Tanglewood Tales ................................................................................................................................................1

Nathaniel Hawthorne...............................................................................................................................1

THE WAYSIDE. INTRODUCTORY. ....................................................................................................1

THE MINOTAUR...................................................................................................................................4

THE PYGMIES.....................................................................................................................................18

THE DRAGON'S TEETH. ....................................................................................................................27

CIRCE'S PALACE................................................................................................................................42

THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS...........................................................................................................56

THE GOLDEN FLEECE. ......................................................................................................................71

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

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 insecteaten 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,

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

"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

"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

"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 southeastern 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 storyteller 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 "WonderBook." 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 halfnaked boughs; even as I have sometimes thought of

training a vine, with its broad leafiness, and purple fruitage, over the wormeaten posts and rafters of the

rustic summer house. I was not insensible to the advantages of his proposal, and gladly assured him of my

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

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 wideopen 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 reassume 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 recreate 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 itand that the inner life of the legends cannot be come at save by making them

Eustace informed me that he had told his stories to the children in various situationsin 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

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 pantaloonsall 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

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 bc 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

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 revisit 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.

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 mossgrown 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

"Well, but, dear mother," asked the boy, "why cannot I go to this famous city of Athens, and tell King

"That may happen by and by," said Aethra. "Be patient, and we shall see. You are not yet big and strong

"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

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

"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

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 rosychecked and curlyheaded 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

"Mother, I do believe it has started!" cried he, after one of his attempts. "The earth around it is certainly a

"No, no, child!" his mother hastily answered. "It is not possible you can have moved it, such a boy as you still

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

It was not more than a year afterwards when they were again sitting on the mosscovered stone. Aethra had

once more told him the oftrepeated 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

"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."

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

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

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 roughlymade chest or coffer, of which the upper mass had served as the

"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."

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

"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;

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

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

Thus, by the time he reached his journey's end, Theseus had done many valiant feats with his father's

goldenhilled 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

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 badhearted 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

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.

"Aha!" cried the old king, on hearing this. "Why, he must be a very wicked young fellow indeed! Pray, what

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

So, when the king asked what he should do with Theseus, this naughty woman had an answer ready at her

"Leave that to me, please your majesty," she replied. "Only admit this evilminded 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

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

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

whitebearded 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

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.

"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 dofor 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

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

"Drink!" said he, in the stern tone with which he was wont to condemn a criminal to be beheaded. "You have

Theseus held out his hand to take the wine. But, before he touched it, King Aegeus trembled again. His eyes

had fallen on the goldhilled sword that hung at the young man's side. He drew back the goblet.

"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

"My son! my son!" cried King Aegeus, flinging away the fatal goblet, and tottering down from the throne to

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

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

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

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 goldhilted sword), and,

"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

"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

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 manbrute.

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

"O my dear son," cried King Aegeus, "why should you expose yourself to this horrible fate? You are a royal

"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

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

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

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 northwest, and drove them along as merrily over the whitecapped 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 faroff clouds. That

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.

"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

"What is this wonder?" Theseus asked of the master of the vessel, who was now at leisure to answer him.

"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 twentyfour hours, as Talus does, without ever sitting down to rest? He is a puzzler, take him how you

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 seabeaten 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 buttend

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

And when the ringing voice ceased, there was just such a reverberation as you may have heard within a great

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!"

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 neverceasing 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

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,

"Young man," asked he, with his stern voice, "are you not appalled at the certainty of being devoured by this

"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 shine eyes inward on shine 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

"Aha! do you think me so?" cried the king, laughing in his cruel way. "Tomorrow, at breakfast time, you

shall have an opportunity of judging which is the greater monster, the Minotaur or the king! Take them away,

Near the king's throne (though I had no time to tell you so before) stood his daughter Ariadne. She was a

beautiful and tenderhearted maiden, and looked at these poor doomed captives with very different feelings

from those of the ironbreasted 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

"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 maiden s 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

"Yes," answered Theseus. "With so little time to live, I do not choose to waste any of it in sleep."

