Various - Myths That Every Child Should Know
V >>
Various >> Myths That Every Child Should Know
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 | 16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24
"He was no coward, O Cyclops, whose comrades thou didst so foully slay
in thy den. Justly art thou punished, monster, that devourest thy guests
in thy dwelling. May the gods make thee suffer yet worse things than
these!"
Then the Cylops, in his wrath, broke off the top of a great hill, a
mighty rock, and hurled it where he had heard the voice. Right in front
of the ship's bow it fell, and a great wave rose as it sank, and washed
the ship back to the shore. But Ulysses seized a long pole with both
hands and pushed the ship from the land, and bade his comrades ply their
oars, nodding with his head, for he was too wise to speak, lest the
Cyclops should know where they were. Then they rowed with all their
might and main.
And when they had gotten twice as far as before, Ulysses made as if he
would speak again; but his comrades sought to hinder him, saying, "Nay,
my lord, anger not the giant any more. Surely we thought before we were
lost, when he threw the great rock, and washed our ship back to the
shore. And if he hear thee now, he may crush our ship and us, for the
man throws a mighty bolt, and throws it far."
But Ulysses would not be persuaded, but stood up and said, "Hear,
Cyclops! If any man ask who blinded thee, say that it was the warrior
Ulysses, son of Laertes, dwelling in Ithaca."
And the Cyclops answered with a groan, "Of a truth, the old oracles are
fulfilled, for long ago there came to this land one Telemus, a prophet,
and dwelt among us even to old age. This man foretold me that one
Ulysses would rob me of my sight. But I looked for a great man and a
strong, who should subdue me by force, and now a weakling has done the
deed, having cheated me with wine. But come thou hither, Ulysses, and I
will be a host indeed to thee. Or, at least, may Poseidon give thee such
a voyage to thy home as I would wish thee to have. For know that
Poseidon is my sire. May be that he may heal me of my grievous wound."
And Ulysses said, "Would to God, I could send thee down to the abode of
the dead, where thou wouldst be past all healing, even from Poseidon's
self."
Then Cyclops lifted up his hands to Poseidon and prayed:
"Hear me, Poseidon, if I am indeed thy son and thou my father. May this
Ulysses never reach his home! or, if the Fates have ordered that he
should reach it, may he come alone, all his comrades lost, and come to
find sore trouble in his house!"
And as he ended he hurled another mighty rock, which almost lighted on
the rudder's end, yet missed it as if by a hair's breadth. So Ulysses
and his comrades escaped, and came to the island of the wild goats,
where they found their comrades, who indeed had waited long for them, in
sore fear lest they had perished. Then Ulysses divided among his company
all the sheep which they had taken from the Cyclops. And all, with one
consent, gave him for his share the great ram which had carried him out
of the cave, and he sacrificed it to Zeus. And all that day they feasted
right merrily on the flesh of sheep and on sweet wine, and when the
night was come, they lay down upon the shore and slept.
CHAPTER X
THE ARGONAUTS
I
_How the Centaur Trained the Heroes on Pelion_
I have told you of a hero who fought with wild beasts and with wild men;
but now I have a tale of heroes who sailed away into a distant land to
win themselves renown forever, in the adventure of the Golden Fleece.
Whither they sailed, my children, I cannot clearly tell. It all happened
long ago; so long that it has all grown dim, like a dream which you
dreamed last year. And why they went, I cannot tell; some say that it
was to win gold. It may be so; but the noblest deeds which have been
done on earth, have not been done for gold. It was not for the sake of
gold that the Lord came down and died, and the Apostles went out to
preach the good news in all lands. The Spartans looked for no reward in
money when they fought and died at Thermopylae; and Socrates the wise
asked no pay from his countrymen, but lived poor and barefoot all his
days, only caring to make men good. And there are heroes in our days
also, who do noble deeds, but not for gold. Our discoverers did not go
to make themselves rich, when they sailed out one after another into the
dreary frozen seas; nor did the ladies, who went out last year, to
drudge in the hospitals of the East, making themselves poor, that they
might be rich in noble works. And young men, too, whom you know,
children, and some of them of your own kin, did they say to themselves,
"How much money shall I earn?" when they went out to the war, leaving
wealth, and comfort, and a pleasant home, and all that money can give,
to face hunger and thirst, and wounds and death, that they might fight
for their country and their Queen? No, children, there is a better thing
on earth than wealth, a better thing than life itself; and that is, to
have done something before you die, for which good men may honour you,
and God your Father smile upon your work.
