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Maps, plates, charts, etc.. may be filmed at diffarant reduction ratios. Those too i ^tit iimtsHnt ilttrraturr ^mta A WONDER-BOOK I .'I ! ■'■t i FOR GIllLS AND BOYS BY NATHANIEL HAWTHOHNE WITH A MYTHOLOGICAL INDEX THE COPP CLARK COMPANY, Limited Toronto . I noooHTon Mmun Coiimi,t ^ ih^ mh n,UhoH,r,f nuNOhert ^ M«ifor*,o/ Low,ri.i.u.w. Whittiw, Low«ti.. Hot^ii^ Kmb- •oii THOwun ami Hawthohw.. ^// „/„<,,„ „.^,^^ ,^^^ ,^ imprint or „utHoH,»Uon of llou.,hl,m Mifflin ( rnitpany art, <«wrf •r^^A«NMA« consent and contrary to llu w<«Am h/ tSo mUhortor COPVHIGHT. 1879. .Y ROSR HAWTHOHNB LATHROF •OPYKIUHI, 1883. BY HOUGHTON. MIFFLIN 4 ca ALL RIGHTS RSSSKVKD Tl CONTENTS. A WONDER-BOOK \\m GIRLS AND BOYS. iNTKODirCTORT NoTK . , . '*** I'KErACB . . " 18 THK OOROON'8 HEAD. "^ST". ''*'"''"• "~^"'"^""*°''' *° "The Gorgon'. Thk Goroon'h Hkad / / ' ' ' ^^ Tanolkwood PoBca.- After the Story '.'.*.'. Jg TUB GOLDEN TOUCH. Shax>ow IiHt»OK.- Introductory to "The Golden Touch" 61 The Ooldrn Touch «•" oi Shadow Brook. - After the Story ....'. ^ THE PARADISE OK CHILDKEX. ^ of cSr-'"''^^""""*'- 7 1"*'-'-*-y to " The Paradise Thk Paradisk of Children . . ' * ' ^ TanglewoodPlay-IIoom.- After the'story . ' . * . * IQI THE THREE GOLDEN APPLE& I'HK Three Golden Applka . . * . ' ' * ' ^^ Tanqlewood P,ke8ide.- After the Story . ' . * . * . J.^ THE MIRACULOUS PITCHER. Thk Hili^idr. - Introductory to " Tl.e Mi««ulou8 Pitcher " m 1 HE Miraculous Pitcher Th. HiLL^iDB.- After the Stopy '.'.'.'.*. Jqj 4r^t4r^ ^' CONTENTS. THE CIUM/ERA. Bald-Summit. — Introductory to "The Chimwra" . . 163 TheChim4£ka . . ,a- _, „ loo Bald-Sdmmit. — After the Story . . J93 I'''''' , '.'.'. m Hooks fob Refekenck and Fdrther Reading . . 20I Index of Mythology 1 ILLUSTRATIONS, Perseus SHOWING THE Gorgon's Head . . . Frontispiece The Stranger appearing to Midas .... 50 Pandora opens the Box ...... 04 Hercules AND the Old Man op the Sea hq mo • . « . liO IHE bl-HANGEXtS ENTERTAINED jija Bellbrophon on Pegasus ^ jgQ *Amm 168 . 166 188 . 107 201 I INTRODUCTORT NOTE. itispiece . 68 04 . 118 150 . 180 THE WONDER-BOOK. Even from the date to be obtained by a perusal of .^. M !'u*^' ^'"'^"^ reader wiU be likel'to infer ^at Hawtijorne took a vital interest in childJife ; and in his published Note-Books are found many brief memoraiidawbeh indicate his disposition to Jite for chJdren. After he married and had begun to rear a fomily of hiB own, this interest of his in the ear- liest developments of mind and character became, nat- urally much rnore ax^tive. He was accustomed to ob- serve his children very closely. There are private manuscnpts still extant, which present exact records of what his young son and elder daughter said or did, from hour to hour ; the father seating himself in Tn^l'^Tr ^f ^^*^'"*^^ """"'^S ^" '^^' passed. welflrib? "'^'''"l"'^' sympathetic scrutiny we may attribute m part the remarkable felieitv the fortimate ease of adaptation to the immatme u^der! standing, and the skilful appeal to fresh imaginations. w' f^"?"?:'"" ^' ''""^^ ^"^ '^' y«»^g- Natural tect and insight prompted, faithful study from the real assisted, these productions. mc^' t1? 'w^ ^'"^f f ^''^^^^ "^^ ««o" after publish, mg '-The House of the Seven Gables," he sketehed .a *QJuws, m a letter to Mr. James T. Fields, May 28, 10 tNTRODUCTORY NOTE, 1851, his plan for the work which this noto accom- panies : — " I mean to write, within six weeks or two months next ensmng, a book of stories made up of classical I"^*^'\ ^^^"^ ^"^J^''*' *"* '' ^^^ Story of Midas, with his Golden Touch, Pandora's Box, The Adventure of Hercules in quest of the Golden Apples, Bellerophon and the Chmiaera, Baucis and Philemon, Perseus and Medusa ; these, I think, wiU be enough to make up a volume. As a framework, I shall have a young col- lege-student teUing these stories to his cousins and brothers and sisters, durin- his vacations, sometimes at the fireside, sonietimes in the woods and dells. Un- less I greatly mistake, these old fictions will work up admirably for the purpose ; and I shall aim at substi- tuting a tone in some degree Gothic or romantic, or any such tone as may best please myself, instead of the classic coldness which is as repeUant as the touch of marble." With such precision as to time did he carry out this scheme, that on the 15th of July he wrote the Preface to the completed volume. It was unusual, however, for him to work with such rapidity, or indeed to write at all in the summer season ; and this exertion, com. ing so soon after his work upon the romance, may have had something to do with increasing a languor which he had axieady begun to feel, and inducing him to remove from Lenox in the autumnr- While he re- mained in Berkshire he had more or less literary com- panionship, which is alluded to in the Note-Books and also in the closing chapter of the " Wonder-Book," ^ where he likewise refers thus to himself : — Have we not an author for our next neighbor ? * asked Primrose. ' That silent man, who lives in the s. \. INTRODUCTORY NOTE. H old red house near Tanglewood Avenue, and whom we sometunes meet, with two children at his side, in the woods or at the lake. I think I have heard of his hav- mg written a poem, or a romance, or an arithmetic, or a school-history, or something of that kind.' " Tlie manuscript of the " Wonder-Book " is the only one of Hawthorne's completed books which, > its onginal form, is owned by any member of his family. Ihe book was written on thin blue paper of rather large size, and on both sides of the pages. Scarcely a correction or an erasure occurs, from the beginning to the end ; and wherever an alteration was made, the " after-thought was evidently so swift that the author did not stop to blot, for the word first written is merely smeared into illegibmty and another substituted for it -It a,ppears to be certain that, although Hawthorne meditated long over what he intended to do and came rather slowly to the point of publication, yet when the actual task, of writing was begun it proceeded rapidly and with very little correction ; and in most cases probably very little re-drafting was done. His private correspondence exhibits the same easy flow of composi- tion, in sentences of notable finish ; oflPering a marked contrast, for example, to the habit of the historian Motley, who even in his letters expunged Aords on every page. The "Wonder-Book " proved to be a financial as weU as literary success, and was presendy translated and published in Germany. G.P.L. PREFACE. TW author has lon^ been of opinion that many of the classical myths were capable of being rendered mto very capital reading for children. In the little vo ume here offered to the public, he has worked up half a dozen of them, with this end in view. A great freedom of treatment was necessary to his plan ; but it will be observed by every one who attempts to ren- der these legends maUeable in his inteUectual fumade, that they are marvellously independent of aU tempo- rary modes and circumstances. They remain essen- tially the same, after changes that would affect the Identity of almost anything else. ^ He does not, therefore, plead guilty to a sacrilege, in havmg sometimes shaped anew, as his fancy dic- tated, the forms that have been hallowed by an antiq- uity of two or three thousand years. No epoch of time can claim a copyright in these immortal fables. They seem never to have been made ; and certamly, so long as man exists, they can n^ver perish ; but, by their in- destructibility itself, they are legitimate subjects for every age to clothe with its own garniture of manners and sentiment, and to imbue with its own morality. In the present version they may have lost much of their classical aspect (or, at all events, the author has not been careful to preserve it), and have, perhans. aasumed a Gothic or romantic guise. 14 PREFACE. In performinff this pleasant task, - for it has been really a task fit for hot weather, and one of the mos" agreeable of a literary kind, which he ever undertook, -he author has not always thought it necessary to Jte downward, ,n order to meet the comprehension of chddren. He lias generally suffered the theme to soar, whenever such was its tendency, and when he himself was buoyant enough to follow without an ef- tort. Children possess an unestimated sensibility to whatever IS deep or high, in imagination or feeling, so long as It IS simple, likewise. It is o,ily the artificial and the complex that bewilder them. Lbnox, Jdj/ 15, 1861. ' )een iiost 3ok, y to don > to he ef. to , so THE GORGON'S HEAD. TANGLEWOOD PORCH. INTRODUCTORY TO " THE GORGON's HEAD." Beneath the porch of the country-seat called Tan^ ^lewood, one fine autumnal morning, was assembled a merry party of little folks, with a tall youth in the midst of them. They had planned a nutting expedi- tion, and were impatiently waiting for the mists to roU up the hill-slopes, and for the sun to pour the warmth of the Indian summer over the fields and pastures, and into the nooks of the many-colored woods. There was a prospect of as fine a day as ever gladdened the as- pect of this beautiful and comfortable world. As yet, however, the morning mist filled up the wliole length and breaxith of the valley, above which, on a gently sloping eminence, the mansion stood. This body of white vapor extended to within less than a hundred yards of the house. It completely hid everything beyond that distance, except a few ruddy or yeUow tree-tops, which here and there emerged, and were glorified by the early sunshine, as was likewise the broad surface of the mist. Four or five miles off to the southward rose the summit of Monument Moun- tain, and seemed to be floating on a cloud. Some fif- 10 TANGLEWOOD PORCH, teen miles farther away, in the same direction, ap- peaxed the loftier Don.e of Ta..' JOU " I do," said JViiuroso. " Then hold your tonmie ! " reioin«d P,.o* i. i --Tiiffrifttriiriium. iCff, we, do any of you ined Eustace, who Jothing about the «>ea8y billows tossed it up and down ; while Danae clasped her child closely to her bosom, and dreaded that some big wave would dash Its foamy crest over them both. The chest sailed on, however, and neither sank nor was upset ; until, when night was coming, it floated so near an island that it got entangled in a fisherman's nets, and was drawn out high ami dry upon the sand. The island was cal ed ^eilphus, and it was reigned over by Kinir ^^tes, who happened to be the fisherman's nJ^^'i^'u"''"^"' ^ ""^ ^^^ *^ *^" .^«»' ™ an ex. ceedmgly humane and upright man. He showed great anckess to Danae and her little boy ; and continued to befriend them, until Perseus had grown to be a handsome youth, very strong and ax^tive, and skilful m the use of arms. Long before this time. King Polydectes had seen the • wo strangers - the mother and her chdd - who hrnl come to his dominions in a ttoahng chest. As he was not good and kind, like his brother the fisherman, but extremely wicked, he re- solved to send Perseus on a dang..ous enterprise, in ..^^« ..c wouxa prooawy m killed, and then to do 22 THE GORGON'S HEAD, some great mischief to Danae herself. So this bad- hearted king spent a long while in considering what was the most dangerous thing that a young man could possibly undertake to perform. At last, having hit upon an enterprise that promised to turn out as fa- tally as he desired, he sent for the youthful Perseus. ^ The yoimg man came to the palace, and found the king sitting upon his throne. " Perseus," said King Polydectes, smiling craftily Tipon him, "you are grown up a fine young man. You and your good mother have received a great deal of kindness from myself, as well as from my worthy brother the fisherman, and I suppose you would not be sorry to repay soAie of it." "Please your Majesty," answered Perseus, "I would willingly risk my life to do so." " Well, then," continued the king, still with a cun- ning smile on his lips, " I have a little adventure to propose to you ; and, as you are a brave and enterpris- ing youth, you will doubtless look upon it as a great piece of good luck to have so rare an opportunity of distinguishing yourself. You must know, my good Perseus, I think of getting married to the beautiful Princess QyiEodamia, ; and it is customary, on these occasions, to make the bride a present of some far- fetched and elegant curiosity. I have been a little perplexed, I must honestly confess, where to obtain anything likely to please a princess of her exquisite taste. But, this morning, I flatter myself, I have thought of precisely the article." "And cai. I assist your Majesty in obtaining it?" cried Perseus, eagerly. " You can, if you are as brave a youth as I believe you to be," replied King Polydentes. wif.h fh« "f^ri^of a] i( ■ THE GORGON'S HEAD. 28 graciousness of manner. " The bridal gift which I have set my heart on presenting to the Wutif J^ Hip^ podamia IS the head of the Gorgon Medusa with th^ snaky looks; and I depend on yon, r^fe^, v^^^ with the princess, the sooner you go in quest of th« Gorgon, the better I shaU be pleased " Perseus"" '" "'" '"""°™" '"""''•'S'" »»™^™d « AndTi" '"' "'^ ^"' y""*'" "-^J""*-! the king. careful to make a clean stroke, so as not to injure its appearance You must bring it home in the verbe^ eondiuon, m order to suit the exquisite taste Tf 2 beautiful Princess Hippodamia " ^^ "t tbe Perseus left the pah«,e, but was scarcely out of hearmg before Polydectes burst into a la-ih beint greafly amused, wicked king that he was, to tod hoi readdy the young man fell into the snare The „e^ cuttff^ rt f "f« ^' ^'''"«' " undertaken to cut off the head of Medusa with the snaky locks of the .sland were as wicked as the king himself and would have liked nothing better than to see ome eno™o„s mischief happen to Danae and her soT Ihe only good man in this unfortunate island of Serii phus appears to have been the fisherman. As Perseus w^ked along, therefore, the people pointed after him, ^dlTf^- ^ ?,""' "■"•'''<' *" °"« soother, and ridiculed him as loudly as they dared. him ^XyV^'^' ''"'' '' " ^^'^'^ »^- ^ »«"e ^^r "'"'^ T *'"^' ^""■Sons alive at that period- aad they were the most strange and terrible S^ri, 24 THE GORGON'S HEAD. that had ever been since the world was made, or that have been seen in after days, or that are likely to be seen in all time to come. I hardly know what sort of creature or hobgofejin to call them. They were three sisters, and seem to have borne some distant resem- blance to women, but were really a very frightful and mischievous species of dragon. It is, indeed, difficult to imagine what hideous beings these three sisters were. Why, instead of locks of hair, if you can be- lieve me, they had each of them a hundred enormous snakes growing on their heads, all alive, twisting, wriggling, curling, and thrusting out their venomous tongues, with fork/sd stings at the end ! The teeth of the Gorgons were terribly long