{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_7841/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_7841","id":"gutenberg_7841","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7841","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Children's Instructional Books","Children's Myths, Fairy Tales, etc.","Children's literature","Fairy tales","Mythology, Classical -- Juvenile literature","Mythology, Norse -- Juvenile literature","Readers (Elementary)"],"text":"Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Tonya Allen and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team\n\n\n\n\nA PRIMARY READER\n\nOld-time Stories, Fairy Tales and Myths Retold by Children\n\nBy\n\nE. LOUISE SMYTHE\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThis book originated in a series of little reading lessons prepared\nfor the first grade pupils in the Santa Rosa public schools. The\nobject of the lessons was three-fold: to provide reading matter for\nthe little ones who had only a small vocabulary of sight-words; to\nacquaint them early with the heroes who have come down to us in song\nand story; and to create a desire for literature.\n\nIt has been my endeavor to follow Dr. G. Stanley Hall's suggestions in\nhis monograph, \"How to Teach Reading,\" where he asks for \"true\nchild-editions, made by testing many children with the work piece-meal\nand cutting and adapting the material till it really and closely\nfitted the minds and hearts of the children.\"\n\nVarious stories were given to the pupils; discussions followed. After\na time the story was produced orally by the children. Notes were made\non expressions used and points of interest dwelt upon. Later the story\nwas either written on the blackboard or mimeographed and put into the\npupils' hands to read.\n\nIt gave great delight to the children to recognize an old friend in a\nnew dress, and as interest was aroused, but little difficulty was\nencountered in recognizing words that were indeed \"new\" in their sight\nvocabulary, but old servants in their oral vocabulary.\n\nThe spirit of the book may be illustrated by referring to the roast\nturkey in the story of The Little Match Girl. The story was told as\ndear old Hans Christian Andersen gave it to the little German children\nof fifty years ago. But American children have a different idea of the\nfowl which graces the table at Christmas time. The story as it came\nfrom the lips of the children referred to the \"turkey,\" and \"goose\"\nwas used in only one instance. As the story was to appeal to our\nchildren, the word was changed to suit their ideas.\n\nAgain, in the story of Red Riding-Hood we preferred to use the German\nending, as it leaves a far happier impression on the minds of the\nchildren than the accepted English version. The incongruity of the\nwolf's swallowing whole the grandmother and child does not destroy the\nchild's enjoyment of the story, while the happy release of both\ngrandmother and little girl forms a suitable close.\n\nAlso, as this old story handed down in so many languages is an\ninterpretation of one of the Sun myths, it seems better to cling to\nthe original, especially when it meets so entirely with the child's\napproval.\n\nBefore presenting the Norse myths for reading, they had been the\nsubject of many conversations, queries and illustrations. Some were\neven dramatized--in a childlike way, of course. Detailed descriptions\nof Mt. Ida, Asgard, and some of the principal heroes, were given. But,\nthough the little audience seemed interested in the introductory\nremarks, these never came back when the children were called upon to\nreproduce the story. The narrator at once plunged into the story part.\nIt is for this reason descriptions of heroes and places have been\nomitted in these stories. It is thus left for each teacher who uses\nthis book to employ her own method of introducing the gods of the\nhardy Norseman to her pupils.\n\nThe following works will be found useful and quite available to most\nteachers: Andersen's Norse Mythology, Mabie's Norse Stories, Mara\nPratt's Stories from Norseland, Fiske's Myths and Myth Makers,\nTaylor's Primitive Culture, Vol. I.; and Longfellow's Poems.\n\nHoping these stories will interest other children as they have\ninterested those who helped build them, I send them forth.\n\nE. LOUISE SMYTHE.\n\n_Santa Rosa, California._\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\nTHE UGLY DUCKLING\nTHE LITTLE PINE TREE\nTHE LITTLE MATCH GIRL\nLITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD\nTHE APPLES OF IDUN\nHOW THOR GOT THE HAMMER\nTHE HAMMER LOST AND FOUND\nTHE STORY OF THE SHEEP\nTHE GOOD SHIP ARGO\nJASON AND THE HARPIES\nTHE BRASS BULLS\nJASON AND THE DRAGON\n\n\n[Illustration: THEY DRESSED THOR LIKE FREYJA.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE UGLY DUCKLING.\n\n\n          under          broke          does\n          keep           only           turkey\n          warm           ugly           water\n\nA duck made her nest under some leaves.\n\n[Illustration: THE DUCK'S NEST.]\n\nShe sat on the eggs to keep them warm.\n\nAt last the eggs broke, one after the other. Little ducks came out.\n\nOnly one egg was left. It was a very large one.\n\nAt last it broke, and out came a big, ugly duckling.\n\n\"What a big duckling!\" said the old duck. \"He does not look like\nus. Can he be a turkey?--We will see. If he does not like the water,\nhe is not a duck.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          mother         jumped         duckling\n          splash         swim           bigger\n          called         began          little\n\n\nThe next day the mother duck took her ducklings to the pond.\n\n[Illustration: THE DUCK TAKES HER DUCKLINGS TO SWIM.]\n\nSplash! Splash! The mother duck was in the water. Then she called\nthe ducklings to come in. They all jumped in and began to swim. The\nbig, ugly duckling swam, too.\n\nThe mother duck said, \"He is not a turkey. He is my own little duck.\nHe will not be so ugly when he is bigger.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          yard          alone         while\n          noise         hurt          that\n          eating        know          want\n\nThen she said to the ducklings, \"Come with me. I want you to see the\nother ducks. Stay by me and look out for the cat.\"\n\nThey all went into the duck yard. What a noise the ducks made!\n\nWhile the mother duck was eating a big bug, an old duck bit the ugly\nduckling.\n\n\"Let him alone,\" said the mother duck. \"He did not hurt you.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"HE DID NOT HURT YOU,\" SAID THE MOTHER DUCK.]\n\n\"I know that,\" said the duck, \"but he is so ugly, I bit him.