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

"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

"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

"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 goldhilled 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

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 tenderhearted 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

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 halfshaped 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

Ah! the bullheaded 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 fellowcreatures, and separated from all good companionship, as this poor

Was Theseus afraid? By no means, my dear auditors. What! a hero like Theseus afraid, Not had the Minotaur

had twenty bullheads 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

"Ah, wretch of a human being! I'll stick my horns through you, and toss you fifty feet high, and eat you up

"Come on, then, and try it!" was all that Theseus deigned to reply; for he was far too magnanimous to assault

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

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.

"Then," said Ariadne, "we must quickly summon thy friends, and get them and thyself on board the vessel

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

"Dear maiden," said he, "thou wilt surely go with us. Thou art too gentle and sweet a child for such an

ironhearted 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 lowminded 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

"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 maidenlike, 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

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 neverceasing

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

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

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

A great while ago, when the world was full of wonders, there lived an earthborn Giant, named Antaeus, and

a million or more of curious little earthborn 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

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 hideandseek in its thumb and fingers. You

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 farsighted 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

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

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 illnatured 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

agoing 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 affairswhich, after all, is about

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 whitebearded 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 merryhearted, and sweettempered old Giant that ever washed his face

His little friends, like all other small people, had a great opinion of their own importance, and used to assume

"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 shortlegged 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

"Ho! ho! ho!" quoth the Giant, shaking his mountainous sides. "What a funny thing it is to be little! If I were

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

squirrelback, or rabbitback, or redbook, 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

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 milelong 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, a nd brilliant illuminations, and shows of waxwork, with

In the abovedescribed 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

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

One day the mighty Antaeus was lolling at full length among his little friends. His pinetree 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,

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 pinetree walking stick in your hand. Here

"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

By this time, the whole nation of the Pygmies had seen the new wonder, and a million of them set up a shout

"Get up, Antaeus! Bestir yourself, you lazy old Giant! Here comes another Giant, as strong as you are, to

"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

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

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.

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 wondersmitten 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

"Who are you, I say?" roared Antaeus again. "What's your name? Why do you come hither? Speak, you

"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

"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

"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."

Then the Giant, grinning with rage, strode towerlike 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 manmountain, 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 ali 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.

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

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

"Step forward," cried he. "Since I've broken your pine tree, we'll try which is the better man at a wrestling

"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

On came Antaeus, hopping and capering with the scorching heat of his rage, and getting new vigor wherewith

But Hercules, you must understand, was wiser than this numskull of a Giant, and had thought of a way to

fight himhuge, earthborn monster that he wasand 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

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 earthborn 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

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

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 twentyseven 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

"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, fellowcountrymen, to

consider in what aspect we shall stand before the world, and what will be the verdict of impartial history,

"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 hideandseek 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 friendthis brave and faithful allythis virtuous Giantthis blameless and excellent

Antaeusdead! Dead! Silent! Powerless! A mere mountain of clay! Forgive my tears! Nay, I behold your

"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

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

"It only remains for us, then, to decide whether we shall carry on the war in our national capacityone

united people against a common enemyor 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 scabbardnever, never, never, even if the crimson hand that slew the great Antaeus shall lay

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 selfdevotion unquestionably deserved; and the shouts and clapping

of hands would have been greatly prolonged, had they not been rendered quite inaudible by a deep

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

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

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

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

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

"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

"Upon my word," cried he, "I thought I had seen wonders before todayhydras with nine heads, stags with

golden horns, sixlegged men, threeheaded 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?"

Hercules was touched with the little man's dauntless courage, and could not help acknowledging such a

"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. Goodbye. 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

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.

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,

And whence could this bull have com ? 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

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

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

breaththe breath of cattle, you know, is always sweetit 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

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.

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

"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

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; andsociable

creature that he washe 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, "Goodbye," playfully pretending that she was now bound on a

distant journey, and might not see her brothers again for nobody could tell how long.

