I forbid you, on pain of death, to make any more
attempts
to get the Golden Fleece.
Universal Anthology - v02
At one time, they landed on an island, and were reposing on the grass, when they suddenly found them selves assailed by what seemed a shower of steel-headed arrows.
Some of them stuck in the ground, while others hit against their shields, and several penetrated their flesh.
The fifty heroes started up, and looked about them for the hidden enemy,
48 THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
but could find none, nor see any spot, on the whole island, where even a single archer could lie concealed. Still, however, the steel-headed arrows came whizzing among them ; and, at last, happening to look upward, they beheld a large flock of birds, hovering and wheeling aloft, and shooting their feathers down upon the Argonauts. These feathers were the steel- headed arrows that had so tormented them. There was no possibility of making any resistance ; and the fifty heroic Argonauts might all have been killed or wounded by a flock of troublesome birds, without ever setting eyes on the Golden Fleece, if Jason had not thought of asking the advice of the oaken image.
" O daughter of the Speaking Oak," cried he, all out of breath, "we need your wisdom more than ever before ! We are in great peril from a flock of birds, who are shooting us with their steel-pointed feathers. What can we do to drive them away ? "
On receiving this excellent counsel, Jason hurried back to his companions (who were far more dismayed than when they fought with the six-armed giants), and bade them strike with their swords upon their brazen shields. Forthwith the fifty heroes set heartily to work, banging with might and main, and raised such a terrible clatter that the birds made what haste they could to get away; and though they had shot half the feathers out of their wings, they were soon seen skimming among the clouds, a long distance off, and looking like a flock of wild geese. Orpheus celebrated this victory by playing a triumphant anthem on his harp, and sang so melodiously that Jason begged him to desist, lest, as the steel-feathered birds had been driven away by an ugly sound, they might be enticed back again by a sweet one.
While the Argonauts' remained on this island, they saw a small vessel approaching the shore, in which were two young men of princely demeanor, and exceedingly handsome, as young princes generally were in those days. Now, who do you imagine these two voyagers turned out to be ? Why, if you will be lieve me, they were the sons of that very Phrixus, who, in his childhood, had been carried to Colchis on the back of the
So he ran to the galley as fast as his legs would carry him.
" Make a clatter on your shields," said the image.
ram. Since that time, Phrixus had married the king's daughter ; and the two young princes had been born and
golden-fleeced
THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 49
brought up at Colchis, and had spent their playdays in the out skirts of the grove, in the center of which the Golden Fleece was hanging upon a tree. They were now on their way to Greece, in hopes of getting back a kingdom that had been wrongfully taken from their father.
When the princes understood whither the Argonauts were going, they offered to turn back and guide them to Colchis. At the same time, however, they spoke as if it were very doubt ful whether Jason would succeed in getting the Golden Fleece. According to their account, the tree on which it hung was guarded by a terrible dragon, who never failed to devour, at one mouthful, every person who might venture within his reach.
"There are other difficulties in the way," continued the young princes. " But is not this enough ? Ah, brave Jason, turn back before it is too late. It would grieve us to the heart, if you and your nine and forty brave companions should be eaten up, at fifty mouthfuls, by this execrable dragon. "
"My young friends," quietly replied Jason, "I do not wonder that you think the dragon very terrible. You have grown up from infancy in the fear of this monster, and therefore still regard him with the awe that children feel for the bug bears and hobgoblins which their nurses have talked to them about. But, in my view of the matter, the dragon is merely a pretty large serpent, who is not half so likely to snap me up at one mouthful as I am to cut off his ugly head, and strip the skin from his body. At all events, turn back who may, I will never see Greece again unless I carry with me the Golden Fleece. "
" We will none of us turn back ! " cried his nine and forty brave comrades. "Let us get on board the galley this instant; and if the dragon is to make a breakfast of us, much good may it do him. "
And Orpheus (whose custom it was to set everything to music) began to harp and sing most gloriously, and made every mother's son of them feel as if nothing in this world were so delectable as to fight dragons, and nothing so truly honorable as to be eaten up at one mouthful, in case of the worst.
After this (being now under the guidance of the two princes, who were well acquainted with the way), they quickly sailed to Colchis. When the king of the country, whose name was Metes, heard of their arrival, he instantly summoned Jason
TOL. II. — 4
50
THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
to court. The king was a stern and cruel-looking potentate 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.
" You are welcome, brave Jason," said King jEetes. " Pray, are you on a pleasure voyage ? — or do you meditate the dis covery of unknown islands ? — or what other cause has procured me the happiness of seeing you at my court ? "
"Great sir," replied Jason, with an obeisance, — for Chiron had taught him how to behave with propriety, whether to kings or beggars, — "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. "
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.
" Do " you know," asked King iEetes, 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 mouth
ful. " True," said the king, with a smile that did not look par ticularly 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. 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
THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 51
being instantly burned to a small, black cinder. What do you think of this, my brave Jason ? "
" I must encounter the peril," answered Jason, composedly, "since it stands in the way of my purpose. "
" After taming the fiery bulls," continued King ^Eetes, 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 same dragon's teeth from which Cadmus raised a crop of armed men. They are an unruly set of reprobates, those sons of the dragon's teeth ; and unless you treat them suitably, they will fall upon you sword in hand. You and your nine and forty Argonauts, my bold Jason, are hardly numerous or strong enough to fight with such a host as will spring up. "
" 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 . /Eetes to himself, "and the four-footed pedant, his schoolmaster, into the bargain. Why, what a foolhardy, self-conceited coxcomb he is ! 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. "
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.
"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. "
"Indeed, beautiful princess," answered Jason, "if you will do me this service, I promise to be grateful to you my whole life long. "
Gazing at Medea, he beheld a wonderful intelligence in her face. She was one of those persons whose eyes are full
52 THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
of mystery ; so that, while looking into them, you seem to see a very great way, as into a deep well, yet can never be certain whether you see into the farthest depths, or whether there be not something else hidden at the bottom. If Jason had been capable of fearing anything, he would have been afraid of making this young princess his enemy; for, beautiful as she now looked, she might, the very next instant, become as ter rible as the dragon that kept watch over the Golden Fleece.
" Princess," he exclaimed, " you seem indeed very wise and very powerful. But how can you help me to do the things of which you speak ? Are you an enchantress ? "
"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, and I could tell you, if I pleased, who was the old woman with the peacock, the pome granate, and the cuckoo staff, whom you carried over the river ; and, likewise, who it is that speaks through the lips of the oaken image, that stands in the prow of your galley. I am acquainted with some of your secrets, you perceive. 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. " I think you, and as you have need
" If you are as brave as
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. "
So she put a golden box into his hand, and directed him how to apply the perfumed unguent which it contained, and where to meet her at midnight.
" Only be brave," added she, " and before daybreak the brazen bulls shall be tamed. "
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.
At the appointed hour he met the beautiful Medea on the
THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 53
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. After entering the pasture, the princess paused and looked around.
" There they are," said she, " reposing themselves and chew ing their fiery cuds in that farthest corner of the field. It will be excellent sport, I assure you, when they catch a glimpse of your figure. My father and all his court delight in nothing so much as to see a stranger trying to yoke them, in order to come at the Golden Fleece. It makes a holiday in Colchis whenever such a thing happens. For my part, I enjoy it immensely. You cannot imagine in what a mere twinkling of an eye their hot breath shrivels a young man into a black cinder. "
" Are you sure, beautiful Medea," asked Jason, " quite sure, that the unguent in the gold box will prove a remedy against those terrible burns ? "
"If you doubt, if you are in the least afraid," said the princess, looking him in the face by the dim starlight, "you had better never have been born than go a step nigher to the bulls. "
But Jason had set his heart steadfastly on getting the Golden Fleece ; and I positively doubt whether he would have gone back without it, even had he been certain of finding him self turned into a red-hot cinder, or a handful of white ashes, the instant he made a step farther. He therefore let go Medea's hand, and walked boldly forward in the direction whither she had pointed. At some distance before him he perceived four streams of fiery vapor, regularly appearing, and again vanish ing, 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.
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 lift ing 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
54 THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
judged that the creatures had got upon their feet. Now he could see glowing sparks, and vivid jets of flame. At the next step, each of the bulls made the pasture echo with a terrible roar, while the burning breath, which they thus belched forth, lit up the whole field with a momentary flash. One other stride did bold Jason make ; and, suddenly, as a streak of light ning, on came these fiery animals, roaring like thunder, and sending out sheets of white flame, which so kindled up the scene that the young man could discern every object more dis tinctly than by daylight. Most distinctly of all he 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. Their breath scorched the herbage before them. So intensely hot it was, indeed, that it caught a dry tree, under which Jason was now standing, and set it all in a light blaze. But as for Jason himself (thanks to Medea's en chanted ointment), the white flame curled around his body, without injuring him a jot more than if he had been made of asbestos.
