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@@ -0,0 +1,6695 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tanglewood Tales, by Nathaniel Hawthorne + +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: Tanglewood Tales + +Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne + +Posting Date: August 6, 2008 [EBook #976] +Release Date: July, 1997 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TANGLEWOOD TALES *** + + + + +Produced by Dianne Bean + + + + + +TANGLEWOOD TALES + +By Nathaniel Hawthorne + + + + +THE WAYSIDE. INTRODUCTORY. + +A short time ago, I was favored with a flying visit from my young friend +Eustace Bright, whom I had not before met with since quitting the breezy +mountains of Berkshire. It being the winter vacation at his college, +Eustace was allowing himself a little relaxation, in the hope, he told +me, of repairing the inroads which severe application to study had +made upon his health; and I was happy to conclude, from the excellent +physical condition in which I saw him, that the remedy had already been +attended with very desirable success. He had now run up from Boston by +the noon train, partly impelled by the friendly regard with which he +is pleased to honor me, and partly, as I soon found, on a matter of +literary business. + +It delighted me to receive Mr. Bright, for the first time, under a roof, +though a very humble one, which I could really call my own. Nor did I +fail (as is the custom of landed proprietors all about the world) to +parade the poor fellow up and down over my half a dozen acres; secretly +rejoicing, nevertheless, that the disarray of the inclement season, and +particularly the six inches of snow then upon the ground, prevented him +from observing the ragged neglect of soil and shrubbery into which the +place had lapsed. It was idle, however, to imagine that an airy guest +from Monument Mountain, Bald Summit, and old Graylock, shaggy with +primeval forests, could see anything to admire in my poor little +hillside, with its growth of frail and insect-eaten locust trees. +Eustace very frankly called the view from my hill top tame; and so, +no doubt, it was, after rough, broken, rugged, headlong Berkshire, and +especially the northern parts of the county, with which his college +residence had made him familiar. But to me there is a peculiar, quiet +charm in these broad meadows and gentle eminences. They are better than +mountains, because they do not stamp and stereotype themselves into the +brain, and thus grow wearisome with the same strong impression, repeated +day after day. A few summer weeks among mountains, a lifetime among +green meadows and placid slopes, with outlines forever new, because +continually fading out of the memory--such would be my sober choice. + +I doubt whether Eustace did not internally pronounce the whole thing a +bore, until I led him to my predecessor's little ruined, rustic summer +house, midway on the hillside. It is a mere skeleton of slender, +decaying tree trunks, with neither walls nor a roof; nothing but a +tracery of branches and twigs, which the next wintry blast will be very +likely to scatter in fragments along the terrace. It looks, and is, as +evanescent as a dream; and yet, in its rustic network of boughs, it +has somehow enclosed a hint of spiritual beauty, and has become a true +emblem of the subtile and ethereal mind that planned it. I made Eustace +Bright sit down on a snow bank, which had heaped itself over the mossy +seat, and gazing through the arched windows opposite, he acknowledged +that the scene at once grew picturesque. + +"Simple as it looks," said he, "this little edifice seems to be the work +of magic. It is full of suggestiveness, and, in its way, is as good as a +cathedral. Ah, it would be just the spot for one to sit in, of a summer +afternoon, and tell the children some more of those wild stories from +the classic myths!" + +"It would, indeed," answered I. "The summer house itself, so airy and +so broken, is like one of those old tales, imperfectly remembered; and +these living branches of the Baldwin apple tree, thrusting so rudely +in, are like your unwarrantable interpolations. But, by the by, have +you added any more legends to the series, since the publication of the +'Wonder-Book'?" + +"Many more," said Eustace; "Primrose, Periwinkle, and the rest of them, +allow me no comfort of my life unless I tell them a story every day or +two. I have run away from home partly to escape the importunity of these +little wretches! But I have written out six of the new stories, and have +brought them for you to look over." + +"Are they as good as the first?" I inquired. + +"Better chosen, and better handled," replied Eustace Bright. "You will +say so when you read them." + +"Possibly not," I remarked. "I know from my own experience, that an +author's last work is always his best one, in his own estimate, until it +quite loses the red heat of composition. After that, it falls into its +true place, quietly enough. But let us adjourn to my study, and examine +these new stories. It would hardly be doing yourself justice, were you +to bring me acquainted with them, sitting here on this snow bank!" + +So we descended the hill to my small, old cottage, and shut ourselves +up in the south-eastern room, where the sunshine comes in, warmly and +brightly, through the better half of a winter's day. Eustace put his +bundle of manuscript into my hands; and I skimmed through it pretty +rapidly, trying to find out its merits and demerits by the touch of my +fingers, as a veteran story-teller ought to know how to do. + +It will be remembered that Mr. Bright condescended to avail himself of +my literary experience by constituting me editor of the "Wonder-Book." +As he had no reason to complain of the reception of that erudite work by +the public, he was now disposed to retain me in a similar position with +respect to the present volume, which he entitled TANGLEWOOD TALES. Not, +as Eustace hinted, that there was any real necessity for my services as +introducer, inasmuch as his own name had become established in some good +degree of favor with the literary world. But the connection with myself, +he was kind enough to say, had been highly agreeable; nor was he by any +means desirous, as most people are, of kicking away the ladder that had +perhaps helped him to reach his present elevation. My young friend was +willing, in short, that the fresh verdure of his growing reputation +should spread over my straggling and half-naked boughs; even as I have +sometimes thought of training a vine, with its broad leafiness, and +purple fruitage, over the worm-eaten posts and rafters of the rustic +summer house. I was not insensible to the advantages of his proposal, +and gladly assured him of my acceptance. + +Merely from the title of the stories I saw at once that the subjects +were not less rich than those of the former volume; nor did I at all +doubt that Mr. Bright's audacity (so far as that endowment might avail) +had enabled him to take full advantage of whatever capabilities they +offered. Yet, in spite of my experience of his free way of handling +them, I did not quite see, I confess, how he could have obviated all the +difficulties in the way of rendering them presentable to children. These +old legends, so brimming over with everything that is most abhorrent +to our Christianized moral sense some of them so hideous, others so +melancholy and miserable, amid which the Greek tragedians sought their +themes, and moulded them into the sternest forms of grief that ever the +world saw; was such material the stuff that children's playthings should +be made of! How were they to be purified? How was the blessed sunshine +to be thrown into them? + +But Eustace told me that these myths were the most singular things in +the world, and that he was invariably astonished, whenever he began +to relate one, by the readiness with which it adapted itself to the +childish purity of his auditors. The objectionable characteristics seem +to be a parasitical growth, having no essential connection with the +original fable. They fall away, and are thought of no more, the instant +he puts his imagination in sympathy with the innocent little circle, +whose wide-open eyes are fixed so eagerly upon him. Thus the stories +(not by any strained effort of the narrator's, but in harmony with their +inherent germ) transform themselves, and re-assume the shapes which they +might be supposed to possess in the pure childhood of the world. When +the first poet or romancer told these marvellous legends (such is +Eustace Bright's opinion), it was still the Golden Age. Evil had never +yet existed; and sorrow, misfortune, crime, were mere shadows which +the mind fancifully created for itself, as a shelter against too sunny +realities; or, at most, but prophetic dreams to which the dreamer +himself did not yield a waking credence. Children are now the only +representatives of the men and women of that happy era; and therefore it +is that we must raise the intellect and fancy to the level of childhood, +in order to re-create the original myths. + +I let the youthful author talk as much and as extravagantly as he +pleased, and was glad to see him commencing life with such confidence in +himself and his performances. A few years will do all that is necessary +towards showing him the truth in both respects. Meanwhile, it is +but right to say, he does really appear to have overcome the moral +objections against these fables, although at the expense of such +liberties with their structure as must be left to plead their own +excuse, without any help from me. Indeed, except that there was a +necessity for it--and that the inner life of the legends cannot be come +at save by making them entirely one's own property--there is no defense +to be made. + +Eustace informed me that he had told his stories to the children in +various situations--in the woods, on the shore of the lake, in the +dell of Shadow Brook, in the playroom, at Tanglewood fireside, and in a +magnificent palace of snow, with ice windows, which he helped his +little friends to build. His auditors were even more delighted with +the contents of the present volume than with the specimens which have +already been given to the world. The classically learned Mr. Pringle, +too, had listened to two or three of the tales, and censured them even +more bitterly than he did THE THREE GOLDEN APPLES; so that, what with +praise, and what with criticism, Eustace Bright thinks that there is +good hope of at least as much success with the public as in the case of +the "WonderBook." + +I made all sorts of inquiries about the children, not doubting that +there would be great eagerness to hear of their welfare, among some good +little folks who have written to me, to ask for another volume of myths. +They are all, I am happy to say (unless we except Clover), in excellent +health and spirits. Primrose is now almost a young lady, and, Eustace +tells me, is just as saucy as ever. She pretends to consider herself +quite beyond the age to be interested by such idle stories as these; +but, for all that, whenever a story is to be told, Primrose never +fails to be one of the listeners, and to make fun of it when finished. +Periwinkle is very much grown, and is expected to shut up her baby house +and throw away her doll in a month or two more. Sweet Fern has learned +to read and write, and has put on a jacket and pair of pantaloons--all +of which improvements I am sorry for. Squash Blossom, Blue Eye, +Plantain, and Buttercup have had the scarlet fever, but came easily +through it. Huckleberry, Milkweed, and Dandelion were attacked with the +whooping cough, but bore it bravely, and kept out of doors whenever the +sun shone. Cowslip, during the autumn, had either the measles, or some +eruption that looked very much like it, but was hardly sick a day. Poor +Clover has been a good deal troubled with her second teeth, which have +made her meagre in aspect and rather fractious in temper; nor, even when +she smiles, is the matter much mended, since it discloses a gap just +within her lips, almost as wide as the barn door. But all this will pass +over, and it is predicted that she will turn out a very pretty girl. + +As for Mr. Bright himself, he is now in his senior year at Williams +College, and has a prospect of graduating with some degree of honorable +distinction at the next Commencement. In his oration for the bachelor's +degree, he gives me to understand, he will treat of the classical myths, +viewed in the aspect of baby stories, and has a great mind to discuss +the expediency of using up the whole of ancient history, for the same +purpose. I do not know what he means to do with himself after leaving +college, but trust that, by dabbling so early with the dangerous and +seductive business of authorship, he will not be tempted to become an +author by profession. If so I shall be very sorry for the little that I +have had to do with the matter, in encouraging these first beginnings. + +I wish there were any likelihood of my soon seeing Primrose, Periwinkle, +Dandelion, Sweet Fern, Clover Plantain, Huckleberry, Milkweed, Cowslip, +Buttercup, Blue Eye, and Squash Blossom again. But as I do not know when +I shall re-visit Tanglewood, and as Eustace Bright probably will not +ask me to edit a third "WonderBook," the public of little folks must not +expect to hear any more about those dear children from me. Heaven bless +them, and everybody else, whether grown people or children! + + + + +THE MINOTAUR. + +In the old city of Troezene, at the foot of a lofty mountain, +there lived, a very long time ago, a little boy named Theseus. His +grandfather, King Pittheus, was the sovereign of that country, and was +reckoned a very wise man; so that Theseus, being brought up in the royal +palace, and being naturally a bright lad, could hardly fail of profiting +by the old king's instructions. His mother's name was Aethra. As for his +father, the boy had never seen him. But, from his earliest remembrance, +Aethra used to go with little Theseus into a wood, and sit down upon a +moss-grown rock, which was deeply sunken into the earth. Here she +often talked with her son about his father, and said that he was called +Aegeus, and that he was a great king, and ruled over Attica, and dwelt +at Athens, which was as famous a city as any in the world. Theseus was +very fond of hearing about King Aegeus, and often asked his good mother +Aethra why he did not come and live with them at Troezene. + +"Ah, my dear son," answered Aethra, with a sigh, "a monarch has his +people to take care of. The men and women over whom he rules are in the +place of children to him; and he can seldom spare time to love his own +children as other parents do. Your father will never be able to leave +his kingdom for the sake of seeing his little boy." + +"Well, but, dear mother," asked the boy, "why cannot I go to this famous +city of Athens, and tell King Aegeus that I am his son?" + +"That may happen by and by," said Aethra. "Be patient, and we shall see. +You are not yet big and strong enough to set out on such an errand." + +"And how soon shall I be strong enough?" Theseus persisted in inquiring. + +"You are but a tiny boy as yet," replied his mother. "See if you can +lift this rock on which we are sitting?" + +The little fellow had a great opinion of his own strength. So, grasping +the rough protuberances of the rock, he tugged and toiled amain, and got +himself quite out of breath, without being able to stir the heavy stone. +It seemed to be rooted into the ground. No wonder he could not move it; +for it would have taken all the force of a very strong man to lift it +out of its earthy bed. + +His mother stood looking on, with a sad kind of a smile on her lips and +in her eyes, to see the zealous and yet puny efforts of her little boy. +She could not help being sorrowful at finding him already so impatient +to begin his adventures in the world. + +"You see how it is, my dear Theseus," said she. "You must possess far +more strength than now before I can trust you to go to Athens, and tell +King Aegeus that you are his son. But when you can lift this rock, +and show me what is hidden beneath it, I promise you my permission to +depart." + +Often and often, after this, did Theseus ask his mother whether it was +yet time for him to go to Athens; and still his mother pointed to the +rock, and told him that, for years to come, he could not be strong +enough to move it. And again and again the rosy-checked and curly-headed +boy would tug and strain at the huge mass of stone, striving, child as +he was, to do what a giant could hardly have done without taking both +of his great hands to the task. Meanwhile the rock seemed to be sinking +farther and farther into the ground. The moss grew over it thicker and +thicker, until at last it looked almost like a soft green seat, with +only a few gray knobs of granite peeping out. The overhanging trees, +also, shed their brown leaves upon it, as often as the autumn came; and +at its base grew ferns and wild flowers, some of which crept quite over +its surface. To all appearance, the rock was as firmly fastened as any +other portion of the earth's substance. + +But, difficult as the matter looked, Theseus was now growing up to be +such a vigorous youth, that, in his own opinion, the time would quickly +come when he might hope to get the upper hand of this ponderous lump of +stone. + +"Mother, I do believe it has started!" cried he, after one of his +attempts. "The earth around it is certainly a little cracked!" + +"No, no, child!" his mother hastily answered. "It is not possible you +can have moved it, such a boy as you still are!" + +Nor would she be convinced, although Theseus showed her the place where +he fancied that the stem of a flower had been partly uprooted by the +movement of the rock. But Aethra sighed, and looked disquieted; for, no +doubt, she began to be conscious that her son was no longer a child, and +that, in a little while hence, she must send him forth among the perils +and troubles of the world. + +It was not more than a year afterwards when they were again sitting on +the moss-covered stone. Aethra had once more told him the oft-repeated +story of his father, and how gladly he would receive Theseus at his +stately palace, and how he would present him to his courtiers and the +people, and tell them that here was the heir of his dominions. The eyes +of Theseus glowed with enthusiasm, and he would hardly sit still to hear +his mother speak. + +"Dear mother Aethra," he exclaimed, "I never felt half so strong as now! +I am no longer a child, nor a boy, nor a mere youth! I feel myself a +man! It is now time to make one earnest trial to remove the stone." + +"Ah, my dearest Theseus," replied his mother "not yet! not yet!" + +"Yes, mother," said he, resolutely, "the time has come!" + +Then Theseus bent himself in good earnest to the task, and strained +every sinew, with manly strength and resolution. He put his whole brave +heart into the effort. He wrestled with the big and sluggish stone, as +if it had been a living enemy. He heaved, he lifted, he resolved now +to succeed, or else to perish there, and let the rock be his monument +forever! Aethra stood gazing at him, and clasped her hands, partly with +a mother's pride, and partly with a mother's sorrow. The great rock +stirred! Yes, it was raised slowly from the bedded moss and earth, +uprooting the shrubs and flowers along with it, and was turned upon its +side. Theseus had conquered! + +While taking breath, he looked joyfully at his mother, and she smiled +upon him through her tears. + +"Yes, Theseus," she said, "the time has come, and you must stay no +longer at my side! See what King Aegeus, your royal father, left for you +beneath the stone, when he lifted it in his mighty arms, and laid it on +the spot whence you have now removed it." + +Theseus looked, and saw that the rock had been placed over another slab +of stone, containing a cavity within it; so that it somewhat resembled a +roughly-made chest or coffer, of which the upper mass had served as the +lid. Within the cavity lay a sword, with a golden hilt, and a pair of +sandals. + +"That was your father's sword," said Aethra, "and those were his +sandals. When he went to be king of Athens, he bade me treat you as a +child until you should prove yourself a man by lifting this heavy stone. +That task being accomplished, you are to put on his sandals, in order to +follow in your father's footsteps, and to gird on his sword, so that you +may fight giants and dragons, as King Aegeus did in his youth." + +"I will set out for Athens this very day!" cried Theseus. + +But his mother persuaded him to stay a day or two longer, while she got +ready some necessary articles for his journey. When his grandfather, the +wise King Pittheus, heard that Theseus intended to present himself +at his father's palace, he earnestly advised him to get on board of a +vessel, and go by sea; because he might thus arrive within fifteen miles +of Athens, without either fatigue or danger. + +"The roads are very bad by land," quoth the venerable king; "and they +are terribly infested with robbers and monsters. A mere lad, like +Theseus, is not fit to be trusted on such a perilous journey, all by +himself. No, no; let him go by sea." + +But when Theseus heard of robbers and monsters, he pricked up his ears, +and was so much the more eager to take the road along which they were to +be met with. On the third day, therefore, he bade a respectful farewell +to his grandfather, thanking him for all his kindness; and, after +affectionately embracing his mother, he set forth with a good many of +her tears glistening on his cheeks, and some, if the truth must be told, +that had gushed out of his own eyes. But he let the sun and wind dry +them, and walked stoutly on, playing with the golden hilt of his sword, +and taking very manly strides in his father's sandals. + +I cannot stop to tell you hardly any of the adventures that befell +Theseus on the road to Athens. It is enough to say, that he quite +cleared that part of the country of the robbers about whom King Pittheus +had been so much alarmed. One of these bad people was named Procrustes; +and he was indeed a terrible fellow, and had an ugly way of making fun +of the poor travelers who happened to fall into his clutches. In his +cavern he had a bed, on which, with great pretense of hospitality, he +invited his guests to lie down; but, if they happened to be shorter than +the bed, this wicked villain stretched them out by main force; or, if +they were too tall, he lopped off their heads or feet, and laughed at +what he had done, as an excellent joke. Thus, however weary a man might +be, he never liked to lie in the bed of Procrustes. Another of these +robbers, named Scinis, must likewise have been a very great scoundrel. +He was in the habit of flinging his victims off a high cliff into the +sea; and, in order to give him exactly his deserts, Theseus tossed him +off the very same place. But if you will believe me, the sea would not +pollute itself by receiving such a bad person into its bosom; neither +would the earth, having once got rid of him, consent to take him back; +so that, between the cliff and the sea, Scinis stuck fast in the air, +which was forced to bear the burden of his naughtiness. + +After these memorable deeds, Theseus heard of an enormous sow, which ran +wild, and was the terror of all the farmers round about; and, as he did +not consider himself above doing any good thing that came in his way, he +killed this monstrous creature, and gave the carcass to the poor people +for bacon. The great sow had been an awful beast, while ramping about +the woods and fields, but was a pleasant object enough when cut up into +joints, and smoking on I know not how many dinner tables. + +Thus, by the time he reached his journey's end, Theseus had done many +valiant feats with his father's golden-hilted sword, and had gained +the renown of being one of the bravest young men of the day. His fame +traveled faster than he did, and reached Athens before him. As he +entered the city, he heard the inhabitants talking at the street +corners, and saying that Hercules was brave, and Jason too, and Castor +and Pollux likewise, but that Theseus, the son of their own king, +would turn out as great a hero as the best of them. Theseus took longer +strides on hearing this, and fancied himself sure of a magnificent +reception at his father's court, since he came thither with Fame to blow +her trumpet before him, and cry to King Aegeus, "Behold your son!" + +He little suspected, innocent youth that he was, that here, in this very +Athens, where his father reigned, a greater danger awaited him than any +which he had encountered on the road. Yet this was the truth. You must +understand that the father of Theseus, though not very old in years, was +almost worn out with the cares of government, and had thus grown aged +before his time. His nephews, not expecting him to live a very great +while, intended to get all the power of the kingdom into their own +hands. But when they heard that Theseus had arrived in Athens, and +learned what a gallant young man he was, they saw that he would not be +at all the kind of a person to let them steal away his father's crown +and scepter, which ought to be his own by right of inheritance. Thus +these bad-hearted nephews of King Aegeus, who were the own cousins of +Theseus, at once became his enemies. A still more dangerous enemy was +Medea, the wicked enchantress; for she was now the king's wife, and +wanted to give the kingdom to her son Medus, instead of letting it be +given to the son of Aethra, whom she hated. + +It so happened that the king's nephews met Theseus, and found out who he +was, just as he reached the entrance of the royal palace. With all +their evil designs against him, they pretended to be their cousin's +best friends, and expressed great joy at making his acquaintance. +They proposed to him that he should come into the king's presence as +a stranger, in order to try whether Aegeus would discover in the young +man's features any likeness either to himself or his mother Aethra, and +thus recognize him for a son. Theseus consented; for he fancied that his +father would know him in a moment, by the love that was in his heart. +But, while he waited at the door, the nephews ran and told King Aegeus +that a young man had arrived in Athens, who, to their certain knowledge, +intended to put him to death, and get possession of his royal crown. + +"And he is now waiting for admission to your majesty's presence," added +they. + +"Aha!" cried the old king, on hearing this. "Why, he must be a very +wicked young fellow indeed! Pray, what would you advise me to do with +him?" + +In reply to this question, the wicked Medea put in her word. As I +have already told you, she was a famous enchantress. According to some +stories, she was in the habit of boiling old people in a large caldron, +under pretense of making them young again; but King Aegeus, I suppose, +did not fancy such an uncomfortable way of growing young, or perhaps +was contented to be old, and therefore would never let himself be +popped into the caldron. If there were time to spare from more important +matters, I should be glad to tell you of Medea's fiery chariot, drawn +by winged dragons, in which the enchantress used often to take an airing +among the clouds. This chariot, in fact, was the vehicle that first +brought her to Athens, where she had done nothing but mischief ever +since her arrival. But these and many other wonders must be left untold; +and it is enough to say, that Medea, amongst a thousand other bad +things, knew how to prepare a poison, that was instantly fatal to +whomsoever might so much as touch it with his lips. + +So, when the king asked what he should do with Theseus, this naughty +woman had an answer ready at her tongue's end. + +"Leave that to me, please your majesty," she replied. "Only admit this +evil-minded young man to your presence, treat him civilly, and invite +him to drink a goblet of wine. Your majesty is well aware that I +sometimes amuse myself by distilling very powerful medicines. Here is +one of them in this small phial. As to what it is made of, that is one +of my secrets of state. Do but let me put a single drop into the goblet, +and let the young man taste it; and I will answer for it, he shall quite +lay aside the bad designs with which he comes hither." + +As she said this, Medea smiled; but, for all her smiling face, she +meant nothing less than to poison the poor innocent Theseus, before +his father's eyes. And King Aegeus, like most other kings, thought any +punishment mild enough for a person who was accused of plotting against +his life. He therefore made little or no objection to Medea's scheme, +and as soon as the poisonous wine was ready, gave orders that the young +stranger should be admitted into his presence. + +The goblet was set on a table beside the king's throne; and a fly, +meaning just to sip a little from the brim, immediately tumbled into +it, dead. Observing this, Medea looked round at the nephews, and smiled +again. + +When Theseus was ushered into the royal apartment, the only object that +he seemed to behold was the white-bearded old king. There he sat on his +magnificent throne, a dazzling crown on his head, and a scepter in +his hand. His aspect was stately and majestic, although his years and +infirmities weighed heavily upon him, as if each year were a lump of +lead, and each infirmity a ponderous stone, and all were bundled up +together, and laid upon his weary shoulders. The tears both of joy and +sorrow sprang into the young man's eyes; for he thought how sad it was +to see his dear father so infirm, and how sweet it would be to support +him with his own youthful strength, and to cheer him up with the +alacrity of his loving spirit. When a son takes a father into his warm +heart it renews the old man's youth in a better way than by the heat +of Medea's magic caldron. And this was what Theseus resolved to do. He +could scarcely wait to see whether King Aegeus would recognize him, so +eager was he to throw himself into his arms. + +Advancing to the foot of the throne, he attempted to make a little +speech, which he had been thinking about, as he came up the stairs. But +he was almost choked by a great many tender feelings that gushed out of +his heart and swelled into his throat, all struggling to find +utterance together. And therefore, unless he could have laid his full, +over-brimming heart into the king's hand, poor Theseus knew not what +to do or say. The cunning Medea observed what was passing in the young +man's mind. She was more wicked at that moment than ever she had been +before; for (and it makes me tremble to tell you of it) she did her +worst to turn all this unspeakable love with which Theseus was agitated +to his own ruin and destruction. + +"Does your majesty see his confusion?" she whispered in the king's ear. +"He is so conscious of guilt, that he trembles and cannot speak. The +wretch lives too long! Quick! offer him the wine!" + +Now King Aegeus had been gazing earnestly at the young stranger, as he +drew near the throne. There was something, he knew not what, either +in his white brow, or in the fine expression of his mouth, or in his +beautiful and tender eyes, that made him indistinctly feel as if he had +seen this youth before; as if, indeed, he had trotted him on his knee +when a baby, and had beheld him growing to be a stalwart man, while he +himself grew old. But Medea guessed how the king felt, and would not +suffer him to yield to these natural sensibilities; although they were +the voice of his deepest heart, telling him as plainly as it could +speak, that here was our dear son, and Aethra's son, coming to claim +him for a father. The enchantress again whispered in the king's ear, +and compelled him, by her witchcraft, to see everything under a false +aspect. + +He made up his mind, therefore, to let Theseus drink off the poisoned +wine. + +"Young man," said he, "you are welcome! I am proud to show hospitality +to so heroic a youth. Do me the favor to drink the contents of this +goblet. It is brimming over, as you see, with delicious wine, such as I +bestow only on those who are worthy of it! None is more worthy to quaff +it than yourself!" + +So saying, King Aegeus took the golden goblet from the table, and was +about to offer it to Theseus. But, partly through his infirmities, and +partly because it seemed so sad a thing to take away this young man's +life, however wicked he might be, and partly, no doubt, because his +heart was wiser than his head, and quaked within him at the thought of +what he was going to do--for all these reasons, the king's hand +trembled so much that a great deal of the wine slopped over. In order +to strengthen his purpose, and fearing lest the whole of the precious +poison should be wasted, one of his nephews now whispered to him: + +"Has your Majesty any doubt of this stranger's guilt? This is the +very sword with which he meant to slay you. How sharp, and bright, and +terrible it is! Quick!