{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_9255/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_9255","id":"gutenberg_9255","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9255","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Children's Literature","Mythology, Greek","Mythology, Greek -- Juvenile literature"],"text":"A WONDER-BOOK FOR GIRLS AND BOYS\n\n                     By Nathaniel Hawthorne\n\n\n                        THE GORGON\u2019S HEAD\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS:\n\n  TANGLEWOOD PORCH--Introductory to \u201cThe Gorgon\u2019s Head\u201d\n   THE GORGON\u2019S HEAD\n  TANGLEWOOD PORCH--After the Story\n\n\n\nThe author has long been of opinion that many of the classical myths\nwere capable of being rendered into very capital reading for children.\n\nIn the little volume here offered to the public, he has worked up half a\ndozen of them, with this end in view.  A great freedom of treatment was\nnecessary to his plan; but it will be observed by every one who attempts\nto render these legends malleable in his intellectual furnace, that they\nare marvellously independent of all temporary modes and circumstances.\nThey remain essentially the same, after changes that would affect the\nidentity of almost anything else.\n\nHe does not, therefore, plead guilty to a sacrilege, in having sometimes\nshaped anew, as his fancy dictated, the forms that have been hallowed by\nan antiquity of two or three thousand years.  No epoch of time can claim\na copyright in these immortal fables.  They seem never to have been\nmade; and certainly, so long as man exists, they can never perish; but,\nby their indestructibility itself, they are legitimate subjects for\nevery age to clothe with its own garniture of manners and sentiment, and\nto imbue with its own morality.  In the present version they may have\nlost much of their classical aspect (or, at all events, the author has\nnot been careful to preserve it), and have, perhaps, assumed a Gothic or\nromantic guise.\n\nIn performing this pleasant task,--for it has been really a task fit for\nhot weather, and one of the most agreeable, of a literary kind, which he\never undertook,--the author has not always thought it necessary to write\ndownward, in order to meet the comprehension of children.  He has\ngenerally suffered the theme to soar, whenever such was its tendency,\nand when he himself was buoyant enough to follow without an effort.\nChildren possess an unestimated sensibility to whatever is deep or high,\nin imagination or feeling, so long as it is simple, likewise.  It is\nonly the artificial and the complex that bewilder them.\n\nLenox, July 15, 1851.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GORGON\u2019S HEAD\n\nTANGLEWOOD PORCH\n\nINTRODUCTORY TO \u201cTHE GORGON\u2019S HEAD.\u201d\n\nBeneath the porch of the country-seat called Tanglewood, one fine\nautumnal morning, was assembled a merry party of little folks, with a\ntall youth in the midst of them.  They had planned a nutting expedition,\nand were impatiently waiting for the mists to roll up the hill-slopes,\nand for the sun to pour the warmth of the Indian summer over the fields\nand pastures, and into the nooks of the many-colored woods.  There was a\nprospect of as fine a day as ever gladdened the aspect of this beautiful\nand comfortable world.  As yet, however, the morning mist filled up the\nwhole length and breadth of the valley, above which, on a gently sloping\neminence, the mansion stood.\n\nThis body of white vapor extended to within less than a hundred yards of\nthe house.  It completely hid everything beyond that distance, except a\nfew ruddy or yellow tree-tops, which here and there emerged, and were\nglorified by the early sunshine, as was likewise the broad surface of\nthe mist.  Four or five miles off to the southward rose the summit of\nMonument Mountain, and seemed to be floating on a cloud.  Some fifteen\nmiles farther away, in the same direction, appeared the loftier Dome of\nTaconic, looking blue and indistinct, and hardly so substantial as the\nvapory sea that almost rolled over it.  The nearer hills, which bordered\nthe valley, were half submerged, and were specked with little\ncloud-wreaths all the way to their tops.  On the whole, there was so much\ncloud, and so little solid earth, that it had the effect of a vision.\n\nThe children above-mentioned, being as full of life as they could hold,\nkept overflowing from the porch of Tanglewood, and scampering along the\ngravel-walk, or rushing across the dewy herbage of the lawn.  I can\nhardly tell how many of these small people there were; not less than\nnine or ten, however, nor more than a dozen, of all sorts, sizes, and\nages, whether girls or boys.  They were brothers, sisters, and cousins,\ntogether with a few of their young acquaintances, who had been invited\nby Mr. and Mrs. Pringle to spend some of this delightful weather with\ntheir own children, at Tanglewood.  I am afraid to tell you their names,\nor even to give them any names which other children have ever been\ncalled by; because, to my certain knowledge, authors sometimes get\nthemselves into great trouble by accidentally giving the names of real\npersons to the characters in their books.  For this reason, I mean to\ncall them Primrose, Periwinkle, Sweet Fern, Dandelion, Blue Eye, Clover,\nHuckleberry, Cowslip, Squash-blossom, Milkweed, Plantain, and Buttercup;\nalthough, to be sure, such titles might better suit a group of fairies\nthan a company of earthly children.\n\nIt is not to be supposed that these little folks were to be permitted by\ntheir careful fathers and mothers, uncles, aunts, or grandparents, to\nstray abroad into the woods and fields, without the guardianship of some\nparticularly grave and elderly person.  