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 gripe like that of an iron vice, one with his right hand, the other with his left. Well, he must have been wonderfully strong in his arms, to be sure. 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. And, ever since that time, it has been the favorite method of brave men, when danger assails them, to do what they call "taking the bull by the horns "; and to gripe him by the tail is pretty much the same thing, — that is, to throw aside fear, and overcome the peril by despising it.
It was now easy to yoke the bulls, and to harness them to the plow, which had lain rusting on the ground for a great many years gone by; so long was it before anybody could be found capable of plowing that piece of land. Jason, I sup pose, had been taught how to draw a furrow by the good old Chiron, who, perhaps, used to allow himself to be harnessed to the plow. At any rate, our hero succeeded perfectly well in
THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
65
breaking up the greensward ; 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, and harrowed them into the soil with a brush harrow, and took his stand on the edge of the field, anxious to see what would hap pen next. "
he inquired of
"Whether sooner or later, it will be sure to come," an swered the princess. "A crop of armed men never fails to spring up, when the dragon's teeth have been sown. "
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. Any farmer, on viewing it, would have said that Jason must wait weeks before the green blades would peep from among the clods, and whole months before the yellow grain would be ripened for the sickle. 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. 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 im patience of restraint, — and, as it were, tore themselves up by the roots. 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 moon light, 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.
There have been many other armies in the world that seemed to possess the same fierce nature with the one which had now sprouted from the dragon's teeth ; but these, in the moonlit field, were the more excusable, because they never had women
" Must we wait long for harvest time ? Medea, who was now standing by his side.
56 THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
for their mothers. And how it would have rejoiced any great captain, who was bent on conquering the world, like Alexander or Napoleon, to raise a crop of armed soldiers as easily as Jason did!
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. Then they began to shout, " Show us the enemy ! Lead us to the charge ! Death or vic tory ! Come on, brave comrades ! Conquer or die ! " and a hundred other outcries, such as men always bellow forth on a battlefield, and which these dragon people seemed to have at their tongues' ends. At last, the front rank caught sight of Jason, who, beholding the flash of so many weapons in the moon light, had thought it best to draw his sword. In a moment all the sons of the dragon's teeth appeared to take Jason for an
" and crying with one voice, " Guard the Golden they ran at him with uplifted swords and protruded Jason knew that it would be impossible to withstand
enemy ; Fleece !
Medea, however, bade him snatch up a stone from the
spears.
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.
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. 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. The confusion spread through the host, so that it seemed scarcely a moment before they were all hacking, hewing, and stabbing at one another, lopping off arms, heads, and legs, and doing such memorable deeds that Jason was filled with immense admira tion ; although, at the same time, he could not help laughing to behold these mighty men punishing each other for an offense which he himself had committed. In an incredibly short space
THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
67
of time (almost as short, indeed, as it had taken them to grow up), all but one of the heroes of the dragon's teeth were stretched lifeless on the field. The last survivor, the bravest and strongest of the whole, had just force enough to wave his crimson sword over his head, and give a shout of exultation, crying, " Victory ! Victory ! Immortal fame ! " when he him self fell down, and lay quietly among his slain brethren.
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.
" Let them sleep in the bed of honor," said the Princess Medea, with a sly smile at Jason. "The world will always have simpletons enough, just like them, fighting and dying for they know not what, and fancying that posterity will take the trouble to put laurel wreaths on their rusty and battered hel mets. Could you help smiling, Prince Jason, to see the self- conceit of that last fellow, just as he tumbled down ? "
" It made me very sad," answered Jason, gravely. " And, to tell you the truth, princess, the Golden Fleece does not appear so well worth the winning, after what I have here beheld. "
" You will think differently in the morning," said Medea. " True, the Golden Fleece may not be so valuable as you have thought it ; but then there is nothing better in the world ; and one must needs have an object, you know. Come ! Your night's work has been well performed ; and to-morrow you can inform King JEetes that the first part of your allotted task is fulfilled. "
Agreeably to Medea's advice, Jason went betimes in the morning to the palace of King iEetes. 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 con cluded not to get yourself scorched to a cinder, in attempting to tame my brazen-lunged bulls. "
"That is already accomplished, may it please your Maj esty," 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 war riors has sprung up, and they have slain one another, to the last man. And now I solicit your Majesty's permission to
58
THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
encounter the dragon, that I may take down the Golden Fleece from the tree, and depart, with my nine and forty comrades. "
King -<Eetes scowled, and looked very angry and excessively 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. But, since the young man had met with such good luck in the matter of the brazen bulls and the dragon's teeth, the king feared that he would be equally successful in slaying the dragon. And there fore, though he would gladly have seen Jason snapped up at a mouthful, he was resolved (and it was a very wrong thing of this wicked potentate) not to run any further risk of losing his beloved fleece.
" 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. "
Jason left the king's presence in great sorrow and anger. He could think of nothing better to be done than to summon together his forty-nine brave Argonauts, march at once to the grove of Mars, slay the dragon, take possession of the Golden Fleece, get on board the Argo, and spread all sail for Iolchos. The success of the scheme depended, it is true, on the doubtful point whether all the fifty heroes might not be snapped up, at so many mouthfuls, by the dragon. But, as Jason was hasten ing down the palace steps, the Princess Medea called after him, and beckoned him to return. Her black eyes shone upon him with such a keen intelligence, that he felt as if there were a serpent peeping out of them ; and although she had done him so much service only the night before, he was by no means very certain that she would not do him an equally great mischief before sunset. These enchantresses, you must know, are never to be depended upon. "
" What says King ^Eetes, my royal and upright father ? inquired Medea, slightly smiling. "Will he give you the Golden Fleece, without any further risk or trouble ? "
" On the contrary," answered Jason, "he is very angry with me for taming the brazen bulls and sowing the dragon's teeth.
THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 59
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. "
" 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 your self 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. "
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. While they were crossing the pasture ground, the brazen bulls came towards Jason, lowing, nodding their heads, and thrust ing forth their snouts, which, as other cattle do, they loved to have rubbed and caressed by a friendly hand. Their fierce nature was thoroughly tamed ; and, with their fierceness, the two furnaces in their stomachs had likewise been extinguished, insomuch that they probably enjoyed far more comfort in graz ing and chewing their cuds than ever before. Indeed, it had heretofore been a great inconvenience to these poor animals, that, whenever they wished to eat a mouthful of grass, the fire out of their nostrils had shriveled it up, before they could manage to crop it. How they contrived to keep themselves alive is more than I can imagine. But now, instead of emit ting jets of flame and streams of sulphurous vapor, they breathed the very sweetest of cow breath.
After kindly patting the bulls, Jason followed Medea's guid ance 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. At length, when they had gone farther and farther into the heart of the duskiness, Medea squeezed Jason's hand. "
Gleaming among the venerable oaks, there was a radiance, not like the moonbeams, but rather resembling the golden glory
" Look yonder," she whispered. " Do you see it ?
60 THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
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.
" 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. "
" What is it? " asked Jason.
J
gaze. Oh, how beautiful it looked, shining with a marvelous light of its own, that inestimable 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. "
ason went onward a few steps farther, and then stopped to
" How gloriously it shines!
has surely been dipped in the richest gold of sunset. Let me hasten onward, and take it to my bosom. "
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 re minded him what perils were still to be encountered. 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 was 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.
After this feat, the dragon seemed sensible that some other living creature was within reach, on which he felt inclined to finish his meal. In various directions he kept poking his ugly snout among the trees, stretching out his neck a terrible long way, now here, now there, and now close to the spot where Jason and the princess were hiding behind an oak. Upon my word, as the head came waving and undulating through the air, and reaching almost within arm's length of Prince Jason, it was a very hideous and uncomfortable sight. The gape of his enormous jaws was nearly as wide as the gateway of the king's palace.
"Well, Jason," whispered Medea (for she was ill-natured, as all enchantresses are, and wanted to make the bold youth
cried Jason, in a rapture. " It
" Stay," said Medea, holding him back. " Have you for gotten what guards it ? "
THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
61
tremble), "what do you think now of your prospect of winning the Golden Fleece? "
Jason answered only by drawing his sword and making a step forward.
" Stay, foolish youth," said Medea, grasping his arm. " Do not you see you are lost, without me as your good angel ? In this gold box I have a magic potion, which will do the dragon's business far more effectually than your sword. "
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 ap proached, Medea tossed the contents of the gold box right down the monster's wide open throat. Immediately, with an out rageous 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.
" It is"only a sleeping potion," said the enchantress to Prince Jason. One always finds a use for these mischievous creatures, sooner or later ; so I did not wish to kill him outright. 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. A little way before him, he beheld the old woman whom he had helped over the stream, with her peacock beside her. She clapped her hands for joy, and beckoning him to make haste, disappeared among the duskiness of the trees. Espying the two winged sons of the North Wind (who were disporting themselves in the moonlight, a few hundred feet aloft), Jason bade them tell the rest of the Argonauts to embark as speedily as possible. But Lynceus, with his sharp eyes, had already caught a glimpse of him, bringing the Golden Fleece, although several stone walls, a hill, and the black shad ows of the grove of Mars intervened between. By his advice, the heroes had seated themselves on the benches of the galley, with their oars held perpendicularly, ready to let fall into the water.