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          lovely        help            there\n          walked        bushes          afraid\n\nThe next duck they met, said, \"You have lovely ducklings. They\nare all pretty but one. He is very ugly.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"YOUR CHILDREN ARE ALL PRETTY EXCEPT ONE.\"]\n\nThe mother duck said, \"I know he is not pretty. But he is very good.\"\n\nThen she said to the ducklings, \"Now, my dears, have a good time.\"\n\nBut the poor, big, ugly duckling did not have a good time.\n\nThe hens all bit him. The big ducks walked on him.\n\nThe poor duckling was very sad. He did not want to be so ugly. But\nhe could not help it.\n\nHe ran to hide under some bushes. The little birds in the bushes were\nafraid and flew away.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          because       house           would\n          away          hard            lived\n\n\"It is all because I am so ugly,\" said the duckling. So he ran away.\n\nAt night he came to an old house. The house looked as if it would fall\ndown. It was so old. But the wind blew so hard that the duckling went\ninto the house.\n\n[Illustration: THE UGLY DUCKLING FINDS THE OLD HOUSE.]\n\nAn old woman lived there with her cat and her hen.\n\nThe old woman said, \"I will keep the duck. I will have some eggs.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          growl         walk\n          corner        animals\n\nThe next day, the cat saw the duckling and began to growl.\n\nThe hen said, \"Can you lay eggs?\" The duckling said, \"No.\"\n\n\"Then keep still,\" said the hen. The cat said, \"Can you growl?\"\n\n[Illustration: THE CAT SAID, \"CAN YOU GROWL?\"]\n\n\"No,\" said the duckling.\n\n\"Then keep still,\" said the cat.\n\nAnd the duckling hid in a corner. The next day he went for a walk. He\nsaw a big pond. He said, \"I will have a good swim.\"\n\nBut all of the animals made fun of him. He was so ugly.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          summer        away            cake\n          winter        swans           spring\n          flew          bread           leaves\n\nThe summer went by.\n\nThen the leaves fell and it was very cold. The poor duckling had a\nhard time.\n\nIt is too sad to tell what he did all winter.\n\nAt last it was spring.\n\nThe birds sang. The ugly duckling was big now.\n\nOne day he flew far away.\n\n[Illustration: \"OH, SEE THE LOVELY SWAN!\"]\n\nSoon he saw three white swans on the lake.\n\nHe said, \"I am going to see those birds. I am afraid they will kill\nme, for I am so ugly.\"\n\nHe put his head down to the water. What did he see? He saw himself in\nthe water. But he was not an ugly duck. He was a white swan.\n\nThe other swans came to see him.\n\nThe children said, \"Oh, see the lovely swans. The one that came last\nis the best.\"\n\nAnd they gave him bread and cake.\n\nIt was a happy time for the ugly duckling.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LITTLE PINE TREE\n\n\n          pine          leaves          other\n          woods         needles         better\n          fairy         gold            sleep\n\nA little pine tree was in the woods.\n\nIt had no leaves. It had needles.\n\nThe little tree said, \"I do not like needles. All the other trees in\nthe woods have pretty leaves. I want leaves, too. But I will have\nbetter leaves. I want gold leaves.\"\n\nNight came and the little tree went to sleep. A fairy came by and gave\nit gold leaves.\n\n[Illustration: THE FAIRY GIVES THE PINK TREE GOLD LEAVES.]\n\n          woke          cried           glass\n          little        again           pretty\n\nWhen the little tree woke it had leaves of gold.\n\nIt said, \"Oh, I am so pretty! No other tree has gold leaves.\"\n\nNight came.\n\nA man came by with a bag. He saw the gold leaves. He took them all and\nput them into his bag.\n\nThe poor little tree cried, \"I do not want gold leaves again. I will\nhave glass leaves.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          night         sunshine        bright\n          looked        wind            blew\n\nSo the little tree went to sleep. The fairy came by and put the glass\nleaves on it.\n\nThe little tree woke and saw its glass leaves.\n\nHow pretty they looked in the sunshine! 'No other tree was so bright.\n\nThen a wind came up. It blew and blew.\n\nThe glass leaves all fell from the tree and were broken.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          again         green\n          goat          hungry\n\nAgain the little tree had no leaves. It was very sad, and said, \"I\nwill not have gold leaves and I will not have glass leaves. I want\ngreen leaves. I want to be like the other trees.\"\n\nAnd the little tree went to sleep. When it woke, it was like other\ntrees. It had green leaves.\n\nA goat came by. He saw the green leaves on the little tree. The\ngoat was hungry and he ate all the leaves.\n\n[Illustration: THE GOAT EATS THE GREEN LEAVES.]\n\n          happy         best\n\nThen the little tree said, \"I do not want any leaves. I will not\nhave green leaves, nor glass leaves, nor gold leaves. I like my\nneedles best.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE PINE TREE WITH NEEDLES.]\n\nAnd the little tree went to sleep. The fairy gave it what it wanted.\n\nWhen it woke, it had its needles again. Then the little pine tree\nwas happy.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LITTLE MATCH GIRL.\n\n\n          almost        match           across\n          dark          running         bare\n          year          slippers        fell\n\nIt was very cold. The snow fell and it was almost dark.\n\nIt was the last day of the year.\n\nA little match girl was running in the street. Her name was Gretchen.\nShe had no hat on.\n\nHer feet were bare. When she left home, she had on some big slippers\nof her mama's. But they were so large that she lost them when she ran\nacross the street.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          apron         curly           lights\n          bunch         about           smelled\n          could         matches         cooking\n\nGretchen had a lot of matches in her old apron.\n\nShe had a little bunch in her hand.\n\nBut she could not sell her matches. No one would buy them.\n\nPoor little Gretchen!\n\nShe was cold and hungry.\n\nThe snow fell on her curly hair. But she did not think about that.\n\nShe saw lights in the houses.\n\nShe smelled good things cooking.\n\nShe said to herself, \"This is the last night of the year.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          knew          window          fire\n          money         even            pile\n\nGretchen got colder and colder.\n\nShe was afraid to go home. She knew her papa would whip her, if she\ndid not take some money to him.