O no, indeed!  In the first\nsentence of my book, you will recollect that I spoke of a tall youth,\nstanding in the midst of the children.  His name--(and I shall let you\nknow his real name, because he considers it a great honor to have told\nthe stories that are here to be printed)--his name was Eustace Bright.\nHe was a student at Williams College, and had reached, I think, at this\nperiod, the venerable age of eighteen--years; so that he felt quite like\na grandfather towards Periwinkle, Dandelion, Huckleberry, Squash-blossom,\nMilkweed, and the rest, who were only half or a third as\nvenerable as he.  A trouble in his eyesight (such as many students think\nit necessary to have, nowadays, in order to prove their diligence at\ntheir books) had kept him from college a week or two after the beginning\nof the term.  But, for my part, I have seldom met with a pair of eyes\nthat looked as if they could see farther or better than those of Eustace\nBright.\n\nThis learned student was slender, and rather pale, as all Yankee\nstudents are; but yet of a healthy aspect, and as light and active as if\nhe had wings to his shoes.  By the by, being much addicted to wading\nthrough streamlets and across meadows, he had put on cowhide boots for\nthe expedition.  He wore a linen blouse, a cloth cap, and a pair of\ngreen spectacles, which he had assumed, probably, less for the\npreservation of his eyes, than for the dignity that they imparted to his\ncountenance.  In either case, however, he might as well have let then\nalone; for Huckleberry, a mischievous little elf, crept behind Eustace\nas he sat on the steps of the porch, snatched the spectacles from his\nnose, and clapped them on her own; and as the student forgot to take\nthem back, they fell off into the grass, and lay there till the next\nspring.\n\nNow, Eustace Bright, you must know, had won great fame among the\nchildren, as a narrator of wonderful stories; and though he sometimes\npretended to be annoyed, when they teased him for more, and more, and\nalways for more, yet I really doubt whether he liked anything quite so\nwell as to tell them.  You might have seen his eyes twinkle, therefore,\nwhen Clover, Sweet Fern, Cowslip, Buttercup, and most of their\nplaymates, besought him to relate one of his stories, while they were\nwaiting for the mist to clear up.\n\n\u201cYes, Cousin Eustace,\u201d said Primrose, who was a bright girl of twelve,\nwith laughing eyes, and a nose that turned up a little, \u201cthe morning is\ncertainly the best time for the stories with which you so often tire out\nour patience.  We shall be in less danger of hurting your feelings, by\nfalling asleep at the most interesting points,--as little Cowslip and I\ndid last night!\u201d\n\n\u201cNaughty Primrose,\u201d cried Cowslip, a child of six years old; \u201cI did not\nfall asleep, and I only shut my eyes, so as to see a picture of what\nCousin Eustace was telling about.  His stories are good to hear at\nnight, because we can dream about them asleep; and good in the morning,\ntoo, because then we can dream about them awake.  So I hope he will tell\nus one this very minute.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you, my little Cowslip,\u201d said Eustace; \u201ccertainly you shall have\nthe best story I can think of, if it were only for defending me so well\nfrom that naughty Primrose.  But, children, I have already told you so\nmany fairy tales, that I doubt whether there is a single one which you\nhave not heard at least twice over.  I am afraid you will fall asleep in\nreality, if I repeat any of them again.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no, no!\u201d cried Blue Eye, Periwinkle, Plantain, and half a dozen\nothers.  \u201cWe like a story all the better for having heard it two or\nthree tunes before.\u201d\n\nAnd it is a truth, as regards children, that a story seems often to\ndeepen its mark in their interest, not merely by two or three, but by\nnumberless repetitions.  But Eustace Bright, in the exuberance of his\nresources, scorned to avail himself of an advantage which an older\nstory-teller would have been glad to grasp at.\n\n\u201cIt would be a great pity,\u201d said he, \u201cif a man of my learning (to say\nnothing of original fancy) could not find a new story every day, year in\nand year out, for children such as you.  I will tell you one of the\nnursery tales that were made for the amusement of our great old\ngrandmother, the Earth, when she was a child in frock and pinafore.\nThere are a hundred such; and it is a wonder to me that they have not\nlong ago been put into picture-books for little girls and boys.  But,\ninstead of that, old gray-bearded grandsires pore over them, in musty\nvolumes of Greek, and puzzle themselves with trying to find out when,\nand how, and for what they were made.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, well, well, well, Cousin Eustace!\u201d cried all the children at\nonce; \u201ctalk no more about your stories, but begin.\u201d\n\n\u201cSit down, then, every soul of you,\u201d said Eustace Bright, \u201cand be all as\nstill as so many mice.  At the slightest interruption, whether from\ngreat, naughty Primrose, little Dandelion, or any other, I shall bite\nthe story short off between my teeth, and swallow the untold part.  But,\nin the first place, do any of you know what a Gorgon is?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do,\u201d said Primrose.\n\n\u201cThen hold your tongue!\u201d rejoined Eustace, who had rather she would have\nknown nothing about the matter.  \u201cHold all your tongues, and I shall\ntell you a sweet pretty story of a Gorgon\u2019s head.