As Jason drew near, he heard the Talking Image calling to him with more than ordinary eagerness, in its grave, sweet voice : —
62 MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
" Make haste, Prince Jason ! For your life, make haste ! "
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!
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE. By WILLIAM MORRIS.
(From "The Life and Death of Jason. ")
[William Morris, English poet and art reformer, was born March 24, 1834 ; educated at Oxford, and was one of the Preraphaelites. His best-known poem is "The Earthly Paradise"; he has also written "The Defense of Guinevere," " The Life and Death of Jason," "Sigurd the Volsung," "The Fall of the Niblungs," and smaller ones. In prose he wrote " The House of the Wolfings," "The Glittering Plain," etc. He founded a manufactory of house hold decorations to reform public taste, and a printing house for artistic typog raphy.
He was also a fervent Socialist. He died October 3, 1896. ] The Meeting.
Turning to Jason, spake the king these words : — " Behold ! O Prince, for threescore years and seven Have I dwelt here in bliss, nor dare I give
The fleece to thee, lest I should cease to live ;
Nor dare I quite this treasure to withhold, Lest to the Gods I seem grown overbold : For many a cunning man I have, to tell Divine foreshowings of the oracle,
And thus they warn me. Therefore shalt thou hear What well may fill a hero's heart with fear ;
But not from my old lips ; that thou mayst have, Whether thy life thou here wilt spill or save,
At least one joy before thou comest to die : — Ho ye, bid in my lady presently ! " . . .
At the door a band of maids was seen,
Who went up towards the dais, a lovely queen Being in their midst, who, coming nigh the place Where the king sat, passed at a gentle pace Alone before the others to the board,
And said : " . <Eetes, father, and good lord,
What is it thou wouldst have of me to-night ? "
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
" O daughter," said iEetes, " tell aright
Unto this king's son here, who is my guest, What things he must accomplish, ere his quest Is finished, who has come this day to seek
The golden fell brought hither by the Greek, The son of Athamas, the unlucky king,
That he may know at last for what a thing
He left the meadowy land and peaceful stead. "
Then she to Jason turned her golden head,
And reaching out her lovely arm, took up
From off the board a rich fair jeweled cup,
And said, " O prince, these hard things must ye do. "
[See " The Golden Fleece " for the tasks set him. ]
" But yet, think well If these three things be not impossible
To any man, and make a bloodless end
Of this thy quest, and as my father's friend Well gifted, in few days return in peace, Lacking for nought, forgetful of the fleece.
Therewith she made an end ; but while she spoke Came Love unseen, and cast his golden yoke
About them both, and sweeter her voice grew,
And softer ever, as betwixt them flew,
With fluttering wings, the new-born, strong desire ; And when her eyes met his gray eyes, on fire
With that that burned her, then with sweet new shame Her fair face reddened, and there went and came Delicious tremors through her. But he said, —
" A bitter song thou singest, royal maid,
Unto a sweet tune ; yet doubt not that I To-morrow this so certain death will try ;
And dying, may perchance not pass unwept,
And with sweet memories may my name be kept, That men call Jason of the Minyae. "
Then said she, trembling, " Take, then, this of me, And drink in token that thy life is passed,
And that thy reckless hand the die has cast. "
Therewith she reached the cup to him, but he Stretched out his hand, and took it joyfully,
As with the cup he touched her dainty hand, Nor was she loath, awhile with him to stand, Forgetting all else in that honeyed pain.
At last she turned, and with head raised again He drank, and swore for nought to leave that quest Till he had reached the worst end or the best;
64
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
And down the hall the clustering Minyee
Shouted for joy his godlike face to see.
But she, departing, made no further sign
Of her desires, but, while with song and wine
They feasted till the fevered night was late,
Within her bower she sat, made blind by fate. . . .
[She works sorceries in the woods during the night to save Jason's
But toward the river did she turn again,
Not heeding the rough ways or any pain,
But running swiftly came unto her boat,
And in the mid stream soon was she afloat, Drawn onward toward the town by flood of tide.
Nor heeded she that by the river side
Still lay her golden shoes, a goodly prize
To some rough fisher in whose sleepy eyes
They first should shine, the while he drew his net Against the yew wood of the Goddess set.
But she, swept onward by the hurrying stream, Down in the east beheld a doubtful gleam
That told of dawn ; so bent unto the oar
In terror lest her folk should wake before
Her will was wrought ; nor failed she now to hear From neighboring homesteads shrilly notes and clear Of waking cocks, and twittering from the sedge
Of restless birds about the river's edge ;
And when she drew between the city walls,
She heard the hollow sound of rare footfalls From men who needs must wake for that or this While upon sleepers gathered dreams of bliss,
Or great distress at ending of the night,
And gray things colored with the gathering light.
At last she reached the gilded water gate,
And though nigh breathless, scarce she dared to wait To fasten up her shallop to the stone,
Which yet she dared not leave ; so this being done Swiftly by passages and stairs she ran,
Trembling and pale, though not yet seen by man, Until to Jason's chamber door she came.
And there awhile indeed she stayed, for shame Rose up against her fear ; but mighty love
And the sea-haunting, rose-crowned seed of Jove O'ermastered both ; so trembling, on the pin
She laid her hand, but ere she entered in
She covered up again her shoulder sweet,
And dropped her dusky raiment o'er her feet ;
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
Then entering the dimly lighted room,
Where with the lamp dawn struggled, through the gloom, Seeking the prince she peered, who sleeping lay
Upon his gold bed, and abode the day
Smiling, still clad in arms, and round his sword
His fingers met ; then she, with a soft word,
Came nigh him, and from out his slackened hand
With slender rosy fingers drew the brand,
Then kneeling, laid her hand upon his breast,
And said : " O Jason, wake up from thy rest,
Perchance from thy last rest, and speak to me. "
Then fell his light sleep from him suddenly, And on one arm he rose, and clenched his hand, Raising it up, as though it held the brand,
And on this side and that began to stare.
But bringing close to him her visage fair, She whispered : —
" Smite not, for thou hast no sword,
Speak not above thy breath, for one loud word
May slay both thee and me. Day grows apace ; What day thou knowest ! Canst thou see my face { Last night thou didst behold it with such eyes,
That I, Medea, wise among the wise,
The safeguard of my father and his land,
Who have been used with steady eyes to stand
In awful groves along with Hecate,
Henceforth must call myself the bond of thee,
The fool of love ; speak not, but kiss me, then,
Yea, kiss my lips, that not the best of men
Has touched ere thou. Alas, quick comes the day ! Draw back, but hearken what I have to say,
For every moment do I dread to hear
Thy wakened folk, or our folk drawing near ; Therefore I speak as if with my last breath, Shameless, beneath the shadowing wings of death, That still may let us twain again to meet,
And snatch from bitter love the bitter sweet
That some folk gather while they wait to die.
Therewith from out her wallet did she draw The phial, and a crystal without flaw
VOL. II. —5
"Alas, I loiter, and the day is nigh ! Soothly I came to bring thee more than this, The memory of an unasked fruitless kiss Upon thy death day, which this day would be If there were not some little help in me. "
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
Shaped like an apple, scored with words about, Then said : " But now I bid thee have no doubt. With this oil hidden by these gems and gold Anoint thine arms and body, and be bold,
Nor fear the fire-breathing bulls one whit,
Such mighty virtue have I drawn to
Whereof give thee proof. " Therewith her hand She thrust into the lamp flame that did stand Anigh the bed, and showed him again
Unscarred by any wound or drawn with pain, Then said —
"Now, when Mars' plain plowed at last And in the furrows those ill seeds are cast,
Take thou this ball in hand and watch the thing Then shalt thou see horrid crop upspring
Of all-armed men therefrom to be thy bane, Were not here to make their fury vain.
Draw not thy sword against them as they rise, But cast this ball amid them, and their eyes Shall serve them then but little to see thee,
And each of others' weapons slain shall be.
" Now will my father hide his rage at heart,
And praise thee much that thou hast played thy part, And bid thee to banquet on this night,
And pray thee wait until to-morrow's light
Before thou triest the Temple of the Fleece.
Trust not to him, but see that unto Greece
The ship's prow turns, and all ready there.
And at the banquet let thy men forbear
The maddening wine, and bid them arm them all
For what upon this night may chance to fall.
" But will get by stealth the keys that hold The seven locks which guard the Fleece of Gold And while we try the fleece, let thy men steal, How so they may, unto thy ready keel,
Thus art thou saved alive with thy desire.
