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 TANGLEWOOD TALES.
 
 The great rock stirred!
 
 WINDERMERE EDITION 
 
 Tanglewood 
 Tales 
 
 BY 
 
 NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 
 BY MILO WINTER 
 
 RAND McNALLY & COMPANY 
 CHICAGO NEW YORK
 
 Copyright, 1913, 
 By RAND, MCNALLY & COMPANY 
 
 ffitje 
 
 UNN. OF CALIF. LIBRARY. LOS ANGELES
 
 PS 
 
 4 
 
 THE CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Illustrations .......... 5 
 
 THE WAYSIDE. INTRODUCTORY ...... 7 
 
 THE MINOTAUR .......... 15 
 
 THE PYGMIES ........... 59 
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH ........ 90 
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE .......... 135 
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS ....... 180 
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE ......... 229
 
 THE ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 The great rock stirred! Frontispiece 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 The king, hearing the hiss of the serpents, scrambled 
 
 as fast as he could to the window 31 
 
 They never once thought whether their sails were 
 
 black, white, or rainbow colored 57 
 
 They were constantly at war with the cranes 67 
 
 The enemy's breath rushed out of his nose in an 
 
 obstreperous hurricane and whirlwind 85 
 
 It grieves me to think of them, still keeping up that 
 
 weary pilgrimage 106 
 
 The brindled cow never offered to lie down 119 
 
 " Have you anything to tell me, little bird?". 139 
 
 It looked so intolerably absurd to see hogs on cush- 
 ioned thrones 1 60 
 
 The child besought them to go with her a little way 
 
 into the fields 181 
 
 It never was extinguished by the rain or wind 199 
 
 " It is the only one in the world," said the servant . . 222 
 " I am going to lolchos," answered the young man. . 234 
 Jason was delighted with the oaken image, and 
 
 gave the carver no rest until it was completed ... 248 
 She was one of those persons whose eyes are full of 
 
 mystery 265 
 
 Jason caught the fleece from the tree 282
 
 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 THE WAYSIDE. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 A short time ago, I was favored with a flying visit 
 from my young friend Eustace Bright, whom I had not 
 before met with since quitting the breezy mountains of 
 Berkshire. It being the winter vacation at his college, 
 Eustace was allowing himself a little relaxation, in the 
 hope, he told me, of repairing the inroads which severe 
 application to study had made upon his health; and I 
 was happy to conclude, from the excellent physical con- 
 dition in which I saw him, that the remedy had already 
 been attended with very desirable success. He had now 
 run up from Boston by the noon train, partly impelled by 
 the friendly regard with which he is pleased to honor me, 
 and partly, as I soon found, on a matter of literary 
 business. 
 
 It delighted me to receive Mr. Bright, for the first 
 time, under a roof, though a very humble one, which I 
 could really call my own. Nor did I fail (as is the custom 
 of landed proprietors all about the world) to parade the 
 poor fellow up and down over my half a dozen acres; 
 secretly rejoicing, nevertheless, that the disarray of the 
 inclement season, and particularly the six inches of snow 
 then upon the ground, prevented him from observing the 
 ragged neglect of soil and shrubbery into which the place 
 had lapsed. It was idle, however, to imagine that an
 
 8 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 airy guest from Monument Mountain, Bald Summit, and 
 old Graylock, shaggy with primeval forests, could see 
 anything to admire in my poor little hillside, with its 
 growth of frail and insect -eaten locust trees. Eustace 
 very frankly called the view from my hill top tame ; and 
 so, no doubt, it was, after rough, broken, rugged, head- 
 long Berkshire, and especially the northern parts of the 
 county, with which his college residence had made him 
 familiar. But to me there is a peculiar, quiet charm in 
 these broad meadows and gentle eminences. They are 
 better than mountains, because they do not stamp and 
 stereotype themselves into the brain, and thus grow 
 wearisome with the same strong impression, repeated day 
 after day. A few summer weeks among mountains, a 
 lifetime among green meadows and placid slopes, with 
 outlines forever new, because continually fading out of 
 the memory such would be my sober choice. 
 
 I doubt whether Eustace did not internally pronounce 
 the whole thing a bore, until I led him to my predecessor's 
 little ruined, rustic summer house, midway on the hill- 
 side. It is a mere skeleton of slender, decaying tree 
 trunks, with neither walls nor a roof; nothing but a 
 tracery of branches and twigs, which the next wintry 
 blast will be very likely to scatter in fragments along the 
 terrace. It looks, and is, as evanescent as a dream; and 
 yet, in its rustic network of boughs, it has somehow 
 enclosed a hint of spiritual beauty, and has become a true 
 emblem of the subtile and ethereal mind that planned it. 
 I made Eustace Bright sit down on a snow bank, which 
 had heaped itself over the mossy seat, and gazing through 
 the arched windows opposite, he acknowledged that the 
 scene at once grew picturesque. 
 
 "Simple as it looks," said he, "this little edifice seems 
 to be the work of magic. It is full of suggest! veness, and, 
 in its way, is as good as a cathedral. Ah, it would be
 
 THE WAYSIDE. 9 
 
 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 publica- 
 tion of the 'Wonder-Book'?" 
 
 "Many more," said Eustace; "Primrose, Periwinkle, 
 and the rest of them, allow me no comfort of my life, 
 unless I tell them a story every day or two. I have run 
 away from home partly to escape the importunity of 
 these little wretches ! But I have written out six of the 
 new stories, and have brought them for you to look over." 
 
 "Are they as good as the first?" I inquired. 
 
 "Better chosen, and better handled," replied Eustace 
 Bright. "You will say so when you read them." 
 
 "Possibly not," I remarked. "I know from my own 
 experience, that an author's last work is always his best 
 one, in his own estimate, until it quite loses the red heat 
 of composition. After that, it falls into its true place, 
 quietly enough. But let us adjourn to my study, and 
 examine these new stories. It would hardly be doing 
 yourself justice, were you to bring me acquainted with 
 them, sitting here on this snow bank!" 
 
 So we descended the hill to my small, old cottage, and 
 shut ourselves up in the south-eastern room, where the 
 sunshine comes in, warmly and brightly, through the 
 better half of a winter's day. Eustace put his bundle of 
 manuscript into my hands; and I skimmed through it 
 pretty rapidly, trying to find out its merits and demerits 
 by the touch of my fingers, as a veteran story-teller 
 ought to know how to do.
 
 io TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 It will be remembered that Mr. Bright condescended 
 to avail himself of my literary experience by constituting 
 me editor of the "Wonder-Book." As he had no reason 
 to complain of the reception of that erudite work by the 
 public, he was now disposed to retain me in a similar posi- 
 tion 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 eleva- 
 tion. My young friend was willing, in short, that the 
 fresh verdure of his growing reputation should spread 
 over my straggling and half -naked boughs ; even as I have 
 sometimes thought of training a vine, with its broad 
 leanness, and purple fruitage, over the worm-eaten posts 
 and rafters of the rustic summer house. I was not insen- 
 sible to the advantages of his proposal, and gladly 
 assured him of my acceptance. 
 
 Merely from the title of the stories I saw at once that 
 the subjects were not less rich than those of the former 
 volume; nor did I at all doubt that Mr. Bright's audacity 
 (so far as that endowment might avail) had enabled him 
 to take full advantage of whatever capabilities they 
 offered. Yet, in spite of my experience of his free way of 
 handling them, I did not quite see, I confess, how he 
 could have obviated all the difficulties in the way of ren- 
 dering 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
 
 THE WAYSIDE. n 
 
 them into the sternest forms of grief that ever the world 
 saw; was such material the stuff that children's play- 
 things should be made of ! How were they to be purified ? 
 How was the blessed sunshine to be thrown into them? 
 
 But Eustace told me that these myths were the most 
 singular things in the world, and that he was invariably 
 astonished, whenever he began to relate one, by the readi- 
 ness 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 sym- 
 pathy with the innocent little circle, whose wide-open 
 eyes are fixed so eagerly upon him. Thus the stories 
 (not by any strained effort of the narrator's, but in har- 
 mony with their inherent germ) transform themselves, 
 and re-assume the shapes which they might be supposed 
 to possess in the pure childhood of the world. When the 
 first poet or romancer told these marvellous legends (such 
 is Eustace Bright's opinion), it was still the Golden Age. 
 Evil had never yet existed; and sorrow, misfortune, 
 crime, were mere shadows which the mind fancifully 
 created for itself, as a shelter against too sunny realities ; 
 or, at most, but prophetic dreams to which the dreamer 
 himself did not yield a waking credence. Children are 
 now the only representatives of the men and women of 
 that happy era ; and therefore it is that we must raise the 
 intellect and fancy to the level of childhood, in order to 
 re-create the original myths. 
 
 I let the youthful author talk as much and as extrava- 
 gantly 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
 
 12 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 moral objections against these fables, although at the 
 expense of such liberties with their structure as must be 
 left to plead their own excuse, without any help from me. 
 Indeed, except that there was a necessity for it and that 
 the inner life of the legends cannot be come at save by 
 making them entirely one's own property there is no 
 defense to be made. 
 
 Eustace informed me that he had told his stories to the 
 children in various situations in the woods, on the shore 
 of the lake, in the dell of Shadow Brook, in the play- 
 room, at Tanglewood fireside, and in a magnificent palace 
 of snow, with ice windows, which he helped his little 
 friends to build. His auditors were even more delighted 
 with the contents of the present volume than with the 
 specimens which have already been given to the world. 
 The classically learned Mr. Pringle, too, had listened to 
 two or three of the tales, and censured them even more 
 bitterly than he did THE THREE GOLDEN APPLES; so 
 that, what with praise, and what with criticism, Eustace 
 Bright thinks that there is good hope of at least as much 
 success with the public as in the case of the "Wonder- 
 Book." 
 
 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 ex- 
 pected to shut up her baby house and throw away her
 
 THE WAYSIDE. 13 
 
 doll in a month or two more. Sweet Fern has learned to 
 read and write, and has put on a jacket and pair of panta- 
 loons all of which improvements I am sorry for. 
 Squash Blossom, Blue Eye, Plantain, and Buttercup 
 have had the scarlet fever, but came easily through it. 
 Huckleberry, Milkweed, and Dandelion were attacked 
 with the whooping cough, but bore it bravely, and kept 
 out of doors whenever the sun shone . Cowslip , during the 
 autumn, had either the measles, or some eruption that 
 looked very much like it, but was hardly sick a day. 
 Poor Clover has been a good deal troubled with her 
 second teeth, which have made her meagre in aspect and 
 rather fractious in temper; nor, even when she smiles, is 
 the matter much mended, since it discloses a gap just 
 within her lips, almost as wide as the barn door. But all 
 this will pass over, and it is predicted that she will turn 
 out a very pretty girl. 
 
 As for Mr. Bright himself, he is now in his senior year at 
 Williams College, and has a prospect of graduating with 
 some degree of honorable distinction at the next com- 
 mencement. 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 dan- 
 gerous and seductive business of authorship, he will not 
 be tempted to become an author by profession. If so, 
 I shall be very sorry for the little that I have had to do 
 with the matter, in encouraging these first beginnings. 
 
 I wish there were any likelihood of my soon seeing 
 Primrose, Periwinkle, Dandelion, Sweet Fern, Clover, 
 Plantain, Huckleberry, Milkweed, Cowslip, Buttercup, 
 Blue Eye, and Squash Blossom again. But as I do not
 
 i 4 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 know when I shall re-visit Tanglewood, and as Eustace 
 Bright probably will not ask me to edit a third "Wonder- 
 Book," the public of little folks must not expect to 
 hear any more about those dear children from me. 
 Heaven bless them, and everybody else, whether grown 
 people or children!
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 
 
 In the old city of Troezene, at the foot of a 
 lofty mountain, there lived, a very long time 
 ago, a little boy named Theseus. His grand- 
 father, 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 
 JEihia. As for his father, the boy had never 
 seen him. But, from his earliest remembrance, 
 ^Ethra used to go with little Theseus into a 
 wood, and sit down upon a moss-grown rock, 
 which was deeply sunken into the earth. Here 
 she often talked with her son about his father, 
 and said that he was called ^geus, 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 ^Egeus, and often 
 asked his good mother JSthra why he did not 
 come and live with them at Troezene. 
 
 "Ah, my dear son," answered ^Ethra, with 
 
 2 15
 
 1 6 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 a sigh, " a monarch has his people to take care 
 of. The men and women over whom he rules 
 are in the place of children to him; and he 
 can seldom spare time to love his own children 
 as other parents do. Your father will never be 
 able to leave his kingdom for the sake of seeing 
 his little boy." 
 
 "Well, but, dear mother," asked the boy, 
 " why cannot I go to this famous city of Athens, 
 and tell King vEgeus that I am his son?" 
 
 "That may happen by and by," said ^Ethra. 
 "Be patient, and we shall see. You are not 
 yet big and strong enough to set out on such an 
 errand." 
 
 "And how soon shall I be strong enough?" 
 Theseus persisted in inquiring. 
 
 "You are but a tiny boy as yet," replied his 
 mother. " See if you can lift this rock on which 
 we are sitting?" 
 
 The little fellow had a great opinion of his 
 own strength. So, grasping the rough pro- 
 tuberances of the rock, he tugged and toiled 
 amain, and got himself quite out of breath, 
 without being able to stir the heavy stone. 
 It seemed to be rooted into the ground. No 
 wonder he could not move it; for it would 
 have taken all the force of a very strong man 
 to lift it out of its earthy bed. 
 
 His mother stood looking on, with a sad kind 
 of a smile on her lips and in her eyes, to see
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 17 
 
 the zealous and yet puny efforts of her little 
 boy. She could not help being sorrowful at 
 finding him already so impatient to begin his 
 adventures in the world. 
 
 "You see how it is, my dear Theseus," said 
 she. " You must possess far more strength than 
 now before I can trust you to go to Athens, and 
 tell King ^Egeus that you are his son. But 
 when you can lift this rock, and show me what 
 is hidden beneath it, I promise you my per- 
 mission to depart." 
 
 Often and often, after this, did Theseus ask 
 his mother whether it was yet time for him to 
 go to Athens; and still his mother pointed to 
 the rock, and told him that, for years to come, 
 he could not be strong enough to move it. And 
 again and again the rosy-cheeked and curly- 
 headed boy would tug and strain at the huge 
 mass of stone, striving, child as he was, to do 
 what a giant could hardly have done without 
 taking both of his great hands to the task. 
 Meanwhile the rock seemed to be sinking farther 
 and farther into the ground. The moss grew 
 over it thicker and thicker, until at last it looked 
 almost like a soft green seat, with only a few 
 gray knobs of granite peeping out. The over- 
 hanging 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
 
 i8 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 rock was as firmly fastened as any other portion 
 of the earth's substance. 
 
 But, difficult as the matter looked, Theseus 
 was now growing up to be such a vigorous 
 youth, that, in his own opinion, the time 
 would quickly come when he might hope to 
 get the upper hand of this ponderous lump 
 of stone. 
 
 "Mother, I do believe it has started!" cried 
 he, after one of his attempts. "The earth 
 around it is certainly a little cracked! " 
 
 " No, no, child!" his mother hastily answered. 
 " It is not possible you can have moved it, such 
 a boy as you still are ! " 
 
 Nor would she be convinced, although Theseus 
 showed her the place where he fancied that the 
 stem of a flower had been partly uprooted by the 
 movement of the rock. But ^Ethra sighed, and 
 looked disquieted; for, no doubt, she began to 
 be conscious that her son was no longer a child, 
 and that, in a little while hence, she must send 
 him forth among the perils and troubles of the 
 world. 
 
 It was not more than a year afterwards when 
 they were again sitting on the moss-covered 
 stone. JEthra, had once more told him the oft- 
 repeated story of his father, and how gladly he 
 would receive Theseus at his stately palace, and 
 how he would present him to his courtiers and 
 the people, and tell them that here was the heir
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 19 
 
 of his dominions. The eyes of Theseus glowed 
 with enthusiasm, and he would hardly sit still 
 to hear his mother speak. 
 
 "Dear mother JEthra" he exclaimed, "I 
 never felt half so strong as now! I am no 
 longer a child, nor a boy, nor a mere youth! 
 I feel myself a man! It is now time to make 
 one earnest trial to remove the stone." 
 
 " Ah, my dearest Theseus," replied his mother, 
 "not yet! not yet!" 
 
 "Yes, mother," said he, resolutely, "the time 
 has come!" 
 
 Then Theseus bent himself in good earnest to 
 the task, and strained every sinew, with manly 
 strength and resolution. He put his whole 
 brave heart into the effort. He wrestled with 
 the big and sluggish stone, as if it had been a 
 living enemy. He heaved, he lifted, he resolved 
 now to succeed, or else to perish there, and let the 
 rock be his monument forever! ^2thra stood 
 gazing at him, and clasped her hands, partly 
 with a mother's pride, and partly with a mother's 
 sorrow. The great rock stirred! Yes, it was 
 raised slowly from the bedded moss and earth, 
 uprooting the shrubs and flowers along with it, 
 and was turned upon its side. Theseus had 
 conquered! 
 
 While taking breath, he looked joyfully at his 
 mother, and she smiled upon him through her 
 tears.
 
 20 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 "Yes, Theseus," she said, "the time has 
 come, and you must stay no longer at my side ! 
 See what King ^Egeus, your royal father, left 
 for you beneath the stone, when he lifted it in 
 his mighty arms, and laid it on the spot whence 
 you have now removed it." 
 
 Theseus looked, and saw that the rock had 
 been placed over another slab of stone, contain- 
 ing a cavity within it; so that it somewhat 
 resembled a roughly-made chest or coffer, of 
 which the upper mass had served as the lid. 
 Within the cavity lay a sword, with a golden hilt, 
 and a pair of sandals. 
 
 "That was your father's sword," said ^Ethra, 
 "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 ^Egeus did in his 
 youth." 
 
 "I will set out for Athens this very day!" 
 cried Theseus. 
 
 But his mother persuaded him to stay a day 
 or two longer, while she got ready some neces- 
 sary articles for his journey. When his grand- 
 father, the wise King Pittheus, heard that 
 Theseus intended to present himself at his
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 21 
 
 father's palace, he earnestly advised him to get 
 on board of a vessel, and go by sea ; because he 
 might thus arrive within fifteen miles of Athens, 
 without either fatigue or danger. 
 
 " The roads are very bad by land," quoth the 
 venerable king; "and they are terribly infested 
 with robbers and monsters. A mere lad, like 
 Theseus, is not fit to be trusted on such a perilous 
 journey, all by himself. No, no; let him go 
 by sea!" 
 
 But when Theseus heard of robbers and 
 monsters, he pricked up his ears, and was so 
 much the more eager to take the road along 
 which they were to be met with. On the third 
 day, therefore, he bade a respectful farewell to 
 his grandfather, thanking him for all his kind- 
 ness; 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
 
 22 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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, beween the cliff and 
 the sea, Scinis stuck fast in the air, which was 
 forced to bear the burden of his naughtiness. 
 
 After these memorable deeds, Theseus heard of 
 an enormous sow, which ran wild, and was the 
 terror of all the farmers round about; and, as he 
 did not consider himself above doing any good 
 thing that came in his way, he killed this 
 monstrous creature, and gave the carcass to the
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 23 
 
 poor people for bacon. The great sow had been 
 an awful beast, while ramping about the woods 
 and fields, but was a pleasant object enough 
 when cut up into joints, and smoking on I know 
 not how many dinner tables. 
 
 Thus, by the time he reached his journey's 
 end, Theseus had done many valiant feats with 
 his father's golden-hilted sword, and had gained 
 the renown of being one of the bravest young- 
 men of the day. His fame traveled faster than 
 he did, and reached Athens before him. As he 
 entered the city, he heard the inhabitants talk- 
 ing 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 ^Egeus, 
 " Behold your son! " 
 
 He little suspected, innocent youth that he 
 was, that here, in this very Athens, where his 
 father reigned, a greater danger awaited him 
 than any which he had encountered on the road. 
 Yet this was the truth. You must understand 
 that the father of Theseus, though not very 
 old in years, was almost worn out with the cares 
 of government, and had thus grown aged before
 
 24 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 his time. His nephews, not expecting him to 
 live a very great while, intended to get all the 
 power of the kingdom into their own hands. 
 But when they heard that Theseus had arrived in 
 Athens, and learned what a gallant young man 
 he was, they saw that he would not be at all 
 the kind of a person to let them steal away his 
 father's crown and scepter, which ought to be 
 his own by right of inheritance. Thus these 
 bad-hearted nephews of King ^geus, 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 ^thra, whom she hated. 
 It so happened that the king's nephews met 
 Theseus, and found out who he was, just as he 
 reached the entrance of the royal palace. With 
 all their evil designs against him, they pretended 
 to be their cousin's best friends, and expressed 
 great joy at making his acquaintance. They 
 proposed to him that he should come into the 
 king's presence as a stranger, in order to try 
 whether ^geus would discover in the young 
 man's features any likeness either to himself or 
 his mother ^Ethra, 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
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 25 
 
 waited at the door, the nephews ran and told 
 King ^geus that a young man had arrived in 
 Athens, who, to their certain knowledge, 
 intended to put him to death, and get possession 
 of his royal crown. 
 
 "And he is now waiting for admission to 
 your majesty's presence," added they. 
 
 "Aha!" cried the old king, on hearing this. 
 "Why, he must be a very wicked young fellow 
 indeed! Pray, what would you advise me to 
 do with him?" 
 
 In reply to this question, the wicked Medea 
 put in her word. As I have already told you, 
 she was a famous enchantress. According to 
 some stories, she was in the habit of boiling old 
 people in a large caldron, under pretense of 
 making them young again; but King ^Egeus, 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,
 
 26 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 that Medea, amongst a thousand other bad 
 things, knew how to prepare a poison, that was 
 instantly fatal to whomsoever might so much as 
 touch it with his lips. 
 
 So, when the king asked what he should do 
 with Theseus, this naughty woman had an 
 answer ready at her tongue's end. 
 
 " Leave that to me, please your majesty," she 
 replied. "Only admit this evil-minded young 
 man to your presence, treat him civilly, and 
 invite him to drink a goblet of wine. Your 
 majesty is well aware that I sometimes amuse 
 myself by distilling very powerful medicines. 
 Here is one of them in this small phial. As to 
 what it is made of, that is one of my secrets of 
 state. Do but let me put a single drop into 
 the goblet, and let the young man taste it; 
 and I will answer for it, he shall quite 
 lay aside the bad designs with which he comes 
 hither." 
 
 As she said this, Medea smiled; but, for all 
 her smiling face, she meant nothing less than to 
 poison the poor innocent Theseus, before his 
 father's eyes. And King ^Egeus, like most other 
 kings, thought any punishment mild enough for 
 a person who was accused of plotting against his 
 life. He therefore made little or no objection 
 to Medea's scheme, and as soon as the poisonous 
 wine was ready, gave orders that the young 
 stranger should be admitted into his presence.
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 27 
 
 The goblet was set on a table beside the king's 
 throne; and a fly, meaning just to sip a little 
 from the brim, immediately tumbled into it, 
 dead. Observing this, Medea looked round at 
 the nephews, and smiled again. 
 
 When Theseus was ushered into the royal 
 apartment, the only object that he seemed to 
 behold was the white-bearded old king. There 
 he sat on his magnificent throne, a dazzling 
 crown on his head, and a scepter in his hand. 
 His aspect was stately and majestic, although 
 his years and infirmities weighed heavily upon 
 him, as if each year were a lump of lead, and 
 each infirmity a ponderous stone, and all were 
 bundled up together, and laid upon his weary 
 shoulders. The tears both of joy and sorrow 
 sprang into the young man's eyes; for he 
 thought how sad it was to see his dear father 
 so infirm, and how sweet it would be to support 
 him with his own youthful strength, and to cheer 
 him up with the alacrity of his loving spirit. 
 When a son takes a father into his warm heart, 
 it renews the old man's youth in a better way 
 than by the heat of Medea's magic caldron. 
 And this was what Theseus resolved to do. 
 He could scarcely wait to see whether King 
 ^Egeus would recognize him, so eager was he to 
 throw himself into his arms. 
 
 Advancing to the foot of the throne, he at- 
 tempted to make a little speech, which he had
 
 28 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 con- 
 scious of guilt, that he trembles and cannot 
 speak. The wretch lives too long! Quick! 
 offer him the wine! " 
 
 Now King ^Egeus 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 MINOTAUR. 29 
 
 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 ^Ethra's son, coming to claim 
 him for a father. The enchantress again whis- 
 pered in the king's ear, and compelled him, by 
 her witchcraft, to see everything under a false 
 aspect. 
 
 He made up his mind, therefore, to let Theseus 
 drink off the poisoned wine. 
 
 "Young man," said he, "you are welcome! 
 I am proud to show hospitality to so heroic a 
 youth. Do me the favor to drink the con- 
 tents 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 ^geus took the golden goblet 
 from the table, and was about to offer it to 
 Theseus. But, partly through his infirmities, 
 and partly because it seemed so sad a thing to 
 take away this young man's life, however wicked 
 he might be, and partly, no doubt, because his 
 heart was wiser than his head, and quaked 
 within him at the thought of what he was going 
 to do for all these reasons, the king's hand 
 trembled so much that a great deal of the wine 
 slopped over. In order to strengthen his pur- 
 pose, and fearing lest the whole of the precious
 
 3 o TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 poison should be wasted, one of his nephews 
 now whispered to him: 
 
 "Has your Majesty any doubt of this stranger's 
 guilt? This is the very sword with which he 
 meant to slay you. How sharp, and bright, 
 and terrible it is! Quick! let him taste the 
 wine; or perhaps he may do the deed even yet." 
 
 At these words, ^Egeus drove every thought 
 .and feeling out of his breast, except the one 
 idea of how justly the young man deserved to be 
 put to death. He sat erect on his throne, and 
 held out the goblet of wine with a steady hand, 
 .and bent on Theseus a frown of kingly severity ; 
 for, after all, he had too noble a spirit to murder 
 -even a treacherous enemy with a deceitful 
 ;smile upon his face. 
 
 "Drink!" said he, in the stern tone with 
 which he was wont to condemn a criminal to 
 be beheaded. " You have well deserved of me 
 ;such wine as this!" 
 
 Theseus held out his hand to take the wine. 
 But, before he touched it, King ^Egeus trembled 
 ,again. His eyes had fallen on the gold-hilted 
 >sword that hung at the young man's side. He 
 drew back the goblet. 
 
 "That sword!" he exclaimed: "how came 
 you by it?" 
 
 " It was my father's sword," replied Theseus, 
 with a tremulous voice. "These were his 
 sandals. My dear mother (her name is ^Ethra)
 
 The king, hearing the hiss of the serpents, scrambled as fast as 
 could to the window
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 31 
 
 told me his story while I was yet a little child. 
 But it is only a month since I grew strong 
 enough to lift the heavy stone, and take the 
 sword and sandals from beneath it, and come 
 to Athens to seek my father." 
 
 "My son! my son!" cried King ^Egeus, 
 flinging away the fatal goblet, and tottering 
 down from the throne to fall into the arms of 
 Theseus. "Yes, these are JSthra's eyes. It is 
 my son." 
 
 I have quite forgotten what became of the 
 king's nephews. But when the wicked Medea 
 saw this new turn of affairs, she hurried out of 
 the room, and going to her private chamber, 
 lost no time to setting her enchantments to 
 work. In a few moments, she heard a great 
 noise of hissing snakes outside of the chamber 
 window; and behold! there was her fiery 
 chariot, and four huge winged serpents, wrig- 
 gling and twisting in the air, flourishing their 
 tails higher than the top of the palace, and all 
 ready to set off on an aerial journey. Medea 
 staid only long enough to take her son with 
 her, and to steal the crown jewels, together with 
 the king's best robes, and whatever other 
 valuable things she could lay hands on; and 
 getting into the chariot, she whipped up the 
 snakes, and ascended high over the city. 
 
 The king, hearing the hiss of the serpents, 
 scrambled as fast as he could to the window,
 
 32 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 ^Egeus told them that they were 
 welcome to the whole, and to twice as many 
 more, if he had them, for the sake of his delight 
 at finding his son, and losing the wicked Medea. 
 And, indeed, if you had seen how hateful 
 was her last look, as the flaming chariot flew 
 upward, you would not have wondered that 
 both king and people should think her departure 
 a good riddance.
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 33 
 
 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 ^Egeus and his subjects. But pretty 
 soon, he undertook an affair that made all his 
 foregone adventures seem like mere boy's play. 
 The occasion of it was as follows: 
 
 One morning, when Prince Theseus awoke, 
 he fancied that he must have had a very sorrow- 
 ful 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 melan- 
 choly wail; and when he listened more atten- 
 tively, 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
 
 34 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 every habitation in the city. And all these 
 mournful noises, issuing out of thousands of 
 separate hearts, united themselves into one 
 great sound of affliction, which had startled 
 Theseus from slumber. He put on his clothes as 
 quickly as he could (not forgetting his sandals 
 and gold-hilted sword), and, hastening to the 
 king, inquired what it all meant. 
 
 "Alas! my son," quoth King ^Egeus, heav- 
 ing a long sigh, "here is a very lamentable 
 matter in hand! This is the wofulest anni- 
 versary in the whole year. It is the day when 
 we annually draw lots to see which of the 
 youths and maids of Athens shall go to be 
 devoured by the horrible Minotaur!" 
 
 "The Minotaur!" exclaimed Prince Theseus; 
 and like a brave young prince as he was, he 
 put his hand to the hilt of his sword. "What 
 kind of a monster may that be? Is it not 
 possible, at the risk of one's life, to slay him?" 
 
 But King ^Egeus 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 suf- 
 fered to exist at all, it should have been on
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 35 
 
 some desert island, or in the duskiness of some 
 deep cavern, where nobody would ever be 
 tormented by his abominable aspect. But King 
 Minos, who reigned over Crete, laid out a vast 
 deal of money in building a habitation for the 
 Minotaur, and took great care of his health 
 and comfort, merely for mischief's sake. A few 
 years before this time, there had been a war 
 between the city of Athens and the island of 
 Crete, in which the Athenians were beaten, 
 and compelled to beg for peace. No peace could 
 they obtain, however, except on condition that 
 they should send seven young men and seven 
 maidens, every year, to be devoured by the pet 
 monster of the cruel King Minos. For three 
 years past, this grievous calamity had been 
 borne. And the sobs, and groans, and shrieks, 
 with which the city was now filled, were caused 
 by the people's woe, because the fatal day had 
 come again, when the fourteen victims were to 
 be chosen by lot ; and the old people feared lest 
 their sons or daughters might be taken, and the 
 youths and damsels dreaded lest they themselves 
 might be destined to glut the ravenous maw of 
 that detestable man-brute. 
 
 But when Theseus heard the story, he straight- 
 ened 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.
 
 36 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 "Let the people of Athens this year draw 
 lots for only six young men, instead of seven," 
 said he, "I will myself be the seventh; and 
 let the Minotaur devour me if he can!" 
 
 "O my dear son," cried King ^Egeus, "why 
 should you expose yourself to this horrible fate ? 
 You are a royal prince, and have a right to 
 hold yourself above the destinies of common 
 men." 
 
 "It is because I am a prince, your son, and 
 the rightful heir of your kingdom, that I freely 
 take upon me the calamity of your subjects," 
 answered Theseus, "And you, my father, 
 being king over these people, and answerable to 
 Heaven for their welfare, are bound to sacrifice 
 what is dearest to you, rather than that the son 
 or daughter of the poorest citizen should come 
 to any harm." 
 
 The old king shed tears, and besought Theseus 
 not to leave him desolate in his old age, more 
 especially as he had but just begun to know 
 the happiness of possessing a good and valiant 
 son. Theseus, however, felt that he was in the 
 right, and therefore would not give up his resolu- 
 tion. 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 
 s consented to let him go. So a vessel was
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 3 7 
 
 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 ac- 
 companied them to the shore. There was the 
 poor old king, too, leaning on his son's arm, and 
 looking as if his single heart held all the grief of 
 Athens. 
 
 Just as Prince Theseus was going on board, 
 his father bethought himself of one last word 
 to say. 
 
 "My beloved son," said he, grasping the 
 Prince's hand, "you observe that the sails of 
 this vessel are black; as indeed they ought to 
 be, since it goes upon a voyage of sorrow and 
 despair. Now, being weighed down with in- 
 firmities, I know not whether I can survive till 
 the vessel shall return. But, as long as I do 
 live, I shall creep daily to the top of yonder 
 cliff, to watch if there be a sail upon the sea. 
 And, dearest Theseus, if by some happy chance, 
 you should escape the jaws of the Minotaur, 
 then tear down those dismal sails, and hoist 
 others that shall be bright as the sunshine. 
 Beholding them on the horizon, myself and all 
 the people will know that you are coming back 
 victorious, and will welcome you with such a 
 festal uproar as Athens never heard before." 
 
 Theseus promised that he would do so. Then 
 going on board, the mariners trimmed the
 
 38 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 vessel's black sails to the wind, which blew 
 faintly off the shore, being pretty much made up 
 of the sighs that everybody kept pouring forth 
 on this melancholy occasion. But by and by, 
 when they had got fairly out to sea, there came 
 a stiff breeze from the north-west, and drove 
 them along as merrily over the white-capped 
 waves as if they had been going on the most 
 delightful errand imaginable. And though it 
 was a sad business enough, I rather question 
 whether fourteen young people, without any old 
 persons to keep them in order, could continue 
 to spend the whole time of the voyage in being 
 miserable. There had been some few dances 
 upon the undulating deck, I suspect, and some 
 hearty bursts of laughter, and other such un- 
 seasonable merriment among the victims, before 
 the high blue mountains of Crete began to 
 show themselves among the far-off clouds. 
 That sight, to be sure, made them all very grave 
 again. 
 
 Theseus stood among the sailors, gazing 
 eagerly towards the land; although, as yet, it 
 seemed hardly more substantial than the clouds, 
 amidst which the mountains were looming up. 
 Once or twice, he fancied that he saw a glare 
 of some bright object, a long way off, flinging a 
 gleam across the waves. 
 
 " Did you see that flash of light?" he inquired 
 of the master of the vessel.
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 39 
 
 "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
 
 40 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 no true giant, but only a wonderful piece of 
 machinery. The figure looked all the more 
 terrible because it carried an enormous brass 
 club on its shoulder. 
 
 "What is this wonder?" Theseus asked of 
 the master of the vessel, who was now at leisure 
 to answer him. 
 
 "It is Talus, the Man of Brass," said the 
 master. 
 
 "And is he a live giant, or a brazen image?" 
 asked Theseus. 
 
 "That, truly," replied the master, "is the 
 point which has always perplexed me. Some 
 say, indeed, that this Talus was hammered out 
 for King Minos by Vulcan himself, the skilfullest 
 of all workers in metal. But who ever saw a 
 brazen image that had sense enough to walk 
 round an island three times a day, as this giant 
 walks round the island of Crete, challenging 
 every vessel that cames nigh the shore? And, 
 on the other hand, what living thing, unless his 
 sinews were made of brass, would not be weary 
 of marching eighteen hundred miles in the 
 twenty-four hours, as Talus does, without ever 
 sitting down to rest? He is a puzzler, take 
 him how you will." 
 
 Still the vessel went bounding onward; and 
 now Theseus could hear the brazen clangor 
 of the giant's footsteps, as he trod heavily 
 upon the sea-beaten rocks, some of which were
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 41 
 
 seen to crack and crumble into the foaming 
 waves beneath his weight. As they approached 
 the entrance of the port, the giant straddled 
 clear across it, with a foot firmly planted on 
 each headland, and uplifting his club to such 
 a height that its butt-end was hidden in the 
 cloud, he stood in that formidable posture, 
 with the sun gleaming all over his metallic sur- 
 face. There seemed nothing else to be expected 
 but that, the next moment, he would fetch his 
 great club down, slam bang, and smash the 
 vessel into a thousand pieces, without heeding 
 how many innocent people he might destroy; 
 for there is seldom any mercy in a giant, you 
 know, and quite as little in a piece of brass 
 clockwork. But just when Theseus and his 
 companions thought the blow was coming, the 
 brazen lips unclosed themselves, and the figure 
 spoke. 
 
 "Whence come you, strangers?" 
 
 And when the ringing voice ceased, there 
 was just such a reverberation as you may have 
 heard within a great church bell, for a moment 
 or two after the stroke of the hammer. 
 
 " From Athens! " shouted the master in reply. 
 
 "On what errand?" thundered the Man of 
 Brass. 
 
 And he whirled his club aloft more threaten- 
 ingly than ever, as if he were about to smite 
 them with a thunderstroke right amidships,
 
 42 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 de- 
 voured by the Minotaur!" 
 
 "Pass!" cried the brazen giant. 
 
 That one loud word rolled all about the sky, 
 while again there was a booming reverberation 
 within the figure's breast. The vessel glided 
 between the headlands of the port, and the 
 giant resumed his march. In a few moments, 
 this wondrous sentinel was far away, flashing 
 in the distant sunshine, and revolving with 
 immense strides round the island of Crete, as 
 it was his never-ceasing task to do. 
 
 No sooner had they entered the harbor than 
 a party of the guards of King Minos came down 
 to the water side, and took charge of the four- 
 teen 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
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 43 
 
 looks, would have felt himself sitting on thorns 
 until he had made every soul of them happy 
 by bidding them go free as the summer wind. 
 But this immitigable Minos cared only to 
 examine whether they were plump enough to 
 satisfy the Minotaur's appetite. For my part, 
 I wish he himself had been the only victim; 
 and the monster would have found him a pretty 
 tough one. 
 