\n\nIt was as cold at home as in the street. They were too poor to have\na fire. They had to put rags in the windows to keep out the wind.\n\nGretchen did not even have a bed. She had to sleep on a pile of rags.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          frozen        candle          sitting\n          lighted       thought         stove\n          near          think           step\n\nShe sat down on a door step.\n\n[Illustration: GRETCHEN ON THE DOOR STEP.]\n\nHer little hands were almost frozen.\n\nShe took a match and lighted it to warm her hands. The match looked\nlike a little candle.\n\nGretchen thought she was sitting by a big stove. It was so bright.\n\nShe put the match near her feet, to warm them. Then the light went\nout. She did not think that she was by the stove any more.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          another       dishes          roast\n          table         cloth           ready\n          fork          knife           turkey\n\nGretchen lighted another match.\n\nNow she thought she could look into a room. In this room was a table.\n\nA white cloth and pretty dishes were on the table. There was a roast\nturkey, too. It was cooked and ready to eat. The knife and fork were\nin his back. The turkey jumped from the dish and ran to the little\ngirl.\n\nThe light went out and she was in the cold and dark again.\n\n          Christmas     candles\n          many          until\n\nGretchen lighted another match. Then she thought she was sitting by\na Christmas tree. Very many candles were on the tree. It was full\nof pretty things.\n\nGretchen put up her little hands. The light went out.\n\nThe lights on the Christmas tree went up, up--until she saw they\nwere the stars.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          grandma       never           before\n          dying         going           been\n\nThen she saw a star fall.\n\n\"Some one is dying,\" said little Gretchen.\n\nHer grandma had been very good to the little girl. But she was dead.\n\nThe grandma had said, \"When a star falls some one is going to God.\"\n\nThe little girl lighted another match. It made a big light.\n\nGretchen thought she saw her grandma. She never looked so pretty\nbefore. She looked so sweet and happy.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          take          goes\n\n\"O grandma,\" said the little girl, \"take me. When the light goes out\nyou will go away. The stove and the turkey and the Christmas tree all\nwent away.\"\n\nThen Gretchen lighted a bunch of matches. She wanted to keep her\ngrandma with her. The matches made it very light.\n\nThe grandma took the little girl in her arms. They went up, up--where\nthey would never be cold or hungry.\n\nThey were with God.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          found         next            burned\n          dead          froze           death\n\nThe next day came.\n\nSome men found a little girl in the street. She was dead.\n\nIn her hand were the burned matches.\n\nThey said, \"Poor little thing, she froze to death.\"\n\nThey did not know how happy she was in heaven.\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD.\n\n\n          six           take            cake\n          coat          butter          basket\n          hood          always          off\n\nWhen May was six years old, her grandma made her a red coat with a\nhood. She looked so pretty in it that the children all called her\n\"Red Riding-Hood.\"\n\nOne day her mama said, \"I want you to take this cake and some butter\nto grandma.\"\n\nRed Riding-Hood was very glad to go. She always had a good time at\ngrandma's.\n\n[Illustration: LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD AND HER MOTHER]\n\nShe put the things into her little basket and ran off.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          wolf          mill            shall\n          going         first           wood\n\nWhen Red Riding-Hood came to the wood, she met a big wolf.\n\n[Illustration: SHE MEETS THE WOLF.]\n\n\"Where are you going?\" said the wolf.\n\nRed Riding-Hood said, \"I am going to see my grandma. Mama has made\nher a cake and some butter.\"\n\n\"Does she live far?\" said the wolf.\n\n\"Yes,\" said Red Riding-Hood, \"in the white house by the mill.\"\n\n\"I will go too, and we shall see who will get there first,\" said the\nwolf.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          short         flowers         soft\n          stopped       tapped          pull\n          pick          voice           string\n\nThe wolf ran off and took a short way, but Red Riding-Hood stopped to\npick some flowers.\n\nWhen the wolf got to the house, he tapped on the door.\n\nThe grandma said, \"Who is there?\" The wolf made his voice as soft as\nhe could. He said, \"It is little Red Riding-Hood, grandma.\"\n\nThen the old lady said, \"Pull the string and the door will open.\"\n\nThe wolf pulled the string and the door opened.\n\nHe ran in and ate the poor old lady.\n\nThen he jumped into her bed and put on her cap.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          tapped        thank           dear\n\n          arms          hug             called\n\nWhen Red Riding-Hood tapped on the door, the wolf called out, \"Who is\nthere?\" Red Riding-Hood said, \"It is your little Red Riding-Hood,\ngrandma.\"\n\nThen the wolf said, \"Pull the string and the door will open.\"\n\nWhen she went in, she said, \"Look, grandma, see the cake and butter\nmama has sent you.\"\n\n\"Thank you, dear, put them on the table and come here.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          better        hear            eyes\n          ears          how             teeth\n          ate           cruel           poor\n\nWhen Red Riding-Hood went near the bed, she said, \"Oh, grandma, how\nbig your arms are!\"\n\n\"The better to hug you, my dear.\"\n\n\"How big your ears are, grandma.\"\n\n\"The better to hear you, my dear.\"\n\n\"How big your eyes are, grandma.\"\n\n\"The better to see you, my dear.\"\n\n\"How big your teeth are, grandma!\"\n\n\"The better to eat you.\"\n\nThen the cruel wolf jumped up and ate poor little Red Riding-Hood.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          just          hunter          scream\n          killed        heard           open\n\nJust then a hunter came by. He heard Red Riding-Hood scream. The\nhunter ran into the house and killed the old wolf.\n\n[Illustration: THE GRANDMOTHER, THE HUNTER AND LITTLE RED RIDING-\nHOOD.]\n\nWhen he cut the wolf open, out jumped Little Red Riding-Hood and\nher grandma.\n\n\n\n\nTHE APPLES OF IDUN.\n\n\n          once          hills           field\n          journey       rocks           cattle\n          walked        pieces          three\n\nOnce upon a time three of the gods went on a journey.