\u201d\n\nAnd so he did, as you may begin to read on the next page.  Working up\nhis sophomorical erudition with a good deal of tact, and incurring great\nobligations to Professor Anthon, he, nevertheless, disregarded all\nclassical authorities, whenever the vagrant audacity of his imagination\nimpelled him to do so.\n\n\n\nTHE GORGON\u2019S HEAD.\n\nPerseus was the son of Danae, who was the daughter of a king.  And when\nPerseus was a very little boy, some wicked people put his mother and\nhimself into a chest, and set them afloat upon the sea.  The wind blew\nfreshly, and drove the chest away from the shore, and the uneasy billows\ntossed it up and down; while Danae clasped her child closely to her\nbosom, and dreaded that some big wave would dash its foamy crest over\nthem both.  The chest sailed on, however, and neither sank nor was\nupset; until, when night was coming, it floated so near an island that\nit got entangled in a fisherman\u2019s nets, and was drawn out high and dry\nupon the sand.  The island was called Seriphus, and it was reigned over\nby King Polydectes, who happened to be the fisherman\u2019s brother.\n\nThis fisherman, I am glad to tell you, was an exceedingly humane and\nupright man.  He showed great kindness to Danae and her little boy; and\ncontinued to befriend them, until Perseus had grown to be a handsome\nyouth, very strong and active, and skilful in the use of arms.  Long\nbefore this time, King Polydectes had seen the two strangers--the mother\nand her child--who had come to his dominions in a floating chest.  As he\nwas not good and kind, like his brother the fisherman, but extremely\nwicked, he resolved to send Perseus on a dangerous enterprise, in which\nhe would probably be killed, and then to do some great mischief to Danae\nherself.  So this bad-hearted king spent a long while in considering\nwhat was the most dangerous thing that a young man could possibly\nundertake to perform.  At last, having hit upon an enterprise that\npromised to turn out as fatally as he desired, he sent for the youthful\nPerseus.\n\nThe young man came to the palace, and found the king sitting upon his\nthrone.\n\n\u201cPerseus,\u201d said King Polydectes, smiling craftily upon him, \u201cyou are\ngrown up a fine young man.  You and your good mother have received a\ngreat deal of kindness from myself, as well as from my worthy brother\nthe fisherman, and I suppose you would not be sorry to repay some of\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cPlease your Majesty,\u201d answered Perseus, \u201cI would willingly risk my life\nto do so.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, then,\u201d continued the king, still with a curving smile on his\nlips, \u201cI have a little adventure to propose to you; and, as you are a\nbrave and enterprising youth, you will doubtless look upon it as a great\npiece of good luck to have so rare an opportunity of distinguishing\nyourself.  You must know, my good Perseus, I think of getting married to\nthe beautiful Princess Hippodamia; and it is customary, on these\noccasions, to make the bride a present of some far-fetched and elegant\ncuriosity.  I have been a little perplexed, I must honestly confess,\nwhere to obtain anything likely to please a princess of her exquisite\ntaste.  But, this morning, I flatter myself, I have thought of precisely\nthe article.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd can I assist your Majesty in obtaining it?\u201d cried Perseus, eagerly.\n\n\u201cYou can, if you are as brave a youth as I believe you to be,\u201d replied\nKing Polydectes, with the utmost graciousness of manner.  \u201cThe bridal\ngift which I have set my heart on presenting to the beautiful Hippodamia\nis the head of the Gorgon Medusa, with the snaky locks; and I depend on\nyou, my dear Perseus, to bring it to me.  So, as I am anxious to settle\naffairs with the princess, the sooner you go in quest of the Gorgon, the\nbetter I shall be pleased.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will set out to-morrow morning,\u201d answered Perseus.\n\n\u201cPray do so, my gallant youth,\u201d rejoined the king.  \u201cAnd, Perseus, in\ncutting off the Gorgon\u2019s head, be careful to make a clean stroke, so as\nnot to injure its appearance.  You must bring it home in the very best\ncondition, in order to suit the exquisite taste of the beautiful\nPrincess Hippodamia.\u201d\n\nPerseus left the palace, but was scarcely out of hearing before\nPolydectes burst into a laugh; being greatly amused, wicked king that he\nwas, to find how readily the young man fell into the snare.  The news\nquickly spread abroad, that Perseus had undertaken to cut off the head\nof Medusa with the snaky locks.  Everybody was rejoiced; for most of the\ninhabitants of the island were as wicked as the king himself, and would\nhave liked nothing better than to see some enormous mischief happen to\nDanae and her son.  The only good man in this unfortunate island of\nSeriphus appears to have been the fisherman.  As Perseus walked along,\ntherefore, the people pointed after him, and made mouths, and winked to\none another, and ridiculed him as loudly as they dared.\n\n\u201cHo, ho!\u201d cried they; \u201cMedusa\u2019s snakes will sting him soundly!\u201d\n\nNow, there were three Gorgons alive, at that period; and they were the\nmost strange and terrible monsters that had ever been since the world\nwas made, or that have been seen in after days, or that are likely to be\nseen in all time to come.  I hardly know what sort of creature or\nhobgoblin to call them.  They were three sisters, and seem to have borne\nsome distant resemblance to women, but were really a very frightful and\nmischievous species of dragon.  