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

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 whitecapped billows that seemed to boil up out of the sea's depths around him.

Nothing more was ever seen of the white bullnothing 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,

"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

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

"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:

"Never!" sobbed Queen Telephassa; and the three brothers and Thasus answered, "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 crownand 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

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 travelstained, 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

"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 snowwhite bull with a little princess on his back! Ho! ho! I ask your pardon, good folks; but

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,

"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

"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 homelike 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 snowwhite 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

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

"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,

"Not I, for one," said Telephassa; although the poor queen, firmly as she spoke, was so travelworn 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,

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

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

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 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 passerby 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 truehearted three ever dreamed of giving

One morning, however, poor Thasus found that he had sprained his ankle, and could not possibly go a step

"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. Forand it is the first time I have

owned it to myselfI 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, truehearted, and

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 hoofmark of

the snowwhite 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 truehearted 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 snowwhite 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

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

"Have you seen a little girlno, no, I mean a young maiden of full growthpassing by this way, mounted

"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 sadlooking 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

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

"A good long rest!" she repeated, looking Cadmus tenderly in the face. "A good long rest, thou dearest one!"

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

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

"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,

"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

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

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

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

When Cadmus had thrust a passage through the tangled boughs, and made his way into the bower, he did not

at first discern the halfhidden 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

"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

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

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.

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

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

"Have you seen a beautiful maiden, dressed like a king's daughter, and mounted on a snowwhite bull, that

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

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

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 milkpail, 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

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.

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

"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

"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

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

While they were talking of these schemes, and beguiling the tediousness of the way with laying out the plan

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.

It was a fertile and lovely plain, with great trees flinging their sunspeckled 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

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

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

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

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

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

"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 deeprooted 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 o� 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

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

The sun was shining slantwise over the field, and showed all the moist, dark soil just like any other

newlyplanted 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 earshattering 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 fiercelooking 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

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

"Cadmus," said the voice again, "bid those five warriors sheathe their swords. They will help you to build the

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.

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

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

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

earthborn creatures, with the dragon's fierceness in them, and knew better how to use their strength and

"Come!" said he. "You are sturdy fellows. Make yourselves useful! Quarry some stones with those great

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 twoedged 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

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,

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 soldierlike 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 longlost 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 palacefor the tears

that he had shed, on parting with Phoenix, and Cilix, and Thasusfor the heartbreakings that had made the

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

"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

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 rubadub 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 Cwhich 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.

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

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 tempestbeaten

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 oneeyed 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

weatherworn 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

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 threeheaded 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 snowwhite marble, and rising in the midst of a grove of lofty trees. The thick

branches of these trees stretched across the front of the edifice, and more than half concealed it, although,

from the portion which he saw, Ulysses judged it to be spacious and exceedingly beautiful, and probably the

residence of some great nobleman or prince. A blue smoke went curling up from the chimney, and was

almost the pleasantest part of the spectacle to Ulysses. For, from the abundance of this smoke, it was

reasonable to conclude that there was a good fire in the kitchen, and that, at dinnertime, a plentiful banquet

would be served up to the inhabitants of the palace, and to whatever guests might happen to drop in.

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

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

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

"Peep!" said the bird, "peep, peep, peweep!" And nothing else would it say, but only, "Peep, peep,

peweep!" 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

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

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

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

"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

"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 today."

"But," continued the wise Ulysses, "you must remember, my good friends, our misadventure in the cavern of

oneeyed 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

As nobody objected to this scheme, Ulysses proceeded to count the whole band, and found that there were

fortysix men, including himself. He then numbered off twentytwo 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 twentytwo 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 twentytwo 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 twentytwo 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 halfstarved 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 crownlike tuft upon its head, whose behavior had so much surprised Ulysses. It

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 Eurylochusfor 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?"

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

"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

The words were hardly out of his mouth, before the purple bird flew away, crying, "Peep, peep, peweep,"

"That bird," remarked Eurylochus, "knows more than we do about what awaits us at the palace."

