So Hercules, without being allowed any time for rest, had to go back
the whole way he had come, without any certain knowledge of where the
golden-fruited gardens of the Hesperides were to be found, except that
it was somewhere in Africa. Somebody must know, however, or else the
gardens would never have been heard of, for travelers never told
anything but the truth in those days. He therefore diligently asked
everybody he met where the gardens were to be found, and, among
others, some nymphs whom he met on the banks of the river Po, while he
was passing through Italy.
"We cannot tell you," said they; "but we know who can--old Nereus, the
sea-god, if you can only get him to tell."
"And why should he not tell?" asked Hercules.
"Because he never will tell anybody anything, unless he is obliged."
"And how is he to be obliged?" asked Hercules again.
"He is bound to answer anybody who is stronger than he."
"Well, I am pretty strong," said Hercules, modestly. "Anyhow, I can
but try."
"Yes, you do look strong," said the nymphs; "but----" Here they broke
into a laugh, as if some sort of a joke were in their minds. "Well, if
you go to the Ægean Sea, where King Ægeus was drowned, you'll be sure
to find Nereus sleeping in the sun somewhere along the shore."
"And how shall I know him when I see him?" asked Hercules.
"You will see a very, very old man, older than anybody you ever saw,
with bright blue hair, and a very long white beard. He has fifty
daughters, so he often gets tired, and likes to sleep as much as he
can."
Hercules thanked the nymphs, whom he still heard laughing after he
left them, and thought to himself that it would not be much trouble to
prove himself stronger than a very old man who was always tired. So,
having journeyed back again to the Ægean Sea, he walked along the
shore till, sure enough, he saw, sound asleep in a sunny cove, a man
who looked a thousand years old, with a white beard reaching below his
waist, and with hair as blue as the sea.
"Will you kindly tell me the way to the gardens of the Hesperides?"
asked Hercules, waking Nereus by a gentle shake--though I suspect one
of Hercules' shakes was not what most people would consider gentle.
Instead of answering, Nereus tried to roll himself into the sea, at
the bottom of which was his home. Hercules caught him by the leg and
arm: when, to his amazement, Nereus suddenly turned into a vigorous
young man, who wrestled with him stoutly to get away.
Hercules got him down at last. "Now tell me the way to the gardens of
the Hesperides!" he panted--for he was out of breath with the
struggle. But he found himself holding down, no longer a man, but a
huge and slippery seal, which all but succeeded in plunging into the
sea.
But he held on until the seal also was exhausted. And then Hercules
found out what had made the nymphs laugh so. For when the seal was
wearied out it changed into a gigantic crab, the crab into a
crocodile, the crocodile into a mermaid, the mermaid into a
sea-serpent, the sea-serpent into an albatross, the albatross into an
octopus, the octopus into a mass of sea-weed, which was the hardest to
hold of all. But the sea-weed turned back into the old man again, who
said:--
"There--you have conquered me in all my shapes; I haven't got any
more. You may let me go now, and I will answer you. You must go on
through Italy and Spain, and thence across into Africa. You will then
be in the land of Mauritania. You must still go south, following the
sea-shore, till you come to the giant Atlas, who supports the sky upon
his head, and so keeps it from falling. He"--the old sea-god's voice
was growing fainter and fainter--"he will tell you all about the
gardens of the Hesperides. They're close by--the gardens of the
Hesp----"
And so, having finished his answer, Nereus turned over and went
comfortably to sleep again.
* * * * *
Once more Hercules set out upon the journey which had seemed as if it
would never even begin. Once more he traveled through Italy and Spain,
and crossed into Africa over the strait which he himself had made. And
on and on he went, always southward by the sea, till, full six hundred
miles from the Pillars of Hercules, he saw what he knew must be the
giant Atlas on whose head rested the sky. There Atlas, King of
Mauritania, had stood ever since he had looked upon the head of
Medusa. And if you wonder how the sky was held up before that time,
you must ask Nereus, if you can catch him--not me.
As you may suppose, the poor giant was terribly weary of having to
hold up, night and day, year after year, the whole weight of the sun,
moon, and stars. Even his strength is not able to keep stars from
falling now and then--sometimes on a clear night you may see them
tumbling down by scores, so it is terrible to think of what would
happen if he took even a moment's rest. The whole sky would come
crashing down, and the universe would be in ruins. He was longing for
the rest he dared not take, and so, when Hercules, said to him, "I am
seeking fruit from the gardens of the Hesperides," a crafty idea came
into the giant's mind.
"Ah!" said he, with a nod which shook down a whole shower of stars.
"There is no difficulty. All you have to do is walk through the sea
towards the setting sun, till you get there. And there's nothing to
prevent you from getting the golden fruit but the dragon who guards
the tree on which it grows. The sea doesn't come up higher than my
waist, even in the deepest part; and, if you can get past the dragon,
my three daughters, the Hesperides, will no doubt receive you with the
greatest surprise."
For the first time, Hercules felt dismayed. He had no boat, nor the
means of building one; he could not swim further than his eyes could
see. As for wading through an ocean that would come up to the waist of
a giant as high as the skies, that was absurd. And as to the dragon,
he remembered that Perseus had only passed it by means of a helmet
which made its wearer invisible.
Atlas saw his perplexity.
"Ah, I forgot you were such a little fellow," said the giant. "I'll go
and get you some of the fruit myself. It isn't many of my steps from
here to the garden, and the dragon knows me--and if he didn't, I could
step over him. And he couldn't hurt me, seeing that I've been turned
to stone. But wait, though--what on earth's to become of the sky while
I'm gone?"
"I'm pretty strong," said Hercules. "If I climb up to the peak of the
next mountain to you, I daresay I could hold the sky up while you're
away."
Atlas smiled to himself, for this was just what he had intended.
"Come up, then," said he. So Hercules clambered to the highest peak he
could find, and Atlas, slowly bending, gradually and carefully let
down the sky upon the head and shoulders of the hero. Then, heaving a
deep roar of relief, he strode into the sea.
It was surely the strangest plight in which a mortal ever found
himself--standing on a mountain-peak, and, by the strength of his own
shoulders, keeping the skies from falling. He was answerable for the
safety of the whole world: the burden of the entire universe was laid
upon the shoulders of one man. They were strong enough to bear it; but
it seemed like an eternity before Atlas returned. A hundred times a
minute Hercules felt as if he must let all go, whatever happened;
indeed he was actually tempted to yield, for he was weary of these
endless labors; and it was only for mankind's sake, and not for his
own, that he held on through the agony of the crushing weight of the
whole universe.
But Atlas came at last, with three golden apples in his hand.
"Here they are!" he roared. "And now, good-bye!"
"What!" exclaimed Hercules. "Are you not coming back to your duty?"
"Am I a fool?" asked the giant. "Not I. Keep the honor of holding up
the skies yourself, since you are so strong and willing. Never again
for me!"
"At least, then," said Hercules, "let me place my lion's skin between
my shoulders and the sky, so that the weight may be less painful to
bear."
Atlas could take no objection to that, so he put his own shoulders
under the dome of heaven to let Hercules make himself as comfortable
as the situation allowed. Hercules seized the chance, and let the
whole weight of the sky fall upon the shoulders of Atlas once more.
And there it still rests; and thus Atlas failed in trying to shift his
own proper burden to another's shoulders.
"Only _three_ apples!" exclaimed Eurystheus, when Hercules returned.
"You can't have taken much trouble, to get so little. Go to Hades, and
bring me Cerberus, the three-headed dog of Pluto!... He will never do
that?" he thought to himself. "To reach Hades, one must die!"