--let him taste the wine; or perhaps he may do the +deed even yet." + +At these words, Aegeus drove every thought and feeling out of his +breast, except the one idea of how justly the young man deserved to be +put to death. He sat erect on his throne, and held out the goblet of +wine with a steady hand, and bent on Theseus a frown of kingly severity; +for, after all, he had too noble a spirit to murder even a treacherous +enemy with a deceitful smile upon his face. + +"Drink!" said he, in the stern tone with which he was wont to condemn +a criminal to be beheaded. "You have well deserved of me such wine as +this!" + +Theseus held out his hand to take the wine. But, before he touched it, +King Aegeus trembled again. His eyes had fallen on the gold-hilted sword +that hung at the young man's side. He drew back the goblet. + +"That sword!" he exclaimed: "how came you by it?" + +"It was my father's sword," replied Theseus, with a tremulous voice. +"These were his sandals. My dear mother (her name is Aethra) told me +his story while I was yet a little child. But it is only a month since +I grew strong enough to lift the heavy stone, and take the sword and +sandals from beneath it, and come to Athens to seek my father." + +"My son! my son!" cried King Aegeus, flinging away the fatal goblet, and +tottering down from the throne to fall into the arms of Theseus. "Yes, +these are Aethra's eyes. It is my son." + +I have quite forgotten what became of the king's nephews. But when the +wicked Medea saw this new turn of affairs, she hurried out of the +room, and going to her private chamber, lost no time to setting her +enchantments to work. In a few moments, she heard a great noise of +hissing snakes outside of the chamber window; and behold! there was her +fiery chariot, and four huge winged serpents, wriggling and twisting in +the air, flourishing their tails higher than the top of the palace, and +all ready to set off on an aerial journey. Medea staid only long enough +to take her son with her, and to steal the crown jewels, together with +the king's best robes, and whatever other valuable things she could lay +hands on; and getting into the chariot, she whipped up the snakes, and +ascended high over the city. + +The king, hearing the hiss of the serpents, scrambled as fast as he +could to the window, and bawled out to the abominable enchantress never +to come back. The whole people of Athens, too, who had run out of doors +to see this wonderful spectacle, set up a shout of joy at the prospect +of getting rid of her. Medea, almost bursting with rage, uttered +precisely such a hiss as one of her own snakes, only ten times more +venomous and spiteful; and glaring fiercely out of the blaze of the +chariot, she shook her hands over the multitude below, as if she were +scattering a million of curses among them. In so doing, however, she +unintentionally let fall about five hundred diamonds of the first +water, together with a thousand great pearls, and two thousand emeralds, +rubies, sapphires, opals, and topazes, to which she had helped herself +out of the king's strong box. All these came pelting down, like a shower +of many-colored hailstones, upon the heads of grown people and children, +who forthwith gathered them up, and carried them back to the palace. But +King Aegeus told them that they were welcome to the whole, and to twice +as many more, if he had them, for the sake of his delight at finding +his son, and losing the wicked Medea. And, indeed, if you had seen how +hateful was her last look, as the flaming chariot flew upward, you would +not have wondered that both king and people should think her departure a +good riddance. + +And now Prince Theseus was taken into great favor by his royal father. +The old king was never weary of having him sit beside him on his throne +(which was quite wide enough for two), and of hearing him tell about his +dear mother, and his childhood, and his many boyish efforts to lift the +ponderous stone. Theseus, however, was much too brave and active a young +man to be willing to spend all his time in relating things which had +already happened. His ambition was to perform other and more heroic +deeds, which should be better worth telling in prose and verse. Nor had +he been long in Athens before he caught and chained a terrible mad bull, +and made a public show of him, greatly to the wonder and admiration +of good King Aegeus and his subjects. But pretty soon, he undertook an +affair that made all his foregone adventures seem like mere boy's play. +The occasion of it was as follows: + +One morning, when Prince Theseus awoke, he fancied that he must have had +a very sorrowful dream, and that it was still running in his mind, even +now that his eyes were opened. For it appeared as if the air was full of +a melancholy wail; and when he listened more attentively, he could hear +sobs, and groans, and screams of woe, mingled with deep, quiet sighs, +which came from the king's palace, and from the streets, and from the +temples, and from every habitation in the city. And all these mournful +noises, issuing out of thousands of separate hearts, united themselves +into one great sound of affliction, which had startled Theseus from +slumber. He put on his clothes as quickly as he could (not forgetting +his sandals and gold-hilted sword), and, hastening to the king, inquired +what it all meant. + +"Alas! my son," quoth King Aegeus, heaving a long sigh, "here is a very +lamentable matter in hand! This is the wofulest anniversary in the +whole year. It is the day when we annually draw lots to see which of +the youths and maids of Athens shall go to be devoured by the horrible +Minotaur!" + +"The Minotaur!" exclaimed Prince Theseus; and like a brave young prince +as he was, he put his hand to the hilt of his sword. "What kind of a +monster may that be? Is it not possible, at the risk of one's life, to +slay him?" + +But King Aegeus shook his venerable head, and to convince Theseus that +it was quite a hopeless case, he gave him an explanation of the whole +affair. It seems that in the island of Crete there lived a certain +dreadful monster, called a Minotaur, which was shaped partly like a +man and partly like a bull, and was altogether such a hideous sort of +a creature that it is really disagreeable to think of him. If he were +suffered to exist at all, it should have been on some desert island, +or in the duskiness of some deep cavern, where nobody would ever be +tormented by his abominable aspect. But King Minos, who reigned over +Crete, laid out a vast deal of money in building a habitation for the +Minotaur, and took great care of his health and comfort, merely for +mischief's sake. A few years before this time, there had been a war +between the city of Athens and the island of Crete, in which the +Athenians were beaten, and compelled to beg for peace. No peace could +they obtain, however, except on condition that they should send seven +young men and seven maidens, every year, to be devoured by the pet +monster of the cruel King Minos. For three years past, this grievous +calamity had been borne. And the sobs, and groans, and shrieks, with +which the city was now filled, were caused by the people's woe, because +the fatal day had come again, when the fourteen victims were to be +chosen by lot; and the old people feared lest their sons or daughters +might be taken, and the youths and damsels dreaded lest they themselves +might be destined to glut the ravenous maw of that detestable man-brute. + +But when Theseus heard the story, he straightened himself up, so that +he seemed taller than ever before; and as for his face it was indignant, +despiteful, bold, tender, and compassionate, all in one look. + +"Let the people of Athens this year draw lots for only six young men, +instead of seven," said he, "I will myself be the seventh; and let the +Minotaur devour me if he can!" + +"O my dear son," cried King Aegeus, "why should you expose yourself to +this horrible fate? You are a royal prince, and have a right to hold +yourself above the destinies of common men." + +"It is because I am a prince, your son, and the rightful heir of your +kingdom, that I freely take upon me the calamity of your subjects," +answered Theseus, "And you, my father, being king over these people, and +answerable to Heaven for their welfare, are bound to sacrifice what +is dearest to you, rather than that the son or daughter of the poorest +citizen should come to any harm." + +The old king shed tears, and besought Theseus not to leave him desolate +in his old age, more especially as he had but just begun to know the +happiness of possessing a good and valiant son. Theseus, however, +felt that he was in the right, and therefore would not give up his +resolution. But he assured his father that he did not intend to be eaten +up, unresistingly, like a sheep, and that, if the Minotaur devoured him, +it should not be without a battle for his dinner. And finally, since he +could not help it, King Aegeus consented to let him go. So a vessel +was got ready, and rigged with black sails; and Theseus, with six other +young men, and seven tender and beautiful damsels, came down to the +harbor to embark. A sorrowful multitude accompanied them to the shore. +There was the poor old king, too, leaning on his son's arm, and looking +as if his single heart held all the grief of Athens. + +Just as Prince Theseus was going on board, his father bethought himself +of one last word to say. + +"My beloved son," said he, grasping the Prince's hand, "you observe that +the sails of this vessel are black; as indeed they ought to be, since it +goes upon a voyage of sorrow and despair. Now, being weighed down with +infirmities, I know not whether I can survive till the vessel shall +return. But, as long as I do live, I shall creep daily to the top of +yonder cliff, to watch if there be a sail upon the sea. And, dearest +Theseus, if by some happy chance, you should escape the jaws of the +Minotaur, then tear down those dismal sails, and hoist others that shall +be bright as the sunshine. Beholding them on the horizon, myself and +all the people will know that you are coming back victorious, and will +welcome you with such a festal uproar as Athens never heard before." + +Theseus promised that he would do so. Then going on board, the mariners +trimmed the vessel's black sails to the wind, which blew faintly off +the shore, being pretty much made up of the sighs that everybody kept +pouring forth on this melancholy occasion. But by and by, when they had +got fairly out to sea, there came a stiff breeze from the north-west, +and drove them along as merrily over the white-capped waves as if they +had been going on the most delightful errand imaginable. And though +it was a sad business enough, I rather question whether fourteen young +people, without any old persons to keep them in order, could continue +to spend the whole time of the voyage in being miserable. There had been +some few dances upon the undulating deck, I suspect, and some hearty +bursts of laughter, and other such unseasonable merriment among +the victims, before the high blue mountains of Crete began to show +themselves among the far-off clouds. That sight, to be sure, made them +all very grave again. + +Theseus stood among the sailors, gazing eagerly towards the land; +although, as yet, it seemed hardly more substantial than the clouds, +amidst which the mountains were looming up. Once or twice, he fancied +that he saw a glare of some bright object, a long way off, flinging a +gleam across the waves. + +"Did you see that flash of light?" he inquired of the master of the +vessel. + +"No, prince; but I have seen it before," answered the master. "It came +from Talus, I suppose." + +As the breeze came fresher just then, the master was busy with trimming +his sails, and had no more time to answer questions. But while the +vessel flew faster and faster towards Crete, Theseus was astonished to +behold a human figure, gigantic in size, which appeared to be striding, +with a measured movement, along the margin of the island. It stepped +from cliff to cliff, and sometimes from one headland to another, while +the sea foamed and thundered on the shore beneath, and dashed its jets +of spray over the giant's feet. What was still more remarkable, whenever +the sun shone on this huge figure, it flickered and glimmered; its vast +countenance, too, had a metallic lustre, and threw great flashes of +splendor through the air. The folds of its garments, moreover, instead +of waving in the wind, fell heavily over its limbs, as if woven of some +kind of metal. + +The nigher the vessel came, the more Theseus wondered what this immense +giant could be, and whether it actually had life or no. For, though it +walked, and made other lifelike motions, there yet was a kind of jerk +in its gait, which, together with its brazen aspect, caused the young +prince to suspect that it was no true giant, but only a wonderful piece +of machinery. The figure looked all the more terrible because it carried +an enormous brass club on its shoulder. + +"What is this wonder?" Theseus asked of the master of the vessel, who +was now at leisure to answer him. + +"It is Talus, the Man of Brass," said the master. + +"And is he a live giant, or a brazen image?" asked Theseus. + +"That, truly," replied the master, "is the point which has always +perplexed me. Some say, indeed, that this Talus was hammered out for +King Minos by Vulcan himself, the skilfullest of all workers in metal. +But who ever saw a brazen image that had sense enough to walk round an +island three times a day, as this giant walks round the island of Crete, +challenging every vessel that comes nigh the shore? And, on the other +hand, what living thing, unless his sinews were made of brass, would not +be weary of marching eighteen hundred miles in the twenty-four hours, as +Talus does, without ever sitting down to rest? He is a puzzler, take him +how you will." + +Still the vessel went bounding onward; and now Theseus could hear the +brazen clangor of the giant's footsteps, as he trod heavily upon the +sea-beaten rocks, some of which were seen to crack and crumble into the +foaming waves beneath his weight. As they approached the entrance of the +port, the giant straddled clear across it, with a foot firmly planted on +each headland, and uplifting his club to such a height that its butt-end +was hidden in the cloud, he stood in that formidable posture, with the +sun gleaming all over his metallic surface. There seemed nothing else +to be expected but that, the next moment, he would fetch his great club +down, slam bang, and smash the vessel into a thousand pieces, without +heeding how many innocent people he might destroy; for there is seldom +any mercy in a giant, you know, and quite as little in a piece of brass +clockwork. But just when Theseus and his companions thought the blow was +coming, the brazen lips unclosed themselves, and the figure spoke. + +"Whence come you, strangers?" + +And when the ringing voice ceased, there was just such a reverberation +as you may have heard within a great church bell, for a moment or two +after the stroke of the hammer. + +"From Athens!" shouted the master in reply. + +"On what errand?" thundered the Man of Brass. + +And he whirled his club aloft more threateningly than ever, as if he +were about to smite them with a thunderstroke right amidships, because +Athens, so little while ago, had been at war with Crete. + +"We bring the seven youths and the seven maidens," answered the master, +"to be devoured by the Minotaur!" + +"Pass!" cried the brazen giant. + +That one loud word rolled all about the sky, while again there was a +booming reverberation within the figure's breast. The vessel glided +between the headlands of the port, and the giant resumed his march. In +a few moments, this wondrous sentinel was far away, flashing in the +distant sunshine, and revolving with immense strides round the island of +Crete, as it was his never-ceasing task to do. + +No sooner had they entered the harbor than a party of the guards of King +Minos came down to the water side, and took charge of the fourteen young +men and damsels. Surrounded by these armed warriors, Prince Theseus +and his companions were led to the king's palace, and ushered into his +presence. Now, Minos was a stern and pitiless king. If the figure that +guarded Crete was made of brass, then the monarch, who ruled over it, +might be thought to have a still harder metal in his breast, and might +have been called a man of iron. He bent his shaggy brows upon the poor +Athenian victims. Any other mortal, beholding their fresh and tender +beauty, and their innocent looks, would have felt himself sitting on +thorns until he had made every soul of them happy by bidding them +go free as the summer wind. But this immitigable Minos cared only +to examine whether they were plump enough to satisfy the Minotaur's +appetite. For my part, I wish he himself had been the only victim; and +the monster would have found him a pretty tough one. + +One after another, King Minos called these pale, frightened youths and +sobbing maidens to his footstool, gave them each a poke in the ribs +with his sceptre (to try whether they were in good flesh or no), and +dismissed them with a nod to his guards. But when his eyes rested on +Theseus, the king looked at him more attentively, because his face was +calm and brave. + +"Young man," asked he, with his stern voice, "are you not appalled at +the certainty of being devoured by this terrible Minotaur?" + +"I have offered my life in a good cause," answered Theseus, "and +therefore I give it freely and gladly. But thou, King Minos, art thou +not thyself appalled, who, year after year, hast perpetrated this +dreadful wrong, by giving seven innocent youths and as many maidens to +be devoured by a monster? Dost thou not tremble, wicked king, to turn +thine eyes inward on thine own heart? Sitting there on thy golden +throne, and in thy robes of majesty, I tell thee to thy face, King +Minos, thou art a more hideous monster than the Minotaur himself!" + +"Aha! do you think me so?" cried the king, laughing in his cruel way. +"To-morrow, at breakfast time, you shall have an opportunity of judging +which is the greater monster, the Minotaur or the king! Take them away, +guards; and let this free-spoken youth be the Minotaur's first morsel." + +Near the king's throne (though I had no time to tell you so before) +stood his daughter Ariadne. She was a beautiful and tender-hearted +maiden, and looked at these poor doomed captives with very different +feelings from those of the iron-breasted King Minos. She really wept +indeed, at the idea of how much human happiness would be needlessly +thrown away, by giving so many young people, in the first bloom and +rose blossom of their lives, to be eaten up by a creature who, no doubt, +would have preferred a fat ox, or even a large pig, to the plumpest of +them. And when she beheld the brave, spirited figure of Prince Theseus +bearing himself so calmly in his terrible peril, she grew a hundred +times more pitiful than before. As the guards were taking him away, +she flung herself at the king's feet, and besought him to set all the +captives free, and especially this one young man. + +"Peace, foolish girl!" answered King Minos. + +"What hast thou to do with an affair like this? It is a matter of state +policy, and therefore quite beyond thy weak comprehension. Go water thy +flowers, and think no more of these Athenian caitiffs, whom the Minotaur +shall as certainly eat up for breakfast as I will eat a partridge for my +supper." + +So saying, the king looked cruel enough to devour Theseus and all the +rest of the captives himself, had there been no Minotaur to save him the +trouble. As he would hear not another word in their favor, the prisoners +were now led away, and clapped into a dungeon, where the jailer advised +them to go to sleep as soon as possible, because the Minotaur was in the +habit of calling for breakfast early. The seven maidens and six of the +young men soon sobbed themselves to slumber. But Theseus was not like +them. He felt conscious that he was wiser, and braver, and stronger +than his companions, and that therefore he had the responsibility of all +their lives upon him, and must consider whether there was no way to save +them, even in this last extremity. So he kept himself awake, and paced +to and fro across the gloomy dungeon in which they were shut up. + +Just before midnight, the door was softly unbarred, and the gentle +Ariadne showed herself, with a torch in her hand. + +"Are you awake, Prince Theseus?" she whispered. + +"Yes," answered Theseus. "With so little time to live, I do not choose +to waste any of it in sleep." + +"Then follow me," said Ariadne, "and tread softly." + +What had become of the jailer and the guards, Theseus never knew. But, +however that might be, Ariadne opened all the doors, and led him forth +from the darksome prison into the pleasant moonlight. + +"Theseus," said the maiden, "you can now get on board your vessel, and +sail away for Athens." + +"No," answered the young man; "I will never leave Crete unless I can +first slay the Minotaur, and save my poor companions, and deliver Athens +from this cruel tribute." + +"I knew that this would be your resolution," said Ariadne. "Come, +then, with me, brave Theseus. Here is your own sword, which the guards +deprived you of. You will need it; and pray Heaven you may use it well." + +Then she led Theseus along by the hand until they came to a dark, +shadowy grove, where the moonlight wasted itself on the tops of the +trees, without shedding hardly so much as a glimmering beam upon their +pathway. After going a good way through this obscurity, they reached a +high marble wall, which was overgrown with creeping plants, that made +it shaggy with their verdure. The wall seemed to have no door, nor +any windows, but rose up, lofty, and massive, and mysterious, and was +neither to be clambered over, nor, as far as Theseus could perceive, to +be passed through. Nevertheless, Ariadne did but press one of her soft +little fingers against a particular block of marble and, though it +looked as solid as any other part of the wall, it yielded to her +touch, disclosing an entrance just wide enough to admit them They crept +through, and the marble stone swung back into its place. + +"We are now," said Ariadne, "in the famous labyrinth which Daedalus +built before he made himself a pair of wings, and flew away from our +island like a bird. That Daedalus was a very cunning workman; but of all +his artful contrivances, this labyrinth is the most wondrous. Were we +to take but a few steps from the doorway, we might wander about all +our lifetime, and never find it again. Yet in the very center of this +labyrinth is the Minotaur; and, Theseus, you must go thither to seek +him." + +"But how shall I ever find him," asked Theseus, "if the labyrinth so +bewilders me as you say it will?" + +Just as he spoke, they heard a rough and very disagreeable roar, which +greatly resembled the lowing of a fierce bull, but yet had some sort of +sound like the human voice. Theseus even fancied a rude articulation in +it, as if the creature that uttered it were trying to shape his hoarse +breath into words. It was at some distance, however, and he really could +not tell whether it sounded most like a bull's roar or a man's harsh +voice. + +"That is the Minotaur's noise," whispered Ariadne, closely grasping the +hand of Theseus, and pressing one of her own hands to her heart, which +was all in a tremble. "You must follow that sound through the windings +of the labyrinth, and, by and by, you will find him. Stay! take the end +of this silken string; I will hold the other end; and then, if you +win the victory, it will lead you again to this spot. Farewell, brave +Theseus." + +So the young man took the end of the silken string in his left hand, and +his gold-hilted sword, ready drawn from its scabbard, in the other, and +trod boldly into the inscrutable labyrinth. How this labyrinth was built +is more than I can tell you. But so cunningly contrived a mizmaze was +never seen in the world, before nor since. There can be nothing else so +intricate, unless it were the brain of a man like Daedalus, who planned +it, or the heart of any ordinary man; which last, to be sure, is ten +times as great a mystery as the labyrinth of Crete. Theseus had not +taken five steps before he lost sight of Ariadne; and in five more his +head was growing dizzy. But still he went on, now creeping through a low +arch, now ascending a flight of steps, now in one crooked passage and +now in another, with here a door opening before him, and there one +banging behind, until it really seemed as if the walls spun round, and +whirled him round along with them. And all the while, through these +hollow avenues, now nearer, now farther off again, resounded the cry of +the Minotaur; and the sound was so fierce, so cruel, so ugly, so like a +bull's roar, and withal so like a human voice, and yet like neither of +them, that the brave heart of Theseus grew sterner and angrier at +every step; for he felt it an insult to the moon and sky, and to our +affectionate and simple Mother Earth, that such a monster should have +the audacity to exist. + +As he passed onward, the clouds gathered over the moon, and the +labyrinth grew so dusky that Theseus could no longer discern the +bewilderment through which he was passing. He would have left quite +lost, and utterly hopeless of ever again walking in a straight path, if, +every little while, he had not been conscious of a gentle twitch at +the silken cord. Then he knew that the tender-hearted Ariadne was still +holding the other end, and that she was fearing for him, and hoping for +him, and giving him just as much of her sympathy as if she were close +by his side. O, indeed, I can assure you, there was a vast deal of +human sympathy running along that slender thread of silk. But still he +followed the dreadful roar of the Minotaur, which now grew louder and +louder, and finally so very loud that Theseus fully expected to come +close upon him, at every new zizgag and wriggle of the path. And at +last, in an open space, at the very center of the labyrinth, he did +discern the hideous creature. + +Sure enough, what an ugly monster it was! Only his horned head belonged +to a bull; and yet, somehow or other, he looked like a bull all over, +preposterously waddling on his hind legs; or, if you happened to view +him in another way, he seemed wholly a man, and all the more monstrous +for being so. And there he was, the wretched thing, with no society, no +companion, no kind of a mate, living only to do mischief, and incapable +of knowing what affection means. Theseus hated him, and shuddered at +him, and yet could not but be sensible of some sort of pity; and all +the more, the uglier and more detestable the creature was. For he kept +striding to and fro, in a solitary frenzy of rage, continually emitting +a hoarse roar, which was oddly mixed up with half-shaped words; and, +after listening a while, Theseus understood that the Minotaur was +saying to himself how miserable he was, and how hungry, and how he hated +everybody, and how he longed to eat up the human race alive. + +Ah! the bull-headed villain! And O, my good little people, you will +perhaps see, one of these days, as I do now, that every human being who +suffers any thing evil to get into his nature, or to remain there, is a +kind of Minotaur, an enemy of his fellow-creatures, and separated from +all good companionship, as this poor monster was. + +Was Theseus afraid? By no means, my dear auditors. What! a hero like +Theseus afraid! Not had the Minotaur had twenty bull-heads instead of +one. Bold as he was, however, I rather fancy that it strengthened his +valiant heart, just at this crisis, to feel a tremulous twitch at the +silken cord, which he was still holding in his left hand. It was as +if Ariadne were giving him all her might and courage; and much as he +already had, and little as she had to give, it made his own seem twice +as much. And to confess the honest truth, he needed the whole; for +now the Minotaur, turning suddenly about, caught sight of Theseus, and +instantly lowered his horribly sharp horns, exactly as a mad bull does +when he means to rush against an enemy. At the same time, he belched +forth a tremendous roar, in which there was something like the words +of human language, but all disjointed and shaken to pieces by passing +through the gullet of a miserably enraged brute. + +Theseus could only guess what the creature intended to say, and that +rather by his gestures than his words; for the Minotaur's horns were +sharper than his wits, and of a great deal more service to him than his +tongue. But probably this was the sense of what he uttered: + +"Ah, wretch of a human being! I'll stick my horns through you, and toss +you fifty feet high, and eat you up the moment you come down." + +"Come on, then, and try it!" was all that Theseus deigned to reply; for +he was far too magnanimous to assault his enemy with insolent language. + +Without more words on either side, there ensued the most awful fight +between Theseus and the Minotaur that ever happened beneath the sun or +moon. I really know not how it might have turned out, if the monster, in +his first headlong rush against Theseus, had not missed him, by a hair's +breadth, and broken one of his horns short off against the stone wall. +On this mishap, he bellowed so intolerably that a part of the labyrinth +tumbled down, and all the inhabitants of Crete mistook the noise for +an uncommonly heavy thunder storm. Smarting with the pain, he galloped +around the open space in so ridiculous a way that Theseus laughed at it, +long afterwards, though not precisely at the moment. After this, the +two antagonists stood valiantly up to one another, and fought, sword +to horn, for a long while. At last, the Minotaur made a run at Theseus, +grazed his left side with his horn, and flung him down; and thinking +that he had stabbed him to the heart, he cut a great caper in the air, +opened his bull mouth from ear to ear, and prepared to snap his head +off. But Theseus by this time had leaped up, and caught the monster off +his guard. Fetching a sword stroke at him with all his force, he hit him +fair upon the neck, and made his bull head skip six yards from his human +body, which fell down flat upon the ground. + +So now the battle was ended. Immediately the moon shone out as brightly +as if all the troubles of the world, and all the wickedness and the +ugliness that infest human life, were past and gone forever. And +Theseus, as he leaned on his sword, taking breath, felt another twitch +of the silken cord; for all through the terrible encounter, he had held +it fast in his left hand. Eager to let Ariadne know of his success, +he followed the guidance of the thread, and soon found himself at the +entrance of the labyrinth. + +"Thou hast slain the monster," cried Ariadne, clasping her hands. + +"Thanks to thee, dear Ariadne," answered Theseus, "I return victorious." + +"Then," said Ariadne, "we must quickly summon thy friends, and get them +and thyself on board the vessel before dawn. If morning finds thee here, +my father will avenge the Minotaur." + +To make my story short, the poor captives were awakened, and, hardly +knowing whether it was not a joyful dream, were told of what Theseus had +done, and that they must set sail for Athens before daybreak. Hastening +down to the vessel, they all clambered on board, except Prince Theseus, +who lingered behind them on the strand, holding Ariadne's hand clasped +in his own. + +"Dear maiden," said he, "thou wilt surely go with us. Thou art too +gentle and sweet a child for such an iron-hearted father as King Minos. +He cares no more for thee than a granite rock cares for the little +flower that grows in one of its crevices. But my father, King Aegeus, +and my dear mother, Aethra, and all the fathers and mothers in Athens, +and all the sons and daughters too, will love and honor thee as their +benefactress. Come with us, then; for King Minos will be very angry when +he knows what thou hast done." + +Now, some low-minded people, who pretend to tell the story of Theseus +and Ariadne, have the face to say that this royal and honorable maiden +did really flee away, under cover of the night, with the young stranger +whose life she had preserved. They say, too, that Prince Theseus (who +would have died sooner than wrong the meanest creature in the world) +ungratefully deserted Ariadne, on a solitary island, where the vessel +touched on its voyage to Athens. But, had the noble Theseus heard these +falsehoods, he would have served their slanderous authors as he served +the Minotaur! Here is what Ariadne answered, when the brave prince of +Athens besought her to accompany him: + +"No, Theseus," the maiden said, pressing his hand, and then drawing back +a step or two, "I cannot go with you. My father is old, and has nobody +but myself to love him. Hard as you think his heart is, it would break +to lose me. At first, King Minos will be angry; but he will soon forgive +his only child; and, by and by, he will rejoice, I know, that no more +youths and maidens must come from Athens to be devoured by the Minotaur. +I have saved you, Theseus, as much for my father's sake as for your own. +Farewell! Heaven bless you!" + +All this was so true, and so maiden-like, and was spoken with so sweet a +dignity, that Theseus would have blushed to urge her any longer. +Nothing remained for him, therefore, but to bid Ariadne an affectionate +farewell, and to go on board the vessel, and set sail. + +In a few moments the white foam was boiling up before their prow, as +Prince Theseus and his companions sailed out of the harbor, with +a whistling breeze behind them. Talus, the brazen giant, on his +never-ceasing sentinel's march, happened to be approaching that part of +the coast; and they saw him, by the glimmering of the moonbeams on his +polished surface, while he was yet a great way off. As the figure moved +like clockwork, however, and could neither hasten his enormous strides +nor retard them, he arrived at the port when they were just beyond the +reach of his club. Nevertheless, straddling from headland to headland, +as his custom was, Talus attempted to strike a blow at the vessel, +and, overreaching himself, tumbled at full length into the sea, which +splashed high over his gigantic shape, as when an iceberg turns a +somerset. There he lies yet; and whoever desires to enrich himself by +means of brass had better go thither with a diving bell, and fish up +Talus. + +On the homeward voyage, the fourteen youths and damsels were in +excellent spirits, as you will easily suppose. They spent most of their +time in dancing, unless when the sidelong breeze made the deck slope +too much. In due season, they came within sight of the coast of Attica, +which was their native country. But here, I am grieved to tell you, +happened a sad misfortune. + +You will remember (what Theseus unfortunately forgot) that his father, +King Aegeus, had enjoined it upon him to hoist sunshiny sails, instead +of black ones, in case he should overcome the Minotaur, and return +victorious. In the joy of their success, however, and amidst the sports, +dancing, and other merriment, with which these young folks wore away the +time, they never once thought whether their sails were black, white, or +rainbow colored, and, indeed, left it entirely to the mariners whether +they had any sails at all. Thus the vessel returned, like a raven, with +the same sable wings that had wafted her away. But poor King Aegeus, day +after day, infirm as he was, had clambered to the summit of a cliff that +overhung the sea, and there sat watching for Prince Theseus, homeward +bound; and no sooner did he behold the fatal blackness of the sails, +than he concluded that his dear son, whom he loved so much, and felt so +proud of, had been eaten by the Minotaur. He could not bear the thought +of living any longer; so, first flinging his crown and sceptre into +the sea (useless baubles that they were to him now), King Aegeus merely +stooped forward, and fell headlong over the cliff, and was drowned, poor +soul, in the waves that foamed at its base! + +This was melancholy news for Prince Theseus, who, when he stepped +ashore, found himself king of all the country, whether he would or no; +and such a turn of fortune was enough to make any young man feel very +much out of spirits. However, he sent for his dear mother to Athens, +and, by taking her advice in matters of state, became a very excellent +monarch, and was greatly beloved by his people. + + + +THE PYGMIES. + +A great while ago, when the world was full of wonders, there lived an +earth-born Giant, named Antaeus, and a million or more of curious little +earth-born people, who were called Pygmies. This Giant and these +Pygmies being children of the same mother (that is to say, our good +old Grandmother Earth), were all brethren, and dwelt together in a very +friendly and affectionate manner, far, far off, in the middle of hot +Africa. The Pygmies were so small, and there were so many sandy deserts +and such high mountains between them and the rest of mankind, that +nobody could get a peep at them oftener than once in a hundred years. As +for the Giant, being of a very lofty stature, it was easy enough to see +him, but safest to keep out of his sight. + +Among the Pygmies, I suppose, if one of them grew to the height of six +or eight inches, he was reckoned a prodigiously tall man. It must have +been very pretty to behold their little cities, with streets two or +three feet wide, paved with the smallest pebbles, and bordered by +habitations about as big as a squirrel's cage. The king's palace +attained to the stupendous magnitude of Periwinkle's baby house, and +stood in the center of a spacious square, which could hardly have been +covered by our hearth-rug. Their principal temple, or cathedral, was as +lofty as yonder bureau, and was looked upon as a wonderfully sublime and +magnificent edifice. All these structures were built neither of stone +nor wood. They were neatly plastered together by the Pygmy workmen, +pretty much like birds' nests, out of straw, feathers, egg shells, and +other small bits of stuff, with stiff clay instead of mortar; and when +the hot sun had dried them, they were just as snug and comfortable as a +Pygmy could desire. + +The country round about was conveniently laid out in fields, the largest +of which was nearly of the same extent as one of Sweet Fern's flower +beds. Here the Pygmies used to plant wheat and other kinds of grain, +which, when it grew up and ripened, overshadowed these tiny people as +the pines, and the oaks, and the walnut and chestnut trees overshadow +you and me, when we walk in our own tracts of woodland. At harvest time, +they were forced to go with their little axes and cut down the grain, +exactly as a woodcutter makes a clearing in the forest; and when a stalk +of wheat, with its overburdened top, chanced to come crashing down upon +an unfortunate Pygmy, it was apt to be a very sad affair. If it did not +smash him all to pieces, at least, I am sure, it must have made the poor +little fellow's head ache. And O, my stars! if the fathers and mothers +were so small, what must the children and babies have been? A whole +family of them might have been put to bed in a shoe, or have crept into +an old glove, and played at hide-and-seek in its thumb and fingers. You +might have hidden a year-old baby under a thimble. + +Now these funny Pygmies, as I told you before, had a Giant for their +neighbor and brother, who was bigger, if possible, than they were +little. He was so very tall that he carried a pine tree, which was eight +feet through the butt, for a walking stick. It took a far-sighted Pygmy, +I can assure you, to discern his summit without the help of a telescope; +and sometimes, in misty weather, they could not see his upper half, but +only his long legs, which seemed to be striding about by themselves. But +at noonday in a clear atmosphere, when the sun shone brightly over him, +the Giant Antaeus presented a very grand spectacle. There he used to +stand, a perfect mountain of a man, with his great countenance smiling +down upon his little brothers, and his one vast eye (which was as big as +a cart wheel, and placed right in the center of his forehead) giving a +friendly wink to the whole nation at once. + +The Pygmies loved to talk with Antaeus; and fifty times a day, one or +another of them would turn up his head, and shout through the hollow of +his fists, "Halloo, brother Antaeus! How are you, my good fellow?" And +when the small distant squeak of their voices reached his ear, the +Giant would make answer, "Pretty well, brother Pygmy, I thank you," in a +thunderous roar that would have shaken down the walls of their strongest +temple, only