across the black river, Styx, into the abode of the shades, he boldly made his way, playing sweet music as he went; and there, in the midst of the great hosts that had left the earth, he saw his own Eurydice, most beautiful of them 5 all. "O Pluto!" he sang; "give back to me my Eurydice, stolen from me and from the upper world while youth and beauty and happiness were yet full upon her." And so tender was his voice, so soft the tones of his lyre, that the 10 shades gathered, close around him; and even Pluto's stern heart was moved to tears. Afar off, white and shining, stood Eurydice, her arms stretched out towards him, and the tears pouring down her face. "Take her, take her," said Pluto; "but one command 15 you must obey. As you go out from this realm of mine, playing sweet music as you go-music that shall draw Eurydice forth, following in the wake of its melody — not once must you look back, over-eager or doubting my word with regard to her. If this command you disobey, she is 20 lost indeed to you until such time as you yourself shall come to dwell among us forever." With heart bounding with joy, Orpheus, with one radiant look of joy at Eurydice, raised his lyre and turned his steps again towards the upper world. 25 On, on, through the great masses of shades he hastened, making most joyous music as he passed. Out into the darkness, even down to the River Styx, he had made his way. But alas! alas! in his love for Eurydice and in his fear lest she should not have followed, he forgot the command 30 of Pluto and turned his eager face to look upon her. Poor Orpheus! poor Eurydice! There stood the stern Pluto, his deep gaze full upon the twain. And when Orpheus turned, Pluto raised his sceptre; rolled out into the darkness and Eurydice was lost again 35 to her brave husband who had dared so much for her. his deep voice But the ferryman cared little for the grief that now fell upon the loving youth. Quickly and silently he rowed him across the Styx, and left him there upon the farther bank. For many and many a day Orpheus sat by the river side, 5 his broken lyre in his hand, and often in the darkness of the night he would play music so sad and tender, so full of the wail of a broken heart, that even the stars grew dim and the trees sighed in sympathy for him. Sometimes Orpheus would wander up and down the bank, 10 but never far away, singing always of the lost Eurydice, till, at last, the heart of Jupiter was moved with compassion for him, and he sent down a message of death to the sad singer. So Orpheus was released from life, and the pale ferryman again rowed him across the dark waters this 15 time to dwell forever with Eurydice in the peaceful home of Pluto the quiet land of shades. NOTES 258:1 Apollo. The god of music, poetry, and eloquence of Roman mythology. 258:22 Mount Olympus. The home of the gods, a mountain on the borders of Macedonia and Thessaly. 258:33 Hades. The abode of the dead. 258:33 Jupiter. The chief god of the Romans. In Greek mythology he was known as Zeus. 259:1 Styx. A river flowing into the underworld, across which the shades of the departed were carried into Hades. 259:6 Pluto. The brother of Jupiter and ruler of Hades. 260:14 Pale ferryman. This was Charon, the boatman of the River Styx. Apollo (a pol'lō) VOCABULARY Olympus (ō-lim'pus) Pluto (plö'tō) Styx (stiks) HERCULES When Hercules, a mere babe, lay in his cradle by the sounding sea, there came up out of the deep waters two terrible serpents. They were cruel, venomous serpents, with the strength of an Atlas, and with the poison of death 5 in their fangs. Swiftly and noiselessly they glided towards the cradle where the child slept. Up the sides of the cradle, over the top they writhed; when lo! the child raised himself from his pillow, stretched out his baby arms and strangled 10 the great slimy creatures! "Was there ever such a wonderful child?" said the people. "Surely he is born to do great things." And indeed, as the years went on, he proved himself worthy of this prophecy of his babyhood; for he came to 15 be one of the greatest of all the Greek heroes, the bravest, the truest, the noblest. Little children in all the ages after were taught to admire this grand hero, and to try to be like him in heart and mind and courage. Now it happened that as he grew up, he was made sub20 ject to the control of a wicked, jealous cousin, who spared no pains to make the brave youth's life unhappy. More than that he sought to slay him; and it was with this hope that he sent him to do the twelve hard tasks which made him famous-though that was far from the cousin's 25 intention and which came to be known as: THE TWELVE LABORS OF HERCULES. The first task was to go forth into the great valley of Nemea, and slay the terrible Nemean lion. For a long time this creature had infested the valley, and each morning had devoured the children of the people. "Bring me the skin of the lion," had been the cruel cousin's command; and bravely, though sad at heart, the 5 hero had set forth. It was a fierce, hard fight; clubs and arrows had no effect upon the thick, hard hide of the lion; and in vain would Hercules have contended had he not thrown down his weapons, and, marching straight up to the roaring foe, 10 seized him by the jaws and strangled him. "I will carry to my cousin," said Hercules, "not only the hide, but the whole animal." And so, throwing the lion across his shoulder, Hercules carried him home in victory. From the hide the brave hero made a mantle for himself, 15 and from that time on wore it always as a token of his own first great victory. Angry at his success, the cousin sent Hercules out at once upon a second labor. In the swamps of Argos, there dwelt in the slimy waters a horrible, nine-headed creature, called 20 by the people the Hydra. Of these nine heads, one was immortal; and, moreover, until that was struck off, two would grow in the place of each one that fell beneath the club. "Very well," said Hercules, "if that is the effect of the 52 club upon you, I will try another means;" and so, holding the terrible Hydra with all his force, he burned off the eight heads; and seizing the immortal one, he thrust it under a great mountain, where, able neither to die nor to get free, it writhes and roars even to this day. 30 Again Hercules was sent forth this time to the labor of cleaning the floors of the filthy Augean stables, where hundreds of cattle had been stalled for thirty years. "And this," said the cousin, "is to be done in a day." Hercules went to the stables and looked. Fifty men could 35 not have performed the task in a year! But with Hercules there was no such word as fail. He stood in the great doorway and looked out across the fields. There lay the waters of the beautiful sparkling River Peneus. "Turn the waters of the river through the stable," whis5 pered some good voice; and Hercules went to work. In a few hours a great ditch was dug, and through it, straight into the stable, rushed the rapid current of the river. How it rushed, and roared, and foamed, covering the stable floor! And then, pouring forth itself and all the filth, it 10 seethed out into the great meadows beyond. Next was given Hercules a task of a different nature; one requiring not strength but tact. In a far-off land dwelt the Amazons, a race of war-like women, who had great cities, were very powerful in combat, 15 and who allowed no stranger within their gates. Now, the Queen of the Amazons owned a wonderful, magic girdle; this Hercules was sent to seize and bear away. No one knows how it was accomplished; but Hercules was admitted to the city of the Queen, and even to her royal 20 palace. For many days he remained a guest in the city, fêted and banqueted by his royal hostess. He even won from her the promise that when he went away he should wear the magic girdle for his own. But just here the Fates interfered; the Queen became suspicious of her guest, and 25 fell upon him with her army of trained warriors. It was a terrible battle; but Hercules won the girdle, and away he flew across the plains and over mountains to his home, where he delivered the girdle to his cruel cousin. But no sooner had he reached home with the prize, than 30 away he was hurried again this time to slay the oxen of a terrible, three-headed monster who dwelt far away to the west, and who guarded the oxen by another two-headed monster as terrible as himself. On his way, when almost there, Hercules came upon a great mountain of rock which 35 impeded his progress. He had neither time nor inclina |