" But what thing will be left to me but fire The fire of fierce despair within my heart, The while reap my guerdon for my part, Curses and torments, and in no long space Real fire of pine wood in some rocky place, Wreathing around my body greedily,
A dreadful beacon o'er the leaden sea. "
" But ason drew her to him, and he said —
Nay, by these tender hands and golden head,
J
I
I
I
:
I
:
?
is
a
;;
a
is
it
it,
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
That saving things for me have wrought to-night, I know not what ; by this unseen delight
Of thy fair body, may I rather burn,
Nor may the flame die ever if I turn
Back to my hollow ship, and leave thee here, Who in one minute art become so dear,
Thy limbs so longed for, that at last I know Why men have been content to suffer woe Past telling, if the Gods but granted this,
A little while such lips as thine to kiss, A little while to drink such deep delight.
"What wouldst thou ? Wilt thou go from me ? The light
Is gray and tender yet, and in your land Surely the twilight, lingering long, doth stand
" O Prince," she said, " I came To save your life. I cast off fear and shame
A little while, but fear and shame are here.
The hand thou holdest trembles with my fear, With shame my cheeks are burning, and the sound Of mine own voice : but ere this hour comes round, We twain will be betwixt the dashing oars,
The ship still making for the Grecian shores. Farewell, till then, though in the lists to-day Thyself shall see me, watching out the play. "
Therewith she drew off from him, and was gone, And in the chamber Jason left alone. . . .
Meanwhile, Medea coming to her room Unseen, lit up the slowly parting gloom
With scented torches : then bound up her hair, And stripped the dark gown from her body fair, And laid it with the brass bowl in a chest, Where many a day it had been wont to rest, Brazen and bound with iron, and whose key
No eye but hers had ever happed to see.
Then wearied, on her bed she cast her down, And strove to think ; but soon the uneasy frown Faded from off her brow, her lips closed tight But now, just parted, and her fingers white Slackened their hold upon the coverlet,
And o'er her face faint smiles began to flit,
As o'er the summer pool the faint soft air :
So instant and so kind the God was there.
'Twixt dawn and day. "
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
The Parting.
On a day it fell that as they sat In Creon's porch, and talked of this or that,
The king said unto Jason : " Brave thou art, But hast thou never fear within thine heart
Of what the Gods may do for Pelias ? "
" Nay," Jason said, " let what will come to pass, His day is past, and mine is flourishing,
But doubtless is an end to everything,
And soon or late each man shall have his day. "
Then said the king : " Neither did thine hand slay The man thyself, or bring his death about ;
Each man shall bear his own sin without doubt.
Yet do I bid thee watch and take good heed
Of what the Colchian's treacheries may breed. " Then quickly Jason turned his head around
And said : " What is there dwelling above ground That loveth me as this one loveth me ?
I am honored here as thee ; Alldo my will as ifa God Iwere;
O Creon !
Scarce can the young men see me without fear, The elders without tears of vain regret.
And, certes, had this worshiped head been set Upon some spike of King Metes' house,
But for her tender love and piteous,
For me she gave up country, kin, and name,
For me she risked tormenting and the flame,
The anger of the Gods and curse of man ;
For me she came across the waters wan
Through many woes, and for my sake did go
Alone, unarmed, to my most cruel foe,
Whom there she slew by his own daughters' hands, Making me king of all my father's lands :
Note all these things, and tell me then to flee
From that which threateneth her who loveth me. "
" Yea," said the king, " to make and to unmake Is her delight ; and certes for thy sake
She did all this thou sayest, yea, and yet more. Seeing thee death-doomed on a foreign shore, With hardy heart, but helpless ; a king's son,
But with thy thread of life well-nigh outrun; Therefore, I say, she did all this for thee,
And ever on the way to Thessaly
She taught thee all things needful, since ye were As void of helpful knowledge as of fear.
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
All this she did, and so was more than queen
Of thee and thine: but thou —thine age is green, Nor wilt thou always dwell in this fair town, — Nor through the wildwood hunt the quarry down Bethink thee — of the world thou mayst be king, Holding the life and death of everything,
Nor will she love thee more, upon that day
When all her part will be but to obey ;
Nor will it then be fitting unto thee
To have a rival in thy sovereignty
Laid in thy bed, and sitting at thy board. "
Now somewhat Jason reddened at that word, But said: "O Creon, let the thing be so!
She shall be high the while that I am low,
And as the Gods in heaven rule over me,
Since they are greater, in such wise shall she, Who as they gave me life, has given me life, And glorious end to seeming hopeless strife. "
Then Creon said : " Yea, somewhat good it were If thou couldst lead that life, and have no fear. " Laughing he spoke ; but quickly changed his face, And with knit brows he rose up from his place, And with his hand on Jason's shoulder, said : —
" O careless man, too full of hardihead I
O thou ease-loving, little-thinking man, Whate'er thou doest, dread the Colchian I She will unmake thee yet, as she has made, And in a bloody grave shalt thou be laid. "
Then turning, to his palace went the king, But Jason, left alone and pondering,
Felt in his heart a vague and gnawing fear,
Of unknown troubles slowly drawing near,
And, spite of words, the thing that Creon said Touched in his heart that still increasing dread, And he was moved by that grave elder's face, For love was dying in the ten years' space.
But Creon, sitting in his chamber, thought, " Surely I deem my hero may be brought
To change his mate, for in his heart I see He wearies of his great felicity,
Like fools, for whom fair heaven is not enough, Who long to stumble over forests rough
With chance of death : yet no more will I say, But let the bright sun bring about the day. "
Now such an one for daughter Creon had
As maketh wise men fools, and young men mad. . .
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
But when upon the threshold of his house
He met Medea, who, with amorous
And humble words, spoke to him greetings kind,
He felt as he whose eyes the fire doth blind,
That presently about his limbs shall twine,
And in her face and calm gray eyes divine
He read his own destruction ; none the less
In his false heart fair Glauce's loveliness
Seemed that which he had loved his whole life long, And little did he feel his old love's wrong.
Alas for truth ! each day, yea, hour by hour, He longed once more to see the beechen bower, And her who dwelt thereby. Alas, alas !
Oft from his lips the hated words would pass : —
" O wavering traitor, still unsatisfied !
O false betrayer of the love so tried !
Fool ! to cast off the beauty that thou knowst, Clear-seeing wisdom, better than a host Against thy foes, and truth and constancy " Thou wilt not know again whate'er shall be !
So oft he spoke words that were words indeed, And had no sting, nor would his changed heart heed The very bitterest of them all, as he
Thought of his woodland fair divinity,
And of her upturned face, so wondering
At this or that oft-told unheeded thing.
Yet whiles, indeed, old memories had some power Over his heart, in such an awful hour
As that, when darksome night is well-nigh done, And earth is waiting silent for the sun ;
Then would he turn about his mate to see, From lips half open, breathing peacefully,
And open, listless, the fair fingers laid,
That unto him had brought such mighty aid. Then, groaning, from her would he turn away, And wish he might not see another day,
For certainly his wretched soul he knew,
And of the cruel God his heart that drew.
But when the bright day had come round again, With noise of men, came foolish thoughts and vain, And, feeding fond desire, would he burn
Unto Cleonae his swift steps to turn.
Nor to these matters was the Colchian blind, And though as yet his speech to her was kind, Good heed she took of all his moody ways, And how he loved her not as in past days ;
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE. 71
And how he shrunk from her, yet knew it not, She noted, and the stammering words and hot, Wherewith, as she grew kinder, still he strove To hide from her the changing of his love.
Long time she tried to shut her eyes to this, Striving to save that fair abode of bliss ; Butsoitmightnotbe; anddaybyday
She saw the happy time fade fast away ;
And as she fell from out that happiness,
Again she grew to be the sorceress,
Worker of fearful things, as once she was, When what my tale has told she brought to pass.
[Medea prepares a magic robe, which will burn the wearer to ashes. ]
But Jason, when those fingers touched his own, Forgat all joys that he had ever known ;
And when her hand left his hand with the ring, Still in the palm, like some lost, stricken thing, He stood and stared, as from his eyes she passed And from that hour all fear away was cast,
All memory of the past time, all regret
For days that did those changed days beget, And therewithal adown the wind he flung
The love whereon his yearning heart once hung.
Ah ! let me turn the page, nor chronicle
In many words the death of faith, or tell
Of meetings by the newly risen moon,
Of passionate silence 'midst the brown birds' tune, Of wild tears wept within the noontide shade,
Of wild vows spoken, that of old were made,
For other ears, when, amidst other flowers,
He wandered through the love-begetting hours. Suffice that unhappy was each day
Which without speech from Glauce passed away, And troublous dreams would visit him at night, When day had passed all barren of her sight.
And at the last, that Creon, the old king,
Being prayed with gifts, and joyful of the thing, Had given day when these twain should be wed.
Meanwhile, the once-loved sharer of his bed Knew all at last, and fierce tormenting fire Consumed her as the dreadful day drew nigher, And much from other lips than his she heard, Till, on a day, this dreadful, blighting word, Her eyes beheld within fair scroll writ,
—
And 'twixt her closed teeth still she muttered
it :
a
a
it,
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
" Depart in peace ! and take great heaps of gold, For nevermore thy body will I fold
Within these arms.