It is, indeed, difficult to imagine what\nhideous beings these three sisters were.  Why, instead of locks of hair,\nif you can believe me, they had each of them a hundred enormous snakes\ngrowing on their heads, all alive, twisting, wriggling, curling, and\nthrusting out their venomous\u2019 tongues, with forked stings at the end!\nThe teeth of the Gorgons were terribly long tusks; their hands were made\nof brass; and their bodies were all over scales, which, if not iron,\nwere something as hard and impenetrable.  They had wings, too, and\nexceedingly splendid ones, I can assure you; for every feather in them\nwas pure, bright, glittering, burnished gold, and they looked very\ndazzlingly, no doubt, when the Gorgons were flying about in the\nsunshine.\n\nBut when people happened to catch a glimpse of their glittering\nbrightness, aloft in the air, they seldom stopped to gaze, but ran and\nhid themselves as speedily as they could.  You will think, perhaps, that\nthey were afraid of being stung by the serpents that served the Gorgons\ninstead of hair,--or of having their heads bitten off by their ugly\ntusks,--or of being torn all to pieces by their brazen claws.  Well, to\nbe sure, these were some of the dangers, but by no means the greatest,\nnor the most difficult to avoid.  For the worst thing about these\nabominable Gorgons was, that, if once a poor mortal fixed his eyes full\nupon one of their faces, he was certain, that very instant, to be\nchanged from warm flesh and blood into cold and lifeless stone!\n\nThus, as you will easily perceive, it was a very dangerous adventure\nthat the wicked King Polydectes had contrived for this innocent young\nman.  Perseus himself, when he had thought over the matter, could not\nhelp seeing that he had very little chance of coming safely through it,\nand that he was far more likely to become a stone image than to bring\nback the head of Medusa with the snaky locks.  For, not to speak of\nother difficulties, there was one which it would have puzzled an older\nman than Perseus to get over.  Not only must he fight with and slay this\ngolden-winged, iron-scaled, long-tusked, brazen-clawed, snaky-haired\nmonster, but he must do it with his eyes shut, or, at least, without so\nmuch as a glance at the enemy with whom he was contending.  Else, while\nhis arm was lifted to strike, he would stiffen into stone, and stand\nwith that uplifted arm for centuries, until time, and the wind and\nweather, should crumble him quite away.  This would be a very sad thing\nto befall a young mail who wanted to perform a great many brave deeds,\nand to enjoy a great deal of happiness, in this bright and beautiful\nworld.\n\nSo disconsolate did these thoughts make him, that Perseus could not bear\nto tell his another what he had undertaken to do.  He therefore took his\nshield, girded on his sword, and crossed over from the island to the\nmainland, where he sat down in a solitary place, and hardly refrained\nfrom shedding tears.\n\nBut, while he was in this sorrowful mood, he heard a voice close beside\nhim.\n\n\u201cPerseus,\u201d said the voice, \u201cwhy are you sad?\u201d\n\nHe lifted his head from his hands, in which he had hidden it, and,\nbehold! all alone as Perseus had supposed himself to be, there was a\nstranger in the solitary place.  It was a brisk, intelligent, and\nremarkably shrewd-looking young man, with a cloak over his shoulders,\nan odd sort of cap on his head, a strangely twisted staff in his hand,\nand a short and very crooked sword hanging by his side.  He was\nexceedingly light and active in his figure, like a person much\naccustomed to gymnastic exercises, and well able to leap or run.  Above\nall, the stranger had such a cheerful, knowing, and helpful aspect\n(though it was certainly a little mischievous, into the bargain), that\nPerseus could not help feeling his spirits grow livelier, as he gazed at\nhim.  Besides, being really a courageous youth, he felt greatly ashamed\nthat anybody should have found him with tears in his eyes, like a timid\nlittle school-boy, when, after all, there might be no occasion for\ndespair.  So Perseus wiped his eyes, and answered the stranger pretty\nbriskly, putting on as brave a look as he could.\n\n\u201cI am not so very sad,\u201d said he; \u201conly thoughtful about an adventure\nthat I have undertaken.\u201d\n\n\u201cOho!\u201d answered the stranger.  \u201cWell, tell me all about it, and possibly\nI may be of service to you.  I have helped a good many young men through\nadventures that looked difficult enough beforehand.  Perhaps you may\nhave heard of me.  I have more names than one; but the name of\nQuicksilver suits me as well as any other.  Tell me what your trouble\nis, and we will talk the matter over, and see what can be done.\u201d\n\nThe stranger\u2019s words and manner put Perseus into quite a different mood\nfrom his former one.  He resolved to tell Quicksilver all his\ndifficulties, since he could not easily be worse off than he already\nwas, and, very possibly, his new friend might give him some advice that\nwould turn out well in the end.  So he let the stranger know, in few\nwords, precisely what the case was;--how that King Polydeetes wanted the\nhead of Medusa with the snaky locks as a bridal gift for the beautiful\nPrincess Hippodamia, and how that he had undertaken to get it for him,\nbut was afraid of being turned into stone.\n\n\u201cAnd that would be a great pity,\u201d said Quicksilver, with his mischievous\nsmile.  \u201cYou would make a very handsome marble statue, it is true, and\nit would be a considerable number of centuries before you crumbled away;\nbut, on the whole, one would rather be a young man for a few years, than\na stone image for a great many.