tusks ; their hands were made of brass ; and their bodies were all over scales, which, if not iron, were something as hard and impenetrable. They had wings, too, and exceedingly splendid ones, I can assure you ; for every feather in them was pure, bright, glittering, burnished gold, and they looked very dazzlingly, no doubt, when the Gor- gons were flying about in the sunshine. But when people happened to catch a glimpse of their glittering brightness, aloft in the air, they sel- dom stopped to gaze, but ran and hid themselves as speedily as they could. You will think, perhaps, that they were afraid of being stung by the serpents that served the Gorgons instead of hair, — or of having their heads bitten off by their ugly tusks, — or of be- ing torn all to pieces by their brazen claws. Well, to be sure, these were some of the dangers, but by no means the greatest, nor the most difficult to avoid. For the worst thing about these aborjiinable Gorgons was, that, if once a poor mortallTxed his eyes full upon one of their faces, he was eertaiu, that very in- THE GORGON'S HEAD. 26 sta^t to be changed from warm flesh and blood mto cold and lifeless stone I Thus, as you will easUy perceive, it was a very dan- gerous adventure that the wicked King Polydectes had contrived for this innocent young man. Perseus him- self, when he had thought over the matter, could not help seemg that he had very little chance of coming safely through it, and that he was far more likely to become a stone image than to bring back the head of Medusa with the snal.y locks. For, not to speak of other difficulties, there was one which it would have puzzled an older man than Perseus to get over. Not only must he fight with and slay this goldefl^winged, um-aciaed, longdtaigked, brazen-dawed, snaky-haired monster but he must do if ^th his eyes shut, or, at least, without so much as a glance at the enemy with whon, he was contending. Else, while his arm was ' h ted to strike he would stifFen into stone, and stand with that uplifted arm for centuries, until time, and the wind and weather, should crumble him quite away. This would be a very sad thing to befall a young man who wanted to perform a great many brave deeds, and blS^S '"' ^' '^^^^^"^' ^^ '"^ *^"^^^ -^ So disconsolate did the.e thoughts make him, that Perseus could not bear to tell his mother what he had undertaken to do. He therefore took his shield, girded on his sword and crossed over from the island to the mainland where he sat down in a solitary place, and hardly refrained from shedding tears. But, while he was in this sorrowful mood, he heard a voice close beside him. "Perseus," said the voice, "why are you sad ? " He hfted his head from his hands, in which he had % 26 THE GORGON'S HEAD. M t w hidden it, and, behold! all alone as Perseug had sop- posed himself to be, there was a stranger in the soli- t^y place. It was a brisk, intelligent, and remarka- hly shrewd-looking young man, with a cloak over his shoulders, an odd sort of cap on his head, a strangely twisted staff in his hand, and a short and very crooked sword hanging by his side. He was exceedingly light and active in his figure, like a person much accustomed to gymnastic exercises, and well able to leap or run. Above all, the stranger had such a cheerful, knowing,' and helpful aspect (though it was certainly a little mischievous, into the bargain), that Perseus could not help feeling his spirits grow livelier as he gazed at him. Besides, being really a courageous youth, he felt greatly ashamed that anybody should have found him with tears in his eyes, like a timid little school-boy, when, after all, there might be no occasion for despair. So Perseus wiped his eyes, and answered the stranger pretty briskly, putting on as brave a look as he could. " I am not so very sad," said he, " only thoughtful about an adventure that I have undertaken." " Oho I " answered the stranger. " Well, tell me all about it, and possibly I may be of service to you. I have helped a good many young men through adven- tures that looked difficult enough beforehand. Per- haps you may Ziave heard of me. I have more names than one ; but the name of fluicksUvw- suits me as well as any other. Tell me whatt^Jetrouble is, and we will talk the matter over, and see what can be done." The stranger's words and manner put Perseus into quite a different mood from his former one. He re- solved to teU Quicksilver all his difficulties, since he could not easily be worse off than he already was, and, very possibly, his new friend might give him some ad- THE GORGON *S HEAD. 27 vfce that would turn out well in the end. So he Jet the stranger know, in few words, precisely what the oase was, — how that King Polydectes wanted the head of Medusa with the snaky locks as a bridal gift for the beautiful Princess Hippodaniia, and how that he had undertaken to get it for him, but was afraid of being turned into stone. "And that would be a great pity," said Quicksilver, with his mischievous smUe. " You would make a very handsome marble statue, it is true, and it would be a considerable number of centuries before you crumbled away; but, on the whole, one would rather bo a young man for a few years, than a stone image for a ^reat many." "Oh, far rather!" exclaimed Perseus, with the tears again standing in his eyes. " And, besides, what would my dear mother do, if her beloved son were turned into a stone ? " "Well, well, let us hope that the affair will not turn out so very badly," replied Quicksilver, in an encour- aging tone. "I am the very person to help you, if anybody can. M.^jistgr and myself will do our ut- most to bring you safe through the adventure, ugly as it now looks." " Your sister?" repeated Perseus. « Yes, my sister," said the stranger. « She is very wise, I promise you ; and as for myself, I generally have all my wits about me, such as they are. If you show yourseK bold and cautious, and f oUow our advice, you need not fear being a stone image yet awhile. But, first of all, you must polish your shield, till you can see your face in it as distinctly as in a mirror." This seemed to Perseus rather an odd beginning of the adventure! for he thought it of far more conae- 28 THE GORGON *S HEAD. quence that the shield should be strong enough to de- tend him from tiie Gorgon's brazen claws, than that It should be bright enough to show him the reflection ot his face. However, concluding that Quicksilver knew better than himself, he immediately set to work, and scrubbed the shield with so much diUgence and good-will, that it very quickly shone like lEelnoon at harvest-time. Quicksilver looked at it with a smile, and nodded his approbation. Then, taking off his own short and crooked sword, he girded it about Per. seus, instead of the one which he had before worn. "No sword but mine will answer your purpose," ob- served he ; " the blade has a most excellent temper, and wiU cut through^iron and brass as easily as thWgh the slenderest twig. And now we will set out. The next thing is to find the Three Gray. Women, who will tell us where to find the Nym^W' "The Three Gray W^i^STr cried Perseus, to whom this seemed only a new difficulty in the path of his adventure ; •* pray who may the Three Gray Wo- men be ? I never heard of them before." « They are three very strange old ladies," said Quicksilver, laughing. « They have but one eye among them, and only one tooth. Moreover, you must find them out by starlight, or in the dusk of the evening ; for they never show themselves by the light either of the sun or moon." vwt*'" '^? ^^'■'^'''' " ^^y «*^«"W I waste my time with these Three Gray Women ? Would it not be better to set out ai once in search of the tei-rible Gop- gons?" " No, no," answered his friend. « There are other thmgs to be done, before you can find your way to the Gorgons. There is ncUiing for it but to hunt up THE aOBGON'S HEAD. 29 these old ladies ; and when we meet with them, vou may be sure that the Go.gons are not a great Z off Come, let us be stirring ! " ^ ^ °* Perseus by this time, felt so much confidence in hi, companion's sagacity, that he nuule no more obiectionl mediately They mjcordmgly set out, and walked at a pretty bnskpaee; so brisk, indeed, that Perseus fo^d rt radier dithcult t» keep up with his nimble fri»d Qu cksdver To say the truth, he had a singdar idea that Qmcl.s.lver was furnished with a pair tf wiuld shoes, which, of course, helped him along S lously. And then, too, when Perseus looked^ide^I™ at him, out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to sL a full ga^e, there were no such things to be perceived h^ist^d staff was evidently a great convenience to " Here ! " cried QuicksUver, at last, - for he knew well enough, rogue that he was, ho; ha^ Per^e,^ found It to keep pace with him, - " take you tl^ I^ r:: "'^V * ^^* "^^"^ •""« 'l-an / ire thire no^^tter walkers than yourself in the ishind of ^2 "I could walk pretty weU," said Perseus, glancine But the staff helped Perseus along so bravely that „ .n„ ."giitest wearmess. In fact, the « 80 » » THE GOIiGON'S HEAD. Stick seemed to be alive in his hand, and to lend some of Its life to Perseus. He and Quicksilver now walked onward at their ea^e, talking very sociably together j and Quicksdver told so many pleasant storief aboui his former adventures, and how well his wits had served him on various occasions, that Perseu^ began to think him a very wonderful person. He evidently knew the world ; and nobody i. so charming to a young man as a friend who has that kind of knowledge. Perseus listened the more eagerly, in the hope of brightening his own wits by what be heard. At last, he happened to recollect that Quicksilver had spoken of a sister, wlio was to lend her assistance m the adventure which they were now bound upon. Where is she?'^ he inquired. "Shall we not meet her soon ? " "AU at the proper time," said his companion. But this sister of mme, you must understand, is quite a different sort of character from myseH. She IS very grave and prudent, seldom smiles, never aughs, and makes it a rule not to utter a word un- kss she ha^ something particularly p^^^nd to say. Neither will she hsten to any but the wisest conversL "Dear me!" eiaonlated Perseusj "I shaU be afraid to say a syllable." "She is a veiy accomplished person, I assure you," contmued Quicksilver, "and has all the arts and sciences at her fingers' ends. In short, she is so im- persomfied. But to tell you the truth, she has hardly vivaci y enough for my taste ; and I think you would r^vJlf ^'r r P^^^^* atravemng companion « myself. She has her good points, nevertheless; THE GORGON'S HEAD. 81 »> and you mil find the benefit of them, in your en- counter with the Gorgons." By this time it had grown quite dusk. They were now come to a very wild and desert place, overgrown with shaggy bushes, and so silent and solitary that nobody seemed ever to have dwelt or journeyed there. All was waste and desolate, in the gray twilight, winch grew every moment more obscure. Perseus looked about him, rathar disconsolately, and asked Quicksilver whether they had a great deal farther to go. "Hist! hist!" whispered his companion. "Make no noise! Tliis is just the time and jjlace to meet the Three Gray Women. Be careful that they do not see you before you see them ; for, though they have but a smgle eye among the three, it is as sharp-sighted as nail a dozen common eyes." "But what must I do," asked Perseus, "when we meet them ? " Quicksilver explained to Perseus how the Three Cxray Women managed with their one eye. They were in the habit, it seems, of changing it from one to another, as if it had been a pair of spectacles, or- which would have suited them better -a quizzing. |la^_ When one of the three had kept tbTeye a certam time, she took it out of the socket and passed It to one of her sisters, whose turn it might happen to be, and who immediately clapped it into her own " head, and enjoyed a peep at the visible world. Thus It will easily be understood that only one of the Three Gray Women could see, while the other two were in utter darkness; and, moreover, at the instant when the eye was passing from hand to hand, neither of the Door old Iniiips wjja qK]« ffv o -v_i T 1 t 1 — , „,,i^ i^Q j„jp jj wiiiii. 1 liave heard 82 €i THE GORGON'S HEAD. of a great many strange things, in my day, and have wtnessed not a few; but none, it seems to me tZ Women, all peeping through a single eye. So thought Perseus, likewise, and was so astonished . aat he almost fancied his companion was joS wilh hm,,^and that tl.ere we:, no such old woLa fule " You will soon find whether I tell the truth or «„ " ^servd Q„i„,^i,^^,. „jj_^^j^, ,,r,Vw! hiU Ihere they come, now ! " Perseus looke,! earnestly through the dusk of tho evenmg and there, sure enough, at no g,^." ,,.!tance off, he desened the Three Txray Women. The Kght ot fagures Uiey wei-e; only he discovered that they W long ^ay hair ; and, as they caane nearer, he aw ^at two of them had hut the empty socket of an Z in the middle of their foreheads. But, in the middk of the third sister's forehead, there ^l a venZge bright, and piercmg eye, which sparkled likeT S diamc^d m a ring ; and so penetrating did it see^to se;tteSr7''-"''*""'u^'P *'''"'"»« '* ■»»" pos- sess the gift of seemg m the darkest midnight iust as perfectly as at noonday. The sight of thrfe i^l J eyes was melted and collected into that single "Z Ihiis the three old dames got along about as com Wbly upon the whole, as if theyfoidd lllT'a once. She who chanced to have the eye in her fore- head led the other two by the hands, peeping ah^X about ter, all tlie while; insomu h thaTperseis teaded lest she should see right through the thck Mden themselves. My stars ! it was positively tei^ We to be with n rmoh nf =T ..»r- oV- - . 1 „. u^.s ,_j^ aoai-p an eyei J I i f THE GORGON'S HEAD. 88 f But, before they reached the elunip of bushes, one of the Three Gray Women spoke. " Sister I Sister Scarecrow I " cried she, " you have had the eye long enough. It is my turn now ! " "Let me keep i^. a moment longer. Sister Night- mare, answered Scarecrow. "I thought I had a ghmpse of something behind that thick bush." "WeU, and wliat of that?" retorted Nightmare, peevisUjr. « Can't I see into a thick bush a« easily as yourself? The eye is mine as weU as yours; and I know the use of it as weU as you, or mky be a little beMer. I msist upon taking a i)eep immediately I " ^ But here the third sister, whose name was Shake- ]omt, began to complain, and said that it was her turn to havre the eye, and that Scarecrow and Nightmare wanted to keep it all to themselves. To end the dis- pute, old Dame Scarecrow took the eye out of her forehead, and held it forth in her hand. "Take it, one of you," cried she, "and quit this foohsh quarrelhng. For my part, I shall be glad of a little thick darkness. Take it quickly, however, or 1 must clap it mto my own head again ! " Accordingly, both Nightmare and Shakejoint put out their hands, groping eagerly to snatch the eye out of the hand of Scarecrow. But, being both alike blind, they could not easily find where Scarecrow's hand was; and Scarecrow, being now just as much in the dark as Shakejoint and Nightmare, could not at once meet either of their hands, in order to put the eye into It. Thus (as you will see, with half an eye, my wise little auditors), these good old dames had fallen mto a strange perplexity. For, though the eye shone aiid glistemnl 11!