 One after another, King Minos called these 
 pale, frightened youths and sobbing maidens 
 to his footstool, gave them each a poke in the 
 ribs with his sceptre (to try whether they were 
 in good flesh or no), and dismissed them with a 
 nod to his guards. But when his eyes rested 
 on Theseus, the king looked at him more atten- 
 tively, because his face was calm and brave. 
 
 "Young man," asked he, with his stern 
 voice, "are you not appalled at the certainty 
 of being devoured by this terrible Minotaur?" 
 
 "I have offered my life in a good cause," 
 answered Theseus, "and therefore I give it 
 freely and gladly. But thou, King Minos, art 
 thou not thyself appalled, who, year after year, 
 hast perpetrated this dreadful wrong, by giving 
 seven innocent youths and as many maidens 
 to be devoured by a monster? Dost thou not 
 tremble, wicked king, to turn thine eyes inward 
 on thine own heart? Sitting there on thy 
 golden throne, and in thy robes of majesty,
 
 44 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 I tell thee to thy face, King Minos, thou art a 
 more hideous monster than the Minotaur him- 
 self!" 
 
 "Aha! do you think me so?" cried the 
 king, laughing in his cruel way. "To-morrow, 
 at breakfast time, you shall have an oppor- 
 tunity of judging which is the greater monster, 
 the Minotaur or the king! Take them away, 
 guards; and let this free-spoken youth be the 
 Minotaur's first morsel." 
 
 Near the king's throne (though I had no time 
 to tell you so before) stood his daughter Ariadne. 
 She was a beautiful and tender-hearted maiden, 
 and looked at these poor doomed captives with 
 very different feelings from those of the iron- 
 breasted King Minos. She really wept indeed, 
 at the idea of how much human happiness 
 would be needlessly thrown away, by giving 
 so many young people, in the first bloom and 
 rose blossom of their lives, to be eaten up by a 
 creature who, no doubt, would have preferred a 
 fat ox, or even a large pig, to the plumpest of 
 them. And when she beheld the brave, spirited 
 figure of Prince Theseus bearing himself so 
 calmly in his terrible peril, she grew a hundred 
 times more pitiful than before. As the guards 
 were taking him away, she flung herself at the 
 king's feet, and besought him to set all the cap- 
 tives free, and especially this one young man. 
 
 "Peace, foolish girl!" answered King Minos.
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 45 
 
 "What hast thou to do with an affair like this? 
 It is a matter of state policy, and therefore 
 quite beyond thy weak comprehension. Go 
 water thy flowers, and think no more of these 
 Athenian caitiffs, whom the Minotaur shall as 
 certainly eat up for breakfast as I will eat a 
 partridge for my supper." 
 
 So saying, the king looked cruel enough to 
 devour Theseus and all the rest of the captives, 
 himself, had there been no Minotaur to save 
 him the trouble. As he would hear not another 
 word in their favor, the prisoners were now 
 led away, and clapped into a dungeon, where 
 the jailer advised them to go to sleep as soon as 
 possible, because the Minotaur was in the habit 
 of calling for breakfast early. The seven maidens 
 and six of the young men soon sobbed them- 
 selves 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 her- 
 self, with a torch in her hand.
 
 4 6 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 "Are you awake, Prince Theseus?" she 
 whispered. 
 
 "Yes," answered Theseus. "With so little 
 time to live, I do not choose to waste any of it 
 in sleep." 
 
 "Then follow me," said Ariadne, "and tread 
 softly." 
 
 What had become of the jailer and the guards, 
 Theseus never knew. But, however that might 
 be, Ariadne opened all the doors, and led him 
 forth from the darksome prison into the pleasant 
 moonlight. 
 
 "Theseus," said the maiden, "you can now 
 get on board your vessel, and sail away for 
 Athens." 
 
 "No," answered the young man; "I will 
 never leave Crete unless I can first slay the 
 Minotaur, and save my poor companions, and 
 deliver Athens from this cruel tribute." 
 
 " I knew that this would be your resolution," 
 said Ariadne. "Come, then, with me, brave 
 Theseus. Here is your own sword, which the 
 guards deprived you of. You will need it; 
 and pray Heaven you may use it well." 
 
 Then she led Theseus along by the hand until 
 they came to a dark, shadowy grove, where 
 the moonlight wasted itself on the tops of the 
 trees, without shedding hardly so much as a 
 glimmering beam upon their pathway. After 
 going a good way through this obscurity, they
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 47 
 
 reached a high, marble wall, which was over- 
 grown 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. Never- 
 theless, Ariadne did but press one of her soft 
 little fingers against a particular block of marble , 
 and, though it looked as solid as any other part 
 of the wall, it yielded to her touch, disclosing, 
 an entrance just wide enough to admit them 
 They crept through, and the marble stone 
 swung back into its place. 
 
 "We are now," said Ariadne, "in the famous 
 labyrinth which Daedalus built before he made 
 himself a pair of wings, and flew away from our 
 island like a bird. That Daedalus was a very 
 cunning workman; but of all his artful contriv-' 
 ances, this labyrinth is the most wondrous. 
 Were we to take but a few steps from the door- 
 way, we might wander about all our lifetime, 
 and never find it again. Yet in the very center 
 of this labyrinth is the Minotaur ; and, Theseus, 
 you must go thither to seek him." 
 
 "But how shall I ever find him," asked 
 Theseus, "if the labyrinth so bewilders me as 
 you say it will?" 
 
 Just as he spoke, they heard a rough and very 
 disagreeable roar, which greatly resembled the
 
 48 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 laby- 
 rinth, and, by and by, you will find him. Stay! 
 take the end of this silken string; I will hold 
 the other end; and then, if you win the victory, 
 it will lead you again to this spot. Farewell, 
 brave Theseus." 
 
 So the young man took the end of the silken 
 string in his left hand, and his gold-hilted sword, 
 ready drawn from its scabbard, in the other, 
 and trod boldly into the inscrutable labyrinth. 
 How this labyrinth was built is more than I 
 can tell you. But so cunningly contrived a 
 mizmaze was never seen in the world, before 
 nor since. There can be nothing else so intri- 
 cate, 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
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 49 
 
 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 ascend- 
 ing a flight of steps, now in one crooked passage 
 and now in another, with here a door opening 
 before him, and there one banging behind, 
 until it really seemed as if the walls spun round, 
 and whirled him round along with them. And 
 all the while, through these hollow avenues, 
 now nearer, now farther off again, resounded 
 the cry of the Minotaur; and the sound was so 
 fierce, so cruel, so ugly, so like a bull's roar, 
 and withal so like a human voice, and yet like 
 neither of them, that the brave heart of Theseus 
 grew sterner and angrier at every step; for he 
 felt it an insult to the moon and sky, and to our 
 affectionate and simple Mother Earth, that such 
 a monster should have the audacity to exist. 
 
 As he passed onward, the clouds gathered 
 over the moon, and the labyrinth grew so 
 dusky that Theseus could no longer discern 
 the bewilderment through which he was pass- 
 ing. He would have left quite lost, and utterly 
 hopeless of ever again walking in a straight 
 path, if, every little while, he had not been 
 conscious of a gentle twitch at the silken cord. 
 Then he knew that the tender-hearted Ariadne 
 was still holding the other end, and that she 
 was fearing for him, and hoping for him, and
 
 50 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 giving him just as much of her sympathy as if 
 she were close by his side. O, indeed, I can 
 assure you, there was a vast deal of human 
 sympathy running along that slender thread of 
 silk. But still he followed the dreadful roar 
 of the Minotaur, which now grew louder and 
 louder, and finally so very loud that Theseus 
 fully expected to come close upon him, at every 
 new zizgag and wriggle of the path. And at 
 last, in an open space, at the very center of 
 the labyrinth, he did discern the hideous 
 creature. 
 
 Sure enough, what an ugly monster it was! 
 Only his horned head belonged to a bull; and 
 yet, somehow or other, he looked like a bull all 
 over, preposterously waddling on his hind legs; 
 or, if you happened to view him in another way, 
 he seemed wholly a man, and all the more 
 monstrous for being so. And there he was, the 
 wretched thing, with no society, no companion, 
 no kind of a mate, living only to do mischief, 
 and incapable of knowing what affection means. 
 Theseus hated him, and shuddered at him, 
 and yet could not but be sensible of some sort 
 of pity; and all the more, the uglier and more 
 detestable the creature was. For he kept strid- 
 ing to and fro, in a solitary frenzy of rage, con- 
 tinually emitting a hoarse roar, which was oddly 
 mixed up with half-shaped words; and, after 
 listening a while, Theseus understood that the
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 5 r 
 
 Minotaur was saying to himself how miserable 
 he was, and how hungry, and how he hated 
 everybody, and how he longed to eat up the 
 human race alive. 
 
 Ah! the bull-headed villain! And O, my 
 good Httle people, you will perhaps see, one of 
 these days, as I do now, that every human being 
 who suffers any thing evil to get into his nature, 
 or to remain there, is a kind of Minotaur, an. 
 enemy of his fellow-creatures, and separated 
 from all good companionship, as this poor 
 monster was. 
 
 Was Theseus afraid? By no means, my dear 
 auditors. What! a hero like Theseus afraid! 
 Not had the Minotaur had twenty bull-heads 
 instead of one. Bold as he was, however, I 
 rather fancy that it strengthened his valiant 
 heart, just at this crisis, to feel a tremulous 
 twitch at the silken cord, which he was still 
 holding in his left hand. It was as if Ariadne 
 were giving him all her might and courage ; and 
 much as he already had, and little as she had to 
 give, it made his own seem twice as much. And 
 to confess the honest truth, he needed the whole ; 
 for now the Minotaur, turning suddenly about, 
 caught sight of Theseus, and instantly lowered 
 his horribly sharp horns, exactly as a mad bull 
 does when he means to rush against an enemy. 
 At the same time, he belched forth a tremendous 
 roar, in which there was something like the
 
 52 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 words of human language, but all disjointed and 
 shaken to pieces by passing through the gullet 
 of a miserably enraged brute. 
 
 Theseus could only guess what the creature 
 intended to say, and that rather by his gestures 
 than his words; for the Minotaur's horns were 
 sharper than his wits, and of a great deal more 
 service to him than his tongue. But probably 
 this was the sense of what he uttered: 
 
 "Ah, wretch of a human being! I'll stick 
 my horns through you, and toss you fifty feet 
 high, and eat you up the moment you come 
 down." 
 
 "Come on, then, and try it!" was all that 
 Theseus deigned to reply; for he was far too 
 magnanimous to assault his enemy with insolent 
 language. 
 
 Without more words on either side, there 
 ensued the most awful fight between Theseus 
 and the Minotaur that ever happened beneath 
 the sun or moon. I really know not how it 
 might have turned out, if the monster, in his 
 first headlong rush against Theseus, had not 
 missed him, by a hair's breadth, and broken 
 one of his horns short off against the stone wall. 
 On this mishap, he bellowed so intolerably that 
 a part of the labyrinth tumbled down, and all the 
 inhabitants of Crete mistook the noise for an 
 uncommonly heavy thunder storm. Smarting 
 with the pain, he galloped around the open space
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 53 
 
 in so ridiculous a way that Theseus laughed at 
 it, long afterwards, though not precisely at the 
 moment. After this, the two antagonists stood 
 valiantly up to one another, and fought, sword 
 to horn, for a long while. At last, the Minotaur 
 made a run at Theseus, grazed his left side with 
 his horn, and flung him down; and thinking 
 that he had stabbed him to the heart, he cut a 
 great caper in the air, opened his bull mouth 
 from ear to ear, and prepared to snap his head 
 off. But Theseus by this time had leaped up, 
 and caught the monster off his guard. Fetching 
 a sword stroke at him with all his force, he hit 
 him fair upon the neck, and made his bull head 
 skip six yards from his human body, which fell 
 down flat upon the ground. 
 
 So now the battle was ended. Immediately 
 the moon shone out as brightly as if all the 
 troubles of the world, and all the wickedness and 
 the ugliness that infest human life, were past 
 and gone forever. And Theseus, as he leaned 
 on his sword, taking breath, felt another twitch 
 of the silken cord; for all through the terrible 
 encounter, he had held it fast in his left hand. 
 Eager to let Ariadne know of his success, he 
 followed the guidance of the thread, and 
 soon found himself at the entrance of the 
 labyrinth. 
 
 " Thou hast slain the monster, "cried Ariadne, 
 clasping her hands.
 
 54 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 "Thanks to thee, dear Ariadne," answered 
 Theseus, " I return victorious." 
 
 "Then," said Ariadne, "we must quickly 
 summon thy friends, and get them and thyself 
 on board the vessel before dawn. If morning 
 finds thee here, my father will avenge the 
 Minotaur." 
 
 To make my story short, the poor captives 
 were awakened, and, hardly knowing whether 
 it was not a joyful dream, were told of what 
 Theseus had done, and that they must set sail 
 for Athens before daybreak. Hastening down 
 to the vessel, they all clambered on board, 
 except Prince Theseus, who lingered behind 
 them on the strand, holding Ariadne's hand 
 clasped in his own. 
 
 " Dear maiden," said he, " thou wilt surely go 
 with us. Thou art too gentle and sweet a child 
 for such an iron-hearted father as King Minos. 
 He cares no more for thee than a granite rock 
 cares for the little flower that grows in one of its 
 crevices. But my father, King ^Egeus, and my 
 dear mother, JEfhra,, and all the fathers and 
 mothers in Athens, and all the sons and daugh- 
 ters too, will love and honor thee as their 
 benefactress. Come with us, then; for King 
 Minos will be very angry when he knows what 
 thou hast done." 
 
 Now, some low-minded people, who pretend 
 to tell the story of Theseus and Ariadne, have
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 55 
 
 the face to say that this royal and honorable 
 maiden did really flee away, under cover of the 
 night, with the young stranger whose life she 
 had preserved. They say, too, that Prince 
 Theseus (who would have died sooner than 
 wrong the meanest creature in the world) 
 ungratefully deserted Ariadne, on a solitary 
 island, where the vessel touched on its voyage 
 to Athens. But, had the noble Theseus heard 
 these falsehoods, he would have served their 
 slanderous authors as he served the Minotaur! 
 Here is what Ariadne answered, when the brave 
 prince of Athens besought her to accompany 
 him: 
 
 "No, Theseus," the maiden said, pressing his 
 hand, and then drawing back a step or two, 
 " I cannot go with you. My father is old, and 
 has nobody but myself to love him. Hard as 
 you think his heart is, it would break to lose 
 me. At first, King Minos will be angry ; but he 
 will soon forgive his only child ; and, by and by, 
 he will rejoice, I know, that no more youths 
 and maidens must come from Athens to be 
 devoured by the Minotaur. I have saved you, 
 Theseus, as much for my father's sake as for 
 your own. Farewell! Heaven bless you!" 
 
 All this was so true, and so maiden-like, and 
 was spoken with so sweet a dignity, that Theseus 
 would have blushed to urge her any longer. 
 Nothing remained for him, therefore, but to bid
 
 56 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 Ariadne an affectionate farewell, and to go on 
 board the vessel, and set sail. 
 
 In a few moments the white foam was boiling 
 up before their prow, as Prince Theseus and his 
 companions sailed out of the harbor, with 
 a whistling breeze behind them. Talus, the 
 brazen giant, on his never-ceasing sentinel's 
 march, happened to be approaching that part of 
 the coast ; and they saw him, by the glimmering 
 of the moonbeams on his polished surface, while 
 he was yet a great way off. As the figure moved 
 like clockwork, however, and could neither 
 hasten his enormous strides nor retard them, 
 he arrived at the port when they were just 
 beyond the reach of his club. Nevertheless, 
 straddling from headland to headland, as his 
 custom was, Talus attempted to strike a blow 
 at the vessel, and, overreaching himself, tumbled 
 at full length into the sea, which splashed high 
 over his gigantic shape, as when an iceberg 
 turns a somerset. There he lies yet; and who- 
 ever desires to enrich himself by means of brass 
 had better go thither with a diving bell, and 
 fish up Talus. 
 
 On the homeward voyage, the fourteen youths 
 and damsels were in excellent spirits, as you will 
 easily suppose. They spent most of their time 
 in dancing, unless when the sidelong breeze 
 made the deck slope too much. In due season, 
 they came within sight of the coast of Attica,
 
 They never once thought whether their sails were black, white, or rain- 
 bow colored
 
 THE MINOTAUR. 57 
 
 which was their native country. But here, I am 
 grieved to tell you, happened a sad misfortune. 
 You will remember (what Theseus unfor- 
 tunately forgot) that his father, King ^Egeus, 
 had enjoined it upon him to hoist sunshiny sails, 
 instead of black ones, in case he should over- 
 come 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 
 ^Egeus, day after day, infirm as he was, had 
 clambered to the summit of a cliff that over- 
 hung 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 ^Egeus merely 
 stooped forward, and fell headlong over the 
 cliff, and was drowned, poor soul, in the waves 
 that foamed at its base!
 
 58 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 This was melancholy news for Prince Theseus, 
 who, when he stepped ashore, found himself 
 king of all the country, whether he would or no ; 
 and such a turn of fortune was enough to make 
 any young man feel very much out of spirits. 
 However, he sent for his dear mother to Athens, 
 and, by taking her advice in matters of state, 
 became a very excellent monarch, and was 
 greatly beloved by his people.
 
 THE PYGMIES. 
 
 A great while ago, when the world was full of 
 wonders, there lived an earth-born Giant, named 
 Antaeus, and a million or more of curious little 
 earth-born people, who were called Pygmies. 
 This Giant and these Pygmies being children of 
 the same mother (that is to say, our good old 
 Grandmother Earth), were all brethren, and 
 dwelt together in a very friendly and affectionate 
 manner, far, far off, in the middle of hot Africa. 
 The Pygmies were so small, and there were so 
 many sandy deserts and such high mountains 
 between them and the rest of mankind, that 
 nobody could get a peep at them oftener than 
 once in a hundred years. As for the Giant, 
 being of a very lofty stature, it was easy enough 
 to see him, but safest to keep out of his sight. 
 
 Among the Pygmies, I suppose, if one of them 
 grew to the height of six or eight inches, he was 
 reckoned a prodigiously tall man. It must have 
 been very pretty to behold their little cities, 
 with streets two or three feet wide, paved with 
 the smallest pebbles, and bordered by habita- 
 tions about as big as a squirrel's cage. The 
 
 59
 
 6o TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 king's palace attained to the stupendous mag- 
 nitude of Periwinkle's baby house, and stood in 
 the center of a spacious square, which could 
 hardly have been covered by our hearth-rug. 
 Their principal temple, or cathedral, was as 
 lofty as yonder bureau, and was looked upon as 
 a wonderfully sublime and magnificent edifice. 
 All these structures were built neither of stone 
 nor wood. They were neatly plastered together 
 by the Pygmy workmen, pretty much like 
 birds' nests, out of straw, feathers, egg shells, and 
 other small bits of stuff, with stiff clay instead of 
 mortar; and when the hot sun had dried them, 
 they were just as snug and comfortable as a 
 Pygmy could desire. 
 
 The country round about was conveniently 
 laid out in fields, the largest of which was nearly 
 of the same extent as one of Sweet Fern's flower 
 beds. Here the Pygmies used to plant wheat 
 and other kinds of grain, which, when it grew 
 up and ripened, overshadowed these tiny people 
 as the pines, and the oaks, and the walnut and 
 chestnut trees overshadow you and me, when we 
 walk in our own tracts of woodland. At harvest 
 time, they were forced to go with their little 
 axes and cut down the grain, exactly as a wood- 
 cutter makes a clearing in the forest ; and when 
 a stalk of wheat, with its overburdened top, 
 chanced to come crashing down upon an un- 
 fortunate Pygmy, it was apt to be a very sad
 
 THE PYGMIES. 61 
 
 affair. If it did not smash him all to pieces, at 
 least, I am sure, it must have made the poor 
 little fellow's head ache. And O, my stars! if 
 the fathers and mothers were so small, what 
 must the children and babies have been? A 
 whole family of them might have been put to 
 bed in a shoe, or have crept into an old glove, 
 and played at hide-and-seek in its thumb and 
 fingers. You might have hidden a year-old 
 baby under a thimble. 
 
 Now these funny Pygmies, as I told you 
 before, had a Giant for their neighbor and 
 brother, who was bigger, if possible, than they 
 were little. He was so very tall that he carried 
 a pine tree, which was eight feet through the 
 butt, for a walking stick. It took a far-sighted 
 Pygmy, I can assure you, to discern his summit 
 without the help of a telescope; and sometimes, 
 in misty weather, they could not see his upper 
 half, but only his long legs, which seemed to be 
 striding about by themselves. But at noonday 
 in a clear atmosphere, when the sun shone 
 brightly over him, the Giant Antaeus presented 
 a very grand spectacle. There he used to stand, 
 a perfect mountain of a man, with his great 
 countenance smiling down upon his little 
 brothers, and his one vast eye (which was as 
 big as a cart wheel, and placed right in the 
 center of his forehead) giving a friendly wink 
 to the whole nation at once.
 
 62 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 The Pygmies loved to talk with Antaeus ; and 
 fifty times a day, one or another of them would 
 turn up his head, and shout through the hollow 
 of his fists, "Halloo, brother Antaeus! How 
 are you, my good fellow?" And when the 
 small distant squeak of their voices reached his 
 ear, the Giant would make answer, " Pretty well, 
 brother Pygmy, I thank you," in a thunderous 
 roar that would have shaken down the walls 
 of their strongest temple, only that it came from 
 so far aloft. 
 
 It was a happy circumstance that Antaeus 
 was the Pygmy people's friend; for there was 
 more strength in his little finger than in ten 
 million of such bodies as this. If he had been as 
 ill-natured to them as he was to everybody else, 
 he might have beaten down their biggest city 
 at one kick, and hardly have known that he did 
 it. With the tornado of his breath, he could 
 have stripped the roofs from a hundred dwellings 
 and sent thousands of the inhabitants whirling 
 through the air. He might have set his immense 
 foot upon a multitude ; and -when he took it up 
 again, there would have been a pitiful sight, 
 to be sure. But, being the son of Mother 
 Earth, as they likewise were, the Giant gave 
 them his brotherly kindness, and loved them 
 with as big a love as it was possible to feel for 
 creatures so very small. And, on their parts, 
 the Pygmies loved Antaeus with as much
 
 THE PYGMIES. 63 
 
 affection as their tiny hearts could hold. He was 
 always ready to do them any good offices that 
 lay in his power; as for example, when they 
 wanted a breeze to turn their windmills, the 
 Giant would set all the sails a-going with the 
 mere natural respiration of his lungs. When the 
 sun was too hot, he often sat himself down, and 
 let his shadow fall over the kingdom, from one 
 frontier to the other; and as for matters in 
 general, he was wise enough to let them alone 
 and leave the Pygmies to manage their own 
 affairs which, after all, is about the best 
 thing that great people can do for little ones. 
 
 In short, as I said before, Antaeus loved the 
 Pygmies, and the Pygmies loved Antaeus. The 
 Giant's life being as long as his body was large, 
 while the lifetime of a Pygmy was but a span, 
 this friendly intercourse had been going on for 
 innumerable generations and ages. It was 
 written about in the Pygmy histories, and talked 
 about in their ancient traditions. The most 
 venerable and white-bearded Pygmy had never 
 heard of a time, even in his greatest of grand- 
 fathers' 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
 
 64 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 nobody is to blame; so that the small folks 
 never took it to heart, and only requested the 
 Giant to be careful forever afterwards to examine 
 the acre of ground where he intended to squat 
 himself. 
 
 It is a very pleasant picture to imagine 
 Antaeus standing among the Pygmies, like the 
 spire of the tallest cathedral that ever was built, 
 while they ran about like pismires at his feet; 
 and to think that, in spite of their difference in 
 size, there were affection and sympathy between 
 them and him! Indeed, it has always seemed 
 to me that the Giant needed the little people 
 more than the Pygmies needed the Giant. For, 
 unless they had been his neighbors and well 
 wishers, and, as we may say, his playfellows, 
 Antaeus would not have had a single friend in 
 the world. No other being like himself had ever 
 been created. No creature of his own size had 
 ever talked with him, in thunder-like accents, 
 face to face. When he stood with his head 
 among the clouds, he was quite alone, and had 
 been so for hundreds of years, and would be so 
 forever. Even if he had met another Giant, 
 Antaeus would have fancied the world not big 
 enough for two such vast personages, and, 
 instead of being friends with him, would have 
 fought him till one of the two was killed. But 
 with the Pygmies he was the most sportive 
 and humorous, and merry-hearted, and sweet-
 
 THE PYGMIES. 65 
 
 tempered old Giant that ever washed his face in 
 a wet cloud. 
 
 His little friends, like all other small people, 
 had a great opinion of their own importance, 
 and used to assume quite a patronizing air 
 towards the Giant. 
 
 "Poor creature!" they said one to another. 
 "He has a very dull time of it, all by himself; 
 and we ought not to grudge wasting a little of 
 our precious time to amuse him. He is not half 
 so bright as we are, to be sure; and, for that 
 reason, he needs us to look after his comfort 
 and happiness. Let us be kind to the old fellow. 
 Why, if Mother Earth had not been very kind 
 to ourselves, we might all have been Giants 
 too." 
 
 On all their holidays, the Pygmies had ex- 
 cellent sport with Antaeus. He often stretched 
 himself out at full length on the ground, where 
 he looked like the long ridge of a hill; and it 
 was a good hour's walk, no doubt, for a short- 
 legged Pygmy to journey from head to foot of 
 the Giant. He would lay down his great hand 
 flat on the grass, and challenge the tallest of 
 them to clamber upon it, and straddle from 
 finger to finger. So fearless were they, that 
 they made nothing of creeping in among the 
 folds of his garments. When his head lay 
 side wise on the earth, they would march boldly 
 up, and peep into the great cavern of his mouth,
 
 66 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 some- 
 times 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
 
 They were constantly at war with the cranes
 
 THE PYGMIES. 67 
 
 immeasurable laughter, that the whole nation 
 of Pygmies had to put their hands to their ears, 
 else it would certainly have deafened them. 
 
 "Ho! ho! ho!" quoth the Giant, shaking 
 his mountainous sides. "What a funny thing 
 it is to be little ! If I were not Antaeus, I should 
 like to be a Pygmy, just for the joke's sake." 
 
 The Pygmies had but one thing to trouble 
 them in the world. They were constantly at 
 war with the cranes, and had always been so, 
 ever since the long-lived Giant could remember. 
 From time to time, very terrible battles had 
 been fought in which sometimes the little men 
 won the victory, and sometimes the cranes. 
 According to some historians, the Pygmies used 
 to go to the battle, mounted on the backs of 
 goats and rams; but such animals as these 
 must have been far too big for Pygmies to 
 ride upon; so that, I rather suppose, they rode 
 on squirrelback, or rabbitback, or ratback, 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 eves upon them; although, in
 
 68 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 simple truth, the only spectator was the Giant 
 Antaeus, with his one, great, stupid eye in the 
 middle of his forehead. 
 
 When the two armies joined battle, the cranes 
 would rush forward, flapping their wings and 
 stretching out their necks, and would perhaps 
 snatch up some of the Pygmies crosswise in 
 their beaks. Whenever this happened, it was 
 truly an awful spectacle to see those little men 
 of might kicking and sprawling in the air, and 
 at last disappearing down the crane's long, 
 crooked throat, swallowed up alive. A hero, 
 you know, must hold himself in readiness for 
 any kind of fate; and doubtless the glory of the 
 thing was a consolation to him, even in the 
 crane's gizzard. If Antasus observed that the 
 battle was going hard against his little allies, 
 he generally stopped laughing, and ran with' 
 mile-long strides to their assistance, flourishing 
 his club aloft and shouting at the cranes, who 
 quacked and croaked, and retreated as fast as 
 they could. Then the Pygmy army would march 
 homeward in triumph, attributing the victory 
 entirely to their own valor, and to the warlike 
 skill and strategy of whomsoever happened to 
 be captain general ; and for a tedious while after- 
 wards, nothing would be heard of but grand pro- 
 cessions, and public banquets, a nd brilliant illu- 
 minations, and shows of wax- work, with likenesses 
 of the distinguished officers, as small as life.
 
 THE PYGMIES. 69 
 
 In the above-described warfare, if a Pygmy 
 chanced to pluck out a crane's tail feather, it 
 proved a very great feather in his cap. Once or 
 twice, if you will believe me, a little man was 
 made chief ruler of the nation for no other merit 
 in the world than bringing home such a feather. 
 
 But I have now said enough to let you see 
 what a gallant little people these were, and 
 how happily they and their forefathers, for 
 nobody knows how many generations, had lived 
 with the immeasurable Giant Antaeus. In the 
 remaining part of the story, I shall tell you of a 
 far more astonishing battle than any that was 
 fought between the Pygmies and the cranes. 
 
 One day the mighty Antaeus was lolling at 
 full length among his little friends. His pine- 
 tree walking stick lay on the ground, close by 
 his side. His head was in one part of the 
 kingdom, and his feet extended across the 
 boundaries of another part; and he was taking 
 whatever comfort he could get, while the 
 Pygmies scrambled over him, and peeped into 
 his cavernous mouth, and played among his 
 hair. Sometimes, for a minute or two, the 
 Giant dropped asleep, and snored like the rush 
 of a whirlwind. During one of these little bits 
 of slumber, a Pygmy chanced to climb upon his 
 shoulder, and took a view around the horizon, 
 as from the summit of a hill; and he beheld 
 something, a long way off, which made him
 
 7 o TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 rub the bright specks of his eyes, and look 
 sharper than before. At first he mistook it for a 
 mountain, and wondered how it had grown up 
 so suddenly out of the earth. But soon he saw 
 the mountain move. As it came nearer and 
 nearer, what should it turn out to be but a 
 human shape, not so big as Antaeus, it is true, 
 although a very enormous figure, in comparison 
 with Pygmies, and a vast deal bigger than the 
 men we see nowadays. 
 
 When the Pygmy was quite satisfied that his 
 eyes had not deceived him, he scampered, as 
 fast as his legs would carry him, to the Giant's 
 ear, and stooping over its cavity, shouted 
 lustily into it : 
 
 "Halloo, brother Antaeus! Get up this min- 
 ute, and take your pine-tree walking stick 
 in your hand. Here comes another Giant to 
 have a tussle with you." 
 
 "Poh, poh!" grumbled Antaeus, only half 
 awake. " None of your nonsense, my little 
 fellow! Don't you see I'm sleepy? There is 
 not a Giant on earth for whom I would take 
 the trouble to get up." 
 
 But the Pygmy looked again, and now 
 perceived that the stranger was coming directly 
 towards the prostrate form of Antaeus. With 
 every step, he looked less like a blue mountain, 
 and more like an immensely large man. He 
 was soon so nigh, that there could be no possible
 
 THE PYGMIES. 71 
 
 mistake about the matter. There he was, with 
 the sun flaming on his golden helmet, and 
 flashing from his polished breastplate; he had 
 a sword by his side, and a lion's skin over his 
 back, and on his right shoulder he carried a 
 club, which looked bulkier and heavier than 
 the pine-tree walking-stick of Antaeus. 
 
 By this time, the whole nation of the Pygmies 
 had seen the new wonder, and a million of them 
 set up a shout all together; so that it really 
 made quite an audible squeak. 
 
 "Get up, Antaeus! Bestir yourself, you lazy 
 old Giant! Here comes another Giant, as 
 strong as you are, to fight with you." 
 
 "Nonsense, nonsense!" growled the sleepy 
 Giant. "I'll have my nap out, come who 
 may." 
 
 Still the stranger drew nearer; and now the 
 Pygmies could plainly discern that, if his stature 
 were less lofty than the Giant's, yet his shoulders 
 were even broader. And, in truth, what a pair 
 of shoulders they must have been! As I told 
 you, a long while ago, they once upheld the sky. 
 The Pygmies, being ten times as vivacious as 
 their great numskull of a brother, could not 
 abide the Giant's slow movements, and were 
 determined to have him on his feet. So they 
 kept shouting to him, and even went so far as to 
 prick him with their swords. 
 
 "Get up, get up, get up," they cried. "Up
 
 7 2 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 with you, lazy bones! The strange Giant's 
 club is bigger than your own, his shoulders are 
 the broadest, and we think him the stronger of 
 the two." 
 
 Antaeus could not endure to have it said that 
 any mortal was half so mighty as himself. This 
 latter remark of the Pygmies pricked him deeper 
 than their swords; and, sitting up, in rather a 
 sulky humor, he gave a gape of several yards 
 wide, rubbed his eyes, and finally turned his 
 stupid head in the direction whither his little 
 friends were eagerly pointing. 
 - No sooner did he set eyes on the stranger, 
 than, leaping on his feet, and seizing his walking 
 stick, he strode a mile or two to meet him; all 
 the while brandishing the sturdy pine tree, so 
 that it whistled through the air. 
 
 "Who are you?" thundered the Giant. 
 "And what do you want in my dominions?" 
 
 There was one strange thing about Antaeus, of 
 which I have not yet told you, lest, hearing of 
 so many wonders all in a lump, you might not 
 believe much more than half of them. You are 
 to know, then, that whenever this redoubtable 
 Giant touched the ground, either with his hand, 
 his foot, or any other part of his body, he grew 
 stronger than ever he had been before. The 
 Earth, you remember, was his mother, and was 
 very fond of him, as being almost the biggest 
 of her children; and so she took this method of
 
 THE PYGMIES. 73 
 
 keeping him always in full vigor. Some per- 
 sons affirm that he grew ten times stronger 
 at every touch; others say that it was only 
 twice as strong. But only think of it! When- 
 ever Antaeus took a walk, supposing it were but 
 ten miles, and that he stepped a hundred yards 
 at a stride, you may try to cipher out how much 
 mightier he was, on sitting down again, than 
 when he first started. And whenever he flung 
 himself on the earth to take a little repose, even 
 if he got up the very next instant, he would be 
 as strong as exactly ten just such giants as his 
 former self. It was well for the world that 
 Antaeus happened to be of a sluggish disposition 
 and liked ease better than exercise; for, if he 
 had frisked about like the Pygmies, and touched 
 the earth as often as they did, he would long 
 ago have been strong enough to pull down the 
 sky about people's ears. But these great 
 lubberly fellows resemble mountains, not only 
 in bulk, but in their disinclination to move. 
 
 Any other mortal man, except the very one 
 whom Antaeus had now encountered, would have 
 been half frightened to death by the Giant's 
 ferocious aspect and terrible voice. But the 
 stranger did not seem at all disturbed. He 
 carelessly lifted his club, and balanced it in his 
 hand, measuring Antaeus with his eye, from 
 head to foot, not as if wonder-smitten at his 
 stature, but as if he had seen a great many
 
 7 4 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 Giants before, and this was by no means the 
 biggest of them. In fact, if the Giant had been 
 no bigger than the Pygmies (who stood pricking 
 up their ears, and looking and listening to 
 what was going forward), the stranger could 
 not have been less afraid of him. 
 
 "Who are you, I say?" roared Antaeus again. 
 "What's your name? Why do you come 
 hither? Speak, you vagabond, or I'll try the 
 thickness of your skull with my walking-stick." 
 
 "You are a very discourteous Giant," 
 answered the stranger quietly, "and I shall 
 probably have to teach you a little civility, 
 before we part. As for my name, it is Hercules. 
 I have come hither because this is my most con- 
 venient road to the garden of the Hesperides, 
 whither I am going to get three of the golden 
 apples for King Eurystheus." 
 
 "Caitiff, you shall go no farther!" bellowed 
 Antaeus, putting on a grimmer look than before ; 
 for he had heard of the mighty Hercules, and 
 hated him because he was said to be so strong. 
 "Neither shall you go back whence you came!" 
 
 "How will you prevent me," asked Hercules, 
 " from going whither I please? " 
 
 "By hitting you a rap with this pine tree 
 here," shouted Antaeus, scowling so that he 
 made himself the ugliest monster in Africa. 
 "I am fifty times stronger than you; and 
 now that I stamp my foot upon the ground, I
 
 THE PYGMIES. 75 
 
 am five hundred times stronger! I am ashamed 
 to kill such a puny little dwarf as you seem to be. 
 I will make a slave of you, and you shall likewise 
 be the slave of my brethren here, the Pygmies. 
 So throw down your club and your other 
 weapons; and as for that lion's skin, I intend 
 to have a pair of gloves made of it." 
 
 "Come and take it off my shoulders, then," 
 answered Hercules, lifting his club. 
 
 Then the Giant, grinning with rage, strode 
 tower-like towards the stranger (ten times 
 strengthened at every step), and fetched a 
 monstrous blow at him with his pine tree, which 
 Hercules caught upon his club ; and being more 
 skilful than Antaeus, he paid him back such a 
 rap upon the sconce, that down tumbled the 
 great lumbering man-mountain, flat upon the 
 ground. The poor little Pygmies (who really 
 never dreamed that anybody in the world was 
 half so strong as their brother Antaeus) were a 
 good deal dismayed at this. But no sooner was 
 the Giant down, than up he bounced again, 
 with tenfold might, and such a furious visage 
 as was horrible to behold. He aimed another 
 blow at Hercules, but struck awry, being blinded 
 with wrath, and only hit his poor innocent 
 Mother Earth, who groaned and trembled at the 
 stroke. His pine tree went so deep into the 
 ground, and stuck there so fast, that, before 
 Antaeus could get it out, Hercules brought down
 
 7 6 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 his club across his shoulders with a mighty 
 thwack, which made the Giant roar as if all 
 sorts of intolerable noises had come screeching 
 and rumbling out of his immeasurable lungs in 
 that one cry. Away it went, over mountains 
 and valleys, and, for aught I know, was heard 
 on the other side of the African deserts. 
 
