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Young Folks Treasury, Volume 2 (of 12) by Various

V >> Various >> Young Folks Treasury, Volume 2 (of 12)




And the lad danced with them, delighted, and then slept a wholesome
sleep, upon fragrant leaves of bay and myrtle and flowers of thyme.

He rose at the dawn and bathed in the torrent, and became a
schoolfellow to the heroes' sons, and forgot Iolcos by the sea, 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 learned to wrestle, to box and to hunt, and to play upon the
harp. Next he learned to ride, for old Cheiron used to mount him on
his back. He learned too the virtue of all herbs, and how to cure all
wounds, and Cheiron called him Jason the Healer, and that is his name
until this day.




II

HOW JASON LOST HIS SANDAL


And ten years came and went, and Jason was grown to be a mighty man.

Now it happened one 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.

When Jason looked south, he 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 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
your uncle 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!"

Cheiron sighed and said, "Will you go to Iolcos by the sea? Then
promise me two things before you go! Speak harshly to no soul whom you
may meet, and stand by the word which you shall speak."

Jason promised. Then he leapt down the mountain, to take his fortune
like a man.

He went down through the thickets and across the downs of thyme, till
he came to the vineyard walls, and the olives in the glen. And among
the olives roared the river, foaming with a summer flood.

And on the bank of the river sat a woman, all wrinkled, gray and old.
Her head shook with old age, and her hands shook on her knees.

When she saw Jason, she spoke, whining, "Who will carry me across the
flood?"

But Jason, heeding her not, went towards the waters. Yet he thought
twice before he leapt, so loud roared the torrent all brown from the
mountain rains.

The old woman whined again, "I am weak and old, fair youth. For Hera's
sake, the Queen of the Immortals, carry me over the torrent."

Jason was going to answer her scornfully, when Cheiron's words, "Speak
harshly to no soul whom you may meet," came to his mind.

So he said, "For Hera's sake, the Queen of the Immortals, 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. 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. 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 upon his back, "Fool, you have wet my mantle! Do you mock at
poor old souls like me?"

Jason had half a mind to drop her and let her get through the torrent
alone, 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. He
lay himself panting awhile, and then leapt up to go upon his journey,
but he first 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.

Her garments shone like the summer sea, and her jewels like the stars
of heaven. And she looked down on him with great soft eyes, with great
eyes, mild and awful, which filled all the glen with light. Jason fell
upon his knees and hid his face between his hands.

And she spoke: "I am Hera, the Queen of Olympus. 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!"

When Jason looked up, she rose from off the earth, like a pillar of
tall white cloud, and floated away across the mountain peaks, towards
Olympus, the holy hill.

Then a great fear fell on Jason, but after a while he grew light
of heart. He blessed old Cheiron and said, "Surely the Centaur is a
prophet and knew what would come to pass when he bade me speak harshly
to no soul whom I might meet."

Then he went down towards 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 he was. 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. My
errand is to Pelias your King. Tell me, then, where his palace is."

But the old man said, "I will tell you, lest you rush upon your ruin
unawares. The oracle 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 fiercest and most cunning of
all kings." Jason laughed a great laugh in his pride. "Good news, good
father, both for you and me. For that very end, to take his kingdom, I
came into the town."

Then he strode on toward the palace of Pelias his uncle, while all
the people wondered at the stranger. 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. "Who are you, bold youth?" he cried.

"I am Jason, the son of AEson, the heir of all the land."

Then Pelias lifted up his hands and eyes and wept, or seemed to weep,
and blessed the gods who 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 marry whichsoever of my daughters you shall
choose. But come, come in and feast."

So he drew Jason in and spoke to him so lovingly, and feasted him so
well, that Jason's anger passed.

When supper was ended his three cousins came into the hall, and Jason
thought he would like well to have one of them for his wife.

But soon he looked at Pelias, and when he saw that he still wept, he
said, "Why do you look so sad, my uncle?"

Then Pelias sighed heavily again and again, like a man who had to tell
some dreadful story, and was afraid to begin.