^ a star, a. Scarecrow held it out, yet tbe trray Women caught not the least glimpse of its « 84 8 TJIE UOltaoN'S UEAD. light, and we™ aU three in utter daikne™, from u>o iiiil>atient a desii-e to see. Qmek8Uverwa»8o,n„<.h tickle.! at LeluiWinR Shake- pn,t an, N.«l..n,are both ^..o,,i„s for the eye, and each (, ,.l„,g fault with Seareerow and one LU\^ that he eould searcely help l„„ghi„g ah,„,|. yuitk qu ek ! before they ean elan the eve into either of their hea.l«. l{u,h out upon the old kC and snatch it from Scarcer.. ,v'a h Jl t " ' 8t;S",e^ir""""N"''"," ""'''"'"■"^ ««»y Women were still seoldmg ea... other, Penseus leaped from behind ae elmnp of bushes, and made himself n.aster of the prue. The marvellous eye, as he held it in his hand shone ve,y bnghtly, and seemed to look up into his' face wrth a knowing air, and an expressioi as if it would have wmked, had it been provided with a pair of eyelids for that purpose. But the Gray Women knew nothing of what had happened ; and, each su^ posing that one of her sisters wa., in possession of the eye, they began their quarrel anew. At last, aa Pe^ sens did not wish to put these respectable .lames U> greater inconvenience than was really necessary, he thought It right to explain the matter. ^ "My good ladies " said he, " pray do not be an-ry with one another. If anybody is in fault, it is myself^ for I have the honor to hold your very brilliant and excellent eye in my own hand I " "You! you have our eye! And who are vou?" screamed the Three Gray Women, all in a breath; for they were terribly frightened, of eourso, at hearing a steange vo^e, and discovering that their eyesight had faCX Tl n'"'''/* .^^y '=™''' °°* ffuess whom. Uh, what shall we do, sisters? what shall »« j„9 ur„ THE GORGON'S HEAD. Sg are aU in the ''" "'^"'' -"' *•■" '"••>■-' of "My .lear,g„„<], adniiiahle old ladies," said Per- ' ^■s address,,,,, the Gray Mo,„e„, "the,; is „o „cl 8,on for ,,utt„,K yourselves i„to «„.l, a fright. I „,„ by no „,eans a ba.l youug man. You sl.aU l,ave l,aek your eye, safe a,„l sound, and as brigl.t as ever the mo,,u.,t you tell „.e wWe to find the Nymphs." ' The Nymphs ! Goodness me ! sisters, what Nymnhg does he mean? "screamed Scareerow. " ThereTre a great „.a„y Nymphs, people say ; some that go a hun ' ing ,., the woods, and some that live insidf of tz^e, ot wate,. We know notlung at all about them. Wo us, and that one you have stolen away. Oh, rive it back good .stranger I -whoever you aref give it b!lk I " iJ -tV^" "" ^'"^ ^'™y ^^o'"™ "-ere grop- »g w,th the,t outstretched hands, and trying ?I,X utmost to get hold of Perseus. But he took gofd care to keep out of their reach. had ta^^■'^^'' '•'""''•" '^^^ ^'^ - *<>' ^is mother had taught h,m always to use the greatest civility, _ J hold your eye fast in my hand, and shall keep it ^ely for you, m,t,l you plea.,e to teU me where to ttl 'r.lS"*'lf-. T'- Nymphs, I mean, who keep U itTTrr ,«'^«%';«' «ying slippers, and the what IS ,t !■ — the hehnet of invisibility." M THE GORGON'S HEAD. mg about ? exclaimed Scarecrow, Nightmare, and Shakejomt, one to another, with great appearance of ^tomshment. " A pair of flying slipperl^oth he His heels would quickly fly higher than Ws head if he were silly enough to put them on. And a helmet of nv,sibilityl How could a hehnet make him i^. visib e, unless it were big enough for him to hide un- dent? And an enchanted wallet I What sort of a contrivance may that be, I wonder? No, no, good stranger I we can tell you nothing of these marXus iiave but a single one amongst us three. You can ^rt'hkrut' "^^^^ ^'**" *^'" '^''' ^^'""^ «^^ «^^^ Perseus, hearing them talk in this way, began reallv to think that the Gray Women knew Ll^ng oT the matter; and, as it grieved him to have put them to so much trouble, he was Just on the poin? of relring their eye and asking pardon for his rudeness in snatch- ing It away. But Quicksilver caught his hand. Uon t let them make a fool of vou » » said hp "These Three G..y Women are the ^^ty'pe a nst tie world that can tell you where t» find the Nymph and, m,less you get that information, you wiU nL; ITl T ""T^ °* "'« ''^'«' of Medusa with tl» snaky Jocks. Keep fast hold of the eye, and all will As it turned out, Quicksilver was in the right There are but few things that people prize so much as they do their eyesight ; and the Gray Women valued their smgle eye as highly as if it had been half a Kn^"' ''tl. * T *''" "•""•'" '^^y "-Sht to have had. bmdmg that there was no other way of recovering it, THE GORGON'S HEAD. 37 they at last told Perseus what he wanted to know No sooner had they done so, than he immediately,' and with the utmost respect, clapped the eye into the va- cant socket m one of their foreheads, thanked them for their kindness, and bade them fareweU. Before the young man was out of hearing, however, they had got into a new dispute, because he happened to have given the eye to Scarecrow, who had already taken her turn of It when their trouble with Perseus commenced. It IS greatly to be feared that the Three Gray Women were very much in the habit of disturbing their mutual harmony by bickerings of this sort ; which was the more pity, as they could not conven- iently do without one another, and were evidently in- tended to be mseparable companions. As a general rule I would advise all people, whether sisters or brothers, old or young, who chance to have but one eye amongst them, to cultivate forbearance, and not all insist upon peeping through it ^T^^. Quicksilver and Perseus, in the mean time, were making the best of their way in quest of the Nymphs. Ihe old dames had given them such particular direc- ^ons, that they were not long in folding them out. They proved to be very different persons from Night, mare Shakejoint, and Scarecrow; for, instead of be- mg old, they were young and beautiful ; and instead ot one eye amongst the sisterhood, each Nymph had she looked very kindly at Perseus. They seemed to be acquainted with Quicksilver; and, when he told hem the adveiitiire which Perseus had undertaken, articles that were in their custody. In tlm fir«f pl..o they brought out what appeared to be a smaU puree,' 38 THE GORGON ^S HEAD. 1 1 made of deer skin, and curiously embroidered and \..A liim be sure and keep it safe Tm! A ^^® wallet. The %mpbsCxt ptduld^^^^^^^^^^^ ?^° or slippers, or sandals, with a n^ce 1^1 ^ ! -^'^ at the heel of each. ^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^s wiUfi::r;orseTariSl\1'^ "^o" tl.e remaLer oLurSn:;!' ' " ^^" ^^ ^^^^ ^- So Perseus proceeded to put one of i\.. v on, while he laid the other on fL i . '^'PP^""" Unexpectedly, however thiTnK ^"T"^ ^^ ^' ''^'' wings fluttered T „ff\ ''^^'f '^^^P^^ «P^«ad its bly h^ve flown away if o 'T-i'' ".^' "^"^^ P^^- leap^ndluckilyTaT^nti?^^^^^^^^^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ Perst"Ti;::;i^f /-^^^^ - he gave it back to they should seerfllf :f ''^ *^' '"'^' "P ^«^*' ^ Whpn P f^i^ ^'PP^** amongst them." vv Hen Perseus had ffot on both ..f *] , clamber down aaain W; i v ^ aimcult to -nage unt« one grow. 'a Mel^^^ ^^ "^ Quicksilver laughed at h\. « "^swjmea.to them. activity, and tolS^la^^rrrt j™''"!?'^ pe^te a h„.y, but .„st wait Ctetvil^ h^U^eT ihe good-natured Nvmnh« Ji^^ fi u V ^^"»et. dark tuft of waving p[Zes^i''?t'^*'"'"' ■'» upon his head La T I, ? readmess to juit told you. The instant before hTLi^ ^™ ^*' ".ere 3t.a Perseus, a t:t^rytrC.f.t;' THS GORGON'S HEAD. 39 golden ringlets and rosy cheeks, the erooked sword by lus side, and the brightly poKshed shield ^tZku ^rm,-^ fig^e that seemed all made up oiZnJ^ spnghdmess, and glorious light. But when 7JZ' met had descended over his white b^w, there wL„„ onger any Fergus to be seen ! Nothing but^mp"" air! Even the helmet, that covered him with ZS visibility, had vanished ! " Where are you, Perseus ? " asked Quicksilver. Why here, to be siu-e ! " answered Perseus very q.uetly, although his voice seemed to come olotlZ tra^parent atmosphei.. "Just whei^ I was a iT meat ago. Don't you see me ? " "No, indeed!" answered his friend. "You are hidden under the hehnet. But, if I cannot see y!^ neither can the Gorgons. Follow me, therefore, and . wejll try your dexterity in using the winged slip With these words, Quicksilrer's cap spread its ^gs a« if his head were about t» fly away fern ht shoulders ; but his whole figure rese ligh% into the air, ^nd Perseus followed. By the time they had Z cended a few hundred feet, the yourffe man beZ to feel what a delightful thing it was tT leave tlTdiS uCZ!l' "* ''"' "■"* •" •'^ '"''« *- «'''"«>"' It was now deep night. Perseus looked upward ttatr 1: frf '.''"Sht, sHve-y moon, and thoT^ht that he should desire nothing better than to soar up thither, and spend his life there. Then he looked laZTd r"'r' "" ""' ^'"*' -•"' ■'' -- '-^ lates, and the silver courses of its rivers and ,-t= snowy mountain-peaks, and rto I,r„^j.|, ^t •-■ c ■ >M the dark olusto ofits woo^td iU St^r,^ 40 THE GORGON'S HEAD. White marble ; and, with the moonshine sleeping over the whole scene, it was as beautiful as the n,!,? S^metunes he and Quicksilver approached a cC" that, at a distance, looked as if it were made of fl! sdveri although, when they vCZ^l t T" found themselves chilled an'd'^moitteneT^wi ^ ^ mist. So swift was their flight, however th«f i« ugnc agam. Once, a high-soaring eagle flew nV).* ^mst the invisible Perseus. The bravfst sSits wt tad beenTtindled m the sky, and made the moonshine A3 the two companions flew onward, Perseus fancied iat ho could hear the rustle of a garment X by Ws he '\7^n T r ^^^ ^'•'^ "PP"* *» 'he one whe™ he oeheld Qmeksilver, yet only Quicksilver was v^fbr Whose garment is this," inquired Perseus "that keeps nisUing close beside me in the bJze ?"• ' ' ■'Sh?i; comLr/''*''''-'.;' '^^'''^ QuieksUvor. SAe IS commf along with us, as I told you she sister. You have no idea how wise she is. She Z su»h eyes, too ! Why, she can see you, at tht mZ cter theX;":::." "'• ^'"' ''"^ "^ '^'^ «-* *» -'i- By this time, in their swift voyage through the air welluT "'*'" "'?"*".* *« ^-* -ean "d were soon flying over it Far beneath them the rolled a wnite surf-hne upon the long beaches, or 'I'HE GORGON ^S HEAD. 4^ gentle murmui- ]ikp fK • although it became a " Where ? " e«laimed Pertts " r ^"''^°""" them." J^^erseus. "I cannot see tte^^L"''.fl°^:* "»f ,^^^^^^^^^ y- •• -plied strike in the .X " ^7^"'' ^'^ ^o- '•-d, would -d'QS:e*;™::l:;r'':.i-v:^''^-er t^^^^^^ Straight ^ownwarf tr'n ♦. ' f'"' *'"'■>' «« ' " ^ lowhimTPerseu^^^'r-*™ "" ""'''e thousand feet be- ^ except on one side wh^rp T '"'"''^^^ ^^o^^, -d. He descend t^;:iTar/ fr" "' ^""^ at a eluster or heap of brigh ne' 5 If'"! T ''"^ ripice of black roek8 be Sd tt' "'" *"'" °* » P"^ Gorgons! ThevirV^ . i ™ ^^'^ "»« ^rrible der ff the sea fe i^' "^'T '"""'''' "-^ *>■« "'•'- W deafened ^'LXI ". n"'"''^ *""' ""■"<' tures into slumber.^ ite m„„ U r""'" "*''* "^"^ steely scales, and on »J ™"°--*S'>t glistened on their idly over IL^Z *^^/»Wen wings, which drooped look at, were th™i „ ? , '"^" "'"*»' horrible to fragn.e;t?«7,tt tS tt ,"'"""""' "^^ ™™-'«'"»» of -.ring sonrSoTtrt^ fuT^e^^ V^^ that served them instPfl/l nf k • ^ ^^® ^^^^es asleep ; although now and Z '""^'' '^^^"^^^ *« »^« and lift it. h^i !^T f "^ *^^^' ««« would writhe, - ^ea^, aau thrust out its forked tongu^ 42 THE GORGON'S HEAD. i\' emitting a drowsy hiss, and then let itself subside among its sister snakes. The Gorgons were more like an awful, gigantic kind of insect -immense, golden-winged beetles, or dragon, flies or thmgs of that sort, -at once ugly and beau- titul, — than like anythmg else ; only that they were a thousand and a million times as big. And, with all this, there was something partly human about them, too Luckily for Perseus, their faces were completely hidden fTom him by the posture in which they lay; for, had he but looked one instant at them, he woidd have fallen heavily out of the air, an image of sense- less stone. « Now," whispered Quicksilver, as he hovered by the side of Perseus, _ '^now is your time to do the deed 1 Be quick ; for, if one of the Gorgons should awake, you are too late ! " ^ "Which shall I strike at?" asked Perseus, draw- mg his sword and descending a Httle lower. " Thev al^ three look alike. All three have snaky locks. Which of the three is Medusa? " It must be understood that Medusa was the only one o^ these dragon-monsters whose head Perseus could possibly cut off. As for the other two, let him have the sharpest sword that ever was foiled, and he might have hacked away by the hour together, without doing them the least harm. « Be cautious," said the eahn voice which had before spoken to him. " One of the Gorgons is stirring in her sleep, and is just about to turn over. That is Medusa. Do not look at her ! The sight would turn you to stone 1 Look at the reflection of her face and Hgure m the bright mirror of your shield." Perseus now understood Quicksilver's motive for so If sense- I! THE GORGON'S HEAD. 48 earnestly exhorting him to polish his shield. In its surface he could safely look at the reflection of the Gor- gon a face. And there it was, -that terrible counts nance,- mirrored in the brightness of the shield, with the moonhght faUing over it, and displaying ^ to ^ri" ^" r""^',' ^^"^ venomous naUs could not altogether sleep, kept twisting themselves over the forehead. It was the fiercest a„d most horrible face , that ever was seen or miagined, and yet with a stranee fearful and savage kind of beaut/in it. The eS ZT. t7% "'"' *•"' ^"«''" ^'^ ^"" » » deep sW ber but there was an unquiet expression disturbing her features, as if the monster was troubled with af ugly dream She gnashed her white tusks, and dug into the sand with her brazen elawa The snakes, (»o, seemed to feel Medusa's dream, and ^Ives into tmnultuous knots, writhed fiercely, and «p- Wted a hmidred hissing heads, without opening thek "Now now ! " whispered Quicksilver, who was grow- mg impataent. " Make a dash at the monster - "^ the v„? ''^' '.f^ "'' S^ave, melodious voice, at the yomig man's side. " Look in your shield, as ^ou Sit sZw- • "'"' **"' """' "•='' '"^ '" -' -i- y- Perseus flew cautiously downward, stiU keepine his eyes on Medusa's face, as inflected in his slueld. iLe nearer he came, the more terrible did the snaky visa« he found himself hovering over her within arm's length Pe^^us uplifted his sword, while, at the same ins^t" ^h separate snake upon the Gorgon's head steS t^=.