48 THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
but could find none, nor see any spot, on the whole island, where even a single archer could lie concealed. Still, however, the steel-headed arrows came whizzing among them ; and, at last, happening to look upward, they beheld a large flock of birds, hovering and wheeling aloft, and shooting their feathers down upon the Argonauts. These feathers were the steel- headed arrows that had so tormented them. There was no possibility of making any resistance ; and the fifty heroic Argonauts might all have been killed or wounded by a flock of troublesome birds, without ever setting eyes on the Golden Fleece, if Jason had not thought of asking the advice of the oaken image.
" O daughter of the Speaking Oak," cried he, all out of breath, "we need your wisdom more than ever before ! We are in great peril from a flock of birds, who are shooting us with their steel-pointed feathers. What can we do to drive them away ? "
On receiving this excellent counsel, Jason hurried back to his companions (who were far more dismayed than when they fought with the six-armed giants), and bade them strike with their swords upon their brazen shields. Forthwith the fifty heroes set heartily to work, banging with might and main, and raised such a terrible clatter that the birds made what haste they could to get away; and though they had shot half the feathers out of their wings, they were soon seen skimming among the clouds, a long distance off, and looking like a flock of wild geese. Orpheus celebrated this victory by playing a triumphant anthem on his harp, and sang so melodiously that Jason begged him to desist, lest, as the steel-feathered birds had been driven away by an ugly sound, they might be enticed back again by a sweet one.
While the Argonauts' remained on this island, they saw a small vessel approaching the shore, in which were two young men of princely demeanor, and exceedingly handsome, as young princes generally were in those days. Now, who do you imagine these two voyagers turned out to be ? Why, if you will be lieve me, they were the sons of that very Phrixus, who, in his childhood, had been carried to Colchis on the back of the
So he ran to the galley as fast as his legs would carry him.
" Make a clatter on your shields," said the image.
ram. Since that time, Phrixus had married the king's daughter ; and the two young princes had been born and
golden-fleeced
THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 49
brought up at Colchis, and had spent their playdays in the out skirts of the grove, in the center of which the Golden Fleece was hanging upon a tree. They were now on their way to Greece, in hopes of getting back a kingdom that had been wrongfully taken from their father.
When the princes understood whither the Argonauts were going, they offered to turn back and guide them to Colchis. At the same time, however, they spoke as if it were very doubt ful whether Jason would succeed in getting the Golden Fleece. According to their account, the tree on which it hung was guarded by a terrible dragon, who never failed to devour, at one mouthful, every person who might venture within his reach.
"There are other difficulties in the way," continued the young princes. " But is not this enough ? Ah, brave Jason, turn back before it is too late. It would grieve us to the heart, if you and your nine and forty brave companions should be eaten up, at fifty mouthfuls, by this execrable dragon. "
"My young friends," quietly replied Jason, "I do not wonder that you think the dragon very terrible. You have grown up from infancy in the fear of this monster, and therefore still regard him with the awe that children feel for the bug bears and hobgoblins which their nurses have talked to them about. But, in my view of the matter, the dragon is merely a pretty large serpent, who is not half so likely to snap me up at one mouthful as I am to cut off his ugly head, and strip the skin from his body. At all events, turn back who may, I will never see Greece again unless I carry with me the Golden Fleece. "
" We will none of us turn back ! " cried his nine and forty brave comrades. "Let us get on board the galley this instant; and if the dragon is to make a breakfast of us, much good may it do him. "
And Orpheus (whose custom it was to set everything to music) began to harp and sing most gloriously, and made every mother's son of them feel as if nothing in this world were so delectable as to fight dragons, and nothing so truly honorable as to be eaten up at one mouthful, in case of the worst.
After this (being now under the guidance of the two princes, who were well acquainted with the way), they quickly sailed to Colchis. When the king of the country, whose name was Metes, heard of their arrival, he instantly summoned Jason
TOL. II. — 4
50
THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
to court. The king was a stern and cruel-looking potentate 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.
" You are welcome, brave Jason," said King jEetes. " Pray, are you on a pleasure voyage ? — or do you meditate the dis covery of unknown islands ? — or what other cause has procured me the happiness of seeing you at my court ? "
"Great sir," replied Jason, with an obeisance, — for Chiron had taught him how to behave with propriety, whether to kings or beggars, — "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. "
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.
" Do " you know," asked King iEetes, 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 mouth
ful. " True," said the king, with a smile that did not look par ticularly 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. 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
THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 51
being instantly burned to a small, black cinder. What do you think of this, my brave Jason ? "
" I must encounter the peril," answered Jason, composedly, "since it stands in the way of my purpose. "
" After taming the fiery bulls," continued King ^Eetes, 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 same dragon's teeth from which Cadmus raised a crop of armed men. They are an unruly set of reprobates, those sons of the dragon's teeth ; and unless you treat them suitably, they will fall upon you sword in hand. You and your nine and forty Argonauts, my bold Jason, are hardly numerous or strong enough to fight with such a host as will spring up. "
" 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 . /Eetes to himself, "and the four-footed pedant, his schoolmaster, into the bargain. Why, what a foolhardy, self-conceited coxcomb he is ! 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. "
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.
"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. "
"Indeed, beautiful princess," answered Jason, "if you will do me this service, I promise to be grateful to you my whole life long. "
Gazing at Medea, he beheld a wonderful intelligence in her face. She was one of those persons whose eyes are full
52 THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
of mystery ; so that, while looking into them, you seem to see a very great way, as into a deep well, yet can never be certain whether you see into the farthest depths, or whether there be not something else hidden at the bottom. If Jason had been capable of fearing anything, he would have been afraid of making this young princess his enemy; for, beautiful as she now looked, she might, the very next instant, become as ter rible as the dragon that kept watch over the Golden Fleece.
" Princess," he exclaimed, " you seem indeed very wise and very powerful. But how can you help me to do the things of which you speak ? Are you an enchantress ? "
"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, and I could tell you, if I pleased, who was the old woman with the peacock, the pome granate, and the cuckoo staff, whom you carried over the river ; and, likewise, who it is that speaks through the lips of the oaken image, that stands in the prow of your galley. I am acquainted with some of your secrets, you perceive. 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. " I think you, and as you have need
" If you are as brave as
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. "
So she put a golden box into his hand, and directed him how to apply the perfumed unguent which it contained, and where to meet her at midnight.
" Only be brave," added she, " and before daybreak the brazen bulls shall be tamed. "
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.
At the appointed hour he met the beautiful Medea on the
THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 53
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. After entering the pasture, the princess paused and looked around.
" There they are," said she, " reposing themselves and chew ing their fiery cuds in that farthest corner of the field. It will be excellent sport, I assure you, when they catch a glimpse of your figure. My father and all his court delight in nothing so much as to see a stranger trying to yoke them, in order to come at the Golden Fleece. It makes a holiday in Colchis whenever such a thing happens. For my part, I enjoy it immensely. You cannot imagine in what a mere twinkling of an eye their hot breath shrivels a young man into a black cinder. "
" Are you sure, beautiful Medea," asked Jason, " quite sure, that the unguent in the gold box will prove a remedy against those terrible burns ? "
"If you doubt, if you are in the least afraid," said the princess, looking him in the face by the dim starlight, "you had better never have been born than go a step nigher to the bulls. "
But Jason had set his heart steadfastly on getting the Golden Fleece ; and I positively doubt whether he would have gone back without it, even had he been certain of finding him self turned into a red-hot cinder, or a handful of white ashes, the instant he made a step farther. He therefore let go Medea's hand, and walked boldly forward in the direction whither she had pointed. At some distance before him he perceived four streams of fiery vapor, regularly appearing, and again vanish ing, 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.
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 lift ing 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
54 THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
judged that the creatures had got upon their feet. Now he could see glowing sparks, and vivid jets of flame. At the next step, each of the bulls made the pasture echo with a terrible roar, while the burning breath, which they thus belched forth, lit up the whole field with a momentary flash. One other stride did bold Jason make ; and, suddenly, as a streak of light ning, on came these fiery animals, roaring like thunder, and sending out sheets of white flame, which so kindled up the scene that the young man could discern every object more dis tinctly than by daylight. Most distinctly of all he 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. Their breath scorched the herbage before them. So intensely hot it was, indeed, that it caught a dry tree, under which Jason was now standing, and set it all in a light blaze. But as for Jason himself (thanks to Medea's en chanted ointment), the white flame curled around his body, without injuring him a jot more than if he had been made of asbestos.
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 gripe like that of an iron vice, one with his right hand, the other with his left. Well, he must have been wonderfully strong in his arms, to be sure. 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. And, ever since that time, it has been the favorite method of brave men, when danger assails them, to do what they call "taking the bull by the horns "; and to gripe him by the tail is pretty much the same thing, — that is, to throw aside fear, and overcome the peril by despising it.