\n\nOne was Thor and one was Loki. Loki was ugly and mean.\n\nThe gods liked to walk over the hills and rocks. They could go very\nfast for they were so big.\n\nThe gods walked on and on.\n\nAt last they got very hungry. Then they came to a field with cattle.\n\n[Illustration: LOKI AND ANOTHER GOD TAKE A WALK.]\n\nThor killed a big ox and put the pieces into a pot.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          meat          share           talking\n          cross         eagle           right\n\nThey made a big fire but the meat would not cook. They made the fire\nbigger and bigger, but the meat would not cook.\n\nThen the gods were very cross.\n\nSome one said, \"Give me my share, and I will make the meat cook.\"\n\nThe gods looked to see who was talking. There in an oak tree was a big\neagle.\n\n[Illustration: THE THREE GODS TRY TO COOK THE OX.]\n\nThe gods were so hungry that they said, \"Well, we will.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          supper        stuck           enough\n          minute        claws           stones\n          pole          against         flew\n\nThe supper was ready in a minute.\n\nThen the eagle flew down to get his share. He took the four legs\nand there was not much left but the ribs.\n\nThis made Loki cross for he was very hungry. He took a long pole\nto hit the eagle. But the pole stuck to the eagle's claws. The other\nend stuck to Loki.\n\nThen the eagle flew away. He did not fly high. He flew just high\nenough for Loki to hit against the stones.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          please        giant           flying\n          tried         feathers        suit\n\nLoki said, \"Please let me go! Oh, please let me go!\"\n\nBut the eagle said, \"No, you tried to kill me. I will not let you go.\"\n\nAnd the eagle hit him against the stones.\n\nLoki said again, \"Please let me go!\"\n\nBut the eagle said, \"No, I have you now.\"\n\nThen Loki knew the eagle was a giant and not a bird.\n\nThis giant had a suit of eagle's feathers. He was flying in his eagle\nsuit when he saw Loki.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          city          beautiful       apples\n          felt          growing         young\n\nNow the gods lived in a city named Asgard.\n\nIn this city Idun kept the beautiful golden apples. When the gods\nfelt they were growing old, they ate the apples and were young again.\n\nThe giant wanted to be like the gods. So he said to Loki, \"I will\nlet you go, if you will get me the apples of Idun.\"\n\n[Illustration: IDUN WITH HER APPLES.]\n\nBut Loki said, \"I can't do that.\"\n\n        *       *       *       *       *\n\n          bumped        gate            putting\n          stayed        golden          morning\n\nSo the eagle bumped him on the stones again.\n\nThen Loki said, \"I can't stand this. I will get the apples for you.\"\n\nLoki and the eagle went to the city. The eagle stayed by the gate, but\nLoki went into the city. He went up to Idun. She was putting the\napples into a beautiful golden box.\n\n[Illustration: LOKI AND IDUN]\n\nLoki said, \"Good morning, Idun Those are beautiful apples.\"\n\nAnd Idun said, \"Yes, they are beautiful.\" \"I saw some just like them,\nthe other day,\" said Loki.\n\n[Illustration: IDUN WITH HER APPLES.]\n\n          strange       show\n          bring         picked\n\nIdun knew there were no other apples like these, and she said, \"That\nis strange. I would like to see them.\"\n\nLoki said, \"Come with me and I will show them to you. It is only a\nlittle way. Bring your apples with you.\"\n\nAs soon as Idun was out of the gates the eagle flew down. He picked\nher up in his claws. Then he flew away with her to his home.\n\n        *       *       *       *       *\n\n          after         pale            falcon\n          passed        story           began\n\nDay after day passed and Idun did not come back. The gods did not have\nthe golden apples to eat, so they began to get old.\n\nAt last they said, \"Who let the apples go?\"\n\nThen Loki looked pale and the gods said, \"Loki, you did it.\" And Loki\nsaid, \"Yes, I did.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE GODS ASK WHERE IDUN IS.]\n\nHe did not tell a story that time.\n\nThen Loki said, \"I will get Idun and the apples back, if I may have\nthe falcon suit.\"\n\n        *       *       *       *       *\n\n          changed       faster\n\nThe gods said, \"You may have it, if you will bring the apples back.\"\n\nLoki put on the falcon suit and flew away. He looked like a big bird\nflying.\n\nWhen Loki came to the giant's home, he was glad the giant was not\nthere. He changed Idun into a nut and then flew away with the nut.\n\n[Illustration: THE GIANT SEES THE BIRD FLY AWAY]\n\nWhen the giant came home, Idun was gone. The golden apples were gone,\ntoo.\n\nThen the giant put on his eagle suit and flew after Loki.\n\nLoki heard the eagle coming. Loki flew faster.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          breath        over            changed\n          walls         blazed          burned\n\nPoor Loki was all out of breath. The eagle flew faster and faster.\n\nThen the gods got on the walls to look for Loki. They saw him coming\nand the eagle after him.\n\nSo they made fires on the walls. At last Loki flew over the walls.\n\nThen the gods lighted the fires. The fires blazed up.\n\nThe eagle flew into the fire and was burned.\n\nAs soon as Loki put the nut down, it changed to Idun.\n\nThe gods ate the beautiful golden apples and were young again.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nHOW THOR GOT THE HAMMER.\n\n\n          proud         porch           lying\n          journeys      tricks          wife\n          always        alone           asleep\n\nSif was Thor's wife.\n\nSif had long golden hair. Thor was very proud of Sif's golden hair.\n\nThor was always going on long journeys. One day he went off and left\nSif alone. She went out on the porch and fell asleep.\n\nLoki came along. He was always playing tricks.\n\nHe saw Sif lying asleep. He said, \"I am going to cut off her hair.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSo Loki went up on the porch and cut off Sif's golden hair.\n\n        *       *       *       *       *\n\n          where         around          crying\n          answer        found           somebody\n\nWhen Sif woke up and saw that her hair was gone, she cried and\ncried. Then she ran to hide. She did not want Thor to see her.\n\nWhen Thor came home, he could not find Sif.\n\n\"Sif! Sif!\" he called, \"Where are you?\"\n\nBut Sif did not answer.\n\nThor looked all around the house. At last he found her crying.\n\n[Illustration: \"OH THOR, ALL MY HAIR, IS GONE!\"]\n\n\"Oh, Thor, look, all my hair is gone! Somebody has cut it off. It was\na man. He ran away with it.