welcome to go back
thither herself, but that, for her part, she
would
wander about the earth in quest of the entrance to King
Pluto's dominions. And Hecate took her at her word, and hurried
back to her
beloved cave, frightening a great many little
children with a
glimpse of her dog's face as she went.
Poor Mother Ceres! It is
melancholy to think of her, pursuing
her toilsome way, all alone, and
holding up that never-dying
torch, the flame of which seemed an
emblem of the grief and
hope that burned together in her heart.
So much did she suffer, that, though her
aspect had been quite
youthful when her troubles began, she grew to look like an
elderly person in a very brief time. She cared not how she was
dressed, nor had she ever thought of flinging away the
wreathof withered poppies, which she put on the very morning of
Proserpina's
disappearance. She roamed about in so wild a way,
and with her hair so disheveled, that people took her for some
distracted creature, and never dreamed that this was Mother
Ceres, who had the oversight of every seed which the husbandman
planted. Nowadays, however, she gave herself no trouble about
seed time nor
harvest, but left the farmers to take care of
their own affairs, and the crops to fade or
flourish, as the
case might be. There was nothing, now, in which Ceres seemed to
feel an interest, unless when she saw children at play, or
gathering flowers along the
wayside. Then, indeed, she would
stand and gaze at them with tears in her eyes. The children,
too, appeared to have a
sympathy with her grief, and would
cluster themselves in a little group about her knees, and look
up
wistfully in her face; and Ceres, after giving them a kiss
all round, would lead them to their homes, and
advise their
mothers never to let them stray out of sight.
"For if they do," said she, "it may happen to you, as it has to
me, that the iron-hearted King Pluto will take a
liking to your
darlings, and
snatch them up in his
chariot, and carry them
away."
One day, during her
pilgrimage in quest of the entrance to
Pluto's kingdom, she came to the palace of King Cereus, who
reigned at Eleusis. Ascending a lofty
flight of steps, she
entered the
portal, and found the royal household in very great
alarm about the queen's baby. The
infant, it seems, was
sickly(being troubled with its teeth, I suppose), and would take no
food, and was all the time moaning with pain. The queen--her
name was Metanira--was
desirous of funding a nurse; and when
she
beheld a woman of matronly
aspect coming up the palace
steps, she thought, in her own mind, that here was the very
person whom she needed. So Queen Metanira ran to the door, with
the poor wailing baby in her arms, and
besought Ceres to take
charge of it, or, at least, to tell her what would do it good.
"Will you trust the child entirely to me?" asked Ceres.
"Yes, and
gladly, too," answered the queen, "if you will devote
all your time to him. For I can see that you have been a
mother."
"You are right," said Ceres. "I once had a child of my own.
Well; I will be the nurse of this poor,
sickly boy. But beware,
I warn you, that you do not
interfere with any kind of
treatment which I may judge proper for him. If you do so, the
poor
infant must suffer for his mother's folly."
Then she kissed the child, and it seemed to do him good; for he
smiled and nestled closely into her bosom.
So Mother Ceres set her torch in a corner (where it kept
burning all the while), and took up her abode in the palace of
King Cereus, as nurse to the little Prince Demophoon. She
treated him as if he were her own child, and allowed neither
the king nor the queen to say whether he should be bathed in
warm or cold water, or what he should eat, or how often he
should take the air, or when he should be put to bed. You would
hardly believe me, if I were to tell how quickly the baby
prince got rid of his ailments, and grew fat, and rosy, and
strong, and how he had two rows of ivory teeth in less time
than any other little fellow, before or since. Instead of the
palest, and
wretchedest, and puniest imp in the world (as his
own mother confessed him to be, when Ceres first took him in
charge), he was now a strapping baby, crowing, laughing,