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 sweetsmelling 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

" 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

"Make haste!" cried his fellows: "we'll find the wine cask itself at the palace, and that will be better than a

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 maneating Laestrygons,

or in the windy palace of King Aeolus, which stands on a brazenwalled 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 oneeyed 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 wellbred 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

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

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

"Too sweet, indeed," answered Eurylochus, shaking his head. "Yet it was not so sweet as the song of the

Sirens, those birdlike damsels who wanted to tempt us on the rocks, so that our vessel might be wrecked,

"But just listen to the pleasant voices of those maidens, and that buzz of the loom, as the shuttle passes to and

fro," said another comrade. "What a domestic, household, homelike sound it is! Ah, before that weary siege

of Troy, I used to hear the buzzing loom and the women's voices under my own roof. Shall I never hear them

again? nor taste those nice little savory dishes which my dearest wife knew how to serve up?"

"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

weatherbeaten 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 seagreen hair, and that the closefitting 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

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 longrobed 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

"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

So the voyagers examined the web of cloth which the beautiful woman had been weaving in her loom; and, to

their vast astonishment, they saw their own figures perfectly represented in different colored threads. It was a

lifelike picture of their recent adventures, showing them in the cave of Polyphemus, and how they had put

out his one great moony eye; while in another part of the tapestry they were untying the leathern bags, puffed

out with contrary winds; and farther on, they beheld themselves scampering away from the gigantic king of

the 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,

"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

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 seagreen 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,

"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

"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

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

But the beautiful woman now clapped her hands; and immediately there entered a train of two and twenty

serving man, 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 them selves, 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

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,

"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

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

"And I have not room for another morsel," said his next neighbor, heaving a sigh. "What a pity! My appetite

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 fatwitted

as the voyagers had made themselves, they began to suspect that they had fallen into the power of an

"Wretches," cried she, "you have abused a lady's hospitality; and in this princely saloon your behavior has

been suited to a hogpen. You are already swine in everything but the human form, which you disgrace, and

which I myself should be ashamed to keep a moment longer, were you to share it with me. But it will require

only the slightest exercise of magic to make the exterior conform to the hoggish disposition. Assume your

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!

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

earpiercing 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

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

"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

"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

"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

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, peweep!" and using all the art it could to

"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

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

"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

"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 gaudyfeathered 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

"And my poor companions," said Ulysses. "Have they undergone a similar change, through the arts of this

"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."

"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

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 snowwhite 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

"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

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,

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

On entering the hall, Ulysses saw the magic fountain in the center of it. The upgushing 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

And the nymph with the seagreen 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 dewdrops 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

"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

She pointed to the web of beautifullywoven 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 nw 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

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 snowwhite 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

"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

But Ulysses, while the butler was gone for the wine, held the snowwhite flower to his nose.

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

King Ulysses took the goblet with his right hand, while with his left he held the snowwhite flower to his

nostrils, and drew in so long a breath that his lungs were quite filled with its pure and simple fragrance. Then,

"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 fellowswine 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

But, such was the virtue of the snowwhite flower, instead of wallowing down from his throne in swinish

shape, or taking any other brutal form, Ulysses looked even more manly and kinglike than before. He gave

the magic goblet a toss, and sent it clashing over the marble floor to the farthest end of the saloon. Then,

drawing his sword, he seized the enchantress by her beautiful ringlets, and made a gesture as if he meant to

"Wicked Circe," cried he, in a terrible voice, "this sword shall put an end to thy enchant meets. Thou shalt

die, vile wretch, and do no more mischief in the world, by tempting human beings into the vices which make

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

The four nymphs, meanwhile, were making a most piteous ado; and especially the ocean nymph, with the

seagreen 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

"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

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

"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 twentytwo comrades of Ulysses,

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 newlyrestored

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

To say the truth, there was a suspicious kind of a grunt in their voices, and, for a long time afterwards, they

"It must depend on your own future behavior," added Ulysses, "whether you do not find your way back to the

At this moment, the note of a bird sounded from the branch of a neighboring tree.