At last he said, "For seven long years and more have I never known a
quiet night, and no more will he who comes after me, till the Golden
Fleece be brought home."

Then he told Jason the story of Phrixus and of the Golden Fleece, and
told him what was a lie, that Phrixus' spirit tormented him day and
night. And his daughters came and told the same tale, and wept and
said, "Oh, who will bring home the Golden Fleece, that the spirit
of Phrixus may rest, and that we may rest also, for he never lets us
sleep in peace?"

Jason sat awhile, sad and silent, for he had often heard of that
Golden Fleece, but he looked on it as a thing hopeless and impossible
for any mortal man to win.

When Pelias saw him silent he began to talk of other things. "One
thing there is," said Pelias, "on which I need your advice, for,
though you are young, I see in you a wisdom beyond your years. There
is one neighbor of mine whom I dread more than all men on earth. I am
stronger than he now and can command him, but I know that if he stay
among us, he will work my ruin in the end. Can you give me a plan,
Jason, by which I can rid myself of that man?"

After a while, Jason answered half-laughing, "Were I you, I would send
him to fetch that same Golden Fleece, for if he once set forth after
it, you would never be troubled with him more."

At that a little smile came across the lips of Pelias, and a flash of
wicked joy into his eyes. Jason saw it and started, and he remembered
the warning of the old man, and his own one sandal and the oracle, and
he saw that he was taken in a trap.

But Pelias only answered gently, "My son, he shall be sent forthwith."

"You mean me!" cried Jason, starting up, "because I came here with one
sandal," and he lifted his fist angrily, while Pelias stood up to
him like a wolf at bay. Whether of the two was the stronger and the
fiercer it would be hard to tell.

But after a moment Pelias spoke gently, "Why so rash, my son? I have
not harmed you. You will go, and that gladly, for you have a hero's
heart within you, and the love of glory."

Jason knew that he was entrapped, but he cried aloud, "You have well
spoken, cunning uncle of mine, I love glory. I will go and fetch the
Golden Fleece. Promise me but this in return, and keep your word as I
keep mine. Treat my father lovingly while I am gone, for the sake of
the all-seeing Zeus, and give me up the kingdom for my own on the day
that I bring back the Golden Fleece."

Then Pelias looked at him and almost loved him, in the midst of all
his hate, and he said, "I promise, and I will perform. It will be no
shame to give up my kingdom to the man who wins that fleece."

So they both went and lay down to sleep. But Jason could not sleep for
thinking how he was to win the Golden Fleece. Sometimes Phrixus seemed
to call him in a thin voice, faint and low, as if it came from far
across the sea. Sometimes he seemed to see the eyes of Hera, and to
hear her words again, "Call on me in the hour of need, and see if the
Immortals can forget."

On the morrow Jason went to Pelias and said, "Give me a lamb, that
I may sacrifice to Hera." And as he stood by the altar Hera sent a
thought into his mind. And he went back to Pelias and said, "If you
are indeed in earnest, give me two heralds that they may go round to
all the Princes, who were pupils of the Centaur with me. Then together
we will fit out a ship, and take what shall befall."

At that Pelias praised his wisdom and hastened to send the heralds
out, for he said in his heart, "Let all the Princes go with Jason,
and, like him, never return, so shall I be lord of the land and the
greatest king in Hellas."




III

HOW THEY BUILT THE SHIP ARGO


So the heralds went out and cried to all the heroes, "Who dare come to
the adventures of the Golden Fleece?"

And Hera stirred the hearts of all the Princes, and they came from all
their valleys to the yellow sand of Iolcos by the sea.

All the city came out to meet them, and the men were never tired with
looking at their heights and their beauty and the glitter of their
arms.

But the women sighed over them and whispered, "Alas, they are all
going to their death!"

Then the heroes felled the mountain pines and shaped them with the
axe, and Argus the famed shipbuilder taught them to build a galley,
the first long ship which ever sailed the seas. They named her Argo,
after Argus the shipbuilder, and worked at her all day long.

But Jason went away into a far-off land, till he found Orpheus the
prince of minstrels, where he dwelt in his cave.