that it came from so far aloft. + +It was a happy circumstance that Antaeus was the Pygmy people's friend; +for there was more strength in his little finger than in ten million of +such bodies as this. If he had been as ill-natured to them as he was +to everybody else, he might have beaten down their biggest city at one +kick, and hardly have known that he did it. With the tornado of his +breath, he could have stripped the roofs from a hundred dwellings and +sent thousands of the inhabitants whirling through the air. He might +have set his immense foot upon a multitude; and when he took it up +again, there would have been a pitiful sight, to be sure. But, being +the son of Mother Earth, as they likewise were, the Giant gave them his +brotherly kindness, and loved them with as big a love as it was possible +to feel for creatures so very small. And, on their parts, the Pygmies +loved Antaeus with as much affection as their tiny hearts could hold. He +was always ready to do them any good offices that lay in his power; +as for example, when they wanted a breeze to turn their windmills, the +Giant would set all the sails a-going with the mere natural respiration +of his lungs. When the sun was too hot, he often sat himself down, and +let his shadow fall over the kingdom, from one frontier to the other; +and as for matters in general, he was wise enough to let them alone, +and leave the Pygmies to manage their own affairs--which, after all, is +about the best thing that great people can do for little ones. + +In short, as I said before, Antaeus loved the Pygmies, and the Pygmies +loved Antaeus. The Giant's life being as long as his body was large, +while the lifetime of a Pygmy was but a span, this friendly intercourse +had been going on for innumerable generations and ages. It was written +about in the Pygmy histories, and talked about in their ancient +traditions. The most venerable and white-bearded Pygmy had never heard +of a time, even in his greatest of grandfathers' days, when the Giant +was not their enormous friend. Once, to be sure (as was recorded on +an obelisk, three feet high, erected on the place of the catastrophe), +Antaeus sat down upon about five thousand Pygmies, who were assembled at +a military review. But this was one of those unlucky accidents for which +nobody is to blame; so that the small folks never took it to heart, and +only requested the Giant to be careful forever afterwards to examine the +acre of ground where he intended to squat himself. + +It is a very pleasant picture to imagine Antaeus standing among the +Pygmies, like the spire of the tallest cathedral that ever was built, +while they ran about like pismires at his feet; and to think that, in +spite of their difference in size, there were affection and sympathy +between them and him! Indeed, it has always seemed to me that the Giant +needed the little people more than the Pygmies needed the Giant. For, +unless they had been his neighbors and well wishers, and, as we may +say, his playfellows, Antaeus would not have had a single friend in the +world. No other being like himself had ever been created. No creature of +his own size had ever talked with him, in thunder-like accents, face to +face. When he stood with his head among the clouds, he was quite alone, +and had been so for hundreds of years, and would be so forever. Even if +he had met another Giant, Antaeus would have fancied the world not big +enough for two such vast personages, and, instead of being friends with +him, would have fought him till one of the two was killed. But with the +Pygmies he was the most sportive and humorous, and merry-hearted, and +sweet-tempered old Giant that ever washed his face in a wet cloud. + +His little friends, like all other small people, had a great opinion of +their own importance, and used to assume quite a patronizing air towards +the Giant. + +"Poor creature!" they said one to another. "He has a very dull time of +it, all by himself; and we ought not to grudge wasting a little of our +precious time to amuse him. He is not half so bright as we are, to be +sure; and, for that reason, he needs us to look after his comfort and +happiness. Let us be kind to the old fellow. Why, if Mother Earth had +not been very kind to ourselves, we might all have been Giants too." + +On all their holidays, the Pygmies had excellent sport with Antaeus. +He often stretched himself out at full length on the ground, where he +looked like the long ridge of a hill; and it was a good hour's walk, +no doubt, for a short-legged Pygmy to journey from head to foot of the +Giant. He would lay down his great hand flat on the grass, and challenge +the tallest of them to clamber upon it, and straddle from finger to +finger. So fearless were they, that they made nothing of creeping in +among the folds of his garments. When his head lay sidewise on the +earth, they would march boldly up, and peep into the great cavern of his +mouth, and take it all as a joke (as indeed it was meant) when Antaeus +gave a sudden snap of his jaws, as if he were going to swallow fifty of +them at once. You would have laughed to see the children dodging in and +out among his hair, or swinging from his beard. It is impossible to tell +half of the funny tricks that they played with their huge comrade; but +I do not know that anything was more curious than when a party of boys +were seen running races on his forehead, to try which of them could get +first round the circle of his one great eye. It was another favorite +feat with them to march along the bridge of his nose, and jump down upon +his upper lip. + +If the truth must be told, they were sometimes as troublesome to +the Giant as a swarm of ants or mosquitoes, especially as they had a +fondness for mischief, and liked to prick his skin with their little +swords and lances, to see how thick and tough it was. But Antaeus took +it all kindly enough; although, once in a while, when he happened to be +sleepy, he would grumble out a peevish word or two, like the muttering +of a tempest, and ask them to have done with their nonsense. A great +deal oftener, however, he watched their merriment and gambols until his +huge, heavy, clumsy wits were completely stirred up by them; and then +would he roar out such a tremendous volume of immeasurable laughter, +that the whole nation of Pygmies had to put their hands to their ears, +else it would certainly have deafened them. + +"Ho! ho! ho!" quoth the Giant, shaking his mountainous sides. "What a +funny thing it is to be little! If I were not Antaeus, I should like to +be a Pygmy, just for the joke's sake." + +The Pygmies had but one thing to trouble them in the world. They were +constantly at war with the cranes, and had always been so, ever since +the long-lived Giant could remember. From time to time, very terrible +battles had been fought in which sometimes the little men won the +victory, and sometimes the cranes. According to some historians, the +Pygmies used to go to the battle, mounted on the backs of goats and +rams; but such animals as these must have been far too big for Pygmies +to ride upon; so that, I rather suppose, they rode on squirrel-back, or +rabbit-back, or rat-back, or perhaps got upon hedgehogs, whose prickly +quills would be very terrible to the enemy. However this might be, and +whatever creatures the Pygmies rode upon, I do not doubt that they made +a formidable appearance, armed with sword and spear, and bow and arrow, +blowing their tiny trumpet, and shouting their little war cry. They +never failed to exhort one another to fight bravely, and recollect that +the world had its eyes upon them; although, in simple truth, the only +spectator was the Giant Antaeus, with his one, great, stupid eye in the +middle of his forehead. + +When the two armies joined battle, the cranes would rush forward, +flapping their wings and stretching out their necks, and would perhaps +snatch up some of the Pygmies crosswise in their beaks. Whenever this +happened, it was truly an awful spectacle to see those little men of +might kicking and sprawling in the air, and at last disappearing down +the crane's long, crooked throat, swallowed up alive. A hero, you know, +must hold himself in readiness for any kind of fate; and doubtless +the glory of the thing was a consolation to him, even in the crane's +gizzard. If Antaeus observed that the battle was going hard against his +little allies, he generally stopped laughing, and ran with mile-long +strides to their assistance, flourishing his club aloft and shouting +at the cranes, who quacked and croaked, and retreated as fast as they +could. Then the Pygmy army would march homeward in triumph, attributing +the victory entirely to their own valor, and to the warlike skill and +strategy of whomsoever happened to be captain general; and for a tedious +while afterwards, nothing would be heard of but grand processions, and +public banquets, and brilliant illuminations, and shows of wax-work, +with likenesses of the distinguished officers, as small as life. + +In the above-described warfare, if a Pygmy chanced to pluck out a +crane's tail feather, it proved a very great feather in his cap. Once or +twice, if you will believe me, a little man was made chief ruler of +the nation for no other merit in the world than bringing home such a +feather. + +But I have now said enough to let you see what a gallant little people +these were, and how happily they and their forefathers, for nobody knows +how many generations, had lived with the immeasurable Giant Antaeus. +In the remaining part of the story, I shall tell you of a far more +astonishing battle than any that was fought between the Pygmies and the +cranes. + +One day the mighty Antaeus was lolling at full length among his little +friends. His pine-tree walking stick lay on the ground, close by his +side. His head was in one part of the kingdom, and his feet extended +across the boundaries of another part; and he was taking whatever +comfort he could get, while the Pygmies scrambled over him, and peeped +into his cavernous mouth, and played among his hair. Sometimes, for a +minute or two, the Giant dropped asleep, and snored like the rush of a +whirlwind. During one of these little bits of slumber, a Pygmy chanced +to climb upon his shoulder, and took a view around the horizon, as from +the summit of a hill; and he beheld something, a long way off, which +made him rub the bright specks of his eyes, and look sharper than +before. At first he mistook it for a mountain, and wondered how it had +grown up so suddenly out of the earth. But soon he saw the mountain +move. As it came nearer and nearer, what should it turn out to be but a +human shape, not so big as Antaeus, it is true, although a very enormous +figure, in comparison with Pygmies, and a vast deal bigger than the men +we see nowadays. + +When the Pygmy was quite satisfied that his eyes had not deceived him, +he scampered, as fast as his legs would carry him, to the Giant's ear, +and stooping over its cavity, shouted lustily into it: + +"Halloo, brother Antaeus! Get up this minute, and take your pine-tree +walking stick in your hand. Here comes another Giant to have a tussle +with you." + +"Poh, poh!" grumbled Antaeus, only half awake. "None of your nonsense, +my little fellow! Don't you see I'm sleepy? There is not a Giant on +earth for whom I would take the trouble to get up." + +But the Pygmy looked again, and now perceived that the stranger was +coming directly towards the prostrate form of Antaeus. With every step, +he looked less like a blue mountain, and more like an immensely large +man. He was soon so nigh, that there could be no possible mistake about +the matter. There he was, with the sun flaming on his golden helmet, and +flashing from his polished breastplate; he had a sword by his side, +and a lion's skin over his back, and on his right shoulder he carried a +club, which looked bulkier and heavier than the pine-tree walking stick +of Antaeus. + +By this time, the whole nation of the Pygmies had seen the new wonder, +and a million of them set up a shout all together; so that it really +made quite an audible squeak. + +"Get up, Antaeus! Bestir yourself, you lazy old Giant! Here comes +another Giant, as strong as you are, to fight with you." + +"Nonsense, nonsense!" growled the sleepy Giant. "I'll have my nap out, +come who may." + +Still the stranger drew nearer; and now the Pygmies could plainly +discern that, if his stature were less lofty than the Giant's, yet his +shoulders were even broader. And, in truth, what a pair of shoulders +they must have been! As I told you, a long while ago, they once upheld +the sky. The Pygmies, being ten times as vivacious as their great +numskull of a brother, could not abide the Giant's slow movements, and +were determined to have him on his feet. So they kept shouting to him, +and even went so far as to prick him with their swords. + +"Get up, get up, get up," they cried. "Up with you, lazy bones! The +strange Giant's club is bigger than your own, his shoulders are the +broadest, and we think him the stronger of the two." + +Antaeus could not endure to have it said that any mortal was half so +mighty as himself. This latter remark of the Pygmies pricked him deeper +than their swords; and, sitting up, in rather a sulky humor, he gave +a gape of several yards wide, rubbed his eyes, and finally turned his +stupid head in the direction whither his little friends were eagerly +pointing. + +No sooner did he set eyes on the stranger, than, leaping on his feet, +and seizing his walking stick, he strode a mile or two to meet him; all +the while brandishing the sturdy pine tree, so that it whistled through +the air. + +"Who are you?" thundered the Giant. "And what do you want in my +dominions?" + +There was one strange thing about Antaeus, of which I have not yet +told you, lest, hearing of so many wonders all in a lump, you might +not believe much more than half of them. You are to know, then, that +whenever this redoubtable Giant touched the ground, either with his +hand, his foot, or any other part of his body, he grew stronger than +ever he had been before. The Earth, you remember, was his mother, and +was very fond of him, as being almost the biggest of her children; +and so she took this method of keeping him always in full vigor. Some +persons affirm that he grew ten times stronger at every touch; others +say that it was only twice as strong. But only think of it! Whenever +Antaeus took a walk, supposing it were but ten miles, and that he +stepped a hundred yards at a stride, you may try to cipher out how much +mightier he was, on sitting down again, than when he first started. And +whenever he flung himself on the earth to take a little repose, even if +he got up the very next instant, he would be as strong as exactly ten +just such giants as his former self. It was well for the world that +Antaeus happened to be of a sluggish disposition and liked ease better +than exercise; for, if he had frisked about like the Pygmies, and +touched the earth as often as they did, he would long ago have been +strong enough to pull down the sky about people's ears. But these great +lubberly fellows resemble mountains, not only in bulk, but in their +disinclination to move. + +Any other mortal man, except the very one whom Antaeus had now +encountered, would have been half frightened to death by the Giant's +ferocious aspect and terrible voice. But the stranger did not seem at +all disturbed. He carelessly lifted his club, and balanced it in his +hand, measuring Antaeus with his eye, from head to foot, not as if +wonder-smitten at his stature, but as if he had seen a great many Giants +before, and this was by no means the biggest of them. In fact, if the +Giant had been no bigger than the Pygmies (who stood pricking up their +ears, and looking and listening to what was going forward), the stranger +could not have been less afraid of him. + +"Who are you, I say?" roared Antaeus again. "What's your name? Why do +you come hither? Speak, you vagabond, or I'll try the thickness of your +skull with my walking-stick!" + +"You are a very discourteous Giant," answered the stranger quietly, "and +I shall probably have to teach you a little civility, before we part. As +for my name, it is Hercules. I have come hither because this is my most +convenient road to the garden of the Hesperides, whither I am going to +get three of the golden apples for King Eurystheus." + +"Caitiff, you shall go no farther!" bellowed Antaeus, putting on a +grimmer look than before; for he had heard of the mighty Hercules, and +hated him because he was said to be so strong. "Neither shall you go +back whence you came!" + +"How will you prevent me," asked Hercules, "from going whither I +please?" + +"By hitting you a rap with this pine tree here," shouted Antaeus, +scowling so that he made himself the ugliest monster in Africa. "I am +fifty times stronger than you; and now that I stamp my foot upon the +ground, I am five hundred times stronger! I am ashamed to kill such a +puny little dwarf as you seem to be. I will make a slave of you, and you +shall likewise be the slave of my brethren here, the Pygmies. So throw +down your club and your other weapons; and as for that lion's skin, I +intend to have a pair of gloves made of it." + +"Come and take it off my shoulders, then," answered Hercules, lifting +his club. + +Then the Giant, grinning with rage, strode tower-like towards the +stranger (ten times strengthened at every step), and fetched a monstrous +blow at him with his pine tree, which Hercules caught upon his club; and +being more skilful than Antaeus, he paid him back such a rap upon the +sconce, that down tumbled the great lumbering man-mountain, flat upon +the ground. The poor little Pygmies (who really never dreamed that +anybody in the world was half so strong as their brother Antaeus) were a +good deal dismayed at this. But no sooner was the Giant down, than up +he bounced again, with tenfold might, and such a furious visage as was +horrible to behold. He aimed another blow at Hercules, but struck awry, +being blinded with wrath, and only hit his poor innocent Mother Earth, +who groaned and trembled at the stroke. His pine tree went so deep into +the ground, and stuck there so fast, that, before Antaeus could get it +out, Hercules brought down his club across his shoulders with a mighty +thwack, which made the Giant roar as if all sorts of intolerable noises +had come screeching and rumbling out of his immeasurable lungs in that +one cry. Away it went, over mountains and valleys, and, for aught I +know, was heard on the other side of the African deserts. + +As for the Pygmies, their capital city was laid in ruins by the +concussion and vibration of the air; and, though there was uproar enough +without their help, they all set up a shriek out of three millions of +little throats, fancying, no doubt, that they swelled the Giant's bellow +by at least ten times as much. Meanwhile, Antaeus had scrambled upon his +feet again, and pulled his pine tree out of the earth; and, all aflame +with fury, and more outrageously strong than ever, he ran at Hercules, +and brought down another blow. + +"This time, rascal," shouted he, "you shall not escape me." + +But once more Hercules warded off the stroke with his club, and the +Giant's pine tree was shattered into a thousand splinters, most of which +flew among the Pygmies, and did them more mischief than I like to think +about. Before Antaeus could get out of the way, Hercules let drive +again, and gave him another knock-down blow, which sent him heels over +head, but served only to increase his already enormous and insufferable +strength. As for his rage, there is no telling what a fiery furnace it +had now got to be. His one eye was nothing but a circle of red flame. +Having now no weapons but his fists, he doubled them up (each bigger +than a hogshead), smote one against the other, and danced up and down +with absolute frenzy, flourishing his immense arms about, as if he meant +not merely to kill Hercules, but to smash the whole world to pieces. + +"Come on!" roared this thundering Giant. "Let me hit you but one box on +the ear, and you'll never have the headache again." + +Now Hercules (though strong enough, as you already know, to hold the +sky up) began to be sensible that he should never win the victory, if he +kept on knocking Antaeus down; for, by and by, if he hit him such hard +blows, the Giant would inevitably, by the help of his Mother Earth, +become stronger than the mighty Hercules himself. So, throwing down his +club, with which he had fought so many dreadful battles, the hero stood +ready to receive his antagonist with naked arms. + +"Step forward," cried he. "Since I've broken your pine tree, we'll try +which is the better man at a wrestling match." + +"Aha! then I'll soon satisfy you," shouted the Giant; for, if there was +one thing on which he prided himself more than another, it was his skill +in wrestling. "Villain, I'll fling you where you can never pick yourself +up again." + +On came Antaeus, hopping and capering with the scorching heat of his +rage, and getting new vigor wherewith to wreak his passion, every time +he hopped. + +But Hercules, you must understand, was wiser than this numskull of a +Giant, and had thought of a way to fight him--huge, earth-born monster +that he was--and to conquer him too, in spite of all that his Mother +Earth could do for him. Watching his opportunity, as the mad Giant made +a rush at him, Hercules caught him round the middle with both hands, +lifted him high into the air, and held him aloft overhead. + +Just imagine it, my dear little friends. What a spectacle it must have +been, to see this monstrous fellow sprawling in the air, face downwards, +kicking out his long legs and wriggling his whole vast body, like a baby +when its father holds it at arm's length towards the ceiling. + +But the most wonderful thing was, that, as soon as Antaeus was fairly +off the earth, he began to lose the vigor which he had gained by +touching it. Hercules very soon perceived that his troublesome enemy was +growing weaker, both because he struggled and kicked with less violence, +and because the thunder of his big voice subsided into a grumble. The +truth was that unless the Giant touched Mother Earth as often as once +in five minutes, not only his overgrown strength, but the very breath of +his life, would depart from him. Hercules had guessed this secret; and +it may be well for us all to remember it, in case we should ever have +to fight a battle with a fellow like Antaeus. For these earth-born +creatures are only difficult to conquer on their own ground, but may +easily be managed if we can contrive to lift them into a loftier and +purer region. So it proved with the poor Giant, whom I am really a +little sorry for, notwithstanding his uncivil way of treating strangers +who came to visit him. + +When his strength and breath were quite gone, Hercules gave his huge +body a toss, and flung it about a mile off, where it fell heavily, +and lay with no more motion than a sand hill. It was too late for the +Giant's Mother Earth to help him now; and I should not wonder if his +ponderous bones were lying on the same spot to this very day, and were +mistaken for those of an uncommonly large elephant. + +But, alas me! What a wailing did the poor little Pygmies set up when +they saw their enormous brother treated in this terrible manner! If +Hercules heard their shrieks, however, he took no notice, and perhaps +fancied them only the shrill, plaintive twittering of small birds that +had been frightened from their nests by the uproar of the battle between +himself and Antaeus. Indeed, his thoughts had been so much taken up with +the Giant, that he had never once looked at the Pygmies, nor even knew +that there was such a funny little nation in the world. And now, as he +had traveled a good way, and was also rather weary with his exertions in +the fight, he spread out his lion's skin on the ground, and, reclining +himself upon it, fell fast asleep. + +As soon as the Pygmies saw Hercules preparing for a nap, they nodded +their little heads at one another, and winked with their little eyes. +And when his deep, regular breathing gave them notice that he was +asleep, they assembled together in an immense crowd, spreading over +a space of about twenty-seven feet square. One of their most eloquent +orators (and a valiant warrior enough, besides, though hardly so good +at any other weapon as he was with his tongue) climbed upon a toadstool, +and, from that elevated position, addressed the multitude. His +sentiments were pretty much as follows; or, at all events, something +like this was probably the upshot of his speech: + +"Tall Pygmies and mighty little men! You and all of us have seen what +a public calamity has been brought to pass, and what an insult has here +been offered to the majesty of our nation. Yonder lies Antaeus, our +great friend and brother, slain, within our territory, by a miscreant +who took him at disadvantage, and fought him (if fighting it can be +called) in a way that neither man, nor Giant, nor Pygmy ever dreamed of +fighting, until this hour. And, adding a grievous contumely to the wrong +already done us, the miscreant has now fallen asleep as quietly as +if nothing were to be dreaded from our wrath! It behooves you, +fellow-countrymen, to consider in what aspect we shall stand before +the world, and what will be the verdict of impartial history, should we +suffer these accumulated outrages to go unavenged. + +"Antaeus was our brother, born of that same beloved parent to whom we +owe the thews and sinews, as well as the courageous hearts, which +made him proud of our relationship. He was our faithful ally, and fell +fighting as much for our national rights and immunities as for his own +personal ones. We and our forefathers have dwelt in friendship with +him, and held affectionate intercourse as man to man, through immemorial +generations. You remember how often our entire people have reposed in +his great shadow, and how our little ones have played at hide-and-seek +in the tangles of his hair, and how his mighty footsteps have familiarly +gone to and fro among us, and never trodden upon any of our toes. And +there lies this dear brother--this sweet and amiable friend--this brave +and faithful ally---this virtuous Giant--this blameless and excellent +Antaeus--dead! Dead! Silent! Powerless! A mere mountain of clay! Forgive +my tears! Nay, I behold your own. Were we to drown the world with them, +could the world blame us? + +"But to resume: Shall we, my countrymen, suffer this wicked stranger to +depart unharmed, and triumph in his treacherous victory, among distant +communities of the earth? Shall we not rather compel him to leave his +bones here on our soil, by the side of our slain brother's bones? So +that, while one skeleton shall remain as the everlasting monument of our +sorrow, the other shall endure as long, exhibiting to the whole human +race a terrible example of Pygmy vengeance! Such is the question. I put +it to you in full confidence of a response that shall be worthy of our +national character, and calculated to increase, rather than diminish, +the glory which our ancestors have transmitted to us, and which we +ourselves have proudly vindicated in our warfare with the cranes." + +The orator was here interrupted by a burst of irrepressible enthusiasm; +every individual Pygmy crying out that the national honor must be +preserved at all hazards. He bowed, and, making a gesture for silence, +wound up his harangue in the following admirable manner: + +"It only remains for us, then, to decide whether we shall carry on +the war in our national capacity--one united people against a common +enemy--or whether some champion, famous in former fights, shall be +selected to defy the slayer of our brother Antaeus to single combat. +In the latter case, though not unconscious that there may be taller men +among you, I hereby offer myself for that enviable duty. And believe me, +dear countrymen, whether I live or die, the honor of this great country, +and the fame bequeathed us by our heroic progenitors, shall suffer no +diminution in my hands. Never, while I can wield this sword, of which +I now fling away the scabbard--never, never, never, even if the crimson +hand that slew the great Antaeus shall lay me prostrate, like him, on +the soil which I give my life to defend." + +So saying, this valiant Pygmy drew out his weapon (which was terrible to +behold, being as long as the blade of a penknife), and sent the scabbard +whirling over the heads of the multitude. His speech was followed by an +uproar of applause, as its patriotism and self-devotion unquestionably +deserved; and the shouts and clapping of hands would have been greatly +prolonged, had they not been rendered quite inaudible by a deep +respiration, vulgarly called a snore, from the sleeping Hercules. + +It was finally decided that the whole nation of Pygmies should set to +work to destroy Hercules; not, be it understood, from any doubt that +a single champion would be capable of putting him to the sword, but +because he was a public enemy, and all were desirous of sharing in the +glory of his defeat. There was a debate whether the national honor did +not demand that a herald should be sent with a trumpet, to stand over +the ear of Hercules, and after blowing a blast right into it, to defy +him to the combat by formal proclamation. But two or three venerable +and sagacious Pygmies, well versed in state affairs, gave it as their +opinion that war already existed, and that it was their rightful +privilege to take the enemy by surprise. Moreover, if awakened, and +allowed to get upon his feet, Hercules might happen to do them a +mischief before he could be beaten down again. For, as these sage +counselors remarked, the stranger's club was really very big, and had +rattled like a thunderbolt against the skull of Antaeus. So the +Pygmies resolved to set aside all foolish punctilios, and assail their +antagonist at once. + +Accordingly, all the fighting men of the nation took their weapons, and +went boldly up to Hercules, who still lay fast asleep, little dreaming +of the harm which the Pygmies meant to do him. A body of twenty thousand +archers marched in front, with their little bows all ready, and the +arrows on the string. The same number were ordered to clamber upon +Hercules, some with spades to dig his eyes out, and others with bundles +of hay, and all manner of rubbish with which they intended to plug up +his mouth and nostrils, so that he might perish for lack of breath. +These last, however, could by no means perform their appointed duty; +inasmuch as the enemy's breath rushed out of his nose in an obstreperous +hurricane and whirlwind, which blew the Pygmies away as fast as they +came nigh. It was found necessary, therefore, to hit upon some other +method of carrying on the war. + +After holding a council, the captains ordered their troops to collect +sticks, straws, dry weeds, and whatever combustible stuff they could +find, and make a pile of it, heaping it high around the head of +Hercules. As a great many thousand Pygmies were employed in this task, +they soon brought together several bushels of inflammatory matter, and +raised so tall a heap, that, mounting on its summit, they were quite +upon a level with the sleeper's face. The archers, meanwhile, were +stationed within bow shot, with orders to let fly at Hercules the +instant that he stirred. Everything being in readiness, a torch was +applied to the pile, which immediately burst into flames, and soon waxed +hot enough to roast the enemy, had he but chosen to lie still. A Pygmy, +you know, though so very small, might set the world on fire, just as +easily as a Giant could; so that this was certainly the very best way +of dealing with their foe, provided they could have kept him quiet while +the conflagration was going forward. + +But no sooner did Hercules begin to be scorched, than up he started, +with his hair in a red blaze. + +"What's all this?" he cried, bewildered with sleep, and staring about +him as if he expected to see another Giant. + +At that moment the twenty thousand archers twanged their bowstrings, and +the arrows came whizzing, like so many winged mosquitoes, right into +the face of Hercules. But I doubt whether more than half a dozen of them +punctured the skin, which was remarkably tough, as you know the skin of +a hero has good need to be. + +"Villain!" shouted all the Pygmies at once. "You have killed the Giant +Antaeus, our great brother, and the ally of our nation. We declare +bloody war against you, and will slay you on the spot." + +Surprised at the shrill piping of so many little voices, Hercules, after +putting out the conflagration of his hair, gazed all round about, but +could see nothing. At last, however, looking narrowly on the ground, +he espied the innumerable assemblage of Pygmies at his feet. He stooped +down, and taking up the nearest one between his thumb and finger, set +him on the palm of his left hand, and held him at a proper distance for +examination. It chanced to be the very identical Pygmy who had spoken +from the top of the toadstool, and had offered himself as a champion to +meet Hercules in single combat. + +"What in the world, my little fellow," ejaculated Hercules, "may you +be?" + +"I am your enemy," answered the valiant Pygmy, in his mightiest squeak. +"You have slain the enormous Antaeus, our brother by the mother's +side, and for ages the faithful ally of our illustrious nation. We are +determined to put you to death; and for my own part, I challenge you to +instant battle, on equal ground." + +Hercules was so tickled with the Pygmy's big words and warlike gestures, +that he burst into a great explosion of laughter, and almost dropped +the poor little mite of a creature off the palm of his hand, through the +ecstasy and convulsion of his merriment. + +"Upon my word," cried he, "I thought I had seen wonders before +to-day--hydras with nine heads, stags with golden horns, six-legged men, +three-headed dogs, giants with furnaces in their stomachs, and nobody +knows what besides. But here, on the palm of my hand, stands a wonder +that outdoes them all! Your body, my little friend, is about the size of +an ordinary man's finger. Pray, how big may your soul be?" + +"As big as your own!" said the Pygmy. + +Hercules was touched with the little man's dauntless courage, and could +not help acknowledging such a brotherhood with him as one hero feels for +another. + +"My good little people," said he, making a low obeisance to the grand +nation, "not for all the world would I do an intentional injury to such +brave fellows as you! Your hearts seem to me so exceedingly great, that, +upon my honor, I marvel how your small bodies can contain them. I sue +for peace, and, as a condition of it, will take five strides, and be out +of your kingdom at the sixth. Good-bye. I shall pick my steps carefully, +for fear of treading upon some fifty of you, without knowing it. Ha, ha, +ha! Ho, ho, ho! For once, Hercules acknowledges himself vanquished." + +Some writers say, that Hercules gathered up the whole race of Pygmies +in his lion's skin, and carried them home to Greece, for the children of +King Eurystheus to play with. But this is a mistake. He left them, one +and all, within their own territory, where, for aught I can tell, their +descendants are alive to the present day, building their little houses, +cultivating their little fields, spanking their little children, waging +their little warfare with the cranes, doing their little business, +whatever it may be, and reading their little histories of ancient times. +In those histories, perhaps, it stands recorded, that, a great many +centuries ago, the valiant Pygmies avenged the death of the Giant +Antaeus by scaring away the mighty Hercules. + + + +THE DRAGON'S TEETH. + +Cadmus, Phoenix, and Cilix, the three sons of King Agenor, and their +little sister Europa (who was a very beautiful child), were at play +together near the seashore in their father's kingdom of Phoenicia. They +had rambled to some distance from the palace where their parents dwelt, +and were now in a verdant meadow, on one side of which lay the sea, all +sparkling and dimpling in the sunshine, and murmuring gently against the +beach. The three boys were very happy, gathering flowers, and twining +them into garlands, with which they adorned the little Europa. Seated +on the grass, the child was almost hidden under an abundance of buds and +blossoms, whence her rosy face peeped merrily out, and, as Cadmus said, +was the prettiest of all the flowers. + +Just then, there came a splendid butterfly, fluttering along the meadow; +and Cadmus, Phoenix, and Cilix set off in pursuit of it, crying out +that it was a flower with wings. Europa, who was a little wearied with +playing all day long, did not chase the butterfly with her brothers, but +sat still where they had left her, and closed her eyes. For a while, +she listened to the pleasant murmur of the