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

"peweep," 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,

As for the lions, tigers, and wolves (though Circe would have restored them to their former shapes at his

slightest word), Ulysses thought it advisable that they should remain as they now were, and thus give warning

of their cruel dispositions, instead of going about under the guise of men, and pretending to human

sympathies, while their hearts had the blood thirstiness of wild beasts. So he let them howl as much as they

liked, but never troubled his head about them. And, when everything was settled according to his pleasure, he

sent to summon the remainder of his comrades, whom he had left at the seashore. These being arrived, with

the prudent Eurylochus at their head, they all made themselves comfortable in Circe's enchanted palace, until

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,

"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 grownup 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 seagreen

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

"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 today is a little too dry for our comfort. But we will pop up our

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 beforeviolets so large and fragrantroses with so rich and delicate a

blushsuch superb hyacinths and such aromatic pinksand 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

"The darlings!" cried Proserpina; and then she thought to herself, "I was looking at that spot only a moment

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

"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 deeprooted 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 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

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 goodnatured, 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

"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

"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

"I don't care for golden palaces and thrones," sobbed Proserpina. "Oh, my mother, my mother! Carry me back

"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

"Never!" answered Proserpina, looking as miserable as she could. "I shall never smile again till you set me

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 grainand 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 illlooking 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

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,

uglylooking 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 threeheaded 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 threeheaded Cerberus was fawning so

lovingly on King Pluto, there was the dragon tail wagging against its will, and looking as cross and

"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

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

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 muddylooking 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

"This is the River Lethe," observed King Pluto. "Is it not a very pleasant stream?"

"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

"We shall see," said King Pluto. "You do not know what fine times we will have in my palace. Here we are

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 hundredfold 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

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

"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

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 highlyseasoned meat, or spiced

sweet cakesthings which Proserpina's mother had never given her, and the smell of which quite took away

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

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

seashore, she hastened thither as fast as she could, and there beheld the wet faces of the poor sea nymphs

peeping over a wave. All this while, the good creatures had been waiting on the bank of sponge, and once,

every half minute or so, had popped up their four heads above water, to see if their playmate were yet coming

back. When they saw Mother Ceres, they sat down on the crest of the surf wave, and let it toss them ashore at

"Where is Proserpina?" cried Ceres. "Where is my child? Tell me, you naughty sea nymphs, have you enticed

"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

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

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

"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

But she put the poisonous flower in her bosom, not knowing whether she might ever find any other memorial

All night long, at the door of every cottage and farmhouse, Ceres knocked, and called up the weary laborers

to inquire if they had seen her child; and they stood, gaping and half asleep, at the threshold, and answered

her pityingly, and besought her to come in and rest. At the portal of every palace, too, she made so loud a

summons that the menials hurried to throw open the gate, thinking that it must be some great king or queen,

who would demand a banquet for supper and a stately chamber to repose in. And when they saw only a sad

and anxious woman, with a torch in her hand and a wreath of withered poppies on her head, they spoke

rudely, and sometimes threatened to set the dogs upon her. But nobody had seen Proserpina, nor could give

Mother Ceres the least hint which way to seek her. Thus passed the night; and still she continued her search

without sitting down to rest, or stopping to take food, or even remembering to put 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

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 waternymphs had

tears to spare for everybody's grief, would answer "No!" in a murmuring voice, which was just like the

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

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

dogheaded 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,

"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

"You kill me by saying so," cried Ceres, almost ready to faint. "Where was the sound, and which way did it

"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

"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

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

"There is one person," she exclaimed, "who must have seen my poor child, and can doubtless tell what has

"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

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

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

"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

"O, where is my dear child?" cried Ceres, clasping her hands, and flinging herself at his feet.