 As for the Pygmies, their capital city was 
 laid in ruins by the concussion and vibration 
 of the air ; and, though there was uproar enough 
 without their help, they all set up a shriek out 
 of three millions of little throats, fancying, no 
 doubt, that they swelled the Giant's bellow by 
 at least ten times as much. Meanwhile, Antaeus 
 had scrambled upon his feet again, and pulled 
 his pine tree out of the earth; and, all aflame 
 with fury, and more outrageously strong than 
 ever, he ran at Hercules, and brought down 
 another blow. 
 
 "This time, rascal," shouted he, "you shall 
 not escape me." 
 
 But once more Hercules warded off the stroke 
 with his club, and the Giant's pine tree was 
 shattered into a thousand splinters, most of 
 which flew among the Pygmies, and did them 
 more mischief than I like to think about. Before 
 Antaeus could get out of the way, Hercules let 
 drive again, and gave him another knock-down 
 blow, which sent him heels over head, but served 
 only to increase his already enormous and
 
 THE PYGMIES. 77 
 
 insufferable strength. As for his rage, there is 
 no telling what a fiery furnace it had now got 
 to be. His one eye was nothing but a circle 
 of red flame. Having now no weapons but his 
 fists, he doubled them up (each bigger than a 
 hogshead), smote one against the other, and 
 danced up and down with absolute frenzy, 
 flourishing his immense arms about, as if he 
 meant not merely to kill Hercules, but to 
 smash the whole world to pieces. 
 
 "Come on!" roared this thundering Giant. 
 " Let me hit you but one box on the ear, and 
 you'll never have the headache again." 
 
 Now Hercules (though strong enough, as you 
 already know, to hold the sky up) began to be 
 sensible that he should never win the victory, 
 if he kept on knocking Antaeus down; for, by 
 and by, if he hit him such hard blows, the Giant 
 would inevitably, by the help of his Mother 
 Earth, become stronger than the mighty Her- 
 cules himself. So, throwing down his club, with 
 which he had fought so many dreadful battles, 
 the hero stood ready to receive his antagonist 
 with naked arms. 
 
 " Step forward, ' ' cried he. ' ' Since I 've broken 
 your pine tree, we'll try which is the better 
 man at a wrestling match." 
 
 "Aha! then I'll soon satisfy you," shouted 
 the Giant; for, if there was one thing on which 
 he prided himself more than another, it was his
 
 78 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 skill in wrestling. "Villain, I'll fling you where 
 you can never pick yourself up again." 
 
 On came Antaeus, hopping and capering with 
 the scorching heat of his rage, and getting new 
 vigor wherewith to wreak his passion, every 
 time he hopped. But Hercules, you must under- 
 stand, was wiser than this numskull of a Giant, 
 and had thought of a way to fight him huge, 
 earth-born monster that he was and to conquer 
 him too, in spite of all that his Mother Earth 
 could do for him. Watching his opportunity, 
 as the mad Giant made a rush at him, Hercules 
 caught him round the middle with both hands, 
 lifted him high into the air, and held him aloft 
 overhead. 
 
 Just imagine it, my dear little friends. What 
 a spectacle it must have been, to see this 
 monstrous fellow sprawling in the air, face 
 downwards, kicking out his long legs and wrig- 
 gling his whole vast body, like a baby when its 
 father holds it at arm's length towards the 
 ceiling. 
 
 But the most wonderful thing was, that, as 
 soon as Antaeus was fairly off the earth, he began 
 to lose the vigor which he had gained by touch- 
 ing 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
 
 THE PYGMIES. 79 
 
 that unless the Giant touched Mother Earth as 
 often as once in five minutes, not only his 
 overgrown strength, but the very breath of his 
 life, would depart from him. Hercules had 
 guessed this secret; and it may be well for us 
 all to remember it, in case we should ever have 
 to fight a battle with a fellow like Antaeus. For 
 these earth-born creatures are only difficult to 
 conquer on their own ground, but may easily 
 be managed if we can contrive to lift them into a 
 loftier and purer region. So it proved with the 
 poor Giant, whom I am really a little sorry for, 
 notwithstanding his uncivil way of treating 
 strangers who came to visit him. 
 
 When his strength and breath were quite gone, 
 Hercules gave his huge body a toss, and flung 
 it about a mile off, where it fell heavily, and lay 
 with no more motion than a sand hill. It was 
 too late for the Giant's Mother Earth to help 
 him now ; and I should not wonder if his ponder- 
 ous bones were lying on the same spot to this 
 very day, and were mistaken for those of an 
 uncommonly large elephant. 
 
 But, alas me! What a wailing did the poor 
 little Pygmies set up when they saw their 
 enormous brother treated in this terrible man- 
 ner! If Hercules heard their shrieks, how- 
 ever, he took no notice, and perhaps fancied 
 them only the shrill, plaintive twittering of 
 small birds that had been frightened from their
 
 8o TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 exer- 
 tions 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 pre- 
 paring for a nap, they nodded their little heads 
 at one another, and winked with their little 
 eyes. And when his deep, regular breathing 
 gave them notice that he was asleep, they 
 assembled together in an immense crowd, 
 spreading over a space of about twenty-seven 
 feet square. One of their most eloquent orators 
 (and a valiant warrior enough, besides, though 
 hardly so good at any other weapon as he was 
 with his tongue) climbed upon a toadstool, and, 
 from that elevated position, addressed the 
 multitude. His sentiments were pretty much 
 as follows; or, at all events, something like 
 this was probably the upshot of his speech: 
 
 "Tall Pygmies and mighty little men! You 
 and all of us have seen what a public calamity 
 has been brought to pass, and what an insult 
 has here been offered to the majesty of our 
 nation. Yonder lies Antaeus, our great friend
 
 THE PYGMIES. Si 
 
 and brother, slain, within our territory, by a 
 miscreant who took him at disadvantage, and 
 fought him (if fighting it can be called) in a way 
 that neither man, nor Giant, nor Pygmy ever 
 dreamed of fighting, until this hour. And, 
 adding a grievous contumely to the wrong 
 already done us, the miscreant has now fallen 
 asleep as quietly as if nothing were to be dreaded 
 from our wrath! It behooves you, fellow- 
 countrymen, to consider in what aspect we shall 
 stand before the world, and what will be the 
 verdict of impartial history, should we suffer 
 these accumulated outrages to go unavenged. 
 
 " Antaeus was our brother, born of that same 
 beloved parent to whom we owe the thews and 
 sinews, as well as the courageous hearts, which 
 made him proud of our relationship. He was 
 our faithful ally, and fell fighting as much for 
 our national rights and immunities as for his 
 own personal ones. We and our forefathers 
 have dwelt in friendship with him, and held 
 affectionate intercourse as man to man, through 
 immemorial generations. You remember how 
 often our entire people have reposed in his great 
 shadow, and how our little ones have played at 
 hide-and-seek in the tangles of his hair, and 
 how his mighty footsteps have familiarly gone 
 to and fro among us, and never trodden upon 
 any of our toes. And there lies this dear 
 brother this sweet and amiable friend this
 
 82 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 brave and faithful ally this virtuous Giant 
 this blameless and excellent Antaeus dead! 
 Dead! Silent! Powerless! A mere mountain 
 of clay! Forgive my tears! Nay, I behold 
 your own. Were we to drown the world with 
 them, could the world blame us ? 
 
 " But to resume : Shall we, my countrymen, 
 suffer this wicked stranger to depart unharmed, 
 and triumph in his treacherous victory, among 
 distant communities of the earth? Shall we 
 not rather compel him to leave his bones here 
 on our soil, by the side of our slain brother's 
 bones? so that, while one skeleton shall remain 
 as the everlasting monument of our sorrow, the 
 other shall endure as long, exhibiting to the 
 whole human race a terrible example of Pygmy 
 vengeance! Such is the question. I put it to 
 you in full confidence of a response that shall be 
 worthy of our national character, and calculated 
 to increase, rather than diminish, the glory 
 which our ancestors have transmitted to us, and 
 which we ourselves have proudly vindicated in 
 our warfare with the cranes." 
 
 The orator was here interrupted by a burst 
 of irrepressible enthusiasm; every individual 
 Pygmy crying out that the national honor 
 must be preserved at all hazards. He bowed, 
 and, making a gesture for silence, wound up his 
 harangue in the following admirable manner: 
 
 "It only remains for us, then, to decide
 
 THE PYGMIES. 83 
 
 whether we shall carry on the war in our national 
 capacity one united people against a common 
 enemy or whether some champion, famous in 
 former fights, shall be selected to defy the 
 slayer of our brother Antaeus to single combat. 
 In the latter case, though not unconscious that 
 there may be taller men among you, I hereby 
 offer myself for that enviable duty. And 
 believe me, dear countrymen, whether I live 
 or die, the honor of this great country, and the 
 fame bequeathed us by our heroic progenitors, 
 shall suffer no diminution in my hands. Never, 
 while I can wield this sword, of which I now 
 fling away the scabbard never, never, never, 
 even if the crimson hand that slew the great 
 Antaeus shall lay me prostrate, like him, on the 
 soil which I give my life to defend." 
 
 So saying, this valiant Pygmy drew out his 
 weapon '(which was terrible to behold, being as 
 long as the blade of a penknife), and sent the 
 scabbard whirling over the heads of the multi- 
 tude. His speech was followed by an uproar 
 of applause, as its patriotism and self-devotion 
 unquestionably deserved; and the shouts and 
 clapping of hands would have been greatly 
 prolonged, had they not been rendered quite 
 inaudible by a deep respiration, vulgarly called 
 a snore, from the sleeping Hercules. 
 
 It was finally decided that the whole nation 
 of Pygmies should set to work to destroy
 
 84 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 Hercules; not, be it understood, from any 
 doubt that a single champion would be capable 
 of putting him to the sword, but because he was 
 a public enemy, and all were desirous of sharing 
 in the glory of his defeat. There was a debate 
 whether the national honor did not demand 
 that a herald should be sent with a trumpet, 
 to stand over the ear of Hercules, and after 
 blowing a blast right into it, to defy him to the 
 combat by formal proclamation. But two or 
 three venerable and sagacious Pygmies, well 
 versed in state affairs, gave it as their opinion 
 that war already existed, and that it was their 
 rightful privilege to take the enemy by surprise. 
 Moreover, if awakened, and allowed to get upon 
 his feet, Hercules might happen to do them a 
 mischief before he could be beaten down again. 
 For, as these sage counselors remarked, the 
 stranger's club was really very big, and had 
 rattled like a thunderbolt against the skull of 
 Antaeus. So the Pygmies resolved to set aside 
 all foolish punctilios, and assail their antagonist 
 at once. 
 
 Accordingly, all the fighting men of the nation 
 took their weapons, and went boldly up to 
 Hercules, who still lay fast asleep, little dream- 
 ing 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
 
 The enemy's breath rushed out of his nose in an obstreperous hurri- 
 cane and whirlwind
 
 THE PYGMIES. 85 
 
 number were ordered to clamber upon Hercules, 
 some with spades to dig his eyes out, and others 
 with bundles of hay, and all manner of rubbish 
 with which they intended to plug up his mouth 
 and nostrils, so that he might perish for lack of 
 breath. These last, however, could by no means 
 perform their appointed duty; inasmuch as the 
 enemy's breath rushed out of his nose in an 
 obstreperous hurricane and whirlwind, which 
 blew the Pygmies away as fast as they came 
 nigh. It was found necessary, therefore, to hit 
 upon some other method of carrying on the war. 
 After holding a council, the captains ordered 
 their troops to collect sticks, straws, dry weeds, 
 and whatever combustible stuff they could find, 
 and make a pile of it, heaping it high around the 
 head of Hercules. As a great many thousand 
 Pygmies were employed in this task, they soon 
 brought together several bushels of inflamma- 
 tory 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
 
 86 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 as a Giant could ; so that this was certainly the 
 very best way of dealing with their foe, pro- 
 vided they could have kept him quiet while the 
 conflagration was going forward. 
 
 But no sooner did Hercules begin to be 
 scorched, than up he started, with his hair in a 
 red blaze. 
 
 "What's all this?" he cried, bewildered with 
 sleep, and staring about him as if he expected to 
 see another Giant. 
 
 At that moment the twenty thousand archers 
 twanged their bowstrings, and the arrows came 
 whizzing, like so many winged mosquitoes, 
 right into the face of Hercules. But I doubt 
 whether more than half a dozen of them punc- 
 tured 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 con- 
 flagration of his hair, gazed all round about, but 
 could see nothing. At last, however, looking 
 narrowly on the ground, he espied the innumer- 
 able assemblage of Pygmies at his feet. He 
 stooped down, and taking up the nearest one
 
 THE PYGMIES. 87 
 
 between his thumb and finger, set him on the 
 palm of his left hand, and held him at a proper 
 distance for examination. It chanced to be 
 the very identical Pygmy who had spoken 
 from the top of the toadstool, and had offered 
 himself as a champion to meet Hercules in 
 single combat. 
 
 "What in the world, my little fellow," ejacu- 
 lated Hercules, " may you be? " 
 
 "I am your enemy," answered the valiant 
 Pygmy, in his mightiest squeak. " You have 
 slain the enormous Antaeus, our brother by the 
 mother's side, and for ages the faithful ally of 
 our illustrious nation. We are determined to 
 put you to death; and for my own part, I chal- 
 lenge you to instant battle, on equal ground." 
 
 Hercules was so tickled with the Pygmy's big 
 words and warlike gestures, that he burst into a 
 great explosion of laughter, and almost dropped 
 the poor little mite of a creature off the palm 
 of his hand, through the ecstasy and convulsion 
 of his merriment. 
 
 " Upon my word," cried he, "I thought I had 
 seen wonders before to-day hydras with nine 
 heads, stags with golden horns, six-legged men, 
 three-headed dogs, giants with furnaces in their 
 stomachs, and nobody knows what besides. 
 But here, on the palm of my hand, stands a 
 wonder that outdoes them all! Your body, 
 my little friend, is about the size of an
 
 88 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 ordinary man's finger. Pray, how big may your 
 soul be?" 
 
 " As big as your own! " said the Pygmy. 
 
 Hercules was touched with the little man's 
 dauntless courage, and could not help acknowl- 
 edging such a brotherhood with him as one 
 hero feels for another. 
 
 "My good little people," said he, making a 
 low obeisance to the grand nation, " not for all 
 the world would I do an intentional injury to 
 such brave fellows as you! Your hearts seem 
 to me so exceedingly great, that, upon my 
 honor, I marvel how your small bodies can 
 contain them. I sue for peace, and, as a con- 
 dition of it, will take five strides, and be out of 
 your kingdom at the sixth. Good-bye. I shall 
 pick my steps carefully, for fear of treading upon 
 some fifty of you, without knowing it. Ha, ha, 
 ha! Ho, ho, ho! For once, Hercules acknowl- 
 edges himself vanquished." 
 
 Some writers say, that Hercules gathered up 
 the whole race of Pygmies in his lion's skin, and 
 carried them home to Greece, for the children of 
 King Eurystheus to play with. But this is a 
 mistake. He left them, one and all, within 
 their own territory, where, for aught I can tell, 
 their descendants are alive to the present day, 
 building their little houses, cultivating their 
 little fields, spanking their little children, waging 
 their little warfare with the cranes, doing their
 
 THE PYGMIES. 89 
 
 little business, whatever it may be, and reading 
 their little histories of ancient times. In those 
 histories, perhaps, it stands recorded, that, a 
 great many centuries ago, the valiant Pygmies 
 avenged the death of the Giant Antaeus by 
 scaring away the mighty Hercules.
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 
 
 Cadmus, Phoenix, and Cilix, the three sons of 
 King Agenor, and their little sister Europa (who 
 was a very beautiful child), were at play together 
 near the seashore in their father's kingdom of 
 Phoenicia. They had rambled to some distance 
 from the palace where their parents dwelt, and 
 were now in a verdant meadow, on one side of 
 which lay the sea, all sparkling and dimpling in 
 the sunshine, and murmuring gently against the 
 beach. The three boys were very happy, 
 gathering flowers, and twining them into gar- 
 lands, 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 
 
 90
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 91 
 
 brothers, but sat still where they had left her, 
 and closed her eyes. For a while, she listened 
 to the pleasant murmur of the sea, which was 
 like a voice saying " Hush!" and bidding her go 
 to sleep. But the pretty child, if she slept at 
 all, could not have slept more than a moment, 
 when she heard something trample on the grass, 
 not far from her, and, peeping out from the heap 
 of flowers, beheld a snow-white bull. 
 
 And whence could this bull have come? 
 Europa and her brothers had been a long time 
 playing in the meadow, and had seen no cattle, 
 nor other living thing, either there or on the 
 neighboring hills. 
 
 "Brother Cadmus!" cried Europa, starting 
 up out of the midst of the roses and lilies. 
 "Phoenix! Cilix! Where are you all? Help! 
 Help ! Come and drive away this bull ! ' ' 
 
 But her brothers were too far off to hear; 
 especially as the fright took away Europa's 
 voice, and hindered her from calling very 
 loudly. So there she stood, with her pretty 
 mouth wide open, as pale as the white lilies that 
 were twisted among the other flowers in her 
 garlands. 
 
 Nevertheless, it was the suddenness with 
 which she had perceived the bull, rather than 
 anything frightful in his appearance, that caused 
 Europa so much alarm. On looking at him 
 more attentively, she began to see that he was a
 
 92 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 beautiful animal, and even fancied a particu- 
 larly amiable expression in his face. As for 
 his breath the breath of cattle, you know, is 
 always sweet it was as fragrant as if he had 
 been grazing on no other food than rosebuds, or 
 at least, the most delicate of clover blossoms. 
 Never before did a bull have such bright and 
 tender eyes, and such smooth horns of ivory, 
 as this one. And the bull ran little races, and 
 capered sportively around the child; so that 
 she quite forgot how big and strong he was, and, 
 from the gentleness and playfulness of his 
 actions, soon came to consider him as innocent 
 a creature as a pet lamb. 
 
 Thus, frightened as she at first was, you might 
 by and by have seen Europa stroking the bull's 
 forehead with her small white hand, and taking 
 the garlands off her own head to hang them on 
 his neck and ivory horns. Then she pulled up 
 some blades of grass, and he ate them out of her 
 hand, not as if he were hungry, but because he 
 wanted to be friends with the child, and took 
 pleasure in eating what she had touched. Well, 
 my stars! was there ever such a gentle, sweet, 
 pretty, and amiable creature as this bull, and 
 ever such a nice playmate for a little girl ?. 
 
 When the animal saw (for the bull had so 
 much intelligence that it is really wonderful to 
 think of), when he saw that Europa was no 
 longer afraid of him, he grew overjoyed, and
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 93 
 
 could hardly contain himself for delight. He 
 frisked about the meadow, now here, now there, 
 making sprightly leaps, with as little effort as a 
 bird expends in hopping from twig to twig. 
 Indeed, his motion was as light as if he were 
 flying through the air, and his hoofs seemed 
 hardly to leave their print in the grassy soil 
 over which he trod. With his spotless hue, he 
 resembled a snow drift, wafted along by the 
 wind. Once he galloped so far away that 
 Europa feared lest she might never see him 
 again; so, setting up her childish voice, called 
 him back. 
 
 "Come back, pretty creature!" she cried. 
 " Here is a nice clover blossom." 
 
 And then it was delightful to witness the 
 gratitude of this amiable bull, and how he was 
 so full of joy and thankfulness that he capered 
 higher than ever. He came running, and bowed 
 his head before Europa, as if he knew her to be a 
 king's daughter, or else recognized the impor- 
 tant truth that a little girl is everybody's queen. 
 And not only did the bull bend his neck, he 
 absolutely knelt down at her feet, and made 
 such intelligent nods, and other inviting gestures, 
 that Europa understood what he meant just as 
 well as if he had put it in so many words. 
 
 "Come, dear child," was what he wanted to 
 say, "let me give you a ride on my back." 
 
 At the first thought of such a thing, Europa
 
 9 4 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 clamber- 
 ing on the gentle creature, all four children 
 together, and careering round the field with 
 shouts of laughter that would be heard as far off 
 as King Agenor's palace! 
 
 "I think I will do it," said the child to 
 herself. 
 
 And, indeed, why not? She cast a glance 
 around, and caught a glimpse of Cadmus, 
 Phoenix, and Cilix, who were still in pursuit of 
 the butterfly, almost at the other end of the 
 meadow. It would be the quickest way of 
 rejoining them, to get upon the white bull's 
 back. She came a step nearer to him therefore ; 
 and sociable creature that he was he showed 
 so much joy at this mark of her confidence, that 
 the child could not find in her heart to hesitate 
 any longer. Making one bound (for this little 
 princess was as active as a squirrel), there sat 
 Europa on the beautiful bull, holding an ivory 
 horn in each hand, lest she should fall off. 
 
 "Softly, pretty bull, softly!" she said, rather
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 95 
 
 frightened at what she had done. " Do not 
 gallop too fast." 
 
 Having got the child on his back, the animal 
 gave a leap into the air, and came down so like 
 a feather that Europa did not know when his 
 hoofs touched the ground. He then began a 
 race to that part of the flowery plain where 
 her three brothers were, and where they had 
 just caught their splendid butterfly. Europa 
 screamed with delight; and Phoenix, Cilix, and 
 Cadmus stood gaping at the spectacle of their 
 sister mounted on a white bull, not knowing 
 whether to be frightened or to wish the same 
 good luck for themselves. The gentle and 
 innocent creature (for who could possibly doubt 
 that he was so?) pranced round among the 
 children as sportively as a kitten. Europa all 
 the while looked down upon her brothers, 
 nodding and laughing, but yet with a sort of 
 stateliness in her rosy little face. As the bull 
 wheeled about to take another gallop across the 
 meadow, the child waved her hand, and said, 
 "Good-bye," playfully pretending that she was 
 now bound on a distant journey, and might not 
 see her brothers again for nobody could tell 
 how long. 
 
 "Good-bye," shouted Cadmus, Phcenix, and 
 Cilix, all in one breath. 
 
 But, together with her enjoyment of the 
 sport, there was still a little remnant of fear in
 
 96 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 the child's heart; so that her last look at the 
 three boys was a troubled one, and made them 
 feel as if their dear sister were really leaving 
 them forever. And what do you think the 
 snowy bull did next? Why, he set off, as swift 
 as the wind, straight down to the seashore, 
 scampered across the sand, took an airy leap, 
 and plunged right in among the foaming billows. 
 The white spray rose in a shower over him and 
 little Europa, and fell spattering down upon the 
 water. 
 
 Then what a scream of terror did the poor 
 child send forth! The three brothers screamed 
 manfully, likewise, and ran to the shore as fast 
 as their legs would carry them, with Cadmus 
 at their head. But it was too late. When they 
 reached the margin of the sand, the treacherous 
 animal was already far away in the wide blue 
 sea, with only his snowy head and tail emerging, 
 and poor little Europa between them, stretching 
 out one hand towards her dear brothers, while 
 she grasped the bull's ivory horn with the other. 
 And there stood Cadmus, Phoenix, and Cilix, 
 gazing at this sad spectacle, through their tears, 
 until they could no longer distinguish the bull's 
 snowy head from the white-capped billows that 
 seemed to boil up out of the sea's depths around 
 him. Nothing more was ever seen of the white 
 bull nothing more of the beautiful child. 
 
 This was a mournful story, as you may well
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 97 
 
 think, for the three boys to carry home to their 
 parents. King Agenor, their father, was the 
 ruler of the whole country; but he loved his 
 little daughter Europa better than his kingdom, 
 or than all his other children, or than anything 
 else in the world. Therefore, when Cadmus and 
 his two brothers came crying home, and told 
 him how that a white bull had carried off their 
 sister, and swam with her over the sea, the 
 king was quite beside himself with grief and 
 rage. Although it was now twilight, and fast 
 growing dark, he bade them set out instantly 
 in search of her. 
 
 "Never shall you see my face again," he 
 cried, "unless you bring me back my little 
 Europa, to gladden me with her smiles and her 
 pretty ways. Begone, and enter my presence 
 no more, till you come leading her by the hand." 
 
 As King Agenor said this, his eyes flashed 
 fire (for he was a very passionate king), and he 
 looked so terribly angry that the poor boys did 
 not even venture to ask for their suppers, but 
 slunk away out of the palace, and only paused 
 on the steps a moment to consult whither they 
 should go first. While they were standing 
 there, all in dismay, their mother, Queen 
 Telephassa (who happened not to be by when 
 they told the story to the king), came hurrying 
 after them, and said that she too would go in 
 quest of her daughter.
 
 98 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 "O, no, mother!" cried the boys. "The 
 night is dark, and there is no knowing what 
 troubles and perils we may meet with." 
 
 "Alas! my dear children," answered poor 
 Queen Telephassa; weeping bitterly, "that is 
 only another reason why I should go with you. 
 If I should lose you, too, as well as my little 
 Europa, what would become of me ! " 
 
 "And let me go likewise!" said their 
 playfellow Thasus, who came running to join 
 them. 
 
 Thasus was the son of a seafaring person in 
 the neighborhood; he had been brought up 
 with the young princes, and was their intimate 
 friend, and loved Europa very much; so they 
 consented that he should accompany them. 
 The whole party, therefore, set forth together. 
 Cadmus, Phoenix, Cilix, and Thasus clustered 
 round Queen Telephassa, grasping her skirts, 
 and begging her to lean upon their shoulders 
 whenever she felt weary. In this manner they 
 went down the palace steps, and began a jour- 
 ney, which turned out to be a great deal longer 
 than they dreamed of. The last that they saw 
 of King Agenor, he came to the door, with a 
 servant holding a torch beside him, and called 
 after them into the gathering darkness: 
 
 "Remember! Never ascend these steps again 
 without the child!" 
 
 "Never!" sobbed Queen Telephassa; and
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 99 
 
 the three brothers and Thasus answered, " Never! 
 ' ' Never ! Never ! Never ! ' ' 
 
 And they kept their word. Year after year, 
 King Agenor sat in the solitude of his beautiful 
 palace, listening in vain for their returning 
 footsteps, hoping to hear the familiar voice of the 
 queen, and the cheerful talk of his sons and 
 their playfellow Thasus, entering the door 
 together, and the sweet, childish accents of 
 little Europa in the midst of them. But so 
 long a time went by, that, at last, if they had 
 really come, the king would not have known 
 that this was the voice of Telephassa, and these 
 the younger voices that used to make such 
 joyful echoes, when the children were playing 
 about the palace. We must now leave King 
 Agenor to sit on his throne, and must go along 
 with Queen Telephassa, and her four youthful 
 companions. 
 
 They went on and on, and traveled a long 
 way, and passed over mountains and rivers, 
 and sailed over seas. Here, and there, and 
 everywhere, they made continual inquiry if any 
 person could tell them what had become of 
 Europa. The rustic people, of whom they asked 
 this question, paused a little while from their 
 labors in the field, and looked very much 
 surprised. They thought it strange to behold 
 a woman in the garb of a queen (for Telephassa 
 in her haste had forgotten to take off her crown
 
 ioo TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 and her royal robes), roaming about the country, 
 with four lads around her, on such an errand 
 as this seemed to be. But nobody could give 
 them any tidings of Europa; nobody had seen 
 a little girl dressed like a princess, and mounted 
 on a snow-white bull, which galloped as swiftly 
 as the wind. 
 
 I cannot tell you how long Queen Telephassa, 
 and Cadmus, Phoenix, and Cilix, her three sons, 
 and Thasus, their playfellow, went wandering 
 along the highways and bypaths, or through 
 the pathless wildernesses of the earth, in this 
 manner. But certain it is, that, before they 
 reached any place of rest, their splendid gar- 
 ments were quite worn out. They all looked 
 very much travel-stained, and would have had 
 the dust of many countries on their shoes, if 
 the streams, through which they waded, had not 
 washed it all away. When they had been gone 
 a year, Telephassa threw away her crown, 
 because it chafed her forehead. 
 
 " It has given me many a headache," said the 
 poor queen, " and it cannot cure my heartache." 
 
 As fast as their princely robes got torn and 
 tattered, they exchanged them for such mean 
 attire as ordinary people wore. By and by, 
 they come to have a wild and homeless aspect; 
 so that you would much sooner have taken 
 them for a gypsy family than a queen and three 
 princes, and a young nobleman, who had once
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 101 
 
 a palace for a home, and a train of serv- 
 ants 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 farm- 
 houses they sought hospitality, needed their 
 assistance in the harvest field, they gave it 
 willingly; and Queen Telephassa (who had 
 done no work in her palace, save to braid 
 silk threads with golden ones) came behind 
 them to bind the sheaves. If payment was 
 offered, they shook their heads, and only asked 
 for tidings of Europa. 
 
 "There are bulls enough in my pasture," the 
 old farmers would reply; "but I never heard 
 of one like this you tell me of. A snow-white 
 bull with a little princess on his back! Ho! 
 ho! I ask your pardon, good folks; but there 
 never such a sight seen hereabouts." 
 
 At last, when his upper lip began to have the 
 down on it, Phoenix grew weary of rambling 
 hither and thither to no purpose. So one day, 
 when they happened to be passing through a 
 pleasant and solitary tract of country, he sat 
 himself down on a heap of moss. 
 
 " I can go no farther," said Phoenix. " It is a 
 mere foolish waste of life, to spend it as we do, 
 in always wandering up and down, and never 
 coming to any home at nightfall. Our sister is
 
 102 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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, sorrow- 
 fully, "you have grown to be a man, and must 
 do as you judge best. But, for my part, I will 
 still go in quest of my poor child." 
 
 " And we three will go along with you! " cried 
 Cadmus and Cilix, and their faithful friend 
 Thasus. 
 
 But, before setting out, they all helped 
 Phoenix to build a habitation. When com- 
 pleted, it was a sweet rural bower, roofed over- 
 head with an arch of living boughs. Inside 
 there were two pleasant rooms, one of which 
 had a soft heap of moss for a bed, while the 
 other was furnished with a rustic seat or two, 
 curiously fashioned out of the crooked roots of 
 trees. So comfortable and home-like did it 
 seem, that Telephassa and her three companions 
 could not help sighing, to think that they must 
 still roam about the world, instead of spending 
 the remainder of their lives in some such cheerful 
 abode as they had here built for Phoenix. But, 
 when they bade him farewell, Phoenix shed tears,
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 103 
 
 and probably regretted that he was no longer to 
 keep them company. 
 
 However, he had fixed upon an admirable 
 place to dwell in. And by and by there came 
 other people, who chanced to have no homes; 
 and, seeing how pleasant a spot it was, they 
 built themselves huts in the neighborhood of 
 Phoenix's habitation. Thus, before many years 
 went by, a city had grown up there, in the center 
 of which was seen a stately palace of marble, 
 wherein dwelt Phoenix, clothed in a purple robe, 
 and wearing a golden crown upon his head. 
 For the inhabitants of the new city, finding that 
 he had royal blood in his veins, had chosen 
 him to be their king. The very first decree of 
 state which King Phoenix issued was, that, if a 
 maiden happened to arrive in the kingdom, 
 mounted on a snow-white bull, and calling her- 
 self Europa, his subjects should treat her with 
 the greatest kindness and respect, and immedi- 
 ately 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 com- 
 panions went onward. 
 
 But often and often, at the close of a weary 
 day's journey, did Telephassa and Cadmus, Cilix, 
 and Thasus, remember the pleasant spot in 
 which they had left Phcenix. It was a sorrowful
 
 io 4 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 prospect for these wanderers, that on the morrow 
 they must again set forth, and that, after many 
 nightfalls, thay would perhaps be no nearer the 
 close of their toilsome pilgrimage than now. 
 These thoughts made them all melancholy at 
 times, but appeared to torment Cilix more than 
 the rest of the party. At length, one morning, 
 when they were taking their staffs in hand to 
 set out, he thus addressed them : 
 
 "My dear mother, and you, good brother 
 Cadmus, and my friend Thasus, methinks we are 
 like people in a dream. There is no substance in 
 the life which we are leading. It is such a 
 dreary length of time since the white bull carried 
 off my sister Europa, that I have quite forgotten 
 how she looked, and the tones of her voice, 
 and, indeed, almost doubt whether such a little 
 girl ever lived in the world. And whether she 
 once lived or no, I am convinced that she no 
 longer survives, and that therefore it is the 
 merest folly to waste our own lives and happi- 
 ness in seeking her. Were we to find her, she 
 would now be a woman grown, and would look 
 upon us all as strangers. So, to tell you the 
 truth, I have resolved to take up my abode 
 here; and I entreat you, mother, brother, and 
 friend, to follow my example." 
 
 "Not I, for one," said Telephassa; although 
 the poor queen, firmly as she spoke, was so 
 travel-worn that she could hardly put her foot
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 105 
 
 to the ground. " Not I, for one ! In the depths 
 of my heart, little Europa is still the rosy child 
 who ran to gather flowers so many years ago. 
 She has not grown to womanhood, nor forgotten 
 me. At noon, at night, journeying onward, 
 sitting down to rest, her childish voice is always 
 in my ears, calling, 'Mother! mother!' Stop 
 here who may, there is no repose for me." 
 
 "Nor for me," said Cadmus, "while my dear 
 mother pleases to go onward." 
 
 And the faithful Thasus, too, was resolved to 
 bear them company. They remained with Cilix 
 a few days, however, and helped him to build a 
 rustic bower, resembling the one which they 
 had formerly built for Phoenix. 
 
 When they were bidding him farewell Cilix 
 burst into tears, and told his mother that it 
 seemed just as melancholy a dream to stay 
 there, in solitude, as to go onward. If she really 
 believed that they would ever find Europa, he- 
 was willing to continue the search with them, 
 even now. But Telephassa bade him remain 
 there, and be happy, if his own heart would let 
 him. So the pilgrims took their leave of him, 
 and departed, and were hardly out of sight before 
 some other wandering people came along that 
 way, and saw Cilix's habitation, and were greatly 
 delighted with the appearance of the place. 
 There being abundance of unoccupied ground in 
 the neighborhood, these strangers built huts
 
 io6 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 for themselves, and were soon joined by a multi- 
 tude of new settlers, who quickly formed a city. 
 In the middle of it was seen a magnificent palace 
 of colored marble, on the balcony of which, 
 every noontide, appeared Cilix, in a long purple 
 robe, and with a jeweled crown upon his head; 
 for the inhabitants, when they found out that 
 he was a king's son, had considered him the 
 fittest of all men to be a king himself. 
 
 One of the first acts of King Cilix's govern- 
 ment was to send out an expedition, consisting 
 of a grave ambassador, and an escort of bold 
 and hardy young men, with orders to visit the 
 principal kingdoms of the earth, and inquire 
 whether a young maiden had passed through 
 those regions, galloping swiftly on a white bull. 
 It is, therefore, plain to my mind, that Cilix 
 secretly blamed himself for giving up the search 
 for Europa, as long as he was able to put one 
 foot before the other. 
 
 As for Telephassa, and Cadmus, and the good 
 Thasus, it grieves me to think of them, still 
 keeping up that weary pilgrimage. The two 
 young men did their best for the poor queen, 
 helping her over the rough places, often carrying 
 her across rivulets in their faithful arms and 
 seeking to shelter her at nightfall, even when 
 they themselves lay on the ground. Sad, sad it 
 was to hear them asking of every passer-by 
 if he had seen Europa, so long after the white
 
 // grieves me to think of them, still keeping up that weary pilgrimage
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 107 
 
 bull had carried her away. But, though the 
 gray years thrust themselves between, and made 
 the child's figure dim in their remembrance, 
 neither of these true-hearted three ever dreamed 
 of giving up the search. 
 
 One morning, however, poor Thasus found 
 that he had sprained his ankle, and could not 
 possibly go a step farther. 
 
 "After a few days, to be sure," said he, 
 mournfully, " I might make shift to hobble along 
 with a stick. But that would only delay you, 
 and perhaps hinder you from finding dear little 
 Europa, after all your pains and trouble. Do 
 you go forward, therefore, my beloved com- 
 panions, and leave me to follow as I may." 
 
 "Thou hast been a true friend, dear Thasus," 
 said Queen Telephassa, kissing his forehead. 
 " Being neither my son, nor the brother of our 
 lost Europa, thou hast shown thyself truer to me 
 and her than Phoenix and Cilix did, whom we 
 have left behind us. Without thy loving help, 
 and that of my son Cadmus, my limbs could not 
 have borne me half so far as this. Now, take thy 
 rest, and be at peace. For and it is the first 
 time I have owned it to myself I begin to 
 question whether we shall ever find my beloved 
 daughter in this world." 
 
 Saying this, the poor queen shed tears, 
 because it was a grievous trial to the mother's 
 heart to confess that her hopes were growing
 
 io8 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 Phcenix and Cilix, that other home- 
 less people visited the spot, and liked it, and 
 built themselves habitations in the neighbor- 
 hood. 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 inhabi- 
 tants had made him king, not for the sake of 
 any royal blood (for none was in his veins), but 
 because Thasus was an upright, true-hearted, 
 and courageous man, and therefore fit to rule. 
 
 But when the affairs of his kingdom were all 
 settled, King Thasus laid aside his purple robe 
 and crown, and sceptre, and bade his worthiest 
 subjects distribute justice to the people in his 
 stead. Then, grasping the pilgrim's staff that 
 had supported him so long, he set forth again,
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 109 
 
 hoping still to discover some hoof -mark of the 
 snow-white bull, some trace of the vanished 
 child. He returned after a lengthened absence, 
 and sat down wearily upon his throne. To his 
 latest hour, nevertheless, King Thasus showed 
 his true-hearted remembrance of Europa, by 
 ordering that a fire should always be kept burn- 
 ing in his palace, and a bath steaming hot, and 
 food ready to be served up, and a bed with 
 snow-white sheets, in case the maiden should 
 arrive, and require immediate refreshment. 
 And, though Europa never came, the good 
 Thasus had the blessings of many a poor 
 traveler, who profited by the food and lodging 
 which were meant for the little playmate of the 
 king's boyhood. 
 