\u201d\n\n\u201cO, far rather!\u201d exclaimed Perseus, with the tears again standing in his\neyes.  \u201cAnd, besides, what would my dear mother do, if her beloved son\nwere turned into a stone?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, well; let us hope that the affair will not turn out so very\nbadly,\u201d replied Quicksilver, in an encouraging tone.  \u201cI am the very\nperson to help you, if anybody can.  My sister and myself will do our\nutmost to bring you safe through the adventure, ugly as it now looks.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour sister?\u201d repeated Perseus.\n\n\u201cYes, my sister,\u201d said the stranger.  \u201cShe is very wise, I promise you;\nand as for myself, I generally have all my wits about me, such as they\nare.  If you show yourself bold and cautious, and follow our advice, you\nneed not fear being a stone image yet awhile.  But, first of all, you\nmust polish your shield, till you can see your face in it as distinctly\nas in a mirror.\u201d\n\nThis seemed to Perseus rather an odd beginning of the adventure; for he\nthought it of far more consequence that the shield should be strong\nenough to defend him from the Gorgon\u2019s brazen claws, than that it should\nbe bright enough to show him the reflection of his face.  However,\nconcluding that Quicksilver knew better than himself, he immediately set\nto work, and scrubbed the shield with so much diligence and good-will,\nthat it very quickly shone like the moon at harvest-time.  Quicksilver\nlooked at it with a smile, and nodded his approbation.  Then, taking off\nhis own short and crooked sword, he girded it about Perseus, instead of\nthe one which he had before worn.\n\n\u201cNo sword but mine will answer your purpose,\u201d observed he; \u201cthe blade\nhas a most excellent temper, and will cut through iron and brass as\neasily as through the slenderest twig.  And now we will set out.  The\nnext thing is to find the Three Gray Women, who will tell us where to\nfind the Nymphs.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Three Gray Women!\u201d cried Perseus, to whom this seemed only a new\ndifficulty in the path of his adventure; \u201cpray, who may the Three Gray\nWomen be? I never heard of them before.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey are three very strange old ladies,\u201d said Quicksilver, laughing.\n\u201cThey have but one eye among them, and only one tooth.  Moreover, you\nmust find them out by starlight, or in the dusk of the evening; for they\nnever show themselves by the light either of the sun or moon.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d said Perseus, \u201cwhy should I waste my time with these Three Gray\nWomen?  Would it not be better to set out at once in search of the\nterrible Gorgons?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no,\u201d answered his friend.  \u201cThere are other things to be done,\nbefore you can find your way to the Gorgons.  There is nothing for it\nbut to hunt up these old ladies; and when we meet with them, you may be\nsure that the Gorgons are not a great way off.  Come, let us be\nstirring!\u201d\n\nPerseus, by this time, felt so much confidence in his companion\u2019s\nsagacity, that he made no more objections, and professed himself ready\nto begin the adventure immediately.  They accordingly set out, and\nwalked at a pretty brisk pace; so brisk, indeed, that Perseus found it\nrather difficult to keep up with his nimble friend Quicksilver.  To say\nthe truth, he had a singular idea that Quicksilver was furnished with a\npair of winged shoes, which, of course, helped him along marvellously.\nAnd then, too, when Perseus looked sideways at him, out of the corner of\nhis eye, he seemed to see wings on the side of his head; although, if he\nturned a full gaze, there were no such things to be perceived, but only\nan odd kind of cap.  But, at all events, the twisted staff was evidently\na great convenience to Quicksilver, and enabled him to proceed so fast,\nthat Perseus, though a remarkably active young man, began to be out of\nbreath.\n\n\u201cHere!\u201d cried Quicksilver, at last,--for he knew well enough, rogue that\nhe was, how hard Perseus found it to keep pace with him,--\u201ctake you the\nstaff, for you need it a great deal more than I.  Are there no better\nwalkers than yourself, in the island of Seriphus?\u201d\n\n\u201cI could walk pretty well,\u201d said Perseus, glancing slyly at his\ncompanion\u2019s feet, \u201cif I had only a pair of winged shoes.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe must see about getting you a pair,\u201d answered Quicksilver.\n\nBut the staff helped Perseus along so bravely, that he no longer felt\nthe slightest weariness.  In fact, the stick seemed to be alive in his\nhand, and to lend some of its life to Perseus.  He and Quicksilver now\nwalked onward at their ease, talking very sociably together; and\nQuicksilver told so many pleasant stories about his former adventures,\nand how well his wits had served him on various occasions, that Perseus\nbegan to think him a very wonderful person.  He evidently knew the\nworld; and nobody is so charming to a young man as a friend who has that\nkind of knowledge.  Perseus listened the more eagerly, in the hope of\nbrightening his own wits by what he heard.\n\nAt last, he happened to recollect that Quicksilver had spoken of a\nsister, who was to lend her assistance in the adventure which they were\nnow bound upon.\n\n\u201cWhere is she?\u201d he inquired.  \u201cShall we not meet her soon?\u201d\n\n\u201cAll at the proper time,\u201d said his companion.  \u201cBut this sister of mine,\nyou must understand, is quite a different sort of character from myself.