"Why," said Phoebusand 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

"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

"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 threeheaded 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,

"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, " nd hear me turn the pretty and touching story of Proserpina

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

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 threeheaded 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

neverdying torch, the flame of which seemed an emblem of the grief and hope that burned together in her

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 ironhearted 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 queenher name

was Metanirawas 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,

"Yes, and gladly, too," answered the queen, "if you will devote all your time to him. For I can see that you

"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

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

"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

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 redhot embers. She then

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 hidingplace, 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

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

"Never," said she. "If the earth is ever again to see any verdure, it must first grow along the path which my

Finally, as there seemed to be no other remedy, our old friend Quicksilver was sent posthaste 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 threeheaded 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

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

richlypreserved 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

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 neverceasing 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 manycolored 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

"My own little Proserpina," he used to say. "I wish you could like me a little better. We gloomy and

cloudynatured 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

"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 crownare they not prettier than a

"Not half so pretty," said Proserpina, snatching the gems from Pluto's hand, and flinging them to the other

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

"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

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

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

"I shall not touch it, I assure you," said she. "If I were ever so hungry, I should never think of eating such a

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 wretchedlooking 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.

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

"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 meah, you

laugh, naughty Proserpiname, 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 ironhearted 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

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 herselfhis one little ray of natural sunshine, whom he had stolen, to be

sure, but only because he valued her so muchafter 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 threeheaded 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

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

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

"What does this mean?" thought she. "It was an enchanted torch, and should have kept burning till my child

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?" xclaimed Mother Ceres, indignantly. "Does it presume to be green, when I

"Then open your arms, dear mother," cried a wellknown 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 today, 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; butdear mother, I hope it was no harmbut six of the

"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

"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."

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 kindhearted 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

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 fourfooted 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

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 goldentied 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

"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 goldenstringed

sandals? It is a pity his fourfooted 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

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

"I am going to Iolchos," answered the young man, "to bid the wicked King Pelias come down from my

"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

"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

"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

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

"The passage seems to me not very safe," he remarked. "But as your business is so urgent, I will try to carry

"That, no doubt, will be a great comfort to both of us," quoth the old woman. "But never fear. We shall get

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

"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 goldenstringed 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

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

seashore; and in that direction, over the people's heads, Jason saw a wreath of smoke curling upward to the

blue sky. He inquired of one of the multitude what town it was near by, and why so many persons were here

"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

"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

Poor Jason was greatly abashed, and made up his mind that the people of Iolchos were exceedingly illbred,

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

"Who are you?" cried the king, with a terrible frown. "And how dare you make this disturbance, while I am

"It is no fault of mine," answered Jason. "Your majesty must blame the rudeness of your subjects, who have

"Ha!" muttered he, "here is the onesandaled 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

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 hardhearted man, he soon took courage, and began to

consider in what way he might rid himself of this terrible onesandaled 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

"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

"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

"I do not pretend to be very wise," said Jason. "But ask me what you please, and I will answer to the best of

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

"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 slainwhat would you do, I say, if that man stood before you,

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

Therefore, after a moment's consideration, he spoke up, with a firm and manly voice.

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

"Well said, wise man with the one sandal!" cried he. "Go, then, and at the peril of your life, bring me back the

"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

"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

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

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

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,

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

Accordingly, Jason took the branch at its word, and lopped it off the tree. A carver in the neighborhood

engaged to make the figurehead. He was a tolerably good workman, and had already carved several

figureheads, in what he intended for feminine shapes, and looking pretty much like those which we see

nowadays stuck up under a vessel's bowsprit, with great staring eyes, that never wink at the dash of the spray.

But (what was very strange) the carver found that his hand was guided by some unseen power, and by a skill

beyond his own, and that his tools shaped out an image which he had never dreamed of. When the work was

finished, it turned out to be the figure of a beautiful woman, with a helmet on her head, from beneath which

the long ringlets fell down upon her shoulders. On the left arm was a shield, and in its center appeared a

lifelike representation of the head of Medusa with the snaky locks. The right arm was extended, as if pointing

onward. The face of this wonderful statue, though not angry or forbidding, was so grave and majestic, that

perhaps you might call it severe; and as for the mouth, it seemed just ready to unclose its lips, and utter words

Jason was delighted with the oaken image, and gave the carver no rest until it was completed, and set up

where a figurehead has always stood, from that time to this, in the vessel's prow.