Therefore we will believe--why should we not--of these same Argonauts of
old, that they, too, were noble men, who planned and did a noble deed;
and that therefore their fame has lived, and been told in story and in
song, mixed up, no doubt, with dreams and fables, yet true and right at
heart. So we will honour these old Argonauts, and listen to their story
as it stands; and we will try to be like them, each of us in our place;
for each of us has a Golden Fleece to seek, and a wild sea to sail over,
ere we reach it, and dragons to fight ere it be ours.
And what was that first Golden Fleece? I do not know, nor care. The old
Hellenes said that it hung in Colchis, which we call the Circassian
coast, nailed to a beech tree in the war-god's wood; and that it was the
fleece of the wondrous ram, who bore Phrixus and Helle across the Euxine
Sea. For Phrixus and Helle were the children of the cloud nymph, and of
Athamas the Minuan king. And when a famine came upon the land, their
cruel stepmother, Ino, wished to kill them, that her own children might
reign, and said that they must be sacrificed on an altar, to turn away
the anger of the gods. So the poor children were brought to the altar,
and the priest stood ready with his knife, when out of the clouds came
the Golden Ram, and took them on his back, and vanished. Then madness
came upon that foolish king Athamas, and ruin upon Ino and her children.
For Athamas killed one of them in his fury, and Ino fled from him with
the other in her arms, and leaped from a cliff into the sea, and was
changed into a dolphin, such as you have seen, which wanders over the
waves forever sighing, with its little one clasped to its breast.
But the people drove out King Athamas, because he had killed his child;
and he roamed about in his misery, till he came to the Oracle in Delphi.
And the Oracle told him that he must wander for his sin, till the wild
beasts should feast him as their guest. So he went on in hunger and
sorrow for many a weary day, till he saw a pack of wolves. The wolves
were tearing a sheep; but when they saw Athamas they fled, and left the
sheep for him, and he ate of it; and then he knew that the oracle was
fulfilled at last. So he wandered no more; but settled, and built a
town, and became a king again.
But the ram carried the two children far away over land and sea, till he
came to the Thracian Chersonese, and there Helle fell into the sea. So
those narrow straits are called "Hellespont," after her; and they bear
that name until this day.
Then the ram flew on with Phrixus to the northeast across the sea which
we call the Black Sea now; but the Hellenes called it Euxine. And at
last, they say, he stopped at Colchis, on the steep Circassian coast;
and there Phrixus married Chalchiope, the daughter of Aietes the king;
and offered the ram in sacrifice; and Aietes nailed the ram's fleece to
a beech, in the grove of Ares the war god.
And after awhile Phrixus died, and was buried, but his spirit had no
rest; for he was buried far from his native land, and the pleasant hills
of Hellas. So he came in dreams to the heroes of the Minuai, and called
sadly by their beds: "Come and set my spirit free, that I may go home to
my fathers and to my kinsfolk, and the pleasant Minuan land."
And they asked: "How shall we set your spirit free?"
"You must sail over the sea to Colchis, and bring home the golden
fleece; and then my spirit will come back with it, and I shall sleep
with my fathers and have rest."
He came thus, and called to them often, but when they woke they looked
at each other, and said: "Who dare sail to Colchis, or bring home the
golden fleece?" And in all the country none was brave enough to try it;
for the man and the time were not come.
Phrixus had a cousin called AEson, who was king in Iolcos by the sea.
There he ruled over the rich Minuan heroes, as Athamas his uncle ruled
in Boeotia; and like Athamas, he was an unhappy man. For he had a
stepbrother named Pelias, of whom some said that he was a nymph's son,
and there were dark and sad tales about his birth. When he was a babe he
was cast out on the mountains, and a wild mare came by and kicked him.
But a shepherd passing found the baby, with its face all blackened by
the blow; and took him home, and called him Pelias, because his face was
bruised and black. And he grew up fierce and lawless, and did many a
fearful deed; and at last he drove out AEson his stepbrother, and then
his own brother Neleus, and took the kingdom to himself, and ruled over
the rich Minuan heroes, in Iolcos by the sea.
And AEson, when he was driven out, went sadly away out of the town,
leading his little son by the hand; and he said to himself, "I must hide
the child in the mountains; or Pelias will surely kill him, because he
is the heir."
So he went up from the sea across the valley, through the vineyards and
the olive groves, and across the torrent of Anauros, toward Pelion the
ancient mountain, whose brows are white with snow.