\"\n\n        *       *       *       *       *\n\n          angry         mischief        right\n          getting       cutting         something\n\nThen Thor was very angry. He said, \"I know it was Loki. He is always\ngetting into mischief. Just wait until I get him!\"\n\nAnd Thor went out to find Loki. Pretty soon he found him.\n\nThor said, \"Did you cut off Sif's hair?\" Loki said, \"Yes, I did.\"\n\n\"Then you must pay for cutting off my wife's hair,\" said Thor.\n\n[Illustration: \"DID YOU CUT OFF SIF'S HAIR?\"]\n\n\"All right,\" said Loki, \"I will get you something better than the\nhair.\"\n\n        *       *       *       *       *\n\n          ground        thumb           beads\n          dwarfs        crooked         crown\n                        worked\n\nLoki went down, down into the ground to the home of the dwarfs. It was\nvery dark down there. The only light came from the dwarfs' fires.\n\nThe dwarfs were ugly little black men. They were not any bigger than\nyour thumb. They had crooked backs and crooked legs. Their eyes looked\nlike black beads.\n\n[Illustration: LOKI AND THE DWARFS.]\n\nLoki said, \"Can you make me a gold crown that will grow like real\nhair?\"\n\nThe dwarfs said, \"Yes, we can.\" So the busy little dwarfs worked all\nnight.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          morning       showed          laughed\n          spear         wonderful       three\n          ship          standing        brother\n          nobody        stepped         else\n\nWhen morning came the dwarfs gave Loki his crown of golden hair. They\ngave him a spear and a ship, too.\n\n[Illustration: THE DWARFS BRING TO LOKI THE SHIP, THE SPEAR AND THE\nCROWN OF HAIR.]\n\nLoki took the things up to Asgard, where the gods all lived.\n\nThen the gods all came up to him. He showed them the things.\n\nThe gods said, \"They are very wonderful.\"\n\nAnd Loki said, \"Oh, nobody else can make such things as my little\ndwarfs.\"\n\nA little dwarf, named Brok, was standing near by. He heard Loki say\nthat. Then he stepped up and said, \"My brother can make just as good\nthings as these.\"\n\nLoki laughed and said, \"If you can get three things as wonderful as\nthese, I will give you my head.\"\n\n[Illustration: BROK TELLS LOKI THAT HIS BROTHER CAN MAKE BETTER GIFTS]\n\n        *       *       *       *       *\n\n          anywhere      misses\n          spear         mark\n\nBrok went down into the ground where his little dwarfs were working.\n\nBrok's brother was named Sindre. He said to his brother, \"Loki says\nthat you can't make such nice things as his dwarfs can. He said that\nhe would give me his head if I could get him such wonderful things as\nhis.\"\n\nThis made the dwarfs angry. Their eyes grew big. They said, \"He will\nsee what we can do.\"\n\nSindre wanted to know what the wonderful things were.\n\nBrok said, \"Loki has a golden crown that will grow like real hair. A\nship that can go anywhere. A spear that never misses the mark.\"\n\n\"We will show him,\" said the dwarfs.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          burning       blow            pigskin\n          bellows       blew            blowing\n\nThe dwarfs soon had the fires burning. Then Sindre put a pigskin into\nthe fire.\n\nHe gave the bellows to Brok and said, \"Now blow as hard as you can.\"\n\nThen Sindre went out. Brok blew and blew.\n\nA little fly came in and bit him on the hand.\n\nThe fly bit him so hard that Brok thought he would have to stop\nblowing, but he did not.\n\nThen Sindre came back. He took out a golden pig from the fire.\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          stand         lump            ring\n\nHe next put a lump of gold into the fire.\n\nHe said to Brok, \"Blow and blow and blow, and do not stop.\"\n\nThen Sindre went out again.\n\nSo Brok blew as hard as he could.\n\nThen the same fly came in and bit him again.\n\nBrok thought that he could not stand it, but he kept on.\n\nWhen Sindre came back, he took a gold ring from the fire.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          hard          forehead        brush\n          iron          blood           hammer\n          handle        spoiled         mean\n\nThen Sindre put a lump of iron into the fire.\n\nHe said to Brok, \"Now blow as hard as you can.\"\n\nAnd Sindre went out. Brok blew and blew. The same mean fly came again,\nand bit him on the forehead. It bit so hard that the blood ran into\nhis eyes.\n\nBrok put up his hand to brush away the fly.\n\nJust then Sindre came back.\n\nHe took the hammer out of the fire.\n\n[Illustration: THE DWARFS WITH THE GOLDEN PIG, THE RING AND THE\nHAMMER.]\n\n\"There!\" he said, \"You have almost spoiled it. The handle is too\nshort, but it cannot be helped now.\"\n\n        *       *       *       *       *\n\n          hurried       proud\n          came          pocket\n\nBrok hurried up to Asgard with his things.\n\nAll the gods came around to see. Then Loki came up to show his things.\n\nHe put the crown of gold on Sif's head and it began to grow like real\nhair.\n\nHe gave the spear to Odin and said, \"This spear will never miss its\nmark.\"\n\n[Illustration: SIF WITH THE GOLDEN CROWN]\n\nThen he took out the ship. He said, \"This is a wonderful ship. It will\nsail on any sea, and yet you can fold it up and put it into your\npocket.\"\n\nLoki felt very proud, for he thought his things were the best.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          fold          sail            afraid\n          sorry         each            ring\n          shining       faster          gave\n\nAll the gods felt very sorry for little Brok. They thought Loki's\nthings were fine. They were afraid Brok's would not be so nice.\n\n[Illustration: BROK SHOWS HIS THINGS TO THE GODS.]\n\nThey said, \"Now, Brok, show your things.\"\n\nBrok took out the gold ring. He said, \"Each night this ring will\nthrow off a ring just like it. He gave the ring to Odin.\"\n\nThen Brok took out the golden pig. He said, \"This pig can go anywhere,\non the ground or in the air. It can go faster than any horse. If the\nnight is dark, the shining pig will make it light.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          frost         giants\n          turned        blowing\n\n[Illustration: THOR WITH HIS HAMMER]\n\nThen Brok showed the hammer. He said, \"This is not a very pretty\nhammer. When I was making it, Loki turned himself into a fly and made\nme spoil it. The fly bit me so hard that I had to stop blowing. So the\nhandle is a little short. But it is a wonderful hammer. If you throw\nit at anything, it will hit the mark and come back to you.\"\n\nThe gods picked up the hammer and passed it around.\n\nThey said, \"It will be just the things with which to keep the Frost\nGiants out of Asgard.