«<=mn6ly upward, and Medusa unclosed her ejet. 44 THE GORGON ^S HEAD. wieked Medusa tumbled from her body ! Admirably done!" cried (^uieMver. "Make W and clap the hea,l into your magic waUet." lo the astonisJimeiit of Perseus tlm c»«oii i. • ^ It If **"" ""* "Sser than a imrse, grew 7 at once arge enough to contain Medusa's h^L As qmck as thought, he snatched it u„, withZe snlt stdl wnthuig upon it, and thrust it iu. rour task is done," said the c An voire. " Now % ; for the other Gorgons will do their utml t to tX vengeance for Medusa's death." 1, J' Tj '"''"f ' "''*«^'y to take flight ; for Perseus had not done the deed so quietly but tha the clXf of r; • '"V'!''"'"^ "' ''"--kes, J tltmmp sifatrth .r'! *""'"^'' "P°" *''<' ^-beaten sand, awoke the other two monsters. There thev saf for an .nstant, sleepily rubbing their eyerwid.'^let bra^n fingers, while all th. snakes on the r heads reared themselves on end with surprise, and wVven omous mal.ce against they knew „Tt what bI Ire" fess anXr ' n *' ""'y """^^ "f M^J"-, l'c=^" out „nl ^.? " """^^ "" ™«'«<'' "nd half 'spread out on the sand, ,t was reaUy awful to hear what yX and screeches they set up. And then the snakes . ^d mIsI'"* '' ■"'"''-'*''1 hiss, with one 00.^:, ^Jl Medusa s snakes answered them out of the magic iuJ^Lr""' ^T- "" ^"■^"^ """^^ ='^ake than they hurtled upward mto tl.e air, brandishing their b«^s telons, pashmg their horrible tusks, and Sapping thTir iuge wn,gs so wUdly, that some of the goldenK™ Make II TUB OOBGOIfS BEAD. 46 were shaken out, and floated down upon the shore. And tWe perhaps, those very feathers lie seattei^ed, tm this day. Up rose the Gorcons as I t^ll v„. . • horribly about, in hopes of tSrCL^fc; Z? into heir lutehes, his i,oor motlier would never have tossed her boy ..gain ! But he took good earc t^ turn his eyes another way; and, as he wol the helme " f mvisibUity the Gorgons knew not in what .tet ^n to foUow him; nor did he fail to make the best use of a.e wuiged slippers, by soaring upward a permmlu ZTr •"• , 1^* *^' ^'^'She, when the'erelms rf ^ose abominable ereatnres sounded faintly beneath bim, he made a straight eourse for the island of Sen- decTe's.'" '° """^ ^'^""^'^ l-^ to King Poly- !s h!s MI '"^*'^" .^^'*'»- o" '•» way homeward ; sueh t* e «oint ' V "" ^^^•non^'er, just as it was on ne clianged an enormous giant into a mountain of Stone, merely by showing him the head ofle STon age to Africa, some day or other, and see the venr mo^ntam, whreh is stiU known by the aneient S FinaUy, our brave Perseus arrived at the island where he expeeted to see his dear mother. Buldur-' L Zl fl *f ''^.""""PeUed to make her escape, ^^n!.^. "^^'^^ '" " *"'»?'«• w)"*™ «<»"« good old priests were extremely kind to her. These pilist Zt"' ^' ^l ''"'*-''«'^'' fi'herman'^ht -a- lu„t »howa iiospitaji^ to Uanae and Httle Perseus 46 THE OOttGON'S HEAD, when he found them afloat in the chest, seem to have been the only persons on the island who cared about doing right. AU the rest of the people, as well as Amg J:'olydectes liiniself, were remarkably ill-behaved and deserved no better destiny than that which was now to happen. Not finding his mother at home, Perseus went straight to the palace, and was innnediately ushered into the presence of the king. Polvdectes was by no means rejoiced to see him ; for he hid felt almost cer- tain, m his own evU mind, that the Gorgons would have torn the poor young man to pieces, and have eaten hun up, out of the way. However, seeing him safely returned, he put the best face he could upon tlie matter and asked Pei^seus how he liad succeeded. ^ " Have you performed your promise ? » inquired he. Wave you brought me the head of Medusa witli the snaky locks ? If not, young man, it will cost you dear ; tor 1 must have a bridal present for the beautiful Prin- cess Hippodamia, and there is nothing else that she would admire so much." ;' Yes, please your Majesty," answered Perseus, in a quiet way, as if it were no very wonderful deed for such a young man as he to perform. " I have brought you the Gorgon's head, snaky locks and aU ! " Indeed I Pray let me see it," quoth King Poly- dectes. « It must be a very curious spectacle, if all that travellers tell about it be true ! " *^Your Majesty is in the right," replied Perseus. It IS really an object that will be pretty certain to hx the regards ot all who look at it. And, if your Majesty think fit, I would suggest that a holiday be proclaimed, and that all your Majesty's subjects be summoned to behold this wonderful curiosifiv- T^^o™ J. _„„ \. f THE GORGON'S HEAD. 47 them, I imagine, have seen a Gorgon's head before, and perhaps never may again I " The kmg weU knew tliat his subjects were an idle set of reprobates, and very fond of sight-seeing, as idle persons usually are. So he took the young man's ad- vice, and sent out heralds and messengers, in all di- rections, to blow the trumpet at the street-corners, and in the market-places, and wherever two roads met, and sununon everybody to court. Thither, accordingly, came a great multitude of good-for-nothing vagabonds, all of whom, out of pure love of mischief, would have been glad if Perseus had met with some ill-hap in his encounter with the Gorgons. If there were any better people m the isi; nd (as I really hope there may have been, although the storytells nothing about any such), they stayed quietly at home, minding their business, and taking care of their little children. Most of the inhabitants, at all events, ran as fast as they<3ould to the palace, and shoved, and pushed, and elbowed one another, in their eagerness to get near a balcony, on which Perseus showed himself, holding the embroi- dered wallet in his hand. On a platform, within full view of the balcony, sat the mighty King Polydectes, amid his evil cour sellers, and with his flattering courtiers in a semicircle round about him. Monarch, counsellors, courtiers, and sub- jects, all gazed eagerly towards Perseus. " Show us the head I Show ns the head ! " shouted the people ; and there was a fierceness in their cry as if they would tear Perseus to pieces, unless he should .ntisfy them with what he had to show. « Show us ti.9 head of Medusa with the snaky locks I " 1 feeling of sorrow and pity came over the youthful Perseus. / 48 THE GORGON'S HEAD. «*0 Kinff Polydectes," cried he, "and ye many people, I urn very loiitli to show you the Gori-ou'a head ! " "Ah, the villain and coward I " yelled the people, more fiercely than before. " He is making game of us 1 He has no Gorgon's head I Show us tlu* head, if you have it, or we will take your own head for a football I " The evil counsellors whispered bad advice in the king's ear; the courtiers nuuiuured, with one consent, that Perseus had shown disrespect to their royal lord and master ; and the great King Polydectes himself waved his hand, and ordered him, with the stern, deep voice of authority, on his peril, to produce the head. " Show me the Gorgon's head, or 1 will cut oif your own I " And Perseus sighed. " This instant," repeated Polydectes, " or yon die I " " Behold it, then I " cried Perseus, iu a voice like the blast of a tnunpet. And, suddenly holding up the head, not an eyeHd had time to wink before the wicked Kin^ Polydectes, his evil counsellors, and all his fierce subjects were no longer anything but the mere images of a monarch and his people. They were aij fixed, forever, in the look and attitude of that moment! At the first glimpse of the terrible head of Medusa, they whitened into marble I And Perseus thrust the head back into his wallet, and went to tell his dear mother that she need no longer be atraid of the wicked King Poly- dectes. TANGLEWOOD PORCH. AFTER THE STORY. *' Was not that a very fine story ? " asked Eustace. *' Oh yes, yes ! " cried Cowslip, clapping her hunds. "And those funny old women, with only one eye amongst them I 1 never heard of anything so strange." " As to their one tooth, which they shifted about," observed Primrose, " there was nothing so very won- derful in that. I 8upi)ose it was a false tooth. But think of your turning Mercury into Quicksilver, and talking about his sister ! Yon are too ridiculous ! " "And was she not his sister?" asked Eustace Briglit. " If I had thought of it sooner, I would have described her as a maiden lady, who kept a pet owl ! " "Well, at any rate," said Primrose, "your story seems to have driven away the mist." And, indeed, while the tale was going forward, the vapors had been quite exhaled from the lands<;ape. A scene was now disclosed wliich the spectators might almost fancy is having been created since tli(y had last looked in the direction where it lay. About half a mile distant, in the lap of the valley, now appeared a beautiful lake, which reflected a perifect image of its own wooded banks, and of the summits of the more distant hills. It gleamed in glassy trnnquillity, with- out the trace of a winged breeze ou any part of its 50 TANGLEWOOD PORCH. t bosom. ^ Beyond its farther shore was Monument Mountain, in a recumbent position, stretching almost across the vaUey. Eustace Bright compared it to a huge, headless sphinx, wrapped in a Persian shawl ; and, indeed, so rich and diversified was the autumnal foliage of its woods, that the simile of the shawl was by no means too high-colored for the reality. In the lower ground, between Tanglewood and the lake, the clumps of trees and borders of woodland were chiefly golden-leaved or dusky brown, as having suffered more fi-om frost than the foliage on the hill-sides. Over all this scene there was a genial sunshine, in- termingled with a sHght haze, which made it unspeak- ably soft and tender. . Oh, what a day of Indian sum- mer was it going to be ! The children snatched their baskets, and set forth, with hop, skip, and jump, and all sorts of frisks and gambols; while Cousin Eustace proved his fitness to preside over the party, by outdo- ing all their antics, and performing several new capers, which none of them could ever hope to imitate. Be- hind went a good old dog, whose name was Ben. He was one of the most respectable and kind-hearted of quadrupeds, and probably felt it to be his duty not to trust the children away from their parents without some better guardian than this feather-brained Eus- tace Bright. 1*1 THE GOLDEN TOUCH. SHADOW BROOK. roTRODTTCTOBY TO "THE GOLDEN TOUCH.'* '^ At noon, our juvenile party assembled in a dell, through the depths of which ran a little brook. The dell was narrow, and its steep sides, from the margin ot the stream upward, were thickly set with trees, chiefly walnuts and chestnuts, among which grew a tew oaks and maples. In the summer time, the shade ot^ so many clustering branches, meeting and inter- mmglmg across the rivulet, was deep enough to pro. duce a noontide twilight. Hence came the name of Shadow Brook. But aow, ever since autumn had crept mto tins secluded place, aU the dark verdure was changed to gold, so that it reaUy kindled up the even had it been a cloudy day, would have seemed to keep the sunlight among them; and enough of them had fallen to strew all the bed and margm of the brook with sunlight, too. Thus the shady niTk, where ZT f rt' '^"^^' ^'^ -- the^sunniesrs; anywhere to be found. ^ The little brook ran along over its pathway of gold, tZS^T'^L'Z'^^^ ^ P-1' - -hich min/owsLr^ ^«..^g ^ ««u iroi aau then it hurried onward at a 62 SHADOW BROOK. V swifter pa«e, as if in haste to reach the lake ; and, for- getting to look whither it went, it tumbled over the root of a tree, which stretched quite across its current. You would have laughed to hear how noisily it bab- bled about this accident. And even after it had run onward, the brook still kept talking to itself, as if it were in a maze. It was wonder-smitten, I suppose, at finding its dark dell so illuminated, and at hearing the prattle and merriment of so many children. So it stole away as quickly as it could, and hid itseK in the lake. In the dell of Shadow Brook, Eustace Bright and his little friends had eaten their dinner. They had brought plenty of good things from Tanglewood, in their baskets, and had spread them out on the stumps of trees, and on mossy trunks, and had feasted mer- rily, and made a very nice dinner indeed. After it was over, nobody felt like stirring. " We will rest ourselves here," said several of the children, " while Cousin Eustace tells us another of his pretty stories." Cousin Eustace had a good right to be tired, as well as the children, for he had performed great feats on that memorable forenoon. Dandelion. Clover, Cow- slip, and Buttercup were almost persuaded that he had winged slippers, like those which the Nymphs gave Perseus; so often had the student shown himself at the tiptop of a nut-tree, when only a moment before he had been standing on the ground. And then, what showers of walnuts had he sent rattling down upon their heads, for their busy little hands to gather into the baskets I In short, he had been as active as a squirrel or a monkey, and now, flinging himself down on the yellow leaves, seemed inclined to take a little rest l! SHADOW BROOK, 58 But children have no mercy nor consideration for anybodys weariness; and if you had but a single breath left, they would ask you to spend it in teUiL them a stoiy. «v*uug ^ " Cousin Eustace," said Cowslip, " that was a very nice stor^ of the Gorgon's Head. Do you think you could tell us another as good ? " "Yes, child," said Eustace, pulling the brim of hi. cap over his eyes, as if preparing for a nap. "I can tell you a dozen, as good or better, if I choose." «nv.?'