 Telephassa and Cadmus were now pursuing 
 their weary way, with no companion but each 
 other. The queen leaned heavily upon her 
 son's arm, and could walk only a few miles a day. 
 But for all her weakness and weariness, she 
 would not be persuaded to give up the search. 
 It was enough to bring tears into the eyes of 
 bearded men to hear the melancholy tone with 
 which she inquired of every stranger whether he 
 could not tell her any news of the lost child. 
 
 " Have you seen a little girl no, no, I mean a 
 young maiden of full growth passing by this 
 way, mounted on a snow-white bull, which 
 gallops as swiftly as the wind? "
 
 no TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 "We have seen no such wondrous sight," the 
 people would reply; and very often, taking 
 Cadmus aside, they whispered to him, " Is this 
 stately and sad-looking woman your mother? 
 Surely she is not in her right mind; and you 
 ought to take her home, and make her comfort- 
 able, and do your best to get this dream out of 
 her fancy." 
 
 "It is no dream," said Cadmus. "Every- 
 thing else is a dream, save that." 
 
 But, one day, Telephassa seemed feebler 
 than usual, and leaned almost her whole weight 
 on the arm of Cadmus, and walked more slowly 
 than ever before. At last they reached a solitary 
 spot, where she told her son that she must 
 needs lie down, and take a good long rest. 
 
 "A good long rest!" she repeated, looking 
 Cadmus tenderly in the face. "A good long 
 rest, thou dearest one!" 
 
 "As long as you please, dear mother," 
 answered Cadmus. 
 
 Telephassa bade him sit down on the turf 
 beside her, and then she took his hand. 
 
 " My son," said she, fixing her dim eyes most 
 lovingly upon him, "this rest that I speak of 
 will be very long indeed! You must not wait 
 till it is finished. Dear Cadmus, you do not 
 comprehend me. You must make a grave here, 
 and lay your mother's weary frame into it. My 
 pilgrimage is over."
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. in 
 
 Cadmus burst into tears, and, for a long time, 
 refused to believe that his dear mother was now 
 to be taken from him. But Telephassa reasoned 
 with him, and kissed him, and at length made 
 him discern that it was better for her spirit to 
 pass away out of the toil, the weariness, and 
 grief, and disappointment which had burdened 
 her on earth, ever since the child was lost. He 
 therefore repressed his sorrow, and listened to 
 her last words. 
 
 " Dearest Cadmus," said she, " thou hast been 
 the truest son that ever mother had, and faithful 
 to the very last. Who else would have borne 
 with my infirmities as thou hast! It is owing 
 to thy care, thou tenderest child, that my grave 
 was not dug long years ago, in some valley, or 
 on some hillside, that lies far, far behind us. 
 It is enough. Thou shalt wander no more on 
 this hopeless search. But, when thou hast laid 
 thy mother in the earth, then go, my son, to 
 Delphi, and inquire of the oracle what thou shalt 
 do next." 
 
 "O mother, mother," cried Cadmus, "couldst 
 thou but have seen my sister before this hour!" 
 
 " It matters little now," answered Telephassa, 
 and there was a smile upon her face. " I go now 
 to the better world, and, sooner or later, shall 
 find my daughter there." 
 
 I will not sadden you, my little hearers, with 
 telling how Telephassa died and was buried, but
 
 ii2 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 will only say, that her dying smile grew brighter, 
 instead of vanishing from her dead face; so 
 that Cadmus left convinced that, at her very 
 first step into the better world, she had caught 
 Europa in her arms. He planted some flowers 
 on his mother's grave, and left them to grow 
 there, and make the place beautiful, when he 
 should be far away. 
 
 After performing this last sorrowful duty, he 
 set forth alone, and took the road towards the 
 famous oracle of Delphi, as Telephassa had 
 advised him. On his way thither, he still 
 inquired of most people whom he met whether 
 they had seen Europa; for, to say the truth, 
 Cadmus had grown so accustomed to ask the 
 question, that it came to his lips as readily as a 
 remark about the weather. He received various 
 answers. Some told him one thing, and some 
 another. Among the rest, a mariner affirmed, 
 that, many years before, in a distant country, 
 he had heard a rumor about a white bull, which 
 came swimming across the sea with a child on 
 his back, dressed up in flowers that were blighted 
 by the sea water. He did not know what had 
 become of the child or the bull; and Cadmus 
 suspected, indeed, by a queer twinkle in the 
 mariner's eyes, that he was putting a joke upon 
 him, and had never really heard anything about 
 the matter. 
 
 Poor Cadmus found it more wearisome to
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 113 
 
 travel alone than to bear all his dear mother's 
 weight, while she had kept him company. His 
 heart, you will understand, was now so heavy 
 that it seemed impossible, sometimes, to carry it 
 any farther. But his limbs were strong and 
 active, and well accustomed to exercise. He 
 walked swiftly along, thinking of King Agenor 
 and Queen Telephassa, and his brothers, and the 
 friendly Thasus, all of whom he had left behind 
 him, at one point of his pilgrimage or another, 
 and never expected to see them any more. 
 Full of these remembrances, he came within 
 sight of a lofty mountain, which the people 
 thereabouts told him was called Parnassus. 
 On the slope of Mount Parnassus was the famous 
 Delphi, whither Cadmus was going. 
 
 This Delphi was supposed to be the very 
 midmost spot of the whole world. The place of 
 the oracle was a certain cavity in the mountain 
 side, over which, when Cadmus came thither, 
 he found a rude bower of branches. It reminded 
 him of those which he had helped to build for 
 Phoenix and Cilix, and afterwards for Thasus. 
 In later times, when multitudes of people 
 came from great distances to put ques- 
 tions 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
 
 ii 4 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 ran wild over the mysterious hole in the hill- 
 side. 
 
 When Cadmus had thrust a passage through 
 the tangled boughs, and made his way into the 
 bower, he did not at first discern the half -hidden 
 cavity. But soon he felt a cold stream of air 
 rushing out of it, with so much force that it 
 shook the ringlets on his cheek. Pulling away 
 the shrubbery which clustered over the hole, 
 he bent forward, and spoke in a distinct but 
 reverential tone, as if addressing some unseen 
 personage inside of the mountain. 
 
 "Sacred oracle of Delphi," said he, "whither 
 shall I go next in quest of my dear sister 
 Europa?" 
 
 There was at first a deep silence, and then a 
 rushing sound, or a noise like a long sigh, pro- 
 ceeding out of the interior of the earth. This 
 cavity, you must know, was looked upon as a 
 sort of fountain of truth, which sometimes 
 gushed out in audible words; although, for 
 the most part, these words were such a riddle 
 that they might just as well have staid at 
 the bottom of the hole. But Cadmus was 
 more fortunate than many others who went to 
 Delphi in search of truth. By and by, the 
 rushing noise began to sound like articulate 
 language. It repeated, over and over again, 
 the following sentence, which, after all, was 
 so like the vague whistle of a blast of air, that
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 115 
 
 Cadmus really did not quite know whether it 
 meant anything or not: 
 
 "Seek her no more! Seek her no more! 
 Seek her no more!" 
 
 "What, then, shall I do?" asked Cadmus. 
 
 For, ever since he was a child, you know, 
 it had been the great object of his life to find 
 his sister. From the very hour that he left 
 following the butterfly in the meadow, near his 
 father's palace, he had done his best to follow 
 Europa, over land and sea. And now, if he 
 must give up the search, he seemed to have no 
 more business in the world. 
 
 But again the sighing gust of air grew into 
 something like a hoarse voice. 
 
 "Follow the cow!" it said. "Follow the 
 cow! Follow the cow!" 
 
 And when these words had been repeated 
 until Cadmus was tired of hearing them (espe- 
 cially as he could not imagine what cow it was, 
 or why he was to follow her), the gusty hole 
 gave vent to another sentence. 
 
 "Where the stray cow lies down, there is 
 your home." 
 
 These words were pronounced but a single 
 time, and died away into a whisper before Cad- 
 mus was fully satisfied that he had caught 
 the meaning. He put other questions, but re- 
 ceived no answer; only the gust of wind sighed 
 continually out of the cavity, and blew the
 
 n6 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 withered leaves rustling along the ground be- 
 fore it. 
 
 " Did there really come any words out of the 
 hole?" thought Cadmus; "or have I been 
 dreaming all this while?" 
 
 He turned away from the oracle, and thought 
 himself no wiser than when he came thither. 
 Caring little what might happen to him, he took 
 the first path that offered itself, and went 
 along at a sluggish pace; for, having no object 
 in view, nor any reason to go one way more 
 than another, it would certainly have been 
 foolish to make haste. Whenever he met 
 anybody, the old question was at his tongue's 
 end. 
 
 " Have you seen a beautiful maiden, dressed 
 like a king's daughter, and mounted on a 
 snow-white bull, that gallops as swiftly as the 
 wind?" 
 
 But, remembering what the oracle had said, 
 he only half uttered the words, and then mum- 
 bled the rest indistinctly ; and from his confusion, 
 people must have imagined that this handsome 
 young man had lost his wits. 
 
 I know not how far Cadmus had gone, nor 
 could he himself have told you, when at no 
 great distance before him, he beheld a brindled 
 cow. She was lying down by the wayside, and 
 quietly chewing her cud; nor did she take any 
 notice of the young man until he had approached
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 117 
 
 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 him- 
 self, and scarcely noticing the cow; until the 
 thought occurred to him, whether this could 
 possibly be the animal which, according to the 
 oracle's response, was to serve him for a guide. 
 But he smiled at himself for fancying such a 
 thing. He could not seriously think that this 
 was the cow, because she went along so quietly, 
 behaving just like any other cow. Evidently 
 she neither knew nor cared so much as a wisp 
 of hay about Cadmus, and was only thinking 
 how to get her living along the wayside, where 
 the herbage was green and fresh. Perhaps 
 she was going home to be milked. 
 
 "Cow, cow, cow!" cried Cadmus. "Hey, 
 Brindle, hey! Stop, my good cow!" 
 
 He wanted to come up with the cow, so as to 
 examine her, and see if she would appear to 
 know him, or whether there were any pecu- 
 liarities to distinguish her from a thousand other 
 cows, whose only business is to fill the milk-pail, 
 and sometimes kick it over. But still the 
 brindled cow trudged on, whisking her tail to 
 keep the flies away, and taking as little notice 
 of Cadmus as she well could. If he walked 
 slowly, so did the cow, and seized the oppor-
 
 n8 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 tunity 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, with- 
 out 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 com- 
 fortable sigh, and drank again, and trudged 
 onward at the pace that best suited herself and 
 Cadmus. 
 
 "I do believe," thought Cadmus, "that this 
 may be the cow that was foretold me. If it be 
 the one, I suppose she will lie down somewhere 
 hereabouts." 
 
 Whether it were the oracular cow or some 
 other one, it did not seem reasonable that she 
 should travel a great way farther. So, when- 
 ever 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
 
 The brindled cow never offered to lie down
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 119 
 
 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 Cad- 
 mus followed the stray Brindle till he was 
 almost ready to drop down with fatigue. 
 
 "O brindled cow," cried he, in a tone of 
 despair, "do you never mean to stop?" 
 
 He had now grown too intent on following 
 her to think of lagging behind, however long 
 the way, and whatever might be his fatigue. 
 Indeed, it seemed as if there were something 
 about the animal that bewitched people. Several 
 persons who happened to see the brindled cow, 
 and Cadmus following behind, began to trudge 
 after her, precisely as he did. Cadmus was 
 glad of somebody to converse with, and there- 
 fore talked very freely to these good people. 
 He told them all his adventures, and how he 
 had left King Agenor in his palace, and Phcenix 
 at one place, and Cilix at another, and Thasus 
 at a third, and his dear mother, Queen Tele- 
 phassa, 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
 
 120 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 of the strangers whether they supposed that 
 this brindled animal could be the one. 
 
 "Why, 'tis a very wonderful affair," answered 
 one of his new companions. "I am pretty 
 well acquainted with the ways of cattle, and 
 I never knew a cow, of her own accord, to go so 
 far without stopping. If my legs will let me, 
 I'll never leave following the beast till she lies 
 down." 
 
 "Nor I!" said a second. 
 
 "Nor I!" cried a third. "If she goes a 
 hundred miles farther, I am determined to see 
 the end of it." 
 
 The secret of it was, you must know, that 
 the cow was an enchanted cow, and that, with- 
 out 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 some- 
 times they had to scramble over rocks, or wade 
 through mud and mire, and all in a terribly 
 bedraggled condition, and tired to death, and 
 very hungry, into the bargain. What a weary 
 business it was! 
 
 But still they kept trudging stoutly forward, 
 and talking as they went. The strangers grew 
 very fond of Cadmus, and resolved never to
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 121 
 
 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 every- 
 thing else that a king ought to have; for in 
 him there was the royal blood, and the royal 
 heart, and the head that knew how to rule. 
 
 While they were talking of these schemes, and 
 beguiling the tediousness of the way with laying 
 out the plan of the new city, one of the companv 
 happened to look at the cow. 
 
 "Joy! joy!" cried he, clapping his hands. 
 "Brindle is going to lie down." 
 
 They all looked; and, sure enough, the cow 
 had stopped, and was staring leisurely about 
 her, as other cows do when on the point of lying 
 down. And slowly, slowly did she recline 
 herself on the soft grass, first bending her fore- 
 legs, and then crouching her hind ones. When 
 Cadmus and his companions came up with her, 
 there was the brindled cow taking her ease, 
 chewing her cud, and looking them quietly in 
 the face; as if this was just the spot she had 
 been seeking for, and as if it were all a matter 
 of course. 
 
 "This, then," said Cadmus, gazing around 
 him, "this is to be my home." 
 
 It was a fertile and lovely plain, with great 
 trees flinging their sun-speckled shadows over
 
 122 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 it, and hills fencing it in from the rough weather. 
 At no great distance, they beheld a river gleam- 
 ing 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 habita- 
 tions. The brindled cow, which has led us 
 hither, will supply us with milk. We will 
 cultivate the neighboring soil, and lead an 
 innocent and happy life." 
 
 His companions joyfully assented to this plan ; 
 and, in the first place, being very hungry and 
 thirsty, they looked about them for the means
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 123 
 
 of providing a comfortable meal. Not far off 
 they saw a tuft of trees, which appeared as if 
 there might be a spring of water beneath them. 
 They went thither to fetch some, leaving Cadmus 
 stretched on the ground along with the brindled 
 cow; for, now that he had found a place of 
 rest, it seemed as if all the weariness of his 
 pilgrimage, ever since he left King Agenor's 
 palace, had fallen upon him at once. But his 
 new friends had not long been gone, when he 
 was suddenly startled by cries, shouts, and 
 screams, and the noise of a terrible struggle, 
 and in the midst of it all, a most awful hissing, 
 which went right through his ears like a rough 
 saw. 
 
 Running towards the tuft of trees, he beheld 
 the head and fiery eyes of an immense serpent 
 or dragon, with the widest jaws that ever a 
 dragon had, and a vast many rows of horribly 
 sharp teeth. Before Cadmus could reach the 
 spot, this pitiless reptile had killed his poor 
 companions, and was busily devouring them, 
 making but a mouthful of each man. 
 
 It appears that the fountain of water was 
 enchanted, and that the dragon had been set to 
 guard it, so that no mortal might ever quench 
 his thirst there. As the neighboring inhabi- 
 tants carefully avoided the spot, it was now a 
 long time (not less than a hundred years or 
 thereabouts) since the monster had broken his
 
 124 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 fast; and, as was natural enough, his appetite 
 had grown to be enormous, and was not half 
 satisfied by the poor people whom he had just 
 eaten up. When he caught sight of Cadmus, 
 therefore, he set up another abominable hiss, and 
 flung back his immense jaws, until his mouth 
 looked like a great red cavern, at the farther 
 end of which were seen the legs of his last victim, 
 whom he had hardly had time to swallow. 
 
 But Cadmus was so enraged at the destruction 
 of his friends that he cared neither for the 
 size of the dragon's jaws nor for his hundreds of 
 sharp teeth. Drawing his sword, he rushed at 
 the monster, and flung himself right into his 
 cavernous mouth. This bold method of attack- 
 ing 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 tre- 
 mendous one, and though the dragon shattered 
 the tuft of trees into small splinters by the lash- 
 ing 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 him- 
 self 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
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 125 
 
 bulk, although there was no longer life enough in 
 him to harm a little child. 
 
 But do not you suppose that it made Cadmus 
 sorrowful to think of the melancholy fate which 
 had befallen those poor, friendly people, who 
 had followed the cow along with him? It 
 seemed as if he were doomed to lose everybody 
 whom he loved, or to see them perish in one way 
 or another. And here he was, after all his 
 toils and troubles, in a solitary place, with not a 
 single human being to help him build a hut. 
 
 "What shall I do?" cried he aloud. "It 
 were better for me to have been devoured by the 
 dragon, as my poor companions were." 
 
 "Cadmus," said a voice but whether it 
 came from above or below him, or whether it 
 spoke within his own breast, the young man 
 could not tell " Cadmus, pluck out the dragon's 
 teeth, and plant them in the earth." 
 
 This was a strange thing to do; nor was it 
 very easy, I should imagine, to dig out all those 
 deep-rooted fangs from the dead dragon's jaws. 
 But Cadmus toiled and tugged, and after pound- 
 ing 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
 
 126 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 to dig the earth with, that I know of, unless it 
 were his sword blade. Finally, however, a 
 sufficiently large tract of ground was turned 
 up, and sown with this new kind of seed; 
 although half of the dragon's teeth still re- 
 mained to be planted some other day. 
 
 Cadmus, quite out of breath, stood leaning 
 upon his sword, and wondering what was to 
 happen next. He had waited but a few mo- 
 ments, when he began to see a sight, which was 
 as great a marvel as the most marvelous thing 
 I ever told you about. 
 
 The sun was shining slantwise over the field, 
 and showed all the moist, dark soil just like 
 any other newly-planted piece of ground. All 
 at once, Cadmus fancied he saw something 
 glisten very brightly, first at one spot, then at 
 another, and then at a hundred and a thousand 
 spots together. Soon he perceived them to be 
 the steel heads of spears, sprouting up every- 
 where like so many stalks of grain, and con- 
 tinually growing taller and taller. Next ap- 
 peared 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
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 127 
 
 time to think what a wonderful affair it was, 
 he beheld an abundant harvest of what looked 
 like human beings, armed with helmets and 
 breastplates, shields, swords, and spears; and 
 before they were well out of the earth, they 
 brandished their weapons, and clashed them 
 one against another, seeming to think, little 
 while as they had yet lived, that they had wasted 
 too much of life without a battle. Every tooth 
 of the dragon had produced one of these sons 
 of deadly mischief. 
 
 Up sprouted also a great many trumpeters; 
 and with the first breath that they drew, they 
 put their brazen trumpets to their lips, and 
 sounded a tremendous and ear-shattering blast, 
 so that the whole space, just now so quiet and 
 solitary, reverberated with the clash and clang of 
 arms, the bray of warlike music, and the shouts 
 of angry men. So enraged did they all look, 
 that Cadmus fully expected them to put the 
 whole world to the sword. How fortunate 
 would it be for a great conqueror, if he could get 
 a bushel of the dragon's teeth to sow! 
 
 "Cadmus," said the same voice which he had 
 before heard, "throw a stone into the midst of 
 the armed men." 
 
 So Cadmus seized a large stone, and flinging 
 it into the middle of the earth army, saw it 
 strike the breastplate of a gigantic and fierce- 
 looking warrior. Immediately on feeling the
 
 128 TANGLE WOOD TALES. 
 
 blow, he seemed to take it for granted that 
 somebody had struck him; and, uplifting his 
 weapon, he smote his next neighbor a blow 
 that cleft his helmet asunder, and stretched him 
 on the ground. In an instant, those nearest the 
 fallen warrior began to strike at one another 
 with their swords, and stab with their spears. 
 The confusion spread wider and wider. Each 
 man smote down his brother, and was himself 
 smitten down before he had time to exult in his 
 victory. The trumpeters, all the while, blew 
 their blasts shriller and shriller; each soldier 
 shouted a battle cry, and often fell with it on 
 his lips. It was the strangest spectacle of 
 causeless wrath, and of mischief for no good 
 end, that had ever been witnessed; but, after 
 all, it was neither more foolish nor more wicked 
 than a thousand battles that have since been 
 fought, in which men have slain their brothers 
 with just as little reason as these children of 
 the dragon's teeth. It ought to be considered, 
 too, that the dragon people were made for 
 nothing else; whereas other mortals were born 
 to love and help one another. 
 
 Well, this memorable battle continued to rage 
 until the ground was strewn with helmeted heads 
 that had been cut off. Of all the thousands that 
 began the fight, there were only five left stand- 
 ing. These now rushed from different parts of 
 the field, and, meeting in the middle of it,
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 129 
 
 clashed their swords, and struck at each other's 
 hearts as fiercely as ever. 
 
 "Cadmus," said the voice again, "bid those 
 five warriors sheathe their swords. They will 
 help you to build the city." 
 
 Without hesitating an instant, Cadmus 
 stepped forward, with the aspect of a king and a 
 leader, and extending his drawn sword amongst 
 them, spoke to the warriors in a stern and 
 commanding voice. 
 
 "Sheathe your weapons!" said he. 
 
 And forthwith, feeling themselves bound to 
 obey him, the five remaining sons of the dragon's 
 teeth made him a military salute with their 
 swords, returned them to the scabbards, and 
 stood before Cadmus in a rank, eyeing him as 
 soldiers eye their captain, while awaiting the 
 word of command. 
 
 These five men had probably sprung from the 
 biggest of the dragon's teeth, and were the 
 boldest and strongest of the whole army. They 
 were almost giants indeed, and had good need 
 to be so, else they never could have lived through 
 so terrible a fight. They still had a very 
 furious look, and, if Cadmus happened to glance 
 aside, would glare at one another, with fire 
 flashing out of their eyes. It was strange, too, 
 to observe how the earth, out of which they 
 had so lately grown, was in crusted, here and 
 there, on their bright breastplates, and even
 
 i 3 o TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 begrimed their faces; just as you may have 
 seen it clinging to beets and carrots, when pulled 
 out of their native soil. Cadmus hardly knew 
 whether to consider them as men, or some odd 
 kind of vegetable; although, on the whole, he 
 concluded that there was human nature in 
 them, because they were so fond of trumpets 
 and weapons, and so ready to shed blood. 
 
 They looked him earnestly in the face, wait- 
 ing for his next order, and evidently desiring 
 no other employment than to follow him from 
 one battlefield to another, all over the wide 
 world. But Cadmus was wiser than these 
 earth-born creatures, with the dragon's fierce- 
 ness in them, and knew better how to use their 
 strength and hardihood. 
 
 "Come!" said he. "You are sturdy fellows. 
 Make yourselves useful! Quarry some stones 
 with those great swords of yours, and help me 
 to build a city." 
 
 The five soldiers grumbled a little, and mut- 
 tered 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 dis- 
 obeying 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 appear- 
 ance. At first, to be sure, the workmen showed
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 131 
 
 a quarrelsome disposition. Like savage beasts, 
 they would doubtless have done one another a 
 mischief, if Cadmus had not kept watch over 
 them, and quelled the fierce old serpent that 
 lurked in their hearts, when he saw it gleaming 
 out of their wild eyes. But, in course of time, 
 they got accustomed to honest labor, and had 
 sense enough to feel that there was more true 
 enjoyment in living at peace, and doing good to 
 one's neighbor, than in striking at him with a 
 two-edged sword. It may not be too much to 
 hope that the rest of mankind will by and by 
 grow as wise and peaceable as these five earth- 
 begrimed warriors, who sprang from the dragon's 
 teeth. 
 
 And now the city was built, and there was a 
 home in it for each of the workmen. But the 
 palace of Cadmus was not yet erected, because 
 they had left it till the last, meaning to intro- 
 duce 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?
 
 i 3 2 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 What should it be but the most magnificent 
 palace' that had ever been seen in the world. It 
 was built of marble and other beautiful kinds of 
 stone, and rose high into the air, with a splendid 
 dome and a portico along the front, and carved 
 pillars, and everything else that befitted the 
 habitation of a mighty king. It had grown up 
 out of the earth in almost as short a time as it 
 had taken the armed host to spring from the 
 dragon's teeth; and what made the matter 
 more strange, no seed of this stately edifice ever 
 had been planted. 
 
 When the five workmen beheld the dome, 
 with the morning sunshine making it look 
 golden and glorious, they gave a great shout. 
 
 "Long live King Cadmus," they cried, "in 
 his beautiful palace." 
 
 And the new king, with his five faithful 
 followers at his heels, shouldering their pickaxes 
 and marching in a rank (for they still had a 
 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
 
 THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 133 
 
 heart thrilled with delight. He fancied it his 
 long-lost sister Europa, now grown to woman- 
 hood, coming to make him happy, and to repay 
 him with her sweet sisterly affection, for all 
 those weary wonderings in quest of her since 
 he left King Agenor's palace for the tears that 
 he had shed, on parting with Phoenix, and Cilix, 
 and Thasus for the heart-breakings that had 
 made the whole world seem dismal to him over 
 his dear mother's grave. 
 
 But, as Cadmus advanced to meet the beau- 
 tiful stranger, he saw that her features were 
 unknown to him, although, in the little time that 
 it required to tread along the hall, he had already 
 felt a sympathy betwixt himself and her. 
 
 "No, Cadmus," said the same voice that 
 had spoken to him in the field of the armed men, 
 ;< this is not that dear sister Europa whom you 
 have sought so faithfully all over the wide 
 world. This is Harmonia, a daughter of the 
 sky, who is given you instead of sister, and 
 brothers, and friend, and mother. You will find 
 all those dear ones in her alone." 
 
 So King Cadmus dwelt in the palace, with 
 his new friend Harmonia, and found a great 
 deal of comfort in his magnificent abode, but 
 would doubtless have found as much, if not 
 more, in the humblest cottage by the wayside. 
 Before many years went by, there was a group 
 of rosy little children (but how they came
 
 i 3 4 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 thither has always been a mystery to me) 
 sporting in the great hall, and on the marble 
 steps of the palace, and running joyfully to 
 meet King Cadmus when affairs of state left 
 him at leisure to play with them. They called 
 him father, and Queen Harmonia mother. The 
 five old soldiers of the dragon's teeth grew very 
 fond of these small urchins, and were never 
 weary of showing them how to shoulder sticks, 
 flourish wooden swords, and march in military 
 order, blowing a penny trumpet, or beating an 
 abominable rub-a-dub upon a little drum. 
 
 But King Cadmus, lest there should be too 
 much of the dragon's tooth in his children's 
 disposition, used to find time from his kingly 
 duties to teach them their A B C which he 
 invented for their benefit, and for which many 
 little people, I am afraid, are not half so grateful 
 to him as they ought to be.
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 
 
 Some of you have heard, no doubt, of the wise 
 King Ulysses, and how he went to the siege of 
 Troy, and how, after that famous city was taken 
 and burned, he spent ten long years in trying 
 to get back again to his own little kingdom of 
 Ithaca. At one time in the course of this weary 
 voyage, he arrived at an island that looked very 
 green and pleasant, but the name of which was 
 unknown to him. For, only a little while before 
 he came thither, he had met with a terrible 
 hurricane, or rather a great many hurricanes 
 at once, which drove his fleet of vessels into a 
 strange part of the sea, where neither himself 
 nor any of his mariners had ever sailed. This 
 misfortune was entirely owing to the foolish 
 curiosity of his shipmates, who, while Ulysses 
 lay asleep, had untied some very bulky leathern 
 bags, in which they supposed a valuable treasure 
 to be concealed. But in each of these stout 
 bags, King ^Eolus, 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
 
 136 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 when the strings were loosened, forth rushed the 
 whistling blasts, like air out of a blown bladder, 
 whitening the sea with foam, and scattering the 
 vessels nobody could tell whither. 
 
 Immediately after escaping from this peril, a 
 still greater one had befallen him. Scudding 
 before the hurricane, he reached a place, which, 
 as he afterwards found, was called Laestrygonia, 
 where some monstrous giants had eaten up 
 many of his campanions, and had sunk every 
 one of his vessels, except that in which he 
 himself sailed, by flinging great masses of rock 
 at them, from the cliffs along the shore. After 
 going through such troubles as these, you cannot 
 wonder that King Ulysses was glad to moor his 
 tempest-beaten bark in a quiet cove of the green 
 island, which I began with telling you about. 
 But he had encountered so many dangers from 
 giants, and one-eyed Cyclops, and monsters of 
 the sea and land, that he could not help dreading 
 some mischief, even in this pleasant and seem- 
 ingly solitary spot. For two days, therefore, 
 the poor weather-worn voyagers kept quiet, and 
 either staid on board of their vessel, or merely 
 crept along under the cliffs that bordered the 
 shore; and to keep themselves alive, they dug 
 shellfish out of the sand, and sought for any 
 little rill of fresh water that might be running 
 towards the sea. 
 
 Before the two days were spent, they grew
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 137 
 
 very weary of this kind of life ; for the followers 
 of King Ulysses, as you will find it important 
 to remember, were terrible gormandizers, and 
 pretty sure to grumble if they missed their 
 regulars meals, and their irregular ones besides. 
 Their stock of provisions was quite exhausted, 
 and even the shellfish began to get scarce, so 
 that they had now to choose between starving 
 to death or venturing into the interior of the 
 island, where perhaps some huge three-headed 
 dragon, or other horrible monster, had his den. 
 Such misshapen creatures were very numerous 
 in those days ; and nobody ever expected to make 
 a voyage, or take a journey, without running 
 more or less risk of being devoured by them. 
 
 But King Ulysses was a bold man as well as a 
 prudent one; and on the third morning he 
 determined to discover what sort of a place the 
 island was, and whether it were possible to 
 obtain a supply of food for the hungry mouths 
 of his companions. So, taking a spear in his 
 hand, he clambered to the summit of a cliff, 
 and gazed round about him. At a distance, 
 towards the center of the island, he beheld the 
 stately towers of what seemed to be a palace, 
 built of snow-white marble, and rising in the 
 midst of a grove of lofty trees. The thick 
 branches of these trees stretched across the 
 front of the edifice, and more than half concealed 
 it, although, from the portion which he saw,
 
 138 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 Ulysses judged it to be spacious and exceedingly 
 beautiful, and probably the residence of some 
 great nobleman or prince. A blue smoke went 
 curling up from the chimney, and was almost 
 the pleasantest part of the spectacle to Ulysses. 
 For, from the abundance of this smoke, it was 
 reasonable to conclude that there was a good 
 fire in the kitchen, and that, at dinner-time, a 
 plentiful banquet would be served up to the 
 inhabitants of the palace, and to whatever 
 guests might happen to drop in. 
 
 With so agreeable a prospect before him, 
 Ulysses fancied that he could not do better 
 than go straight to the palace gate, and tell the 
 master of it that there was a crew of poor ship- 
 wrecked mariners, not far off, who had eaten 
 nothing for a day or two, save a few clams and 
 oysters, and would therefore be thankful for a 
 little food. And the prince or nobleman must 
 be a very stingy curmudgeon, to be sure, if, at 
 least, when his own dinner was over, he would 
 not bid them welcome to the broken victuals 
 from the table. 
 
 Pleasing himself with this idea, King Ulysses 
 had made a few steps in the direction of the 
 palace, when there was a great twittering and 
 chirping from the branch of a neighboring tree. 
 A moment afterwards, a bird came flying 
 towards him, and hovered in the air, so as 
 almost to brush his face with its wings. It was a
 
 "Have you anything to tell me, little bird?"
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 139 
 
 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 minia- 
 ture. 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 lament- 
 able story, had it only been gifted with human 
 language. And when he attempted to drive it 
 away, the bird flew no farther than the bough of 
 the next tree, and again came fluttering about his 
 head, with its doleful chirp, as soon as he showed 
 a purpose of going forward. 
 
 "Have you anything to tell me, little bird?" 
 asked Ulysses. 
 
 And he was ready to listen attentively to 
 whatever the bird might communicate; for, at 
 the siege of Troy, and elsewhere, he had known 
 such odd things to happen, that he would not 
 have considered it much out of the common run 
 had this little feathered creature talked as 
 plainly as himself. 
 
 "Peep!" said the bird, "peep, peep, pe 
 weep!" And nothing else would it say, but 
 only, "Peep, peep, pe weep!" in a melancholy 
 cadence, and over and over and over again. As 
 often as Ulysses moved forward, however, the 
 bird showed the greatest alarm, and did its best 
 to drive him back, with the anxious flutter of 
 its purple wings. Its unaccountable behavior
 
 i 4 o TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 com- 
 passion for a human being. So he resolved, 
 for the present, to return to the vessel, and tell 
 his companions what he had seen. 
 
 This appeared to satisfy the bird. As soon 
 as Ulysses turned back, it ran up the trunk of a 
 tree, and began to pick insects out of the bark 
 with its long, sharp bill; for it was a kind of 
 woodpecker, you must know, and had to get 
 its living in the same manner as other birds of 
 that species. But every little while, as it pecked 
 at the bark of the tree, the purple bird bethought 
 itself of some secret sorrow, and repeated its 
 plaintive note of "Peep, peep, pe weep!" 
 
 On his way to the shore, Ulysses had the good 
 luck to kill a large stag by thrusting his spear 
 into his back. Taking it on his shoulders (for 
 he was a remarkably strong man), he lugged it 
 along with him, and flung it down before his 
 hungry companions. I have already hinted to 
 you what gormandizers some of the comrades of 
 King Ulysses were. From what is related of 
 them, I reckon that their favorite diet was pork, 
 and that they had lived upon it until a good part 
 of their physical substance was swine's flesh, 
 and their tempers and dispositions were very 
 much akin to the hog. A dish of venison,
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 141 
 
 however, was no unacceptable meal to them, 
 especially after feeding so long on oysters and 
 clams. So, beholding the dead stag, they felt of 
 its ribs, in a knowing way, and lost no time in 
 kindling a fire of driftwood, to cook it. The 
 rest of the day was spent in feasting; and if 
 these enormous eaters got up from table at 
 sunset, it was only because they could not scrape 
 another morsel off the poor animal's bones. 
 
 The next morning, their appetites were as 
 sharp as ever. They looked at Ulysses, as if 
 they expected him to clamber up the cliff again, 
 and come back with another fat deer upon his 
 shoulders. Instead of setting out, however, he 
 summoned the whole crew together, and told 
 them it was in vain to hope that he could kill 
 a stag every day for their dinner, and therefore 
 it was advisable to think of some other mode of 
 satisfying their hunger. 
 
 "Now," said he, "when I was on the cliff, 
 yesterday, I discovered that this island is 
 inhabited. At a considerable distance from the 
 shore stood a marble palace, which appeared to 
 be very spacious, and had a great deal of smoke 
 curling out of one of its chimneys." 
 
 "Aha!" muttered some of his companions, 
 smacking their lips. "That smoke must have 
 come from the kitchen fire. There was a good 
 dinner on the spit; and no doubt there will be 
 as good a one to-day."
 
 i 4 2 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 "But," continued the wise Ulysses, "you 
 must remember, my good friends, our mis- 
 adventure in the cavern of one-eyed Poly- 
 phemus, the Cyclops! Instead of his ordinary 
 milk diet, did he not eat up two of our com- 
 rades for his supper, and a couple more for 
 breakfast, and two at his supper again? Me- 
 thinks 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 Laestry- 
 gons, 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 hun- 
 griest 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,
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 143 
 
 by drawing lots, which of the two shall go to 
 the palace, and beg for .food and assistance. 
 If these can be obtained, all is well. If not, and 
 if the inhabitants prove as inhospitable as 
 Polyphemus, or the Laestrygons, then there will 
 but half of us perish, and the remainder may 
 set sail and escape." 
 
 As nobody objected to this scheme, Ulysses 
 proceeded to count the whole band, and found 
 that there were forty-six men, including himself. 
 He then numbered off twenty-two of them, and 
 put Eurylochus (who was one of his chief officers, 
 and second only to himself in sagacity) at their 
 head. Ulysses took command of the remaining 
 twenty- two men, in person. Then, taking off 
 his helmet, he put two shells into it, on one of 
 which was written, "Go," and on the other 
 " Stay." Another person now held the helmet, 
 while Ulysses and Eurylochus drew out each a 
 shell; and the word "Go" was found written 
 on that which Eurylochus had drawn. In this 
 manner, it was decided that Ulysses and his 
 twenty-two men were to remain at the seaside 
 until the other party should have found out 
 what sort of treatment they might expect at the 
 mysterious palace. As there was no help for 
 it, Eurylochus immediately set forth at the head 
 of his twenty-two followers, who went off in a 
 very melancholy state of mind, leaving their 
 
 friends in hardly better spirits than themselves. 
 10
 
 144 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 sur- 
 rounded it. A gush of smoke came from a 
 chimney in the rear of the edifice. This vapor 
 rose high in the air, and, meeting with a breeze, 
 was wafted seaward, and made to pass over 
 the heads of the hungry mariners. When 
 people's appetites are keen, they have a very 
 quick scent for anything savory in the wind. 
 
 "That smoke comes from the kitchen!" 
 cried one of them, turning up his nose as high as 
 he could, and snuffing eagerly. "And, as sure 
 as I'm a half-starved vagabond, I smell roast 
 meat in it." 
 
