hearers, will ever follow Jason's example.
But, you are to understand, he had heard how that he himself

was a prince royal, and how his father, King Jason, had been
deprived of the kingdom of Iolchos by a certain Pelias, who

would also have killed Jason, had he not been hidden in the
Centaur's cave. And, being come to the strength of a man, Jason

determined to set all this business to rights, and to punish
the wicked Pelias for wronging his dear father, and to cast him

down from the throne, and seat himself there instead.
With this intention, he took a spear in each hand, and threw a

leopard's skin over his shoulders, to keep off the rain, and
set forth on his travels, with his long yellow ringlets waving

in the wind. The part of his dress on which he most prided
himself was a pair of sandals, that had been his father's. They

were handsomely embroidered, and were tied upon his feet with
strings of gold. But his whole attire was such as people did

not very often see; and as he passed along, the women and
children ran to the doors and windows, wondering whither this

beautiful youth was journeying, with his leopard's skin and his
golden-tied sandals, and what heroic deeds he meant to perform,

with a spear in his right hand and another in his left.
I know not how far Jason had traveled, when he came to a

turbulent river, which rushed right across his pathway, with
specks of white foam among its black eddies, hurrying

tumultuously onward, and roaring angrily as it went. Though not
a very broad river in the dry seasons of the year, it was now

swollen by heavy rains and by the melting of the snow on the
sides of Mount Olympus; and it thundered so loudly, and looked

so wild and dangerous, that Jason, bold as he was, thought it
prudent to pause upon the brink. The bed of the stream seemed

to be strewn with sharp and rugged rocks, some of which thrust
themselves above the water. By and by, an uprooted tree, with

shattered branches, came drifting along the current, and got
entangled among the rocks. Now and then, a drowned sheep, and

once the carcass of a cow, floated past.
In short, the swollen river had already done a great deal of

mischief. It was evidently too deep for Jason to wade, and too
boisterous for him to swim; he could see no bridge; and as for

a boat, had there been any, the rocks would have broken it to
pieces in an instant.

"See the poor lad," said a cracked voice close to his side. "He
must have had but a poor education, since he does not know how

to cross a little stream like this. Or is he afraid of wetting
his fine golden-stringed sandals? It is a pity his four-footed

schoolmaster is not here to carry him safely across on his
back!"

Jason looked round greatly surprised, for he did not know that
anybody was near. But beside him stood an old woman, with a

ragged mantle over her head, leaning on a staff, the top of
which was carved into the shape of a cuckoo. She looked very

aged, and wrinkled, and infirm; and yet her eyes, which were as
brown as those of an ox, were so extremely large and beautiful,

that, when they were fixed on Jason's eyes, he could see
nothing else but them. The old woman had a pomegranate in her

hand, although the fruit was then quite out of season.
"Whither are you going, Jason?" she now asked.

She seemed to know his name, you will observe; and, indeed,
those great brown eyes looked as if they had a knowledge of

everything, whether past or to come. While Jason was gazing at
her, a peacock strutted forward, and took his stand at the old

woman's side.
"I am going to Iolchos," answered the young man, "to bid the

wicked King Pelias come down from my father's throne, and let
me reign in his stead."

"Ah, well, then," said the old woman, still with the same
cracked voice, "if that is all your business, you need not be

in a very great hurry. Just take me on your back, there's a
good youth, and carry me across the river. I and my peacock

have something to do on the other side, as well as yourself."
"Good mother," replied Jason, "your business can hardly be so

important as the pulling down a king from his throne. Besides,
as you may see for yourself, the river is very boisterous; and

if I should chance to stumble, it would sweep both of us away
more easily than it has carried off yonder uprooted tree. I

would gladly help you if I could; but I doubt whether I am
strong enough to carry you across."

"Then," said she, very scornfully, "neither are you strong
enough to pull King Pelias off his throne. And, Jason, unless

you will help an old woman at her need, you ought not to be a
king. What are kings made for, save to succor the feeble and

distressed? But do as you please. Either take me on your back,
or with my poor old limbs I shall try my best to struggle

across the stream."
Saying this, the old woman poked with her staff in the river,

as if to find the safest place in its rocky bed where she might
make the first step. But Jason, by this time, had grown ashamed

of his reluctance to help her. He felt that he could never
forgive himself, if this poor feeble creature should come to

any harm in attempting to wrestle against the headlong current.
The good Chiron, whether half horse or no, had taught him that

the noblest use of his strength was to assist the weak; and
also that he must treat every young woman as if she were his

sister, and every old one like a mother. Remembering these
maxims, the vigorous and beautiful young man knelt down, and

requested the good dame to mount upon his back.
"The passage seems to me not very safe," he remarked. "But as

your business is so urgent, I will try to carry you across. If
the river sweeps you away, it shall take me too."

"That, no doubt, will be a great comfort to both of us," quoth
the old woman. "But never fear. We shall get safely across."

So she threw her arms around Jason's neck; and lifting her from
the ground, he stepped boldly into the raging and foaming

current, and began to stagger away from the shore. As for the
peacock, it alighted on the old dame's shoulder. Jason's two

spears, one in each hand, kept him from stumbling, and enabled
him to feel his way among the hidden rocks; although every

instant, he expected that his companion and himself would go
down the stream, together with the driftwood of shattered

trees, and the carcasses of the sheep and cow. Down came the
cold, snowy torrent from the steep side of Olympus, raging and

thundering as if it had a real spite against Jason, or, at all
events, were determined to snatch off his living burden from

his shoulders. When he was half way across, the uprooted tree
(which I have already told you about) broke loose from among

the rocks, and bore down upon him, with all its splintered
branches sticking out like the hundred arms of the giant

Briareus. It rushed past, however, without touching him. But
the next moment his foot was caught in a crevice between two

rocks, and stuck there so fast, that, in the effort to get
free, he lost one of his golden-stringed sandals.

At this accident Jason could not help uttering a cry of
vexation.

"What is the matter, Jason?" asked the old woman.
"Matter enough," said the young man. "I have lost a sandal here

among the rocks. And what sort of a figure shall I cut, at the
court of King Pelias, with a golden-stringed sandal on one