sea, which was like a voice +saying "Hush!" and bidding her go to sleep. But the pretty child, if she +slept at all, could not have slept more than a moment, when she heard +something trample on the grass, not far from her, and, peeping out from +the heap of flowers, beheld a snow-white bull. + +And whence could this bull have come? Europa and her brothers had been +a long time playing in the meadow, and had seen no cattle, nor other +living thing, either there or on the neighboring hills. + +"Brother Cadmus!" cried Europa, starting up out of the midst of the +roses and lilies. "Phoenix! Cilix! Where are you all? Help! Help! Come +and drive away this bull!" + +But her brothers were too far off to hear; especially as the fright took +away Europa's voice, and hindered her from calling very loudly. So there +she stood, with her pretty mouth wide open, as pale as the white lilies +that were twisted among the other flowers in her garlands. + +Nevertheless, it was the suddenness with which she had perceived the +bull, rather than anything frightful in his appearance, that caused +Europa so much alarm. On looking at him more attentively, she began +to see that he was a beautiful animal, and even fancied a particularly +amiable expression in his face. As for his breath--the breath of cattle, +you know, is always sweet--it was as fragrant as if he had been grazing +on no other food than rosebuds, or at least, the most delicate of clover +blossoms. Never before did a bull have such bright and tender eyes, and +such smooth horns of ivory, as this one. And the bull ran little races, +and capered sportively around the child; so that she quite forgot how +big and strong he was, and, from the gentleness and playfulness of his +actions, soon came to consider him as innocent a creature as a pet lamb. + +Thus, frightened as she at first was, you might by and by have seen +Europa stroking the bull's forehead with her small white hand, and +taking the garlands off her own head to hang them on his neck and ivory +horns. Then she pulled up some blades of grass, and he ate them out of +her hand, not as if he were hungry, but because he wanted to be friends +with the child, and took pleasure in eating what she had touched. Well, +my stars! was there ever such a gentle, sweet, pretty, and amiable +creature as this bull, and ever such a nice playmate for a little girl? + +When the animal saw (for the bull had so much intelligence that it is +really wonderful to think of), when he saw that Europa was no longer +afraid of him, he grew overjoyed, and could hardly contain himself +for delight. He frisked about the meadow, now here, now there, making +sprightly leaps, with as little effort as a bird expends in hopping +from twig to twig. Indeed, his motion was as light as if he were flying +through the air, and his hoofs seemed hardly to leave their print in the +grassy soil over which he trod. With his spotless hue, he resembled a +snow drift, wafted along by the wind. Once he galloped so far away that +Europa feared lest she might never see him again; so, setting up her +childish voice, called him back. + +"Come back, pretty creature!" she cried. "Here is a nice clover +blossom." + +And then it was delightful to witness the gratitude of this amiable +bull, and how he was so full of joy and thankfulness that he capered +higher than ever. He came running, and bowed his head before Europa, as +if he knew her to be a king's daughter, or else recognized the important +truth that a little girl is everybody's queen. And not only did the +bull bend his neck, he absolutely knelt down at her feet, and made such +intelligent nods, and other inviting gestures, that Europa understood +what he meant just as well as if he had put it in so many words. + +"Come, dear child," was what he wanted to say, "let me give you a ride +on my back." + +At the first thought of such a thing, Europa drew back. But then she +considered in her wise little head that there could be no possible +harm in taking just one gallop on the back of this docile and friendly +animal, who would certainly set her down the very instant she desired +it. And how it would surprise her brothers to see her riding across the +green meadow! And what merry times they might have, either taking turns +for a gallop, or clambering on the gentle creature, all four children +together, and careering round the field with shouts of laughter that +would be heard as far off as King Agenor's palace! + +"I think I will do it," said the child to herself. + +And, indeed, why not? She cast a glance around, and caught a glimpse of +Cadmus, Phoenix, and Cilix, who were still in pursuit of the butterfly, +almost at the other end of the meadow. It would be the quickest way +of rejoining them, to get upon the white bull's back. She came a step +nearer to him therefore; and--sociable creature that he was--he showed +so much joy at this mark of her confidence, that the child could not +find in her heart to hesitate any longer. Making one bound (for this +little princess was as active as a squirrel), there sat Europa on the +beautiful bull, holding an ivory horn in each hand, lest she should fall +off. + +"Softly, pretty bull, softly!" she said, rather frightened at what she +had done. "Do not gallop too fast." + +Having got the child on his back, the animal gave a leap into the air, +and came down so like a feather that Europa did not know when his hoofs +touched the ground. He then began a race to that part of the flowery +plain where her three brothers were, and where they had just caught +their splendid butterfly. Europa screamed with delight; and Phoenix, +Cilix, and Cadmus stood gaping at the spectacle of their sister mounted +on a white bull, not knowing whether to be frightened or to wish the +same good luck for themselves. The gentle and innocent creature (for who +could possibly doubt that he was so?) pranced round among the children +as sportively as a kitten. Europa all the while looked down upon her +brothers, nodding and laughing, but yet with a sort of stateliness in +her rosy little face. As the bull wheeled about to take another gallop +across the meadow, the child waved her hand, and said, "Good-bye," +playfully pretending that she was now bound on a distant journey, and +might not see her brothers again for nobody could tell how long. + +"Good-bye," shouted Cadmus, Phoenix, and Cilix, all in one breath. + +But, together with her enjoyment of the sport, there was still a little +remnant of fear in the child's heart; so that her last look at the three +boys was a troubled one, and made them feel as if their dear sister were +really leaving them forever. And what do you think the snowy bull +did next? Why, he set off, as swift as the wind, straight down to the +seashore, scampered across the sand, took an airy leap, and plunged +right in among the foaming billows. The white spray rose in a shower +over him and little Europa, and fell spattering down upon the water. + +Then what a scream of terror did the poor child send forth! The three +brothers screamed manfully, likewise, and ran to the shore as fast as +their legs would carry them, with Cadmus at their head. But it was too +late. When they reached the margin of the sand, the treacherous animal +was already far away in the wide blue sea, with only his snowy head and +tail emerging, and poor little Europa between them, stretching out one +hand towards her dear brothers, while she grasped the bull's ivory horn +with the other. And there stood Cadmus, Phoenix, and Cilix, gazing at +this sad spectacle, through their tears, until they could no longer +distinguish the bull's snowy head from the white-capped billows that +seemed to boil up out of the sea's depths around him. Nothing more was +ever seen of the white bull--nothing more of the beautiful child. + +This was a mournful story, as you may well think, for the three boys to +carry home to their parents. King Agenor, their father, was the ruler of +the whole country; but he loved his little daughter Europa better than +his kingdom, or than all his other children, or than anything else in +the world. Therefore, when Cadmus and his two brothers came crying home, +and told him how that a white bull had carried off their sister, and +swam with her over the sea, the king was quite beside himself with grief +and rage. Although it was now twilight, and fast growing dark, he bade +them set out instantly in search of her. + +"Never shall you see my face again," he cried, "unless you bring me back +my little Europa, to gladden me with her smiles and her pretty ways. +Begone, and enter my presence no more, till you come leading her by the +hand." + +As King Agenor said this, his eyes flashed fire (for he was a very +passionate king), and he looked so terribly angry that the poor boys +did not even venture to ask for their suppers, but slunk away out of the +palace, and only paused on the steps a moment to consult whither they +should go first. While they were standing there, all in dismay, their +mother, Queen Telephassa (who happened not to be by when they told the +story to the king), came hurrying after them, and said that she too +would go in quest of her daughter. + +"O, no, mother!" cried the boys. "The night is dark, and there is no +knowing what troubles and perils we may meet with." + +"Alas! my dear children," answered poor Queen Telephassa; weeping +bitterly, "that is only another reason why I should go with you. If I +should lose you, too, as well as my little Europa, what would become of +me!" + +"And let me go likewise!" said their playfellow Thasus, who came running +to join them. + +Thasus was the son of a seafaring person in the neighborhood; he had +been brought up with the young princes, and was their intimate friend, +and loved Europa very much; so they consented that he should accompany +them. The whole party, therefore, set forth together. Cadmus, Phoenix, +Cilix, and Thasus clustered round Queen Telephassa, grasping her skirts, +and begging her to lean upon their shoulders whenever she felt weary. In +this manner they went down the palace steps, and began a journey, which +turned out to be a great deal longer than they dreamed of. The last that +they saw of King Agenor, he came to the door, with a servant holding a +torch beside him, and called after them into the gathering darkness: + +"Remember! Never ascend these steps again without the child!" + +"Never!" sobbed Queen Telephassa; and the three brothers and Thasus +answered, "Never! Never! Never! Never!" + +And they kept their word. Year after year, King Agenor sat in the +solitude of his beautiful palace, listening in vain for their returning +footsteps, hoping to hear the familiar voice of the queen, and the +cheerful talk of his sons and their playfellow Thasus, entering the door +together, and the sweet, childish accents of little Europa in the midst +of them. But so long a time went by, that, at last, if they had +really come, the king would not have known that this was the voice of +Telephassa, and these the younger voices that used to make such joyful +echoes, when the children were playing about the palace. We must now +leave King Agenor to sit on his throne, and must go along with Queen +Telephassa, and her four youthful companions. + +They went on and on, and traveled a long way, and passed over mountains +and rivers, and sailed over seas. Here, and there, and everywhere, they +made continual inquiry if any person could tell them what had become of +Europa. The rustic people, of whom they asked this question, paused +a little while from their labors in the field, and looked very much +surprised. They thought it strange to behold a woman in the garb of a +queen (for Telephassa in her haste had forgotten to take off her crown +and her royal robes), roaming about the country, with four lads around +her, on such an errand as this seemed to be. But nobody could give them +any tidings of Europa; nobody had seen a little girl dressed like a +princess, and mounted on a snow-white bull, which galloped as swiftly as +the wind. + +I cannot tell you how long Queen Telephassa, and Cadmus, Phoenix, and +Cilix, her three sons, and Thasus, their playfellow, went wandering +along the highways and bypaths, or through the pathless wildernesses of +the earth, in this manner. But certain it is, that, before they reached +any place of rest, their splendid garments were quite worn out. They +all looked very much travel-stained, and would have had the dust of many +countries on their shoes, if the streams, through which they waded, had +not washed it all away. When they had been gone a year, Telephassa threw +away her crown, because it chafed her forehead. + +"It has given me many a headache," said the poor queen, "and it cannot +cure my heartache." + +As fast as their princely robes got torn and tattered, they exchanged +them for such mean attire as ordinary people wore. By and by, they come +to have a wild and homeless aspect; so that you would much sooner have +taken them for a gypsy family than a queen and three princes, and +a young nobleman, who had once a palace for a home, and a train of +servants to do their bidding. The four boys grew up to be tall young +men, with sunburnt faces. Each of them girded on a sword, to defend +themselves against the perils of the way. When the husbandmen, at whose +farmhouses they sought hospitality, needed their assistance in the +harvest field, they gave it willingly; and Queen Telephassa (who had +done no work in her palace, save to braid silk threads with golden ones) +came behind them to bind the sheaves. If payment was offered, they shook +their heads, and only asked for tidings of Europa. + +"There are bulls enough in my pasture," the old farmers would reply; +"but I never heard of one like this you tell me of. A snow-white bull +with a little princess on his back! Ho! ho! I ask your pardon, good +folks; but there never such a sight seen hereabouts." + +At last, when his upper lip began to have the down on it, Phoenix grew +weary of rambling hither and thither to no purpose. So one day, when +they happened to be passing through a pleasant and solitary tract of +country, he sat himself down on a heap of moss. + +"I can go no farther," said Phoenix. "It is a mere foolish waste of +life, to spend it as we do, always wandering up and down, and never +coming to any home at nightfall. Our sister is lost, and never will be +found. She probably perished in the sea; or, to whatever shore the white +bull may have carried her, it is now so many years ago, that there would +be neither love nor acquaintance between us, should we meet again. My +father has forbidden us to return to his palace, so I shall build me a +hut of branches, and dwell here." + +"Well, son Phoenix," said Telephassa, sorrowfully, "you have grown to be +a man, and must do as you judge best. But, for my part, I will still go +in quest of my poor child." + +"And we three will go along with you!" cried Cadmus and Cilix, and their +faithful friend Thasus. + +But, before setting out, they all helped Phoenix to build a habitation. +When completed, it was a sweet rural bower, roofed overhead with an arch +of living boughs. Inside there were two pleasant rooms, one of which +had a soft heap of moss for a bed, while the other was furnished with +a rustic seat or two, curiously fashioned out of the crooked roots of +trees. So comfortable and home-like did it seem, that Telephassa and her +three companions could not help sighing, to think that they must still +roam about the world, instead of spending the remainder of their lives +in some such cheerful abode as they had here built for Phoenix. But, +when they bade him farewell, Phoenix shed tears, and probably regretted +that he was no longer to keep them company. + +However, he had fixed upon an admirable place to dwell in. And by and by +there came other people, who chanced to have no homes; and, seeing how +pleasant a spot it was, they built themselves huts in the neighborhood +of Phoenix's habitation. Thus, before many years went by, a city had +grown up there, in the center of which was seen a stately palace of +marble, wherein dwelt Phoenix, clothed in a purple robe, and wearing a +golden crown upon his head. For the inhabitants of the new city, finding +that he had royal blood in his veins, had chosen him to be their king. +The very first decree of state which King Phoenix issued was, that, if a +maiden happened to arrive in the kingdom, mounted on a snow-white bull, +and calling herself Europa, his subjects should treat her with the +greatest kindness and respect, and immediately bring her to the palace. +You may see, by this, that Phoenix's conscience never quite ceased to +trouble him, for giving up the quest of his dear sister, and sitting +himself down to be comfortable, while his mother and her companions went +onward. + +But often and often, at the close of a weary day's journey, did +Telephassa and Cadmus, Cilix, and Thasus, remember the pleasant spot +in which they had left Phoenix. It was a sorrowful prospect for these +wanderers, that on the morrow they must again set forth, and that, after +many nightfalls, they would perhaps be no nearer the close of their +toilsome pilgrimage than now. These thoughts made them all melancholy at +times, but appeared to torment Cilix more than the rest of the party. At +length, one morning, when they were taking their staffs in hand to set +out, he thus addressed them: + +"My dear mother, and you, good brother Cadmus, and my friend Thasus, +methinks we are like people in a dream. There is no substance in the +life which we are leading. It is such a dreary length of time since the +white bull carried off my sister Europa, that I have quite forgotten +how she looked, and the tones of her voice, and, indeed, almost doubt +whether such a little girl ever lived in the world. And whether she +once lived or no, I am convinced that she no longer survives, and that +therefore it is the merest folly to waste our own lives and happiness +in seeking her. Were we to find her, she would now be a woman grown, and +would look upon us all as strangers. So, to tell you the truth, I have +resolved to take up my abode here; and I entreat you, mother, brother, +and friend, to follow my example." + +"Not I, for one," said Telephassa; although the poor queen, firmly as +she spoke, was so travel-worn that she could hardly put her foot to the +ground. "Not I, for one! In the depths of my heart, little Europa is +still the rosy child who ran to gather flowers so many years ago. +She has not grown to womanhood, nor forgotten me. At noon, at night, +journeying onward, sitting down to rest, her childish voice is always +in my ears, calling, 'Mother! mother!' Stop here who may, there is no +repose for me." + +"Nor for me," said Cadmus, "while my dear mother pleases to go onward." + +And the faithful Thasus, too, was resolved to bear them company. They +remained with Cilix a few days, however, and helped him to build a +rustic bower, resembling the one which they had formerly built for +Phoenix. + +When they were bidding him farewell Cilix burst into tears, and told +his mother that it seemed just as melancholy a dream to stay there, in +solitude, as to go onward. If she really believed that they would ever +find Europa, he was willing to continue the search with them, even now. +But Telephassa bade him remain there, and be happy, if his own heart +would let him. So the pilgrims took their leave of him, and departed, +and were hardly out of sight before some other wandering people came +along that way, and saw Cilix's habitation, and were greatly delighted +with the appearance of the place. There being abundance of unoccupied +ground in the neighborhood, these strangers built huts for themselves, +and were soon joined by a multitude of new settlers, who quickly formed +a city. In the middle of it was seen a magnificent palace of colored +marble, on the balcony of which, every noontide, appeared Cilix, in +a long purple robe, and with a jeweled crown upon his head; for +the inhabitants, when they found out that he was a king's son, had +considered him the fittest of all men to be a king himself. + +One of the first acts of King Cilix's government was to send out an +expedition, consisting of a grave ambassador, and an escort of bold +and hardy young men, with orders to visit the principal kingdoms of +the earth, and inquire whether a young maiden had passed through those +regions, galloping swiftly on a white bull. It is, therefore, plain to +my mind, that Cilix secretly blamed himself for giving up the search for +Europa, as long as he was able to put one foot before the other. + +As for Telephassa, and Cadmus, and the good Thasus, it grieves me to +think of them, still keeping up that weary pilgrimage. The two young men +did their best for the poor queen, helping her over the rough places, +often carrying her across rivulets in their faithful arms and seeking to +shelter her at nightfall, even when they themselves lay on the ground. +Sad, sad it was to hear them asking of every passer-by if he had seen +Europa, so long after the white bull had carried her away. But, though +the gray years thrust themselves between, and made the child's figure +dim in their remembrance, neither of these true-hearted three ever +dreamed of giving up the search. + +One morning, however, poor Thasus found that he had sprained his ankle, +and could not possibly go a step farther. + +"After a few days, to be sure," said he, mournfully, "I might make shift +to hobble along with a stick. But that would only delay you, and perhaps +hinder you from finding dear little Europa, after all your pains and +trouble. Do you go forward, therefore, my beloved companions, and leave +me to follow as I may." + +"Thou hast been a true friend, dear Thasus," said Queen Telephassa, +kissing his forehead. "Being neither my son, nor the brother of our lost +Europa, thou hast shown thyself truer to me and her than Phoenix and +Cilix did, whom we have left behind us. Without thy loving help, and +that of my son Cadmus, my limbs could not have borne me half so far as +this. Now, take thy rest, and be at peace. For--and it is the first time +I have owned it to myself--I begin to question whether we shall ever +find my beloved daughter in this world." + +Saying this, the poor queen shed tears, because it was a grievous trial +to the mother's heart to confess that her hopes were growing faint. From +that day forward, Cadmus noticed that she never traveled with the same +alacrity of spirit that had heretofore supported her. Her weight was +heavier upon his arm. + +Before setting out, Cadmus helped Thasus build a bower; while +Telephassa, being too infirm to give any great assistance, advised them +how to fit it up and furnish it, so that it might be as comfortable as +a hut of branches could. Thasus, however, did not spend all his days in +this green bower. For it happened to him, as to Phoenix and Cilix, +that other homeless people visited the spot, and liked it, and built +themselves habitations in the neighborhood. So here, in the course of a +few years, was another thriving city, with a red freestone palace in +the center of it, where Thasus sat upon a throne, doing justice to the +people, with a purple robe over his shoulders, a sceptre in his hand, +and a crown upon his head. The inhabitants had made him king, not for +the sake of any royal blood (for none was in his veins), but because +Thasus was an upright, true-hearted, and courageous man, and therefore +fit to rule. + +But when the affairs of his kingdom were all settled, King Thasus laid +aside his purple robe and crown, and sceptre, and bade his worthiest +subjects distribute justice to the people in his stead. Then, grasping +the pilgrim's staff that had supported him so long, he set forth again, +hoping still to discover some hoof-mark of the snow-white bull, some +trace of the vanished child. He returned after a lengthened absence, and +sat down wearily upon his throne. To his latest hour, nevertheless, King +Thasus showed his true-hearted remembrance of Europa, by ordering that +a fire should always be kept burning in his palace, and a bath steaming +hot, and food ready to be served up, and a bed with snow-white sheets, +in case the maiden should arrive, and require immediate refreshment. +And, though Europa never came, the good Thasus had the blessings of many +a poor traveler, who profited by the food and lodging which were meant +for the little playmate of the king's boyhood. + +Telephassa and Cadmus were now pursuing their weary way, with no +companion but each other. The queen leaned heavily upon her son's arm, +and could walk only a few miles a day. But for all her weakness and +weariness, she would not be persuaded to give up the search. It +was enough to bring tears into the eyes of bearded men to hear the +melancholy tone with which she inquired of every stranger whether he +could not tell her any news of the lost child. + +"Have you seen a little girl--no, no, I mean a young maiden of full +growth--passing by this way, mounted on a snow-white bull, which gallops +as swiftly as the wind?" + +"We have seen no such wondrous sight," the people would reply; and very +often, taking Cadmus aside, they whispered to him, "Is this stately and +sad-looking woman your mother? Surely she is not in her right mind; and +you ought to take her home, and make her comfortable, and do your best +to get this dream out of her fancy." + +"It is no dream," said Cadmus. "Everything else is a dream, save that." + +But, one day, Telephassa seemed feebler than usual, and leaned almost +her whole weight on the arm of Cadmus, and walked more slowly than ever +before. At last they reached a solitary spot, where she told her son +that she must needs lie down, and take a good long rest. + +"A good long rest!" she repeated, looking Cadmus tenderly in the face. +"A good long rest, thou dearest one!" + +"As long as you please, dear mother," answered Cadmus. + +Telephassa bade him sit down on the turf beside her, and then she took +his hand. + +"My son," said she, fixing her dim eyes most lovingly upon him, "this +rest that I speak of will be very long indeed! You must not wait till +it is finished. Dear Cadmus, you do not comprehend me. You must make a +grave here, and lay your mother's weary frame into it. My pilgrimage is +over." + +Cadmus burst into tears, and, for a long time, refused to believe that +his dear mother was now to be taken from him. But Telephassa reasoned +with him, and kissed him, and at length made him discern that it was +better for her spirit to pass away out of the toil, the weariness, and +grief, and disappointment which had burdened her on earth, ever since +the child was lost. He therefore repressed his sorrow, and listened to +her last words. + +"Dearest Cadmus," said she, "thou hast been the truest son that ever +mother had, and faithful to the very last. Who else would have borne +with my infirmities as thou hast! It is owing to thy care, thou +tenderest child, that my grave was not dug long years ago, in some +valley, or on some hillside, that lies far, far behind us. It is enough. +Thou shalt wander no more on this hopeless search. But, when thou hast +laid thy mother in the earth, then go, my son, to Delphi, and inquire of +the oracle what thou shalt do next." + +"O mother, mother," cried Cadmus, "couldst thou but have seen my sister +before this hour!" + +"It matters little now," answered Telephassa, and there was a smile upon +her face. "I go now to the better world, and, sooner or later, shall +find my daughter there." + +I will not sadden you, my little hearers, with telling how Telephassa +died and was buried, but will only say, that her dying smile grew +brighter, instead of vanishing from her dead face; so that Cadmus left +convinced that, at her very first step into the better world, she had +caught Europa in her arms. He planted some flowers on his mother's +grave, and left them to grow there, and make the place beautiful, when +he should be far away. + +After performing this last sorrowful duty, he set forth alone, and took +the road towards the famous oracle of Delphi, as Telephassa had advised +him. On his way thither, he still inquired of most people whom he met +whether they had seen Europa; for, to say the truth, Cadmus had grown so +accustomed to ask the question, that it came to his lips as readily as a +remark about the weather. He received various answers. Some told him one +thing, and some another. Among the rest, a mariner affirmed, that, many +years before, in a distant country, he had heard a rumor about a white +bull, which came swimming across the sea with a child on his back, +dressed up in flowers that were blighted by the sea water. He did not +know what had become of the child or the bull; and Cadmus suspected, +indeed, by a queer twinkle in the mariner's eyes, that he was putting a +joke upon him, and had never really heard anything about the matter. + +Poor Cadmus found it more wearisome to travel alone than to bear all +his dear mother's weight, while she had kept him company. His heart, you +will understand, was now so heavy that it seemed impossible, sometimes, +to carry it any farther. But his limbs were strong and active, and well +accustomed to exercise. He walked swiftly along, thinking of King Agenor +and Queen Telephassa, and his brothers, and the friendly Thasus, all of +whom he had left behind him, at one point of his pilgrimage or another, +and never expected to see them any more. Full of these remembrances, he +came within sight of a lofty mountain, which the people thereabouts told +him was called Parnassus. On the slope of Mount Parnassus was the famous +Delphi, whither Cadmus was going. + +This Delphi was supposed to be the very midmost spot of the whole world. +The place of the oracle was a certain cavity in the mountain side, over +which, when Cadmus came thither, he found a rude bower of branches. +It reminded him of those which he had helped to build for Phoenix and +Cilix, and afterwards for Thasus. In later times, when multitudes of +people came from great distances to put questions to the oracle, a +spacious temple of marble was erected over the spot. But in the days of +Cadmus, as I have told you, there was only this rustic bower, with its +abundance of green foliage, and a tuft of shrubbery, that ran wild over +the mysterious hole in the hillside. + +When Cadmus had thrust a passage through the tangled boughs, and made +his way into the bower, he did not at first discern the half-hidden +cavity. But soon he felt a cold stream of air rushing out of it, with +so much force that it shook the ringlets on his cheek. Pulling away the +shrubbery which clustered over the hole, he bent forward, and spoke in +a distinct but reverential tone, as if addressing some unseen personage +inside of the mountain. + +"Sacred oracle of Delphi," said he, "whither shall I go next in quest of +my dear sister Europa?" + +There was at first a deep silence, and then a rushing sound, or a noise +like a long sigh, proceeding out of the interior of the earth. This +cavity, you must know, was looked upon as a sort of fountain of truth, +which sometimes gushed out in audible words; although, for the most +part, these words were such a riddle that they might just as well have +staid at the bottom of the hole. But Cadmus was more fortunate than many +others who went to Delphi in search of truth. By and by, the rushing +noise began to sound like articulate language. It repeated, over and +over again, the following sentence, which, after all, was so like the +vague whistle of a blast of air, that Cadmus really did not quite know +whether it meant anything or not: + +"Seek her no more! Seek her no more! Seek her no more!" + +"What, then, shall I do?" asked Cadmus. + +For, ever since he was a child, you know, it had been the great +object of his life to find his sister. From the very hour that he left +following the butterfly in the meadow, near his father's palace, he had +done his best to follow Europa, over land and sea. And now, if he must +give up the search, he seemed to have no more business in the world. + +But again the sighing gust of air grew into something like a hoarse +voice. + +"Follow the cow!" it said. "Follow the cow! Follow the cow!" + +And when these words had been repeated until Cadmus was tired of hearing +them (especially as he could not imagine what cow it was, or why he was +to follow her), the gusty hole gave vent to another sentence. + +"Where the stray cow lies down, there is your home." + +These words were pronounced but a single time, and died away into +a whisper before Cadmus was fully satisfied that he had caught the +meaning. He put other questions, but received no answer; only the gust +of wind sighed continually out of the cavity, and blew the withered +leaves rustling along the ground before it. + +"Did there really come any words out of the hole?" thought Cadmus; "or +have I been dreaming all this while?" + +He turned away from the oracle, and thought himself no wiser than when +he came thither. Caring little what might happen to him, he took the +first path that offered itself, and went along at a sluggish pace; +for, having no object in view, nor any reason to go one way more than +another, it would certainly have been foolish to make haste. Whenever he +met anybody, the old question was at his tongue's end. + +"Have you seen a beautiful maiden, dressed like a king's daughter, and +mounted on a snow-white bull, that gallops as swiftly as the wind?" + +But, remembering what the oracle had said, he only half uttered the +words, and then mumbled the rest indistinctly; and from his confusion, +people must have imagined that this handsome young man had lost his +wits. + +I know not how far Cadmus had gone, nor could he himself have told you, +when at no great distance before him, he beheld a brindled cow. She was +lying down by the wayside, and quietly chewing her cud; nor did she take +any notice of the young man until he had approached pretty nigh. Then, +getting leisurely upon her feet, and giving her head a gentle toss, she +began to move along at a moderate pace, often pausing just long enough +to crop a mouthful of grass. Cadmus loitered behind, whistling idly to +himself, and scarcely noticing the cow; until the thought occurred to +him, whether this could possibly be the animal which, according to +the oracle's response, was to serve him for a guide. But he smiled at +himself for fancying such a thing. He could not seriously think that +this was the cow, because she went along so quietly, behaving just like +any other cow. Evidently she neither knew nor cared so much as a wisp of +hay about Cadmus, and was only thinking how to get her living along the +wayside, where the herbage was green and fresh. Perhaps she was going +home to be milked. + +"Cow, cow, cow!" cried Cadmus. "Hey, Brindle, hey! Stop, my good cow!" + +He wanted to come up with the cow, so as to examine her, and see if she +would appear to know him, or whether there were any peculiarities to +distinguish her from a thousand other cows, whose only business is to +fill the milk-pail, and sometimes kick it over. But still the brindled +cow trudged on, whisking her tail to keep the flies away, and taking as +little notice of Cadmus as she well could. If he walked slowly, so did +the cow, and seized the opportunity to graze. If he quickened his pace, +the cow went just so much the faster; and once, when Cadmus tried to +catch her by running, she threw out her heels, stuck her tail straight +on end, and set off at a gallop, looking as queerly as cows generally +do, while putting themselves to their speed. + +When Cadmus saw that it was impossible to come up with her, he walked on +moderately, as before. The cow, too, went leisurely on, without looking +behind. Wherever the grass was greenest, there she nibbled a mouthful +or two. Where a brook glistened brightly across the path, there the cow +drank, and breathed a comfortable sigh, and drank again, and trudged +onward at the pace that best suited herself and Cadmus. + +"I do believe," thought Cadmus, "that this may be the cow that was +foretold me. If it be the one, I suppose she will lie down somewhere +hereabouts." + +Whether it were the oracular cow or some other one, it did not seem +reasonable that she should travel a great way farther. So, whenever +they reached a particularly pleasant spot on a breezy hillside, or in a +sheltered vale, or flowery meadow, on the shore of a calm lake, or along +the bank of a clear stream, Cadmus looked eagerly around to see if the +situation would suit him for a home. But still, whether he liked the +place or no, the brindled cow never offered to lie down. On she went +at the quiet pace of a cow going homeward to the barn yard; and, every +moment, Cadmus expected to see a milkmaid approaching with a pail, or a +herdsman running to head the stray animal, and turn her back towards the +pasture. But no milkmaid came; no herdsman drove her back; and Cadmus +followed the stray Brindle till he was almost ready to drop