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          touch         neck\n          without       way\n\nThe gods said, \"Brok's things are the best.\"\n\nBrok gave the hammer to Thor. That is the way Thor got his wonderful\nhammer.\n\nThen Brok said to Loki, \"You said I could have your head if my things\nwere the best.\"\n\nAnd Loki was angry and said, \"Yes, I told you that you could have my\nhead. But you can't touch my neck.\"\n\nOf course, Brok could not get his head without touching his neck.\n\nSo Brok did not get Loki's head.\n\n[Illustration: THE FROST GIANT]\n\n\n\n\nTHE HAMMER LOST AND FOUND.\n\n\n          everything    planned\n\nThe Frost Giants did not like the sunshine. They did not like to see\nthe flowers. They did not like to hear the birds sing. They wanted to\nspoil everything.\n\nThe Frost Giants wanted to get into Asgard. But they did not know how.\nThey were afraid of Thor and his hammer. They said, \"If we can only\nget the hammer, we can get into Asgard.\"\n\nThey talked and planned all night. At last one Frost Giant said, \"I\nknow how we can get the hammer. I will dress in a bird suit. Then I\nwill fly up to Thor's house and get the hammer.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE FROST GIANTS TALKED AND PLANNED ALL NIGHT.]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          Freyja\n\nThe next night the Frost Giant flew into the house while Thor was\nasleep.\n\nHe took the hammer and flew away with it.\n\nWhen Thor woke, he put out his hand to get the hammer. It was gone.\n\nHe said, \"Loki, the hammer is gone. The Frost Giants have taken it. We\nmust get it back.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE FROST GIANT FLEW INTO THE HOUSE WHILE THOR WAS\nASLEEP.]\n\nLoki said, \"I can get it back, if Freyja will let me have her falcon\nsuit.\"\n\nSo he went to Freyja and said, \"Will you let me have your falcon suit?\nI can get the hammer back if you will.\" Freyja said, \"Yes, of course I\nwill. If I had a gold suit you could have it. Any thing to get the\nhammer back.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          people        city            Thrym\n          strange       buried          eight\n          miles         deep            falcon\n\nLoki took the falcon suit and put it on. He flew over the city. All\nthe people saw him flying. They said, \"What a strange bird!\" They did\nnot know that it was Loki going for the hammer.\n\n[Illustration: LOKI BORROWS THE FALCON SUIT.]\n\nWhen Loki came to the city of the Frost Giants, he took off the falcon\nsuit. He walked and walked until he came to Thrym's house. Thrym was\nthe giant who took the hammer.\n\nThrym was sitting on the porch, making gold collars for his dogs.\n\nWhen he saw Loki, he said, \"What do you want?\"\n\nLoki said, \"I have come for the hammer.\"\n\nThe old giant laughed and said, \"You will never get that hammer. It is\nburied eight miles deep in the ground.\n\n\"But there is one way you can get it. I will give you the hammer if\nyou get Freyja for my wife.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          clothes       shook           necklace\n\nSo Loki went back to Asgard.\n\nThor said, \"Well, did you get the hammer?\"\n\n\"No, but we can get it if Freyja will be Thrym's wife.\"\n\nThen they went to Freyja's house. They said, \"Put on your very best\nclothes and come with us. You must be Thrym's wife.\"\n\nFreyja said, \"Do you think I will be the Frost Giant's wife? I won't\nbe his wife.\"\n\nThor said, \"We can get the hammer back if you will.\"\n\nBut Freyja said, \"No, I will not be his wife.\"\n\nLoki said, \"You will have to, if we get the hammer back.\"\n\nStill Freyja said, \"I will not go.\" And she was very angry. She shook\nso hard that she broke her necklace and it fell to the floor.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          bride         braided         wagon\n          vail          servant         goat\n\nThen the gods said, \"Thor, you must dress like Freyja. You will have\nto play you are the bride.\"\n\nThor said, \"I won't do it. You will all laugh at me. I won't dress up\nlike a girl.\"\n\nThey said, \"Well, that is the only way we can get the hammer back.\"\n\nThor said, \"I do not like to dress like a girl, but I will do it.\"\nThen they dressed Thor up like Freyja.\n\nThey put on Freyja's dress, necklace and vail, and braided his hair.\n\nLoki said, \"I will dress up too, and be your servant.\"\n\nThey got into Thor's goat wagon and went to the Giants' home.\n\n[Illustration: THOR AND LOKI APPROACH THE HOUSE OF THE GIANTS]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          dinner        salmon          mead\n          whole         thirsty         barrels\n\nWhen the Frost Giants saw them coming, they said, \"Get ready, here\ncomes the bride! We will sit down to the table as soon as they come.\"\n\nThe dinner was ready on time. The table was full of good things. All\nsat down.\n\nThe bride ate a whole ox and eight salmon before the others had a\nbite.\n\n\"She must be very hungry,\" the Frost Giants said.\n\n\"Yes,\" Loki said, \"she was so glad to come. She hasn't eaten anything\nfor eight days.\"\n\nThen they brought in the mead.\n\n[Illustration: THOR AND LOKI MET BY THRYM]\n\nThe bride drank three barrels of mead.\n\n\"How thirsty she is!\" said the Frost Giants.\n\nLoki said, \"Yes, she is very thirsty. She was so glad to come. She did\nnot drink anything for eight days.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          kiss          stepped         whirled\n          lifted        shone           lap\n\nOld Thrym said, \"I had every thing I wanted but Freyja. Now I have\nFreyja.\"\n\nAnd Thrym went to kiss the bride. He lifted her vail, but her eyes\nshone like fire.\n\n[Illustration: THRYM PUTS THE HAMMER IN THOR'S LAP.]\n\n[Illustration: THOR AND HIS HAMMER.]\n\nThrym stepped back. He said, \"What makes Freyja's eyes shine so?\"\n\nLoki said, \"Oh, she was so glad to come. She did not sleep for eight\nnights.\"\n\nThen Loki said, \"It is time for the hammer. Go and get it and put it\nin the bride's lap.\"\n\nAs soon as the hammer was in his lap, Thor tore off the vail.\n\nHe took the hammer and whirled it around. Fire flew from it. The\nfire burned the house and the Frost Giants ran away.\n\nSo Thor got his hammer back.\n\n\n\n\nThe following stories by Miss Smythe were originally published\nunder the title of \"The Golden Fleece.\" They have been carefully\nrevised and illustrated for this book.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE SHEEP.\n\n\n          ago           horns           fleece\n          king          Greece          loved\n          playing       Helle           grass\n          garden        catch           clouds\n\nLong, long ago there lived a king in Greece. He had two little\nchildren, a boy and a girl.