^"-Tp' ^""r ^f ™W^' d« you hear what he says ? cried Cows]. T,, dancing with delight. « Cousin Eustace is goi . tell us a dozen better stories than that about tl: .gon's Head ! " " I did not promise you even one, you fooHsh little Cowslip I said Eustace, half pettishly. "However I suppose you must have it. This is the consequence of having earned a reputation I I wish I were a great deal duller than I am, or that I ha^ never shown half the bright qualities with which nature has endowed ^mfort r*^^'' ^ ""'^^^ ^'^^^ ""^ ''^^ ''"*' ''' P'^^ ^^ But Cousin Eustace, as I think I have hinted be- fore, was as fond of teUiiig his stories as the children of hearing them. His mind was in a free and happv state, and took delight in its own activity, and scarcely required any external impulse to set it at work. How different is this spontaneous play of the intel- lect from the trained diligence of maturer years, when toil has perhaps grown easy by long habit, and the day 8 work may have become essential to the day's comfort, althougit the rest of the matter has bubbled away I This remark, howftv«v i^ «ot -^ ^ ^ ^i cmldren to hear. 64 SHADOW BROOK. Without furthsr solicitation, Eustace Bright pro- ceeded to tell the ''ollowing really splendid story. It had come into his mind as he lay looking upward into the depths of a tree, and observing how the touch of Autumn had transmuted every one of its green leaves into what resembled the purest gold. And this change, which we have all of us witnessed, is as won- derful as anything that Eustace told abouc in the story of Midaa. ^; t pro- y. It d into uch of leaves i this 3 won- } story \ THE GOLDEN TOUCH. Once upon a time, there lived a very rich man, and a king besides, whose name was Midas; and he had a little daughter, whom nobody but myseH ever heard of, and whose name I either never knew, or have en- tirely forgotten. So, because I love odd names for little girls, I choose to call her Marygold. This King Midas was fonder of gold than of any- thirg else in the world. He valued his royal crown chiefly because it was composed of that precious metal. If he loved anything better, or half so weU, it was the one little maiden who played so merrily around her lather's footstool. But the more Midas loved his daughter, the more did he desire and seek for wealth. He thought, foolish man ! that the best thing he could possibly do for this dear chUd would be to bequeath her the immensest pile of yellow, glistening coin, that had ever been heaped together since the world was made. Thus, he gave all his thoughts and all his time to this one purpose. If ever he happened to gaze fop an instant at the gold-tinted clouds of sunset, he wished that they were real gold, and that they could be squeezed safely into his strong box. When little Marygold ran to meet him, with a bunch of buttercups and dandelions, he used to say, " Poh, poh, child ! If these flowers were as golden as they look, they would be worth the plucking ! " And vet. in his pa^lip*" rloTra K/>f«-«/> i,- _._„ __ .^ , V ■ -' — j-^ .'^.ivrxc ne was so en- tirely possessed of this insane desire for riches, King 66 THE GOLDEN TOUCH. Midas had shown a great taste for flowers. He had planted a garden, in which grew the biggest and beau- tif ullest and sweetest roses that any mortal ever saw or smelt. These roses were still growing in the gar- den, as large, as lovely, and as fragrant, as when Midas used to pass whole hours in gazing at them, and inhaling their perfume. But now, if he looked at them at all, it was only to calculate how much the garden would be worth if each of the innumerable rose- petals were a thin plate of gold. And though he once was fond of music (in spite of an idle story about his ears, which were said to resemble those of an ass), the only music for poor Midas, now, was the chink of one coin against another. At length (as people always growmor- and more foolish, unless they take care to grow wiser and wise •), Midas had got to be so exceedingly unreasonable, that he could scarcely bear to see or touch any object that was not gold. He made it his custom, therefore, to pass a large portion of every day in a dark and dreary apartment, under ground, at the basement of his pal- ace. It was here that he kept his wealth. To this dismal hole — for it was little better than a dun- geon — Midas betook himself, whenever he wanted to be particularly happy. Here, after carefully lock- ing the door, he would take a bag of gold coin, or a gold cup as big as a washbowl, or a heavy golden bar, or a peck-measure of gold-dust, and bring them from the obscure corners of the room into the one bright and narrow sunbeam that fell from the dun- geon-like window. He valued the sunbeam for no other reason but that his treasure would not shine without its help. And then would he reckon over the coins in the bag ; toss up the bar, and c;.iqh it a§ it THE GOLDEN TOUCH, 57 came down ; sift the gold-dust through his fingers ; look at the funny image of his own face, as reflected in the burnished circmnference of the cup ; and whis- per to hmiself, - O Midas, rich King Midas, what a happy man art thou I » But it was laughable to see how the image of his face kept grinning at him, out of ti.e polished surface of the cup. It seemed to be aware of his foolish behavioi, and to have a naughty inclination to make fun of him. Midas called himself a happy man, but felt that he was not yet quite so happy as he might be. The very tiptop of enjoyment wouki never be reached, unless the whole world were to become his treasure-room, and be filled with yeUow metal which should be all his own. Now, I need hardly remind such wise little people as you are that in the old, old times, when King Mi- das was alive, a great many things came to pass, which we should consider wonderful if they were to happen in our own day and country. And, on the other hand, a great many things take place nowadays, which seem not only wonderful to us, but at which the people of old tmies would have stared their eyes out. On the whole I regard our own times as the strangest of the two ; but, however that may be, I must go on with my story. fo "« Mulas was enjoying himself in his treasure-room, one day, as usual, when he perceived a shadow faU over the neaps of gold; and, looking suddenly up, what should he behold but the figure of a strange^ standing in the bright and narrow smibeam ! It It Was Lime the imagination of King Midas eUow tinge o/er everything, or whatever the threw 58 THE GOLDEN TOUCB, cause might be, he could not help fancying that the smile with which the stranger regarded him had a kind of golden radiance in it. Certainly, although his figure intercepted the sunshine, there was now a brighter gleam upon all the piled-up treasures than be- fore. Even the remotest corners had their share of It, and were Ughted up, when the stranger smiled, as with tips of flane and sparkles of fire. As Midas knew that he had carefully turned tho key in the lock, and that no mortal strength could possib^ break into his treasure-room, he, of course, conch 1 that his visitor must be something more than mortal. It is no matter about telling you who he was. In those* days, when the es .th was com- paratively a new affair, it was supposed to be often the resort of beings endowed with supernatural power, and who used to interest themselves in the joys and sorrows of men, women, and children, half playfully and half seriously. Midas had met such beings before now, and was not sorry to meet one of them again. The stranger's aspect, indeed, was so good-humored and kindly, if not beneficent, that it would have been unreasonable to suspect hun of i i tending any mischief. It was far more probab: 5 that h<> came to do Midas a favor. And what could that favor be, unless to multi- ply his heaps of treasure ? The stranger gazed about the riom ; and when his lustrous smile had glistened upon all the golden ob- jects that were there, he turned again to Midas. " You are a wealthy man, friend Midas ! " he ob- served. " I doubt whether any other four walls, on earth, contain so much gold as you have contrived to pile up in this room." " I have done pretty well, — pretty well," answered •"TiTn^ I 1 II THE GOLDEN TOUCH. 69 Midas, in a discontented tone. " But, after all, it is but a trifle, when you consider that it has talcen me my whole life to get it together. If one could live a thousand years, he might have time to grow rich I " " What I " exclaimed the stranger. " Then you are not satisfied?" Midas shook his head. "And pray what would satiuiy you?" asked the stranger. " Merely for the curiosity of the thing, I should be glatl to know." Midas paused and m^oditated. He felt a presenti- ment that this stranger, with such a golden lustre in his good-humored smile, had come hither with both the power and the purpose of gratifying his utmost wishes. Now, therefore, was the fortunate moment, when he had but to speak, and obtain whatever possi- ble, or seemingly impossible thing, it might come into his head to ask. So he thought, and thought, and thought, and heaped up one golden mountain upon another, in his imagination, without being able to im- agine them big enough. At last, a bright idea oc- curred to King Midas. It seemed really as bright as the glistening metal which he loved so much. Raising his head, he looked the lustrous stranger in the face. " Well, Midas," observed his visitor, « I see that you have at length hit upon something that will satisfy you. Tell me your wish." " It is only this," replied Midas. " I am weary of collecting my treasures with so much trouble, and be- holding the heap so diminutive, after I have done my best. I wish everything that I touch to be changed to gold!" The sti-anger's smile grew so very broad, that it '\\ 60 THE GOLDEN TOUCH, seemed to fill the room like an outbiirflt of the Bim, gleaming- into a shadowy di 1], where the yellow au- tumnal leaves^ for so looked the lumps and particles ot gold — he strewn in the glow of light. "The Golden Touch ! " exclaimed he. " You car- tainly deserve credit, friend Midas, for striking out so brilliant a conception. But are you quite sui-e that tins will satisfy you ? " *' How could it fail? " said Midas. " And will you never regret the jwssession of it ^ » " What could induce me? " asked Midas. " 1 usk nothing else, to render me perfectly happy." "Be it as you wish, tiien," replied the stranger, waving his hand in tol^en of farewell. " To-mormw at sunrise, you will find yourself gifted with the (jrolden Touch." The figure of the stranger then became exceecUnglv bright, and Midas involuntarily closed his eyes On openmg them again, he beheld only one yellow sun. beam m the room, and, all around him, the glisteninff of the precious metal which he had spent his life in Hoarding up. Whether Midas slept as usual that night, the story does not say. Asleep or awake, however, his mind was probably m the state of a child's, to whom a beau- tiful new plaything has been promised in the morning. At any rate day had hardly peeped over the hills, when King Midas was broad awake, and, stretching his arms out of bed, began to touch the objects that were wi hm reach. He was anxious to prove whether the Golden Touch had really come, according to the stranger s promise. So he laid his finger on a chair by the bedside, and on various other things, but was gnevouslv disapnnintefl fQ r»arnoj.r^ *u„i. xi_ . , THE GOLDEN TOUCH, 61 of exactly the same substance as before. Indeed he felt very nuuli afraid that i,e had only dreuiiied about tlie lustrous stranfrer, or else that the latter had been making j^anie of him. And what a niiseralile affair would It l.e if, after all his h.^pes, Midas rimsi content umse f with what little j,a,ld he could scrape together by ordinary means, instead of cr.«u,,.; it by a touch I Ml this while, it was only t\e gray ,.f the morning, with but a streak of brightncM .'ong t.e edge of the sky, where Mi.las eouhl not se. n:, } \^ lay in a very disconsolate mood, regretting t .e downfall of his hopes, and kept growing satUler and sadder, until the earliest sunb..am shone through the window, and gilded the ceiling over his hea-'" viio viiiiu, -^^ Well as I I 1 THE GOLDEN TOUCH. 65 •I her sobs would let her ; " it is not beautiful, but the ugliest flower that ever gi-ew ! As soon as I was dressed 1 ran into the garden to gather some roses for you; because I know you like them, and like them the bet- ter when gathered by your little daughter. But, oh dear, dear me! What do you think has happened? buch a misfortune ! All the beautiful roses, that smelled so sweetly and had so many lovely blushes are blighted and spoilt ! They are grown quite yel! low, as you see this one, and have no longer any fra- graiice ! W hat can have been the matter with them ? " '.l\^''\'7. '^^^'^ ^^^^^^ girl, -pray don't cry about It ! said Midas, who was ashamed to confess that he himself had wrought the change which so greatly af- flicted her. " Sit down and eat your bread and milk I You will find it easy enough to exchange a golden rose like that (which will last hundreds of years) fop an ordinary one which would wither in a day." " I don't care for such roses as this ! " cried Mary- gold, tossing it contemptuously away. "It has no smell, and the hard petals prick my nose ! " The child now sat do^vn to table, but was so occu- pied with her grief for the blighted roses that she did not even notice the wonderful transmutation of her China bowl. Perhaps this was all the better; for Marygold was accustomed to take pleasure in looking at the queer figures, and strange trees and houses, that were painted on the circumference of the bowl ; and these ornaments were now entirely lost in the yellow hue of the metal. Midas, meanwhile, had poured out a cup of coffee, and, as a matter of course, the coffee-pot, whatever metal it may have been when he took it up, was gr^ld when he set it down. He thought to himself, that it 66 THE GOLDEN TOUCH. was rather an extravagant style of splendor, in a king of his simple habits, to breakfast off a service of gold, and began to be puzzled with the difficulty of keeping his treasures safe. The cupboard and the kitchen would no longer be a secuie place of deposit for arti- cles so valuable as golden bowls and coffee-pots. Amid these thoughts, he lifted a spoonful of coffee to his lips, and, sipping it, was astonished to perceive that, the instant his lips touched the liquid, it became mclfen gold, and, the next moment, hardened into a lump I " Ha ! " exclaimed Midas, rather aghast. " What is the matter, father? " asked little Mary, gold, gazing at him, vitl^ the tears still standing in her eyes. " Nothing, child, nothing ! " said Midas. « Eat your milk, before it gets quite cold." He took one of the nice little trouts on his plate, and, by way of experiment, touched its tail with his finger. To his horror, it was immediately transmuted from an admirably fried brook-trout into a gold-fish, though not one of those gold-fishes which people often keep in glass globes, as ornaments for the parlor. No ; but it was really a metallic fish, and looked as if It had been verj cunningly made by the nicest gold- smith in the world. Its little bones were now golden wires ; its fins and tail were thin plates of gold ; and there were the marks of the fork in it, and ail the de- licate, frothy appearance of a nicely fried fish, exactly imitated in metal. A very pretty piece of work, as you may suppose ; only King Midas, just at that mo- meiit, would much rather have had a real trout in his dish than this elaborate and valuable imitation of one. " I don'f. nnil-i> qoo " f;hnno■^f l^o *-f^ i-'- — -if " "* T ^ nr*?, J/UUU^lit xiJ; \Aj iiAUKjcil, "HOW X am to get any breakfast I " , THE GOLDEN TOUCH. er ') He took one of the smoking-hot cakes, and had scarcely broken it, when, to his cruel mortification, though, a moment before, it had been of the whitest wheat, it assumed the yeUow hue of Indian meal. To say the truth, if it had really been a hot Indian cake, Midas would have prized it a good deal more than he now did, when its soUdity and increased weight made him too bitterly sensible that it was gold. Almost in despair, he helped himself to a boiled egg, which immediately underwent a change similar to those of the trout