\nShe is very grave and prudent, seldom smiles, never laughs, and makes it\na rule not to utter a word unless she has something particularly\nprofound to say.  Neither will she listen to any but the wisest\nconversation.\u201d\n\n\u201cDear me!\u201d ejaculated Perseus; \u201cI shall be afraid to say a syllable.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe is a very accomplished person, I assure you,\u201d continued\nQuicksilver, \u201cand has all the arts and sciences at her fingers\u2019 ends.\nIn short, she is so immoderately wise, that many people call her wisdom\npersonified.  But, to tell you the truth, she has hardly vivacity enough\nfor my taste; and I think you would scarcely find her so pleasant a\ntravelling companion as myself.  She has her good points, nevertheless;\nand you will find the benefit of them, in your encounter with the\nGorgons.\u201d\n\nBy this time it had grown quite dusk.  They were now come to a very wild\nand desert place, overgrown with shaggy bushes, and so silent and\nsolitary that nobody seemed ever to have dwelt or journeyed there.  All\nwas waste and desolate, in the gray twilight, which grew every moment\nmore obscure.  Perseus looked about him, rather disconsolately, and\nasked Quicksilver whether they had a great deal farther to go.\n\n\u201cHist!  Hist!\u201d whispered his companion.  \u201cMake no noise!  This is just\nthe time and place to meet the Three Gray Women.  Be careful that they\ndo not see you before you see them; for, though they have but a single\neye among the three, it is as sharp-sighted as half a dozen common\neyes.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what must I do,\u201d asked Perseus, \u201cwhen we meet them?\u201d\n\nQuicksilver explained to Perseus how the Three Gray Women managed with\ntheir one eye.  They were in the habit, it seems, of changing it from\none to another, as if it had been a pair of spectacles, or--which would\nhave suited them better--quizzing-glass.  When one of the three had kept\nthe eye a certain time, she took it out of the socket and passed it to\none of her sisters, whose turn it might happen to be, and who\nimmediately clapped it into her own head, and enjoyed a peep at the\nvisible world.  Thus it will easily be understood that only one of the\nThree Gray Women could see, while the other two were in utter darkness;\nand, moreover, at the instant when the eye was passing from hand to\nhand, neither of the poor old ladies was able to see a wink.  I have\nheard of a great many strange things, in my day, and have witnessed not\na few; but none, it seems to me, that can compare with the oddity of\nthese Three Gray Women, all peeping through a single eye.\n\nSo thought Perseus, likewise, and was so astonished that he almost\nfancied his companion was joking with him, and that there were no such\nold women in the world.\n\n\u201cYou will soon find whether I tell the truth or no,\u201d observed\nQuicksilver.  \u201cHark! hush! Hist! hist!  There they come, now!\u201d\n\nPerseus looked earnestly through the dusk of the evening, and there,\nsure enough, at no great distance off, he descried the Three Gray Women.\nThe light being so faint, he could not well make out what sort of\nfigures they were; only he discovered that they had long gray hair; and,\nas they came nearer, he saw that two of them had but the empty socket of\nan eye, in the middle of their foreheads.  But, in the middle of the\nthird sister\u2019s forehead, there was a very large, bright, and piercing\neye, which sparkled like a great diamond in a ring; and so penetrating\ndid it seem to be, that Perseus could not help thinking it must possess\nthe gift of seeing in the darkest midnight just as perfectly as at\nnoonday.  The sight of three persons\u2019 eyes was melted and collected into\nthat single one.\n\nThus the three old dames got along about as comfortably, upon the whole,\nas if they could all see at once.  She who chanced to have the eye in\nher forehead led the other two by the hands, peeping sharply about her,\nall the while; insomuch that Perseus dreaded lest she should see right\nthrough the thick clump of bushes behind which he and Quicksilver had\nhidden themselves.  My stars! it was positively terrible to be within\nreach of so very sharp an eye!\n\nBut, before they reached the clump of bushes, one of the Three Gray\nWomen spoke.\n\n\u201cSister!  Sister Scarecrow!\u201d cried she, \u201cyou have had the eye long\nenough.  It is my turn now!\u201d\n\n\u201cLet me keep it a moment longer, Sister Nightmare,\u201d answered Scarecrow.\n\u201cI thought I had a glimpse of something behind that thick bush.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, and what of that?\u201d retorted Nightmare, peevishly.  \u201cCan\u2019t I see\ninto a thick bush as easily as yourself?  The eye is mine, as well as\nyours; and I know the use of it as well as you, or may be a little\nbetter.  I insist upon taking a peep immediately!\u201d\n\nBut here the third sister, whose name was Shakejoint, began to complain,\nand said that it was her turn to have the eye, and that Scarecrow and\nNightmare wanted to keep it all to themselves.  To end the dispute, old\nDame Scarecrow took the eye out of her forehead, and held it forth in\nher hand.\n\n\u201cTake it, one of you,\u201d cried she, \u201cand quit this foolish quarrelling.\nFor my part, I shall be glad of a little thick darkness.  Take it\nquickly, however, or I must clap it into my own head again!\u201d\n\nAccordingly, both Nightmare and Shakejoint stretched out their hands,\ngroping eagerly to snatch the eye out of the hand of Scarecrow.  