And he asked him, "Will you leave your mountains, Orpheus, my
playfellow in old times, and sail with the heroes to bring home the
Golden Fleece? And will you charm for us all men and all monsters with
your magic harp and song?"

Then Orpheus sighed, "Have I not had enough of toil and of weary
wandering far and wide, since I lived in Cheiron's cave, above Iolcos
by the sea? And now must I go out again, to the ends of all the
earth, far away into the misty darkness? But a friend's demand must be
obeyed."

So Orpheus rose up sighing, and took his harp. He led Jason to the
holy oak, and he bade him cut down a bough and sacrifice to Hera. And
they took the bough and came to Iolcos, and nailed it to the prow of
the ship.

And at last the ship was finished, and they tried to launch her down
the beach; but she was too heavy for them to move her, and her keel
sank deep into the sand.

Then all the heroes looked at each other blushing, but Jason spoke
and said, "Let us ask the magic bough; perhaps it can help us in our
need."

And a voice came from the bough, and Jason heard the words it said,
and bade Orpheus play upon the harp, while the heroes waited round,
holding the pine-trunk rollers to help the Argo toward the sea.

Then Orpheus took his harp and began his magic song. And the good ship
Argo heard him and longed to be away and out at sea, till she stirred
in every timber, and heaved from stem to stern, and leapt up from the
sand upon the rollers, and plunged onward like a gallant horse till
she rushed into the whispering sea.

And they stored her well with food and water, and settled themselves
each man to his oar, keeping time to the harp of Orpheus.

Then away across the bay they rowed southward, while the people lined
the cliffs. But the women wept while the men shouted at the starting
of that gallant crew.




IV

HOW THE ARGONAUTS WON THE GOLDEN FLEECE


The heroes rowed across the bay, and while they waited there for a
southwest wind, they chose themselves a captain from their crew. And
some called for the strongest and hugest to be their captain, but more
called for Jason, because he was the wisest of them all.

So Jason was chosen captain, and each hero vowed to stand by him
faithfully in the adventure of the Golden Fleece.

They sailed onward and northward to Pelion. And their hearts yearned
for the dear old mountain, as they thought of the days gone by, of the
sports of their boyhood, and their hunting, and their lessons in the
cave beneath the cliff. Then at last they said, "Let us land here and
climb the dear old hill once more. We are going on a fearful journey.
Who knows if we shall see Pelion again? Let us go up to Cheiron our
master, and ask his blessing ere we start."

So the helmsman steered them to the shore, under the crags of Pelion,
and they went up through the dark pine-forests toward the Centaur's
cave.

Then, as Cheiron saw them, he leapt up and welcomed them every one,
and set a feast of venison before them. And after supper all the
heroes clapped their hands and called on Orpheus to sing, but he
refused, and said, "How can I, who am the younger, sing before our
ancient host?"

So they called on Cheiron to sing. And he sang of heroes who fought
with fists and teeth, and how they tore up the pine-trees in their
fury, and hurled great crags of stone, while the mountains thundered
with the battle, and the land was wasted far and wide.

And the heroes praised his song right heartily, for some of them had
helped in that great fight.

Then Orpheus took the lyre and sang of the making of the wondrous
world. And as he sang, his voice rose from the cave above the crags,
and through the tree-tops. The trees bowed their heads when they heard
it, and the forest beasts crept close to listen, and the birds forsook
their nests and hovered near. And old Cheiron clapped his hands
together and beat his hoofs upon the ground, for wonder at that magic
song.

Now the heroes came down to the ship, and Cheiron came down with
them, weeping, and kissed them one by one, and promised to them great
renown.

And the heroes wept when they left him, till their great hearts could
weep no more, for he was kind and just, and wiser than all beasts and
men.

Then Cheiron went up to a cliff and prayed for them, that they might
come home safe and well, while the heroes rowed away and watched
him standing on his cliff above the sea, with his great hands raised
toward heaven, and his white locks waving in the wind. They strained
their eyes to watch him to the last, for they felt that they should
look on him no more.