He went up and up into the mountain over marsh, and crag, and down, till
the boy was tired and footsore, and AEson had to bear him in his arms,
till he came to the mouth of a lonely cave, at the foot of a mighty
cliff.
Above the cliff the snow wreaths hung, dripping and cracking in the sun.
But at its foot around the cave's mouth grew all fair flowers and herbs,
as if in a garden, ranged in order, each sort by itself. There they grew
gayly in the sunshine, and the spray of the torrent from above; while
from the cave came the sound of music, and a man's voice singing to the
harp.
Then AEson put down the lad, and whispered:
"Fear not, but go in, and whomsoever you shall find, lay your hands upon
his knees, and say, 'In the name of Zeus the father of gods and men, I
am your guest from this day forth.'"
Then the lad went in without trembling, for he, too, was a hero's son;
but when he was within, he stopped in wonder, to listen to that magic
song.
And there he saw the singer lying upon bear skins and fragrant boughs;
Cheiron, the ancient centaur, the wisest of all things beneath the sky.
Down to the waist he was a man; but below he was a noble horse; his
white hair rolled down over his broad shoulders, and his white beard
over his broad brown chest; and his eyes were wise and mild, and his
forehead like a mountain wall.
And in his hands he held a harp of gold, and struck it with a golden
key; and as he struck, he sang till his eyes glittered, and filled all
the cave with light.
And he sang of the birth of Time, and of the heavens and the dancing
stars; and of the ocean, and the ether, and the fire, and the shaping of
the wondrous earth. And he sang of the treasures of the hills, and the
hidden jewels of the mine, and the veins of fire and metal, and the
virtues of all healing herbs, and of the speech of birds, and of
prophecy, and of hidden things to come.
Then he sang of health, and strength, and manhood, and a valiant heart;
and of music, and hunting, and wrestling, and all the games which heroes
love; and of travel, and wars, and sieges, and a noble death in fight;
and then he sang of peace and plenty, and of equal justice in the land;
and as he sang, the boy listened wide eyed, and forgot his errand in the
song.
And at the last old Cheiron was silent, and called the lad with a soft
voice.
And the lad ran trembling to him, and would have laid his hands upon his
knees; but Cheiron smiled, and said, "Call hither your father AEson, for
I know you, and all that has befallen, and saw you both afar in the
valley, even before you left the town."
Then AEson came in sadly, and Cheiron asked him, "Why came you not
yourself to me, AEson the AEolid?"
And AEson said:
"I thought, Cheiron will pity the lad if he sees him come alone; and I
wished to try whether he was fearless, and dare venture like a hero's
son. But now I entreat you by Father Zeus, let the boy be your guest
till better times, and train him among the sons of the heroes, that he
may avenge his father's house."
Then Cheiron smiled, and drew the lad to him, and laid his hand upon his
golden locks, and said, "Are you afraid of my horse's hoofs, fair boy,
or will you be my pupil from this day?"
"I would gladly have horse's hoofs like you, if I could sing such songs
as yours."
And Cheiron laughed, and said, "Sit here by me till sundown, when your
playfellows will come home, and you shall learn like them to be a king,
worthy to rule over gallant men."
Then he turned to AEson, and said, "Go back in peace, and bend before the
storm like a prudent man. This boy shall not cross the Anauros again,
till he has become a glory to you and to the house of AEolus."
And AEson wept over his son and went away; but the boy did not weep, so
full was his fancy of that strange cave, and the Centaur, and his song,
and the playfellows whom he was to see.
Then Cheiron put the lyre into his hands, and taught him how to play it,
till the sun sank low behind the cliff, and a shout was heard outside.
And then in came the sons of the heroes, AEneas, and Heracles, and
Peleus, and many another mighty name.
And great Cheiron leapt up joyfully, and his hoofs made the cave
resound, as they shouted, "Come out, Father Cheiron; come out and see
our game." And one cried, "I have killed two deer," and another, "I took
a wildcat among the crags"; and Heracles dragged a wild goat after him
by its horns, for he was as huge as a mountain crag; and Caeneus carried
a bear cub under each arm, and laughed when they scratched and bit; for
neither tooth nor steel could wound him.
And Cheiron praised them all, each according to his deserts.
Only one walked apart and silent, Asclepius, the too-wise child, with
his bosom full of herbs and flowers, and round his wrist a spotted
snake; he came with downcast eyes to Cheiron, and whispered how he had
watched the snake cast his old skin, and grow young again before his
eyes, and how he had gone down into a village in the vale, and cured a
dying man with a herb which he had seen a sick goat eat.