But,\nbeing both alike blind, they could not easily find where Scarecrow\u2019s\nhand was; and Scarecrow, being now just as much in the dark as\nShakejoint and Nightmare, could not at once meet either of their hands,\nin order to put the eye into it.  Thus (as you will see, with half an\neye, my wise little auditors), these good old dames had fallen into a\nstrange perplexity.  For, though the eye shone and glistened like a\nstar, as Scarecrow held it out, yet the Gray Women caught not the least\nglimpse of its light, and were all three in utter darkness, from too\nimpatient a desire to see.\n\nQuicksilver was so much tickled at beholding Shakejoint and Nightmare\nboth groping for the eye, and each finding fault with Scarecrow and one\nanother, that he could scarcely help laughing aloud.\n\n\u201cNow is your time!\u201d he whispered to Perseus.\n\n\u201cQuick, quick!  before they can clap the eye into either of their heads.\nRush out upon the old ladies, and snatch it from Scarecrow\u2019s hand!\u201d\n\nIn an instant, while the Three Gray Women were still scolding each\nother, Perseus leaped front behind the clump of bushes, and made himself\nmaster of the prize.  The marvellous eye, as he held it in his hand,\nshone very brightly, and seemed to look up into his face with a knowing\nair, and an expression as if it would have winked, had it been provided\nwith a pair of eyelids for that purpose.  But the Gray Women knew\nnothing of what had happened; and, each supposing that one of her\nsisters was in possession of the eye, they began their quarrel anew.  At\nlast, as Perseus did not wish to put these respectable dames to greater\ninconvenience than was really necessary, he thought it right to explain\nthe matter. \u201cMy good ladies,\u201d said he, \u201cpray do not be angry with one\nanother.  If anybody is in fault, it is myself; for I have the honor to\nhold your very brilliant and excellent eye in my own hand!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou! you have our eye!  And who are you?\u201d screamed the Three Gray\nWomen, all in a breath; for they were terribly frightened, of course, at\nhearing a strange voice, and discovering that their eyesight had got\ninto the hands of they could not guess whom.  \u201cO, what shall we do,\nsisters? what shall we do?  We are all in the dark!  Give us our eye!\nGive us our one, precious, solitary eye!  You have two of your own Give\nus our eye!\u201d\n\n\u201cTell them,\u201d whispered Quicksilver to Perseus, \u201cthat they shall have\nback the eye as soon as they direct you where to find the Nymphs who\nhave the flying slippers, the magic wallet, and the helmet of darkness.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy dear, good, admirable old ladies,\u201d said Perseus, addressing the Gray\nWomen, \u201cthere is no occasion for putting yourselves into such a fright.\nI am by no means a bad young man.  You shall have back your eye, safe\nand sound, and as bright as ever, the moment you tell me where to find\nthe Nymphs.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Nymphs!  Goodness me! sisters, what Nymphs does he mean?\u201d screamed\nScarecrow.  \u201cThere are a great many Nymphs, people say; some that go a\nhunting in the woods, and some that live inside of trees, and some that\nhave a comfortable home in fountains of water.  We know nothing at all\nabout them.  We are three unfortunate old souls, that go wandering about\nin the dusk, and never had but one eye amongst us, and that one you have\nstolen away.  O, give it back, good stranger!--whoever you are, give it\nback!\u201d\n\nAll this while the Three Gray Women were groping with their outstretched\nhands, and trying their utmost to get hold of Perseus.  But he took good\ncare to keep out of their reach.\n\n\u201cMy respectable dames,\u201d said he,--for his mother had taught him always\nto use the greatest civility,--\u201cI hold your eye fast in my hand, and\nshall keep it safely for you, until you please to tell me where to find\nthese Nymphs.  The Nymphs, I mean, who keep the enchanted wallet, the\nflying slippers, and the what is it?--the helmet of invisibility.\u201d\n\n\u201cMercy on us, sisters! what is the young man talking about?\u201d exclaimed\nScarecrow, Nightmare, and Shakejoint, one to another, with great\nappearance of astonishment.  \u201cA pair of flying slippers, quoth he!  His\nheels would quickly fly higher than his head, if he were silly enough to\nput them on.  And a helmet of invisibility!  How could a helmet make him\ninvisible, unless it were big enough for him to hide under it?  And an\nenchanted wallet!  What sort of a contrivance may that be, I wonder?\nNo, no, good stranger! we can tell you nothing of these marvellous\nthings.  You have two eyes of your own, and we have but a single one\namongst us three.  You can find out such wonders better than three blind\nold creatures, like us.\u201d\n\nPerseus, hearing them talk in this way, began really to think that the\nGray Women knew nothing of the matter; and, as it grieved him to have\nput them to so much trouble, he was just on the point of restoring their\neye and asking pardon for his rudeness in snatching it away.  But\nQuicksilver caught his hand.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t let them make a fool of you!\u201d said he.  \u201cThese Three Gray Women\nare the only persons in the world that can tell you where to find the\nNymphs; and, unless you get that information, you will never succeed in\ncutting off the head of Medusa with the snaky locks.  Keep fast hold of\nthe eye, and all will go well.\u201d\n\nAs it turned out, Quicksilver was in the right.  There are but few\nthings that people prize so much as they do their eyesight; and the Gray\nWomen valued their single eye as highly as if it had been half a dozen,\nwhich was the number they ought to have had.  