down with +fatigue. + +"O brindled cow," cried he, in a tone of despair, "do you never mean to +stop?" + +He had now grown too intent on following her to think of lagging behind, +however long the way, and whatever might be his fatigue. Indeed, it +seemed as if there were something about the animal that bewitched +people. Several persons who happened to see the brindled cow, and Cadmus +following behind, began to trudge after her, precisely as he did. Cadmus +was glad of somebody to converse with, and therefore talked very freely +to these good people. He told them all his adventures, and how he had +left King Agenor in his palace, and Phoenix at one place, and Cilix at +another, and Thasus at a third, and his dear mother, Queen Telephassa, +under a flowery sod; so that now he was quite alone, both friendless +and homeless. He mentioned, likewise, that the oracle had bidden him +be guided by a cow, and inquired of the strangers whether they supposed +that this brindled animal could be the one. + +"Why, 'tis a very wonderful affair," answered one of his new companions. +"I am pretty well acquainted with the ways of cattle, and I never knew +a cow, of her own accord, to go so far without stopping. If my legs will +let me, I'll never leave following the beast till she lies down." + +"Nor I!" said a second. + +"Nor I!" cried a third. "If she goes a hundred miles farther, I am +determined to see the end of it." + +The secret of it was, you must know, that the cow was an enchanted cow, +and that, without their being conscious of it, she threw some of her +enchantment over everybody that took so much as half a dozen steps +behind her. They could not possibly help following her, though all the +time they fancied themselves doing it of their own accord. The cow was +by no means very nice in choosing her path; so that sometimes they +had to scramble over rocks, or wade through mud and mire, and all in a +terribly bedraggled condition, and tired to death, and very hungry, into +the bargain. What a weary business it was! + +But still they kept trudging stoutly forward, and talking as they went. +The strangers grew very fond of Cadmus, and resolved never to leave him, +but to help him build a city wherever the cow might lie down. In the +center of it there should be a noble palace, in which Cadmus might +dwell, and be their king, with a throne, a crown, a sceptre, a purple +robe, and everything else that a king ought to have; for in him there +was the royal blood, and the royal heart, and the head that knew how to +rule. + +While they were talking of these schemes, and beguiling the tediousness +of the way with laying out the plan of the new city, one of the company +happened to look at the cow. + +"Joy! joy!" cried he, clapping his hands. "Brindle is going to lie +down." + +They all looked; and, sure enough, the cow had stopped, and was staring +leisurely about her, as other cows do when on the point of lying down. +And slowly, slowly did she recline herself on the soft grass, first +bending her forelegs, and then crouching her hind ones. When Cadmus and +his companions came up with her, there was the brindled cow taking her +ease, chewing her cud, and looking them quietly in the face; as if this +was just the spot she had been seeking for, and as if it were all a +matter of course. + +"This, then," said Cadmus, gazing around him, "this is to be my home." + +It was a fertile and lovely plain, with great trees flinging their +sun-speckled shadows over it, and hills fencing it in from the rough +weather. At no great distance, they beheld a river gleaming in the +sunshine. A home feeling stole into the heart of poor Cadmus. He was +very glad to know that here he might awake in the morning without the +necessity of putting on his dusty sandals to travel farther and farther. +The days and the years would pass over him, and find him still in this +pleasant spot. If he could have had his brothers with him, and his +friend Thasus, and could have seen his dear mother under a roof of his +own, he might here have been happy after all their disappointments. Some +day or other, too, his sister Europa might have come quietly to the +door of his home, and smiled round upon the familiar faces. But, indeed, +since there was no hope of regaining the friends of his boyhood, or ever +seeing his dear sister again, Cadmus resolved to make himself happy with +these new companions, who had grown so fond of him while following the +cow. + +"Yes, my friends," said he to them, "this is to be our home. Here we +will build our habitations. The brindled cow, which has led us hither, +will supply us with milk. We will cultivate the neighboring soil and +lead an innocent and happy life." + +His companions joyfully assented to this plan; and, in the first place, +being very hungry and thirsty, they looked about them for the means +of providing a comfortable meal. Not far off they saw a tuft of trees, +which appeared as if there might be a spring of water beneath them. They +went thither to fetch some, leaving Cadmus stretched on the ground along +with the brindled cow; for, now that he had found a place of rest, it +seemed as if all the weariness of his pilgrimage, ever since he left +King Agenor's palace, had fallen upon him at once. But his new friends +had not long been gone, when he was suddenly startled by cries, shouts, +and screams, and the noise of a terrible struggle, and in the midst of +it all, a most awful hissing, which went right through his ears like a +rough saw. + +Running towards the tuft of trees, he beheld the head and fiery eyes of +an immense serpent or dragon, with the widest jaws that ever a dragon +had, and a vast many rows of horribly sharp teeth. Before Cadmus could +reach the spot, this pitiless reptile had killed his poor companions, +and was busily devouring them, making but a mouthful of each man. + +It appears that the fountain of water was enchanted, and that the dragon +had been set to guard it, so that no mortal might ever quench his thirst +there. As the neighboring inhabitants carefully avoided the spot, it was +now a long time (not less than a hundred years or thereabouts) since the +monster had broken his fast; and, as was natural enough, his appetite +had grown to be enormous, and was not half satisfied by the poor people +whom he had just eaten up. When he caught sight of Cadmus, therefore, he +set up another abominable hiss, and flung back his immense jaws, until +his mouth looked like a great red cavern, at the farther end of which +were seen the legs of his last victim, whom he had hardly had time to +swallow. + +But Cadmus was so enraged at the destruction of his friends that he +cared neither for the size of the dragon's jaws nor for his hundreds +of sharp teeth. Drawing his sword, he rushed at the monster, and flung +himself right into his cavernous mouth. This bold method of attacking +him took the dragon by surprise; for, in fact, Cadmus had leaped so far +down into his throat, that the rows of terrible teeth could not close +upon him, nor do him the least harm in the world. Thus, though the +struggle was a tremendous one, and though the dragon shattered the tuft +of trees into small splinters by the lashing of his tail, yet, as Cadmus +was all the while slashing and stabbing at his very vitals, it was not +long before the scaly wretch bethought himself of slipping away. He had +not gone his length, however, when the brave Cadmus gave him a sword +thrust that finished the battle; and creeping out of the gateway of +the creature's jaws, there he beheld him still wriggling his vast bulk, +although there was no longer life enough in him to harm a little child. + +But do not you suppose that it made Cadmus sorrowful to think of the +melancholy fate which had befallen those poor, friendly people, who had +followed the cow along with him? It seemed as if he were doomed to lose +everybody whom he loved, or to see them perish in one way or another. +And here he was, after all his toils and troubles, in a solitary place, +with not a single human being to help him build a hut. + +"What shall I do?" cried he aloud. "It were better for me to have been +devoured by the dragon, as my poor companions were." + +"Cadmus," said a voice but whether it came from above or below him, +or whether it spoke within his own breast, the young man could not +tell--"Cadmus, pluck out the dragon's teeth, and plant them in the +earth." + +This was a strange thing to do; nor was it very easy, I should imagine, +to dig out all those deep-rooted fangs from the dead dragon's jaws. But +Cadmus toiled and tugged, and after pounding the monstrous head almost +to pieces with a great stone, he at last collected as many teeth as +might have filled a bushel or two. The next thing was to plant them. +This, likewise, was a tedious piece of work, especially as Cadmus was +already exhausted with killing the dragon and knocking his head to +pieces, and had nothing to dig the earth with, that I know of, unless +it were his sword blade. Finally, however, a sufficiently large tract of +ground was turned up, and sown with this new kind of seed; although half +of the dragon's teeth still remained to be planted some other day. + +Cadmus, quite out of breath, stood leaning upon his sword, and wondering +what was to happen next. He had waited but a few moments, when he began +to see a sight, which was as great a marvel as the most marvelous thing +I ever told you about. + +The sun was shining slantwise over the field, and showed all the moist, +dark soil just like any other newly-planted piece of ground. All at +once, Cadmus fancied he saw something glisten very brightly, first at +one spot, then at another, and then at a hundred and a thousand spots +together. Soon he perceived them to be the steel heads of spears, +sprouting up everywhere like so many stalks of grain, and continually +growing taller and taller. Next appeared a vast number of bright sword +blades, thrusting themselves up in the same way. A moment afterwards, +the whole surface of the ground was broken by a multitude of polished +brass helmets, coming up like a crop of enormous beans. So rapidly did +they grow, that Cadmus now discerned the fierce countenance of a +man beneath every one. In short, before he had time to think what a +wonderful affair it was, he beheld an abundant harvest of what looked +like human beings, armed with helmets and breastplates, shields, swords, +and spears; and before they were well out of the earth, they brandished +their weapons, and clashed them one against another, seeming to think, +little while as they had yet lived, that they had wasted too much of +life without a battle. Every tooth of the dragon had produced one of +these sons of deadly mischief. + +Up sprouted also a great many trumpeters; and with the first breath that +they drew, they put their brazen trumpets to their lips, and sounded a +tremendous and ear-shattering blast, so that the whole space, just now +so quiet and solitary, reverberated with the clash and clang of arms, +the bray of warlike music, and the shouts of angry men. So enraged did +they all look, that Cadmus fully expected them to put the whole world to +the sword. How fortunate would it be for a great conqueror, if he could +get a bushel of the dragon's teeth to sow! + +"Cadmus," said the same voice which he had before heard, "throw a stone +into the midst of the armed men." + +So Cadmus seized a large stone, and flinging it into the middle of +the earth army, saw it strike the breastplate of a gigantic and +fierce-looking warrior. Immediately on feeling the blow, he seemed to +take it for granted that somebody had struck him; and, uplifting his +weapon, he smote his next neighbor a blow that cleft his helmet asunder, +and stretched him on the ground. In an instant, those nearest the fallen +warrior began to strike at one another with their swords, and stab with +their spears. The confusion spread wider and wider. Each man smote down +his brother, and was himself smitten down before he had time to exult in +his victory. The trumpeters, all the while, blew their blasts shriller +and shriller; each soldier shouted a battle cry, and often fell with it +on his lips. It was the strangest spectacle of causeless wrath, and of +mischief for no good end, that had ever been witnessed; but, after all, +it was neither more foolish nor more wicked than a thousand battles that +have since been fought, in which men have slain their brothers with just +as little reason as these children of the dragon's teeth. It ought to +be considered, too, that the dragon people were made for nothing else; +whereas other mortals were born to love and help one another. + +Well, this memorable battle continued to rage until the ground was +strewn with helmeted heads that had been cut off. Of all the thousands +that began the fight, there were only five left standing. These now +rushed from different parts of the field, and, meeting in the middle of +it, clashed their swords, and struck at each other's hearts as fiercely +as ever. + +"Cadmus," said the voice again, "bid those five warriors sheathe their +swords. They will help you to build the city." + +Without hesitating an instant, Cadmus stepped forward, with the aspect +of a king and a leader, and extending his drawn sword amongst them, +spoke to the warriors in a stern and commanding voice. + +"Sheathe your weapons!" said he. + +And forthwith, feeling themselves bound to obey him, the five remaining +sons of the dragon's teeth made him a military salute with their swords, +returned them to the scabbards, and stood before Cadmus in a rank, +eyeing him as soldiers eye their captain, while awaiting the word of +command. + +These five men had probably sprung from the biggest of the dragon's +teeth, and were the boldest and strongest of the whole army. They were +almost giants indeed, and had good need to be so, else they never could +have lived through so terrible a fight. They still had a very furious +look, and, if Cadmus happened to glance aside, would glare at one +another, with fire flashing out of their eyes. It was strange, too, +to observe how the earth, out of which they had so lately grown, was +incrusted, here and there, on their bright breastplates, and even, +begrimed their faces; just as you may have seen it clinging to beets +and carrots, when pulled out of their native soil. Cadmus hardly +knew whether to consider them as men, or some odd kind of vegetable; +although, on the whole, he concluded that there was human nature in +them, because they were so fond of trumpets and weapons, and so ready to +shed blood. + +They looked him earnestly in the face, waiting for his next order, +and evidently desiring no other employment than to follow him from one +battlefield to another, all over the wide world. But Cadmus was wiser +than these earth-born creatures, with the dragon's fierceness in them, +and knew better how to use their strength and hardihood. + +"Come!" said he. "You are sturdy fellows. Make yourselves useful! Quarry +some stones with those great swords of yours, and help me to build a +city." + +The five soldiers grumbled a little, and muttered that it was their +business to overthrow cities, not to build them up. But Cadmus looked at +them with a stern eye, and spoke to them in a tone of authority, so that +they knew him for their master, and never again thought of disobeying +his commands. They set to work in good earnest, and toiled so +diligently, that, in a very short time, a city began to make its +appearance. At first, to be sure, the workmen showed a quarrelsome +disposition. Like savage beasts, they would doubtless have done one +another a mischief, if Cadmus had not kept watch over them, and quelled +the fierce old serpent that lurked in their hearts, when he saw it +gleaming out of their wild eyes. But, in course of time, they got +accustomed to honest labor, and had sense enough to feel that there +was more true enjoyment in living at peace, and doing good to one's +neighbor, than in striking at him with a two-edged sword. It may not be +too much to hope that the rest of mankind will by and by grow as wise +and peaceable as these five earth-begrimed warriors, who sprang from the +dragon's teeth. + +And now the city was built, and there was a home in it for each of the +workmen. But the palace of Cadmus was not yet erected, because they had +left it till the last, meaning to introduce all the new improvements +of architecture, and make it very commodious, as well as stately and +beautiful. After finishing the rest of their labors, they all went to +bed betimes, in order to rise in the gray of the morning, and get at +least the foundation of the edifice laid before nightfall. But, when +Cadmus arose, and took his way towards the site where the palace was +to be built, followed by his five sturdy workmen marching all in a row, +what do you think he saw? + +What should it be but the most magnificent palace that had ever been +seen in the world. It was built of marble and other beautiful kinds of +stone, and rose high into the air, with a splendid dome and a portico +along the front, and carved pillars, and everything else that befitted +the habitation of a mighty king. It had grown up out of the earth in +almost as short a time as it had taken the armed host to spring from the +dragon's teeth; and what made the matter more strange, no seed of this +stately edifice ever had been planted. + +When the five workmen beheld the dome, with the morning sunshine making +it look golden and glorious, they gave a great shout. + +"Long live King Cadmus," they cried, "in his beautiful palace." + +And the new king, with his five faithful followers at his heels, +shouldering their pickaxes and marching in a rank (for they still had a +soldier-like sort of behavior, as their nature was), ascended the palace +steps. Halting at the entrance, they gazed through a long vista of +lofty pillars, that were ranged from end to end of a great hall. At the +farther extremity of this hall, approaching slowly towards him, Cadmus +beheld a female figure, wonderfully beautiful, and adorned with a royal +robe, and a crown of diamonds over her golden ringlets, and the richest +necklace that ever a queen wore. His heart thrilled with delight. He +fancied it his long-lost sister Europa, now grown to womanhood, coming +to make him happy, and to repay him with her sweet sisterly affection, +for all those weary wonderings in quest of her since he left King +Agenor's palace--for the tears that he had shed, on parting with +Phoenix, and Cilix, and Thasus--for the heart-breakings that had made +the whole world seem dismal to him over his dear mother's grave. + +But, as Cadmus advanced to meet the beautiful stranger, he saw that +her features were unknown to him, although, in the little time that it +required to tread along the hall, he had already felt a sympathy betwixt +himself and her. + +"No, Cadmus," said the same voice that had spoken to him in the field of +the armed men, "this is not that dear sister Europa whom you have sought +so faithfully all over the wide world. This is Harmonia, a daughter of +the sky, who is given you instead of sister, and brothers, and friend, +and mother. You will find all those dear ones in her alone." + +So King Cadmus dwelt in the palace, with his new friend Harmonia, +and found a great deal of comfort in his magnificent abode, but would +doubtless have found as much, if not more, in the humblest cottage by +the wayside. Before many years went by, there was a group of rosy little +children (but how they came thither has always been a mystery to me) +sporting in the great hall, and on the marble steps of the palace, and +running joyfully to meet King Cadmus when affairs of state left him at +leisure to play with them. They called him father, and Queen Harmonia +mother. The five old soldiers of the dragon's teeth grew very fond +of these small urchins, and were never weary of showing them how to +shoulder sticks, flourish wooden swords, and march in military order, +blowing a penny trumpet, or beating an abominable rub-a-dub upon a +little drum. + +But King Cadmus, lest there should be too much of the dragon's tooth in +his children's disposition, used to find time from his kingly duties +to teach them their A B C--which he invented for their benefit, and for +which many little people, I am afraid, are not half so grateful to him +as they ought to be. + + + + +CIRCE'S PALACE. + +Some of you have heard, no doubt, of the wise King Ulysses, and how he +went to the siege of Troy, and how, after that famous city was taken and +burned, he spent ten long years in trying to get back again to his +own little kingdom of Ithaca. At one time in the course of this weary +voyage, he arrived at an island that looked very green and pleasant, but +the name of which was unknown to him. For, only a little while before +he came thither, he had met with a terrible hurricane, or rather a great +many hurricanes at once, which drove his fleet of vessels into a strange +part of the sea, where neither himself nor any of his mariners had ever +sailed. This misfortune was entirely owing to the foolish curiosity of +his shipmates, who, while Ulysses lay asleep, had untied some very +bulky leathern bags, in which they supposed a valuable treasure to be +concealed. But in each of these stout bags, King Aeolus, the ruler of +the winds, had tied up a tempest, and had given it to Ulysses to keep in +order that he might be sure of a favorable passage homeward to Ithaca; +and when the strings were loosened, forth rushed the whistling blasts, +like air out of a blown bladder, whitening the sea with foam, and +scattering the vessels nobody could tell whither. + +Immediately after escaping from this peril, a still greater one had +befallen him. Scudding before the hurricane, he reached a place, which, +as he afterwards found, was called Laestrygonia, where some monstrous +giants had eaten up many of his companions, and had sunk every one of +his vessels, except that in which he himself sailed, by flinging great +masses of rock at them, from the cliffs along the shore. After going +through such troubles as these, you cannot wonder that King Ulysses +was glad to moor his tempest-beaten bark in a quiet cove of the green +island, which I began with telling you about. But he had encountered so +many dangers from giants, and one-eyed Cyclops, and monsters of the sea +and land, that he could not help dreading some mischief, even in this +pleasant and seemingly solitary spot. For two days, therefore, the poor +weather-worn voyagers kept quiet, and either staid on board of their +vessel, or merely crept along under the cliffs that bordered the shore; +and to keep themselves alive, they dug shellfish out of the sand, and +sought for any little rill of fresh water that might be running towards +the sea. + +Before the two days were spent, they grew very weary of this kind of +life; for the followers of King Ulysses, as you will find it important +to remember, were terrible gormandizers, and pretty sure to grumble +if they missed their regulars meals, and their irregular ones besides. +Their stock of provisions was quite exhausted, and even the shellfish +began to get scarce, so that they had now to choose between starving to +death or venturing into the interior of the island, where perhaps some +huge three-headed dragon, or other horrible monster, had his den. Such +misshapen creatures were very numerous in those days; and nobody ever +expected to make a voyage, or take a journey, without running more or +less risk of being devoured by them. + +But King Ulysses was a bold man as well as a prudent one; and on the +third morning he determined to discover what sort of a place the island +was, and whether it were possible to obtain a supply of food for the +hungry mouths of his companions. So, taking a spear in his hand, he +clambered to the summit of a cliff, and gazed round about him. At a +distance, towards the center of the island, he beheld the stately towers +of what seemed to be a palace, built of snow-white marble, and rising in +the midst of a grove of lofty trees. The thick branches of these trees +stretched across the front of the edifice, and more than half concealed +it, although, from the portion which he saw, Ulysses judged it to be +spacious and exceedingly beautiful, and probably the residence of some +great nobleman or prince. A blue smoke went curling up from the chimney, +and was almost the pleasantest part of the spectacle to Ulysses. For, +from the abundance of this smoke, it was reasonable to conclude that +there was a good fire in the kitchen, and that, at dinner-time, a +plentiful banquet would be served up to the inhabitants of the palace, +and to whatever guests might happen to drop in. + +With so agreeable a prospect before him, Ulysses fancied that he could +not do better than go straight to the palace gate, and tell the master +of it that there was a crew of poor shipwrecked mariners, not far off, +who had eaten nothing for a day or two, save a few clams and oysters, +and would therefore be thankful for a little food. And the prince or +nobleman must be a very stingy curmudgeon, to be sure, if, at least, +when his own dinner was over, he would not bid them welcome to the +broken victuals from the table. + +Pleasing himself with this idea, King Ulysses had made a few steps +in the direction of the palace, when there was a great twittering and +chirping from the branch of a neighboring tree. A moment afterwards, a +bird came flying towards him, and hovered in the air, so as almost to +brush his face with its wings. It was a very pretty little bird, with +purple wings and body, and yellow legs, and a circle of golden feathers +round its neck, and on its head a golden tuft, which looked like a +king's crown in miniature. Ulysses tried to catch the bird. But it +fluttered nimbly out of his reach, still chirping in a piteous tone, as +if it could have told a lamentable story, had it only been gifted with +human language. And when he attempted to drive it away, the bird flew no +farther than the bough of the next tree, and again came fluttering about +his head, with its doleful chirp, as soon as he showed a purpose of +going forward. + +"Have you anything to tell me, little bird?" asked Ulysses. + +And he was ready to listen attentively to whatever the bird might +communicate; for, at the siege of Troy, and elsewhere, he had known such +odd things to happen, that he would not have considered it much out of +the common run had this little feathered creature talked as plainly as +himself. + +"Peep!" said the bird, "peep, peep, pe--weep!" And nothing else would it +say, but only, "Peep, peep, pe--weep!" in a melancholy cadence, and over +and over and over again. As often as Ulysses moved forward, however, the +bird showed the greatest alarm, and did its best to drive him back, with +the anxious flutter of its purple wings. Its unaccountable behavior made +him conclude, at last, that the bird knew of some danger that awaited +him, and which must needs be very terrible, beyond all question, since +it moved even a little fowl to feel compassion for a human being. So +he resolved, for the present, to return to the vessel, and tell his +companions what he had seen. + +This appeared to satisfy the bird. As soon as Ulysses turned back, it +ran up the trunk of a tree, and began to pick insects out of the bark +with its long, sharp bill; for it was a kind of woodpecker, you must +know, and had to get its living in the same manner as other birds of +that species. But every little while, as it pecked at the bark of +the tree, the purple bird bethought itself of some secret sorrow, and +repeated its plaintive note of "Peep, peep, pe--weep!" + +On his way to the shore, Ulysses had the good luck to kill a large stag +by thrusting his spear into his back. Taking it on his shoulders (for he +was a remarkably strong man), he lugged it along with him, and flung +it down before his hungry companions. I have already hinted to you what +gormandizers some of the comrades of King Ulysses were. From what is +related of them, I reckon that their favorite diet was pork, and that +they had lived upon it until a good part of their physical substance was +swine's flesh, and their tempers and dispositions were very much akin to +the hog. A dish of venison, however, was no unacceptable meal to them, +especially after feeding so long on oysters and clams. So, beholding the +dead stag, they felt of its ribs, in a knowing way, and lost no time in +kindling a fire of driftwood, to cook it. The rest of the day was spent +in feasting; and if these enormous eaters got up from table at sunset, +it was only because they could not scrape another morsel off the poor +animal's bones. + +The next morning, their appetites were as sharp as ever. They looked at +Ulysses, as if they expected him to clamber up the cliff again, and come +back with another fat deer upon his shoulders. Instead of setting out, +however, he summoned the whole crew together, and told them it was in +vain to hope that he could kill a stag every day for their dinner, and +therefore it was advisable to think of some other mode of satisfying +their hunger. + +"Now," said he, "when I was on the cliff, yesterday, I discovered that +this island is inhabited. At a considerable distance from the shore +stood a marble palace, which appeared to be very spacious, and had a +great deal of smoke curling out of one of its chimneys." + +"Aha!" muttered some of his companions, smacking their lips. "That smoke +must have come from the kitchen fire. There was a good dinner on the +spit; and no doubt there will be as good a one to-day." + +"But," continued the wise Ulysses, "you must remember, my good friends, +our misadventure in the cavern of one-eyed Polyphemus, the Cyclops! +Instead of his ordinary milk diet, did he not eat up two of our comrades +for his supper, and a couple more for breakfast, and two at his supper +again? Methinks I see him yet, the hideous monster, scanning us with +that great red eye, in the middle of his forehead, to single out the +fattest. And then, again, only a few days ago, did we not fall into the +hands of the king of the Laestrygons, and those other horrible giants, +his subjects, who devoured a great many more of us than are now left? To +tell you the truth, if we go to yonder palace, there can be no question +that we shall make our appearance at the dinner table; but whether +seated as guests, or served up as food, is a point to be seriously +considered." + +"Either way," murmured some of the hungriest of the crew; "it will be +better than starvation; particularly if one could be sure of being well +fattened beforehand, and daintily cooked afterwards." + +"That is a matter of taste," said King Ulysses, "and, for my own part, +neither the most careful fattening nor the daintiest of cookery would +reconcile me to being dished at last. My proposal is, therefore, that we +divide ourselves into two equal parties, and ascertain, by drawing +lots, which of the two shall go to the palace, and beg for food and +assistance. If these can be obtained, all is well. If not, and if the +inhabitants prove as inhospitable as Polyphemus, or the Laestrygons, +then there will but half of us perish, and the remainder may set sail +and escape." + +As nobody objected to this scheme, Ulysses proceeded to count the whole +band, and found that there were forty-six men, including himself. He +then numbered off twenty-two of them, and put Eurylochus (who was one +of his chief officers, and second only to himself in sagacity) at their +head. Ulysses took command of the remaining twenty-two men, in person. +Then, taking off his helmet, he put two shells into it, on one of which +was written, "Go," and on the other "Stay." Another person now held the +helmet, while Ulysses and Eurylochus drew out each a shell; and the +word "Go" was found written on that which Eurylochus had drawn. In +this manner, it was decided that Ulysses and his twenty-two men were to +remain at the seaside until the other party should have found out what +sort of treatment they might expect at the mysterious palace. As there +was no help for it, Eurylochus immediately set forth at the head of his +twenty-two followers, who went off in a very melancholy state of mind, +leaving their friends in hardly better spirits than themselves. + +No sooner had they clambered up the cliff, than they discerned the tall +marble towers of the palace, ascending, as white as snow, out of the +lovely green shadow of the trees which surrounded it. A gush of smoke +came from a chimney in the rear of the edifice. This vapor rose high +in the air, and, meeting with a breeze, was wafted seaward, and made to +pass over the heads of the hungry mariners. When people's appetites are +keen, they have a very quick scent for anything savory in the wind. + +"That smoke comes from the kitchen!" cried one of them, turning up his +nose as high as he could, and snuffing eagerly. "And, as sure as I'm a +half-starved vagabond, I smell roast meat in it." + +"Pig, roast pig!" said another. "Ah, the dainty little porker. My mouth +waters for him." + +"Let us make haste," cried the others, "or we shall be too late for the +good cheer!" + +But scarcely had they made half a dozen steps from the edge of the +cliff, when a bird came fluttering to meet them. It was the same pretty +little bird, with the purple wings and body, the yellow legs, the golden +collar round its neck, and the crown-like tuft upon its head, whose +behavior had so much surprised Ulysses. It hovered about Eurylochus, and +almost brushed his face with its wings. + +"Peep, peep, pe--weep!" chirped the bird. + +So plaintively intelligent was the sound, that it seemed as if the +little creature were going to break its heart with some mighty secret +that it had to tell, and only this one poor note to tell it with. + +"My pretty bird," said Eurylochus--for he was a wary person, and let no +token of harm escape his notice--"my pretty bird, who sent you hither? +And what is the message which you bring?" + +"Peep, peep, pe--weep!" replied the bird, very sorrowfully. + +Then it flew towards the edge of the cliff, and looked around at them, +as if exceedingly anxious that they should return whence they came. +Eurylochus and a few of the others were inclined to turn back. They +could not help suspecting that the purple bird must be aware of +something mischievous that would befall them at the palace, and the +knowledge of which affected its airy spirit with a human sympathy and +sorrow. But the rest of the voyagers, snuffing up the smoke from the +palace kitchen, ridiculed the idea of returning to the vessel. One of +them (more brutal than his fellows, and the most notorious gormandizer +in the crew) said such a cruel and wicked thing, that I wonder the mere +thought did not turn him into a wild beast, in shape, as he already was +in his nature. + +"This troublesome and impertinent little fowl," said he, "would make +a delicate titbit to begin dinner with. Just one plump morsel, melting +away between the teeth. If he comes within my reach, I'll catch him, and +give him to the palace cook to be roasted on a skewer." + +The words were hardly out of his mouth, before the purple bird flew +away, crying, "Peep, peep, pe--weep," more dolorously than ever. + +"That bird," remarked Eurylochus, "knows more than we do about what +awaits us at the palace." + +"Come on, then," cried his comrades, "and we'll soon know as much as he +does." + +The party, accordingly, went onward through the green and pleasant wood. +Every little while they caught new glimpses of the marble palace, which +looked more and more beautiful the nearer they approached it. They soon +entered a broad pathway, which seemed to be very neatly kept, and which +went winding along, with streaks of sunshine falling across it and +specks of light quivering among the deepest shadows that fell from the +lofty trees. It was bordered, too, with a great many sweet-smelling +flowers, such as the mariners had never seen before. So rich and +beautiful they were, that, if the shrubs grew wild here, and were native +in the soil, then this island was surely the flower garden of the whole +earth; or, if transplanted from some other clime, it must have been from +the Happy Islands that lay towards the golden sunset. + +"There has been a great deal of pains foolishly wasted on these +flowers," observed one of the company; and I tell you what he said, that +you may keep in mind what gormandizers they were. "For my part, if I +were the owner of the palace, I would bid my gardener cultivate nothing +but savory pot herbs to make a stuffing for roast meat, or to flavor a +stew with." + +"Well said!" cried the others. "But I'll warrant you there's a kitchen +garden in the rear of the palace." + +At one place they came to a crystal spring, and paused to drink at it +for want of liquor which they liked better. Looking into its bosom, they +beheld their own faces dimly reflected, but so extravagantly distorted +by the gush and motion of the water, that