 "Pig, roast pig!" said another. "Ah, the 
 dainty little porker. My mouth waters for him. " 
 
 " Let us make haste," cried the others, " or we 
 shall be too late for the good cheer ! ' ' 
 
 But scarcely had they made half a dozen steps 
 from the edge of the cliff, when a bird came 
 fluttering to meet them. It was the same pretty 
 little bird, with the purple wings and body, the 
 yellow legs, the golden collar round its neck, 
 and the crown-like tuft upon its head, whose 
 behavior had so much surprised Ulysses. It 
 hovered about Eurylochus, and almost brushed 
 his face with its wings. 
 
 "Peep, peep, pe weep!" chirped the bird.
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 145 
 
 So plaintively intelligent was the sound, that 
 it seemed as if the little creature were going to 
 break its heart with some mighty secret that it 
 had to tell, and only this one poor note to tell 
 it with. 
 
 "My pretty bird," said Eurylochus for he 
 was a wary person, and let no token of harm 
 escape his notice "my pretty bird, who sent 
 you hither? And what is the message which 
 you bring?" 
 
 "Peep, peep, pe weep!" replied the bird, 
 very sorrowfully. 
 
 Then it flew towards the edge of the cliff, 
 and looked around at them, as if exceedingly 
 anxious that they should return whence they 
 came. Eurylochus and a few of the others were 
 inclined to turn back. They could not help 
 suspecting that the purple bird must be aware 
 of something mischievous that would befall 
 them at the palace, and the knowledge of which 
 affected its airy spirit with a human sympathy 
 and sorrow. But the rest of the voyagers, 
 snuffing up the smoke from the palace kitchen, 
 ridiculed the idea of returning to the vessel. 
 One of them (more brutal than his fellows, and 
 the most notorious gormandizer in the crew) said 
 such a cruel and wicked thing, that I wonder 
 the mere thought did not turn him into a wild 
 beast, in shape, as he already was in his nature. 
 
 "This troublesome and impertinent little
 
 i 4 6 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 fowl," said he, "would make a delicate titbit 
 to begin dinner with. Just one plump morsel, 
 melting away between the teeth. If he comes 
 within my reach, I'll catch him, and give him to 
 the palace cook to be roasted on a skewer." 
 
 The words were hardly out of his mouth, 
 before the purple bird flew away, crying, " Peep, 
 peep, pe weep," more dolorously than ever. 
 
 "That bird," remarked Eurylochus, "knows 
 more than we do about what awaits us at the 
 palace." 
 
 "Come on, then," cried his comrades, "and 
 we'll soon know as much as he does." 
 
 The party, accordingly, went onward through 
 the green and pleasant wood. Every little 
 while they caught new glimpses of the marble 
 palace, which looked more and more beautiful 
 the nearer they approached it. They soon 
 entered a broad pathway, which seemed to be 
 very neatly kept, and which went winding 
 along, with streaks of sunshine falling across it 
 and specks of light quivering among the deepest 
 shadows that fell from the lofty trees. It was 
 bordered, too, with a great many sweet-smelling 
 flowers, such as the mariners had never seen 
 before. So rich and beautiful they were, that, 
 if the shrubs grew wild here, and were native in 
 the soil, then this island was surely the flower 
 garden of the whole earth; or, if transplanted 
 from some other clime, it must have been from
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 147 
 
 the Happy Islands that lay towards the golden 
 sunset. 
 
 " There has been a great deal of pains foolishly 
 wasted on these flowers," observed one of the 
 company ; and I tell you what he said, that you 
 may keep in mind what gormandizers they were. 
 " For my part, if I were the owner of the palace, 
 I would bid my gardener cultivate nothing but 
 savory pot herbs to make a stuffing for roast 
 meat, or to flavor a stew with." 
 
 "Well said!" cried the others. "But I'll 
 warrant you there's a kitchen garden in the 
 rear of the palace." 
 
 At one place they came to a crystal spring, 
 and paused to drink at it for want of liquor 
 which they liked better. Looking into its 
 bosom, they beheld their own faces dimly 
 reflected, but so extravagantly distorted by the 
 gush and motion of the water, that each one of 
 them appeared to be laughing at himself and all 
 his companions. So ridiculous were these images 
 of themselves, indeed, that they did really 
 laugh aloud, and could hardly be grave again 
 as soon as they wished. And after they had 
 drank, they grew still merrier than before. 
 
 " It has a twang of the wine cask in it," said 
 one, smacking his lips. 
 
 "Make haste!" cried his fellows: "we'll 
 find the wine cask itself at the palace; and that 
 will be better than a hundred crystal fountains."
 
 i 4 8 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 Then they quickened their pace, and capered 
 for joy at the thought of the savory banquet 
 at which they hoped to be guests. But Eury- 
 lochus told them that he felt as if he were 
 walking in a dream. 
 
 "If I am really awake," continued he, "then, 
 in my opinion, we are on the point of meeting 
 with some stranger adventure than any that 
 befell us in the cave of Polyphemus, or among 
 the gigantic man-eating Laestrygons, or in the 
 windy palace of King ^Eolus, which stands on a 
 brazen-walled island. This kind of dreamy 
 feeling always comes over me before any wonder- 
 ful 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 Poly- 
 phemus, the one-eyed Cyclops, at its foot." 
 
 At length they came within full sight of the 
 palace, which proved to be very large and lofty, 
 with a great number of airy pinnacles upon its 
 roof. Though it was midday, and the sun 
 shone brightly over the marble front, yet its 
 snowy whiteness, and its fantastic style of 
 architecture, made it look unreal, like the frost 
 work on a window pane, or like the shapes of
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 149 
 
 castles which one sees among the clouds by moon- 
 light. 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 ban- 
 quet 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 de- 
 voured. To their surprise and joy, however, 
 these wild beasts merely capered around them, 
 wagging their tails, offering their heads to be 
 stroked and patted, and behaving just like so 
 many well-bred house dogs, when they wish to 
 express their delight at meeting their master, 
 or their master's friends. The biggest lion licked 
 the feet of Eurylochus; and every other lion, and 
 every wolf and tiger, singled out one of his two 
 and twenty followers, whom the beast fondled 
 as if he loved him better than a beef bone. 
 
 But, for all that, Eurylochus imagined that 
 he saw something fierce and savage in their 
 eyes ; nor would he have been surprised, at any 
 moment, to feel the big lion's terrible claws, or 
 to see each of the tigers make a deadly spring,
 
 150 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 or each wolf leap at the throat of the man whom 
 he had fondled. Their mildness seemed unreal, 
 and a mere freak; but their savage nature was 
 as true as their teeth and claws. 
 
 Nevertheless, the men went safely across the 
 lawn with the wild beasts frisking about them, 
 and doing no manner of harm; although, as 
 they mounted the steps of the palace, you might 
 possibly have heard a low growl, particularly 
 from the wolves; as if they thought it a pity, 
 after all, to let the strangers pass without so 
 much as tasting what they were made of. 
 
 Eurylochus and his followers now passed 
 under a lofty portal, and looked through the 
 open doorway into the interior of the palace. 
 The first thing that they saw was a spacious hall, 
 and a fountain in the middle of it, gushing up 
 towards the ceiling out of a marble basin, and 
 falling back into it with a continual plash. The 
 water of this fountain ,as it spouted upward, 
 was constantly taking new shapes, not very 
 distinctly, but plainly enough for a nimble 
 fancy to recognize what they were. Now it was 
 the shape of a man in a long robe, the fleecy 
 whiteness of which was made out of the foun- 
 tain'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
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 151 
 
 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 sweet- 
 ness of her voice into a rich tissue of harmony. 
 
 By and by, the song came to an end; and 
 then, all at once, there were several feminine 
 voices, talking airily and cheerfully, with now 
 and then a merry burst of laughter, such as you 
 may always hear when three or four young 
 women sit at work together. 
 
 "What a sweet song that was!" exclaimed 
 one of the voyagers. 
 
 "Too sweet, indeed," answered Eurylochus, 
 shaking his head. " Yet it was not so sweet as 
 the song of the Sirens, those bird-like damsels 
 who wanted to tempt us on the rocks, so that 
 our vessel might be wrecked, and our bones left 
 whitening along the shore." 
 
 " But just listen to the pleasant voices of 
 those maidens, and that buzz of the loom, as the 
 shuttle passes to and fro," said another comrade. 
 "What a domestic, household, home-like sound 
 it is! Ah, before that weary siege of Troy, I 
 used to hear the buzzing loom and the women's
 
 iS2 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 Lasstry- 
 gons, who ate up one of them in the twinkling 
 of an eye." 
 
 No warning or persuasion, however, had any 
 effect on his companions. They went up to a 
 pair of folding doors at the farther end of the 
 hall, and throwing them wide open, passed into 
 the next room. Eurylochus, meanwhile, had 
 stepped behind a pillar. In the short moment 
 while the folding doors opened and closed again, 
 he caught a glimpse of a very beautiful woman 
 rising from the loom, and coming to meet the 
 poor weather-beaten wanderers, with a hospit- 
 able smile, and her hand stretched out in 
 welcome. There were four other young women,
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 153 
 
 who joined their hands and danced merrily 
 forward, making gestures of obeisance to the 
 strangers. They were only less beautiful than 
 the lady who seemed to be their mistress. Yet 
 Eurylochus fancied that one of them had sea- 
 green hair, and that the close-fitting bodice of a 
 second looked like the bark of a tree, and that 
 both the others had something odd in their 
 aspect, although he could not quite determine 
 what it was, in the little while that he had to 
 examine them. 
 
 The folding doors swung quickly back, and 
 left him standing behind the pillar, in the 
 solitude of the outer hall. There Eurylochus 
 waited until he was quite weary, and listened 
 eagerly to every sound, but without hearing 
 anything that could help him to guess what had 
 become of his friends. Footsteps, it is true, 
 seemed to be passing and repassing, in other 
 parts of the palace. Then there was a clatter of 
 silver dishes, or golden ones, which made him 
 imagine a rich feast in a splendid banqueting 
 hall. But by and by he heard a tremendous 
 grunting and squealing, and then a sudden 
 scampering, like that of small, hard hoofs over 
 a marble floor, while the voices of the mistress 
 and her four handmaidens were screaming all 
 together, in tones of anger and derision. Eury- 
 lochus could not conceive what had happened, 
 unless a drove of swine had broken into the
 
 i 54 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 palace, attracted by the smell of the feast. 
 Chancing to cast his eyes at the fountain, he saw 
 that it did not shift its shape, as formerly, nor 
 looked either like a long-robed man, or a lion, 
 a tiger, a wolf, or an ass. It looked like nothing 
 but a hog, which lay wallowing in the marble 
 basin, and filled it from brim to brim. 
 
 But we must leave the prudent Eurylochus 
 waiting in the outer hall, and follow his friends 
 into the inner secrecy of the palace. As soon as 
 the beautiful woman saw them, she arose from 
 the loom, as I have told you, and came forward, 
 smiling, and stretching out her hand. She took 
 the hand of the foremost among them, and bade 
 him and the whole party welcome. 
 
 "You have been long expected, my good 
 friends," said she. "I and my maidens are 
 well acquainted with you, although you do not 
 appear to recognize us. Look at this piece of 
 tapestry, and judge if your faces must not have 
 been familiar to us." 
 
 So the voyagers examined the web of cloth 
 which the beautiful woman had been weaving 
 in her loom; and, to their vast astonishment, 
 they saw their own figures perfectly represented 
 in different colored threads. It was a life-like 
 picture of their recent adventures, showing them 
 in the cave of Polyphemus, and how they had 
 put out his one great moony eye; while in 
 another part of the tapestry they were untying
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 155 
 
 the leathern bags, puffed out with contrary 
 winds; and farther on, they beheld themselves 
 scampering away from the gigantic king of the 
 Laestrygons, who had caught one of them by the 
 leg. Lastly, there they were, sitting on the 
 desolate shore of this very island, hungry and 
 downcast, and looking ruefully at the bare bones 
 of the stag which they devoured yesterday. 
 This was as far as the work had yet proceeded ; 
 but when the beautiful woman should again 
 sit down at her loom, she would probably make 
 a picture of what had since happened to the 
 strangers, and of what was now going to happen. 
 
 "You see," she said, "that I know all about 
 your troubles; and you cannot doubt that I 
 desire to make you happy for as long a time as 
 you may remain with me. For this purpose, 
 my honored guests, I have ordered a banquet 
 to be prepared. Fish, fowl, and flesh, roasted, 
 and in luscious stews, and seasoned, I trust, to 
 all your tastes, are ready to be served up. If 
 your appetites tell you it is dinner time, then 
 come with me to the festal saloon." 
 
 At this kind invitation, the hungry mariners 
 were quite overjoyed; and one of them, taking 
 upon himself to be spokesman, assured their 
 hospitable hostess that any hour of the day was 
 dinner time with them, whenever they could get 
 flesh to put in the pot, and fire to boil it with. 
 So the beautiful woman led the way; and the
 
 156 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 four maidens (one of them had sea-green hair, 
 another a bodice of oak bark, a third sprinkled 
 a shower of water drops from her fingers' ends, 
 and the fourth had some other oddity, which I 
 have forgotten), all these followed behind, and 
 hurried the guests along, until they entered a 
 magnificent saloon. It was built in a perfect 
 oval, and lighted from a crystal dome above. 
 Around the walls were ranged two and twenty 
 thrones, overhung by canopies of crimson and 
 gold, and provided with the softest of cushions, 
 which were tasselled and fringed with gold cord. 
 Each of the strangers was invited to sit down; 
 and there they were, two and twenty storm- 
 beaten mariners, in worn and tattered garb, 
 sitting on two and twenty cushioned and cano- 
 pied thrones, so rich and gorgeous that the 
 proudest monarch had nothing more splendid 
 in his stateliest hall. 
 
 Then you might have seen the guests nodding, 
 winking with one eye, and leaning from one 
 throne to another, to communicate their satis- 
 faction in hoarse whispers. 
 
 ''Our good hostess has made kings of us all," 
 said one. "Ha! do you smell the feast? I'll 
 engage it will be fit to set before two and twenty 
 kings." 
 
 "I hope," said another, "it will be, mainly, 
 good substantial joints, sirloins, spareribs, and 
 hinder quarters, without too many kickshaws.
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 157 
 
 If I thought the good lady would not take it 
 amiss, I should call for a fat slice of fried bacon 
 to begin with." 
 
 Ah, the gluttons and gormandizers! You see 
 how it was with them. In the loftiest seats of 
 dignity, on royal thrones, they could think of 
 nothing but their greedy appetite, which was the 
 portion of their nature that they shared with 
 wolves and swine; so that they resembled 
 those vilest of animals far more than they did 
 kings if, indeed, kings were what they ought 
 to be. 
 
 But the beautiful woman now clapped her 
 hands; and immediately there entered a train 
 of two and twenty serving 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
 
 i S 8 TANGLE WOOD TALES. 
 
 when they had gone without a dinner. But 
 whenever the mariners were not looking at them 
 (which was pretty often, as they looked chiefly 
 into the basins and platters), the beautiful 
 woman and her damsels turned aside, and 
 laughed. Even the servants, as they knelt 
 down to present the dishes, might be seen to 
 grin and sneer, while the guests were helping 
 themselves to the offered dainties. 
 
 And, once in a while, the strangers seemed to 
 taste something that they did not like. 
 
 "Here is an odd kind of spice in this dish," 
 said one. " I can't say it quite suits my palate. 
 Down it goes, however." 
 
 "Send a good draught of wine down your 
 throat," said his comrade on the next throne. 
 " That is the stuff to make this sort of cookery 
 relish well. Though I must needs say, the 
 wine has a queer taste too. But the more I 
 drink of it, the better I like the flavor." 
 
 Whatever little fault they might find with the 
 dishes, they sat at dinner a prodigiously long 
 while; and it would really have made you 
 ashamed to see how they swilled down the 
 liquor and gobbled up the food. They sat on 
 golden thrones, to be sure; but they behaved 
 like pigs in a sty; and, if they had had their 
 wits about them, they might have guessed that 
 this was the opinion of their beautiful hostess 
 and her maidens. It brings a blush into my
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 159 
 
 face to reckon up, in my own mind, what 
 mountains of meat and pudding, and what 
 gallons of wine, these two and twenty guzzlers 
 and gormandizers ate and drank. They forgot 
 all about their homes, and their wives and 
 children, and all about Ulysses, and everything 
 else, except this banquet, at which they wanted 
 to keep feasting forever. But at length they 
 began to give over, from mere incapacity to 
 hold any more. 
 
 "That last bit of fat is too much for me," 
 said one. 
 
 "And I have not room for another morsel," 
 said his next neighbor, heaving a sigh. "What 
 a pity! My appetite is as sharp as ever." 
 
 In short, they all left off eating, and leaned 
 back on their thrones, with such a stupid and 
 helpless aspect as made them ridiculous to 
 behold. When their hostess saw this, she 
 laughed aloud; so did her four damsels; so 
 did the two and twenty serving men that bore 
 the dishes, and their two and twenty fellows 
 that poured out the wine. And the louder they 
 all laughed, the more stupid and helpless did 
 the two and twenty gormandizers look. Then 
 the beautiful woman took her stand in the 
 middle of the saloon, and stretching out a 
 slender rod (it had been all the while in her hand, 
 although they never noticed it till this moment) , 
 
 she turned it from one guest to another, until 
 11
 
 160 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 each had felt it pointed at himself. Beautiful 
 as her face was, and though there was a smile 
 on it, it looked just as wicked and mischievous 
 as the ugliest serpent that ever was seen; and 
 fat-witted as the voyagers had made themselves, 
 they began to suspect that they had fallen into 
 the power of an evil-minded enchantress. 
 
 "Wretches," cried she, "you have abused a 
 lady's hospitality; and in this princely saloon 
 your behavior has been suited to a hogpen. 
 You are already swine in everything but the 
 human form, which you disgrace, and which I 
 myself should be ashamed to keep a moment 
 longer, were you to share it with me. But 
 it will require only the slightest exercise 
 of magic to make the exterior conform to 
 the hoggish disposition. Assume your proper 
 shapes, gormandizers, and begone to the 
 sty!" 
 
 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
 
 // looked 
 
 so intolerably absurd to see hogs on cushioned thrones
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 161 
 
 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, attempt- 
 ing to do so, grew all the more desperate for 
 seeing themselves squatted on their hams, and 
 pawing the air with their fore trotters. Dear 
 me! what pendulous ears they had! what little 
 red eyes, half buried in fat! and what long 
 snouts, instead of Grecian noses ! 
 
 But brutes as they certainly were, they yet 
 had enough of human nature in them to be 
 shocked at their own hideousness; and still 
 intending to groan, they uttered a viler grunt 
 and squeal than before. So harsh and ear- 
 piercing it was, that you would have fancied a 
 butcher was sticking his knife into each of their 
 throats, or, at the very least, that somebody 
 was pulling every hog by his funny little twist 
 of a tail. 
 
 " Begone to your sty!" cried the enchantress, 
 giving them some smart strokes with her wand ; 
 and then she turned to the serving men 
 " Drive out these swine, and throw down some 
 acorns for them to eat." 
 
 The door of the saloon being flung open, the 
 drove of hogs ran in all directions save the right 
 one, in accordance with their hoggish perversity,
 
 162 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 hehaved 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 them- 
 selves among some unclean straw, and fell fast 
 asleep. If they had any human reason left, it 
 was just enough to keep them wondering when 
 they should be slaughtered, and what quality 
 of bacon they should make. 
 
 Meantime, as I told you before, Eurylochus 
 had waited, and waited, and waited, in the 
 entrance hall of the palace, without being able 
 to comprehend what had befallen his friends. 
 At last, when the swinish uproar resounded 
 through the palace, and when he saw the image 
 of a hog in the marble basin, he thought it best 
 to hasten back to the vessel, and inform the 
 wise Ulysses of these marvelous occurrences. 
 So he ran as fast as he could down the steps, 
 and never stopped to draw breath till he reached 
 the shore.
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 163 
 
 "Why do you come alone?" asked King 
 Ulysses, as soon as he saw him. "Where are 
 your two and twenty comrades?" 
 
 At these questions, Eurylochus burst into tears. 
 
 " Alas! " he cried, " I greatly fear that we shall 
 never see one of their faces again." 
 
 Then he told Ulysses all that had happened, 
 as far as he knew it, and added that he sus- 
 pected the beautiful woman to be a vile en- 
 chantress, and the marble palace, magnificent 
 as it looked, to be only a dismal cavern in reality. 
 As for his companions, he could not imagine 
 what had become of them, unless they had been 
 given to the swine to be devoured alive. At 
 this intelligence, all the voyagers were greatly 
 affrighted. But Ulysses lost no time in girding 
 on his sword, and hanging his bow and quiver 
 over his shoulders, and taking a spear in his 
 right hand. When his followers saw their wise 
 leader making these preparations, they inquired 
 whither he was going, and earnestly besought 
 him not to leave them. 
 
 "You are our king," cried they; "and what 
 is more, you are the wisest man in the whole 
 world, and nothing but your wisdom and cour- 
 age can get us out of this danger. If you desert 
 us, and go to the enchanted palace, you will 
 suffer the same fate as our poor companions, 
 and not a soul of us will ever see our dear 
 Ithaca again."
 
 1 64 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 "As I am your king," answered Ulysses, 
 " and wiser than any of you, it is therefore the 
 more my duty to see what has befallen our 
 comrades, and whether anything can yet be done 
 to rescue them. Wait for me here until to- 
 morrow. If I do not then return, you must 
 hoist sail, and endeavor to find your way to 
 our native land. For my part, I am answerable 
 for the fate of these poor mariners, who have 
 stood by my side in battle, and been so often 
 drenched to the skin, along with me, by the 
 same tempestuous surges. I will either bring 
 them back with me, or perish." 
 
 Had his followers dared, they would have 
 detained him by force. But King Ulysses 
 frowned sternly on them, and shook his spear, 
 and bade them stop him at their peril. Seeing 
 him so determined, they let him go, and sat 
 down on the sand, as disconsolate a set of 
 people as could be, waiting and praying for his 
 return. 
 
 It happened to Ulysses, just as before, that, 
 when he had gone a few steps from the edge of 
 the cliff, the purple bird came fluttering towards 
 him, crying, "Peep, peep, pe weep!" and 
 using all the art it could to persuade him to go 
 no farther. 
 
 "What mean you, little bird?" cried Ulysses. 
 "You are arrayed like a king in purple and 
 gold, and wear a golden crown upon your head.
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 165 
 
 Is it because I too am a king, that you desire 
 so earnestly to speak with me? If you can 
 talk in human language, say what you would 
 have me do." 
 
 "Peep!" answered the purple bird, very 
 dolorously. "Peep, peep, pe we ep!" 
 
 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 tlje pleasant 
 wood path, when there met him a young man of 
 very brisk and intelligent aspect, and clad in a 
 rather singular garb. He wore a short cloak 
 and a sort of cap that seemed to be furnished 
 with a pair of wings; and from the lightness of 
 his step, you would have supposed that there 
 might likewise be wings on his feet. To enable 
 him to walk still better (for he was always on 
 one journey or another) he carried a winged 
 staff, around which two serpents were wriggling 
 and twisting. In short, I have said enough to 
 make you guess that it was Quicksilver; and 
 Ulysses (who knew him of old, and had learned 
 a great deal of his wisdom from him) recognized 
 him in a moment. 
 
 "Whither are you going in such a hurry, 
 wise Ulysses?" asked Quicksilver. "Do you
 
 1 66 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 not know that this island is enchanted? The 
 wicked enchantress (whose name is Circe, the 
 sister of King ^Eetes) dwells in the marble palace 
 which you see yonder among the trees. By her 
 magic arts she changes every human being into 
 the brute, beast, or fowl whom he happens most 
 to resemble." 
 
 "That little bird, which met me at the edge 
 of the cliff," exclaimed Ulysses; "was he a 
 human being once?" 
 
 " Yes," answered Quicksilver. " He was once 
 a king, named Picus, and a pretty good sort of a 
 king, too, only rather too proud of his purple 
 robe, and his crown, and the golden chain about 
 his neck; so he was forced to take the shape 
 of a gaudy-feathered bird. The lions, and 
 wolves, and tigers, who will come running to 
 meet you, in front of the palace, were formerly 
 fierce and cruel men, resembling in their dis- 
 positions the wild beasts whose forms they now 
 rightfully wear . ' ' 
 
 "And my poor companions," said Ulysses. 
 " Have they undergone a similar change, through 
 the arts of this wicked Circe?" 
 
 "You well know what gormandizers they 
 were," replied Quicksilver; and rogue that he 
 was, he could not help laughing at the 
 joke. "So you will not be surprised to hear 
 that they have all taken the shapes of swine! 
 If Circe had never done anything worse, I
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 167 
 
 really should not think her so very much to 
 blame." 
 
 "But can I do nothing to help them?" 
 inquired Ulysses. 
 
 " It will require all your wisdom," said Quick- 
 silver, " and a little of my own into the bargain, 
 to keep your royal and sagacious self from being 
 transformed into a fox. But do as I bid you; 
 and the matter may end better than it has 
 begun." 
 
 While he was speaking, Quicksilver seemed to 
 be in search of something; he went stooping 
 along the ground, and soon laid his hand on a 
 little plant with a snow-white flower, which he 
 plucked and smelt of. Ulysses had been look- 
 ing at that very spot only just before; and it 
 appeared to him that the plant had burst into 
 full flower the instant when Quicksilver touched 
 it with his fingers. 
 
 "Take this flower, King Ulysses," said he. 
 "Guard it as you do your eyesight; for I can 
 assure you it is exceedingly rare and precious, 
 and you might seek the whole earth over without 
 ever finding another like it. Keep it in your 
 hand, and smell of it frequently after you enter 
 the palace, and while you are talking with the 
 enchantress. Especially when she offers you 
 food, or a draught of wine out of her goblet, be 
 careful to fill your nostrils with the flower's 
 fragrance. Follow these directions, and you
 
 i68 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 may defy her magic arts to change you into a 
 fox." 
 
 Quicksilver then gave him some further advice 
 how to behave, and bidding him be bold and 
 prudent, again assured him that, powerful as 
 Circe was, he would have a fair prospect of 
 coming safely out of her enchanted palace. 
 After listening attentively, Ulysses thanked his 
 good friend, and resumed his way. But he had 
 taken only a few steps, when, recollecting some 
 other questions which he wished to ask, he 
 turned round again, and beheld nobody on the 
 spot where Quicksilver had stood; for that 
 winged cap of his, and those winged shoes, with 
 the help of the winged staff, had carried him 
 quickly out of sight. 
 
 When Ulysses reached the lawn, in front of 
 the palace, the lions and other savage animals 
 came bounding to meet him, and would have 
 fawned upon him and licked his feet. But the 
 wise king struck at them with his long spear, 
 and sternly bade them begone out of his path; 
 for he knew that they had once been blood- 
 thirsty men, and would now tear him limb from 
 limb, instead of fawning upon him, could they 
 do the mischief that was in their hearts. The 
 wild beasts yelped and glared at him, and stood 
 at a distance, while he ascended the palace steps. 
 
 On entering the hall, Ulysses saw the magic 
 fountain in the center of it. The up-gushing
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 169 
 
 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 like- 
 wise heard the noise of the shuttle in the loom 
 and the sweet melody of the beautiful woman's 
 song, and then the pleasant voices of herself 
 and the four maidens talking together, with 
 peals of merry laughter intermixed. But Ulysses 
 did not waste much time in listening to the 
 laughter or the song. He leaned his spear 
 against one of the pillars of the hall, and then, 
 after loosening his sword in the scabbard, 
 stepped boldly forward, and threw the folding 
 doors wide open. The moment she beheld his 
 stately figure standing in the doorway, the 
 beautiful woman rose from the loom, and ran 
 to meet him with a glad smile throwing its 
 sunshine over her face, and both her hands 
 extended. 
 
 " Welcome, brave stranger ! " cried she. " We 
 were expecting you." 
 
 And the nymph with the sea-green hair made 
 a courtesy down to the ground, and likewise 
 bade him welcome; so did her sister with the 
 bodice of oaken bark, and she that sprinkled 
 dew-drops from her fingers' ends, and the fourth 
 one with some oddity which I cannot remember. 
 And Circe, as the beautiful enchantress was 
 called (who had deluded so many persons that 
 she did not doubt of being able to delude
 
 1 7 o TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 Ulysses, not imagining how wise he was), again 
 addressed him : 
 
 "Your companions," said she, "have already 
 been received into my palace, and have enjoyed 
 the hospitable treatment to which the propriety 
 of their behavior so well entitles them. If 
 such be your pleasure, you shall first take some 
 refreshment, and then join them in the elegant 
 apartment which they now occupy. See, I and 
 my maidens have been weaving their figures 
 into this piece of tapestry." 
 
 She pointed to the web of beautifully-woven 
 cloth in the loom. Circe and the four nymphs 
 must have been very diligently at work since 
 the arrival of the mariners; for a great many 
 yards of tapestry had now been wrought, in 
 addition to what I before described. In this 
 new part, Ulysses saw his two and twenty 
 friends represented as sitting on cushions and 
 canopied thrones, greedily devouring dainties, 
 and quaffing deep draughts of wine. The work 
 had not yet gone any further. O, no, indeed. 
 The enchantress was far too cunning to let 
 Ulysses see the mischief which her magic arts 
 had since brought upon the gormandizers. 
 
 "As for yourself, valiant sir," said Circe, 
 "judging by the dignity of your aspect, I take 
 you to be nothing less than a king. Deign to 
 follow me, and you shall be treated as befits 
 your rank."
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 171 
 
 So Ulysses followed her into the oval saloon, 
 where his two and twenty comrades had de- 
 voured the banquet, which ended so disastrously 
 for themselves. But, all this while, he had held 
 the snow-white flower in his hand, and had con- 
 stantly smelt of it while Circe was speaking ; and 
 as he crossed the threshold of the saloon, he 
 took good care to inhale several long and deep 
 snuffs of its fragrance. Instead of two and 
 twenty thrones, which had before been ranged 
 around the wall, there was now only a single 
 throne, in the center of the apartment. But this 
 was surely the most magnificent seat that ever a 
 king or an emperor reposed himself upon, all 
 made of chased gold, studded with precious 
 stones, with a cushion that looked like a soft 
 heap of living roses, and overhung by a canopy 
 of sunlight which Circe knew how to weave into 
 drapery. The enchantress took Ulysses by the 
 hand, and made him sit down upon this dazzling 
 throne. Then, clapping her hands, she sum- 
 moned the chief butler. 
 
 "Bring hither," said she, "the goblet that 
 is set apart for kings to drink out of. And fill it 
 with the same delicious wine which my royal 
 brother, King ^Eetes, praised so highly, when he 
 last visited me with my fair daughter Medea. 
 That good and amiable child! Were she now 
 here, it would delight her to see me offering 
 this wine to my honored guest."
 
 1 72 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 But Ulysses, while the butler was gone for 
 the wine, held the snow-white flower to his 
 nose. 
 
 " Is it a wholesome wine? " he asked. 
 
 At this the four maidens tittered; where- 
 upon 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 spark- 
 ling upward, and throwing a sunny spray over 
 the brim. But, delightfully as the wine looked, 
 it was mingled with the most potent enchant- 
 ments 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 ringers, 
 or a fox's brush behind him. 
 
 "Drink, my noble guest," said Circe, smiling,
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 173 
 
 as she presented him with the goblet. "You 
 will find in this draught a solace for all your 
 troubles." 
 
 King Ulysses took the goblet with his right 
 hand, while with his left he held the snow-white 
 flower to his nostrils, and drew in so long a 
 breath that his lungs were quite filled with its 
 pure and simple fragrance. Then, drinking off 
 all the wine, he looked the enchantress calmly 
 in the face. 
 
 "Wretch," cried Circe, giving him a smart 
 stroke with her wand, " how dare you keep your 
 human shape a moment longer! Take the 
 form of the brute whom you most resemble. If 
 a hog, go join your fellow-swine in the sty; if a 
 lion, a wolf, a tiger, go howl with the wild beasts 
 on the lawn; if a fox, go exercise your craft in 
 stealing poultry. Thou hast quaffed off my 
 wine, and canst be man no longer." 
 
 But, such was the virtue of the snow-white 
 flower, instead of wallowing down from his 
 throne in swinish shape, or taking any other 
 brutal form, Ulysses looked even more manly 
 and king-like than before. He gave the magic 
 goblet a toss, and sent it clashing over the marble 
 floor to the farthest end of the saloon. Then, 
 drawing his sword, he seized the enchantress by 
 her beautiful ringlets, and made a gesture as if 
 he meant to strike off her head at one blow. 
 
 "Wicked Circe," cried he, in a terrible voice,
 
 i 7 4 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 "this sword shall put an end to thy enchant- 
 ments. Thou shalt die, vile wretch, and do no 
 more mischief in the world, by tempting human 
 beings into the vices which make beasts of them." 
 
 The tone and countenance of Ulysses were so 
 awful, and his sword gleamed so brightly, and 
 seemed to have so intolerably keen an edge, 
 that Circe was almost killed by the mere fright, 
 without waiting for a blow. The chief butler 
 scrambled out of the saloon, picking up the golden 
 goblet as he went; and the enchantress and 
 the four maidens fell on their knees, wringing 
 their hands, and screaming for mercy. 
 
 "Spare me!" cried Circe. "Spare me, royal 
 and wise Ulysses. For now I know that thou 
 art he of whom Quicksilver forewarned me, the 
 most prudent of mortals, against whom no 
 enchantments can prevail. Thou only couldst 
 have conquered Circe. Spare me, wisest of 
 men. I will show thee true hospitality, and 
 even give myself to be thy slave, and this mag- 
 nificent palace to be henceforth thy home." 
 
 The four nymphs, meanwhile, were making a 
 most piteous ado; and especially the ocean 
 nymph, with the sea-green hair, wept a great 
 deal of salt water, and the fountain nymph, 
 besides scattering dewdrops from her fingers' 
 ends, nearly melted away into tears. But 
 Ulysses would not be pacified until Circe had 
 taken a solemn oath to change back his
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 175 
 
 companions, and as many others as he should 
 direct, from their present forms of beast or 
 bird into their former shapes of men. 
 
 "On these conditions," said he, "I consent 
 to spare your life. Otherwise you must die 
 upon the spot." 
 
 With a drawn sword hanging over her, the 
 enchantress would readily have consented to do 
 as much good as she had hitherto done mischief, 
 however little she might like such employment. 
 She therefore led Ulysses out of the back 
 entrance of the palace, and showed him the 
 swine in their sty. There were about fifty of 
 these unclean beasts in the whole herd; and 
 though the greater part were hogs by birth 
 and education, there was wonderfully little 
 difference to be seen betwixt them and their 
 new brethren, who had so recently worn the 
 human shape. To speak critically, indeed, 
 the latter rather carried the thing to excess, 
 and seemed to make it a point to wallow in the 
 miriest part of the sty, and otherwise to outdo 
 the original swine in their own natural vocation. 
 When men once turn to brutes, the trifle of 
 man's wit that remains in them adds tenfold to 
 their brutality. 
 
 The comrades of Ulysses, however, had not 
 quite lost the remembrance of having formerly 
 stood erect. When he approached the sty, two 
 and twenty enormous swine separated themselves 
 
 12
 
 i 7 6 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 miser- 
 able from some other cause. It was curious, in 
 the midst of their distress, to observe them 
 thrusting their noses into the mire, in quest of 
 something to eat. The nymph with the bodice 
 of oaken bark (she was the hamadryad of an 
 oak) threw a handful of acorns among them; 
 and the two and twenty hogs scrambled and 
 fought for the prize, as if they had tasted not 
 so much as a noggin of sour milk for a twelve- 
 month. 
 
 "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
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 177 
 
 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 con- 
 clusion that they rather resembled the latter. 
 Finally, there stood the twenty- two comrades of 
 Ulysses, looking pretty much the same as when 
 they left the vessel. 
 
 You must not imagine, however, that the 
 swinish quality had entirely gone out of them. 
 When once it fastens itself into a person's 
 character, it is very difficult getting rid of it. 
 This was proved by the hamadryad, who, being 
 exceedingly fond of mischief, threw another 
 handful of acorns before the twenty-two newly- 
 restored people ; whereupon down they wallowed 
 in a moment, and gobbled them up in a very 
 shameful way. Then, recollecting themselves, 
 they scrambled to their feet, and looked more 
 than commonly foolish. 
 
 "Thanks, noble Ulysses!" they cried. 
 "From brute beasts you have restored us to 
 the condition of men again." 
 
 " Do not put yourselves to the trouble of 
 thanking me," said the wise king. "I fear I 
 have done but little for you." 
 
 To say the truth, there was a suspicious kind
 
 i 7 8 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 of a grunt in their voices, and, for a long time 
 afterwards, they spoke gruffly, and were apt to 
 set up a squeal. 
 
 "It must depend on your own future be- 
 havior," added Ulysses, "whether you do not 
 find your way back to the sty." 
 
 At this moment, the note of a bird sounded 
 from the branch of a neighboring tree. 
 
 "Peep, peep, pe wee ep!" 
 
 It was the purple bird, who, all this while, 
 had been sitting over their heads, watching what 
 was going forward, and hoping that Ulysses 
 would remember how he had done his utmost 
 to keep him and his followers out of harm's 
 way. Ulysses ordered Circe instantly to make 
 a king of this good little fowl, and leave him 
 exactly as she found him. Hardly were the 
 words spoken, and before the bird had time to 
 utter another "pe weep," King Picus leaped 
 down from the bough of a tree, as majestic a 
 sovereign as any in the world, dressed in a long 
 purple robe and gorgeous yellow stockings, with 
 a splendidly wrought collar about his neck, 
 and a golden crown upon his head. He and 
 King Ulysses exchanged with one another the 
 courtesies which belong to their elevated rank. 
 But from that time forth, King Picus was no 
 longer proud of his crown and his trappings of 
 royalty, nor of the fact of his being a king; he 
 felt himself merely the upper servant of his
 
 CIRCE'S PALACE. 179 
 
 people, and that it must be his life-long labor 
 to make them better and happier. 
 