and the cake. The egg indeed, might have be'in mistaken for one of those which the famous goose, in the story-book, was in the habit of laying; but Kii.g Midas was the only goose that had had anything to do with the matter. "Well, this is a quandary! " thought he, leaning back m his chair, and looking quite enviously at Uttle Marygold, who was now eating her bread and milk with great satisfaction. « Such a costly breakfast be- fore me, and nothing that can o, eaten ! " Hopmg that, by dint of great dispatch, he might avoid what he now felt to be a considerable inconven- ience. King Midas next snatched a hot potato, and at- tempted to cram it into his mouth, and swaUow it in a hurry. But the Golden Touch was too nimble for him. He found his mouth full, r-t of mealy potato, but of solid metal, which so burnt his tongue that he roa. 3d aloud, and, jumping up from the table, ]>egan to dance and stamp about the room, both with pain and affright "Father, dear father!" cried little Marvgold, who was a very affectionate child, "pray what is the matter? Have you burnt your mouth ? " "Ah, dear child," groaned Midas, dolefully, '•! don t know what is to become of your poor father 1 ** 68 THE GOLDEN TOUCH, ■i And, tndy my dear little folks, did you ever hear of such a pitiable ease in all your liv s ? Here was liter- ally the richest breakfast tiiat could be set before a king, and its very richn(vss made it absolutely rjood for nothing. The poorest laborer, silting dov^^; 'o his crust of bread and cup of water, wa. far better off than King Midas, whose delicate food was really v/ortl Its weigbt in gold. And what was to be done ? Al ready, at ureakfast, Miflas wis excessively hunr .saaie sort of indigestible dishes as those no^^^ betote him \ How many days, thmk you, would he «tuvivo a continuance of this rich fare ? These reflections so troubled wise King Midas that he began to doubt whether, after all, riches are the one de.n'able thing in the world, or even the most desir- able. But this was only a passing thought. So fas- cinated was Midas with the glitter of the yelIo^v metaL that he woald still have refused to give up the Golden Touch for so paltry a consideration as a breakfast. Just imagine what a price for one meal's victuals ! It would have been the same as paying millions and mill- ions of money (and as many millions more as would take forever to reckon up) for some fried trout, an egg, a potato, a hot cake, and a cup of coffee ! " It would be quite too dear," thought Midas. Nevertheless, so great was his hunger, and the per- plexity of his situation, that he again groaned aloud and very grievously too. Our pretty Marygold could endure it no longer. She r,at. a moment, gazing at her father, and trying, with alj ; J^e might of her little wits, to find out what was the laatter with him. Tliec THE GOLDEN TOUCH. 69 mih. a sweet and sorrowful impulse to comfort him, she started from her chair, and, running to Midas, threw her arms affectionately about his knees. He bent down and kissed her. He felt that his little daughter's love was worth a thousand times more than he had gained by the Golden Touch. " My precious, precious Marygold I " cried ho. But Marygold made no answer. Alas, what had he done ? How fatal was the gift which the stranger bestowed ! The moment the lips of Midas touched Marygold's forehead, a change had taken place. Her sweet, rosy face, so full of affection as it had been, assumed a glittering yellow color, with yellow tear-drops congealing on her cheeks. Her beautiful brown ringlets took the same tint. Her soft and tender little form grew hard and inflexible within her father's encircling arms. Oh, terrible misfortune I The victim of his insatiable desire for wealth, little Marygold was a human child no longer, but a golden statue I Yes, there she was, with the questioning look of love, grief, and pity, hardened into her face. It was the prettiest and most woful sight that ever mortal saw. All the features and tokens of Marygold were there ; even the beloved little dimple remained in her golden chin. But, the more perfect was the resemblance, the greater was the father's agony at beholding this golden image, which was all that was left him of a daughter. It had been a favorite phrase of Midas, whenever he felt particularly fond of the child, to say that she was worth her weight in gold. And now the phrase had become literally true. And now, at last, when it was too late, he felt how infinitely a warm, and tender heart, that loved him, exceeded in value all the wealth that could be piled up betwixt the earth and sky I \ 70 THE GOLDEN TOUCH. It would be too sad a story, if I were to tell you how Midas, in the fulness of all his gratified desires, began to wring his hands and bemoan himself ; and how he could neither bear to look at Marygold, nor yet to look away from her. Except when his eyes were fixed on the unage, he could not possibly beheve that she was changed to gold. But, stealing another glance, there was the precious little figure, with a yellow tear-drop on its yellow cheek, and a look so piteous and tender, that it seemed as if that very expression must needs scrften the gold, and make it flesh again. This, how- ever, could not be. So Midas had only to wring his hands, and to wish that he were the poorest man in the wide world, if tjie loss of all his wealth might bring back the faintest rose-color to his dear child's face. While he was in this tumult of despair, he suddenly beheld a stranger standing near the door. Midas bent down his head, without speaking ; for he recognized the same figure which had appeared to him, the day before, in the treasure-room, and had bestowed on him this disastrous faculty of the Golden Touch. The stranger's countenance still wore a smile, which seemed to shed a yellow lustre all about the room, and gleamed on little Marygold's image, and on the other objects that had been transmuted by the touch of Midas. " Well, friend Midas," said the stranger, " pray how do you succeed with the Golden Touch ? " Midas shook his head. " I am very miserable," said he. " Very miserable, indeed ! " exclaimed the stranger. " And how happens that ? Have I not faithfully kept my promise with you ? Have you not everything that ^ 1 t h d sj e^ w m G flc if} THE GOLDEN TOUCH. 71 « Gold is not everything," answered Midas. «' And 1 have lost all that my heart really cared for." ♦. "i^V»» ^"^ ^""^ ^^"^^ ""^^^ * discovery, since yes- WJuch of these two things do you think is really worth the most, -the gift of the Golden Touch, or one cup of clear cold water ? " » « ^u|i "0 blessed water!" exclaimed Midas. "It will never moisten my parched throat again I " "The Golden Touch," continued the stranger, "or a crust of bread ? " "*"ger, or fCtu^""^ ""^ ^Jf^^'" ^'''^"'"^ ^^^^«' " i« worth all the gold on earth!" " T.^^1 ^,'!?'^'" ^^"'^'" ^^^^^ **^e stranger, " or your Tho""^^^^^^ "^"^' ^^'*' ^^^ ^^^^ - «^^ -- "Oh my child, my dear child!" cried poor Midas, wringing his hands. "I would not have given that one smaU dimple m her chin for the power of chang- ing ttiis whole big earth into a soHd lump of gold ' " " You are wiser than you were, King Midas I " said the stranger, looking seriously at him. " Your own heart I perceive has not been entirely changed from flesh to gold Were it so, your case would indeed be desperate. But you appear to be still capable of under- standing that the commonest things, such as lie within everybody's grasp, are more valuable than the riches Which so many mortals sigh and struggle after. Tell me now, do you sincerely desire to rid yourself of this Golden Touch?" " It is hateful to i«^e : " replied Midas. A fly settled on bs nose, but immediately fell to the Tr 1 "' ,f"'.^''^ ^""^"^^^ ^°^^- ^'^^^^ shuddered. Uo,then, saad the stranger, "and plunge into the 72 THE GOLDFr T'^'^rnff^ river that glides past tli 'jott^iu oi your garden. Take likewise a vasu of the ame water, and sprinkle it over any object that you may desire to change back again from gold into its fonuer substance. If you do this in earnestness and sincerity, it may pos: '^ ' , ..^^^.i- the mischief which your avarice has occasioned." King Midas bowed low; and when he lifted his head, the lustrous stranger had vanished. You will e;j jily believe that Midas lost no time in snatching up a great earthen pitcher (but, alas me I it was no longer earthen after he touched it), and has- tening to tlie river-side. As he s(!ampered along, and forced his way throuj^h the shrubbery, it was ])ositively marvellous to see how tlie foliage turned dlow behind him, as if the autunm had been tht?re, and nowliere else. On reaching the river's brink, he plunged head- long in, V, [fhout wailing so much as to pull off his shoes. " Poof ! poof ! poof ! " snorted King Midas, as his head emerged out of the water. " W ell ; this is really a refreshing bath, and I think it must have quite washed away the Golden '^ouch. iind i >w for filling my pitcher ! " As he dipped the pitcher into the water, it glad- dened his V'^ry heart to see ii, change fro ■; gold into the same good, honest earthen vessel which it had been before he touched it. He was consci; \4, also, of a change within himself. A cold, rd, nd heavy- weight seemed to have goi t^ out oJ .s som. No doubt, his heart had been gradually sing *ts human substai)' , and transmuting itself into insensible metal, but had now softened back again into flesh. Perceiv- ing a violet, that grew on the bank of the river, Midas THE GOLDEN TOUCH. 7d t.- i2_ J lUiU that the delicate flower retained its pnrpk h„e in- King Midas hastened back to the palac'e, and I suppose the servants knew not what 'to n,uL „' it when they saw their royal master so earef ully bring nl home an earthen pit.her „f water. But that wL? >vh>eh was to nndo all the misehi ' that his folly M wrought, was more precious to Mi,u, than ano'oan^ molten gold could have been. The first tl "n,^ he "lid as you need hardly be tohl, was to .sprinkle ,t by hani fuls over the golden figure of little Marygold W edT's ""^ '* !r" °" ■"" *'«'" y- «■"•"'' have ,Ze n r.'"""^ ''"""'" "egan to sneeze and «imtte..-and how astonished she was to find her- :l :'::r r';^*' "■"' -^^ '^*-- ^^^^ ^-^-^^ — " Pray do i, lear father I " cried she. " See how Z^:;,T -^ "- f-". which I pnt on oni; thU For Marygold did not know that she h.ad been a lit. tKr/ !■"•' """''' ^''^ -«n.en.ber anything that had happened since the moment when she ran with outstretched arms to comfort poor King Midas. I f u?, , f ■'"* ""* "'"''' " necessary to tell his be- himself with showmg how much wiser he had now grown. For this purpose, he led little MarygMd "nZ the garden, where he sprinkled all the remainder of Z wate. over the rose-bush^s, and with such good eCt tha^ ...ove five thousand n.ses . ecovc,^ thefr beanlhd "ioum. inei* wei-e two circumstauces, however, which. 74 THE OOLDEN TOUCH. as lon^ as he lived, used to put King Midas in mind of the Golden Touch. One vas, that the sands of the river sparkled like [?old ; the other, that little Mary- gold's hair had now a golden tinge, which he had never observed in it before slie had been transnuitod by the effei't of his kiss. This change of hue was really an improvement, and made Marygold's hair richer than in her babyhood. When King Midas had grown quite an old man, and used to trc)t Marygold's children on his knee, he was fond of telling them this marvellous story, pretty much as I have now told it to you. And then would he stroke their glossy ringlets, and tell them that their hair, likewise, had a rich shade of gold, which they had inherited from their mother. " And to tell you the truth, my precious little folks," quoth King Midas, diligently trotting the children all the while, " ever since that morning, I have hated the very sight of all other gold, save iAm I '* Cl : t i SHADOW BROOK. AFIKH THE STORY. fond of eliciting a " ^ PrLT^^' « •/'' ^^'^ f "^'^ "* ^^"S- Midas," said saucy Primrose, « it was a famous one thousands of years be- fore Mr. Eustace Bright came into the world, and will continue to be so as long after he quits it. But some people have what we may call ' The Leaden Touch,' ^hirgLTpr.''"^ '"" ^"^ ''^-^ ''-' ^'-y '^y "You are a smart child, Primrose, to be not yet in your teens said Eustace, taken, rather aback by the piquancy of her criticism. "But you well know in your «y little heart, that I have burnished 'the oU gold of Midas all over anew, and have made it shine as it never shone before. And then that figure Tn ^J^ A 1^' ^"^ Pr^^^^ "^ '^^^^ workmanfhip in that ? And how finely I have brought out and deepened the moral I What say you. Sweet Fern; Dandelion, Clover, Periwinkle? l^^ould any of you after hearmg this story, be so foolish as to desire the laculty of changing things to gold ? " " I 8hould like " said Periwinkle, a girl of ten, « to have the power of turning everything to gold with my Kgh.xoreimger: but^ with my left forefinger, I should 76 SHADOW BROOK. I want the power of changing it back again, if the first change did not please me. And I know what I would do, this very afternoon ! " " Pray tell me," said Eustace. " Why," answered Periwinkle, " I would touch every one of these golden leaves on the trees with ray left forefinger, and make them all green again ; so that we might have the summer back at once, with no ugly winter in the mean time." " O Periwinkle ! " cried Eustace Bright, " there yoa are wrong, and would do a great deal of mischief. Were I Midas, I would make nothing else but just such golden days as these over and over again, all the year throughout. My best thoughts always come a little too late. Why did not I tell you how old King Midas came to America, and changed the dusky au- tumn, such as it is in other countries, into the bur- nished beauty which it here puts on ? He gilded the leaves of the great volume of Nature." "Cousin Eustace," said Sweet Fern, a ^ood little boy, who was always making particular inquiries about the precise height of giants and the littleness of fai- ries, " how big was Marygold, and liow much did she weigh after she was turned to gold ? " " She was about as tall as you are," replied Eus- tace, " and, as gold is very heavy, she weighed at least two thousand pounds, and might liave been coined into thirty or forty thousand gold dollars. I wish Prim- rose were worth half as much. Come, little people, let us clamber out of the dell, and look about us." They did so. The sun was now an hour or two be- yond its noontide mark, and filled the great hollow of the valley with its western radiance, so that it seemed to be brimming with mellow light, and to spill it over SHADOW BROOK. 