In Asia there lived a king who had two children, a boy and a girl. The
boy's name was Cadmus, and the girl's name was Europa. The king's
country was a very small one. He could stand on his house top and see
the whole of it. On one side of it there were mountains, and on the
other side was the sea. The king thought that it was the center of the
world, and he did not know much about other lands and people.
Yet he was very happy in his own little kingdom, and very fond of his
children. And he had good reason to be proud of them; for Cadmus grew up
to be the bravest young man in the land, and Europa to be the fairest
maiden that had ever been seen. But sad days came to them all at last.
One morning Europa went out into a field near the seashore to pick
flowers. Her father's cattle were in the field, grazing among the sweet
clover. They were all very tame, and Europa knew every one of them by
name. The herdsman was lying in the shade under a tree, trying to make
music on a little flute of straw. Europa had played in the field a
thousand times before, and no one had ever thought of any harm befalling
her.
That morning she noticed that there was a strange bull with the herd. He
was very large and as white as snow; and he had soft brown eyes which
somehow made him look very gentle and kind. At first he did not even
look at Europa, but went here and there, eating the tender grass which
grew among the clover. But when she had gathered her apron full of
daisies and buttercups, he came slowly towards her. She was not at all
afraid of him; and so she stopped to look at him, he was so handsome. He
came close to her, and rubbed her arm with his nose to say
"Good-morning!"
She stroked his head and neck, and he seemed much pleased. Then she made
a wreath of daisies, and hung it round his neck. He looked at her with
his soft kind eyes, and seemed to thank her; and in a little while, he
lay down among the clover. Europa then made a smaller wreath, and
climbed upon his back to twine it round his horns. But all at once he
sprang up, and ran away so swiftly that Europa could not help herself.
She did not dare to jump off while he was going so fast, and all that
she could think to do was to hold fast to his neck and scream very
loud.
The herdsman under the tree heard her scream, and jumped up to see what
was the matter. He saw the bull running with her towards the shore. He
ran after them as fast as he could, but it was of no use. The bull
leaped into the sea, and swam swiftly away, with poor Europa on his
back. Several other people had seen him, and now they ran to tell the
king. Soon the whole town was alarmed. Everybody ran out to the shore
and looked. All that could be seen was something white moving very fast
over the calm, blue water; and soon it was out of sight.
The king sent out his fastest ship to try to overtake the bull. The
sailors rowed far out to sea, much farther than any ship had ever gone
before; but no trace of Europa could be found. When they came back,
everybody felt that there was no more hope. All the women and children
in the town wept for the lost Europa. The king shut himself up in his
house, and did not eat nor drink for three days. Then he called his son
Cadmus, and bade him take a ship and go in search of his sister; and he
told him that, no matter what dangers might be in his way, he must not
come back until she was found.
Cadmus was glad to go. He chose twenty brave young men to go with him,
and set sail the very next day. It was a great undertaking; for they
were to pass through an unknown sea, and they did not know what lands
they would come to. Indeed, it was feared that they would never come to
any land at all. Ships did not dare to go far from the shore in those
days. But Cadmus and his friends were not afraid. They were ready to
face any danger.
In a few days they came to a large island called Cyprus. Cadmus went on
shore, and tried to talk with the strange people who lived there. They
were very kind to him, but they did not understand his language. At last
he made out by signs to tell them who he was, and to ask them if they
had seen his little sister Europa or the white bull that had carried her
away. They shook their heads and pointed to the west.
Then the young men sailed on in their little ship. They came to many
islands, and stopped at every one, to see if they could find any trace
of Europa; but they heard no news of her at all. At last, they came to
the country which we now call Greece. It was a new country then, and
only a few people lived there, and Cadmus soon learned to speak their
language well. For a long time he wandered from one little town to
another, always telling the story of his lost sister.