It was now easy to yoke the bulls, and to harness them to the plow, which had lain rusting on the ground for a great many years gone by; so long was it before anybody could be found capable of plowing that piece of land. Jason, I sup pose, had been taught how to draw a furrow by the good old Chiron, who, perhaps, used to allow himself to be harnessed to the plow. At any rate, our hero succeeded perfectly well in
THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
65
breaking up the greensward ; 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, and harrowed them into the soil with a brush harrow, and took his stand on the edge of the field, anxious to see what would hap pen next. "
he inquired of
"Whether sooner or later, it will be sure to come," an swered the princess. "A crop of armed men never fails to spring up, when the dragon's teeth have been sown. "
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. Any farmer, on viewing it, would have said that Jason must wait weeks before the green blades would peep from among the clods, and whole months before the yellow grain would be ripened for the sickle. 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. 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 im patience of restraint, — and, as it were, tore themselves up by the roots. 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 moon light, 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.
There have been many other armies in the world that seemed to possess the same fierce nature with the one which had now sprouted from the dragon's teeth ; but these, in the moonlit field, were the more excusable, because they never had women
" Must we wait long for harvest time ? Medea, who was now standing by his side.
56 THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
for their mothers. And how it would have rejoiced any great captain, who was bent on conquering the world, like Alexander or Napoleon, to raise a crop of armed soldiers as easily as Jason did!
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. Then they began to shout, " Show us the enemy ! Lead us to the charge ! Death or vic tory ! Come on, brave comrades ! Conquer or die ! " and a hundred other outcries, such as men always bellow forth on a battlefield, and which these dragon people seemed to have at their tongues' ends. At last, the front rank caught sight of Jason, who, beholding the flash of so many weapons in the moon light, had thought it best to draw his sword. In a moment all the sons of the dragon's teeth appeared to take Jason for an
" and crying with one voice, " Guard the Golden they ran at him with uplifted swords and protruded Jason knew that it would be impossible to withstand
enemy ; Fleece !
Medea, however, bade him snatch up a stone from the
spears.
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.
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. 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. The confusion spread through the host, so that it seemed scarcely a moment before they were all hacking, hewing, and stabbing at one another, lopping off arms, heads, and legs, and doing such memorable deeds that Jason was filled with immense admira tion ; although, at the same time, he could not help laughing to behold these mighty men punishing each other for an offense which he himself had committed. In an incredibly short space
THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
67
of time (almost as short, indeed, as it had taken them to grow up), all but one of the heroes of the dragon's teeth were stretched lifeless on the field. The last survivor, the bravest and strongest of the whole, had just force enough to wave his crimson sword over his head, and give a shout of exultation, crying, " Victory ! Victory ! Immortal fame ! " when he him self fell down, and lay quietly among his slain brethren.
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.
" Let them sleep in the bed of honor," said the Princess Medea, with a sly smile at Jason. "The world will always have simpletons enough, just like them, fighting and dying for they know not what, and fancying that posterity will take the trouble to put laurel wreaths on their rusty and battered hel mets. Could you help smiling, Prince Jason, to see the self- conceit of that last fellow, just as he tumbled down ? "
" It made me very sad," answered Jason, gravely. " And, to tell you the truth, princess, the Golden Fleece does not appear so well worth the winning, after what I have here beheld. "
" You will think differently in the morning," said Medea. " True, the Golden Fleece may not be so valuable as you have thought it ; but then there is nothing better in the world ; and one must needs have an object, you know. Come ! Your night's work has been well performed ; and to-morrow you can inform King JEetes that the first part of your allotted task is fulfilled. "
Agreeably to Medea's advice, Jason went betimes in the morning to the palace of King iEetes. 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 con cluded not to get yourself scorched to a cinder, in attempting to tame my brazen-lunged bulls. "
"That is already accomplished, may it please your Maj esty," 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 war riors has sprung up, and they have slain one another, to the last man. And now I solicit your Majesty's permission to
58
THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
encounter the dragon, that I may take down the Golden Fleece from the tree, and depart, with my nine and forty comrades. "
King -<Eetes scowled, and looked very angry and excessively 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. But, since the young man had met with such good luck in the matter of the brazen bulls and the dragon's teeth, the king feared that he would be equally successful in slaying the dragon. And there fore, though he would gladly have seen Jason snapped up at a mouthful, he was resolved (and it was a very wrong thing of this wicked potentate) not to run any further risk of losing his beloved fleece.
" 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. "
Jason left the king's presence in great sorrow and anger. He could think of nothing better to be done than to summon together his forty-nine brave Argonauts, march at once to the grove of Mars, slay the dragon, take possession of the Golden Fleece, get on board the Argo, and spread all sail for Iolchos. The success of the scheme depended, it is true, on the doubtful point whether all the fifty heroes might not be snapped up, at so many mouthfuls, by the dragon. But, as Jason was hasten ing down the palace steps, the Princess Medea called after him, and beckoned him to return. Her black eyes shone upon him with such a keen intelligence, that he felt as if there were a serpent peeping out of them ; and although she had done him so much service only the night before, he was by no means very certain that she would not do him an equally great mischief before sunset. These enchantresses, you must know, are never to be depended upon. "
" What says King ^Eetes, my royal and upright father ? inquired Medea, slightly smiling. "Will he give you the Golden Fleece, without any further risk or trouble ? "
" On the contrary," answered Jason, "he is very angry with me for taming the brazen bulls and sowing the dragon's teeth.
THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 59
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. "
" 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 your self 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. "
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. While they were crossing the pasture ground, the brazen bulls came towards Jason, lowing, nodding their heads, and thrust ing forth their snouts, which, as other cattle do, they loved to have rubbed and caressed by a friendly hand. Their fierce nature was thoroughly tamed ; and, with their fierceness, the two furnaces in their stomachs had likewise been extinguished, insomuch that they probably enjoyed far more comfort in graz ing and chewing their cuds than ever before. Indeed, it had heretofore been a great inconvenience to these poor animals, that, whenever they wished to eat a mouthful of grass, the fire out of their nostrils had shriveled it up, before they could manage to crop it. How they contrived to keep themselves alive is more than I can imagine. But now, instead of emit ting jets of flame and streams of sulphurous vapor, they breathed the very sweetest of cow breath.
After kindly patting the bulls, Jason followed Medea's guid ance 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. At length, when they had gone farther and farther into the heart of the duskiness, Medea squeezed Jason's hand. "
Gleaming among the venerable oaks, there was a radiance, not like the moonbeams, but rather resembling the golden glory
" Look yonder," she whispered. " Do you see it ?
60 THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
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.
" 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. "
" What is it? " asked Jason.
J
gaze. Oh, how beautiful it looked, shining with a marvelous light of its own, that inestimable 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. "
ason went onward a few steps farther, and then stopped to
" How gloriously it shines!
has surely been dipped in the richest gold of sunset. Let me hasten onward, and take it to my bosom. "
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 re minded him what perils were still to be encountered. 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 was 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.
After this feat, the dragon seemed sensible that some other living creature was within reach, on which he felt inclined to finish his meal. In various directions he kept poking his ugly snout among the trees, stretching out his neck a terrible long way, now here, now there, and now close to the spot where Jason and the princess were hiding behind an oak. Upon my word, as the head came waving and undulating through the air, and reaching almost within arm's length of Prince Jason, it was a very hideous and uncomfortable sight. The gape of his enormous jaws was nearly as wide as the gateway of the king's palace.
"Well, Jason," whispered Medea (for she was ill-natured, as all enchantresses are, and wanted to make the bold youth
cried Jason, in a rapture. " It
" Stay," said Medea, holding him back. " Have you for gotten what guards it ? "
THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
61
tremble), "what do you think now of your prospect of winning the Golden Fleece? "
Jason answered only by drawing his sword and making a step forward.
" Stay, foolish youth," said Medea, grasping his arm. " Do not you see you are lost, without me as your good angel ? In this gold box I have a magic potion, which will do the dragon's business far more effectually than your sword. "
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 ap proached, Medea tossed the contents of the gold box right down the monster's wide open throat. Immediately, with an out rageous 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.
" It is"only a sleeping potion," said the enchantress to Prince Jason. One always finds a use for these mischievous creatures, sooner or later ; so I did not wish to kill him outright. 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. A little way before him, he beheld the old woman whom he had helped over the stream, with her peacock beside her. She clapped her hands for joy, and beckoning him to make haste, disappeared among the duskiness of the trees. Espying the two winged sons of the North Wind (who were disporting themselves in the moonlight, a few hundred feet aloft), Jason bade them tell the rest of the Argonauts to embark as speedily as possible. But Lynceus, with his sharp eyes, had already caught a glimpse of him, bringing the Golden Fleece, although several stone walls, a hill, and the black shad ows of the grove of Mars intervened between. By his advice, the heroes had seated themselves on the benches of the galley, with their oars held perpendicularly, ready to let fall into the water.