each one of them appeared to +be laughing at himself and all his companions. So ridiculous were these +images of themselves, indeed, that they did really laugh aloud, and +could hardly be grave again as soon as they wished. And after they had +drank, they grew still merrier than before. + +"It has a twang of the wine cask in it," said one, smacking his lips. + +"Make haste!" cried his fellows: "we'll find the wine cask itself at the +palace, and that will be better than a hundred crystal fountains." + +Then they quickened their pace, and capered for joy at the thought of +the savory banquet at which they hoped to be guests. But Eurylochus told +them that he felt as if he were walking in a dream. + +"If I am really awake," continued he, "then, in my opinion, we are on +the point of meeting with some stranger adventure than any that +befell us in the cave of Polyphemus, or among the gigantic man-eating +Laestrygons, or in the windy palace of King Aeolus, which stands on a +brazen-walled island. This kind of dreamy feeling always comes over me +before any wonderful occurrence. If you take my advice, you will turn +back." + +"No, no," answered his comrades, snuffing the air, in which the scent +from the palace kitchen was now very perceptible. "We would not turn +back, though we were certain that the king of the Laestrygons, as big as +a mountain, would sit at the head of the table, and huge Polyphemus, the +one-eyed Cyclops, at its foot." + +At length they came within full sight of the palace, which proved to +be very large and lofty, with a great number of airy pinnacles upon its +roof. Though it was midday, and the sun shone brightly over the marble +front, yet its snowy whiteness, and its fantastic style of architecture, +made it look unreal, like the frost work on a window pane, or like the +shapes of castles which one sees among the clouds by moonlight. But, +just then, a puff of wind brought down the smoke of the kitchen chimney +among them, and caused each man to smell the odor of the dish that +he liked best; and, after scenting it, they thought everything else +moonshine, and nothing real save this palace, and save the banquet that +was evidently ready to be served up in it. + +So they hastened their steps towards the portal, but had not got half +way across the wide lawn, when a pack of lions, tigers, and wolves came +bounding to meet them. The terrified mariners started back, expecting +no better fate than to be torn to pieces and devoured. To their surprise +and joy, however, these wild beasts merely capered around them, wagging +their tails, offering their heads to be stroked and patted, and behaving +just like so many well-bred house dogs, when they wish to express their +delight at meeting their master, or their master's friends. The biggest +lion licked the feet of Eurylochus; and every other lion, and every wolf +and tiger, singled out one of his two and twenty followers, whom the +beast fondled as if he loved him better than a beef bone. + +But, for all that, Eurylochus imagined that he saw something fierce and +savage in their eyes; nor would he have been surprised, at any moment, +to feel the big lion's terrible claws, or to see each of the tigers make +a deadly spring, or each wolf leap at the throat of the man whom he +had fondled. Their mildness seemed unreal, and a mere freak; but their +savage nature was as true as their teeth and claws. + +Nevertheless, the men went safely across the lawn with the wild beasts +frisking about them, and doing no manner of harm; although, as they +mounted the steps of the palace, you might possibly have heard a low +growl, particularly from the wolves; as if they thought it a pity, after +all, to let the strangers pass without so much as tasting what they were +made of. + +Eurylochus and his followers now passed under a lofty portal, and looked +through the open doorway into the interior of the palace. The first +thing that they saw was a spacious hall, and a fountain in the middle +of it, gushing up towards the ceiling out of a marble basin, and falling +back into it with a continual plash. The water of this fountain, as it +spouted upward, was constantly taking new shapes, not very distinctly, +but plainly enough for a nimble fancy to recognize what they were. Now +it was the shape of a man in a long robe, the fleecy whiteness of which +was made out of the fountain's spray; now it was a lion, or a tiger, or +a wolf, or an ass, or, as often as anything else, a hog, wallowing in +the marble basin as if it were his sty. It was either magic or some very +curious machinery that caused the gushing waterspout to assume all +these forms. But, before the strangers had time to look closely at +this wonderful sight, their attention was drawn off by a very sweet and +agreeable sound. A woman's voice was singing melodiously in another room +of the palace, and with her voice was mingled the noise of a loom, at +which she was probably seated, weaving a rich texture of cloth, and +intertwining the high and low sweetness of her voice into a rich tissue +of harmony. + +By and by, the song came to an end; and then, all at once, there were +several feminine voices, talking airily and cheerfully, with now and +then a merry burst of laughter, such as you may always hear when three +or four young women sit at work together. + +"What a sweet song that was!" exclaimed one of the voyagers. + +"Too sweet, indeed," answered Eurylochus, shaking his head. "Yet it +was not so sweet as the song of the Sirens, those bird-like damsels who +wanted to tempt us on the rocks, so that our vessel might be wrecked, +and our bones left whitening along the shore." + +"But just listen to the pleasant voices of those maidens, and that buzz +of the loom, as the shuttle passes to and fro," said another comrade. +"What a domestic, household, home-like sound it is! Ah, before that +weary siege of Troy, I used to hear the buzzing loom and the women's +voices under my own roof. Shall I never hear them again? nor taste those +nice little savory dishes which my dearest wife knew how to serve up?" + +"Tush! we shall fare better here," said another. "But how innocently +those women are babbling together, without guessing that we overhear +them! And mark that richest voice of all, so pleasant and so familiar, +but which yet seems to have the authority of a mistress among them. Let +us show ourselves at once. What harm can the lady of the palace and her +maidens do to mariners and warriors like us?" + +"Remember," said Eurylochus, "that it was a young maiden who beguiled +three of our friends into the palace of the king of the Laestrygons, who +ate up one of them in the twinkling of an eye." + +No warning or persuasion, however, had any effect on his companions. +They went up to a pair of folding doors at the farther end of the hall, +and throwing them wide open, passed into the next room. Eurylochus, +meanwhile, had stepped behind a pillar. In the short moment while the +folding doors opened and closed again, he caught a glimpse of a very +beautiful woman rising from the loom, and coming to meet the poor +weather-beaten wanderers, with a hospitable smile, and her hand +stretched out in welcome. There were four other young women, who joined +their hands and danced merrily forward, making gestures of obeisance to +the strangers. They were only less beautiful than the lady who seemed to +be their mistress. Yet Eurylochus fancied that one of them had sea-green +hair, and that the close-fitting bodice of a second looked like the bark +of a tree, and that both the others had something odd in their aspect, +although he could not quite determine what it was, in the little while +that he had to examine them. + +The folding doors swung quickly back, and left him standing behind the +pillar, in the solitude of the outer hall. There Eurylochus waited until +he was quite weary, and listened eagerly to every sound, but without +hearing anything that could help him to guess what had become of his +friends. Footsteps, it is true, seemed to be passing and repassing, in +other parts of the palace. Then there was a clatter of silver dishes, +or golden ones, which made him imagine a rich feast in a splendid +banqueting hall. But by and by he heard a tremendous grunting and +squealing, and then a sudden scampering, like that of small, hard hoofs +over a marble floor, while the voices of the mistress and her four +handmaidens were screaming all together, in tones of anger and derision. +Eurylochus could not conceive what had happened, unless a drove of +swine had broken into the palace, attracted by the smell of the feast. +Chancing to cast his eyes at the fountain, he saw that it did not shift +its shape, as formerly, nor looked either like a long-robed man, or +a lion, a tiger, a wolf, or an ass. It looked like nothing but a hog, +which lay wallowing in the marble basin, and filled it from brim to +brim. + +But we must leave the prudent Eurylochus waiting in the outer hall, and +follow his friends into the inner secrecy of the palace. As soon as the +beautiful woman saw them, she arose from the loom, as I have told you, +and came forward, smiling, and stretching out her hand. She took the +hand of the foremost among them, and bade him and the whole party +welcome. + +"You have been long expected, my good friends," said she. "I and my +maidens are well acquainted with you, although you do not appear to +recognize us. Look at this piece of tapestry, and judge if your faces +must not have been familiar to us." + +So the voyagers examined the web of cloth which the beautiful woman +had been weaving in her loom; and, to their vast astonishment, they saw +their own figures perfectly represented in different colored threads. It +was a life-like picture of their recent adventures, showing them in the +cave of Polyphemus, and how they had put out his one great moony eye; +while in another part of the tapestry they were untying the leathern +bags, puffed out with contrary winds; and farther on, they beheld +themselves scampering away from the gigantic king of the Laestrygons, +who had caught one of them by the leg. Lastly, there they were, sitting +on the desolate shore of this very island, hungry and downcast, and +looking ruefully at the bare bones of the stag which they devoured +yesterday. This was as far as the work had yet proceeded; but when the +beautiful woman should again sit down at her loom, she would probably +make a picture of what had since happened to the strangers, and of what +was now going to happen. + +"You see," she said, "that I know all about your troubles; and you +cannot doubt that I desire to make you happy for as long a time as you +may remain with me. For this purpose, my honored guests, I have ordered +a banquet to be prepared. Fish, fowl, and flesh, roasted, and in +luscious stews, and seasoned, I trust, to all your tastes, are ready to +be served up. If your appetites tell you it is dinner time, then come +with me to the festal saloon." + +At this kind invitation, the hungry mariners were quite overjoyed; +and one of them, taking upon himself to be spokesman, assured their +hospitable hostess that any hour of the day was dinner time with them, +whenever they could get flesh to put in the pot, and fire to boil it +with. So the beautiful woman led the way; and the four maidens (one of +them had sea-green hair, another a bodice of oak bark, a third sprinkled +a shower of water drops from her fingers' ends, and the fourth had some +other oddity, which I have forgotten), all these followed behind, and +hurried the guests along, until they entered a magnificent saloon. It +was built in a perfect oval, and lighted from a crystal dome above. +Around the walls were ranged two and twenty thrones, overhung by +canopies of crimson and gold, and provided with the softest of cushions, +which were tasselled and fringed with gold cord. Each of the +strangers was invited to sit down; and there they were, two and twenty +storm-beaten mariners, in worn and tattered garb, sitting on two and +twenty cushioned and canopied thrones, so rich and gorgeous that the +proudest monarch had nothing more splendid in his stateliest hall. + +Then you might have seen the guests nodding, winking with one eye, and +leaning from one throne to another, to communicate their satisfaction in +hoarse whispers. + +"Our good hostess has made kings of us all," said one. "Ha! do you +smell the feast? I'll engage it will be fit to set before two and twenty +kings." + +"I hope," said another, "it will be, mainly, good substantial joints, +sirloins, spareribs, and hinder quarters, without too many kickshaws. If +I thought the good lady would not take it amiss, I should call for a fat +slice of fried bacon to begin with." + +Ah, the gluttons and gormandizers! You see how it was with them. In the +loftiest seats of dignity, on royal thrones, they could think of nothing +but their greedy appetite, which was the portion of their nature that +they shared with wolves and swine; so that they resembled those vilest +of animals far more than they did kings--if, indeed, kings were what +they ought to be. + +But the beautiful woman now clapped her hands; and immediately there +entered a train of two and twenty serving men, bringing dishes of the +richest food, all hot from the kitchen fire, and sending up such a steam +that it hung like a cloud below the crystal dome of the saloon. An equal +number of attendants brought great flagons of wine, of various kinds, +some of which sparkled as it was poured out, and went bubbling down the +throat; while, of other sorts, the purple liquor was so clear that you +could see the wrought figures at the bottom of the goblet. While the +servants supplied the two and twenty guests with food and drink, the +hostess and her four maidens went from one throne to another, exhorting +them to eat their fill, and to quaff wine abundantly, and thus to +recompense themselves, at this one banquet, for the many days when they +had gone without a dinner. But whenever the mariners were not looking at +them (which was pretty often, as they looked chiefly into the basins +and platters), the beautiful woman and her damsels turned aside, and +laughed. Even the servants, as they knelt down to present the dishes, +might be seen to grin and sneer, while the guests were helping +themselves to the offered dainties. + +And, once in a while, the strangers seemed to taste something that they +did not like. + +"Here is an odd kind of spice in this dish," said one. "I can't say it +quite suits my palate. Down it goes, however." + +"Send a good draught of wine down your throat," said his comrade on +the next throne. "That is the stuff to make this sort of cookery relish +well. Though I must needs say, the wine has a queer taste too. But the +more I drink of it, the better I like the flavor." + +Whatever little fault they might find with the dishes, they sat at +dinner a prodigiously long while; and it would really have made you +ashamed to see how they swilled down the liquor and gobbled up the food. +They sat on golden thrones, to be sure; but they behaved like pigs in a +sty; and, if they had had their wits about them, they might have guessed +that this was the opinion of their beautiful hostess and her maidens. It +brings a blush into my face to reckon up, in my own mind, what mountains +of meat and pudding, and what gallons of wine, these two and twenty +guzzlers and gormandizers ate and drank. They forgot all about their +homes, and their wives and children, and all about Ulysses, and +everything else, except this banquet, at which they wanted to keep +feasting forever. But at length they began to give over, from mere +incapacity to hold any more. + +"That last bit of fat is too much for me," said one. + +"And I have not room for another morsel," said his next neighbor, +heaving a sigh. "What a pity! My appetite is as sharp as ever." + +In short, they all left off eating, and leaned back on their thrones, +with such a stupid and helpless aspect as made them ridiculous to +behold. When their hostess saw this, she laughed aloud; so did her four +damsels; so did the two and twenty serving men that bore the dishes, and +their two and twenty fellows that poured out the wine. And the louder +they all laughed, the more stupid and helpless did the two and twenty +gormandizers look. Then the beautiful woman took her stand in the middle +of the saloon, and stretching out a slender rod (it had been all the +while in her hand, although they never noticed it till this moment), she +turned it from one guest to another, until each had felt it pointed at +himself. Beautiful as her face was, and though there was a smile on it, +it looked just as wicked and mischievous as the ugliest serpent that +ever was seen; and fat-witted as the voyagers had made themselves, they +began to suspect that they had fallen into the power of an evil-minded +enchantress. + +"Wretches," cried she, "you have abused a lady's hospitality; and in +this princely saloon your behavior has been suited to a hog-pen. You are +already swine in everything but the human form, which you disgrace, and +which I myself should be ashamed to keep a moment longer, were you to +share it with me. But it will require only the slightest exercise of +magic to make the exterior conform to the hoggish disposition. Assume +your proper shapes, gormandizers, and begone to the sty!" + +Uttering these last words, she waved her wand; and stamping her foot +imperiously, each of the guests was struck aghast at beholding, instead +of his comrades in human shape, one and twenty hogs sitting on the same +number of golden thrones. Each man (as he still supposed himself to be) +essayed to give a cry of surprise, but found that he could merely grunt, +and that, in a word, he was just such another beast as his companions. +It looked so intolerably absurd to see hogs on cushioned thrones, that +they made haste to wallow down upon all fours, like other swine. They +tried to groan and beg for mercy, but forthwith emitted the most awful +grunting and squealing that ever came out of swinish throats. They would +have wrung their hands in despair, but, attempting to do so, grew all +the more desperate for seeing themselves squatted on their hams, and +pawing the air with their fore trotters. Dear me! what pendulous ears +they had! what little red eyes, half buried in fat! and what long +snouts, instead of Grecian noses! + +But brutes as they certainly were, they yet had enough of human nature +in them to be shocked at their own hideousness; and still intending to +groan, they uttered a viler grunt and squeal than before. So harsh and +ear-piercing it was, that you would have fancied a butcher was sticking +his knife into each of their throats, or, at the very least, that +somebody was pulling every hog by his funny little twist of a tail. + +"Begone to your sty!" cried the enchantress, giving them some smart +strokes with her wand; and then she turned to the serving men--"Drive +out these swine, and throw down some acorns for them to eat." + +The door of the saloon being flung open, the drove of hogs ran in +all directions save the right one, in accordance with their hoggish +perversity, but were finally driven into the back yard of the palace. It +was a sight to bring tears into one's eyes (and I hope none of you will +be cruel enough to laugh at it), to see the poor creatures go snuffing +along, picking up here a cabbage leaf and there a turnip top, and +rooting their noses in the earth for whatever they could find. In their +sty, moreover, they behaved more piggishly than the pigs that had been +born so; for they bit and snorted at one another, put their feet in the +trough, and gobbled up their victuals in a ridiculous hurry; and, when +there was nothing more to be had, they made a great pile of themselves +among some unclean straw, and fell fast asleep. If they had any human +reason left, it was just enough to keep them wondering when they should +be slaughtered, and what quality of bacon they should make. + +Meantime, as I told you before, Eurylochus had waited, and waited, +and waited, in the entrance hall of the palace, without being able to +comprehend what had befallen his friends. At last, when the swinish +uproar resounded through the palace, and when he saw the image of a hog +in the marble basin, he thought it best to hasten back to the vessel, +and inform the wise Ulysses of these marvelous occurrences. So he ran as +fast as he could down the steps, and never stopped to draw breath till +he reached the shore. + +"Why do you come alone?" asked King Ulysses, as soon as he saw him. +"Where are your two and twenty comrades?" + +At these questions, Eurylochus burst into tears. + +"Alas!" he cried, "I greatly fear that we shall never see one of their +faces again." + +Then he told Ulysses all that had happened, as far as he knew it, and +added that he suspected the beautiful woman to be a vile enchantress, +and the marble palace, magnificent as it looked, to be only a dismal +cavern in reality. As for his companions, he could not imagine what had +become of them, unless they had been given to the swine to be devoured +alive. At this intelligence, all the voyagers were greatly affrighted. +But Ulysses lost no time in girding on his sword, and hanging his bow +and quiver over his shoulders, and taking a spear in his right hand. +When his followers saw their wise leader making these preparations, they +inquired whither he was going, and earnestly besought him not to leave +them. + +"You are our king," cried they; "and what is more, you are the wisest +man in the whole world, and nothing but your wisdom and courage can get +us out of this danger. If you desert us, and go to the enchanted palace, +you will suffer the same fate as our poor companions, and not a soul of +us will ever see our dear Ithaca again." + +"As I am your king," answered Ulysses, "and wiser than any of you, it +is therefore the more my duty to see what has befallen our comrades, and +whether anything can yet be done to rescue them. Wait for me here until +tomorrow. If I do not then return, you must hoist sail, and endeavor to +find your way to our native land. For my part, I am answerable for the +fate of these poor mariners, who have stood by my side in battle, +and been so often drenched to the skin, along with me, by the same +tempestuous surges. I will either bring them back with me, or perish." + +Had his followers dared, they would have detained him by force. But King +Ulysses frowned sternly on them, and shook his spear, and bade them stop +him at their peril. Seeing him so determined, they let him go, and sat +down on the sand, as disconsolate a set of people as could be, waiting +and praying for his return. + +It happened to Ulysses, just as before, that, when he had gone a few +steps from the edge of the cliff, the purple bird came fluttering +towards him, crying, "Peep, peep, pe--weep!" and using all the art it +could to persuade him to go no farther. + +"What mean you, little bird?" cried Ulysses. "You are arrayed like a +king in purple and gold, and wear a golden crown upon your head. Is it +because I too am a king, that you desire so earnestly to speak with me? +If you can talk in human language, say what you would have me do." + +"Peep!" answered the purple bird, very dolorously. "Peep, peep, +pe--we--e!" + +Certainly there lay some heavy anguish at the little bird's heart; and +it was a sorrowful predicament that he could not, at least, have the +consolation of telling what it was. But Ulysses had no time to waste in +trying to get at the mystery. He therefore quickened his pace, and had +gone a good way along the pleasant wood path, when there met him a young +man of very brisk and intelligent aspect, and clad in a rather singular +garb. He wore a short cloak and a sort of cap that seemed to be +furnished with a pair of wings; and from the lightness of his step, you +would have supposed that there might likewise be wings on his feet. To +enable him to walk still better (for he was always on one journey or +another) he carried a winged staff, around which two serpents were +wriggling and twisting. In short, I have said enough to make you guess +that it was Quicksilver; and Ulysses (who knew him of old, and had +learned a great deal of his wisdom from him) recognized him in a moment. + +"Whither are you going in such a hurry, wise Ulysses?" asked +Quicksilver. "Do you not know that this island is enchanted? The wicked +enchantress (whose name is Circe, the sister of King Aetes) dwells in +the marble palace which you see yonder among the trees. By her magic +arts she changes every human being into the brute, beast, or fowl whom +he happens most to resemble." + +"That little bird, which met me at the edge of the cliff," exclaimed +Ulysses; "was he a human being once?" + +"Yes," answered Quicksilver. "He was once a king, named Picus, and a +pretty good sort of a king, too, only rather too proud of his purple +robe, and his crown, and the golden chain about his neck; so he was +forced to take the shape of a gaudy-feathered bird. The lions, and +wolves, and tigers, who will come running to meet you, in front of +the palace, were formerly fierce and cruel men, resembling in their +disposition the wild beasts whose forms they now rightfully wear." + +"And my poor companions," said Ulysses. "Have they undergone a similar +change, through the arts of this wicked Circe?" + +"You well know what gormandizers they were," replied Quicksilver; and +rogue that he was, he could not help laughing at the joke. "So you will +not be surprised to hear that they have all taken the shapes of swine! +If Circe had never done anything worse, I really should not think her so +very much to blame." + +"But can I do nothing to help them?" inquired Ulysses. + +"It will require all your wisdom," said Quicksilver, "and a little of my +own into the bargain, to keep your royal and sagacious self from being +transformed into a fox. But do as I bid you; and the matter may end +better than it has begun." + +While he was speaking, Quicksilver seemed to be in search of something; +he went stooping along the ground, and soon laid his hand on a little +plant with a snow-white flower, which he plucked and smelt of. Ulysses +had been looking at that very spot only just before; and it appeared +to him that the plant had burst into full flower the instant when +Quicksilver touched it with his fingers. + +"Take this flower, King Ulysses," said he. "Guard it as you do your +eyesight; for I can assure you it is exceedingly rare and precious, and +you might seek the whole earth over without ever finding another like +it. Keep it in your hand, and smell of it frequently after you enter the +palace, and while you are talking with the enchantress. Especially when +she offers you food, or a draught of wine out of her goblet, be +careful to fill your nostrils with the flower's fragrance. Follow these +directions, and you may defy her magic arts to change you into a fox." + +Quicksilver then gave him some further advice how to behave, and bidding +him be bold and prudent, again assured him that, powerful as Circe was, +he would have a fair prospect of coming safely out of her enchanted +palace. After listening attentively, Ulysses thanked his good +friend, and resumed his way. But he had taken only a few steps, when, +recollecting some other questions which he wished to ask, he turned +round again, and beheld nobody on the spot where Quicksilver had stood; +for that winged cap of his, and those winged shoes, with the help of the +winged staff, had carried him quickly out of sight. + +When Ulysses reached the lawn, in front of the palace, the lions and +other savage animals came bounding to meet him, and would have fawned +upon him and licked his feet. But the wise king struck at them with his +long spear, and sternly bade them begone out of his path; for he knew +that they had once been bloodthirsty men, and would now tear him limb +from limb, instead of fawning upon him, could they do the mischief that +was in their hearts. The wild beasts yelped and glared at him, and stood +at a distance, while he ascended the palace steps. + +On entering the hall, Ulysses saw the magic fountain in the center of +it. The up-gushing water had now again taken the shape of a man in a +long, white, fleecy robe, who appeared to be making gestures of welcome. +The king likewise heard the noise of the shuttle in the loom and the +sweet melody of the beautiful woman's song, and then the pleasant voices +of herself and the four maidens talking together, with peals of merry +laughter intermixed. But Ulysses did not waste much time in listening to +the laughter or the song. He leaned his spear against one of the pillars +of the hall, and then, after loosening his sword in the scabbard, +stepped boldly forward, and threw the folding doors wide open. The +moment she beheld his stately figure standing in the doorway, the +beautiful woman rose from the loom, and ran to meet him with a glad +smile throwing its sunshine over her face, and both her hands extended. + +"Welcome, brave stranger!" cried she. "We were expecting you." + +And the nymph with the sea-green hair made a courtesy down to the +ground, and likewise bade him welcome; so did her sister with the bodice +of oaken bark, and she that sprinkled dew-drops from her fingers' ends, +and the fourth one with some oddity which I cannot remember. And Circe, +as the beautiful enchantress was called (who had deluded so many persons +that she did not doubt of being able to delude Ulysses, not imagining +how wise he was), again addressed him: + +"Your companions," said she, "have already been received into my palace, +and have enjoyed the hospitable treatment to which the propriety of +their behavior so well entitles them. If such be your pleasure, you +shall first take some refreshment, and then join them in the elegant +apartment which they now occupy. See, I and my maidens have been weaving +their figures into this piece of tapestry." + +She pointed to the web of beautifully-woven cloth in the loom. Circe and +the four nymphs must have been very diligently at work since the +arrival of the mariners; for a great many yards of tapestry had now +been wrought, in addition to what I before described. In this new +part, Ulysses saw his two and twenty friends represented as sitting on +cushions and canopied thrones, greedily devouring dainties, and quaffing +deep draughts of wine. The work had not yet gone any further. O, no, +indeed. The enchantress was far too cunning to let Ulysses see the +mischief which her magic arts had since brought upon the gormandizers. + +"As for yourself, valiant sir," said Circe, "judging by the dignity of +your aspect, I take you to be nothing less than a king. Deign to follow +me, and you shall be treated as befits your rank." + +So Ulysses followed her into the oval saloon, where his two and twenty +comrades had devoured the banquet, which ended so disastrously for +themselves. But, all this while, he had held the snow-white flower in +his hand, and had constantly smelt of it while Circe was speaking; and +as he crossed the threshold of the saloon, he took good care to inhale +several long and deep snuffs of its fragrance. Instead of two and twenty +thrones, which had before been ranged around the wall, there was now +only a single throne, in the center of the apartment. But this was +surely the most magnificent seat that ever a king or an emperor reposed +himself upon, all made of chased gold, studded with precious stones, +with a cushion that looked like a soft heap of living roses, and +overhung by a canopy of sunlight which Circe knew how to weave into +drapery. The enchantress took Ulysses by the hand, and made him sit down +upon this dazzling throne. Then, clapping her hands, she summoned the +chief butler. + +"Bring hither," said she, "the goblet that is set apart for kings to +drink out of. And fill it with the same delicious wine which my royal +brother, King Aetes, praised so highly, when he last visited me with my +fair daughter Medea. That good and amiable child! Were she now here, it +would delight her to see me offering this wine to my honored guest." + +But Ulysses, while the butler was gone for the wine, held the snow-white +flower to his nose. + +"Is it a wholesome wine?" he asked. + +At this the four maidens tittered; whereupon the enchantress looked +round at them, with an aspect of severity. + +"It is the wholesomest juice that ever was squeezed out of the grape," +said she; "for, instead of disguising a man, as other liquor is apt to +do, it brings him to his true self, and shows him as he ought to be." + +The chief butler liked nothing better than to see people turned into +swine, or making any kind of a beast of themselves; so he made haste +to bring the royal goblet, filled with a liquid as bright as gold, and +which kept sparkling upward, and throwing a sunny spray over the brim. +But, delightfully as the wine looked, it was mingled with the most +potent enchantments that Circe knew how to concoct. For every drop of +the pure grape juice there were two drops of the pure mischief; and the +danger of the thing was, that the mischief made it taste all the better. +The mere smell of the bubbles, which effervesced at the brim, was enough +to turn a man's beard into pig's bristles, or make a lion's claws grow +out of his fingers, or a fox's brush behind him. + +"Drink, my noble guest," said Circe, smiling, as she presented him +with the goblet. "You will find in this draught a solace for all your +troubles." + +King Ulysses took the goblet with his right hand, while with his left he +held the snow-white flower to his nostrils, and drew in so long a breath +that his lungs were quite filled with its pure and simple fragrance. +Then, drinking off all the wine, he looked the enchantress calmly in the +face. + +"Wretch," cried Circe, giving him a smart stroke with her wand, "how +dare you keep your human shape a moment longer! Take the form of the +brute whom you most resemble. If a hog, go join your fellow-swine in +the sty; if a lion, a wolf, a tiger, go howl with the wild beasts on the +lawn; if a fox, go exercise your craft in stealing poultry. Thou hast +quaffed off my wine, and canst be man no longer." + +But, such was the virtue of the snow-white flower, instead of wallowing +down from his throne in swinish shape, or taking any other brutal form, +Ulysses looked even more manly and king-like than before. He gave the +magic goblet a toss, and sent it clashing over the marble floor to +the farthest end of the saloon. Then, drawing his sword, he seized the +enchantress by her beautiful ringlets, and made a gesture as if he meant +to strike off her head at one blow. + +"Wicked Circe," cried he, in a terrible voice, "this sword shall put an +end to thy enchantments. Thou shalt die, vile wretch, and do no more +mischief in the world, by tempting human beings into the vices which +make beasts of them." + +The tone and countenance of Ulysses were so awful, and his sword gleamed +so brightly, and seemed to have so intolerably keen an edge, that Circe +was almost killed by the mere fright, without waiting for a blow. The +chief butler scrambled out of the saloon, picking up the golden goblet +as he went; and the enchantress and the four maidens fell on their +knees, wringing their hands, and screaming for mercy. + +"Spare me!" cried Circe. "Spare me, royal and wise Ulysses. For now +I know that thou art he of whom Quicksilver forewarned me, the most +prudent of mortals, against whom no enchantments can prevail. Thou only +couldst have conquered Circe. Spare me, wisest of men. I will show +thee true hospitality, and even give myself to be thy slave, and this +magnificent palace to be henceforth thy home." + +The four nymphs, meanwhile, were making a most piteous ado; and +especially the ocean nymph, with the sea-green hair, wept a great deal +of salt water, and the fountain nymph, besides scattering dewdrops from +her fingers' ends, nearly melted away into tears. But Ulysses would +not be pacified until Circe had taken a solemn oath to change back his +companions, and as many others as he should direct, from their present +forms of beast or bird into their former shapes of men. + +"On these conditions," said he, "I consent to spare your life. Otherwise +you must die upon the spot." + +With a drawn sword hanging over her, the enchantress would readily have +consented to do as much good as she had hitherto done mischief, however +little she might like such employment. She therefore led Ulysses out of +the back entrance of the palace, and showed him the swine in their sty. +There were about fifty of these unclean beasts in the whole herd; and +though the greater part were hogs by birth and education, there was +wonderfully little difference to be seen betwixt them and their new +brethren, who had so recently worn the human shape. To speak critically, +indeed, the latter rather carried the thing to excess, and seemed to +make it a point to wallow in the miriest part of the sty, and otherwise +to outdo the original