And Cheiron smiled, and said: "To each Athene and Apollo give some gift,
and each is worthy in his place; but to this child they have given an
honour beyond all honours, to cure while others kill."
Then the lads brought in wood, and split it, and lighted a blazing fire;
and others skinned the deer and quartered them, and set them to roast
before the fire; and while the venison was cooking they bathed in the
snow torrent, and washed away the dust and sweat.
And then all ate till they could eat no more (for they had tasted
nothing since the dawn), and drank of the clear spring water, for wine
is not fit for growing lads. And when the remnants were put away, they
all lay down upon the skins and leaves about the fire, and each took the
lyre in turn, and sang and played with all his heart.
And after a while they all went out to a plot of grass at the cave's
mouth, and there they boxed, and ran, and wrestled, and laughed till the
stones fell from the cliffs.
Then Cheiron took his lyre, and all the lads joined hands; and as he
played, they danced to his measure, in and out, and round and round.
There they danced hand in hand, till the night fell over land and sea,
while the black glen shone with their broad white limbs, and the gleam
of their golden hair.
And the lad danced with them, delighted, and then slept a wholesome
sleep, upon fragrant leaves of bay, and myrtle, and marjoram, and
flowers of thyme; and rose at the dawn, and bathed in the torrent, and
became a schoolfellow to the heroes' sons, and forgot Iolcos, and his
father, and all his former life. But he grew strong, and brave and
cunning, upon the pleasant downs of Pelion, in the keen hungry mountain
air. And he learnt to wrestle, and to box, and to hunt, and to play upon
the harp; and next he learnt to ride, for old Cheiron used to mount him
on his back; and he learnt the virtues of all herbs, and how to cure all
wounds; and Cheiron called him Jason the healer, and that is his name
until this day.
PART II
_How Jason Lost His Sandal in Anauros_
And ten years came and went, and Jason was grown to be a mighty man.
Some of his fellows were gone, and some were growing up by his side.
Asclepius was gone into Peloponnese, to work his wondrous cures on men;
and some say he used to raise the dead to life. And Heracles was gone to
Thebes, to fulfil those famous labours which have become a proverb among
men. And Peleus had married a sea nymph, and his wedding is famous to
this day. And AEneas was gone home to Troy, and many a noble tale you
will read of him, and of all the other gallant heroes, the scholars of
Cheiron the just. And it happened on a day that Jason stood on the
mountain, and looked north and south and east and west; and Cheiron
stood by him and watched him, for he knew that the time was come.
And Jason looked and saw the plains of Thessaly, where the Lapithai
breed their horses; and the lake of Boibe, and the stream which runs
northward to Peneus and Tempe; and he looked north, and saw the mountain
wall which guards the Magnesian shore; Olympus, the seat of the
Immortals, and Ossa, and Pelion, where he stood. Then he looked east and
saw the bright blue sea, which stretched away forever toward the dawn.
Then he looked south, and saw a pleasant land, with white-walled towns
and farms, nestling along the shore of a land-locked bay, while the
smoke rose blue among the trees; and he knew it for the bay of Pagasai,
and the rich lowlands of Haemonia, and Iolcos by the sea.
Then he sighed, and asked: "Is it true what the heroes tell me, that I
am heir of that fair land?"
"And what good would it be to you, Jason, if you were heir of that fair
land?"
"I would take it and keep it."
"A strong man has taken it and kept it long. Are you stronger than
Pelias the terrible?"
"I can try my strength with his," said Jason. But Cheiron sighed and
said:
"You have many a danger to go through before you rule in Iolcos by the
sea; many a danger, and many a woe; and strange troubles in strange
lands, such as man never saw before."
"The happier I," said Jason, "to see what man never saw before."
And Cheiron sighed again, and said: "The eaglet must leave the nest when
it is fledged. Will you go to Iolcos by the sea? Then promise me two
things before you go."
Jason promised, and Cheiron answered: "Speak harshly to no soul whom you
may meet, and stand by the word which you shall speak."
Jason wondered why Cheiron asked this of him; but he knew that the
Centaur was a prophet, and saw things long before they came. So he
promised, and leapt down the mountain, to take his fortune like a man.
He went down through the arbutus thickets, and across the downs of
thyme, till he came to the vineyard walls, and the pomegranates and the
olives in the glen; and among the olives roared Anauros, all foaming
with a summer flood.