77 the surrounding hill-sides, like golden wme out of a bowl. It was such a day that you could not help say- ing- of it, " There never was such a day before ! " al- though yesterday was just such a day, and to-morrow will be just such another. Ah, but there are very few of them in a twelvemonth's circle ! It is a remark- able pecuiiarily of these October days, that each of them seems to occupy a great deal of space, although the sun rises rather tardily at that season of the year, and goes to bed, as little children ought, at sober six o'clock, or even earlier. We cannot, therefore, call the days long ; but they appear, somehow or other, to make up for their shortness by their breadth ; and when the cool night comes, we are conscious of having enjoyed a big armful of life, since morning. "Come, children, come!" cried Eustace Bright. " More nuts, more nuts, more nuts ! Fill all your bas- kets ; and, at Christmas time, I will crack them for you, and tell you beautiful stories ! " So away they went ; all of them in excellent spirits, except little Dandelion, who, 1 am sorry to tell you, had reen sitting on a chestnut-bur, and was stuck as full as a pincushion of its prickles. Dear me, how un- comfortably he must have felt 1 THE PARADISE OF CHILDREN. II' TANGLEWOOD PLAY-ROOM. INTRODUCTORY TO "THE PARADISE OF CHILDREN." The golden days of October passed away, as so many other Octobers have, and brown November like- wise, and the greater part of chill December, too. At last came merry Christmas, and Eustace Bright along with it, making it all the merrier by his presence. And, the day after his arrival from college, there came a mighty snow-storm. Up to this time, the winter had held back, and had given us a good many mild days, which were like smiles upon its wrinkled visage. The grass had kept itself green, in sheltered places, such as the nooks of southern hill-slopes, and along the lee of the stone fences. It was but a week or two ago, and since the beginning of the month, that the children had found a dandelion in bloom, on the mar- gin of Shadow Brook, where it glides out of the dell. But no more green gi-ass and dandelions now. This was such a snow-storm! Twenty miles of it might have been visible at once,. between the windows^of Tanglewood and the dome of Taconic, had it been possible to see so far among the eddying drifts that whitened all the atmosphere. It seemed as if the hills were giants, and were flinging monstrous hand- fuls of snow at one another, in their enoimous sport. TANGLEWOOD PLAY-ROOM. 79 So thick were the fluttering snow-flakes, that even the trees, midway down the valley, were hidden by them the greater part of the time. Sometimes, it is true, the little prisoners of Tanglewood could discern a dim outline of Monument Mountain, and the smooth white- ness of the frozen lake at its base, and the black or gray tracts of woodland in the nearer landscape. But these were merely peeps through the tempest. Nevertheless, the children rejoiced greatly in the snow-storm. They had already made acquaintance with it, by tumbling heels over head into its highest drifts, and flinging snow at one another, as we have just fancied the Berkshire mountains to be doing. And now they had come back to their spacious play- room, which was as big as the great drawing-room, and was lumbered with all sorts of playthings, large and small. The biggest was a rocking-horse, that looked like a real pony ; and there was a whole fam- ily of wooden, waxen, plaster, and china dolls, besides rag-babies ; and blocks enough to build Bunker Hill Monument, and nine-pins, and bails, and humming- tops, and battledores, and grace-sticks, and skipping- ropes, and more of such valuable property than I could tell of in a printed page. But the cuildren liked the snow-storm better than them all. It sug- gested so many brisk enjoyments for to-morrow, and all the remainder of the winter. The sleigh-ride ; the slides down hill into the valley ; the snow-images that were to be shaped out ; the snow-fortf*^s*He^ that WMm to be built ; and the snowballing to b*^ carri^l on ! So th^' little folks blessed the 8now-»f/»rm, antA were glad to see it come thicker and fctiiekfr, and <^a*/hed hopefully the long drift that was piling itself up in f'.no o ironiic avuA tiro o n 5..... -- - -^-iriAV'j 'Jv&s^Si. T7 - u>3 tsi.s.t; caLiA Ix, 1 .U^- i.1 heads. .J iiigzicr i,jssw s4ij K.I liiBiS BO TANGLEWOOD PLAY-ROOM. (( Why, we shall be blocked up till spring! " cried they, with the hugest delight. " What a pity that the house is too high to be quite covered up ! The little red house, down yonder, will be buried up to its eaves." " You silly children, what do you want of more snow ? " asked Eustace, who, tired of some novel that he was skinmiing through, had stroUed into the play- room. "It has done mischief enough already, by spoiling the only skating that I could hope for through the winter. We shall see nothing more of the lake till April ; and this was to have been my first day upon it ! Don't you pity me, Primrose ? " " Oh, to be sure ! " answered Primrose, laughing. " But, for your comfort, we will listen to another of your old stories, such as you told us under the porch, • and down in the hollow, by Shadow Brook. Perhaps I shall like them better nov,-, when there is nothing to do, than while there were nuts to be gathered, and beautiful weather to enjoy." Hereupon, Periwinkle, Clover, Sweet Fern, and as many others of the little fraternity and cousinhood as were still at Tanglewood, gathered about Eustace, and earnestly besought him for a story. The student yawned, stretched himself, and then, to the vast ad- miration of the small people, skipped three times back and forth over the top of a chair, in order, as he ex- plained to them, to set his wits in motion. " WeU, well, children," said he, after these prelimi- naries, " since you insist, and Primrose has set her heart upon it, I will see what can be done for you. And, that you may know what happy days there were before snow-storms came into fashion, I will tell you a story of the oldest of all old times, when the world TANGLE WOOD PLAY-ROOM. 81 was as new as Sweet Fern's bran-new humming-top. There was then but one season in the year, and that was the delightful summer ; and but one age for mor- tals, and that was childhood." " I never heard of that before," said Primrose. "Of course, you never did," answered Eustace. " It shall be a story of what nobody but myself ever dreamed of, — a Paradise of children, — and how, by the naughtiness of just such a little imp as Primrose here, it all came to nothing." / So Eustace Bright sat down in the chair which he had just been skipping over, took Cowslip upon his knee, ordered silence throughout the auditory, and be- gan a story about a sad naughty child, whoso name was Pandora, and about her playfellow Epimetheus. You may read it, word for word, in the pages that come next. THE PARADISE OP CHILDREN. Long, long ago, when this old world was in its tender infancy, there was a child, named Epimetheus, who never had either father or mother ; and, that he might not be lonely, another child, fatherless and motherless like himself, was sent from a far country, to live with him, and be his playfellow and helpmate. Her name was Pandora. The first thing that Pandora saw, when she entered the cottage where Epimetheus dwelt, was a gresLt box. And almost the first question which she put to liim, after crossing the threshold, was this, — " Epimetheus, what have you in that box ? " "My dear little Pandora," answered Epimetheus, " that is a secret, and you must be kind enough not to ask any questions about it. The box was left here to be kept safely, and I do not myself know what it con- tains." " But who gave it to you ? " asked Pandora. " And where did it come from ? " " That is a secret, too," replied Epimetheus, "How provoking!" exclaimed Pandora, pouting her lip. " I wish the great ugly box were out of the way ! " " Oh come, don't think of it any more," cried Epime- theus. " Let us run out of doors, and have some nk^ play with the other children." It is thousands of years since Epimetheus and Pan- dora were alive : and the world, nowadays^ i» a very It m THE PARADISE OF CHILDREN. 83 different sort of thing from what it was in their time. Then, everybody was a child. There needed no fathers and mothers to take care of the children ; be- cause there was no danger, nor trouble of any kind, and no clothes to be mended, and there was always plenty to eat and drink. Whenever a child wanted his dinner, he foimd it growing on a tree ; and, if he looked at the tree in the morning, he could see the ex- panding blossom of that night's supper ; or, at even- tide, he saw the tender bud of to-morrow's breakfast. It was a very pleasant life indeed. No labor to be done, no tasks to be studied ; nothing but sports and dances, and sweet voices of children talking, or carol- ling like birds, or gushing out in merry laughter, throughout the livelong day. What was most wonderful of aU, the children never quarrelled among themselves ; neither had they any crying fits ; nor, since time first began, had a single one of these little mortals ever gone apart into a cor- ner, and sulked. Oh, what a good time was that to be alive in ? The truth is, those ugly little winged mon- eters, called Troubles, which are now almost as nu- merous as mosquitoes, bad oever yet been seen on the earth. It is probable that the very greatest dis- quietude which a child had ever experienced was Pan. dora's vexation at not being able to discover the secret of the mysterious box This was at first only the faint shadow of a Trouble ; but, every day, it grew more and more substantial, until, before a great while, the cottage of Epimetheus and Paaadtaa was less sunshiny than those of the other ehildren. ^^hence can the box have eome ? " Paadora con- ""'■■"'U kept sanng to hersdf and to Epimetheus. ** And what in. the wodd can be in^da of it ? " i 84 THE PARADISE OF CHILDREN. " Always talking about this box ! " said Epimetheus, at last ; for he had grown extremely tired of the sub' ject. " I wish, dear Pandora, you would try to talk of something else. Come, let us go and gather some ripe figs, and eat them under the trees, for our supper. And I know a vine that has the sweetest and juiciest grapes you ever tasted." " Always talking about grapes and figs ! " cried Pandora, pettishly. "Well, then," said Epimetheus, who was a very good-tempered child, like a multitude of children in those days, " let us run out and have a merry time with our playmates." *'I am tired of merry times, and don't care if 1 never have any more ! " answered our pettish little Pandora. " And, besides, I never do have any. This ugly box ! I am so taken up with thinking about it all the time. I insist upon your telling me what is inside of it." " As I have already said, fifty times over, I do not know ! " replied Epimetheus, getting a little vexed. *' How, then, can I tell you what is inside ? " " You might open it," said Pandora, looking side- ways at Epimetheus, " and then we could see for our- selves." " Pandora, what are you thinking of ? " exclaimed Epimetheus. And his face expressed so much horror at the idea of looking into a box, which had been confided to him on the condition of his never opening it, that Pandora thought it best not to suggest it any more. Still, how- ever, she could not help thinking and talking about the box. LL k i ," said she, *' } ou ciiu. tell iuc how It cuino here.' THE PARADISE OF CIIILDIIEN. 85 ^^ "It was left at the door," replied Epimetheus, just betore you came, by a person who looked very smilmg and intelligent, and who could hardly forbear laughing as he put it down. He was dressed in an odd kind of a cloak, and had on a cap that seemed to be made partly of feathers, so that it looked ahnost as II it had wings. ;' What sort of a staff had he ? " asked Pandora. ^ Oh the most curious staff you ever saw ! " cried Epimetheus. "It was like two serpents twisting around a stick and was carved so naturally that I, at liist, thought the serpents were alive " " I know him," said Pandora, thoughtfully. " No- body else has such a staff. It was Quicksilver ; and he brought me hither, as weU as the box. No doubt he intended it for me ; and, most probably, it contain pretty dresses for me to wear, or toys for you and me to^play with, or something very nice for us both to « to utTo"- V'-r"""^^ Epimetheus, txirning away. 13ut until Quicksilver comes back and tells us so we have neither of us any right to lift the .Md of the b^x." What a dull boy he is I " muttered Pandora as Epimetheus left the cottage. "I do wish he m" iittJe more eiiterpiise ! " Jj **"." ''•?■.' """ ?'""' '"'■■ =*™™'' Epi.»etheu3 had gone out without asking Pandora to accompany hun. He went to gather flgs and grape, by himself, or to seek whatever amusement he couhl find, in other soci- ety than h,s httle playfeliow's. He was tired to death of hearmg about the box, and heartily wished that SdtlT'r ""^r ^'^ ""> messenger's name, had eft .t at some other ehihrs door, wher« ta.dori^ ?fould never have set eyes on it So perseverlagly as I. s, i m 86 THE PARADISE OF CHILDREN, i y 1 11 s ' r I ii> she did babble about this one thing I The box, the box, and notliing but the box ! It seemed as if the box were bewitched, and as if the cottage were not big enough to hohl it, without Pandora's continually stumbling over it, and making Epimctheus stumble over it likewise, and bruising all four of their shins. Well, it was really hard that poor Epimetheua should have a box in his ears from morning till night ; especially as the little people of the earth were so un- accustomed to vexations, in those happy days, that they knew not how to deal with them. Thus, a small vexation made as much disturbance then, as a far big- ger one would in pur own times. After Epimetheus was gone, Pandora stood gazing at the box. She n.-d called it ugly, above a hundred times ; but, in s]j!:» <-• all that she had said against it, it was positive]} s vevy handsome article of fiu-niture, and would have been quite an ornament to any room in which it shoidd be placed. It was made of a beau- tiful kind of wood, with dark and rich veins spreading over its surface, which was so highly polished that lit- tle Pandora could see her face in it. As the child had no other looking-glass, it is odd that she did not value the box, merely on this account. The edges and corners of the box were carved with most wonderful skill. Around the margin there were figures of graceful men and '/omen, and the prettiest children ever seen, reclining or sporting amid a pro- fusion of flowers and foliage ; and these various ob- jects were so exquisitely represented, and were wrought together in such harmony, that flowers, foliage, and human beings seemed to combine into a wreath of mingled beauty. But here and there, peeping forth from behind the carved foliage. Pandora once or twice THE PARADISE OF CHILDREN. 