"And now," cried he, as he stood gazing at the calm, majestic face of the statue, "I must go to the Talking

"There is no need of that, Jason," said a voice which, though it was far lower, reminded him of the mighty

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

And, in fact, considering what a great deed was to be done, could any advice be wiser than this which Jason

received from the figurehead of his vessel? He lost no time in sending messengers to all the cities, and

making known to the whole people of Greece, that Prince Jason, the son of King Jason, was going in quest of

the Fleece of Gold, and that he desired the help of fortynine of the bravest and strongest young men alive, to

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,

Many of these brave fellows had been educated by Chiron, the fourfooted 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 chickenhearted, 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 mossgrown bulk out of the ground, and a grove of forest trees uprooted themselves,

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

tomorrow or the next day, or a hundred years hence, but were generally quite unconscious of what was

Jason appointed Tiphys to be helmsman because he was a stargazer, and knew the points of the compass.

Lynceus, on account of his sharp sight, was stationed as a lookout in the prow, where he saw a whole day's

sail ahead, but was rather apt to overlook things that lay directly under his nose. If the sea only happened to

be deep enough, however, Lynceus could tell you exactly what kind of rocks or sands were at the bottom of

it; and he often cried out to his companions, that they were sailing over heaps of sunken treasure, which yet

he was none the richer for beholding. To confess the truth, few people believed him when he said it.

Well! But when the Argonauts, as these fifty brave adventurers were called, had prepared everything for the

voyage, an unforeseen difficulty threatened to end it before it was begun. The vessel, you must understand,

was so long, and broad, and ponderous, that the united force of all the fifty was insufficient to shove her into

the water. Hercules, I suppose, had not grown to his full strength, else he might have set her afloat as easily as

a little boy launches his boat upon a puddle. But here were these fifty heroes, pushing, and straining, and

growing red in the face, without making the Argo start an inch. At last, quite wearied out, they sat themselves

down on the shore exceedingly disconsolate, and thinking that the vessel must be left to rot and fall in pieces,

"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

Immediately the fifty heroes got on board, and seizing their oars, held them perpendicularly in the air, while

Orpheus (who liked such a task far better than rowing) swept his fingers across the harp. At the first ringing

note of the music, they felt the vessel stir. Orpheus thrummed away briskly, and the galley slid at once into

the sea, dipping her prow so deeply that the figurehead drank the wave with its marvelous lips, and rising

again as buoyant as a swan. The rowers plied their fifty oars; the white foam boiled up before the prow; the

water gurgled and bubbled in their wake; while Orpheus continued to play so lively a strain of music, that the

vessel seemed to dance over the billows by way of keeping time to it. Thus triumphantly did the Argo sail out

of the harbor, 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 badhearted king, still perched

upon the promontory, and scowling so gloomily that it looked like a black thundercloud in that quarter of

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,

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

"I see them very plainly," remarked Lynceus, whose eyes, you know, were as farsighted 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

"You have excellent eyes," said King Cyzicus. "Yes; they are sixarmed giants, as you say, and these are the

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 hundredarmed 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

Another strange adventure happened when the voyagers came to Thrace, where they found a poor blind king,

named Phineus, deserted by his subjects, and living in a very sorrowful way, all by himself: On Jason's

inquiring whether they could do him any service, the king answered that he was terribly tormented by three

great winged creatures, called Harpies, which had the faces of women, and the wings, bodies, and claws of

vultures. These ugly wretches were in the habit of snatching away his dinner, and allowed him no peace of

his life. Upon hearing this, the Argonauts spread a plentiful feast on the seashore, well knowing, from what

the blind king said of their greediness, that the Harpies would snuff up the scent of the victuals, and quickly

come to steal them away. And so it turned out; for, hardly was the table set, before the three hideous vulture

women came flapping their wings, seized the food in their talons, and flew off as fast as they could. But the

two sons of the North Wind drew their swords, spread their pinions, and set off through the air in pursuit of

the thieves, whom they at last overtook among some islands, after a chase of hundreds of miles. The two

winged youths blustered terribly at the Harpies (for they had the rough temper of their father), and so

frightened them with their drawn swords, that they solemnly promised never to trouble King Phineus again.