As Jason drew near, he heard the Talking Image calling to him with more than ordinary eagerness, in its grave, sweet voice : —
62 MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
" Make haste, Prince Jason ! For your life, make haste ! "
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!
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE. By WILLIAM MORRIS.
(From "The Life and Death of Jason. ")
[William Morris, English poet and art reformer, was born March 24, 1834 ; educated at Oxford, and was one of the Preraphaelites. His best-known poem is "The Earthly Paradise"; he has also written "The Defense of Guinevere," " The Life and Death of Jason," "Sigurd the Volsung," "The Fall of the Niblungs," and smaller ones. In prose he wrote " The House of the Wolfings," "The Glittering Plain," etc. He founded a manufactory of house hold decorations to reform public taste, and a printing house for artistic typog raphy.
He was also a fervent Socialist. He died October 3, 1896. ] The Meeting.
Turning to Jason, spake the king these words : — " Behold ! O Prince, for threescore years and seven Have I dwelt here in bliss, nor dare I give
The fleece to thee, lest I should cease to live ;
Nor dare I quite this treasure to withhold, Lest to the Gods I seem grown overbold : For many a cunning man I have, to tell Divine foreshowings of the oracle,
And thus they warn me. Therefore shalt thou hear What well may fill a hero's heart with fear ;
But not from my old lips ; that thou mayst have, Whether thy life thou here wilt spill or save,
At least one joy before thou comest to die : — Ho ye, bid in my lady presently ! " . . .
At the door a band of maids was seen,
Who went up towards the dais, a lovely queen Being in their midst, who, coming nigh the place Where the king sat, passed at a gentle pace Alone before the others to the board,
And said : " . <Eetes, father, and good lord,
What is it thou wouldst have of me to-night ? "
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
" O daughter," said iEetes, " tell aright
Unto this king's son here, who is my guest, What things he must accomplish, ere his quest Is finished, who has come this day to seek
The golden fell brought hither by the Greek, The son of Athamas, the unlucky king,
That he may know at last for what a thing
He left the meadowy land and peaceful stead. "
Then she to Jason turned her golden head,
And reaching out her lovely arm, took up
From off the board a rich fair jeweled cup,
And said, " O prince, these hard things must ye do. "
[See " The Golden Fleece " for the tasks set him. ]
" But yet, think well If these three things be not impossible
To any man, and make a bloodless end
Of this thy quest, and as my father's friend Well gifted, in few days return in peace, Lacking for nought, forgetful of the fleece.
Therewith she made an end ; but while she spoke Came Love unseen, and cast his golden yoke
About them both, and sweeter her voice grew,
And softer ever, as betwixt them flew,
With fluttering wings, the new-born, strong desire ; And when her eyes met his gray eyes, on fire
With that that burned her, then with sweet new shame Her fair face reddened, and there went and came Delicious tremors through her. But he said, —
" A bitter song thou singest, royal maid,
Unto a sweet tune ; yet doubt not that I To-morrow this so certain death will try ;
And dying, may perchance not pass unwept,
And with sweet memories may my name be kept, That men call Jason of the Minyae. "
Then said she, trembling, " Take, then, this of me, And drink in token that thy life is passed,
And that thy reckless hand the die has cast. "
Therewith she reached the cup to him, but he Stretched out his hand, and took it joyfully,
As with the cup he touched her dainty hand, Nor was she loath, awhile with him to stand, Forgetting all else in that honeyed pain.
At last she turned, and with head raised again He drank, and swore for nought to leave that quest Till he had reached the worst end or the best;
64
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
And down the hall the clustering Minyee
Shouted for joy his godlike face to see.
But she, departing, made no further sign
Of her desires, but, while with song and wine
They feasted till the fevered night was late,
Within her bower she sat, made blind by fate. . . .
[She works sorceries in the woods during the night to save Jason's
But toward the river did she turn again,
Not heeding the rough ways or any pain,
But running swiftly came unto her boat,
And in the mid stream soon was she afloat, Drawn onward toward the town by flood of tide.
Nor heeded she that by the river side
Still lay her golden shoes, a goodly prize
To some rough fisher in whose sleepy eyes
They first should shine, the while he drew his net Against the yew wood of the Goddess set.
But she, swept onward by the hurrying stream, Down in the east beheld a doubtful gleam
That told of dawn ; so bent unto the oar
In terror lest her folk should wake before
Her will was wrought ; nor failed she now to hear From neighboring homesteads shrilly notes and clear Of waking cocks, and twittering from the sedge
Of restless birds about the river's edge ;
And when she drew between the city walls,
She heard the hollow sound of rare footfalls From men who needs must wake for that or this While upon sleepers gathered dreams of bliss,
Or great distress at ending of the night,
And gray things colored with the gathering light.
At last she reached the gilded water gate,
And though nigh breathless, scarce she dared to wait To fasten up her shallop to the stone,
Which yet she dared not leave ; so this being done Swiftly by passages and stairs she ran,
Trembling and pale, though not yet seen by man, Until to Jason's chamber door she came.
And there awhile indeed she stayed, for shame Rose up against her fear ; but mighty love
And the sea-haunting, rose-crowned seed of Jove O'ermastered both ; so trembling, on the pin
She laid her hand, but ere she entered in
She covered up again her shoulder sweet,
And dropped her dusky raiment o'er her feet ;
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
Then entering the dimly lighted room,
Where with the lamp dawn struggled, through the gloom, Seeking the prince she peered, who sleeping lay
Upon his gold bed, and abode the day
Smiling, still clad in arms, and round his sword
His fingers met ; then she, with a soft word,
Came nigh him, and from out his slackened hand
With slender rosy fingers drew the brand,
Then kneeling, laid her hand upon his breast,
And said : " O Jason, wake up from thy rest,
Perchance from thy last rest, and speak to me. "
Then fell his light sleep from him suddenly, And on one arm he rose, and clenched his hand, Raising it up, as though it held the brand,
And on this side and that began to stare.
But bringing close to him her visage fair, She whispered : —
" Smite not, for thou hast no sword,
Speak not above thy breath, for one loud word
May slay both thee and me. Day grows apace ; What day thou knowest ! Canst thou see my face { Last night thou didst behold it with such eyes,
That I, Medea, wise among the wise,
The safeguard of my father and his land,
Who have been used with steady eyes to stand
In awful groves along with Hecate,
Henceforth must call myself the bond of thee,
The fool of love ; speak not, but kiss me, then,
Yea, kiss my lips, that not the best of men
Has touched ere thou. Alas, quick comes the day ! Draw back, but hearken what I have to say,
For every moment do I dread to hear
Thy wakened folk, or our folk drawing near ; Therefore I speak as if with my last breath, Shameless, beneath the shadowing wings of death, That still may let us twain again to meet,
And snatch from bitter love the bitter sweet
That some folk gather while they wait to die.
Therewith from out her wallet did she draw The phial, and a crystal without flaw
VOL. II. —5
"Alas, I loiter, and the day is nigh ! Soothly I came to bring thee more than this, The memory of an unasked fruitless kiss Upon thy death day, which this day would be If there were not some little help in me. "
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
Shaped like an apple, scored with words about, Then said : " But now I bid thee have no doubt. With this oil hidden by these gems and gold Anoint thine arms and body, and be bold,
Nor fear the fire-breathing bulls one whit,
Such mighty virtue have I drawn to
Whereof give thee proof. " Therewith her hand She thrust into the lamp flame that did stand Anigh the bed, and showed him again
Unscarred by any wound or drawn with pain, Then said —
"Now, when Mars' plain plowed at last And in the furrows those ill seeds are cast,
Take thou this ball in hand and watch the thing Then shalt thou see horrid crop upspring
Of all-armed men therefrom to be thy bane, Were not here to make their fury vain.
Draw not thy sword against them as they rise, But cast this ball amid them, and their eyes Shall serve them then but little to see thee,
And each of others' weapons slain shall be.
" Now will my father hide his rage at heart,
And praise thee much that thou hast played thy part, And bid thee to banquet on this night,
And pray thee wait until to-morrow's light
Before thou triest the Temple of the Fleece.
Trust not to him, but see that unto Greece
The ship's prow turns, and all ready there.
And at the banquet let thy men forbear
The maddening wine, and bid them arm them all
For what upon this night may chance to fall.
" But will get by stealth the keys that hold The seven locks which guard the Fleece of Gold And while we try the fleece, let thy men steal, How so they may, unto thy ready keel,
Thus art thou saved alive with thy desire.