So they rowed on over the long swell of the sea eastward, and out into
the open sea which we now call the Black Sea.

All feared that dreadful sea, and its rocks and fogs and bitter
storms, and the heroes trembled for all their courage, as they came
into that wild Black Sea, and saw it stretching out before them,
without a shore, as far as eye could see.

Then Orpheus spoke and warned them that they must come now to the
wandering blue rocks.

Soon they saw them, and their blue peaks shone like spires and castles
of gray glass, while an ice-cold wind blew from them and chilled all
the heroes' hearts.

As they neared them, they could see the rocks heaving, as they rolled
upon the long sea-waves, crashing and grinding together, till the roar
went up to heaven.

The heroes' hearts sank within them, and they lay upon their oars in
fear, but Orpheus called to the helmsman, "Between the blue rocks we
must pass, so look for an opening, and be brave, for Hera is with us."

The cunning helmsman stood silent, clenching his teeth, till he saw a
heron come flying mast-high toward the rocks, and hover awhile before
them, as if looking for a passage through. Then he cried, "Hera has
sent us a pilot; let us follow the bird."

The heron flapped to and fro a moment till he saw a hidden gap, and
into it he rushed like an arrow, while the heroes watched what would
befall.

And the blue rocks dashed together as the bird fled swiftly through,
but they struck but one feather from his tail, and then rebounded at
the shock.

Then the helmsman cheered the heroes, and they shouted, while the
oars bent beneath their strokes as they rushed between those toppling
ice-crags. But ere the rocks could meet again they had passed them,
and were safe out in the open sea.

After that they sailed on wearily along the coast, past many a mighty
river's mouth, and past many a barbarous tribe. And at day dawn they
looked eastward, till, shining above the tree-tops, they saw the
golden roofs of King Aietes, the Child of the Sun.

Then out spoke the helmsman, "We are come to our goal at last, for
there are the roofs of Aietes, and the woods where all poisons grow.
But who can tell us where among them is hid the Golden Fleece?"

But Jason cheered the heroes, for his heart was high and bold, and he
said, "I will go alone to Aietes, and win him with soft words. Better
so than to go altogether and to come to blows at once." But the heroes
would not stay behind so they rowed boldly up the stream.

And a dream came to Aietes and filled his heart with fear. Then he
leapt up and bade his servants bring his chariot, that he might go
down to the river-side, and appease the nymphs and the heroes whose
spirits haunt the bank.

So he went down in his golden chariot, and his daughters by his side,
Medeia, the fair witch-maiden, and Chalciope, who had been Phrixus'
wife, and behind him a crowd of servants and soldiers, for he was a
rich and mighty prince.

And as he drove down by the reedy river, he saw the Argo sliding up
beneath the bank, and many a hero in her, like Immortals for beauty
and strength. But Jason was the noblest of all, for Hera, who loved
him, gave him beauty and height and terrible manhood.

When they came near together and looked into each other's eyes, the
heroes were awed before Aietes as he shone in his chariot like his
father, the glorious Sun. For his robes were of rich gold tissue, and
the rays of his diadem flashed fire. And in his hand he bore a jeweled
scepter, which glittered like the stars.

Sternly Aietes looked at the heroes, and sternly he spoke and loud,
"Who are you, and what want you here that you come to our shore? Know
this is my kingdom and these are my people who serve me. Never yet
grew they tired in battle, and well they know how to face a foe."

And the heroes sat silent awhile before the face of that ancient King.
But Hera, the awful goddess, put courage into Jason's heart, and he
rose and shouted loudly in answer to the King.

"We are no lawless men. We come, not to plunder or carry away slaves
from your land, but we have come on a quest to bring home the Golden
Fleece. And these too, my bold comrades, they are no nameless men, for
some are the sons of Immortals, and some of heroes far renowned. We
too never tire in battle, and know well how to give blows and to
take. Yet we wish to be guests at your table; it will be better so for
both."

Then Aietes' rage rushed up like a whirlwind, and his eyes flashed
fire as he heard; but he crushed his anger down in his heart and spoke
mildly.