And on the bank of Anauros sat a woman, all wrinkled gray, and old; her
head shook palsied on her breast, and her hands shook palsied on her
knees; and when she saw Jason, she spoke whining: "Who will carry me
across the flood?"
Jason was bold and hasty, and was just going to leap into the flood; and
yet he thought twice before he leapt, so loud roared the torrent down,
all brown from the mountain rains, and silver veined with melting snow;
while underneath he could hear the boulders rumbling like the tramp of
horsemen or the roll of wheels, as they ground along the narrow channel,
and shook the rocks on which he stood.
But the old woman whined all the more: "I am weak and old, fair youth.
For Hera's sake, carry me over the torrent."
And Jason was going to answer her scornfully, when Cheiron's words came
to his mind.
So he said: "For Hera's sake, the Queen of the Immortals on Olympus, I
will carry you over the torrent, unless we both are drowned midway."
Then the old dame leapt upon his back, as nimbly as a goat; and Jason
staggered in, wondering; and the first step was up to his knees.
The first step was up to his knees, and the second step was up to his
waist; and the stones rolled about his feet, and his feet slipped about
the stones; so he went on staggering and panting, while the old woman
cried from off his back:
"Fool, you have wet my mantle! Do you make game of poor old souls like
me?"
Jason had half a mind to drop her, and let her get through the torrent
by herself; but Cheiron's words were in his mind, and he said only:
"Patience, mother; the best horse may stumble some day."
At last he staggered to the shore, and set her down upon the bank; and a
strong man he needed to have been, or that wild water he never would
have crossed.
He lay panting awhile upon the bank, and then leapt up to go upon his
journey; but he cast one look at the old woman, for he thought, "She
should thank me once at least."
And as he looked, she grew fairer than all women, and taller than all
men on earth; and her garments shone like the summer sea, and her jewels
like the stars of heaven; and over her forehead was a veil, woven of the
golden clouds of sunset; and through the veil she looked down on him,
with great soft heifer's eyes; with great eyes, mild and awful, which
filled all the glen with light.
And Jason fell upon his knees, and hid his face between his hands.
And she spoke: "I am the Queen of Olympus, Hera the wife of Zeus. As
thou hast done to me, so will I do to thee. Call on me in the hour of
need, and try if the Immortals can forget."
And when Jason looked up, she rose from off the earth, like a pillar of
tall white cloud, and floated away across the mountain peaks, toward
Olympus the holy hill.
Then a great fear fell on Jason; but after a while he grew light of
heart; and he blessed old Cheiron, and said: "Surely the Centaur is a
prophet, and guessed what would come to pass, when he bade me speak
harshly to no soul whom I might meet."
Then he went down toward Iolcos, and as he walked, he found that he had
lost one of his sandals in the flood.
And as he went through the streets, the people came out to look at him,
so tall and fair was he; but some of the elders whispered together; and
at last one of them stopped Jason, and called to him: "Fair lad, who are
you, and whence come you; and what is your errand in the town?"
"My name, good father, is Jason, and I come from Pelion up above; and my
errand is to Pelias your king; tell me then where his palace is."
But the old man started, and grew pale, and said, "Do you not know the
oracle, my son, that you go so boldly through the town, with but one
sandal on?"
"I am a stranger here, and know of no oracle; but what of my one sandal?
I lost the other in Anauros, while I was struggling with the flood."
Then the old man looked back to his companions; and one sighed and
another smiled; at last he said: "I will tell you, lest you rush upon
your ruin unawares. The oracle in Delphi has said, that a man wearing
one sandal should take the kingdom from Pelias, and keep it for
himself. Therefore beware how you go up to his palace, for he is the
fiercest and most cunning of all kings."
Then Jason laughed a great laugh, like a war horse in his pride: "Good
news, good father, both for you and me. For that very end I came into
the town."
Then he strode on toward the palace of Pelias, while all the people
wondered at his bearing.
And he stood in the doorway and cried, "Come out, come out, Pelias the
valiant, and fight for your kingdom like a man."
Pelias came out wondering, and "Who are you, bold youth?" he cried.
"I am Jason, the son of AEson, the heir of all this land."
Then Pelias lifted up his hands and eyes, and wept, or seemed to weep;
and blessed the heavens which had brought his nephew to him, never to
leave him more. "For," said he, "I have but three daughters, and no son
to be my heir. You shall be my heir then, and rule the kingdom after me,
and marry whichsoever of my daughters you shall choose; though a sad
kingdom you will find it, and whosoever rules it a miserable man. But
come in, come in, and feast."
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 | 16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24
