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 sweeping
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 mighty wind roaring
among the branches, it was also like a deep bass voice speakings 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."
30. Then the voice melted again into the indistinct murmur of the
rustling leaves and died gradually away.
On inquiry among the people of Iolchos, he found that there was really
a man in the city, by the name of Argus, who was a very skillful
builder of vessels. 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.
The new ship, which was called the Argo, was soon made quite ready for
sea. Jason visited the Talking Oak again, and, standing beside its
huge, rough trunk, inquired what he should do next.
31. This time there was no such 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 had
begun to rustle, as if the wind were stirring that old 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."
32. 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.
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 the right arm was extended as if pointing onward.
33. 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."
34. "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.
35. 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.
36. "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."
37. 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 Æson, 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.
38. At this news the adventurous youths all over the country began to
bestir themselves. They came thronging to Iolchos 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 they might
think it best to go.
IV
39. 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, any one of which would make a story by
itself. After many adventures, they at last reached Colchis.
40. When the king of the country, whose name was Æetes, heard of their
arrival, he instantly summoned Jason to court. The king was stern and
cruel looking; 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.
41. "You are welcome, brave Jason," said King Æetes. "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?"
42. "Great sir," replied Jason, "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 scepter 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."
43. In spite of himself, the king's face twisted 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.
44. "Do you know," asked King Æetes, eying 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."
45. "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 wonderful blacksmith, made for me.
46. "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 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, "since it stands in the
way of my purpose."
47. "After taming the fiery bulls," continued King Æetes, 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 dragon's teeth from which Cadmus raised a crop of armed men. You
and your nine and forty Argonauts, my bold Jason, are hardly strong
enough to fight with such a host as will spring up."
48. "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 Æetes to himself. "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 yourself
comfortable for to-day, and to-morrow morning, since you insist upon
it, you shall try your skill at the plow."
49. 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.
50. "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."
51. "Indeed, beautiful princess," answered Jason, "if you will do me
this service, I promise to be grateful to you my whole life long. But
how can you help me to do the things of which you speak I Are you an
enchantress?"
52. "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. 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."
53. "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. 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."
54. So she put a golden box into his hand and directed him how to apply
the ointment which it contained, and where to meet her at midnight.
"Only be brave," added she, "and before daybreak the brazen bulls shall
be tamed."
55. 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.
V
56. 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.
57. At some distance before him he perceived four streams of fiery
vapor, regularly appearing and again vanishing, after dimly lighting 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.
58. 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.
59. Suddenly as a streak of lightning, on came the fiery animals,
roaring like thunder and sending out sheets of white flame. Most
distinctly Jason saw the two horrible creatures galloping right down
upon him, their brazen hoofs rattling and ringing over the ground, and
their tails sticking up stiffly into the air, as has always been the
fashion with angry bulls.
60. Their breath scorched the herbage before them. But as for Jason
himself, thanks to Medea's enchanted ointment, the white flame curled
around his body without injuring him a jot.
61. 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 grip like that of an iron vise, one with his right hand, and
the other with his left. Well, he must have been wonderfully strong in
his arms, to be sure.
[Illustration:
From the painting by George Varian Engraved by E. Heinemann
Jason and the Brazen Bulls]
62. 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.
63. It was now easy to yoke the bulls and to harness them to the plow,
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.
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.
64. 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 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.
65. 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.
66. 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.
67. 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. 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.
68. 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 bloodthirsty
battalion with his single arm, but determined, since there was nothing
better to be done, to die as valiantly as if he himself had sprung from
a dragon's tooth.
69. 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."
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.
70. 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 a fight among themselves.
71. The confusion spread through the host, so that it seemed scarcely
a moment before they were all hacking, hewing, and stabbing at one
another.
In an incredibly short space of time--almost as short, indeed, as it
had taken them to grow up--all of the heroes of the dragon's teeth were
stretched lifeless on the field.
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.
VI
72. Agreeably to Medea's advice, Jason went in the morning to the
palace of King Æetes. Entering the presence chamber, he 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 considering 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."
73. "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."
74. King Æetes scowled and looked very angry and greatly 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.
75. "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."
76. Jason left the king's presence in great sorrow and anger. But, as
he was hastening down the palace steps, the Princess Medea called after
him and beckoned him to return.
"What says King Æetes, my royal and upright father?" inquired Medea,
slightly smiling. "Will he give you the Golden Fleece without any
further risk or trouble?"
77. "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."
78. "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."
79. 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.
80. 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.
81. At length, when they had gone farther and 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.
82. "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."
83. Jason went onward a few steps farther, and then stopped to gaze.
Oh, how beautiful it looked, shining with a marvelous light of its own,
that 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!
84. "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?"
85. To say the truth, in the joy of beholding the 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.
86. 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 were 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.
87. 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 a
magic potion right down the monster's wide-open throat. Immediately,
with an outrageous hiss and a tremendous wriggle, flinging his tail up
to the tiptop 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.
88. "It is only a sleeping potion," said the enchantress to Prince
Jason. "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 golden
glory of the precious object that he bore along.
89. Jason found the heroes seated on the benches of the galley, with
their oars held perpendicularly, ready to let fall into the water.
As he 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!"
[Illustration: The galley flew over the water.]
90. 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.
* * * * *
I. =Jā´sȯn.= =Ĭ ŏl´c̵hŏs.= =Çĕn´ta̤_u_rs̝=. =C̵hī´rŏn.= =Ǣ´sȯn.=
=Pē´lĭ ăs.= =Săn´dals̝=: shoes consisting of soles strapped to
the feet. =Tûr´bū̍ lent=: disturbed; roused to great commotion.
=Nĕp´tū̍n=_e_. =Gärb=: dress.
II. =Măl´ĭç_e_=: ill will. =Quĕst=: search. =S_c_ĕp´tẽr=: a staff
carried by a king as a sign of his authority.
III. =Dō dō´nȧ.= =Är´gus.= =Găl´l_e_y̆=: a vessel with oars, used
by ancient people. =Prow=: the forepart of a vessel. =Stûr´dy̆=:
strong. =Ĕn coun´tẽr=: meet.
IV. =Cŏl´c̶hĭs.= =Ǣ ē´tēs̝.= =Mĕd´ĭ tāt_e_=: intend; think
seriously. =Sō̍ lĭ´çĭt=: ask earnestly. =Vŭl´can.= =Căd´mus.=
=Är´gō̍ na̤_u_ts=. =Cŏm´plā̍=_i_ =sănt ly̆=: politely. =Mē dē´ȧ.=
V. =Ŏb scū´rĭ ty̆=: darkness. =Clăṉ´gor=: a sharp, harsh, ringing
sound. =Prō̍ trūd´ĕd=: thrust out. =Bat tal´ion=: body of troops.
VI. =Ō̍ bē_i_´sanç_e_=: bow. =Sŭs pĕnd´ĕd=: hung. =Mē_e_d=:
reward. =Po´tion=: drink; dose; usually of liquid medicine.
=Ĭl lū´mĭ nāt ĕd=: lighted up; brightened. =Or´pheus.=
=Cā´denç_e_=: the close or fall of a strain of music.
[Illustration: Key composing "The Star-Spangled Banner"]
The Star-Spangled Banner
BY FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
Francis Scott Key (1780-1843): An American lawyer, who will be
remembered as the author of "The Star-Spangled Banner."