Year after year went by, and yet no word reached AEthra from her husband
on the other side of the sea. Often and often she would climb the
mountain above Troezen, and sit there all day, looking out over the blue
waters and the purple hills of AEgina to the dim, distant shore beyond.
Now and then she could see a white-winged ship sailing in the offing;
but men said that it was a Cretan vessel, and very likely was filled
with fierce Cretan warriors, bound upon some cruel errand of war. Then
it was rumored that King Minos had seized upon all the ships of Athens,
and had burned a part of the city, and had forced the people to pay him
a most grievous tribute. But further than this there was no news.
In the meanwhile AEthra's babe had grown to be a tall, ruddy-cheeked lad,
strong as a mountain lion; and she had named him Theseus. On the day
that he was fifteen years old he went with her up to the top of the
mountain, and with her looked out over the sea.
"Ah, if only your father would come!" she sighed.
"My father?" said Theseus. "Who is my father, and why are you always
watching and waiting and wishing that he would come? Tell me about him."
And she answered: "My child, do you see the great flat stone which lies
there, half buried in the ground, and covered with moss and trailing
ivy? Do you think you can lift it?"
"I will try, mother," said Theseus. And he dug his fingers into the
ground beside it, and grasped its uneven edges, and tugged and lifted
and strained until his breath came hard and his arms ached and his body
was covered with sweat; but the stone was moved not at all. At last he
said, "The task is too hard for me until I have grown stronger. But why
do you wish me to lift it?"
"When you are strong enough to lift it," answered AEthra, "I will tell
you about your father."
After that the boy went out every day and practiced at running and
leaping and throwing and lifting; and every day he rolled some stone out
of its place. At first he could move only a little weight, and those who
saw him laughed as he pulled and puffed and grew red in the face, but
never gave up until he had lifted it. And little by little he grew
stronger, and his muscles became like iron bands, and his limbs were
like mighty levers for strength. Then on his next birthday he went up on
the mountain with his mother, and again tried to lift the great stone.
But it remained fast in its place and was not moved.
"I am not yet strong enough, mother," he said.
"Have patience, my son," said AEthra.
So he went on again with his running and leaping and throwing and
lifting; and he practiced wrestling, also, and tamed the wild horses of
the plain, and hunted the lions among the mountains; and his strength
and swiftness and skill were the wonder of all men, and old Troezen was
filled with tales of the deeds of the boy Theseus. Yet when he tried
again on his seventeenth birthday, he could not move the great flat
stone that lay near the plane tree on the mountain side.
"Have patience, my son," again said AEthra; but this time the tears were
standing in her eyes.
So he went back again to his exercising; and he learned to wield the
sword and the battle ax and to throw tremendous weights and to carry
tremendous burdens. And men said that since the days of Hercules there
was never so great strength in one body. Then, when he was a year older,
he climbed the mountain yet another time with his mother, and he stooped
and took hold of the stone, and it yielded to his touch; and, lo, when
he had lifted it quite out of the ground, he found underneath it a sword
of bronze and sandals of gold, and these he gave to his mother.
"Tell me now about my father," he said.
[Illustration: "SHE BUCKLED THE SWORD TO HIS BELT."]
AEthra knew that the time had come for which she had waited so long, and
she buckled the sword to his belt and fastened the sandals upon his
feet. Then she told him who his father was, and why he had left them in
Troezen, and how he had said that when the lad was strong enough to
lift the great stone, he must take the sword and sandals and go and seek
him in Athens.
Theseus was glad when he heard this, and his proud eyes flashed with
eagerness as he said: "I am ready, mother; and I will set out for Athens
this very day."
Then they walked down the mountain together and told King Pittheus what
had happened, and showed him the sword and the sandals. But the old man
shook his head sadly and tried to dissuade Theseus from going.
"How can you go to Athens in these lawless times?" he said. "The sea is
full of pirates. In fact, no ship from Troezen has sailed across the
Saronic Sea since your kingly father went home to the help of his
people, eighteen years ago."
Then, finding that this only made Theseus the more determined, he said:
"But if you must go, I will have a new ship built for you, stanch and
stout and fast sailing; and fifty of the bravest young men in Troezen
shall go with you; and mayhap with fair winds and fearless hearts you
shall escape the pirates and reach Athens in safety."
"Which is the most perilous way?" asked Theseus--"to go by ship or to
make the journey on foot round the great bend of land?"
"The seaway is full enough of perils," said his grandfather, "but the
landway is beset with dangers tenfold greater. Even if there were good
roads and no hindrances, the journey round the shore is a long one and
would require many days. But there are rugged mountains to climb, and
wide marshes to cross, and dark forests to go through. There is hardly a
footpath in all that wild region, nor any place to find rest or shelter;
and the woods are full of wild beasts, and dreadful dragons lurk in the
marshes, and many cruel robber giants dwell in the mountains."
"Well," said Theseus, "if there are more perils by land than by sea,
then I shall go by land, and I go at once."
"But you will at least take fifty young men, your companions, with you?"
said King Pittheus.
"Not one shall go with me," said Theseus; and he stood up and played
with his sword hilt, and laughed at the thought of fear.
Then when there was nothing more to say, he kissed his mother and bade
his grandfather good-by, and went out of Troezen towards the trackless
coastland which lay to the west and north. And with blessings and tears
the king and AEthra followed him to the city gates, and watched him until
his tall form was lost to sight among the trees which bordered the shore
of the sea.