Classic Myths Part 12

One day she went to a pond for water, for the people in the houses were cross and would not give her any.

And just think of it! These people, careless about soiling their green coats and white vests, ran down to the pond ahead of her, jumped in and stirred the water so that it was black with mud.

And they called out, "Come and drink, Latona! Come and drink water, pure and sweet, Latona!"

[Ill.u.s.tration: LATONA. Fleeing with her children]

This the cruel people did until Latona and her babies were so tired and thirsty they could wait no longer.

"Why do you abuse us?" she said; "you have plenty of water in your wells. Can you not see how these poor babies reach out their hands to you?"

But the rude people were jealous of the beautiful woman and her lovely twins, and only stirred the water till it was blacker, and cried the more, until they were fairly hoa.r.s.e:

"Come and drink! Come and drink!"

Latona put her two babies down on the warm gra.s.s. Then she looked straight into the blue sky, and raising her hands said:

"May you never quit that pond in all your lives, neither you nor your children!"

The story is that Jupiter heard her, and that these cruel people never came out of the water again. They grew very small; their green coats and white vests turned into skin, and their children wear to-day the same kind of suits their parents wore that day they waded into the pool.

Though they have the whole pond to themselves, they croak away until their mouths have grown wide and ugly, as mockingly as did their forefathers at Latona.

"Come and drink!" But who wants to drink out of a frog pond?

Little heathen boys, who believed this story, used to pelt frogs with stones, and there are some boys now who act just like those foolish little heathen.

THE BIRDS WITH ARROW FEATHERS

_Greek_

There is an old story that tells how a man named Jason went on a long journey in search of a golden fleece.

He fitted up a great boat, and the bravest and strongest men of his country offered to go with him.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JASON. Putting on his sandals. From a Greek statue.]

They had no s.h.i.+ps like ours, in those days, and when the sails were not filled with wind, every man took an oar, and, with twenty oars or more on each side, the boat was made to move through the waves very swiftly.

The heroes in Jason's boat had all won fame before they started out on this voyage, and many were already warm friends. There was the great Hercules, and Orpheus, the sweet singer; Castor, who could tame the wildest horses, and his twin brother Pollux, who was the greatest boxer the world has ever seen, or perhaps ever will see.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CASTOR, THE HORSE-TAMER; POLLUX, THE MASTER OF THE ART OF BOXING. From a Greek coin.]

These and many others sat side by side in this boat, which Jason called the Argo. Many strange things happened to them on their voyage after the golden fleece. One was when they were attacked by birds. They saw many new countries also, and one day the Argo sailed by a very strange island where nearly all the people lived underground. These people never plowed their land with the strong oxen, nor planted seed, nor reaped harvests.

They had no flocks of woolly sheep, nor herds of cattle.

All day long they worked away under the surface of the earth, digging and digging at great black stones they found there. Then they sold these stones or rocks to people in other countries, and so bought bread for themselves.

These people, with their black faces and grimy hands, left their work for a little while when someone told them of the beautiful boat that was in sight. They looked very strange to those in the s.h.i.+p, for no one in the land from which the Argo came worked under the ground. In that happy realm everyone lived in the suns.h.i.+ne and worked in the open fields. But after a while the Argo sailed away from this home of the underground people and on beyond. Suddenly the sky was darkened and great flocks of giant birds flew thick and fast above them. Then the wind changed and the frightened rowers had to take the oars.

The sky grew black as night. Down shot a feather from one of the birds.

It struck one of the rowers on the left shoulder and he dropped his oar, for the pain was like a spear-thrust. Down sped another arrow feather, so pointed and sharp that another rower who was. .h.i.t had to drop his oar.

Thicker and faster came these arrow feathers upon the bare heads and naked shoulders of the men at the oars.

The best archers shot back at the birds with their sharpest-pointed arrows, but not a bird was harmed.

"What shall we do?" shouted the men still at the oars.

"You will never kill those birds," said one who had seen their feather arrows before. "All that you can do is to cover your heads and let us, who are too badly hurt for rowing, help cover your shoulders with our s.h.i.+elds."

Then those at the oars put on their s.h.i.+ning helmets; those who did not row held up the great war s.h.i.+elds over them. The boat looked as if it had a roof. Down on the helmets came the feathers, so sharp that many of them made holes in the s.h.i.+ning metal. Down on the s.h.i.+elds they pelted, till it seemed as if the sky was raining drops of lead. The birds themselves came no nearer. But oh, their feather arrows were enough to frighten even these bravest of men.

The rowers worked as hard and as steadily as they could, and after a while they were out of reach of the terrible feathers.

The strange part of it all was that they never could find one of those sharp-pointed arrows with which the birds had shot them.

When the sun came out they were in a safe harbor. They looked and looked, but not a feather was to be found. One man declared that he knew the feathers were white.

"But the birds were black," said all the rest. "How could the arrows be white when even the sun was darkened by the black-winged creatures?"

How the dispute was settled I do not know, for the sharp-pointed feathers had melted all away, like hailstones from dark storm-clouds. It is certain, however, that the men never found any of the arrows with which they had been shot.

WHY THE PARTRIDGE STAYS NEAR THE GROUND

_Greek_

Daedalus was a skillful workman in many ways. One of the first things he did to make himself famous was to build a maze. It had so many winding walks and crooked paths that anyone who walked in ten steps without a guide never could get out unaided.

He built this maze for his king, but before many years he offended the king in some way and was locked up in a high tower. In the roof of the tower were hundreds of doves, and as they flew back and forth, Daedalus said:

"My king rules the land and the sea, but not the air. I will try that way of escape."

So he set to work to make wings for himself. He shaped two great frames and covered them with feathers. The largest plumes he sewed on with thread, and the smaller ones he fastened with wax.

Icarus, his son, stood and looked on, catching any of the feathers the wind tried to blow away. He troubled his father much, however, by taking the wax and making little b.a.l.l.s, which he tossed about the room.

The keeper of the tower thought the wise man very silly to spend his time making blankets of feathers, Daedalus never let the keeper of the tower see how he curved and pointed the corners of his frames. The keeper told how foolish the wise man had grown from being shut up so long; how he spent his time gathering feathers to make great blankets.

The people pitied him, not knowing that this very punishment was giving Daedalus another chance to make himself famous.

One dark night Daedalus fastened the broad wings to his shoulders, and jumping from the window found he could sail like a dove, but he could not carry his boy. Back he flew and, folding his wings, slipped into the window. Now he must make a pair for Icarus.