swine in their own natural vocation. When men +once turn to brutes, the trifle of man's wit that remains in them adds +tenfold to their brutality. + +The comrades of Ulysses, however, had not quite lost the remembrance of +having formerly stood erect. When he approached the sty, two and twenty +enormous swine separated themselves from the herd, and scampered towards +him, with such a chorus of horrible squealing as made him clap both +hands to his ears. And yet they did not seem to know what they wanted, +nor whether they were merely hungry, or miserable from some other +cause. It was curious, in the midst of their distress, to observe them +thrusting their noses into the mire, in quest of something to eat. The +nymph with the bodice of oaken bark (she was the hamadryad of an oak) +threw a handful of acorns among them; and the two and twenty hogs +scrambled and fought for the prize, as if they had tasted not so much as +a noggin of sour milk for a twelvemonth. + +"These must certainly be my comrades," said Ulysses. "I recognize their +dispositions. They are hardly worth the trouble of changing them into +the human form again. Nevertheless, we will have it done, lest their +bad example should corrupt the other hogs. Let them take their original +shapes, therefore, Dame Circe, if your skill is equal to the task. It +will require greater magic, I trow, than it did to make swine of them." + +So Circe waved her wand again, and repeated a few magic words, at the +sound of which the two and twenty hogs pricked up their pendulous ears. +It was a wonder to behold how their snouts grew shorter and shorter, and +their mouths (which they seemed to be sorry for, because they could not +gobble so expeditiously) smaller and smaller, and how one and another +began to stand upon his hind legs, and scratch his nose with his fore +trotters. At first the spectators hardly knew whether to call them hogs +or men, but by and by came to the conclusion that they rather resembled +the latter. Finally, there stood the twenty-two comrades of Ulysses, +looking pretty much the same as when they left the vessel. + +You must not imagine, however, that the swinish quality had entirely +gone out of them. When once it fastens itself into a person's character, +it is very difficult getting rid of it. This was proved by the +hamadryad, who, being exceedingly fond of mischief, threw another +handful of acorns before the twenty-two newly-restored people; whereupon +down they wallowed in a moment, and gobbled them up in a very shameful +way. Then, recollecting themselves, they scrambled to their feet, and +looked more than commonly foolish. + +"Thanks, noble Ulysses!" they cried. "From brute beasts you have +restored us to the condition of men again." + +"Do not put yourselves to the trouble of thanking me," said the wise +king. "I fear I have done but little for you." + +To say the truth, there was a suspicious kind of a grunt in their +voices, and, for a long time afterwards, they spoke gruffly, and were +apt to set up a squeal. + +"It must depend on your own future behavior," added Ulysses, "whether +you do not find your way back to the sty." + +At this moment, the note of a bird sounded from the branch of a +neighboring tree. + +"Peep, peep, pe--wee--e!" + +It was the purple bird, who, all this while, had been sitting over their +heads, watching what was going forward, and hoping that Ulysses would +remember how he had done his utmost to keep him and his followers out of +harm's way. Ulysses ordered Circe instantly to make a king of this good +little fowl, and leave him exactly as she found him. Hardly were the +words spoken, and before the bird had time to utter another "pe--weep," +King Picus leaped down from the bough of a tree, as majestic a sovereign +as any in the world, dressed in a long purple robe and gorgeous yellow +stockings, with a splendidly wrought collar about his neck, and a golden +crown upon his head. He and King Ulysses exchanged with one another +the courtesies which belong to their elevated rank. But from that time +forth, King Picus was no longer proud of his crown and his trappings of +royalty, nor of the fact of his being a king; he felt himself merely the +upper servant of his people, and that it must be his life-long labor to +make them better and happier. + +As for the lions, tigers, and wolves (though Circe would have restored +them to their former shapes at his slightest word), Ulysses thought +it advisable that they should remain as they now were, and thus give +warning of their cruel dispositions, instead of going about under the +guise of men, and pretending to human sympathies, while their hearts +had the blood-thirstiness of wild beasts. So he let them howl as much as +they liked, but never troubled his head about them. And, when everything +was settled according to his pleasure, he sent to summon the remainder +of his comrades, whom he had left at the sea-shore. These being arrived, +with the prudent Eurylochus at their head, they all made themselves +comfortable in Circe's enchanted palace, until quite rested and +refreshed from the toils and hardships of their voyage. + + + + +THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. + +Mother Ceres was exceedingly fond of her daughter Proserpina, and seldom +let her go alone into the fields. But, just at the time when my story +begins, the good lady was very busy, because she had the care of the +wheat, and the Indian corn, and the rye and barley and, in short, of the +crops of every kind, all over the earth; and as the season had thus far +been uncommonly backward, it was necessary to make the harvest ripen +more speedily than usual. So she put on her turban, made of poppies (a +kind of flower which she was always noted for wearing), and got into her +car drawn by a pair of winged dragons, and was just ready to set off. + +"Dear mother," said Proserpina, "I shall be very lonely while you are +away. May I not run down to the shore, and ask some of the sea nymphs to +come up out of the waves and play with me?" + +"Yes, child," answered Mother Ceres. "The sea nymphs are good creatures, +and will never lead you into any harm. But you must take care not to +stray away from them, nor go wandering about the fields by yourself. +Young girls, without their mothers to take care of them, are very apt to +get into mischief." + +The child promised to be as prudent as if she were a grown-up woman; +and, by the time the winged dragons had whirled the car out of sight, +she was already on the shore, calling to the sea nymphs to come and play +with her. They knew Proserpina's voice, and were not long in showing +their glistening faces and sea-green hair above the water, at the bottom +of which was their home. They brought along with them a great many +beautiful shells; and sitting down on the moist sand, where the surf +wave broke over them, they busied themselves in making a necklace, which +they hung round Proserpina's neck. By way of showing her gratitude, the +child besought them to go with her a little way into the fields, so that +they might gather abundance of flowers, with which she would make each +of her kind playmates a wreath. + +"O no, dear Proserpina," cried the sea nymphs; "we dare not go with you +upon the dry land. We are apt to grow faint, unless at every breath we +can snuff up the salt breeze of the ocean. And don't you see how careful +we are to let the surf wave break over us every moment or two, so as +to keep ourselves comfortably moist? If it were not for that, we should +look like bunches of uprooted seaweed dried in the sun. + +"It is a great pity," said Proserpina. "But do you wait for me here, and +I will run and gather my apron full of flowers, and be back again before +the surf wave has broken ten times over you. I long to make you some +wreaths that shall be as lovely as this necklace of many colored +shells." + +"We will wait, then," answered the sea nymphs. "But while you are gone, +we may as well lie down on a bank of soft sponge under the water. The +air to-day is a little too dry for our comfort. But we will pop up our +heads every few minutes to see if you are coming." + +The young Proserpina ran quickly to a spot where, only the day before, +she had seen a great many flowers. These, however, were now a little +past their bloom; and wishing to give her friends the freshest and +loveliest blossoms, she strayed farther into the fields, and found some +that made her scream with delight. Never had she met with such exquisite +flowers before--violets so large and fragrant--roses with so rich and +delicate a blush--such superb hyacinths and such aromatic pinks--and +many others, some of which seemed to be of new shapes and colors. Two or +three times, moreover, she could not help thinking that a tuft of most +splendid flowers had suddenly sprouted out of the earth before her very +eyes, as if on purpose to tempt her a few steps farther. Proserpina's +apron was soon filled, and brimming over with delightful blossoms. She +was on the point of turning back in order to rejoin the sea nymphs, and +sit with them on the moist sands, all twining wreaths together. But, +a little farther on, what should she behold? It was a large shrub, +completely covered with the most magnificent flowers in the world. + +"The darlings!" cried Proserpina; and then she thought to herself, "I +was looking at that spot only a moment ago. How strange it is that I did +not see the flowers!" + +The nearer she approached the shrub, the more attractive it looked, +until she came quite close to it; and then, although its beauty was +richer than words can tell, she hardly knew whether to like it or not. +It bore above a hundred flowers of the most brilliant hues, and each +different from the others, but all having a kind of resemblance among +themselves, which showed them to be sister blossoms. But there was a +deep, glossy luster on the leaves of the shrub, and on the petals of the +flowers, that made Proserpina doubt whether they might not be poisonous. +To tell you the truth, foolish as it may seem, she was half inclined to +turn round and run away. + +"What a silly child I am!" thought she, taking courage. "It is really +the most beautiful shrub that ever sprang out of the earth. I will +pull it up by the roots, and carry it home, and plant it in my mother's +garden." + +Holding up her apron full of flowers with her left hand, Proserpina +seized the large shrub with the other, and pulled, and pulled, but was +hardly able to loosen the soil about its roots. What a deep-rooted plant +it was! Again the girl pulled with all her might, and observed that the +earth began to stir and crack to some distance around the stem. She gave +another pull, but relaxed her hold, fancying that there was a rumbling +sound right beneath her feet. Did the roots extend down into some +enchanted cavern? Then laughing at herself for so childish a notion, she +made another effort: up came the shrub, and Proserpina staggered back, +holding the stem triumphantly in her hand, and gazing at the deep hole +which its roots had left in the soil. + +Much to her astonishment, this hole kept spreading wider and wider, and +growing deeper and deeper, until it really seemed to have no bottom; and +all the while, there came a rumbling noise out of its depths, louder and +louder, and nearer and nearer, and sounding like the tramp of horses' +hoofs and the rattling of wheels. Too much frightened to run away, she +stood straining her eyes into this wonderful cavity, and soon saw a team +of four sable horses, snorting smoke out of their nostrils, and tearing +their way out of the earth with a splendid golden chariot whirling at +their heels. They leaped out of the bottomless hole, chariot and all; +and there they were, tossing their black manes, flourishing their black +tails, and curvetting with every one of their hoofs off the ground at +once, close by the spot where Proserpina stood. In the chariot sat the +figure of a man, richly dressed, with a crown on his head, all flaming +with diamonds. He was of a noble aspect, and rather handsome, but looked +sullen and discontented; and he kept rubbing his eyes and shading them +with his hand, as if he did not live enough in the sunshine to be very +fond of its light. + +As soon as this personage saw the affrighted Proserpina, he beckoned her +to come a little nearer. + +"Do not be afraid," said he, with as cheerful a smile as he knew how +to put on. "Come! Will you not like to ride a little way with me, in my +beautiful chariot?" + +But Proserpina was so alarmed, that she wished for nothing but to get +out of his reach. And no wonder. The stranger did not look remarkably +good-natured, in spite of his smile; and as for his voice, its tones +were deep and stern, and sounded as much like the rumbling of an +earthquake underground than anything else. As is always the case with +children in trouble, Proserpina's first thought was to call for her +mother. + +"Mother, Mother Ceres!" cried she, all in a tremble. "Come quickly and +save me." + +But her voice was too faint for her mother to hear. Indeed, it is most +probable that Ceres was then a thousand miles off, making the corn +grow in some far distant country. Nor could it have availed her poor +daughter, even had she been within hearing; for no sooner did Proserpina +begin to cry out, than the stranger leaped to the ground, caught the +child in his arms, and again mounted the chariot, shook the reins, and +shouted to the four black horses to set off. They immediately broke into +so swift a gallop, that it seemed rather like flying through the air +than running along the earth. In a moment, Proserpina lost sight of the +pleasant vale of Enna, in which she had always dwelt. Another instant, +and even the summit of Mount Aetna had become so blue in the distance, +that she could scarcely distinguish it from the smoke that gushed out of +its crater. But still the poor child screamed, and scattered her apron +full of flowers along the way, and left a long cry trailing behind the +chariot; and many mothers, to whose ears it came, ran quickly to see if +any mischief had befallen their children. But Mother Ceres was a great +way off, and could not hear the cry. + +As they rode on, the stranger did his best to soothe her. + +"Why should you be so frightened, my pretty child?" said he, trying to +soften his rough voice. "I promise not to do you any harm. What! you +have been gathering flowers? Wait till we come to my palace, and I +will give you a garden full of prettier flowers than those, all made of +pearls, and diamonds, and rubies. Can you guess who I am? They call my +name Pluto; and I am the king of diamonds and all other precious stones. +Every atom of the gold and silver that lies under the earth belongs to +me, to say nothing of the copper and iron, and of the coal mines, which +supply me with abundance of fuel. Do you see this splendid crown upon my +head? You may have it for a plaything. O, we shall be very good friends, +and you will find me more agreeable than you expect, when once we get +out of this troublesome sunshine." + +"Let me go home!" cried Proserpina. "Let me go home!" + +"My home is better than your mother's," answered King Pluto. "It is a +palace, all made of gold, with crystal windows; and because there is +little or no sunshine thereabouts, the apartments are illuminated with +diamond lamps. You never saw anything half so magnificent as my throne. +If you like, you may sit down on it, and be my little queen, and I will +sit on the footstool." + +"I don't care for golden palaces and thrones," sobbed Proserpina. "Oh, +my mother, my mother! Carry me back to my mother!" + +But King Pluto, as he called himself, only shouted to his steeds to go +faster. + +"Pray do not be foolish, Proserpina," said he, in rather a sullen tone. +"I offer you my palace and my crown, and all the riches that are under +the earth; and you treat me as if I were doing you an injury. The one +thing which my palace needs is a merry little maid, to run upstairs and +down, and cheer up the rooms with her smile. And this is what you must +do for King Pluto." + +"Never!" answered Proserpina, looking as miserable as she could. "I +shall never smile again till you set me down at my mother's door." + +But she might just as well have talked to the wind that whistled +past them, for Pluto urged on his horses, and went faster than ever. +Proserpina continued to cry out, and screamed so long and so loudly that +her poor little voice was almost screamed away; and when it was nothing +but a whisper, she happened to cast her eyes over a great broad field +of waving grain--and whom do you think she saw? Who, but Mother Ceres, +making the corn grow, and too busy to notice the golden chariot as it +went rattling along. The child mustered all her strength, and gave one +more scream, but was out of sight before Ceres had time to turn her +head. + +King Pluto had taken a road which now began to grow excessively gloomy. +It was bordered on each side with rocks and precipices, between which +the rumbling of the chariot wheels was reverberated with a noise like +rolling thunder. The trees and bushes that grew in the crevices of the +rocks had very dismal foliage; and by and by, although it was hardly +noon, the air became obscured with a gray twilight. The black horses had +rushed along so swiftly, that they were already beyond the limits of the +sunshine. But the duskier it grew, the more did Pluto's visage assume +an air of satisfaction. After all, he was not an ill-looking person, +especially when he left off twisting his features into a smile that did +not belong to them. Proserpina peeped at his face through the gathering +dusk, and hoped that he might not be so very wicked as she at first +thought him. + +"Ah, this twilight is truly refreshing," said King Pluto, "after being +so tormented with that ugly and impertinent glare of the sun. How +much more agreeable is lamplight or torchlight, more particularly when +reflected from diamonds! It will be a magnificent sight, when we get to +my palace." + +"Is it much farther?" asked Proserpina. "And will you carry me back when +I have seen it?" + +"We will talk of that by and by," answered Pluto. "We are just entering +my dominions. Do you see that tall gateway before us? When we pass +those gates, we are at home. And there lies my faithful mastiff at the +threshold. Cerberus! Cerberus! Come hither, my good dog!" + +So saying, Pluto pulled at the reins, and stopped the chariot right +between the tall, massive pillars of the gateway. The mastiff of which +he had spoken got up from the threshold, and stood on his hinder legs, +so as to put his fore paws on the chariot wheel. But, my stars, what a +strange dog it was! Why, he was a big, rough, ugly-looking monster, with +three separate heads, and each of them fiercer than the two others; but +fierce as they were, King Pluto patted them all. He seemed as fond of +his three-headed dog as if it had been a sweet little spaniel, with +silken ears and curly hair. Cerberus, on the other hand, was evidently +rejoiced to see his master, and expressed his attachment, as other dogs +do, by wagging his tail at a great rate. Proserpina's eyes being drawn +to it by its brisk motion, she saw that this tail was neither more nor +less than a live dragon, with fiery eyes, and fangs that had a very +poisonous aspect. And while the three-headed Cerberus was fawning so +lovingly on King Pluto, there was the dragon tail wagging against its +will, and looking as cross and ill-natured as you can imagine, on its +own separate account. + +"Will the dog bite me?" asked Proserpina, shrinking closer to Pluto. +"What an ugly creature he is!" + +"O, never fear," answered her companion. "He never harms people, unless +they try to enter my dominions without being sent for, or to get +away when I wish to keep them here. Down, Cerberus! Now, my pretty +Proserpina, we will drive on." + +On went the chariot, and King Pluto seemed greatly pleased to find +himself once more in his own kingdom. He drew Proserpina's attention to +the rich veins of gold that were to be seen among the rocks, and pointed +to several places where one stroke of a pickaxe would loosen a bushel of +diamonds. All along the road, indeed, there were sparkling gems, which +would have been of inestimable value above ground, but which here were +reckoned of the meaner sort and hardly worth a beggar's stooping for. + +Not far from the gateway, they came to a bridge, which seemed to be +built of iron. Pluto stopped the chariot, and bade Proserpina look at +the stream which was gliding so lazily beneath it. Never in her life had +she beheld so torpid, so black, so muddy-looking a stream; its waters +reflected no images of anything that was on the banks, and it moved as +sluggishly as if it had quite forgotten which way it ought to flow, and +had rather stagnate than flow either one way or the other. + +"This is the River Lethe," observed King Pluto. "Is it not a very +pleasant stream?" + +"I think it a very dismal one," answered Proserpina. + +"It suits my taste, however," answered Pluto, who was apt to be sullen +when anybody disagreed with him. "At all events, its water has one +excellent quality; for a single draught of it makes people forget every +care and sorrow that has hitherto tormented them. Only sip a little of +it, my dear Proserpina, and you will instantly cease to grieve for your +mother, and will have nothing in your memory that can prevent your being +perfectly happy in my palace. I will send for some, in a golden goblet, +the moment we arrive." + +"O, no, no, no!" cried Proserpina, weeping afresh. "I had a thousand +times rather be miserable with remembering my mother, than be happy in +forgetting her. That dear, dear mother! I never, never will forget her." + +"We shall see," said King Pluto. "You do not know what fine times we +will have in my palace. Here we are just at the portal. These pillars +are solid gold, I assure you." + +He alighted from the chariot, and taking Proserpina in his arms, carried +her up a lofty flight of steps into the great hall of the palace. It +was splendidly illuminated by means of large precious stones, of +various hues, which seemed to burn like so many lamps, and glowed with a +hundred-fold radiance all through the vast apartment. And yet there was +a kind of gloom in the midst of this enchanted light; nor was there a +single object in the hall that was really agreeable to behold, except +the little Proserpina herself, a lovely child, with one earthly flower +which she had not let fall from her hand. It is my opinion that even +King Pluto had never been happy in his palace, and that this was the +true reason why he had stolen away Proserpina, in order that he might +have something to love, instead of cheating his heart any longer with +this tiresome magnificence. And, though he pretended to dislike the +sunshine of the upper world, yet the effect of the child's presence, +bedimmed as she was by her tears, was as if a faint and watery sunbeam +had somehow or other found its way into the enchanted hall. + +Pluto now summoned his domestics, and bade them lose no time in +preparing a most sumptuous banquet, and above all things, not to fail of +setting a golden beaker of the water of Lethe by Proserpina's plate. + +"I will neither drink that nor anything else," said Proserpina. "Nor +will I taste a morsel of food, even if you keep me forever in your +palace." + +"I should be sorry for that," replied King Pluto, patting her cheek; +for he really wished to be kind, if he had only known how. "You are a +spoiled child, I perceive, my little Proserpina; but when you see the +nice things which my cook will make for you, your appetite will quickly +come again." + +Then, sending for the head cook, he gave strict orders that all sorts +of delicacies, such as young people are usually fond of, should be +set before Proserpina. He had a secret motive in this; for, you are to +understand, it is a fixed law, that when persons are carried off to the +land of magic, if they once taste any food there, they can never get +back to their friends. Now, if King Pluto had been cunning enough to +offer Proserpina some fruit, or bread and milk (which was the simple +fare to which the child had always been accustomed), it is very probable +that she would soon have been tempted to eat it. But he left the matter +entirely to his cook, who, like all other cooks, considered nothing fit +to eat unless it were rich pastry, or highly-seasoned meat, or spiced +sweet cakes--things which Proserpina's mother had never given her, and +the smell of which quite took away her appetite, instead of sharpening +it. + +But my story must now clamber out of King Pluto's dominions, and see +what Mother Ceres had been about, since she was bereft of her daughter. +We had a glimpse of her, as you remember, half hidden among the waving +grain, while the four black steeds were swiftly whirling along the +chariot, in which her beloved Proserpina was so unwillingly borne away. +You recollect, too, the loud scream which Proserpina gave, just when the +chariot was out of sight. + +Of all the child's outcries, this last shriek was the only one that +reached the ears of Mother Ceres. She had mistaken the rumbling of the +chariot wheels for a peal of thunder, and imagined that a shower was +coming up, and that it would assist her in making the corn grow. But, at +the sound of Proserpina's shriek, she started, and looked about in every +direction, not knowing whence it came, but feeling almost certain that +it was her daughter's voice. It seemed so unaccountable, however, that +the girl should have strayed over so many lands and seas (which she +herself could not have traversed without the aid of her winged dragons), +that the good Ceres tried to believe that it must be the child of some +other parent, and not her own darling Proserpina, who had uttered this +lamentable cry. Nevertheless, it troubled her with a vast many tender +fears, such as are ready to bestir themselves in every mother's heart, +when she finds it necessary to go away from her dear children without +leaving them under the care of some maiden aunt, or other such faithful +guardian. So she quickly left the field in which she had been so busy; +and, as her work was not half done, the grain looked, next day, as if it +needed both sun and rain, and as if it were blighted in the ear, and had +something the matter with its roots. + +The pair of dragons must have had very nimble wings; for, in less than +an hour, Mother Ceres had alighted at the door of her home, and found +it empty. Knowing, however, that the child was fond of sporting on the +sea-shore, she hastened thither as fast as she could, and there beheld +the wet faces of the poor sea nymphs peeping over a wave. All this +while, the good creatures had been waiting on the bank of sponge, and +once, every half minute or so, had popped up their four heads above +water, to see if their playmate were yet coming back. When they saw +Mother Ceres, they sat down on the crest of the surf wave, and let it +toss them ashore at her feet. + +"Where is Proserpina?" cried Ceres. "Where is my child? Tell me, you +naughty sea nymphs, have you enticed her under the sea?" + +"O, no, good Mother Ceres," said the innocent sea nymphs, tossing back +their green ringlets, and looking her in the face. "We never should +dream of such a thing. Proserpina has been at play with us, it is true; +but she left us a long while ago, meaning only to run a little way upon +the dry land, and gather some flowers for a wreath. This was early in +the day, and we have seen nothing of her since." + +Ceres scarcely waited to hear what the nymphs had to say, before she +hurried off to make inquiries all through the neighborhood. But nobody +told her anything that would enable the poor mother to guess what had +become of Proserpina. A fisherman, it is true, had noticed her little +footprints in the sand, as he went homeward along the beach with a +basket of fish; a rustic had seen the child stooping to gather flowers; +several persons had heard either the rattling of chariot wheels, or the +rumbling of distant thunder; and one old woman, while plucking vervain +and catnip, had heard a scream, but supposed it to be some childish +nonsense, and therefore did not take the trouble to look up. The stupid +people! It took them such a tedious while to tell the nothing that they +knew, that it was dark night before Mother Ceres found out that she +must seek her daughter elsewhere. So she lighted a torch, and set forth, +resolving never to come back until Proserpina was discovered. + +In her haste and trouble of mind, she quite forgot her car and the +winged dragons; or, it may be, she thought that she could follow up the +search more thoroughly on foot. At all events, this was the way in +which she began her sorrowful journey, holding her torch before her, and +looking carefully at every object along the path. And as it happened, +she had not gone far before she found one of the magnificent flowers +which grew on the shrub that Proserpina had pulled up. + +"Ha!" thought Mother Ceres, examining it by torchlight. "Here is +mischief in this flower! The earth did not produce it by any help of +mine, nor of its own accord. It is the work of enchantment, and is +therefore poisonous; and perhaps it has poisoned my poor child." + +But she put the poisonous flower in her bosom, not knowing whether she +might ever find any other memorial of Proserpina. + +All night long, at the door of every cottage and farm-house, Ceres +knocked, and called up the weary laborers to inquire if they had seen +her child; and they stood, gaping and half-asleep, at the threshold, +and answered her pityingly, and besought her to come in and rest. At the +portal of every palace, too, she made so loud a summons that the menials +hurried to throw open the gate, thinking that it must be some great king +or queen, who would demand a banquet for supper and a stately chamber to +repose in. And when they saw only a sad and anxious woman, with a torch +in her hand and a wreath of withered poppies on her head, they spoke +rudely, and sometimes threatened to set the dogs upon her. But nobody +had seen Proserpina, nor could give Mother Ceres the least hint which +way to seek her. Thus passed the night; and still she continued her +search without sitting down to rest, or stopping to take food, or even +remembering to put out the torch although first the rosy dawn, and then +the glad light of the morning sun, made its red flame look thin and +pale. But I wonder what sort of stuff this torch was made of; for it +burned dimly through the day, and, at night, was as bright as ever, and +never was extinguished by the rain or wind, in all the weary days and +nights while Ceres was seeking for Proserpina. + +It was not merely of human beings that she asked tidings of her +daughter. In the woods and by the streams, she met creatures of another +nature, who used, in those old times, to haunt the pleasant and solitary +places, and were very sociable with persons who understood their +language and customs, as Mother Ceres did. Sometimes, for instance, she +tapped with her finger against the knotted trunk of a majestic oak; and +immediately its rude bark would cleave asunder, and forth would step a +beautiful maiden, who was the hamadryad of the oak, dwelling inside +of it, and sharing its long life, and rejoicing when its green leaves +sported with the breeze. But not one of these leafy damsels had seen +Proserpina. Then, going a little farther, Ceres would, perhaps, come +to a fountain, gushing out of a pebbly hollow in the earth, and would +dabble with her hand in the water. Behold, up through its sandy and +pebbly bed, along with the fountain's gush, a young woman with dripping +hair would arise, and stand gazing at Mother Ceres, half out of the +water, and undulating up and down with its ever-restless motion. But +when the mother asked whether her poor lost child had stopped to +drink out of the fountain, the naiad, with weeping eyes (for these +water-nymphs had tears to spare for everybody's grief), would answer +"No!" in a murmuring voice, which was just like the murmur of the +stream. + +Often, likewise, she encountered fauns, who looked like sunburnt country +people, except that they had hairy ears, and little horns upon their +foreheads, and the hinder legs of goats, on which they gamboled merrily +about the woods and fields. They were a frolicsome kind of creature +but grew as sad as their cheerful dispositions would allow, when Ceres +inquired for her daughter, and they had no good news to tell. But +sometimes she same suddenly upon a rude gang of satyrs, who had faces +like monkeys, and horses' tails behind them, and who were generally +dancing in a very boisterous manner, with shouts of noisy laughter. When +she stopped to question them, they would only laugh the louder, and make +new merriment out of the lone woman's distress. How unkind of those ugly +satyrs! And once, while crossing a solitary sheep pasture, she saw a +personage named Pan, seated at the foot of a tall rock, and making music +on a shepherd's flute. He, too, had horns, and hairy ears, and goats' +feet; but, being acquainted with Mother Ceres, he answered her question +as civilly as he knew how, and invited her to taste some milk and honey +out of a wooden bowl. But neither could Pan tell her what had become of +Proserpina, any better than the rest of these wild people. + +And thus Mother Ceres went wandering about for nine long days and +nights, finding no trace of Proserpina, unless it were now and then a +withered flower; and these she picked up and put in her bosom, because +she fancied that they might have fallen from her poor child's hand. All +day she traveled onward through the hot sun; and, at night again, the +flame of the torch would redden and gleam along the pathway, and she +continued her search by its light, without ever sitting down to rest. + +On the tenth day, she chanced to espy the mouth of a cavern within which +(though it was bright noon everywhere else) there would have been only +a dusky twilight; but it so happened that a torch was burning there. It +flickered, and struggled with the duskiness, but could not half light up +the gloomy cavern with all its melancholy glimmer. Ceres was resolved to +leave no spot without a search; so she peeped into the entrance of the +cave, and lighted it up a little more, by holding her own torch before +her. In so doing, she caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a woman, +sitting on the brown leaves of the last autumn, a great heap of which +had been swept into the cave by the wind. This woman (if woman it were) +was by no means so beautiful as many of her sex; for her head, they tell +me, was shaped very much like a dog's, and, by way of ornament, she wore +a wreath of snakes around it. But Mother Ceres, the moment she saw her, +knew that this was an odd kind of a person, who put all her enjoyment +in being miserable, and never would have a word to say to other people, +unless they were as melancholy and wretched as she herself delighted to +be. + +"I am wretched enough now," thought poor Ceres, "to talk with this +melancholy Hecate, were she ten times sadder than ever she was yet." So +she stepped into the cave, and sat down on the withered leaves by the +dog-headed woman's side. In all the world, since her daughter's loss, +she had found no other companion. + +"O Hecate," said she, "if ever you lose a daughter, you will know +what sorrow is. Tell me, for pity's sake, have you seen my poor child +Proserpina pass by the mouth of your cavern?" + +"No," answered Hecate, in a cracked voice, and sighing betwixt every +word or two; "no, Mother Ceres, I have seen nothing of your daughter. +But my ears, you must know, are made in such a way, that all cries of +distress and affright all over the world are pretty sure to find their +way to them; and nine days ago, as I sat in my cave, making myself very +miserable, I heard the voice of a young girl, shrieking as if in great +distress. Something terrible has happened to the child, you may rest +assured. As well as I could judge, a dragon, or some other cruel +monster, was carrying her away." + +"You kill me by saying so," cried Ceres, almost ready to faint. "Where +was the sound, and which way did it seem to go?" + +"It passed very swiftly along," said Hecate, "and, at the same time, +there was a heavy rumbling of wheels towards the eastward. I can tell +you nothing more, except that, in my honest opinion, you will never see +your daughter again. The best advice I can give you is, to take up your +abode in this cavern, where we will be the two most wretched women in +the world." + +"Not yet, dark Hecate," replied Ceres. "But do you first come with your +torch, and help me to seek for my lost child. And when there shall be no +more hope of finding her (if that black day is ordained to come), then, +if you will give me room to fling myself down, either on these withered +leaves or on the naked