\n\nThey were good children and loved each other very much.\n\nOne day they were playing in the garden.\n\n\"Oh, Helle, look!\" said the boy.\n\nThere on the grass was a fine large sheep. This sheep had a fleece of\ngold and his horns were gold, too.\n\n[Illustration: THE KING AND HIS TWO CHILDREN.]\n\nThe children wanted to pat the sheep, but they could not catch him.\nWhen they went near, he ran away on the clouds.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          grew          golden          hold\n          tame          ride            tight\n\nEvery day they played in the garden and every day the sheep came, too.\n\nBy and by he grew tame and let the children pat his golden fleece.\n\nOne day the boy said, \"Helle, let us take a ride.\"\n\nFirst he helped his sister on the sheep's back.\n\nThen he got on and held to the horns.\n\n\"Hold tight to me, Helle,\" he said.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          sky           dizzy           sea\n          sister        land            dragon\n          lose          nailed          Colchis\n\nThe sheep went up, up into the sky, and ran a long way on the clouds.\nBut Helle got dizzy and fell down into the sea.\n\nThe boy felt very bad to lose his sister, but went right on.\n\nThen he came to the land Colchis. He killed the sheep and gave the\ngolden fleece to the king.\n\n[Illustration: THE BOY GIVES THE GOLDEN FLEECE TO THE KING.]\n\nThe king was glad to have it and nailed it to an oak tree.\n\n[Illustration: THE SHEEP WENT UP INTO THE SKY AND RAN A LONG WAY ON\nTHE CLOUDS]\n\nBy the tree was a dragon. The dragon never went to sleep. He would not\nlet any one but the king come to the tree.\n\nSo no one could get the golden fleece.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GOOD SHIP ARGO.\n\n\n          across        untied          wade\n          Jason         brave           party\n          rained        creek           bridge\n          shoe-strings                  invited\n\n\nJason was a brave young man. He lived a little way from the king's\ncity.\n\nOne day the king gave a big party and invited Jason.\n\nIt was a very dark night and it rained hard.\n\nJason had to go across a creek, but there was no bridge.\n\n[Illustration: JASON COMES TO THE KING'S HOUSE.]\n\nThe creek was full of water and Jason had to wade.\n\nOne of his shoe-strings came untied and he lost his shoe in the\nwater.\n\nWhen he came to the king's house, he had but one shoe.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          knew          bring           fight\n          wild          Argo            asked\n          animals       shoe            Argonauts\n\nThe king did not like this, for a fairy had said, \"The man who shall\ncome to your house with one shoe, will be king.\"\n\nSo he knew Jason was to be king.\n\nThen he said to Jason, \"You may be king when you bring me the golden\nfleece.\"\n\nJason was glad to go, and asked many brave men to go with him.\n\nTo get the golden fleece they would have to fight wild men and\nanimals.\n\nThey made a big ship which they named \"Argo.\"\n\nThe men who went on the Argo were called Argonauts.\n\n\n\n\nJASON AND THE HARPIES.\n\n\n          wings         blind           nobody\n          strong        iron            hard\n          skin          drive           claws\n          scratched     brass           Harpies\n\nThe ship Argo sailed a long way. There were two strong men on the\nship. They had wings and could fly.\n\nOne day the Argo came to a land where the blind king lived.\n\nThis poor king had a hard time. When he sat down to the table to eat,\nsome ugly birds called Harpies, came too. The Harpies had skin like\nbrass and nobody could hurt them. They had claws of iron, and\nscratched people when they tried to drive them away.\n\nWhen the king's dinner was ready, the Harpies came and took it away.\nWhen Jason and his men came, the king told them all about it. Jason\nsaid they would help him.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          food          drowned         tired\n          swords        hurt            flying\n\nThey all sat down to the table. When the food was put on the table,\nthe Harpies came flying in. Jason and his men took their swords.\n\n[Illustration: JASON TRIES TO KILL THE HARPIES.]\n\nThey cut at the Harpies but could not hurt them.\n\nThen the two men with wings flew up in the air. The Harpies were\nafraid and flew away. The men flew after them.\n\nAt last the Harpies grew very tired and fell into the sea and were\ndrowned.\n\nThen the men with wings came back.\n\nNow the blind king could eat all he wanted.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          thanked       rocks           moved\n          friends       helping         good-bye\n          over          apart           icebergs\n\nIt was now time for Jason and his friends to go away.\n\nThe king thanked them over and over again for helping him.\n\nWhen they said good-bye, he told them how to get to the land where\nthey would find the golden fleece.\n\nOn the sea where Jason and his men had to sail, were two big rocks.\nThese rocks moved on the waterlike icebergs.\n\nThey were as high as a big hill. They would come close to each other,\nthen they would go far apart.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          fishes        pieces          dove\n          past          break           together\n          row           almost          rocks\n\nWhen fishes swam in the water the rocks would come together and kill\nthe fishes.\n\nIf birds flew in the air, the rocks would come together and kill\nbirds.\n\nIf a boat sailed on the water, the rocks would come together and break\nthe boat into little pieces.\n\nThese rocks had been put in the sea, so no one could go to the land\nwhere the golden fleece was.\n\nWhen the ship Argo came to the rocks, Jason sent a dove out.\n\nThe rocks came together when the dove was almost past.\n\nThen they went far apart. Jason made his men row as hard as they\ncould.\n\nThe rocks began to come together. \"Row hard, my men,\" said Jason.\n\nJust as they got past, the rocks hit, but Jason and his men were all\nright.\n\nSo they came to Colchis.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BRASS BULLS.\n\n\n          something     plow            bulls\n          stronger      chains          noses\n          mouths        smoke           plant\n          stone         flew            stall\n\nWhen Jason came to Colchis, he went to the king and said, \"Will you\ngive me the golden fleece?\"\n\nThe king wanted to keep the fleece.\n\nSo he said to Jason, \"You may have it, but you must do something\nfor me first.\"\n\n\"You must plow with the brass bulls, and plant the dragon's teeth.