 As for the lions, tigers, and wolves (though 
 Circe would have restored them to their former 
 shapes at his slightest word) , Ulysses thought it 
 advisable that they should remain as they now 
 were, and thus give warning of their cruel dis- 
 positions, instead of going about under the 
 guise of men, and pretending to human sym- 
 pathies, while their hearts had the blood- 
 thirstiness of wild beasts. So he let them howl 
 as much as they liked, but never troubled his 
 head about them. And, when everything was 
 settled according to his pleasure, he sent to 
 summon the remainder of his comrades, whom 
 he had left at the sea-shore. These being 
 arrived, with the prudent Eurylochus at their 
 head, they all made themselves comfortable in 
 Circe's enchanted palace, until quite rested and 
 refreshed from the toils and hardships of their 
 voyage.
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 
 
 Mother Ceres was exceedingly fond of her 
 daughter Proserpina, and seldom let her go 
 alone into the fields. But, just at the time when 
 my story begins, the good lady was very busy, 
 because she had the care of the wheat, and the 
 Indian corn, and the rye and barley and, in 
 short, of the crops of every kind, all over the 
 earth ; and as the season had thus far been uncom- 
 monly 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 wear- 
 ing), and got into her car drawn by a pair of 
 winged dragons, and was just ready to set off. 
 
 "Dear mother," said Proserpina, "I shall be 
 very lonely while you are away. May I not run 
 down to the shore, and ask some of the sea 
 nymphs to come up out of the waves and play 
 with me?" 
 
 "Yes, child," answered Mother Ceres. "The 
 sea nymphs are good creatures, and will never 
 lead you into any harm. But you must take 
 care not to stray away from them, nor go 
 
 1 80
 
 -Lfe & 7^ 
 
 ".*, 
 
 The child besought them to go with her a little ivay into the fields
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 181 
 
 wandering about the fields by yourself. Young 
 girls, without their mothers to take care of 
 them, are very apt to get into mischief." 
 
 The child promised to be as prudent as if 
 she were a grown-up woman; and, by the 
 time the winged dragons had whirled the car 
 out of sight, she was already on the shore, call- 
 ing to the sea nymphs to come and play with 
 her. They knew Proserpina's voice, and were 
 not long in showing their glistening faces and 
 sea-green hair above the water, at the bottom 
 of which was their home. They brought along 
 with them a great many beautiful shells; and 
 sitting down on the moist sand, where the surf 
 wave broke over them, they busied themselves 
 in making a necklace, which they hung round 
 Proserpina's neck. By way of showing her 
 gratitude, the child besought , them to go with 
 her a little way into the fields, so that they 
 might gather abundance of flowers, with which 
 she would make each of her kind playmates a 
 wreath. 
 
 "O no, dear Proserpina," cried the sea 
 nymphs; "we dare not go with you upon the 
 dry land. We are apt to grow faint, unless at 
 every breath we can snuff up the salt breeze 
 of the ocean. And don't you see how careful 
 we are to let the surf wave break over us every 
 moment or two, so as to keep ourselves com- 
 fortably moist? If it were not for that, we
 
 182 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 should look like bunches of uprooted seaweed 
 dried in the sun. 
 
 "It is a great pity," said Proserpina. "But 
 do you wait for me here, and I will run and 
 gather my apron full of flowers, and be back 
 again before the surf wave has broken ten times 
 over you. I long to make you some wreaths 
 that shall be as lovely as this necklace of many- 
 colored shells." 
 
 "We will wait, then," answered the sea 
 nymphs. " But while you are gone, we may as 
 well lie down on a bank of soft sponge under 
 the water. The air to-day is a little too dry 
 for our comfort. But we will pop up our 
 heads every few minutes to see if you are 
 coming." 
 
 The young Proserpina ran quickly to a spot 
 where, only the day before, she had seen a great 
 many flowers. These, however, were now a 
 little past their bloom; and wishing to give 
 her friends the freshest and loveliest blossoms, 
 she strayed farther into the fields, and found 
 some that made her scream with delight. 
 Never had she met with such exquisite flowers 
 before violets so large and fragrant roses 
 with so rich and delicate a blush such superb 
 hyacinths and such aromatic pinks and many 
 others, some of which seemed to be of 
 new shapes and colors. Two or three times, 
 moreover, she could not help thinking that a
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 183 
 
 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 brim- 
 ming over with delightful blossoms. She was 
 on the point of turning back in order to rejoin 
 the sea nymphs, and sit with them on the moist 
 sands, all twining wreaths together. But, a 
 little farther on, what should she behold? It 
 was a large shrub, completely covered with the 
 most magnificent flowers in the world. 
 
 "The darlings!" cried Proserpina; and then 
 she thought to herself, " I was looking at that 
 spot only a moment ago. How strange it is 
 that I did not see the flowers ! " 
 
 The nearer she approached the shrub, the 
 more attractive it looked, until she came quite 
 close to it; and then, although its beauty was 
 richer than words can tell, she hardly knew 
 whether to like it or not. It bore above a 
 hundred flowers of the most brilliant hues, and 
 each different from the others, but all having a 
 kind of resemblance among themselves, which 
 showed them to be sister blossoms. But there 
 was a deep, glossy luster on the leaves of the 
 shrub, and on the petals of the flowers, that 
 made Proserpina doubt whether they might not 
 be poisonous. To tell you the truth, foolish as 
 it may seem, she was half inclined to turn round 
 and run away.
 
 184 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 "What a silly child I am!" thought she, 
 taking courage. " It is really the most beautiful 
 shrub that ever sprang out of the earth. I will 
 pull it up by the roots, and carry it home, and 
 plant it in my mother's garden." 
 
 Holding up her apron full of flowers with her 
 left hand, Proserpina seized the large shrub with 
 the other, and pulled, and pulled, but was 
 hardly able to loosen the soil about its roots. 
 What a deep-rooted plant it was! Again the 
 girl pulled with all her might, and observed that 
 the earth began to stir and crack to some dis- 
 tance 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 rum- 
 bling 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,
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 185 
 
 and soon saw a team of four sable horses, snort- 
 ing 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, 
 nourishing 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 discon- 
 tented ; and he kept rubbing his eyes and shad- 
 ing them with his hand, as if he did not live 
 enough in the sunshine to be very fond of its 
 light. 
 
 As soon as this personage saw the affrighted 
 Proserpina, he beckoned her to come a little 
 nearer. 
 
 " Do not be afraid," said he, with as cheerful a 
 smile as he knew how to put on. "Come! 
 Will you not like to ride a little way with me, in 
 my beautiful chariot?" 
 
 But Proserpina was so alarmed, that she 
 wished for nothing but to get out of his reach. 
 And no wonder. The stranger did not look 
 remarkably good-natured, in spite of his smile; 
 and as for his voice, its tones were deep and 
 stern, and sounded as much like the rumbling
 
 i86 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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, Proser- 
 pina lost sight of the pleasant vale of Enna, in 
 which she had always dwelt. Another instant, 
 and even the summit of Mount AZtna. 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 trail- 
 ing behind the chariot; and many mothers, to 
 whose ears it came, ran quickly to see if any 
 mischief had befallen their children. But Mother
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 187 
 
 Ceres was a great way off, and could not hear 
 the cry. 
 
 As they rode on, the stranger did his best to 
 soothe her. 
 
 " Why should you be so frightened, my pretty 
 child?" said he, trying to soften his rough 
 voice. I promise not to do you any harm. 
 What! you have been gathering flowers? Wait 
 till we come to my palace, and I will give you a 
 garden full of prettier flowers than those, all 
 made of pearls, and diamonds, and rubies. Can 
 you guess who I am? They call my name 
 Pluto; and I am the king of diamonds and all 
 other precious stones. Every atom of the gold 
 and silver that lies under the earth belongs to 
 me, to say nothing of the copper and iron, and 
 of the coal mines, which supply me with abun- 
 dance of fuel. Do you see this splendid crown 
 upon my head? You may have it for a play- 
 thing. O, we shall be very good friends, and 
 you will find me more agreeable than you expect, 
 when once we get out of this troublesome sun- 
 shine." 
 
 "Let me go home!" cried Proserpina. "Let 
 me go home!" 
 
 "My home is better than your mother's," 
 answered King Pluto. "It is a palace, all 
 made of gold, with crystal windows; and 
 because there is little or no sunshine there- 
 abouts, the apartments are illuminated with
 
 1 88 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 diamond lamps. You never saw anything half 
 so magnificent as my throne. If you like, you 
 may sit down on it, and be my little queen, and 
 I will sit on the footstool." 
 
 " I don't care for golden palaces and thrones," 
 sobbed Proserpina. "Oh, my mother, my 
 mother! Carry me back to my mother! " 
 
 But King Pluto, as he called himself, only 
 shouted to his steeds to go faster. 
 
 "Pray do not be foolish, Proserpina," said 
 he, in rather a sullen tone. " I offer you my 
 palace and my crown, and all the riches that 
 are under the earth; and you treat me as if 
 I were doing you an injury. The one thing 
 which my palace needs is a merry little maid, to 
 run upstairs and down, and cheer up the rooms 
 with her smile. And this is what you must do 
 for King Pluto." 
 
 "Never!" answered Proserpina, looking as 
 miserable as she could. "I shall never smile 
 again till you set me down at my mother's door." 
 
 But she might just as well have talked to the 
 wind that whistled past them; for Pluto urged 
 on his horses, and went faster than ever. Pro- 
 serpina continued to cry out, and screamed so 
 long and so loudly that her poor little voice 
 was almost screamed away; and when it was 
 nothing but a whisper, she happened to cast her 
 eyes over a great broad field of waving grain 
 and whom do you think she saw? Who, but
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 189 
 
 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 preci- 
 pices, between which the rumbling of the chariot 
 wheels was reverberated with a noise like rolling 
 thunder. The trees and bushes that grew in the 
 crevices of the rocks had very dismal foliage; 
 and by and by, although it was hardly noon, the 
 air became obscured with a gray twilight. The 
 black horses had rushed along so swiftly, that 
 they were already beyond the limits of the 
 sunshine. But the duskier it grew, the more did 
 Pluto's visage assume an air of satisfaction. 
 After all, he was not an ill-looking person, espe- 
 cially when he left off twisting his features into 
 a smile that did not belong to them. Proser- 
 pina 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 !
 
 i 9 o TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 It will be a magnificent sight, when we get to 
 my palace." 
 
 "Is is much farther?" asked Proserpina. 
 "And will you carry me back when I have 
 seen it?" 
 
 "We will talk of that by and by," answered 
 Pluto. "We are just entering my dominions. 
 Do you see that tall gateway before us? When 
 we pass those gates, we are at home. And 
 there lies my faithful mastiff at the threshold. 
 Cerberus! Cerberus! Come hither, my good 
 dog!" 
 
 So saying, Pluto pulled at the reins, and 
 stopped the chariot right between the tall, 
 massive pillars of the gateway. The mastiff of 
 which he had spoken got up from the threshold, 
 and stood on his hinder legs, so as to put his 
 fore paws on the chariot wheel. But, my stars, 
 what a strange dog it was! Why, he was a big, 
 rough, ugly-looking monster, with three separate 
 heads, and each of them fiercer than the two 
 others; but fierce as they were, King Pluto 
 patted them all. He seemed as fond of his 
 three-headed dog as if it had been a sweet little 
 spaniel, with silken ears and curly hair. Cer- 
 berus, 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
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 191 
 
 more nor less than a live dragon, with fiery eyes, 
 and fangs that had a very poisonous aspect. 
 And while the three-headed Cerberus was fawn- 
 ing so lovingly on King Pluto, there was the 
 dragon tail wagging against its will, and looking 
 as cross and ill-natured as you can imagine, on 
 its own separate account. 
 
 "Will the dog bite me?" asked Proserpina, 
 shrinking closer to Pluto. "What an ugly 
 creature he is!" 
 
 "O, never fear," answered her companion. 
 "He never harms people, unless they try to 
 enter my dominions without being sent for, or 
 to get away when I wish to keep them here. 
 Down, Cerberus! Now, my pretty Proserpina, 
 we will drive on." 
 
 On went the chariot, and King Pluto seemed 
 greatly pleased to find himself once more in his 
 own kingdom. He drew Proserpina's attention 
 to the rich veins of gold that were to be seen 
 among the rocks, and pointed to several places 
 where one stroke of a pickaxe would loosen a 
 bushel of diamonds. All along the road, indeed, 
 there were sparkling gems, which would have 
 been of inestimable value above ground, but 
 which here were reckoned of the meaner sort 
 and hardly worth a beggar's stooping for. 
 
 Not far from the gateway, they came to a 
 bridge, which seemed to be built of iron. Pluto 
 stopped the chariot, and bade Proserpina look at 
 
 13
 
 i 9 2 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 the stream which was gliding so lazily beneath it. 
 Never in her life had she beheld so torpid, so 
 black, so muddy-looking a stream; its waters 
 reflected no images of anything that was on 
 the banks, and it moved as sluggishly as if it 
 had quite forgotten which way it ought to flow, 
 and had rather stagnate than flow either one 
 way or the other. 
 
 "This is the River Lethe," observed King 
 Pluto. " Is it not a very pleasant stream?" 
 
 "I think it a very dismal one," answered 
 Proserpina. 
 
 " It suits my taste, however," answered Pluto, 
 who was apt to be sullen when anybody dis- 
 agreed with him. " At all events, its water has 
 one excellent quality; for a single draught of 
 it makes people forget every care and sorrow 
 that has hitherto tormented them. Only sip a 
 little of it, my dear Proserpina, and you will 
 instantly cease to grieve for your mother, and 
 will have nothing in your memory that can 
 prevent your being perfectly happy in my palace. 
 I will send for some, in a golden goblet, the 
 moment we arrive." 
 
 "O, no, no, no!" cried Proserpina, weeping 
 afresh. "I had a thousand times rather be 
 miserable with remembering my mother, than 
 be happy in forgetting her. That dear, dear 
 mother! I never, never will forget her." 
 
 "We shall see," said King Pluto. "You do
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 193 
 
 not know what fine times we will have in my 
 palace. Here we are just at the portal. These 
 pillars are solid gold, I assure you." 
 
 He alighted from the chariot, and taking 
 Proserpina in his arms, carried her up a lofty 
 flight of steps into the great hall of the palace. 
 It was splendidly illuminated by means of large 
 precious stones, of various hues, which seemed 
 to burn like so many lamps, and glowed with a 
 hundred-fold radiance all through the vast apart- 
 ment. And yet there was a kind of gloom in the 
 midst of this enchanted light; nor was there a 
 single object in the hall that was really agreeable 
 to behold, except the little Proserpina herself, a 
 lovely child, with one earthly flower which she 
 had not let fall from her hand. It is my opinion 
 that even King Pluto had never been happy in 
 his palace, and that this was the true reason 
 why he had stolen away Proserpina, in order 
 that he might have something to love, instead of 
 cheating his heart any longer with this tiresome 
 magnificence. And, though he pretended to 
 dislike the sunshine of the upper world, yet the 
 effect of the child's presence, bedimmed as she 
 was by her tears, was as if a faint and watery 
 sunbeam had somehow or other found its way 
 into the enchanted hall. 
 
 Pluto now summoned his domestics, and bade 
 them lose no time in preparing a most sumptuous 
 banquet, and above all things, not to fail of
 
 1 94 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 setting a golden beaker of the water of Lethe by 
 Proserpina's plate. 
 
 " I will neither drink that nor anything else," 
 said Proserpina. " Nor will I taste a morsel of 
 food, even if you keep me forever in your palace." 
 
 "I should be sorry for that," replied King 
 Pluto, patting her cheek; for he really wished 
 to be kind, if he had only known how. " You 
 are a spoiled child, I perceive, my little Proser- 
 pina; but when you see the nice things which 
 my cook will make for you, your appetite will 
 quickly come again." 
 
 Then, sending for the head cook, he gave 
 strict orders that all sorts of delicacies, such as 
 young people are usually fond of, should be set 
 before Proserpina. He had a secret motive in 
 this; for, you are to understand, it is a fixed 
 law, that when persons are carried off to the 
 land of magic, if they once taste any food there, 
 they can never get back to their friends. Now, 
 if King Pluto had been cunning enough to offer 
 Proserpina some fruit, or bread and milk (which 
 was the simple fare to which the child had always 
 been accustomed), it is very probable that she 
 would soon have been tempted to eat it. But he 
 left the matter entirely to his cook, who, like 
 all other cooks, considered nothing fit to eat 
 unless it were rich pastry, or highly-seasoned 
 meat, or spiced sweet cakes things which 
 Proserpina's mother had never given her, and
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 195 
 
 the smell of which quite took away her appe- 
 tite, instead of sharpening it. 
 
 But my story must now clamber out of King 
 Pluto's dominions, and see what Mother Ceres 
 had been about, since she was bereft of her 
 daughter. We had a glimpse of her, as you 
 remember, half hidden among the waving grain, 
 while the four black steeds were swiftly whirling 
 along the chariot, in which her beloved Proser- 
 pina was so unwillingly borne away. You 
 recollect, too, the loud scream which Proser- 
 pina gave, just when the chariot was out of 
 sight. 
 
 Of all the child's outcries, this lact 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
 
 196 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 lamentable cry. Nevertheless, it troubled her 
 with a vast many tender fears, such as are 
 ready to bestir themselves in every mother's 
 heart, when she finds it necessary to go away 
 from her dear children without leaving them 
 under the care of some maiden aunt, or other 
 such faithful guardian. So she quickly left the 
 field in which she had been so busy ; and, as her 
 work was not half done, the grain looked, next 
 day, as if it needed both sun and rain, and as if 
 it were blighted in the ear, and had something 
 the matter with its roots. 
 
 The pair of dragons must have had very 
 nimble wings ; for, in less than an hour, Mother 
 Ceres had alighted at the door of her home, and 
 found it empty. Knowing, however, that the 
 child was fond of sporting on the sea-shore, she 
 hastened thither as fast as she could, and there 
 beheld the wet faces of the poor sea nymphs 
 peeping over a wave. All this while, the good 
 creatures had been waiting on the bank of 
 sponge, and once, every half minute or so, had 
 popped up their four heads above water, to see 
 if their playmate were yet coming back. When 
 they saw Mother Ceres, they sat down on the 
 crest of the surf wave, and let it toss them ashore 
 at her feet. 
 
 " Where is Proserpina ? ' ' cried Ceres. ' ' Where 
 is my child? Tell me, you naughty sea 
 nymphs, have you enticed her under the sea?"
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 197 
 
 "O, no, good Mother Ceres," said the inno- 
 cent sea nymphs, tossing back their green 
 ringlets, and looking her in the face. "We 
 never should dream of such a thing. Proser- 
 pina has been at play with us, it is true ; but she 
 left us a long while ago, meaning only to run 
 a little way upon the dry land, and gather 
 some flowers for a wreath. This was early 
 in the day, and we have seen nothing of her 
 since." 
 
 Ceres scarcely waited to hear what the nymphs 
 had to say, before she hurried off to make 
 inquiries all through the neighborhood. But 
 nobody told her anything that would enable the 
 poor mother to guess what had become of 
 Proserpina. A fisherman, it is true, had noticed 
 her little footprints in the sand, as he went home- 
 ward 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 tedi- 
 ous 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
 
 198 TANGLE WOOD TALES. 
 
 never to come back until Proserpina was dis- 
 covered. 
 
 In her haste and trouble of mind, she quite 
 forgot her car and the winged dragons; or, it 
 may be, she thought that she could follow up 
 the search more thoroughly on foot. At all 
 events, this was the way in which she began her 
 sorrowful journey, holding her torch before her, 
 and looking carefully at every object along the 
 path. And as it happened, she had not gone 
 far before she found one of the magnificent 
 flowers which grew on the shrub that Proser- 
 pina had pulled up. 
 
 "Ha!" thought Mother Ceres, examining it 
 by torchlight. " Here is mischief in this flower! 
 The earth did not produce it by any help of 
 mine, nor of its own accord. It is the work of 
 enchantment, and is therefore poisonous; and 
 perhaps it has poisoned my poor child." 
 
 But she put the poisonous flower in her bosom, 
 not knowing whether she might ever find any 
 other memorial of Proserpina. 
 
 All night long, at the door of every cottage 
 and farm-house, Ceres knocked, and called up 
 the weary laborers to inquire if they had seen 
 her child; and they stood, gaping and half- 
 asleep, at the threshold, and answered her pity- 
 ingly, 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
 
 // never was extinguished by the rain or wind
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS, 199 
 
 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 Pro- 
 serpina, nor could give Mother Ceres the least 
 hint which way to seek her. Thus passed the 
 night; and still she continued her search with- 
 out 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 extin- 
 guished by the rain or wind, in all the weary 
 days and nights while Ceres was seeking for 
 Proserpina. 
 
 It was not merely of human beings that she 
 asked tidings of her daughter. In the woods and 
 by the streams, she met creatures of another 
 nature, who used, in those old times, to haunt 
 the pleasant and solitary places, and were very 
 sociable with persons who understood their 
 language and customs, as Mother Ceres did. 
 Sometimes, for instance, she tapped with her
 
 200 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 foun- 
 tain, gushing out of a pebbly hollow in the 
 earth, and would dabble with her hand in the 
 water. Behold, up through its sandy and 
 pebbly bed, along with the fountain's gush, a 
 young woman with dripping hair would arise, 
 and stand gazing at Mother Ceres, half out of 
 the water, and undulating up and down with 
 its ever-restless motion. But when the mother 
 asked whether her poor lost child had stopped 
 to drink out of the fountain, the naiad, with 
 weeping eyes (for these water-nymphs had tears 
 to spare for everybody's grief), would answer 
 "No!" in a murmuring voice, which was just 
 like the murmur of the stream. 
 
 Often, likewise, she encountered fauns, who 
 looked like sunburnt country people, except that 
 they had hairy ears, and little horns upon their 
 foreheads, and the hinder legs of goats, on which 
 they gamboled merrily about the woods and 
 fields. They were a frolicsome kind of creature 
 but grew as sad as their cheerful dispositions
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 201 
 
 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 gener- 
 ally 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 soli- 
 tary 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, rinding 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
 
 202 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 she continued her search by its light, without 
 ever sitting down to rest. 
 
 On the tenth day, she chanced to espy the 
 mouth of a cavern within which (though it was 
 bright noon everywhere else) there would have 
 been only a dusky twilight; but it so happened 
 that a torch was burning there. It flickered, 
 and struggled with the duskiness, but could not 
 half light up the gloomy cavern with all its 
 melancholy glimmer. Ceres was resolved to 
 leave no spot without a search; so she peeped 
 into the entrance of the cave, and lighted it up 
 a little more, by holding her own torch before 
 her. In so doing, she caught a glimpse of what 
 seemed to be a woman, sitting on the brown 
 leaves of the last autumn, a great heap of which 
 had been swept into the cave by the wind. 
 This woman (if woman it were) was by no means 
 so beautiful as many of her sex; for her head, 
 they tell me, was shaped very much like a dog's, 
 and, by way of ornament, she wore a wreath of 
 snakes around it. But Mother Ceres, the 
 moment she saw her, knew that this was an odd 
 kind of a person, who put all her enjoyment in 
 being miserable, and never would have a word 
 to say to other people, unless they were as 
 melancholy and wretched as she herself 
 delighted to be. 
 
 "I am wretched enough now," thought poor 
 Ceres, "to talk with this melancholy Hecate,
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 203 
 
 were she ten times sadder than ever she was yet." 
 
 So she stepped into the cave, and sat down on 
 the withered leaves by the dog-headed woman's 
 side. In all the world, since her daughter's loss, 
 she had found no other companion. 
 
 "O Hecate," said she, "if ever you lose a 
 daughter, you will know what sorrow is. Tell 
 me, for pity's sake, have you seen my poor 
 child Proserpina pass by the mouth of your 
 cavern?" 
 
 "No," answered Hecate, in a cracked voice, 
 and sighing betwixt every word or two; "no, 
 Mother Ceres, I have seen nothing of your 
 daughter. But my ears, you must know, are 
 made in such a way, that all cries of distress and 
 affright all over the world are pretty sure to 
 find their way to them ; and nine days ago, as I 
 sat in my cave, making myself very miserable, 
 I heard the voice of a young girl, shrieking as if 
 in great distress. Something terrible has hap- 
 pened to the child, you may rest assured. As 
 well as I could judge, a dragon, or some other 
 cruel monster, was carrying her away." 
 
 "You kill me by saying so," cried Ceres, 
 almost ready to faint. " Where was the sound, 
 and which way did it seem to go? " 
 
 "It passed very swiftly along," said Hecate, 
 "and, at the same time, there was a heavy 
 rumbling of wheels towards the eastward. I can 
 tell you nothing more, except that, in my honest
 
 204 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 opinion, you will never see your daughter again. 
 The best advice I can give you is, to take up 
 your abode in this cavern, where we will be the 
 two most wretched women in the world." 
 
 "Not yet, dark Hecate," replied Ceres. 
 "But do you first come with your torch, and 
 help me to seek for my lost child. And when 
 there shall be no more hope of finding her (if 
 that black day is ordained to come), then, if you 
 will give me room to fling myself down, either 
 on these withered leaves or on the naked rock, I 
 will show what it is to be miserable. But, 
 until I know that she has perished from the face 
 of the earth, I will not allow myself space even 
 to grieve." 
 
 The dismal Hecate did not much like the 
 idea of going abroad into the sunny world. But 
 then she reflected that the sorrow of the dis- 
 consolate 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
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 205 
 
 round her forehead, they generally thought it 
 prudent to run away, without waiting for a 
 second glance. 
 
 As the pair traveled along in this woe-be- 
 gone manner, a thought struck Ceres. 
 
 "There is one person," she exclaimed, "who 
 must have seen my poor child, and can doubt- 
 less tell what has become of her. Why did not 
 I think of him before? It is Phoebus." 
 
 "What," said Hecate, "the young man that 
 always sits in the sunshine? O, pray do not 
 think of going near him. He is a gay, light, 
 frivolous young fellow, and will only smile in 
 your face. And besides, there is such a glare 
 of the sun about him, that he will quite blind 
 my poor eyes, which I have almost wept away 
 already." 
 
 "You have promised to be my companion," 
 answered Ceres. " Come, let us make haste, or 
 the sunshine will be gone, and Phoebus along 
 with it." 
 
 Accordingly, they went along in quest of 
 Phoebus, both of them sighing grievously, and 
 Hecate, to say the truth, making a great deal 
 worse lamentation than Ceres; for all the 
 pleasure she had, you know, lay in being miser- 
 able, 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
 
 2o6 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 long, curling ringlets, which seemed to be made 
 of golden sunbeams; his garments were like 
 light summer clouds; and the expression of his 
 face was so exceedingly vivid, that Hecate held 
 her hands before her eyes, muttering that he 
 ought to wear a black veil. Phoebus (for this 
 was the very person whom they were seeking) 
 had a lyre in his hands, and was making its 
 chords tremble with sweet music; at the same 
 time singing a most exquisite song, which he had 
 recently composed. For, beside a great many 
 other accomplishments, this young man was 
 renowned for his admirable poetry. 
 
 As Ceres and her dismal companion 
 approached him, Phoebus smiled on them so 
 cheerfully that Hecate's wreath of snakes gave 
 a spiteful hiss, and Hecate heartily wished her- 
 self back in her cave. But as for Ceres, she was 
 too earnest in her grief either to know or care 
 whether Phoebus smiled or frowned. 
 
 "Phoebus!" exclaimed she, "I am in great 
 trouble, and have come to you for assistance. 
 Can you tell me what has become of my dear 
 child Proserpina ? ' ' 
 
 "Proserpina! Proserpina, did you call her 
 name?" answered Phoebus, endeavoring to recol- 
 lect; 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.
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 207 
 
 A very lovely child, indeed. I am happy to tell 
 you, my dear madam, that I did see the little 
 Proserpina not many days ago. You may 
 make yourself perfectly easy about her. She 
 is safe, and in excellent hands." 
 
 "O, where is my dear child?" cried Ceres, 
 clasping her hands, and flinging herself at his 
 feet. 
 
 "Why," said Phoebus and as he spoke he 
 kept touching his lyre so as to make a thread 
 of music run in and out among his words " as 
 the little damsel was gathering flowers (and she 
 has really a very exquisite taste for flowers), she 
 was suddenly snatched up by King Pluto, and 
 carried off to his dominions. I have never been 
 in that part of the universe; but the royal 
 palace, I am told, is built in a very noble style 
 of architecture, and of the most splendid and 
 costly materials. Gold, diamonds, pearls, and 
 all manner of precious stones will be your 
 daughter's ordinary playthings. I recommend 
 to you, my dear lady, to give yourself no uneasi- 
 ness. Proserpina's sense of beauty will be duly 
 gratified, and even in spite of the lack of sun- 
 shine, she will lead a very enviable life." 
 
 "Hush! Say not such a word!" answered 
 Ceres, indignantly. "What is there to gratify 
 her heart? What are all the splendors 
 you speak of without affection? I must 
 have her back again. Will you go with me, 
 
 14
 
 208 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 Phoebus, to demand my daughter of this wicked 
 Pluto?" 
 
 "Pray excuse me," replied Phoebus, with an 
 elegant obeisance. " I certainly wish you suc- 
 cess, and regret that my own affairs are so 
 immediately pressing that I cannot have the 
 pleasure of attending you. Besides, I am not 
 upon the best of terms with King Pluto. To tell 
 you the truth, his three-headed mastiff would 
 never let me pass the gateway; for I should be 
 compelled to take a sheaf of sunbeams along 
 with me, and those, you know, are forbidden 
 things in Pluto's kingdom." 
 
 "Ah, Phoebus," said Ceres, with bitter mean- 
 ing in her words, " you have a harp instead of a 
 heart. Farewell." 
 
 "Will not you stay a moment," asked 
 Phoebus, "and hear me turn the pretty and 
 touching story of Proserpina into extemporary 
 verses?" 
 
 But Ceres shook her head, and hastened 
 away, along with Hecate. Phoebus (who, as I 
 have told you, was an exquisite poet) forthwith 
 began to make an ode about the poor mother's 
 grief; and, if we were to judge of his sensibility 
 by this beautiful production, he must have been 
 endowed with a very tender heart. But when a 
 poet gets into the habit of using his heartstrings 
 to make chords for his lyre, he may thrum upon 
 them as much as he will, without any great
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 209 
 
 pain to himself. Accordingly, though Phoebus 
 sang a very sad song, he was as merry all the 
 while as were the sunbeams amid which he dwelt. 
 
 Poor Mother Ceres had now found out what 
 had become of her daughter, but was not a whit 
 happier than before. Her case, on the con- 
 trary, looked more desperate than ever. As 
 long as Proserpina was above ground, there 
 might have been hopes of regaining her. But 
 now that the poor child was shut up within the 
 iron gates of the king of the mines, at the 
 threshold of which lay the three-headed Cer- 
 berus, 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 domin- 
 ions. And Hecate took her at her word, and 
 hurried back to her beloved cave, frightening a 
 great many little children with a glimpse of her 
 dog's face as she went. 
 
 Poor Mother Ceres! It is melancholy to 
 think of her, pursuing her toilsome way, all 
 alone, and holding up that never-dying torch, 
 the flame of which seemed an emblem of the 
 grief and hope that burned together in her heart.
 
 210 TANGLE WOOD TALES. 
 
 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 dis- 
 appearance. She roamed about in so wild a 
 way, and with her hair so disheveled, that 
 people took her for some distracted creature, 
 and never dreamed that this was Mother Ceres, 
 who had the oversight of every seed which the 
 husbandman planted. Nowadays, however, she 
 gave herself no trouble about seed time nor 
 harvest, but left the farmers to take care of 
 their own affairs, and the crops to fade or 
 flourish, as the case might be. There was 
 nothing, now, in which Ceres seemed to feel an 
 interest, unless when she saw children at play, 
 or gathering flowers along the wayside. Then, 
 indeed, she would stand and gaze at them with 
 tears in her eyes. The children, too, appeared 
 to have a sympathy with her grief, and would 
 cluster themselves in a little group about her 
 knees, and look up wistfully in her face; and 
 Ceres, after giving them a kiss all round, would 
 lead them to their homes, and advise their 
 mothers never to let them stray out of sight. 
 
 "For if they do," said she, "it may happen 
 to you, as it has to me, that the iron-hearted
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 211 
 
 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 Celeus, who reigned at Eleusis. 
 Ascending a lofty flight of steps, she entered 
 the portal, and found the royal household in 
 very great alarm about the queen's baby. The 
 infant, it seems, was sickly (being troubled with 
 its teeth, I suppose), and would take no food, 
 and was all the time moaning with pain. The 
 queen her name was Metanira was desirous 
 of finding a nurse; and when she beheld a 
 woman of matronly aspect coming up the 
 palace steps, she thought, in her own mind, that 
 here was the very person whom she needed. 
 So Queen Metanira ran to the door, with the 
 poor wailing baby in her arms, and besought 
 Ceres to take charge of it, or, at least, to tell her 
 what would do it good. 
 
 "Will you trust the child entirely to me?'* 
 asked Ceres. 
 
 "Yes, and gladly, too," answered the queen, 
 " if you will devote all your time to him. For I 
 can see that you have been a mother." 
 
 "You are right," said Ceres. "I once had a 
 child of my own. Well; I will be the nurse of 
 this poor, sickly boy. But beware, I warn you, 
 that you do not interfere with any kind of
 
 zi2 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 treatment which I may judge proper for him. 
 If you do so, the poor infant must suffer for 
 his mother's folly." 
 
 Then she kissed the child, and it seemed to do 
 him good; for he smiled and nestled closely into 
 her bosom. 
 
 So Mother Ceres set her torch in a corner 
 (where it kept burning all the while), and took 
 up her abode in the palace of King Celeus, 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, crow- 
 ing, 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 POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 213 
 
 the greater, because he was never seen to taste 
 any food; not even so much as a cup of milk. 
 
 "Pray, nurse," the queen kept saying, "how 
 is it that you make the child thrive so?" 
 
 "I was a mother once," Ceres always replied; 
 " and having nursed my own child, I know what 
 other children need." 
 
 But Queen Metanira, as was very natural, had 
 a great curiosity to know precisely what the 
 nurse did to her child. One night, therefore, 
 she hid herself in the chamber where Ceres and 
 the little prince were accustomed to sleep. 
 There was a fire in the chimney, and it had now 
 crumbled into great coals and embers, which 
 lay glowing on the hearth, with a blaze flickering 
 up now and then, and flinging a warm and ruddy 
 light upon the walls. Ceres sat before the 
 hearth with the child in her lap, and the firelight 
 making her shadow dance upon the ceiling 
 overhead. She undressed the little prince, and 
 bathed him all over with some fragrant liquid 
 out of a vase. The next thing she did was to 
 rake back the red embers, and make a hollow 
 place among them, just where the backlog 
 had been. At last, while the baby was crowing, 
 and clapping its fat little hands, and laughing 
 in the nurse's face (just as you may have seen 
 your little brother or sister do before going 
 into its warm bath), Ceres suddenly laid him, 
 all naked as he was, in the hollow among the
 
 214 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 red-hot embers. She then raked the ashes over 
 him, and turned quietly away. 
 
 You may imagine, if you can, how Queen 
 Metanira shrieked, thinking nothing less than 
 that her dear child would be burned to a cinder. 
 She burst forth from her hiding-place, and 
 running to the hearth, raked open the fire, 
 and snatched up poor little Prince Demophoon 
 out of his bed of live coals, one of which he was 
 gripping in each of his fists. He immediately 
 set up a grievous cry, as babies are apt to do, 
 when rudely startled out of a sound sleep. To 
 the queen's astonishment and joy, she could 
 perceive no token of the child's being injured by 
 the hot fire in which he had lain. She now 
 turned to Mother Ceres, and asked her to explain 
 the mystery. 
 
 "Foolish woman," answered Ceres, "did you 
 not promise to intrust this poor infant entirely 
 to me? You little know the mischief you have 
 done him. Had you left him to my care, he 
 would have grown up like a child of celestial 
 birth, endowed with superhuman strength and 
 intelligence, and would have lived forever. Do 
 you imagine that earthly children are to become 
 immortal without being tempered to it in the 
 fiercest heat of the fire? But you have ruined 
 your own son. For though he will be a strong 
 man and a hero in his day, yet, on account of 
 your folly, he will grow old, and finally die, like
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 215 
 
 the sons of other women. The weak tenderness 
 of his mother has cost the poor boy an im- 
 mortality. Farewell." 
 
 Saying these words, she kissed the little 
 Prince Demophoon, and sighed to think what 
 he had lost, and took her departure without 
 heeding Queen Metanira, who entreated her to 
 remain, and cover up the child among the hot 
 embers as often as she pleased. Poor baby! 
 He never slept so warmly again. 
 
 While she dwelt in the king's palace, Mother 
 Ceres had been so continually occupied with 
 taking care of the young prince, that her heart 
 was a little lightened of its grief for Proserpina. 
 But now, having nothing else to busy herself 
 about, she became just as wretched as before. 
 At length, in her despair, she came to the 
 dreadful resolution that not a stalk of grain, nor 
 a blade of grass, not a potato, nor a turnip, nor 
 any other vegetable that was good for man or 
 beast to eat, should be suffered to grow until her 
 daughter were restored. She even forbade the 
 flowers to bloom, lest somebody's heart should 
 be cheered by their beauty. 
 