rock, I will show what it is to be miserable. +But, until I know that she has perished from the face of the earth, I +will not allow myself space even to grieve." + +The dismal Hecate did not much like the idea of going abroad into the +sunny world. But then she reflected that the sorrow of the disconsolate +Ceres would be like a gloomy twilight round about them both, let the +sun shine ever so brightly, and that therefore she might enjoy her bad +spirits quite as well as if she were to stay in the cave. So she finally +consented to go, and they set out together, both carrying torches, +although it was broad daylight and clear sunshine. The torchlight seemed +to make a gloom; so that the people whom they met, along the road, could +not very distinctly see their figures; and, indeed, if they once caught +a glimpse of Hecate, with the wreath of snakes round her forehead, they +generally thought it prudent to run away, without waiting for a second +glance. + +As the pair traveled along in this woe-begone manner, a thought struck +Ceres. + +"There is one person," she exclaimed, "who must have seen my poor child, +and can doubtless tell what has become of her. Why did not I think of +him before? It is Phoebus." + +"What," said Hecate, "the young man that always sits in the sunshine? O, +pray do not think of going near him. He is a gay, light, frivolous young +fellow, and will only smile in your face. And besides, there is such a +glare of the sun about him, that he will quite blind my poor eyes, which +I have almost wept away already." + +"You have promised to be my companion," answered Ceres. "Come, let us +make haste, or the sunshine will be gone, and Phoebus along with it." + +Accordingly, they went along in quest of Phoebus, both of them sighing +grievously, and Hecate, to say the truth, making a great deal worse +lamentation than Ceres; for all the pleasure she had, you know, lay in +being miserable, and therefore she made the most of it. By and by, after +a pretty long journey, they arrived at the sunniest spot in the whole +world. There they beheld a beautiful young man, with long, curling +ringlets, which seemed to be made of golden sunbeams; his garments +were like light summer clouds; and the expression of his face was so +exceedingly vivid, that Hecate held her hands before her eyes, muttering +that he ought to wear a black veil. Phoebus (for this was the very +person whom they were seeking) had a lyre in his hands, and was making +its chords tremble with sweet music; at the same time singing a most +exquisite song, which he had recently composed. For, beside a great many +other accomplishments, this young man was renowned for his admirable +poetry. + +As Ceres and her dismal companion approached him, Phoebus smiled on them +so cheerfully that Hecate's wreath of snakes gave a spiteful hiss, and +Hecate heartily wished herself back in her cave. But as for Ceres, she +was too earnest in her grief either to know or care whether Phoebus +smiled or frowned. + +"Phoebus!" exclaimed she, "I am in great trouble, and have come to +you for assistance. Can you tell me what has become of my dear child +Proserpina?" + +"Proserpina! Proserpina, did you call her name?" answered Phoebus, +endeavoring to recollect; for there was such a continual flow of +pleasant ideas in his mind, that he was apt to forget what had happened +no longer ago than yesterday. "Ah, yes, I remember her now. A very +lovely child, indeed. I am happy to tell you, my dear madam, that I +did see the little Proserpina not many days ago. You may make yourself +perfectly easy about her. She is safe, and in excellent hands." + +"O, where is my dear child?" cried Ceres, clasping her hands, and +flinging herself at his feet. + +"Why," said Phoebus--and as he spoke he kept touching his lyre so as to +make a thread of music run in and out among his words--"as the little +damsel was gathering flowers (and she has really a very exquisite taste +for flowers), she was suddenly snatched up by King Pluto, and carried +off to his dominions. I have never been in that part of the universe; +but the royal palace, I am told, is built in a very noble style of +architecture, and of the most splendid and costly materials. Gold, +diamonds, pearls, and all manner of precious stones will be your +daughter's ordinary playthings. I recommend to you, my dear lady, to +give yourself no uneasiness. Proserpina's sense of beauty will be duly +gratified, and even in spite of the lack of sunshine, she will lead a +very enviable life." + +"Hush! Say not such a word!" answered Ceres, indignantly. "What is there +to gratify her heart? What are all the splendors you speak of without +affection? I must have her back again. Will you go with me you go with +me, Phoebus, to demand my daughter of this wicked Pluto?" + +"Pray excuse me," replied Phoebus, with an elegant obeisance. "I +certainly wish you success, and regret that my own affairs are so +immediately pressing that I cannot have the pleasure of attending you. +Besides, I am not upon the best of terms with King Pluto. To tell you +the truth, his three-headed mastiff would never let me pass the gateway; +for I should be compelled to take a sheaf of sunbeams along with me, and +those, you know, are forbidden things in Pluto's kingdom." + +"Ah, Phoebus," said Ceres, with bitter meaning in her words, "you have a +harp instead of a heart. Farewell." + +"Will not you stay a moment," asked Phoebus, "and hear me turn the +pretty and touching story of Proserpina into extemporary verses?" + +But Ceres shook her head, and hastened away, along with Hecate. Phoebus +(who, as I have told you, was an exquisite poet) forthwith began to make +an ode about the poor mother's grief; and, if we were to judge of his +sensibility by this beautiful production, he must have been endowed with +a very tender heart. But when a poet gets into the habit of using his +heartstrings to make chords for his lyre, he may thrum upon them as +much as he will, without any great pain to himself. Accordingly, though +Phoebus sang a very sad song, he was as merry all the while as were the +sunbeams amid which he dwelt. + +Poor Mother Ceres had now found out what had become of her daughter, but +was not a whit happier than before. Her case, on the contrary, looked +more desperate than ever. As long as Proserpina was above ground, there +might have been hopes of regaining her. But now that the poor child was +shut up within the iron gates of the king of the mines, at the threshold +of which lay the three-headed Cerberus, there seemed no possibility of +her ever making her escape. The dismal Hecate, who loved to take the +darkest view of things, told Ceres that she had better come with her +to the cavern, and spend the rest of her life in being miserable. Ceres +answered, that Hecate was welcome to go back thither herself, but that, +for her part, she would wander about the earth in quest of the entrance +to King Pluto's dominions. And Hecate took her at her word, and hurried +back to her beloved cave, frightening a great many little children with +a glimpse of her dog's face as she went. + +Poor Mother Ceres! It is melancholy to think of her, pursuing her +toilsome way, all alone, and holding up that never-dying torch, the +flame of which seemed an emblem of the grief and hope that burned +together in her heart. + +So much did she suffer, that, though her aspect had been quite youthful +when her troubles began, she grew to look like an elderly person in a +very brief time. She cared not how she was dressed, nor had she ever +thought of flinging away the wreath of withered poppies, which she put +on the very morning of Proserpina's disappearance. She roamed about in +so wild a way, and with her hair so disheveled, that people took her for +some distracted creature, and never dreamed that this was Mother Ceres, +who had the oversight of every seed which the husbandman planted. +Nowadays, however, she gave herself no trouble about seed time nor +harvest, but left the farmers to take care of their own affairs, and the +crops to fade or flourish, as the case might be. There was nothing, now, +in which Ceres seemed to feel an interest, unless when she saw children +at play, or gathering flowers along the wayside. Then, indeed, she +would stand and gaze at them with tears in her eyes. The children, too, +appeared to have a sympathy with her grief, and would cluster themselves +in a little group about her knees, and look up wistfully in her face; +and Ceres, after giving them a kiss all round, would lead them to their +homes, and advise their mothers never to let them stray out of sight. + +"For if they do," said she, "it may happen to you, as it has to me, that +the iron-hearted King Pluto will take a liking to your darlings, and +snatch them up in his chariot, and carry them away." + +One day, during her pilgrimage in quest of the entrance to Pluto's +kingdom, she came to the palace of King Cereus, who reigned at Eleusis. +Ascending a lofty flight of steps, she entered the portal, and found the +royal household in very great alarm about the queen's baby. The infant, +it seems, was sickly (being troubled with its teeth, I suppose), +and would take no food, and was all the time moaning with pain. The +queen--her name was Metanira--was desirous of funding a nurse; and when +she beheld a woman of matronly aspect coming up the palace steps, she +thought, in her own mind, that here was the very person whom she needed. +So Queen Metanira ran to the door, with the poor wailing baby in her +arms, and besought Ceres to take charge of it, or, at least, to tell her +what would do it good. + +"Will you trust the child entirely to me?" asked Ceres. + +"Yes, and gladly, too," answered the queen, "if you will devote all your +time to him. For I can see that you have been a mother." + +"You are right," said Ceres. "I once had a child of my own. Well; I will +be the nurse of this poor, sickly boy. But beware, I warn you, that you +do not interfere with any kind of treatment which I may judge proper for +him. If you do so, the poor infant must suffer for his mother's folly." + +Then she kissed the child, and it seemed to do him good; for he smiled +and nestled closely into her bosom. + +So Mother Ceres set her torch in a corner (where it kept burning all the +while), and took up her abode in the palace of King Cereus, as nurse +to the little Prince Demophoon. She treated him as if he were her own +child, and allowed neither the king nor the queen to say whether he +should be bathed in warm or cold water, or what he should eat, or how +often he should take the air, or when he should be put to bed. You would +hardly believe me, if I were to tell how quickly the baby prince got rid +of his ailments, and grew fat, and rosy, and strong, and how he had two +rows of ivory teeth in less time than any other little fellow, before +or since. Instead of the palest, and wretchedest, and puniest imp in the +world (as his own mother confessed him to be, when Ceres first took him +in charge), he was now a strapping baby, crowing, laughing, kicking up +his heels, and rolling from one end of the room to the other. All the +good women of the neighborhood crowded to the palace, and held up their +hands, in unutterable amazement, at the beauty and wholesomeness of +this darling little prince. Their wonder was the greater, because he was +never seen to taste any food; not even so much as a cup of milk. + +"Pray, nurse," the queen kept saying, "how is it that you make the child +thrive so?" + +"I was a mother once," Ceres always replied; "and having nursed my own +child, I know what other children need." + +But Queen Metanira, as was very natural, had a great curiosity to know +precisely what the nurse did to her child. One night, therefore, she hid +herself in the chamber where Ceres and the little prince were accustomed +to sleep. There was a fire in the chimney, and it had now crumbled into +great coals and embers, which lay glowing on the hearth, with a blaze +flickering up now and then, and flinging a warm and ruddy light upon the +walls. Ceres sat before the hearth with the child in her lap, and +the firelight making her shadow dance upon the ceiling overhead. She +undressed the little prince, and bathed him all over with some fragrant +liquid out of a vase. The next thing she did was to rake back the red +embers, and make a hollow place among them, just where the backlog had +been. At last, while the baby was crowing, and clapping its fat little +hands, and laughing in the nurse's face (just as you may have seen your +little brother or sister do before going into its warm bath), Ceres +suddenly laid him, all naked as he was, in the hollow among the red-hot +embers. She then raked the ashes over him, and turned quietly away. + +You may imagine, if you can, how Queen Metanira shrieked, thinking +nothing less than that her dear child would be burned to a cinder. She +burst forth from her hiding-place, and running to the hearth, raked open +the fire, and snatched up poor little Prince Demophoon out of his bed +of live coals, one of which he was gripping in each of his fists. He +immediately set up a grievous cry, as babies are apt to do, when rudely +startled out of a sound sleep. To the queen's astonishment and joy, she +could perceive no token of the child's being injured by the hot fire +in which he had lain. She now turned to Mother Ceres, and asked her to +explain the mystery. + +"Foolish woman," answered Ceres, "did you not promise to intrust this +poor infant entirely to me? You little know the mischief you have done +him. Had you left him to my care, he would have grown up like a child of +celestial birth, endowed with superhuman strength and intelligence, and +would have lived forever. Do you imagine that earthly children are to +become immortal without being tempered to it in the fiercest heat of the +fire? But you have ruined your own son. For though he will be a strong +man and a hero in his day, yet, on account of your folly, he will grow +old, and finally die, like the sons of other women. The weak tenderness +of his mother has cost the poor boy an immortality. Farewell." + +Saying these words, she kissed the little Prince Demophoon, and sighed +to think what he had lost, and took her departure without heeding Queen +Metanira, who entreated her to remain, and cover up the child among the +hot embers as often as she pleased. Poor baby! He never slept so warmly +again. + +While she dwelt in the king's palace, Mother Ceres had been so +continually occupied with taking care of the young prince, that her +heart was a little lightened of its grief for Proserpina. But now, +having nothing else to busy herself about, she became just as wretched +as before. At length, in her despair, she came to the dreadful +resolution that not a stalk of grain, nor a blade of grass, not a +potato, nor a turnip, nor any other vegetable that was good for man +or beast to eat, should be suffered to grow until her daughter were +restored. She even forbade the flowers to bloom, lest somebody's heart +should be cheered by their beauty. + +Now, as not so much as a head of asparagus ever presumed to poke itself +out of the ground, without the especial permission of Ceres, you may +conceive what a terrible calamity had here fallen upon the earth. The +husbandmen plowed and planted as usual; but there lay the rich black +furrows, all as barren as a desert of sand. The pastures looked as brown +in the sweet month of June as ever they did in chill November. The rich +man's broad acres and the cottager's small garden patch were equally +blighted. Every little girl's flower bed showed nothing but dry stalks. +The old people shook their white heads, and said that the earth had +grown aged like themselves, and was no longer capable of wearing the +warm smile of summer on its face. It was really piteous to see the poor, +starving cattle and sheep, how they followed behind Ceres, lowing and +bleating, as if their instinct taught them to expect help from her; and +everybody that was acquainted with her power besought her to have mercy +on the human race, and, at all events, to let the grass grow. But +Mother Ceres, though naturally of an affectionate disposition, was now +inexorable. + +"Never," said she. "If the earth is ever again to see any verdure, it +must first grow along the path which my daughter will tread in coming +back to me." + +Finally, as there seemed to be no other remedy, our old friend +Quicksilver was sent post-haste to King Pluto, in hopes that he might be +persuaded to undo the mischief he had done, and to set everything right +again, by giving up Proserpina. Quicksilver accordingly made the best +of his way to the great gate, took a flying leap right over the +three-headed mastiff, and stood at the door of the palace in an +inconceivably short time. The servants knew him both by his face and +garb; for his short cloak, and his winged cap and shoes, and his snaky +staff had often been seen thereabouts in times gone by. He requested to +be shown immediately into the king's presence; and Pluto, who heard his +voice from the top of the stairs, and who loved to recreate himself with +Quicksilver's merry talk, called out to him to come up. And while they +settle their business together, we must inquire what Proserpina had been +doing ever since we saw her last. + +The child had declared, as you may remember, that she would not taste +a mouthful of food as long as she should be compelled to remain in King +Pluto's palace. How she contrived to maintain her resolution, and at the +same time to keep herself tolerably plump and rosy, is more than I can +explain; but some young ladies, I am given to understand, possess the +faculty of living on air, and Proserpina seems to have possessed it too. +At any rate, it was now six months since she left the outside of the +earth; and not a morsel, so far as the attendants were able to testify, +had yet passed between her teeth. This was the more creditable to +Proserpina, inasmuch as King Pluto had caused her to be tempted day by +day, with all manner of sweetmeats, and richly-preserved fruits, and +delicacies of every sort, such as young people are generally most fond +of. But her good mother had often told her of the hurtfulness of these +things; and for that reason alone, if there had been no other, she would +have resolutely refused to taste them. + +All this time, being of a cheerful and active disposition, the little +damsel was not quite so unhappy as you may have supposed. The immense +palace had a thousand rooms, and was full of beautiful and wonderful +objects. There was a never-ceasing gloom, it is true, which half hid +itself among the innumerable pillars, gliding before the child as she +wandered among them, and treading stealthily behind her in the echo of +her footsteps. Neither was all the dazzle of the precious stones, which +flamed with their own light, worth one gleam of natural sunshine; nor +could the most brilliant of the many-colored gems, which Proserpina had +for playthings, vie with the simple beauty of the flowers she used to +gather. But still, whenever the girl went among those gilded halls and +chambers, it seemed as if she carried nature and sunshine along with +her, and as if she scattered dewy blossoms on her right hand and on her +left. After Proserpina came, the palace was no longer the same abode of +stately artifice and dismal magnificence that it had before been. The +inhabitants all felt this, and King Pluto more than any of them. + +"My own little Proserpina," he used to say. "I wish you could like me a +little better. We gloomy and cloudy-natured persons have often as warm +hearts, at bottom, as those of a more cheerful character. If you would +only stay with me of your own accord, it would make me happier than the +possession of a hundred such palaces as this." + +"Ah," said Proserpina, "you should have tried to make me like you before +carrying me off. And the best thing you can now do is, to let me go +again. Then I might remember you sometimes, and think that you were as +kind as you knew how to be. Perhaps, too, one day or other, I might come +back, and pay you a visit." + +"No, no," answered Pluto, with his gloomy smile, "I will not trust +you for that. You are too fond of living in the broad daylight, and +gathering flowers. What an idle and childish taste that is! Are not +these gems, which I have ordered to be dug for you, and which are richer +than any in my crown--are they not prettier than a violet?" + +"Not half so pretty," said Proserpina, snatching the gems from Pluto's +hand, and flinging them to the other end of the hall. "O my sweet +violets, shall I never see you again?" + +And then she burst into tears. But young people's tears have very little +saltness or acidity in them, and do not inflame the eyes so much as +those of grown persons; so that it is not to be wondered at, if, a few +moments afterwards, Proserpina was sporting through the hall almost as +merrily as she and the four sea nymphs had sported along the edge of the +surf wave. King Pluto gazed after her, and wished that he, too, was a +child. And little Proserpina, when she turned about, and beheld this +great king standing in his splendid hall, and looking so grand, and so +melancholy, and so lonesome, was smitten with a kind of pity. She ran +back to him, and, for the first time in all her life, put her small, +soft hand in his. + +"I love you a little," whispered she, looking up in his face. + +"Do you, indeed, my dear child?" cried Pluto, bending his dark face down +to kiss her; but Proserpina shrank away from the kiss, for, though his +features were noble, they were very dusky and grim. "Well, I have not +deserved it of you, after keeping you a prisoner for so many months, +and starving you besides. Are you not terribly hungry? Is there nothing +which I can get you to eat?" + +In asking this question, the king of the mines had a very cunning +purpose; for, you will recollect, if Proserpina tasted a morsel of food +in his dominions, she would never afterwards be at liberty to quit them. + +"No indeed," said Proserpina. "Your head cook is always baking, and +stewing, and roasting, and rolling out paste, and contriving one dish +or another, which he imagines may be to my liking. But he might just as +well save himself the trouble, poor, fat little man that he is. I have +no appetite for anything in the world, unless it were a slice of bread, +of my mother's own baking, or a little fruit out of her garden." + +When Pluto heard this, he began to see that he had mistaken the best +method of tempting Proserpina to eat. The cook's made dishes and +artificial dainties were not half so delicious, in the good child's +opinion, as the simple fare to which Mother Ceres had accustomed her. +Wondering that he had never thought of it before, the king now sent one +of his trusty attendants with a large basket, to get some of the finest +and juiciest pears, peaches, and plums which could anywhere be found in +the upper world. Unfortunately, however, this was during the time when +Ceres had forbidden any fruits or vegetables to grow; and, after +seeking all over the earth, King Pluto's servant found only a +single pomegranate, and that so dried up as not to be worth eating. +Nevertheless, since there was no better to be had, he brought this dry, +old withered pomegranate home to the palace, put it on a magnificent +golden salver, and carried it up to Proserpina. Now, it happened, +curiously enough, that, just as the servant was bringing the pomegranate +into the back door of the palace, our friend Quicksilver had gone up the +front steps, on his errand to get Proserpina away from King Pluto. + +As soon as Proserpina saw the pomegranate on the golden salver, she told +the servant he had better take it away again. + +"I shall not touch it, I assure you," said she. "If I were ever so +hungry, I should never think of eating such a miserable, dry pomegranate +as that." + +"It is the only one in the world," said the servant. + +He set down the golden salver, with the wizened pomegranate upon it, and +left the room. When he was gone, Proserpina could not help coming close +to the table, and looking at this poor specimen of dried fruit with a +great deal of eagerness; for, to say the truth, on seeing something +that suited her taste, she felt all the six months' appetite taking +possession of her at once. To be sure, it was a very wretched-looking +pomegranate, and seemed to have no more juice in it than an oyster +shell. But there was no choice of such things in King Pluto's palace. +This was the first fruit she had seen there, and the last she was ever +likely to see; and unless she ate it up immediately, it would grow drier +than it already was, and be wholly unfit to eat. + +"At least, I may smell it," thought Proserpina. + +So she took up the pomegranate, and applied it to her nose; and, somehow +or other, being in such close neighborhood to her mouth, the fruit found +its way into that little red cave. Dear me! what an everlasting pity! +Before Proserpina knew what she was about, her teeth had actually bitten +it, of their own accord. Just as this fatal deed was done, the door of +the apartment opened, and in came King Pluto, followed by Quicksilver, +who had been urging him to let his little prisoner go. At the first +noise of their entrance, Proserpina withdrew the pomegranate from her +mouth. But Quicksilver (whose eyes were very keen, and his wits the +sharpest that ever anybody had) perceived that the child was a little +confused; and seeing the empty salver, he suspected that she had been +taking a sly nibble of something or other. As for honest Pluto, he never +guessed at the secret. + +"My little Proserpina," said the king, sitting down, and affectionately +drawing her between his knees, "here is Quicksilver, who tells me that +a great many misfortunes have befallen innocent people on account of +my detaining you in my dominions. To confess the truth, I myself had +already reflected that it was an unjustifiable act to take you away from +your good mother. But, then, you must consider, my dear child, that this +vast palace is apt to be gloomy (although the precious stones certainly +shine very bright), and that I am not of the most cheerful disposition, +and that therefore it was a natural thing enough to seek for the society +of some merrier creature than myself. I hoped you would take my crown +for a plaything, and me--ah, you laugh, naughty Proserpina--me, grim as +I am, for a playmate. It was a silly expectation." + +"Not so extremely silly," whispered Proserpina. "You have really amused +me very much, sometimes." + +"Thank you," said King Pluto, rather dryly. "But I can see plainly +enough, that you think my palace a dusky prison, and me the iron-hearted +keeper of it. And an iron heart I should surely have, if I could detain +you here any longer, my poor child, when it is now six months since you +tasted food. I give you your liberty. Go with Quicksilver. Hasten home +to your dear mother." + +Now, although you may not have supposed it, Proserpina found it +impossible to take leave of poor King Pluto without some regrets, and a +good deal of compunction for not telling him about the pomegranate. She +even shed a tear or two, thinking how lonely and cheerless the great +palace would seem to him, with all its ugly glare of artificial light, +after she herself--his one little ray of natural sunshine, whom he had +stolen, to be sure, but only because he valued her so much--after she +should have departed. I know not how many kind things she might have +said to the disconsolate king of the mines, had not Quicksilver hurried +her way. + +"Come along quickly," whispered he in her ear, "or his majesty may +change his royal mind. And take care, above all things, that you say +nothing of what was brought you on the golden salver." + +In a very short time, they had passed the great gateway (leaving +the three-headed Cerberus, barking, and yelping, and growling, with +threefold din, behind them), and emerged upon the surface of the earth. +It was delightful to behold, as Proserpina hastened along, how the path +grew verdant behind and on either side of her. Wherever she set her +blessed foot, there was at once a dewy flower. The violets gushed up +along the wayside. The grass and the grain began to sprout with tenfold +vigor and luxuriance, to make up for the dreary months that had been +wasted in barrenness. The starved cattle immediately set to work +grazing, after their long fast, and ate enormously, all day, and got up +at midnight to eat more. + +But I can assure you it was a busy time of year with the farmers, when +they found the summer coming upon them with such a rush. Nor must I +forget to say, that all the birds in the whole world hopped about upon +the newly-blossoming trees, and sang together, in a prodigious ecstasy +of joy. + +Mother Ceres had returned to her deserted home, and was sitting +disconsolately on the doorstep, with her torch burning in her hand. She +had been idly watching the flame for some moments past, when, all at +once, it flickered and went out. + +"What does this mean?" thought she. "It was an enchanted torch, and +should have kept burning till my child came back." + +Lifting her eyes, she was surprised to see a sudden verdure flashing +over the brown and barren fields, exactly as you may have observed a +golden hue gleaming far and wide across the landscape, from the just +risen sun. + +"Does the earth disobey me?" exclaimed Mother Ceres, indignantly. +"Does it presume to be green, when I have bidden it be barren, until my +daughter shall be restored to my arms?" + +"Then open your arms, dear mother," cried a well-known voice, "and take +your little daughter into them." + +And Proserpina came running, and flung herself upon her mother's bosom. +Their mutual transport is not to be described. The grief of their +separation had caused both of them to shed a great many tears; and now +they shed a great many more, because their joy could not so well express +itself in any other way. + +When their hearts had grown a little more quiet, Mother Ceres looked +anxiously at Proserpina. + +"My child," said she, "did you taste any food while you were in King +Pluto's palace?" + +"Dearest mother," exclaimed Proserpina, "I will tell you the whole +truth. Until this very morning, not a morsel of food had passed my lips. +But to-day, they brought me a pomegranate (a very dry one it was, and +all shriveled up, till there was little left of it but seeds and skin), +and having seen no fruit for so long a time, and being faint with +hunger, I was tempted just to bite it. The instant I tasted it, King +Pluto and Quicksilver came into the room. I had not swallowed a morsel; +but--dear mother, I hope it was no harm--but six of the pomegranate +seeds, I am afraid, remained in my mouth." + +"Ah, unfortunate child, and miserable me!" exclaimed Ceres. "For each +of those six pomegranate seeds you must spend one month of every year in +King Pluto's palace. You are but half restored to your mother. Only six +months with me, and six with that good-for-nothing King of Darkness!" + +"Do not speak so harshly of poor King Pluto," said Prosperina, kissing +her mother. "He has some very good qualities; and I really think I can +bear to spend six months in his palace, if he will only let me spend +the other six with you. He certainly did very wrong to carry me off; but +then, as he says, it was but a dismal sort of life for him, to live in +that great gloomy place, all alone; and it has made a wonderful change +in his spirits to have a little girl to run up stairs and down. There +is some comfort in making him so happy; and so, upon the whole, dearest +mother, let us be thankful that he is not to keep me the whole year +round." + + + + +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 afterwards 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 Jason, 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 among 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 foaming 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 a 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 +towards the sea-shore; 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 towards 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 down 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 amongst 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 distraction 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 sceptre." + +"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 amongst 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 afterwards, 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 figure-head 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 +figure-heads, 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 figure-head 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 would +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 figure-head 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 Jason, was going in quest of the Fleece of Gold, and that 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 farther 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 afterwards +upheld 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 conjurors, of whom there +were several in the crew, and who could foretell what would happen +to-morrow 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 look-out 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 +figure-head. + +"O, 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 figure-head 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, amidst 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 formidable, so far aloft in the air. +Each of these monsters was able to carry on a whole war by himself, +for with one arm he could fling immense stones, and wield a club with +another, and a sword with a third, while the 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 sea-shore, 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 in 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 nine and forty +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 nine and forty 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 Aetes, 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 Aetes. "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 +sceptre, 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 Aetes, 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 Aetes, 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 +nine and forty 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 Aetes 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 complaisantly as he could, "make yourself comfortable for +to-day, and to-morrow 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 farthest 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 farthest 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 to 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 farther. +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 farther, 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 gripe like that of an iron vice, 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 gripe 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." + +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 farther 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 of 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 how 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 a while, 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 farther towards 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 to-morrow +you can inform King Aetes 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 Aetes. 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 have 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 nine and forty comrades." + +King Aetes 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 the 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, at 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 Aetes, 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 to-morrow'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 towards 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 stomachs 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 farther and farther 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 farther 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 farther, and then stopped to gaze. O, 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 towards 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 make 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 nine and forty 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! + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tanglewood Tales, by Nathaniel Hawthorne + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TANGLEWOOD TALES *** + +***** This file should be named 976.txt or 976.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/7/976/ + +Produced by Dianne Bean + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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