\"\n\nThe brass bulls looked like real bulls, but they were larger and\nstronger.\n\nThey blew out fire and smoke from their noses and mouths.\n\nThe bulls had a stall made of iron and stone. They had to be tied\nwith strong iron chains.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          daughter      Medea           carriage\n          snakes        through         pulled\n\nWhen the dragon's teeth were planted, iron men grew up.\n\nThey always killed the one who had planted them.\n\nThe king wanted the bulls to kill Jason.\n\n[Illustration: MEDEA GATHERS FLOWERS.]\n\nHe said, \"If the bulls do not kill him the iron men will.\"\n\nThe king had a daughter named Medea. She saw Jason was a brave\nyoung man and did not want him killed.\n\nShe knew how to help him. She stepped into her carriage, which was\npulled by flying snakes.\n\nThen Medea flew through the air. She went to hills and creeks and\npicked all kinds of flowers.\n\nShe took the flowers home and cooked them.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          nothing       face            rub\n          juice         legs            cut\n\nThen Medea went to Jason when the king did not know it.\n\nShe said to Jason, \"Rub your face and hands and legs with this juice.\"\n\n[Illustration: MEDEA GIVES JASON THE JUICE.]\n\nWhen he did this, he was as strong as a giant.\n\nNothing could hurt him then. Fire could not burn him, and swords\ncould not cut him.\n\nThe next day Jason had to plow with the brass bulls and plant the\ndragon's teeth.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          climbed       early           tied\n          princess      seats           hold\n          untied        opened          place\n\nEarly in the morning, the king and princess went out to the place.\n\nThey had good seats where they could see well.\n\nAll the people in the city came out to see Jason plow.\n\nThe little boys climbed the trees so they could see better.\n\nThen Jason came to the place. The stall where the brass bulls were\ntied was not far off.\n\nThe door was opened and Jason went in.\n\nHe untied the bulls and took hold of their horns.\n\nThen he made the bulls come out of their stall.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          pushed        kicked          until\n\nThe bulls were very angry and blew fire and smoke from their mouths.\n\nThis made the cruel king glad. But the people who saw it were afraid.\nThey did not want Jason killed. They did not know that the princess\nhad helped him.\n\nJason pushed the bulls' heads down to the ground. Then they kicked at\nhim with their feet, but could not hurt him.\n\nHe held their heads down on the ground until the plow was ready.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          handle        slowly          noon\n          wheat         lie             just\n\nJason took the chains in one hand. He took the handle of the plow in\nthe other.\n\nThe bulls jumped and wanted to run away.\n\nBut Jason held so hard they had to go very slowly.\n\nWhen it was noon the ground was all plowed.\n\nThen Jason let the bulls go.\n\nThey were so angry that they ran away to the woods.\n\nNow Jason went to the king and said, \"Give me the dragon's teeth.\"\n\nThe king gave him his hat full.\n\nThen Jason planted the dragon's teeth, just as a man plants wheat.\n\nBy this time he was very tired, so he went to lie down.\n\n[Illustration: JASON SOWS THE DRAGON'S TEETH.]\n\n          evening       knees           marble\n          threw         growing         fight\n\nIn the evening he came back.\n\nThe iron men were growing up. Some of the men had only their feet in\nthe ground.\n\nSome of them were in the ground up to their knees.\n\nSome had only their heads out. They all tried to get out so they could\nkill Jason.\n\nThen Jason did what Medea told him he should do.\n\nHe took a giant's marble and threw it near the men.\n\nAll the iron men wanted to get the marble.\n\nSo they began to fight each other. As soon as one had his feet out of\nthe ground, he cut at the man next to him. So they killed each other.\n\nThen Jason took his sword and cut off all the heads that were out of\nthe ground.\n\nSo all the iron men were killed and the king was very angry.\n\nBut Medea and the people were glad.\n\n\n\n\nJASON AND THE DRAGON.\n\n\n          yourself      fond            father\n\nThe next day Jason went to the king and said, \"Now, give me the\ngolden fleece.\"\n\nThe king did not give it to him, but said, \"Come again.\"\n\nThen Medea said, \"If you want the golden fleece, you must help\nyourself. My father will not give it to you. A dragon is by the tree\nwhere the golden fleece is, and he never sleeps. He is always hungry\nand eats people if they go near him. I can not kill him but I can make\nhim sleep. He is very fond of cake. I will make some cake and put in\nsomething to make the dragon sleep.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          became        climbed         angry\n\nSo Medea made the cakes and Jason took them and threw them to the\ndragon.\n\nThe dragon ate them all and went to sleep.\n\nThen Jason climbed over the dragon and took the nail out of the tree.\n\nHe put the golden fleece under his coat and ran to the ship Argo.\n\nMedea went with him and became his wife.\n\n[Illustration: THE DRAGON FINDS THE FLEECE IS GONE.]\n\nOh, how angry the king was! He had lost the golden fleece and the\nbrass bulls and the dragon's teeth. And now his daughter was gone.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          through       nine            stones\n\nHe sent his men in ships to take Jason, but they could not get him.\n\nAt last Medea and Jason and the other Argonauts came to Greece.\n\nJason's father was there. He was a very old man. Jason wanted his\nfather to be king, so he asked Medea to make the old man young.\n\nThen Medea took her carriage and flew through the air.\n\nShe did not come back for nine days. She picked flowers from the\nhills. She found all kinds of stones, too.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          stick         died            woke\n\nWhen she went home she put all these things into a pot and cooked\nthem.\n\n[Illustration: MEDEA MAKES THE OLD KING YOUNG.]\n\nThen she put a stick into the pot and leaves grew on it.\n\nSome of the juice fell on the ground and grass grew up.\n\nSo Medea knew the juice would make things grow.\n\nJason's father went to sleep and Medea put some of the juice into his\nmouth.\n\nHis white hair turned black and teeth grew in his mouth.\n\nWhen he woke up, he looked and felt like a young man.\n\nHe lived many years and when he died Jason was king.","title":"A primary reader : $b old-time stories, fairy tales and myths retold by children","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":8727}