Then the Argonauts sailed onward and met with many other marvelous incidents, any one of which would

make a story by itself. At one time they landed on an island, and were reposing on the grass, when they

suddenly found themselves assailed by what seemed a shower of steelheaded 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 steelheaded 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 steelheaded

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.

"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 steelpointed feathers. What can

On receiving this excellent counsel, Jason hurried back to his companions (who were far more dismayed than

when they fought with the sixarmed 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 steelfeathered birds had been driven away

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

goldenfleeced 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 playdays 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

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

"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

"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

"Great sir," replied Jason, with an obeisancefor 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 fortynine 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

"I have heard," rejoined the youth, "that a dragon lies beneath the tree on which the prize hangs, and that

"True," said the king, with a smile that did not look particularly goodnatured. "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 brazenfooted and brazenlunged

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

"My master Chiron," replied Jason, "taught me, long ago, the story of Cadmus. Perhaps I can manage the

"I wish the dragon had him," muttered King Aetes to himself, "and the fourfooted pedant, his schoolmaster,

into the bargain. Why, what a foolhardy, selfconceited coxcomb he is! We'll see what my firebreathing

bulls will do for him. Well, Prince Jason," he continued, aloud, and as complaisantly as he could, "make

yourself comfortable for today, and tomorrow morning, since you insist upon it, you shall try your skill at

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

"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

"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

"I should not so much care for the dragon," replied Jason, "if I only knew how to manage the brazenfooted

"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

So she put a golden box into his hand, and directed him how to apply the perfumed unguent which it

"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 brazenfooted 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

"There they are," said she, "reposing them. selves 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

"If you doubt, if you are in the least afraid," said the princess, looking him in the face by the dim starlight,

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 redhot 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

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

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 screwedup 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 thingthat 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 brushharrow, and took his stand on the edge of the field,

"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

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

struggledsuch was their impatience of restraintand, 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

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 redhot 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 bloodthirsty

battalion with his single arm, but determined, since there was nothing better to be done, to die as valiantly as

"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

And there was the end of the army that had sprouted from the dragon's teeth. That fierce and feverish fight

"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 selfconceit 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

"You will think differently in the morning," said Medea. "True, the Golden Fleece may not be so valuable as

you have thought it; but then there is nothing better in the world; and one must needs have an object, you

know. Come! Your night's work has been well performed; and tomorrow you can inform King Aetes that

Agreeably to Medea's advice, Jason went betimes in the morning to the palace of King Aetes. Entering the

"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

"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

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 fortynine 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

"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

"Yes, Jason," said the princess, "and I can tell you more. Unless you set sail from Colchis before tomorrow's

sunrise, the king means to burn your fiftyoared galley, and put yourself and your fortynine brave comrades

to the sword. But be of good courage. The Golden Fleece you shall have, if it lies within the power of my

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,

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 leafstrewn 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,

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

"Have you come so far to seek it," exclaimed Medea, "and do you not recognize the meed of all your toils and

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

"How gloriously it shines!" cried Jason, in a rapture. "It has surely been dipped in the richest gold of sunset.

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

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

"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?"

"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

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 wideopen throat. Immediately, with an outrageous hiss and a

tremendous wriggleflinging his tail up to the tiptop of the tallest tree, and shattering all its branches as it

crashed heavily down againthe 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

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

As Jason drew near, he heard the Talking Image calling to him with more than ordinary eagerness, in its

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!