 Now, as not so much as a head of asparagus 
 ever presumed to poke itself out of the ground, 
 without the especial permission of Ceres, you 
 may conceive what a terrible calamity had here 
 fallen upon the earth. The husbandmen 
 plowed and planted as usual; but there lay
 
 216 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 the rich black furrows, all as barren as a desert 
 of sand. The pastures looked as brown in the 
 sweet month of June as ever they did in 
 chill November. The rich man's broad acres 
 and the cottager's small garden patch were 
 equally blighted. Every little girl's flower bed 
 showed nothing but dry stalks. The old people 
 shook their white heads, and said that the 
 earth had grown aged like themselves, and was 
 no longer capable of wearing the warm smile 
 of summer on its face. It was really piteous to 
 see the poor, starving cattle and sheep, how 
 they followed behind Ceres, lowing and bleating, 
 as if their instinct taught them to expect help 
 from her; and everybody that was acquainted 
 with her power besought her to have mercy on 
 the human race, and, at all events, to let the 
 grass grow. But Mother Ceres, though natur- 
 ally of an affectionate disposition, was now 
 inexorable. 
 
 "Never," said she. "If the earth is ever 
 again to see any verdure, it must first grow 
 along the path which my daughter will tread 
 in coming back to me." 
 
 Finally, as there seemed to be no other 
 remedy, our old friend Quicksilver was sent 
 post-haste to King Pluto, in hopes that he 
 might be persuaded to undo the mischief he had 
 done, and to set everything right again, by 
 giving up Proserpina. Quicksilver accordingly
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 217 
 
 made the best of his way to the great gate, took 
 a flying leap right over the three-headed mastiff, 
 and stood at the door of the palace in an incon- 
 ceivably short time. The servants knew him 
 both by his face and garb; for his short cloak, 
 and his winged cap and shoes, and his snaky 
 staff had often been seen thereabouts in times 
 gone by. He requested to be shown immediately 
 into the king's presence; and Pluto, who heard 
 his voice from the top of the stairs, and who 
 loved to recreate himself with Quicksilver's 
 merry talk, called out to him to come up. And 
 while they settle their business together, we 
 must inquire what Proserpina had been doing 
 ever since we saw her last. 
 
 The child had declared, as you may remember, 
 that she would not taste a mouthful of food as 
 long as she should be compelled to remain in 
 King Pluto's palace. How she contrived to 
 maintain her resolution, and at the same time 
 to keep herself tolerably plump and rosy, is more 
 than I can explain; but some young ladies, I 
 am given to understand, possess the faculty of 
 living on air, and Proserpina seems to have 
 possessed it too. At any rate, it was now six 
 months since she left the outside of the earth; 
 and not a morsel, so far as the attendants were 
 able to testify, had yet passed between her 
 teeth. This was the more creditable to Proser- 
 pina, inasmuch as King Pluto had caused her to
 
 218 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 be tempted day by day, with all manner of 
 sweetmeats, and richly-preserved fruits, and 
 delicacies of every sort, such as young people 
 are generally most fond of. But her good 
 mother had often told her of the hurtfulness of 
 these things ; and for that reason alone, if there 
 had been no other, she would have resolutely 
 refused to taste them. 
 
 All this time, being of a cheerful and active 
 disposition, the little damsel was not quite so 
 unhappy as you may have supposed. The 
 immense palace had a thousand rooms, and was 
 full of beautiful and wonderful objects. There 
 was a never-ceasing gloom, it is true, which half 
 hid itself among the innumerable pillars, gliding 
 before the child as she wandered among them, 
 and treading stealthily behind her in the echo 
 of her footsteps. Neither was all the dazzle of 
 the precious stones, which flamed with their own 
 light, worth one gleam of natural sunshine ; nor 
 could the most brilliant of the many-colored 
 gems, which Proserpina had for playthings, vie 
 with the simple beauty of the flowers she used to 
 gather. But still, whenever the girl went 
 among those gilded halls and chambers, it 
 seemed as if she carried nature and sunshine 
 along with her, and as if she scattered dewy 
 blossoms on her right hand and on her left. 
 After Proserpina came, the palace was no longer 
 the same abode of stately artifice and dismal
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 219 
 
 magnificence that it had before been. The 
 inhabitants all felt this, and King Pluto more 
 than any of them. 
 
 "My own little Proserpina," he used to say, 
 " I wish you could like me a little better. We 
 gloomy and cloudy-natured persons have often 
 as warm hearts, at bottom, as those of a more 
 cheerful character. If you would on'y stay 
 with me of your own accord, it would rru ke me 
 happier than the possession of a hundred such 
 palaces as this." 
 
 "Ah," said Proserpina, "you should have 
 tried to make me like you before carrying me 
 off. And the best thing you can now do is, to 
 let me go again. Then I might remember you 
 sometimes, and think that you were as kind as 
 you knew how to be. Perhaps, too, one day or 
 other, I might come back, and pay you a visit." 
 
 "No, no," answered Pluto, with his gloomy 
 smile, "I will not trust you for that. You are 
 too fond of living in the broad daylight, and 
 gathering flowers. What an idle and childish 
 taste that is! Are not these gems, which I 
 have ordered to be dug for you, and which are 
 richer than any in my crown are they not 
 prettier than a violet?" 
 
 " Not half so pretty," said Proserpina, snatch- 
 ing the gems from Pluto's hand, and flinging 
 them to the other end of the hall. "O my 
 sweet violets, shall I never see you again?"
 
 220 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 after- 
 wards, 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 Vluto gazed after her, and wished that he, 
 too, was a child. And little Proserpina, when 
 she turned about, and beheld this great king 
 standing in his splendid hall, and looking so 
 grand, and so melancholy, and so lonesome, 
 was smitten with a kind of pity. She ran back 
 to him, and, for the first time in all her life, put 
 her small, soft hand in his. 
 
 "I love you a little," whispered she, looking 
 up in his face. 
 
 "Do you, indeed, my dear child?" cried 
 Pluto, bending his dark face down to kiss her; 
 but Proserpina shrank away from the kiss, for, 
 though his features were noble, they were very 
 dusky and grim. "Well, I have not deserved 
 it of you, after keeping you a prisoner for so 
 many months, and starving you besides. Are 
 you not terribly hungry? Is there nothing 
 which I can get you to eat?" 
 
 In asking this question, the king of the mines 
 had a very cunning purpose; for, you will 
 recollect, if Proserpina tasted a morsel of food
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 221 
 
 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. Won- 
 dering that he had never thought of it before, 
 the king now sent one of his trusty attendants 
 with a large basket, to get some of the finest 
 and juiciest pears, peaches, and plums which 
 could anywhere be found in the upper world. 
 Unfortunately, however, this was during the 
 time when Ceres had forbidden any fruits or 
 vegetables to grow; and, after seeking all over 
 the earth, King Pluto's servant found only a 
 single pomegranate, and that so dried up as not 
 to be worth eating. Nevertheless, since there 
 was no better to be had, he brought this dry, 
 old withered pomegranate home to the palace,
 
 222 TANGLE WOOD TALES. 
 
 put it on a magnificent golden salver, and carried 
 it up to Proserpina. Now, it happened, curi- 
 ously enough, that, just as the servant was 
 bringing the pomegranate into the back door of 
 the palace, our friend Quicksilver had gone up 
 the front steps, on his errand to get Proserpina 
 away from King Pluto. 
 
 As soon as Proserpina saw the pomegranate 
 on the golden salver, she told the servant he had 
 better take it away again. 
 
 " I shall not touch it, I assure you," said she. 
 " If I were ever so hungry, I should never think 
 of eating such a miserable, dry pomegranate 
 as that." 
 
 "It is the only one in the world," said the 
 servant. 
 
 He set down the golden salver, with the 
 wizened pomegranate upon it, and left the room. 
 When he was gone, Proserpina could not help 
 coming close to the table, and looking at this 
 poor specimen of dried fruit with a great deal 
 of eagerness; for, to say the truth, on seeing 
 something that suited her taste, she felt all the 
 six months' appetite taking possession of her at 
 once. To be sure, it was a very wretched-look- 
 ing 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; air 1
 
 '// s /Ae ow/y owe in the world" said the servant
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 223 
 
 unless she ate it up immediately, it would grow 
 drier than it already was, and be wholly unfit 
 to eat. 
 
 " At least, I may smell it," thought Proserpina. 
 
 So she took up the pomegranate, and applied 
 it to her nose; and, somehow or other, being 
 in such close neighborhood to her mouth, the 
 fruit found its way into that little red cave. 
 Dear me! what an everlasting pity! Before 
 Proserpina knew what she was about, her teeth 
 had actually bitten it, of their own accord. 
 Just as this fatal deed was done, the door of the 
 apartment opened, and in came King Pluto, 
 followed by Quicksilver, who had been urging 
 him to let his little prisoner go. At the first 
 noise of their entrance, Proserpina withdrew 
 the pomegranate from her mouth. But Quick- 
 silver (whose eyes were very keen, and his wits 
 the sharpest that ever anybody had) perceived 
 that the child was a little confused; and seeing 
 the empty salver, he suspected that she had 
 been taking a sly nibble of something or other. 
 As for honest Pluto, he never guessed at the 
 secret. 
 
 "My little Proserpina," said the king, sitting 
 down, and affectionately drawing her between 
 his knees, "here is Quicksilver, who tells me 
 that a great many misfortunes have befallen 
 innocent people on account of my detaining you 
 in my dominions. To confess the truth, I 
 
 15
 
 *2 4 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 myself had already reflected that it was an 
 unjustifiable act to take you away from your 
 good mother. But, then, you must consider, 
 my dear child, that this vast palace is apt to be 
 gloomy (although the precious stones certainly 
 shine very bright), and that I am not of the most 
 cheerful disposition, and that therefore it was a 
 natural thing enough to seek for the society of 
 some merrier creature than myself. I hoped 
 you would take my crown for a plaything, and 
 me ah, you laugh, naughty Proserpina me, 
 grim as I am, for a playmate. It was a silly 
 expectation." 
 
 "Not so extremely silly," whispered Proser- 
 pina. " You have really amused me very much, 
 sometimes." 
 
 "Thank you," said King Pluto, rather dryly. 
 " But I can see plainly enough, that you think 
 my palace a dusky prison, and me the iron- 
 hearted keeper of it. And an iron heart I should 
 surely have, if I could detain you here any 
 longer, my poor child, when it is now six months 
 since you tasted food. I give you your liberty. 
 Go with Quicksilver. Hasten home to your 
 dear mother." 
 
 Now, although you may not have supposed it, 
 Proserpina found it impossible to take leave 
 of poor King Pluto without some regrets, and a 
 good deal of compunction for not telling him 
 about the pomegranate. She even shed a tear
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS 225 
 
 or two, thinking how lonely and cheerless the 
 great palace would seem to him, with all its ugly 
 glare of artificial light, after she herself his one 
 little ray of natural sunshine, whom he had 
 stolen, to be sure, but only because he valued 
 her so much after she should have departed. 
 I know not how many kind things she might 
 have said to the disconsolate king of the mines, 
 had not Quicksilver hurried her way. 
 
 "Come along quickly," whispered he in her 
 ear, "or his majesty may change his royal 
 mind. And take care, above all things, that 
 you say nothing of what was brought you on 
 the golden salver." 
 
 In a very short time, they had passed the 
 great gateway (leaving the three-headed Cer- 
 berus, barking, and yelping, and growling, 
 with threefold din, behind them), and emerged 
 upon the surface of the earth. It was delightful 
 to behold, as Proserpina hastened along, how 
 the path grew verdant behind and on either side 
 of her. Wherever she set her blessed foot, 
 there was at once a dewy flower. The violets 
 gushed up along the wayside. The grass and 
 the grain began to sprout with tenfold vigor 
 and luxuriance, to make up for the dreary 
 months that had been wasted in barrenness. 
 The starved cattle immediately set to work 
 grazing, after their long fast, and ate enormously, 
 all day, and got up at midnight to eat more.
 
 226 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 But I can assure you it was a busy time of year 
 with the farmers, when they found the summer 
 coming upon them with such a rush. Nor 
 must I forget to say, that all the birds in the 
 whole world hopped about upon the newly- 
 blossoming trees, and sang together, in a pro- 
 digious ecstasy of joy. 
 
 Mother Ceres had returned to her deserted 
 home, and was sitting disconsolately on the 
 doorstep, with her torch burning in her hand. 
 She had been idly watching the flame for some 
 moments past, when, all at once, it flickered 
 and went out. 
 
 "What does this mean?" thought she. "It 
 was an enchanted torch, and should have kept 
 burning till my child came back." 
 
 Lifting her eyes, she was surprised to see a 
 sudden verdure flashing over the brown and 
 barren fields, exactly as you may have observed 
 a golden hue gleaming far and wide across the 
 landscape, from the just risen sun. 
 
 "Does the earth disobey me?" exclaimed 
 Mother Ceres, indignantly. "Does it presume 
 to be green, when I have bidden it be barren, 
 until my daughter shall be restored to my 
 arms?" 
 
 " Then open your arms, dear mother," cried a 
 well-known voice, " and take your little daughter 
 into them." 
 
 And Proserpina came running, and flung
 
 THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS. 227 
 
 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 Proser- 
 pina. 
 
 "My child," said she, "did you taste any 
 food while you were in King Pluto's palace?" 
 
 "Dearest mother," exclaimed Proserpina, 
 "I will tell you the whole truth. Until this 
 very morning, not a morsel of food had passed 
 my lips. But to-day, they brought me a pome- 
 granate (a very dry one it was, and all shriv- 
 eled up, till there was little left of it but seeds 
 and skin), and having seen no fruit for so long 
 a time, and being faint with hunger, I was 
 tempted just to bite it. The instant I tasted 
 it, King Pluto and Quicksilver came into the 
 room. I had not swallowed a morsel; but 
 dear mother, I hope it was no harm but six 
 of the pomegranate seeds, I am afraid, remained 
 in my mouth." 
 
 "Ah, unfortunate child, and miserable me!" 
 exclaimed Ceres. "For each of those six 
 pomegranate seeds you must spend one month 
 of every year in King Pluto's palace. You are 
 but half restored to your mother. Only six
 
 228 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 months with me, and six with that good-for- 
 nothing King of Darkness!" 
 
 "Do not speak so harshly of poor King 
 Pluto," said Prosperina, kissing her mother. 
 "He has some very good qualities; and I really 
 think I can bear to spend six months in his 
 palace, if he will only let me spend the other 
 six with you. He certainly did very wrong to 
 carry me off; but then, as he says, it was but a 
 dismal sort of life for him, to live in that great 
 gloomy place, all alone; and it has made a 
 wonderful change in his spirits to have a little 
 girl to run up stairs and down. There is some 
 comfort in making him so happy; and so, 
 upon the whole, dearest mother, let us be 
 thankful that he is not to keep me the whole 
 year round."
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 
 
 When Jason, the son of the dethroned King of 
 lolchos, 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 quad- 
 rupeds, 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 
 ^sculapius, 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 in- 
 structed, instead of writing and arithmetic. 
 
 I have sometimes suspected that Master 
 Chiron was not really very different from other 
 
 229
 
 230 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 people, but that, being a kind-hearted and 
 merry old fellow, he was in the habit of making 
 believe that he was a horse, and scrambling 
 about the schoolroom on all fours, and letting 
 the little boys ride upon his back. And so, 
 when his scholars had grown up, and grown 
 old, and were trotting their grandchildren on 
 their knees, they told them about the sports of 
 their school days; and these young folks took 
 the idea that their grandfathers had been taught 
 their letters by a Centaur, half man and half 
 horse. Little children, not quite understanding 
 what is said to them, often get such absurd 
 notions into their heads, you know. 
 
 Be that as it may, it has always been told 
 for a fact (and always will be told, as long as 
 the world lasts), that Chiron, with the head 
 of a schoolmaster, had the body and legs of a 
 horse. Just imagine the grave old gentleman 
 clattering and stamping into the schoolroom 
 on his four hoofs, perhaps treading on some 
 little fellow's toes, flourishing his switch tail 
 instead of a rod, and, now and then, trotting 
 out of doors to eat a mouthful of grass! I won- 
 der what the blacksmith charged him for a set 
 of iron shoes? 
 
 So Jason dwelt in the cave, with this four- 
 footed Chiron, from the time that he was an 
 infant, only a few months old, until he had 
 grown to the full height of a man. He became
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 231 
 
 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 ^Eson, had been deprived of the 
 kingdom of lolchos by a certain Pelias, who 
 would also have killed Jason, had he not been 
 hidden in the Centaur's cave. And, being come 
 to the strength of a man, Jason determined to 
 set all this business to rights, and to punish the 
 wicked Pelias for wronging his dear father, and 
 to cast him down from the throne, and seat 
 himself there instead. 
 
 With this intention, he took a spear in each 
 hand, and threw a leopard's skin over his 
 shoulders, to keep off the rain, and set forth on 
 his travels, with his long yellow ringlets waving 
 in the wind. The part of his dress on which he 
 most prided himself was a pair of sandals, that 
 had been his father's. They were handsomely
 
 232 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 embroidered, and were tied upon his feet with 
 strings of gold. But his whole attire was such as 
 people did not very often see; and as he passed 
 along, the women and children ran to the doors 
 and windows, wondering whither this beautiful 
 youth was journeying, with his leopard's skin 
 and his golden-tied sandals, and what heroic 
 deeds he meant to perform, with a spear in his 
 right hand and another in his left. 
 
 I know not how far Jason had traveled, 
 when he came to a turbulent river, which rushed 
 right across his pathway, with specks of white 
 foam among its black eddies, hurrying tumul- 
 tuously 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
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 233 
 
 deep for Jason to wade, and too boisterous for 
 him to swim; he could see no bridge; and as 
 for a boat, had there been any, the rocks would 
 have broken it to pieces in an instant. 
 
 "See the poor lad," said a cracked voice 
 close to his side. "He must have had but a 
 poor education, since he does not know how to 
 cross a little stream like this. Or is he afraid of 
 wetting his fine golden-stringed sandals? It is 
 a pity his four-footed schoolmaster is not here to 
 carry him safely across on his back!" 
 
 Jason looked round greatly surprised, for he 
 did not know that anybody was near. But 
 beside him stood an old woman, with a ragged 
 mantle over her head, leaning on a staff, the 
 top of which was carved into the shape of a 
 cuckoo. She looked very aged, and wrinkled, 
 and infirm; and yet her eyes, which were as 
 brown as those of an ox, were so extremely large 
 and beautiful, that, when they were fixed on 
 Jason's eyes, he could see nothing else but 
 them. The old woman had a pomegranate in 
 her hand, although the fruit was then quite out 
 of season. 
 
 "Whither are you going, Jason?" she now 
 asked. 
 
 She seemed to know his name, you will 
 observe; and, indeed, those great brown eyes 
 looked as if they had a knowledge of everything, 
 whether past or to come. While Jason was
 
 234 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 gazing at her, a peacock strutted forward, 
 and took his stand at the old woman's 
 side. 
 
 " I am going to lolchos," answered the young 
 man, " to bid the wicked King Pelias come down 
 from my father's throne, and let me reign in his 
 stead." 
 
 "Ah, well, then," said the old woman, still 
 with the same cracked voice, "if that is all 
 your business, you need not be in a very great 
 hurry. Just take me on your back, there's a 
 good youth, and carry me across the river. I 
 and my peacock have something to do on the 
 other side, as well as yourself." 
 
 "Good mother," replied Jason, "your busi- 
 ness can hardly be so important as the pulling 
 down a king from his throne. Besides, as you 
 may see for yourself, the river is very boisterous ; 
 and if I should chance to stumble, it would sweep 
 both of us away more easily than it has carried 
 off yonder uprooted tree. I would gladly help 
 you if I could ; but I doubt whether I am strong 
 enough to carry you across." 
 
 "Then," said she, very scornfully, "neither 
 are you strong enough to pull King Pelias off his 
 throne. And, Jason, unless you will help an 
 old woman at her need, you ought not to be a 
 king. What are kings made for, save to succor 
 the feeble and distressed? But do as you 
 please. Either take me on your back, or with
 
 " I am going to lolchos," answered the young man
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 235 
 
 my poor old limbs I shall try my best to struggle 
 across the stream." 
 
 Saying this, the old woman poked with her 
 staff in the river, as if to find the safest place 
 in its rocky bed where she might make the first 
 step. But Jason, by this time, had grown 
 ashamed of his reluctance to help her. He felt 
 that he could never forgive himself, if this poor 
 feeble creature should come to any harm in 
 attempting to wrestle against the headlong 
 current. The good Chiron, whether half horse 
 or no, had taught him that the noblest use of his 
 strength was to assist the weak; and also that 
 he must treat every young woman as if she were 
 his sister, and every old one like a mother. 
 Remembering these maxims, the vigorous and 
 beautiful young man knelt down, and requested 
 the good dame to mount upon his back. 
 
 "The passage seems to me not very safe," he 
 remarked. " But as your business is so urgent, 
 I will try to carry you across. If the river 
 sweeps you away, it shall take me too." 
 
 "That, no doubt, will be a great comfort to 
 both of us," quoth the old woman. " But never 
 fear. We shall get safely across." 
 
 So she threw her arms around Jason's neck; 
 and lifting her from the ground, he stepped 
 boldly into the raging and foaming current, 
 and began to stagger away from the shore. As 
 for the peacock, it alighted on the old dame's
 
 236 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 shoulder. Jason's two spears, one in each hand, 
 kept him from stumbling, and enabled him to 
 feel his way among the hidden rocks; although 
 every instant, he expected that his companion 
 and himself would go down the stream, together 
 with the driftwood of shattered trees, and the 
 carcasses of the sheep and cow. Down came the 
 cold, snowy torrent from the steep side of 
 Olympus, raging and thundering as if it had a 
 real spite against Jason, or, at all events, were 
 determined to snatch off his living burden from 
 his shoulders. When he was half way across, 
 the uprooted tree (which I have already told you 
 about) broke loose from among the rocks, and 
 bore down upon him, with all its splintered 
 branches sticking out like the hundred arms of 
 the giant Briareus. It rushed past, however, 
 without touching him. But the next moment his 
 foot was caught in a crevice between two rocks, 
 and stuck there so fast, that, in the effort to get 
 free, he lost one of his golden-stringed sandals. 
 
 At this accident Jason could not help uttering 
 a cry of vexation. 
 
 "What is the matter, Jason?" asked the 
 old woman. 
 
 "Matter enough," said the young man. "I 
 have lost a sandal here among the rocks. And 
 what sort of a figure shall I cut, at the court of 
 King Pelias, with a golden-stringed sandal on 
 one foot, and the other foot bare!"
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 237 
 
 " Do not take it to heart," answered his com- 
 panion 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 oppo- 
 site 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.
 
 238 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 Whether the light of her beautiful brown eyes 
 threw a glory round about her, or whatever the 
 cause might be, Jason fancied that there was 
 something very noble and majestic in her figure, 
 after all, and that, though her gait seemed to be 
 a rheumatic hobble, yet she moved with as much 
 grace and dignity as any queen on earth. Her 
 peacock, which had now fluttered down from 
 her shoulder, strutted behind her in a prodigious 
 pomp, and spread out its magnificent tail on 
 purpose for Jason to admire it. 
 
 When the old dame and her peacock were out 
 of sight, Jason set forward on his journey. 
 After traveling a pretty long distance, he came 
 to a town situated at the foot of a mountain, 
 and not a great way from the shore of the sea. 
 On the outside of the town there was an immense 
 crowd of people, not only men and women, but 
 children too, all in their best clothes, and 
 evidently enjoying a holiday. The crowd was 
 thickest towards the sea-shore; and in that 
 direction, over the people's heads, Jason saw a 
 wreath of smoke curling upward to the blue sky. 
 He inquired of one of the multitude what town 
 it was near by, and why so many persons were 
 here assembled together. 
 
 "This is the kingdom of lolchos," 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,
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 239 
 
 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 lolchians, and it looked very odd to see a 
 youth with a leopard's skin over his shoulders, 
 and each hand grasping a spear. Jason per- 
 ceived, too, that the man stared particularly at 
 his feet, one of which, you remember, was bare, 
 while the other was decorated with his father's 
 golden-stringed sandal. 
 
 "Look at him! only look at him!" said the 
 man to his next neighbor. "Do you see? He 
 wears but one sandal!" 
 
 Upon this, first one person, and then another, 
 began to stare at Jason, and everybody seemed 
 to be greatly struck with something in his aspect ; 
 though they turned their eyes much oftener 
 towards his feet than to any other part of his 
 figure. Besides, he could hear them whispering 
 to one another. 
 
 "One sandal! One sandal!" they kept say- 
 ing. "The man with one sandal! Here he is 
 at last! Whence has he come? What does he 
 mean to do? What will the king say to the 
 one-sandaled man ? ' ' 
 
 Poor Jason was greatly abashed, and made up 
 his mind that the people of lolchos were exceed- 
 ingly ill-bred, to take such public notice of an 
 
 16
 
 240 TANGLE WOOD TALES. 
 
 accidental deficiency in his dress. Meanwhile, 
 whether it were that they hustled him forward, 
 or that Jason, of his own accord, thrust a 
 passage through the crowd, it so happened that 
 he soon found himself close to the smoking altar, 
 where King Pelias was sacrificing the black bull. 
 The murmur and hum of the multitude, in 
 their surprise at the spectacle of Jason with his 
 one bare foot, grew so loud that it disturbed the 
 ceremonies; and the king, holding the great 
 knife with which he was just going to cut the 
 bull's throat, turned angrily about, and fixed his 
 eyes on Jason. The people had now withdrawn 
 from around him, so that the youth stood in an 
 open space, near the smoking altar, front to 
 front with the angry King Pelias. 
 
 "Who are you?" cried the king, with a 
 terrible frown. " And how dare you make this 
 disturbance, while I am sacrificing a black bull 
 to my father Neptune?" 
 
 "It is no fault of mine," answered Jason. 
 "Your majesty must blame the rudeness of your 
 subjects, who have raised all this tumult because 
 one of my feet happens to be bare." 
 
 When Jason said this, the king gave a quick 
 startled glance down at his feet. 
 
 "Ha!" muttered he, "here is the one-san- 
 daled fellow, sure enough! What can I do 
 with him?" 
 
 And he clutched more closely the great knife
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 241 
 
 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, indis- 
 tinctly as they were uttered; and first there 
 was a murmur amongst them, and then a loud 
 shout. 
 
 "The one-sandaled man has come! The 
 prophecy must be fulfilled!" 
 
 For you are to know, that, many years before, 
 King Pelias had been told by the Speaking Oak 
 of Dodona, that a man with one sandal should 
 cast him down from his throne. On this 
 account, he had given strict orders that nobody 
 should ever come into his presence, unless both 
 sandals were securely tied upon his feet; and 
 he kept an officer in his palace, whose sole busi- 
 ness it was to examine people's sandals, and 
 to supply them with a new pair, at the expense 
 of the royal treasury, as soon as the old ones 
 began to wear out. In the whole course of the 
 king's reign, he had never been thrown into such 
 a fright and agitation as by the spectacle of poor 
 Jason's bare foot. But, as he was naturally a 
 bold and hard-hearted man, he soon took 
 courage, and began to consider in what way he 
 might rid himself of this terrible one-sandaled 
 stranger. 
 
 "My good young man," said King Pelias, 
 taking the softest tone imaginable, in order to 
 throw Jason off his guard, " you are excessively
 
 242 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 welcome to my kingdom. Judging by your 
 dress, you must have traveled a long distance, 
 for it is not the fashion to wear leopard skins 
 in this part of the world. Pray what may I call 
 your name? and where did you receive your 
 education?" 
 
 "My name is Jason," answered the young 
 stranger. " Ever since my infancy, I have dwelt 
 in the cave of Chiron the Centaur. He was my 
 instructor, and taught me music, and horseman- 
 ship, and how to cure wounds, and likewise 
 how to inflict wounds with my weapons!" 
 
 "I have heard of Chiron the schoolmaster," 
 replied King Pelias, "and how that there is 
 an immense deal of learning and wisdom in his 
 head, although it happens to be set on a horse's 
 body. It gives me great delight to see one of his 
 scholars at my court. But to test how much you 
 have profited under so excellent a teacher, will 
 you allow me to ask you a single question?" 
 
 "I do not pretend to be very wise," said 
 Jason. "But ask me what you please, and I 
 will answer to the best of my ability." 
 
 Now King Pelias meant cunningly to entrap 
 the young man, and to make him say something 
 that should be the cause of mischief and distrac- 
 tion to himself. So, with a crafty and evil 
 smile upon his face, he spoke as follows: 
 
 "What would you do, brave Jason," asked 
 he, "if there were a man in the world, by whom,
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 243 
 
 as you had reason to believe, you were doomed 
 to be ruined and slain what would you do, I 
 say, if that man stood before you, and in your 
 power?" 
 
 When Jason saw the malice and wickedness 
 which King Pelias could not prevent from gleam- 
 ing out of his eyes, he probably guessed that 
 the king had discovered what he came for, and 
 that he intended to turn his own words against 
 himself. Still he scorned to tell a falsehood. 
 Like an upright and honorable prince as he 
 was, he determined to speak out the real truth. 
 Since the king had chosen to ask him the 
 question, and since Jason had promised him 
 an answer, there was no right way save to tell 
 him precisely what would be the most prudent 
 thing to do, if he had his worst enemy in his 
 power. 
 
 Therefore, after a moment's consideration, 
 he spoke up, with a firm and manly voice. 
 
 "I would send such a man," said he, "in 
 quest of the Golden Fleece!" 
 
 This enterprise, you will understand, was, of 
 all others, the most difficult and dangerous in the 
 world. In the first place it would be necessary 
 to make a long voyage through unknown seas. 
 There was hardly a hope, or a possibility, that 
 any young man who should undertake this 
 voyage would either succeed in obtaining the 
 Golden Fleece, or would survive to return home,
 
 244 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 and tell of the perils he had run. The eyes of 
 King Pelias sparkled with joy, therefore, when 
 he heard Jason's reply. 
 
 "Well said, wise man with the one sandal!" 
 cried he. "Go, then, and at the peril of your 
 life, bring me back the Golden Fleece." 
 
 "I go," answered Jason, composedly. "If I 
 fail, you need not fear that I will ever come back 
 to trouble you again. But if I return to lolchos 
 with the prize, then, King Pelias, you must 
 hasten down from your lofty throne, and give 
 me your crown and sceptre." 
 
 "That I will," said the king, with a sneer. 
 "Meantime, I will keep them very safely for 
 you." 
 
 The first thing that Jason thought of doing, 
 after he left the king's presence, was to go to 
 Dodona, and inquire of the Talking Oak what 
 course it was best to pursue. This wonderful 
 tree stood in the center of an ancient wood. 
 Its stately trunk rose up a hundred feet into 
 the air, and threw a broad and dense shadow 
 over more than an acre of ground. Standing 
 beneath it, Jason looked up among the knotted 
 branches and green leaves, and into the mys- 
 terious heart of the old tree, and spoke aloud, 
 as if he were addressing some person who was 
 hidden in the depths of the foliage. 
 
 "What shall I do," said he, "in order to win 
 the Golden Fleece?"
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 245 
 
 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 wander- 
 ing 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 dis- 
 tinguish 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 sweep- 
 ing through the oak, and making one great 
 -utterance out of the thousand and thousand of 
 little murmurs which each leafy tongue had 
 caused by its rustling. And now, though it 
 still had the tone of a mighty wind roaring 
 among the branches, it was also like a deep bass 
 voice, speaking as distinctly as a tree could 
 be expected to speak, the following words: 
 
 "Go to Argus, the shipbuilder, and bid him 
 build a galley with fifty oars." 
 
 Then the voice melted again into the indis- 
 tinct 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
 
 246 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 made by a breeze, while passing through the 
 thick foliage of the tree. 
 
 But on inquiry among the people of lolchos, 
 he found that there was really a man in the 
 city, by the name of Argus, who was a very 
 skilful builder of vessels. This showed some 
 intelligence in the oak; else how should it have 
 known that any such person existed? At 
 Jason's request, Argus readily consented to 
 build him a galley so big that it should require 
 fifty strong men to row it; although no vessel 
 of such a size and burden had heretofore been 
 seen in the world. So the head carpenter and 
 all his journeymen and apprentices began their 
 work; and for a good while afterwards, there 
 they were, busily employed, hewing out the 
 timbers, and making a great clatter with their 
 hammers; until the new ship, which was called 
 the Argo, seemed to be quite ready for sea. 
 And, as the Talking Oak had already given him 
 such good advice, Jason thought that it would 
 not be amiss to ask for a little more. He visited 
 it again, therefore, and standing beside its 
 huge, rough trunk, inquired what he should 
 do next. 
 
 This time, there was no such universal 
 quivering of the leaves, throughout the whole 
 tree, as there had been before. But after a 
 while, Jason observed that the foliage of a 
 great branch which stretched above his head
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 247 
 
 had begun to rustle, as if the wind were stirring 
 that one bough, while all the other boughs of 
 the oak were at rest. 
 
 "Cut me off!" said the branch, as soon as 
 it could speak distinctly; "cut me off! cut me 
 off! and carve me into a figure-head for your 
 galley." 
 
 Accordingly, Jason took the branch at its 
 word, and lopped it off the tree. A carver in 
 the neighborhood engaged to make the figure- 
 head. He was a tolerably good workman, and 
 had already carved several figure-heads, in 
 what he intended for feminine shapes, and 
 looking pretty much like those which we see 
 nowadays stuck up under a vessel's bowsprit, 
 with great staring eyes, that never wink at the 
 dash of the spray. But (what was very strange) 
 the carver found that his hand was guided by 
 some unseen power, and by a skill beyond his 
 own, and that his tools shaped out an image 
 which he had never dreamed of. When the 
 work was finished, it turned out to be the figure 
 of a beautiful woman, with a helmet on her head, 
 from beneath which the long ringlets fell down 
 upon her shoulders. On the left arm was a 
 shield, and in its center appeared a lifelike 
 representation of the head of Medusa with the 
 snaky locks. The right arm was extended, as 
 if pointing onward. The face of this wonderful 
 statue, though not angry or forbidding, was so
 
 24 8 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 grave and majestic, that perhaps you might call 
 it severe; and as for the mouth, it seemed just 
 ready to unclose its lips, and utter words of the 
 deepest wisdom. 
 
 Jason was delighted with the oaken image, and 
 gave the carver no rest until it was completed, 
 and set up where a figure-head has always stood, 
 from that time to this, in the vessel's prow. 
 
 "And now," cried he, as he stood gazing at 
 the calm, majestic face of the statue, " I must 
 go to the Talking Oak and inquire what next 
 to do." 
 
 " There is no need of that, Jason," said a voice 
 which, though it was far lower, reminded him 
 of the mighty tones of the great oak. "When 
 you desire good advice, you can seek it of me." 
 
 Jason had been looking straight into the face 
 of the image when these words were spoken. 
 But he could hardly believe either his ears or 
 his eyes. The truth was, however, that the 
 oaken lips had moved, and, to all appearance, 
 the voice had proceeded from the statue's 
 mouth. Recovering a little from his surprise, 
 Jason bethought himself that the image had 
 been carved out of the wood of the Talking Oak, 
 and that, therefore, it was really no great 
 wonder, but on the contrary, the most natural 
 thing in the world, that it should possess the 
 faculty of speech. It would have been very 
 odd, indeed, if it had not. But certainly it
 
 Jason was delighted with the oaken image, and gave the carver no rest 
 until it was completed
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 249 
 
 was a great piece of good fortune that he should 
 be able to carry so wise a block of wood along 
 with him in his perilous voyage. 
 
 " Tell me, wondrous image," exclaimed Jason, 
 " since you inherit the wisdom of the Speaking 
 Oak of Dodona, whose daughter you are, tell 
 me, where shall I find fifty bold youths, who 
 will take each of them an oar of my galley? 
 They must have sturdy arms to row, and brave 
 hearts to encounter perils, or we shall never win 
 the Golden Fleece." 
 
 " Go," replied the oaken image, "go, summon 
 all the heroes of Greece." 
 
 And, in fact, considering what a great deed 
 was to be done, could any advice be wiser than 
 this which Jason received from the figure-head 
 of his vessel? He lost no time in sending 
 messengers to all the cities, and making known 
 to the whole people of Greece, that Prince 
 Jason, the son of King ^Eson, was going in quest 
 of the Fleece of Gold, and that he desired the 
 help of forty-nine of the bravest and strongest 
 young men alive, to row his vessel and share his 
 dangers. And Jason himself would be the 
 fiftieth. 
 
 At this news, the adventurous youths, all 
 over the country, began to bestir themselves. 
 Some of them had already fought with giants, 
 and slain dragons; and the younger ones, who 
 had not yet met with such good fortune, thought
 
 250 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 lolchos, and clambered on board 
 the new galley. Shaking hands with Jason, 
 they assured him that they did not care a pin 
 for their lives, but would help row the vessel to 
 the remotest edge of the world, and as much 
 farther as he might think it best to go. 
 
 Many of these brave fellows had been educated 
 by Chiron, the four-footed pedagogue, and were 
 therefore old schoolmates of Jason, and knew 
 him to be a lad of spirit. The mighty Hercules, 
 whose shoulders afterwards upheld the sky, was 
 one of them. And there were Castor and 
 Pollux, the twin brothers, who were never 
 accused of being chicken-hearted, although they 
 had been hatched out of an egg; and Theseus, 
 who was so renowned for killing the Minotaur, 
 and Lynceus, with his wonderfully sharp eyes, 
 which could see through a millstone, or look 
 right down into the depths of the earth, and 
 discover the treasures that were there; and 
 Orpheus, the very best of harpers, who sang
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 251 
 
 and played upon his lyre so sweetly, that the 
 brute beasts stood upon their hind legs, and 
 capered merrily to the music. Yes, and at 
 some of his more moving tunes, the rocks 
 bestirred their moss-grown bulk out of the 
 ground, and a grove of forest trees uprooted 
 themselves, and, nodding their tops to one 
 another, performed a country dance. 
 