8T fancied that slic saw a face not so lovely, or something or other that was clisagioeable, and vshich stole tlie beauty out of all tlie rest. Nevertheless, on looking more closely, and touchin^r the spot with her finger she couhl discover nothing of the kind. Some f ' that was really beautiful, luid been made to look by her catching a sidevvay glimpse at it. The mo t I .autiful face of aU was done in what is caUed hig^ relief, in the centre of the lid. There wa^ nothing else, save H.e dark, smooth richness of the polished wood, and as one face in the centre, with a garland of flowers about its brow. Pandora had looked at this face a great many times, and imagined that the mouth could sniile if it liked, or be grave when It chose, the same as any living mouth. The features, indoed, aU wore a veiy lively and rather mischievous xpression, which looked ahnost as if it needs must burst out of the carved lips, and utter it. Belt m words. «nn^!'lI•*^^^"lVP"^^°' '^ ^^^^ P^«^^% have been something like this : ^ j " Do not be afraid, Pandora ! What harm can there be m opening the box ? Neve, mind that poor, simple Epimetheus ! You are wiser than he, and have ten times as much spirit. Open the box, and see if you do not find something very pretty ! " The box I had almost forgotten to say, was fas- tened ; not by a lock, nor by any other such contri- vance, but by a very intricate knot of gold cord. There appeared to be no end to this knot, and no be- ginnmg. Never was a knot so cunningly twisted, nor with so many ms and outs, which roguishly defied the skilfullest fingers to disentan^lp the- 4-^ ~t " the very difficulty that there was in it, Pandora wa^ ^, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) \ h ^4^ 4io 1.0 ^^^ 1.1 2.0 IM 11:25 II u ■ 1.6 PhofnoranViir _,Sdences Corporation 33 WiST MAIN STRUT WEBSTIR.N.Y. 14SM (716) •72-4503 4 v ^x 88 THE PARADISE OF CHILDREN. \ ! ,. I'' it! Li the more teinpttid to examine the kiuit, und just see how it was made. Two or three times, already, she had stooped over the box, and taken the knot between her thumb and forefinger, but without positively try- ing to undo it. "I really believe," said she to herself, "that I begin to see how it was done. Nay, perhaps I could tie it up again, after undoing it. There would be no harm in that, surely. Even Ei)imetheus would not blame me for that. I need not open the box, and shoidd not, of course, without the foolish boy's consent, even if the knot were untied." It miglit have been better for Pandora if she had hml a little work to do, or anything to employ her mind upon, so as not to be so copstautly thinking of this one subject. But children led so easy a life, be- fore any Troubles came into the world, that they had really a great deal too much leisure. They could not be forever playing at liide-and-seek among the flower- shrubs, or at blind-man's-buff with garlands over their eyes, or at whatever other games had been foimd out, while Mother Earth was in her babyhood. When life is all sport, toil is the real play. There was absolutely nothing to do. A little sweeping and dusting about the cottage, I suppose, and the gathering of fresh flowers (which were only too abundant everywhere), and arranging them in vases, — and pour little Pan- dora's day's work was over. And then, for the rest of the day, there was the box ! After all, I am not quite sure that the box was not a blessing to her in its way. It supplied her with suoh a variety of ideas to think of, and to talk about, when- ever she had anybody to listen ! When she was in guUU-UUJUiur, Siiu uuUiu. avimiic viio wix^uv j^^i.^t^'j -r. ..,•;? THE PARADISE OF CHILDREN, 89 Sides and tho rich border of l,eautif ul faces and foli- aff. .hat ran all aro.u.d it. Or, if she chanced t. l.o Ill-tempered Hhe could ^.Jve it a push, or kick it with her nauo^hty httle foot. An,l many a kick di.l the box ■-- (but It was a mischievous box, as we shall see, and deserved all ,t got ) _ many a kick did it receive i3ut, certain ,t is, if it had not been fo: the box, our ac ive-„„nded httle Pandora would not have known half so well how to spend her time as she now did. lor It was really an endless en.ploynient to guess whatwa.s mside. W'mt could it be, indeed ? Just imagme, my little hearers, h.w busy yoin- wits would be, If there were a great box in the house, which, as you miglit have reason to suppose, contained some- thing new and pretty for your Christmas or New- Years gifts. Do you think that you should be less curious than Pandora? If you were left alone with the box, might you not feel a little tempted to lift the li«l^ But you woidd not do it. Oh, fie! Jso, no! Unly, if you thought there were toys in it, it would be so very hard to let slip an opportunity of taking just one peep ! I know not whether Pandora expected any toys ; for none had yet begun to be mado, probably, in those days, when the world itself was one great play- thing for the children that dwelt upon it. But Pan dora was convinced that there was something verv beautiful and valuable in the box ; and therefore she teit just as anxious to take a peep as any of these little prls, here around me, would have felt. And possibly, a little more so ; but of that I am not quite so certain. ^ On this particular day, however, which we have so long been talking about, her cnriositv ora,., .,. «,,,.u greater than it usually waa, that, at last, she ap- y 90 THE PARADISE OF CHILDREN. w preached the box. She was more than half deter- tuined to o})en it, if she could. Ah, naughty Pan- dora! First, however., she '.ricd to lift it. It was heavy ; quite too heavy for the slender strength of a child, like Pandora. She raised one end of the box a few inches from the floor, and let it fall again, with a pretty loud tliump. A moment afterwards, she al- most fancied that she heard something sti;' inside of the box. She applied her ear as closely as possible, and listened. Positively, there did seem to be a kind of stifled murmur, within ! Or was it merely the sinjfinjr in Pandora's ears ? Or could it be the beat- ing of her heart ? The child '^ould not quite satisfy herself whether she had heard anything or no. But, at all events, her curiosity was stronger than ever. As she drew back her head, her eyes fell upon the knot of gold cord. "It must have been a very }*:> ous person "vho tied this knot," said Pandora to herself " But I think I could untie it nevertheless. I am resolved, at least, to find the two ends of the cord." So she took he golden knot in her fingers, and pried into its intricacier as sharply as she could. Al- most without intendinf; it, or quite knowing what she was about, she was soon busily engaged in attempting to undo it. Meanwhile, the bright sunshine came through the open window ; as did likewise the merry voices of the children, playing at a distance, and per- haps the voice of Epimetheus among them. Pandora stopped to listen. V^hat a beautiful day it was I Would it not be wiser, if she were to let the trouble- some knot alone, and think no more about the box, but run and join her little playfellows, and be happy ? THE PARADISE OF CHILDREN. W Al! this time, however, her fingers were half un- consciously busy with the knot ; and happening to glance at the flower-wreatluMl face on the lid of the enchanted box, she seemed to perceive it slyly grin- ning at her. "^ "^ * " That face looks very mischievous," thought Pan- dora. "I wonder whether it smiles because I am do- ing wrong! I have the greatest mind in the world to run away ! But just then, by the merest accident, she gave the faiot a kind of a twist, which produced a wonderful result The gold cord untwined itself, as if by magic, and left the box without a iastening. " This is the strangest thing I ever knew ! " said Pandora. " What wiU Epimetheus say ? And how can I possilly tie it up again ? " She made one or two attempts to restore the knot, but soon found it quite beyond her skill. It had dis- entangled itself so suddenly that she could not in the least remember how the strings had been doubled into one another ; and when she tried to recollect the shape and appearance of the knot, it seemed to have gone entirely out of her mind. Nothing was to be done, tiierefore, but to let the box remain as it was mitil Jiipimetheus should come in. ''But," said Pandora, "when he finds the knot un- tiea he Will know that I have done it. How shall I make Inm believe that I have not looked into the And then the thought came into her naughty little heart that, since she would be suspected of having looked into the box, she might just as weU do so at once. Uh, very nauffhtv and verv fnoi;«h Pandor- » 3fou should have thought only of doing what wu 02 THE PARADISE OF CHILDREN. f right, and of leaving undone what was wrong, and not of what your i)Iayfellow E])inietheu8 would have said or believed. And ho iH'rhajJS she might, if the enchanted faee on the lid of tlie box liad not looked so bewiteh- ingly persuasive at her, and if she haxe past, al- though It had not yet overspread the sun. But, iust as Jl^pimetheus reached the cottage door, this cloud be- gan to intercept the sunshine, and thus to make a sud- den and sad obscurity. He entered softly ; for he meant, if possible, to steal behind Pandora, and fling the >vieath of flowers over her head before she should be aware of his approach, liut, as it happened, there was no need of his treading so very lightly He might have trod as heavily as he pleased, — as heavily as a grown man, — as heavily 94 THE PAHADtSE OF CHILDREN. \ I was poing to say, as an elephant, — without muoli probability of Pandora's hearing his footsteps. She was too intent u[)on her purjMise. At the moment of his entering the cottage, the naughty child had put hep hand to the lid, and was on the point of opening the mysterious box. Epimetheus beheld her. If he had cried out. Pandora would probably have withdrawn her hand, and the fatal mystery of the box might never have been known. But Epimetheus himself, although he said very little about it, had his own share of curiosity to know what was inside. Perceiving that Pandora was resolvetl to find out the secret, he determined that his playfellow should not be the only wise person in the cottage. And if there were anything pretty or valuable in the box, he meant to take half of it to himself. Thus, after all his sage speeches to Pandora about restrain- ing her curiosity, Epimetheus turned out to be quite as foolish, and nearly as much in fault, as she. So, whenever we blame Pandora for what happened, we must not forget to shake our heads at Epimetheus likewise. As Pandora raised the lid, the cottage grew very dark and dismal ; for the black cloud had now swept quite over the sun, and seemed to have buried it alive. There had, for a little while past, been a low growling and muttering, which all at once broke into a heavy peal of thunder. But Pandora, heeding nothing of all this, lifted the lid nearly upright, and looked inside. It seemed as if a sudden swarm of winged creptures brushed past her, taking flight out of the box, while, at the same instant, she heard the voice of Epimetheus, with a lamentable tone, as if he were in pain. " Oh, I am stung 1 " cried he. " I am stnnff ! 'lit mnoh t>8. She oment of I put her ning the f he had ravm her ht never ery little ow what M)lved to ayfellow cottage, e m the Thus, restrain- be quite le. So, med, we metheus ■ew very w swept it alive. Towling a heavy igof all inside, peptures :, while, letheus, ; fl gtunof I TlIK PAIUDrSE OF CIIILDREN. 95 Naughty Pandora ! why have you oiK)uea tliis wicke.l PaiHlom lot fall tho l.M, an.l, Htartin^ „n, l„ok.d abou hor to soo what h.I hefallon Epin.etheus. The thunder..l«ud had so darkened the room that «he co„W no very clearly cliscern what was in it. But she held a disagreeable bu^z.n^, as if a p-eat many U^e flies or giganfo mos<,uitcH^s, or those insects which we call' d^>r.bugs,an.l pn.chin.Mlop,, were darting alK.ut. And, as her eyes ^rew more a^-custonied to the in.perfec b^'ht, she saw a <.row,l of u^.ly little 8ha,>e«, with b Us' tHt iL r 7- '" '"'•' *""'• ^* "^^ ««« «f these that had stung Lpunotheus. Nor was it a great while P rand'a^^ T^^ *" «^'^--'^» - I- pani and affright than her playfeUow, and making a vast deal more hubbub about it. An ot i»reventinj,' her, th('s<« Troubles hav(» obtained ji foothold amon^' us, and dc) not seem very lik»'ly to be driven away in a hurry. For it was impossible, as you will easily ^niess, that the two children sh(»uld keep the u^dy swarm in their own little eottajre. ()n the contrary, the first thing that they did was to fling op<'n the (kwirs and windows, in hopes of getting rid of them ; and, sure enough, away flew the winged Troubles all abroad, and so pestered and tormented tlu; small people, every- where about, that none of them so imurh as smiled for many days aft' \ '"""^' knoclcing lightly and playfully on the uiside ..f the box. -Who are you ?" asked Pandora, with a little of her former euriosity. -Who are you, inside of this naughty box ? " A sweet little voice spoke fiom within, — " Only lift the lid, and you shall see."' u !! t' .""'" ,^"''^*''''^'^ Pandora, again beginning to sob, " I have had enough .>f lifting the lid ! You are msideof the l)ox, naughty creature, and there you shaU stay ! There are plenty of your ugly brothers and sisters already flying about the world. You need never thinlc that I shall be so foolish as to let you out ! " ^ She looked towards Epimetheus, as she spoke, per- haps expectmg that he would commeua her for her i\\ 9d THE PARADISE OF CHILDREN. wisdom. But the sullen boy only muttered that she was wise a little too late. " Ah," said the sweet little voice again, " you had much better let me out. I am not like those naughty creatures that have stings in their tails. They are no brothers and sisters of mine, as you would see at once, if you were only to get a glimpse of me. Come, come, my pretty Pandora ! I am sure you will let me out ! " And, indeed, there was a kind of cheerful witchery in the tone, that made it almost impossible to refuse anything which this little voice asked. Pandora's heart had insensibly grown lighter, at every word that came from within the box. Epimetheus, too, though still in the corner, had 'turned half round, and seemed to be in rather better spirits than before. " My dear Epimetheus," cried Pandora, " have you heard this little voice ? " "Yes, to be sure I have," answered he, but in no very good-humor as yet. " And what of it ? " "Shall I lift the lid again ? " asked Pandora. "Just as you please," said Epimetheus. " You have done so much mischief already, that perhaps you may as well do a little more. One other Trouble, in such a swarm as you have set adrift about the world, can make no very great difference." " You might speak a little more kindly 1 " mui-mured Pandora, wiping her eyes. ^ " Ah, naughty boy ! " cried the little voice within the box, in an arch and laughing tone. " He knows he is longing to see me. Come, my dear Pandora, lift up the lid. I am in a great hurry to comfort you. Only let me have some fresh air, and you shall soon see that matters are not