" But what thing will be left to me but fire The fire of fierce despair within my heart, The while reap my guerdon for my part, Curses and torments, and in no long space Real fire of pine wood in some rocky place, Wreathing around my body greedily,
A dreadful beacon o'er the leaden sea. "
" But ason drew her to him, and he said —
Nay, by these tender hands and golden head,
J
I
I
I
:
I
:
?
is
a
;;
a
is
it
it,
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
That saving things for me have wrought to-night, I know not what ; by this unseen delight
Of thy fair body, may I rather burn,
Nor may the flame die ever if I turn
Back to my hollow ship, and leave thee here, Who in one minute art become so dear,
Thy limbs so longed for, that at last I know Why men have been content to suffer woe Past telling, if the Gods but granted this,
A little while such lips as thine to kiss, A little while to drink such deep delight.
"What wouldst thou ? Wilt thou go from me ? The light
Is gray and tender yet, and in your land Surely the twilight, lingering long, doth stand
" O Prince," she said, " I came To save your life. I cast off fear and shame
A little while, but fear and shame are here.
The hand thou holdest trembles with my fear, With shame my cheeks are burning, and the sound Of mine own voice : but ere this hour comes round, We twain will be betwixt the dashing oars,
The ship still making for the Grecian shores. Farewell, till then, though in the lists to-day Thyself shall see me, watching out the play. "
Therewith she drew off from him, and was gone, And in the chamber Jason left alone. . . .
Meanwhile, Medea coming to her room Unseen, lit up the slowly parting gloom
With scented torches : then bound up her hair, And stripped the dark gown from her body fair, And laid it with the brass bowl in a chest, Where many a day it had been wont to rest, Brazen and bound with iron, and whose key
No eye but hers had ever happed to see.
Then wearied, on her bed she cast her down, And strove to think ; but soon the uneasy frown Faded from off her brow, her lips closed tight But now, just parted, and her fingers white Slackened their hold upon the coverlet,
And o'er her face faint smiles began to flit,
As o'er the summer pool the faint soft air :
So instant and so kind the God was there.
'Twixt dawn and day. "
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
The Parting.
On a day it fell that as they sat In Creon's porch, and talked of this or that,
The king said unto Jason : " Brave thou art, But hast thou never fear within thine heart
Of what the Gods may do for Pelias ? "
" Nay," Jason said, " let what will come to pass, His day is past, and mine is flourishing,
But doubtless is an end to everything,
And soon or late each man shall have his day. "
Then said the king : " Neither did thine hand slay The man thyself, or bring his death about ;
Each man shall bear his own sin without doubt.
Yet do I bid thee watch and take good heed
Of what the Colchian's treacheries may breed. " Then quickly Jason turned his head around
And said : " What is there dwelling above ground That loveth me as this one loveth me ?
I am honored here as thee ; Alldo my will as ifa God Iwere;
O Creon !
Scarce can the young men see me without fear, The elders without tears of vain regret.
And, certes, had this worshiped head been set Upon some spike of King Metes' house,
But for her tender love and piteous,
For me she gave up country, kin, and name,
For me she risked tormenting and the flame,
The anger of the Gods and curse of man ;
For me she came across the waters wan
Through many woes, and for my sake did go
Alone, unarmed, to my most cruel foe,
Whom there she slew by his own daughters' hands, Making me king of all my father's lands :
Note all these things, and tell me then to flee
From that which threateneth her who loveth me. "
" Yea," said the king, " to make and to unmake Is her delight ; and certes for thy sake
She did all this thou sayest, yea, and yet more. Seeing thee death-doomed on a foreign shore, With hardy heart, but helpless ; a king's son,
But with thy thread of life well-nigh outrun; Therefore, I say, she did all this for thee,
And ever on the way to Thessaly
She taught thee all things needful, since ye were As void of helpful knowledge as of fear.
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
All this she did, and so was more than queen
Of thee and thine: but thou —thine age is green, Nor wilt thou always dwell in this fair town, — Nor through the wildwood hunt the quarry down Bethink thee — of the world thou mayst be king, Holding the life and death of everything,
Nor will she love thee more, upon that day
When all her part will be but to obey ;
Nor will it then be fitting unto thee
To have a rival in thy sovereignty
Laid in thy bed, and sitting at thy board. "
Now somewhat Jason reddened at that word, But said: "O Creon, let the thing be so!
She shall be high the while that I am low,
And as the Gods in heaven rule over me,
Since they are greater, in such wise shall she, Who as they gave me life, has given me life, And glorious end to seeming hopeless strife. "
Then Creon said : " Yea, somewhat good it were If thou couldst lead that life, and have no fear. " Laughing he spoke ; but quickly changed his face, And with knit brows he rose up from his place, And with his hand on Jason's shoulder, said : —
" O careless man, too full of hardihead I
O thou ease-loving, little-thinking man, Whate'er thou doest, dread the Colchian I She will unmake thee yet, as she has made, And in a bloody grave shalt thou be laid. "
Then turning, to his palace went the king, But Jason, left alone and pondering,
Felt in his heart a vague and gnawing fear,
Of unknown troubles slowly drawing near,
And, spite of words, the thing that Creon said Touched in his heart that still increasing dread, And he was moved by that grave elder's face, For love was dying in the ten years' space.
But Creon, sitting in his chamber, thought, " Surely I deem my hero may be brought
To change his mate, for in his heart I see He wearies of his great felicity,
Like fools, for whom fair heaven is not enough, Who long to stumble over forests rough
With chance of death : yet no more will I say, But let the bright sun bring about the day. "
Now such an one for daughter Creon had
As maketh wise men fools, and young men mad. . .
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
But when upon the threshold of his house
He met Medea, who, with amorous
And humble words, spoke to him greetings kind,
He felt as he whose eyes the fire doth blind,
That presently about his limbs shall twine,
And in her face and calm gray eyes divine
He read his own destruction ; none the less
In his false heart fair Glauce's loveliness
Seemed that which he had loved his whole life long, And little did he feel his old love's wrong.
Alas for truth ! each day, yea, hour by hour, He longed once more to see the beechen bower, And her who dwelt thereby. Alas, alas !
Oft from his lips the hated words would pass : —
" O wavering traitor, still unsatisfied !
O false betrayer of the love so tried !
Fool ! to cast off the beauty that thou knowst, Clear-seeing wisdom, better than a host Against thy foes, and truth and constancy " Thou wilt not know again whate'er shall be !
So oft he spoke words that were words indeed, And had no sting, nor would his changed heart heed The very bitterest of them all, as he
Thought of his woodland fair divinity,
And of her upturned face, so wondering
At this or that oft-told unheeded thing.
Yet whiles, indeed, old memories had some power Over his heart, in such an awful hour
As that, when darksome night is well-nigh done, And earth is waiting silent for the sun ;
Then would he turn about his mate to see, From lips half open, breathing peacefully,
And open, listless, the fair fingers laid,
That unto him had brought such mighty aid. Then, groaning, from her would he turn away, And wish he might not see another day,
For certainly his wretched soul he knew,
And of the cruel God his heart that drew.
But when the bright day had come round again, With noise of men, came foolish thoughts and vain, And, feeding fond desire, would he burn
Unto Cleonae his swift steps to turn.
Nor to these matters was the Colchian blind, And though as yet his speech to her was kind, Good heed she took of all his moody ways, And how he loved her not as in past days ;
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE. 71
And how he shrunk from her, yet knew it not, She noted, and the stammering words and hot, Wherewith, as she grew kinder, still he strove To hide from her the changing of his love.
Long time she tried to shut her eyes to this, Striving to save that fair abode of bliss ; Butsoitmightnotbe; anddaybyday
She saw the happy time fade fast away ;
And as she fell from out that happiness,
Again she grew to be the sorceress,
Worker of fearful things, as once she was, When what my tale has told she brought to pass.
[Medea prepares a magic robe, which will burn the wearer to ashes. ]
But Jason, when those fingers touched his own, Forgat all joys that he had ever known ;
And when her hand left his hand with the ring, Still in the palm, like some lost, stricken thing, He stood and stared, as from his eyes she passed And from that hour all fear away was cast,
All memory of the past time, all regret
For days that did those changed days beget, And therewithal adown the wind he flung
The love whereon his yearning heart once hung.
Ah ! let me turn the page, nor chronicle
In many words the death of faith, or tell
Of meetings by the newly risen moon,
Of passionate silence 'midst the brown birds' tune, Of wild tears wept within the noontide shade,
Of wild vows spoken, that of old were made,
For other ears, when, amidst other flowers,
He wandered through the love-begetting hours. Suffice that unhappy was each day
Which without speech from Glauce passed away, And troublous dreams would visit him at night, When day had passed all barren of her sight.
And at the last, that Creon, the old king,
Being prayed with gifts, and joyful of the thing, Had given day when these twain should be wed.
Meanwhile, the once-loved sharer of his bed Knew all at last, and fierce tormenting fire Consumed her as the dreadful day drew nigher, And much from other lips than his she heard, Till, on a day, this dreadful, blighting word, Her eyes beheld within fair scroll writ,
—
And 'twixt her closed teeth still she muttered
it :
a
a
it,
MEDEA'S LOVE AND VENGEANCE.
" Depart in peace ! and take great heaps of gold, For nevermore thy body will I fold
Within these arms.