 One of the rowers was a beautiful young 
 woman, named Atalanta. who had been nursed 
 among the mountains by a bear. So light of 
 foot was this fair damsel, that she could step 
 from one foamy crest of a wave to the foamy 
 'crest of another, without wetting more than 
 the sole of her sandal. She had grown up in a 
 very wild way, and talked much about the 
 rights of women, and loved hunting and war 
 far better than her needle. But in my opinion, 
 the most remarkable of this famous company 
 were two sons of the North Wind (airy young- 
 sters, and of rather a blustering disposition) 
 who had wings on their shoulders, and, in case of 
 a calm, could puff out their cheeks, and blow 
 almost as fresh a breeze as their father. I 
 ought not to forget the prophets and conjurors, 
 of whom there were several in the crew, and 
 who could foretell what would happen to-morrow 
 or the next day, or a hundred years hence, but 
 were generally quite unconscious of what was 
 passing at the moment.
 
 2 5 2 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 Jason appointed Tiphys to be helmsman 
 because he was a star-gazer, and knew the points 
 of the compass. Lynceus, on account of his 
 sharp sight, was stationed as a look-out in the 
 prow, where he saw a whole day's sail ahead, 
 but was rather apt to overlook things that lay 
 directly under his nose. If the sea only hap- 
 pened 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 pre- 
 pared 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
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 253 
 
 exceedingly disconsolate, and thinking that the 
 vessel must be left to rot and fall in pieces, and 
 that they must either swim across the sea or 
 lose the Golden Fleece. 
 
 All at once, Jason bethought himself of the 
 galley's miraculous figure-head. 
 
 "O, daughter of the Talking Oak," cried he, 
 " how shall we set to work to get our vessel into 
 the water?" 
 
 "Seat yourselves," answered the image (for 
 it had known what had ought to be done from 
 the very first, and was only waiting for the 
 question to be put), "seat yourselves, and 
 handle your oars, and let Orpheus play upon 
 his harp." 
 
 Immediately the fifty heroes got on board, 
 and seizing their oars, held them perpendicu- 
 larly in the air, while Orpheus (who liked such 
 a task far better than rowing) swept his fingers 
 across the harp. At the first ringing note 
 of the music, they felt the vessel stir. Orpheus 
 thrummed away briskly, and the galley slid 
 at once into the sea, dipping her prow 
 so deeply that the figure-head drank the wave 
 with its marvelous lips, and rising again as 
 buoyant as a swan. The rowers plied their 
 fifty oars; the white foam boiled up before 
 the prow; the water gurgled and bubbled 
 in their wake; while Orpheus continued to 
 play so lively a strain of music, that the vessel
 
 254 TANGLE WOOD TALES. 
 
 seemed to dance over the billows by way of 
 keeping time to it. Thus triumphantly did the 
 Argo sail out of the harbor, amidst the huzzas 
 and good wishes of everybody except the wicked 
 old Pelias, who stood on a promontory, scowling 
 at her, and wishing that he could blow out of his 
 lungs the tempest of wrath that was in his 
 heart, and so sink the galley with all on board. 
 When they had sailed above fifty miles over the 
 sea, Lynceus happened to cast his sharp eyes 
 behind, and said that there was this bad-hearted 
 king, still perched upon the promontory, and 
 scowling so gloomily that it looked like a black 
 thunder-cloud in that quarter of the horizon. 
 
 In order to make the time pass away more 
 pleasantly during the voyage, the heroes talked 
 about the Golden Fleece. It originally belonged, 
 it appears, to a Boeotian ram, who had taken on 
 his back two children, when in danger of their 
 lives, and fled with them over land and sea as 
 far as Colchis. One of the children, whose name 
 was Helle, fell into the sea and was drowned. 
 But the other (a little boy, named Phrixus) was 
 brought safe ashore by the faithful ram, who, 
 however, was so exhausted that he immediately 
 lay down and died. In memory of this good 
 deed, and as a token of his true heart, the fleece 
 of the poor dead ram was miraculously changed 
 to gold, and became one of the most beautiful 
 objects ever seen on earth. It was hung upon a
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 255 
 
 tree in a sacred grove, where it had now been 
 kept I know not how many years, and was the 
 envy of mighty kings, who had nothing so 
 magnificent in any of their palaces. 
 
 If I were to tell you all the adventures of the 
 Argonauts, it would take me till nightfall, and 
 perhaps a great deal longer. There was no lack 
 of wonderful events, as you may judge from 
 what you have already heard. At a certain 
 island, they were hospitably received by King 
 Cyzicus, its sovereign, who made a feast for 
 them, and treated them like brothers. But the 
 Argonauts saw that this good king looked down- 
 cast and very much troubled, and they there- 
 fore inquired of him what was the matter. King 
 Cyzicus hereupon informed them that he and 
 his subjects were greatly abused and incom- 
 moded by the inhabitants of a neighboring 
 mountain, who made war upon them, and killed 
 many people, and ravaged the country. And 
 while they were talking about it, Cyzicus 
 pointed to the mountain, and asked Jason and 
 his companions what they saw there. 
 
 "I see some very tall objects," answered 
 Jason; ''but they are at such a distance that I 
 cannot distinctly make out what they are. To 
 tell your majesty the truth, they look so very 
 strangely that I am inclined to think them 
 clouds, which have chanced to take something 
 like human shapes." 
 
 17
 
 256 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 " I see them very plainly," remarked Lynceus, 
 whose eyes, you know, were as far-sighted as a 
 telescope. "They are a band of enormous 
 giants, all of whom have six arms apiece, and 
 a club, a sword, or some other weapon in each 
 of their hands." 
 
 " You have excellent eyes," said King Cyzicus. 
 "Yes; they are six-armed giants, as you say, 
 and these are the enemies whom I and my sub- 
 jects have to contend with." 
 
 The next day, when the Argonauts were about 
 setting sail, down came these terrible giants, 
 stepping a hundred yards at a stride, brandish- 
 ing their six arms apiece, and looking formid- 
 able, so far aloft in the air. Each of these 
 monsters was able to carry on a whole war by 
 himself, for with one arm he could fling immense 
 stones, and wield a club with another, and a 
 sword with a third, while the fourth was poking 
 a long spear at the enemy, and the fifth and 
 sixth were shooting him with a bow and arrow. 
 But, luckily, though the giants were so huge, 
 and had so many arms, they had each 
 but one heart, and that no bigger nor braver 
 than the heart of an ordinary man. Besides, if 
 they had been like the hundred-armed Briareus, 
 the brave Argonauts would have given them 
 their hands full of fight. Jason and his friends 
 went boldly to meet them, slew a great many, 
 and made the rest take to their heels, so that,
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 257 
 
 if the giants had had six legs apiece instead of 
 six arms, it would have served them better to 
 run away with. 
 
 Another strange adventure happened when the 
 voyagers came to Thrace, where they found a 
 poor blind king, named Phineus, deserted by 
 his subjects, and living in a very sorrowful way, 
 all by himself. On Jason's inquiring whether 
 they could do him any service, the king answered 
 that he was terribly tormented by three great 
 winged creatures, called Harpies, which had 
 the faces of women, and the wings, bodies, and 
 claws of vultures. These ugly wretches were 
 in the habit of snatching away his dinner, and 
 allowed him no peace of his life. Upon hear- 
 ing this, the Argonauts spread a plentiful feast 
 on the sea-shore, well knowing, from what the 
 blind king said of their greediness, that the 
 Harpies would snuff up the scent of the victuals, 
 and quickly come to steal them away. And so 
 it turned out; for, hardly was the table set, 
 before the three hideous vulture women came 
 flapping their wings, seized the food in their 
 talons, and flew off as fast as they could. But 
 the two sons of the, North Wind drew their 
 swords, spread their pinions, and set off through 
 the air in pursuit of the thieves, whom they at 
 last overtook among some islands, after a chase 
 of hundreds of miles. The two winged youths 
 blustered terribly at the Harpies (for they had
 
 258 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 the rough temper of their father), and so fright- 
 ened 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 repos- 
 ing on the grass, when they suddenly found 
 themselves assailed by what seemed a shower 
 of steel-headed arrows. Some of them stuck in 
 the ground, while others hit against their 
 shields, and several penetrated their flesh. The 
 fifty heroes started up, and looked about them 
 for the hidden enemy, but could find none, nor 
 see any spot, on the whole island, where even a 
 single archer could lie concealed. Still, how- 
 ever, the steel-headed arrows came whizzing 
 among them; and, at last, happening to look 
 upward, they beheld a large flock of birds, hover- 
 ing and wheeling aloft, and shooting their 
 feathers down upon the Argonauts. These 
 feathers were the steel-headed arrows that had 
 so tormented them. There was no possibility 
 of making any resistance; and the fifty heroic 
 Argonauts might all have been killed or wounded 
 by a flock of troublesome birds, without ever 
 setting eyes on the Golden Fleece, if Jason had 
 not thought of asking the advice of the oaken 
 image.
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 259 
 
 So he ran to the galley as fast as his legs 
 would carry him. 
 
 "O, daughter of the Speaking Oak, " cried 
 he, all out of breath, "we need your wisdom 
 more than ever before! We are in great peril 
 from a flock of birds, who are shooting us with 
 their steel-pointed feathers. What can we do 
 to drive them away?" 
 
 "Make a clatter on your shields," said the 
 image. 
 
 On receiving this excellent counsel, Jason 
 hurried back to his companions (who were far 
 more dismayed than when they fought with 
 the six-armed giants), and bade them strike 
 with their swords upon their brazen shields. 
 Forthwith the fifty heroes set heartily to work, 
 banging with might and main, and raised such 
 a terrible clatter, that the birds made what haste 
 they could to get away; and though they had 
 shot half the feathers out of their wings, they 
 were soon seen skimming among the clouds, a 
 long distance off, and looking like a flock of 
 wild geese. Orpheus celebrated this victory 
 by playing a triumphant anthem on his harp, 
 and sang so melodiously that Jason begged him 
 to desist, lest, as the steel-feathered birds had 
 been driven away by an ugly sound, they might 
 be enticed back again by a sweet one. 
 
 While the Argonauts remained on this island, 
 they saw a small vessel approaching the shore,
 
 260 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 in which were two young men of princely 
 demeanor, and exceedingly handsome, as young 
 princes generally were, in those days. Now, 
 who do you imagine these two voyagers turned 
 out to be? Why, if you will believe me, they 
 were the sons of that very Phrixus, who, in his 
 childhood, had been carried to Colchis on the 
 back of the golden-fleeced ram. Since that 
 time, Phrixus had married the king's daughter; 
 and the two young princes had been born and 
 brought up at Colchis, and had spent their 
 play-days in the outskirts of the grove, in the 
 center of which the Golden Fleece was hanging 
 upon a tree. They were now on their way to 
 Greece, in hopes of getting back a kingdom 
 that had been wrongfully taken from their 
 father. 
 
 When the princes understood whither the 
 Argonauts were going, they offered to turn back, 
 and guide them to Colchis. At the same time, 
 however, they spoke as if it were very doubtful 
 whether Jason would succeed in getting the 
 Golden Fleece. According to their account, the 
 tree on which it hung was guarded by a terrible 
 dragon, who never failed to devour, at one 
 mouthful, every person who might venture 
 within his reach. 
 
 "There are other difficulties in the way," 
 continued the young princes. " But is not this 
 enough? Ah, brave Jason, turn back before it
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 261 
 
 is too late. It would grieve us to the heart, if 
 you and your nine and forty brave companions 
 should be eaten up, at fifty mouthfuls, by this 
 execrable dragon." 
 
 "My young friends," quietly replied Jason, 
 "I do not wonder that you think the dragon 
 very terrible. You have grown up from infancy 
 in the fear of this monster, and therefore still 
 regard him with the awe that children feel for 
 the bugbears and hobgoblins which their nurses 
 have talked to them about. But, in my view of 
 the matter, the dragon is merely a pretty large 
 serpent, who is not half so likely to snap me up 
 at one mouthful as I am to cut off his ugly head, 
 and strip the skin from his body. At all events, 
 turn back who may, I will never see Greece 
 again, unless I carry with me the Golden Fleece." 
 
 "We will none of us turn back!" cried his 
 nine and forty brave comrades. "Let us get 
 on board the galley this instant; and if the 
 dragon is to make a breakfast of us, much good 
 may it do him." 
 
 And Orpheus (whose custom it was to set 
 everything to music) began to harp and sing 
 most gloriously, and made every mother's son of 
 them feel as if nothing in this world were so 
 delectable as to fight dragons, and nothing so 
 truly honorable as to be eaten up at one 
 mouthful, in case of the worst. 
 
 After this (being now under the guidance of
 
 262 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 the two princes, who were well acquainted with 
 the way), they quickly sailed to Colchis. When 
 the king of the country, whose name was ^Eetes, 
 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 
 .^Eetes. "Pray, are you on a pleasure voyage? 
 or do you meditate the discovery of unknown 
 islands? or what other cause has procured me 
 the happiness of seeing you at my court?" 
 
 "Great sir," replied Jason, with an obeisance 
 for Chiron had taught him how to behave 
 with propriety, whether to kings or beggars 
 "I have come hither with a purpose which I 
 now beg your majesty's permission to execute. 
 King Pelias, who sits on my father's throne (to 
 which he has no more right than to the one on 
 which your excellent majesty is now seated), 
 has engaged to come down from it, and to give 
 me his crown and sceptre, provided I bring him 
 the Golden Fleece. This, as your majesty is 
 aware, is now hanging on a tree here at Colchis ; 
 and I humbly solicit your gracious leave to take 
 it away." 
 
 In spite of himself, the king's face twisted
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 263 
 
 itself into an angry frown; for, above all things 
 else in the world, he prized the Golden Fleece, 
 and was even suspected of having done a very 
 wicked act, in order to get it into his own 
 possession. It put him into the worst possible 
 humor, therefore, to hear that the gallant 
 Prince Jason, and forty-nine of the bravest 
 young warriors of Greece, had come to Colchis 
 with the sole purpose of taking away his chief 
 treasure. 
 
 "Do you know," asked King ^Eetes, eyeing 
 Jason very sternly, "what are the conditions 
 which you must fulfill before getting possession 
 of the Golden Fleece?" 
 
 "I have heard," rejoined the youth, "that 
 a dragon lies beneath the tree on which the 
 prize hangs, and that whoever approaches him 
 runs the risk of being devoured at a mouthful." 
 
 "True," said the king, with a smile that did 
 not look particularly good-natured. "Very 
 true, young man. But there are other things 
 as hard, or perhaps a little harder, to be done 
 before you can even have the privilege of being 
 devoured by the dragon. For example, you 
 must first tame my two brazen-footed and 
 brazen-lunged bulls, which Vulcan, the wonder- 
 ful 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
 
 264 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 ^Eetes, who was determined to scare Jason 
 if possible, "you must yoke them to a plow, 
 and must plow the sacred earth in the Grove 
 of Mars, and sow some of the same dragon's 
 teeth from which Cadmus raised a crop of armed 
 men. They are an unruly set of reprobates, 
 those sons of the dragon's teeth; and unless you 
 treat them suitably, they will fall upon you 
 sword in hand. You and your nine and forty 
 Argonauts, my bold Jason, are hardly numerous 
 or strong enough to fight with such a host as 
 will spring up." 
 
 "My master Chiron," replied Jason, "taught 
 me, long ago, the story of Cadmus. Perhaps I 
 can manage the quarrelsome sons of the dragon's 
 teeth as well as Cadmus did." 
 
 " I wish the dragon had him," muttered King 
 ^Eetes to himself, "and the four-footed pedant, 
 his schoolmaster, into the bargain. Why, what 
 a foolhardy, self -conceited coxcomb he is! 
 We'll see what my fire-breathing bulls will do 
 for him. Well, Prince Jason," he continued, 
 aloud, and as complaisantly as he could, " make
 
 She was one of those persons whose eyes are full of mystery
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 265 
 
 yourself comfortable for to-day, and to-morrow 
 morning, since you insist upon it, you shall try 
 your skill at the plow." 
 
 While the king talked with Jason, a beautiful 
 young woman was standing behind the throne. 
 She fixed her eyes earnestly upon the youthful 
 stranger, and listened attentively to every word 
 that was spoken; and when Jason withdrew 
 from the king's presence, this young woman 
 followed him out of the room. 
 
 "I am the king's daughter," she said to him, 
 " and my name is Medea. I know a great deal 
 of which other young princesses are ignorant, 
 and can do many things which they would be 
 afraid so much as to dream of. If you will 
 trust to me, I can instruct you how to tame the 
 fiery bulls, and sow the dragon's teeth, and get 
 the Golden Fleece." 
 
 " Indeed, beautiful princess," answered Jason, 
 " if you will do me this service, I promise to be 
 grateful to you my whole life long.'" 
 
 Gazing at Medea, he beheld a wonderful 
 intelligence in her face. She was one of those 
 persons whose eyes are full of mystery; so 
 that, while looking into them, you seem to see a 
 very great way, as into a deep well, yet can 
 never be certain whether you see into the 
 farthest depths, or whether there be not some- 
 thing else hidden at the bottom. If Jason had 
 been capable of fearing anything, he would
 
 266 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 have been afraid of making this young princess 
 his enemy; for, beautiful as she now looked, 
 she might, the very next instant, become as 
 terrible as the dragon that kept watch over the 
 Golden Fleece. 
 
 "Princess," he exclaimed, "you seem indeed 
 very wise and very powerful. But how can 
 you help me to do the things of which you 
 speak? Are you an enchantress?" 
 
 "Yes, Prince Jason," answered Medea, with 
 a smile, "you have hit upon the truth. I am 
 an enchantress. Circe, my father's sister, taught 
 me to be one, and I could tell you, if I pleased, 
 who was the old woman with the peacock, the 
 pomegranate, and the cuckoo staff, whom you 
 carried over the river; and, likewise, who it is 
 that speaks through the lips of the oaken image, 
 that stands in the prow of your galley. I am 
 acquainted with some of your secrets, you per- 
 ceive. It is well for you that I am favorably 
 inclined ; for, otherwise, you would hardly escape 
 being snapped up by the dragon." 
 
 "I should not so much care for the dragon," 
 replied Jason, "if I only knew how to manage 
 the brazen-footed and fiery-lunged bulls." 
 
 " If you are as brave as I think you, and as 
 you have need to be," said Medea, "your own 
 bold heart will teach you that there is but one 
 way of dealing with a mad bull. What it is I 
 leave you to find out in the moment of peril.
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 267 
 
 As for the fiery breath of these animals, I have 
 a charmed ointment here, which will prevent 
 you from being burned up, and cure you if you 
 chance to be a little scorched." 
 
 So she put a golden box into his hand, and 
 directed him how to apply the perfumed unguent 
 which it contained, and where to meet her at 
 midnight. 
 
 "Only be brave," added she, "and before 
 daybreak the brazen bulls shall be tamed." 
 
 The young man assured her that his heart 
 would not fail him. He then rejoined his 
 comrades, and told them what had passed 
 between the princess and himself, and warned 
 them to be in readiness in case there might be 
 need of their help. 
 
 At the appointed hour he met the beautiful 
 Medea on the marble steps of the king's palace. 
 She gave him a basket, in which were the 
 dragon's teeth, just as they had been pulled out 
 of the monster's jaws by Cadmus, long ago. 
 Medea then led Jason down the palace steps, and 
 through the silent streets of the city, and into 
 the royal pasture ground, where the two brazen- 
 footed bulls were kept. It was a starry night, 
 with a bright gleam along the eastern edge of 
 the sky, where the moon was soon going to 
 show herself. After entering the pasture, the 
 princess paused and looked around. 
 
 "There they are," said she, "reposing them-
 
 268 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 remedy against those 
 terrible burns?" 
 
 " If you doubt, if you are in the least afraid," 
 said the princess, looking him in the face by the 
 dim starlight, "you had better never have been 
 born than to go a step nigher to the bulls." 
 
 But Jason had set his heart steadfastly on 
 getting the Golden Fleece; and I positively 
 doubt whether he would have gone back without 
 it, even had he been certain of finding himself 
 turned into a red-hot cinder, or a handful of 
 white ashes, the instant he made a step farther. 
 He therefore let go Medea's hand, and walked 
 boldly forward in the direction whither she had 
 pointed. At some distance before him he per- 
 ceived four streams of fiery vapor, regularly ap- 
 pearing and again vanishing, after dimly lighting
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE 269 
 
 up the surrounding obscurity. These, you will 
 understand, were caused by the breath of the 
 brazen bulls, which was quietly stealing out of 
 their four nostrils, as they lay chewing their cuds. 
 At the first two or three steps which Jason 
 made, the four fiery streams appeared to gush 
 out somewhat more plentifully; for the two 
 brazen bulls had heard his foot tramp, and 
 were lifting up their hot noses to snuff the air. 
 He went a little farther, and by the way in 
 which the red vapor now spouted forth, he 
 judged that the creatures had got upon their 
 feet. Now he could see glowing sparks, and 
 vivid jets of flame. At the next step, each of 
 the bulls made the pasture echo with a terrible 
 roar, while the burning breath, which they thus 
 belched forth, lit up the whole field with a 
 momentary flash. One other stride did bold 
 Jason make; and, suddenly as a streak of 
 lightning, on came these fiery animals, roaring 
 like thunder, and sending out sheets of white 
 flame, which so kindled up the scene that the 
 young man could discern every object more 
 distinctly than by daylight. Most distinctly 
 of all he saw the two horrible creatures galloping 
 right down upon him, their brazen hoofs rat- 
 tling 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
 
 270 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 hot it was, indeed, that it caught a dry tree under 
 which Jason was now standing, and set it all in 
 a light blaze. But as for Jason himself (thanks 
 to Medea's enchanted ointment), the white flame 
 curled around his body, without injuring him a 
 jot more than if he had been made of asbestos. 
 
 Greatly encouraged at finding himself not 
 yet turned into a cinder, the young man awaited 
 the attack of the bulls. Just as the brazen 
 brutes fancied themselves sure of tossing him 
 into the air, he caught one of them by the horn, 
 and the other by his screwed-up tail, and held 
 them in a gripe like that of an iron vice, one with 
 his right hand, the other with his left. Well, he 
 must have been wonderfully strong in his arms, 
 to be sure. But the secret of the matter was, 
 that the brazen bulls were enchanted creatures, 
 and that Jason had broken the spell of their 
 fiery fierceness by his bold way of handling 
 them. And, ever since that time, it has been 
 the favorite method of brave men, when danger 
 assails them, to do what they call "taking the 
 bull by the horns " ; and to gripe him by the tail 
 is pretty much the same thing that is, to throw 
 aside fear, and overcome the peril by despising it. 
 
 It was now easy to yoke the bulls, and to 
 harness them to the plow, which had lain 
 rusting on the ground for a great many years 
 gone by; so long was it before anybody could 
 be found capable of plowing that piece of land.
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 27! 
 
 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 per- 
 fectly well in breaking up the greensward; and, 
 by the time that the moon was a quarter of 
 her journey up the sky, the plowed field 
 lay before him, a large tract of black earth, 
 ready to be sown with the dragon's teeth. So 
 Jason scattered them broadcast, and harrowed 
 them into the soil with a brush-harrow, and 
 took his stand on the edge of the field, anxious 
 to see what would happen next. 
 
 " Must we wait long for harvest time?" he in- 
 quired of Medea, who was now standing by his side. 
 
 "Whether sooner or later, it will be sure to 
 come," answered the princess. "A crop of 
 armed men never fails to spring up, when the 
 dragon's teeth have been sown." 
 
 The moon was now high aloft in the heavens, 
 and threw its bright beams over the plowed 
 field, where as yet there was nothing to be seen. 
 Any farmer, on viewing it, would have said that 
 Jason must wait weeks before the green blades 
 would peep from among the clods, and whole 
 months belore 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 
 
 18
 
 2 72 TANGLE WOOD TALES. 
 
 the steel heads of spears. Then there was a 
 dazzling gleam from a vast number of polished 
 brass helmets, beneath which, as they grew 
 farther out of the soil, appeared the dark and 
 bearded visages of warriors, struggling to free 
 themselves from the imprisoning earth. The 
 first look that they gave at the upper world 
 was a glare of wrath and defiance. Next were 
 seen their bright breastplates; in every right 
 hand there was a sword or a spear, and on each 
 left arm a shield; and when this strange crop 
 of warriors had but half grown out of the earth, 
 they struggled such was their impatience of 
 restraint and, as it were, tore themselves up 
 by the roots. Wherever a dragon's tooth had 
 fallen, there stood a man armed for battle. 
 They made a clangor with their swords against 
 their shields, and eyed one another fiercely; 
 for they had come into this beautiful world, 
 and into the peaceful moonlight, full of rage 
 and stormy passions, and ready to take the life 
 of every human brother, in recompense of the 
 boon of their own existence. 
 
 There have been many other armies in the 
 world that seemed to possess the same fierce 
 nature with the one which had now sprouted 
 from the dragon's teeth ; but these, in the moon- 
 lit field, were the more excusable, because they 
 never had women for their mothers. And how 
 it would have rejoiced any great captain, who
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 273 
 
 was bent on conquering the world, like Alexander 
 or Napoleon, to raise a crop of armed soldiers 
 as easily as Jason did! 
 
 For a while, the warriors stood flourishing 
 their weapons, clashing their swords against 
 their shields, and boiling over with the red-hot 
 thirst for battle. Then they began to shout 
 "Show us the enemy! Lead us to the charge! 
 Death or victory!" Come on, brave comrades! 
 Conquer or die!" and a hundred other outcries, 
 such as men always bellow forth on a battle 
 field, and which these dragon people seemed to 
 have at their tongues' ends. At last, the front 
 rank caught sight of Jason, who, beholding the 
 flash of so many weapons in the moonlight, 
 had thought it best to draw his sword. In a 
 moment all the sons of the dragon's teeth 
 appeared to take Jason for an enemy; and 
 crying with one voice, "Guard the Golden 
 Fleece!" they ran at him with uplifted swords 
 and protruded spears. Jason knew that it 
 would be impossible to withstand this blood- 
 thirsty battalion with his single arm, but deter- 
 mined, since there was nothing better to be done, 
 to die as valiantly as if he himself had sprung 
 from a dragon's tooth. 
 
 Medea, however, bade him snatch up a stone 
 from the ground. 
 
 "Throw it among them quickly!" cried she. 
 " It is the only way to save yourself."
 
 274 TANGLE WOOD TALES. 
 
 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 them- 
 selves. 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 com- 
 mitted. 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!
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 275 
 
 Immortal fame!" when he himself fell down, 
 and lay quietly among his slain brethren. 
 
 And there was the end of the army that had 
 sprouted from the dragon's teeth. That fierce 
 and feverish fight was the only enjoyment 
 which they had tasted on this beautiful earth. 
 
 "Let them sleep in the bed of honor," said 
 the Princess Medea, with a sly smile at Jason. 
 " The world will always have simpletons enough, 
 just like them, fighting and dying for they know 
 not what, and fancying that posterity will take 
 the trouble to put laurel wreaths on their rusty 
 and battered helmets. Could you help smiling, 
 Prince Jason, to see the self-conceit of that last 
 fellow, just as he tumbled down?" 
 
 "It made me very sad," answered Jason, 
 gravely. "And, to tell you the truth, princess, 
 the Golden Fleece does not appear so well worth 
 the winning, after what I have here beheld!" 
 
 "You will think differently in the morning," 
 said Medea. "True, the Golden Fleece may 
 not be so valuable as you have thought it; but 
 then there is nothing better in the world ; and one 
 must needs have an object, you know. Come! 
 Your night's work has been well performed; 
 and to-morrow you can inform King ^Eetes that 
 the first part of your allotted task is fulfilled." 
 
 Agreeably to Medea's advice, Jason went 
 betimes in the morning to the palace of King 
 ^Eetes. Entering the presence chamber, he
 
 276 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 stood at the foot of the throne, and made a low 
 obeisance. 
 
 "Your eyes look heavy, Prince Jason," 
 observed the king; "you appear to have spent a 
 sleepless night. I hope you have been con- 
 sidering the matter a little more wisely, and 
 have concluded not to get yourself scorched to a 
 cinder, in attempting to tame my brazen-lunged 
 bulls." 
 
 " That is already accomplished, may it please 
 your majesty," replied Jason. " The bulls have 
 been tamed and yoked; the field has been 
 plowed; the dragon's teeth have been sown 
 broadcast, and harrowed into the soil; the crop 
 of armed warriors have sprung up, and they 
 have slain one another, to the last man. And 
 now I solicit your majesty's permission to 
 encounter the dragon, that I may take down 
 the Golden Fleece from the tree, and depart, 
 with my nine and forty comrades." 
 
 King ^Eetes 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
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 277 
 
 seen Jason snapped up at a mouthful, he was 
 resolved (and it was a very wrong thing of this 
 wicked potentate) not to run any further risk 
 of losing his beloved Fleece. 
 
 "You never would have succeeded in this 
 business, young man," said he, "if my undutiful 
 daughter Medea had not helped you with her 
 enchantments. Had you acted fairly, you would 
 have been, at this instant, a black cinder, 
 or a handful of white ashes. I forbid you, on 
 pain of death, to make any more attempts to 
 get the Golden Fleece. To speak my mind 
 plainly, you shall never set eyes on so much 
 as one of its glistening locks." 
 
 Jason left the king's presence in great sorrow 
 and anger. He could think of nothing better 
 to be done than to summon together his forty- 
 nine brave Argonauts, march at once to the 
 Grove of Mars, slay the dragon, take possession 
 of the Golden Fleece, get on board the Argo, 
 and spread all sail for lolchos. 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
 
 278 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 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 ^Eetes, my royal and 
 upright father?" inquired Medea, slightly smil- 
 ing. "Will he give you the Golden Fleece, 
 without any further risk or trouble?" 
 
 "On the contrary," answered Jason, "he is 
 very angry with me for taming the brazen bulls 
 and sowing the dragon's teeth. And he forbids 
 me to make any more attempts, and positively 
 refuses to give up the Golden Fleece, whether I 
 slay the dragon or no." 
 
 "Yes, Jason," said the princess, "and I can 
 tell you more. Unless you set sail from Colchis 
 before to-morrow's sunrise, the king means to 
 burn your fifty-oared galley, and put yourself 
 and your forty-nine brave comrades to the 
 sword. But be of good courage. The Golden 
 Fleece you shall have, if it lies within the power 
 of my enchantments to get it for you. Wait 
 for me here an hour before midnight." 
 
 At the appointed hour you might again have 
 seen Prince Jason and the Princess Medea, 
 side by side, stealing through the streets of 
 Colchis, on their way to the sacred grove, in the 
 center of which the Golden Fleece was suspended 
 to a tree. While they were crossing the pasture
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 279 
 
 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 thor- 
 oughly tamed; and, with their fierceness, the 
 two furnaces in their stomachs had likewise been 
 extinguished, insomuch that they probably 
 enjoyed far more comfort in grazing and chewing 
 their cuds than ever before. Indeed, it had 
 heretofore been a great inconvenience to these 
 poor animals, that, whenever they wished to 
 eat a mouthful of grass, the fire out of their 
 nostrils had shriveled it up, before they could 
 manage to crop it. How they contrived to keep 
 themselves alive is more than I can imagine. 
 But now, instead of emitting jets of flame and 
 streams of sulphurous vapor, they breathed 
 the very sweetest of cow breath. 
 
 After kindly patting the bulls, Jason followed 
 Medea's guidance into the Grove of Mars, where 
 the great oak trees, that had been growing for 
 centuries, threw so thick a shade that the 
 moonbeams struggled vainly to find their way 
 through it. Only here and there a glimmer fell 
 upon the leaf-strewn earth, or now and then a 
 breeze stirred the boughs aside, and gave Jason 
 a glimpse of the sky, lest, in that deep obscurity, 
 he might forget that there was one, overhead. 
 At length, when they had gone farther and
 
 2 8o TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 farther into the heart of the duskiness, Medea 
 squeezed Jason's hand. 
 
 "Look yonder," she whispered. "Do you 
 see it?" 
 
 Gleaming among the venerable oaks, there 
 was a radiance, not like the moonbeams, but 
 rather resembling the golden glory of the 
 setting sun. It proceeded from an object, 
 which appeared to be suspended at about a 
 man's height from the ground, a little farther 
 within the wood. 
 
 "What is it?" asked Jason. 
 
 " Have you come so far to seek it," exclaimed 
 Medea, " and do you not recognize the meed of 
 all your toils and perils, when it glitters before 
 your eyes? It is the Golden Fleece." 
 
 Jason went onward a few steps farther, and 
 then stopped to gaze. O, how beautiful it 
 looked, shining with a marvelous light of its own, 
 that inestimable prize which so many heroes had 
 longed to behold, but had perished in the quest 
 of it, either by the perils of their voyage, or 
 by the fiery breath of the brazen-lunged bulls. 
 
 "How gloriously it shines!" cried Jason, in a 
 rapture. " It has surely been dipped in the 
 richest gold of sunset. Let me hasten onward, 
 and take it to my bosom." 
 
 "Stay," said Medea, holding him back. 
 "Have you forgotten what guards it?" 
 
 To say the truth, in the joy of beholding the
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 281 
 
 object of his desires, the terrible dragon had 
 quite slipped out of Jason's memory. Soon, 
 however, something came to pass, that reminded 
 him what perils were still to be encountered. 
 An antelope, that probably mistook the yellow 
 radiance for sunrise, came bounding fleetly 
 through the grove. He was rushing straight 
 towards the Golden Fleece, when suddenly 
 there was a frightful hiss, and the immense head 
 and half the scaly body of the dragon was thrust 
 forth (for he was twisted round the trunk of the 
 tree on which the Fleece hung), and seizing the 
 poor antelope, swallowed him with one snap of 
 his jaws. 
 
 After this feat, the dragon seemed sensible 
 that some other living creature was within reach, 
 on which he felt inclined to finish his meal. In 
 various directions he kept poking his ugly snout 
 among the trees, stretching out his neck a terrible 
 long way, now here, now there, and now close to 
 the spot where Jason and the princess were hid- 
 ing behind an oak. Upon my word, as the head 
 came waving and undulating through the air, 
 and reaching almost within arm's length of Prince 
 Jason, it was a very hideous and uncomfortable 
 sight. The gape of his enormous jaws was nearly 
 as wide as the gateway of the king's palace. 
 
 "Well, Jason," whispered Medea (for she 
 was ill natured, as all enchantresses are, and 
 wanted to make the bold youth tremble),
 
 282 TANGLEWOOD TALES. 
 
 "what do you think now of your prospect of 
 winning the Golden Fleece?" 
 
 Jason answered only by drawing his sword,, 
 and making a step forward. 
 
 "Stay, foolish youth," said Medea, grasping 
 his arm. " Do not you see you are lost, without 
 me as your good angel? In this gold box I 
 have a magic potion, which will do the dragon's 
 business far more effectually than your sword." 
 
 The dragon had probably heard the voices; 
 for swift as lightning, his black head and forked 
 tongue came hissing among the trees again, 
 darting full forty feet at a stretch. As it 
 approached, Medea tossed the contents of the 
 gold box right down the monster's wide-open 
 throat. Immediately, with an outrageous hiss 
 and a tremendous wriggle flinging his tail up 
 to the tip-top of the tallest tree, and shattering 
 all its branches as it crashed heavily down 
 again the dragon fell at full length upon the 
 ground, and lay quite motionless. 
 
 "It is only a sleeping potion," said the 
 enchantress to Prince Jason. "One always 
 finds a use for these mischievous creatures, 
 sooner or later; so I did not wish to kill him 
 outright. Quick! Snatch the prize, and let us 
 begone. You have won the Golden Fleece." 
 
 Jason caught the fleece from the tree, and 
 hurried through the grove, the deep shadows 
 of which were illuminated as he passed by the
 
 Jason caught the fleece from the tree
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 283 
 
 golden glory of the precious object that he bore 
 along. A little way before him, he beheld the 
 old woman whom he had helped over the stream, 
 with her peacock beside her. She clapped her 
 hands for joy, and beckoning him to make 
 haste, disappeared among the duskiness of the 
 trees. Espying the two winged sons of the 
 North Wind (who were disporting themselves 
 in the moonlight, a few hundred feet aloft), 
 Jason bade them tell the rest of the Argonauts to 
 embark as speedily as possible. But Lynceus, 
 with his sharp eyes, had already caught a glimpse 
 of him, bringing the Golden Fleece, although 
 several stone walls, a hill, and the black shadows 
 of the Grove of Mars, intervened between. By 
 his advice, the heroes had seated themselves on 
 the benches of the galley, with their oars held 
 perpendicularly, ready to let fall into the water. 
 
 As Jason drew near, he heard the Talking 
 Image calling to him with more than ordinary 
 eagerness, in its grave, sweet voice : 
 
 "Make haste, Prince Jason! For your life, 
 make haste!" 
 
 With one bound, he leaped aboard. At sight 
 of the glorious radiance of the Golden Fleece, 
 the nine and forty heroes gave a mighty shout, 
 and Orpheus, striking his harp, sang a song of 
 triumph, to the cadence of which the galley 
 flew over the water,, homeward bound, as if 
 careering along with wings!
 
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