24. And Eson said, "I thought, Chiron 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."

25. Then Chiron 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?"

26. "I would gladly have horse's hoofs, like you, if I could sing such songs as yours.

27. And Chiron laughed and said, "Sit here by me till sundown, when your playmates will come home, and you shall learn like them to be a king, worthy to rule over gallant men."

28. Then he turned to Eson and said, "Go back in peace and bend before the storm like a prudent man. This boy shall not cross Anauros again till he has become a glory to you and to your house."

29. And Eson 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.

30. Then Chiron 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.

31. And then in came the sons of the heroes, Eneas, and Hercules, and Peleus,* and many another mighty name.

32. And great Chiron leapt up joyfully and his hoofs made the cave resound, as they shouted, "Come out, Father Chiron; come out and see our game." And one cried, "I have killed two deer"; and another, "I took a wild cat among the crags"; and Hercules dragged a wild goat after him by its horns, for he was as huge as a mountain crag; and Ceneus* carried a

bear-cub under each arm, and laughed when they scratched and bit, for neither tooth nor steel could wound him.

33. And Chiron praised them all, each according to his deserts.

34. Only one walked apart and silent, Asclepius,* the toowise child, with his bosom full of herbs and flowers, and round his wrist a spotted snake; he came with downcast eyes to Chiron and whispered how he had watched the snake cast its 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 an herb which he had seen a sick goat eat.

35. And Chiron 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 honor beyond all honors, to cure while others kill."

36. 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.

37. 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.

38. And after awhile 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.

39. Then Chiron 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.

40. 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 Chiron used to mount him on his back; and he learnt the virtues of all herbs, and how to cure all wounds; and Chiron called him Jason* the healer, and that is his name until this day.

*

PART II

How Jason Lost His Sandal in Anauros

1. 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 Hercules was gone to Thebes to fulfil those famous labors which have become a proverb among men. And Peleus had married a sea-nymph, and his wedding is famous to this day. And Eneas 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 Chiron the just. And it happened on a day that Jason stood on the mountain, and looked north and south and east and west; and Chiron stood by him and watched him, for he knew that the time was

come.

2. And Jason looked toward the west and saw the plains of Thessaly; he looked north, and saw Olympus,* the seat of the Immortals. 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; and he knew it for the bay of Pagasai," and the rich lowlands of Hemonia,* and Iolcos by the sea.

3. Then he sighed and asked, "Is it true what the heroes tell me that I am heir of that fair land?"

4. "And what good would it be to you, Jason, if you were heir of that fair land?''

5. "I would take it and keep it."

6. "A strong man has taken it and kept it long. stronger than Pelias the terrible?"

7. "I can try my strength with his," said Jason.

Are you

8. But Chiron smiled 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."

9. "The happier I," said Jason, "to see what man never saw before."

10. And Chiron smiled 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."

11. Jason promised, and Chiron answered, "Speak harshly to no soul whom you may meet, and stand by the word which you shall speak."

12. Jason wondered why Chiron 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.

13. 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.

14. And on the banks 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?"

15. 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.

16. But the old woman whined all the more, "I am weak and old, fair youth. For Hera's sake, carry me over the torrent.

17. And Jason was going to answer her scornfully, when Chiron'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."

18. Then the old dame leapt upon his back as nimbly as a goat; and Jason staggered in, wondering. 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?"

19. Jason had half a mind to drop her, and let her get through the torrent by herself; but Chiron's words were in his mind, and he said only, "Patience, mother; the best horse may stumble some day."

20. 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.”

21. 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;