."
+
+As the Cid was now master of Valencia, and of vast wealth, his daughters
+were sought in marriage by many suitors, and the marriage of both girls
+was celebrated with great splendor. But the Counts of Carrion, their
+husbands, were not brave men like the Cid, and after lingering at
+Valencia in idleness for two years, their weakness was clearly shown.
+
+One evening while the Cid was sleeping, a lion broke loose from his
+private menagerie and entered the room where he lay. The two princes,
+who were playing in the room, fled, one in his haste falling into an
+empty vat, and the other taking refuge behind the Cid's couch. The
+roaring of the lion wakened the Cid, and jumping up he seized his sword,
+caught the lion by the mane, led it back to its cage, and calmly
+returned to his place.
+
+The cowardly conduct of the Counts of Carrion roused the anger of the
+Cid's followers, and in the siege of Valencia that followed their
+conduct brought only contempt. When the Moors were finally driven away
+the counts asked permission to return home with their brides and gifts.
+
+So the Cid parted from his daughters, weeping at the loss. The
+procession started. The first morning the counts sent their escorts
+ahead, and, left alone with their wives, stripped them of their
+garments, beat them and kicked them, and left them for dead. But Felez
+Munoz, a loyal follower of the Cid's, riding back, found the two wives,
+bound up their wounds and obtained shelter for them in the house of a
+poor man whose wife and daughters promised to nurse them. Then he rode
+on to tell the Cid. The Cid swore that he would be avenged, and as
+Alfonso was responsible for the marriage, he applied to him for redress.
+
+The king, who had long since forgiven the Cid and learned to value his
+services, was very angry. A battle was finally arranged. The Counts of
+Carrion and their uncle were defeated and banished, and the Cid returned
+in triumph to Valencia. Here his daughters' second marriage took place.
+
+The Moors returned five years later, and the Cid was prepared to meet
+them when he received a vision of St. Peter, predicting that he would
+die within thirty days, but that even though dead he would triumph over
+his enemy. He accordingly made preparations for his death, and after
+appointing a successor, he gave instructions that none should weep over
+his death, and that his body when embalmed should be set upon his horse,
+Babieca, and that, with his sword Tizona in his hand, he should be led
+on a certain day against the enemy.
+
+The hero died and his successor together with his wife Ximena strove to
+carry out his instructions. A battle was planned, and the Cid, strapped
+upon his war horse, rode in the van. The Moors, filled with terror, fled
+before him.
+
+After the victory the body was placed in the Church of San Pedro de
+Cardena, where for ten years it remained seated, in plain view of all.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAMOUS TALES OF FACT AND FANCY***
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