"If you will fight, then many a man must die. But if you will be ruled
by me you will find it better far to choose the best man among you,
and let him fulfil the labors which I demand. Then I will give him the
Golden Fleece for a prize and a glory to you all."

So he said, and then turned his horses and drove back in silence to
the town.

The heroes sat dumb with sorrow, for there was no facing the thousands
of King Aietes' men and the fearful chance of war.

But Chalciope, the widow of Phrixus, went weeping to the town, for she
remembered her husband and all the pleasures of her youth while she
watched the fair face of his kinsmen and their long locks of golden
hair.

And she whispered to Medeia, her sister, "Why should all these brave
men die? Why does not my father give up the fleece, that my husband's
spirit may have rest?"

Medeia's heart pitied the heroes, and Jason most of all, and she
answered, "Our father is stern and terrible, and who can win the
Golden Fleece?"

But Chalciope said, "These men are not like our men; there is nothing
which they cannot dare nor do."

Then Medeia thought of Jason and his brave countenance, and said, "If
there was one among them who knew no fear, I could show him how to win
the fleece."

So in the dusk of the evening they went down to the river-side,
Chalciope and Medeia the witch-maiden, and with them a lad. And the
lad crept forward, among the beds of reeds, till he came to where
Jason kept ward on shore, leaning upon his lance, full of thought.

And the lad said, "Chalciope waits for you, to talk about the Golden
Fleece."

Then Jason went boldly with the boy and found the two Princesses. When
Chalciope saw him, she wept and took his hands and cried, "O cousin of
my beloved Phrixus, go home before you die!"

"It would be base to go home now, fair Princess, and to have sailed
all these seas in vain."

Then both the Princesses besought him, but Jason said, "It is too late
to return!"

"But you know not," said Medeia, "what he must do who would win
the fleece. He must tame the two brazen-footed bulls, which breathe
devouring flame, and with them he must plow ere nightfall four acres
in a field. He must sow the acres with serpents' teeth, of which each
tooth springs up into an armed man. Then he must fight with all these
warriors. And little will it profit him to conquer them, for the
fleece is guarded by a serpent more huge than any mountain pine. Over
his body you must step if you would reach the Golden Fleece."

Then Jason laughed bitterly: "Unjustly is that fleece kept here, and
by an unjust and lawless King, and unjustly shall I die in my youth,
for I will attempt it ere another sun be set."

Medeia trembled and said, "No mortal man can reach that fleece unless
I guide him through."

But Jason cried, "No wall so high but it may be climbed at last, and
no wood so thick but it may be crawled through. No serpent so wary
but he may be charmed, and I may yet win the Golden Fleece, if a wise
maiden help bold men."

And he looked at Medeia with his glittering eye, till she blushed and
trembled and said, "Who can face the fire of the bulls' breath and
fight ten thousand armed men?"

"He whom you help," said Jason, flattering her, "for your fame is
spread over all the earth."

And Medeia said slowly, "Why should you die? I have an ointment here.
I made it from the magic ice-flower. Anoint yourself with that, and
you shall have in you the strength of seven, and anoint your shield
with it, and neither fire nor sword shall harm you. Anoint your helmet
with it, before you sow the serpents' teeth, and when the sons of
earth spring up, cast your helmet among them, and every man of them
shall perish."

Then Jason fell on his knees before her, and thanked her and kissed
her hands, and she gave him the vase of ointment, and fled trembling
through the reeds.

And Jason told his comrades what had happened, and showed them the box
of ointment.

So at sunrise Jason went and bathed and anointed himself from head to
foot, and his shield and his helmet and his weapons. And when the sun
had risen, Jason sent two of his heroes to tell Aietes that he was
ready for the fight.

Up among the marble walls they went, and beneath the roofs of gold,
and stood in the hall of Aietes, while he grew pale with rage.

"Fulfil your promise to us, Child of the blazing Sun," the heroes
cried to King Aietes. "Give us the serpents' teeth, and let loose the
fiery bulls, for we have found a champion among us, who can win the
Golden Fleece!"

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