Finding that there was no\nother way of recovering it, they at last told Perseus what he wanted to\nknow.  No sooner had they done so, than he immediately, and with the\nutmost respect, clapped the eye into the vacant socket in one of their\nforeheads, thanked them for their kindness, and bade them farewell.\nBefore the young man was out of hearing, however, they had got into a\nnew dispute, because he happened to have given the eye to Scarecrow, who\nhad already taken her turn of it when their trouble with Perseus\ncommenced.\n\n\nIt is greatly to be feared that the Three Gray Women were very much in\nthe habit of disturbing their mutual harmony by bickerings of this sort;\nwhich was the more pity, as they could not conveniently do without one\nanother, and were evidently intended to be inseparable companions.  As a\ngeneral rule, I would advise all people, whether sisters or brothers,\nold or young, who chance to have but one eye amongst them, to cultivate\nforbearance, and not all insist upon peeping through it at once.\n\nQuicksilver and Perseus, in the mean time, were making the best of their\nway in quest of the Nymphs.  The old dames had given them such\nparticular directions, that they were not long in finding them out.\nThey proved to be very different persons from Nightmare Shakejoint, and\nScarecrow; for, instead of being old, they were young and beautiful; and\ninstead of one eye amongst the sisterhood, each Nymph had two\nexceedingly bright eyes of her own, with which she looked very kindly at\nPerseus.  They seemed to be acquainted with Quicksilver; and when he\ntold them the adventure which Perseus had undertaken, they made no\ndifficulty about giving him the valuable articles that were in their\ncustody.  In the first place, they brought out what appeared to be a\nsmall purse, made of deer-skin, and curiously embroidered, and bade him\nbe sure and keep it safe.  This was the magic wallet.  The Nymphs next\nproduced a pair of shoes, or slippers, or sandals, with a nice little\npair of wings at the heel of each.\n\n\u201cPut them on, Perseus,\u201d said Quicksilver.  \u201cYou will find yourself as\nlight-heeled as you can desire, for the remainder of our journey.\u201d\n\nSo Perseus proceeded to put one of the slippers on, while he laid the\nother on the ground by his side.  Unexpectedly, however, this other\nslipper spread its wings, fluttered up off the ground, and would\nprobably have flown away, if Quicksilver had not made a leap, and\nluckily caught it in the air.\n\n\u201cBe more careful,\u201d said he, as he gave it back to Perseus.  \u201cIt would\nfrighten the birds, up aloft, if they should see a flying slipper\namongst them.\u201d\n\nWhen Perseus had got on both of these wonderful slippers, he was\naltogether too buoyant to tread on earth.  Making a step or two, lo and\nbehold!  upward he popt into the air, high above the heads of\nQuicksilver and the Nymphs, and found it very difficult to clamber down\nagain.  Winged slippers, and all such high-flying contrivances, are\nseldom quite easy to manage, until one grows a little accustomed to\nthem.  Quicksilver laughed at his companion\u2019s involuntary activity, and\ntold him that he must not be in so desperate a hurry, but must wait for\nthe invisible helmet.\n\nThe good-natured Nymphs had the helmet, with its dark tuft of waving\nplumes, all in readiness to put upon his head.  And now there happened\nabout as wonderful an incident as anything that I have yet told you.\nThe instant before the helmet was put on, there stood Perseus, a\nbeautiful young man, with golden ringlets and rosy cheeks, the crooked\nsword by his side, and the brightly polished shield upon his arm,--a\nfigure that seemed all made up of courage, sprightliness, and glorious\nlight.  But when the helmet had descended over his white brow, there was\nno longer any Perseus to be seen!  Nothing but empty air!  Even the\nhelmet, that covered him with its invisibility, had vanished!\n\n\u201cWhere are you, Perseus?\u201d asked Quicksilver.\n\n\u201cWhy, here, to be sure!\u201d answered Perseus, very quietly, although his\nvoice seemed to come out of the transparent atmosphere.  \u201cJust where I\nwas a moment ago.  Don\u2019t you see me?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, indeed!\u201d answered his friend.  \u201cYou are hidden under the helmet.\nBut, if I cannot see you, neither can the Gorgons.  Follow me,\ntherefore, and we will try your dexterity in using the winged slippers.\u201d\n\nWith these words, Quicksilver\u2019s cap spread its wings, as if his head\nwere about to fly away from his shoulders; but his whole figure rose\nlightly into the air, and Perseus followed.  By the time they had\nascended a few hundred feet, the young man began to feel what a\ndelightful thing it was to leave the dull earth so far beneath him, and\nto be able to flit about like a bird.\n\nIt was now deep night.  Perseus looked upward, and saw the round,\nbright, silvery moon, and thought that he should desire nothing better\nthan to soar up thither, and spend his life there.  Then he looked\ndownward again, and saw the earth, with its seas, and lakes, and the\nsilver courses of its rivers, and its snowy mountain-peaks, and the\nbreadth of its fields, and the dark cluster of its woods, and its cities\nof white marble; and, with the moonshine sleeping over the whole scene,\nit was as beautiful as the moon or any star could be.  And, among other\nobjects, he saw the island of Seriplius, where his dear mother was.\nSometimes, he and Quicksilver approached a cloud, that, at a distance,\nlooked as if it were made of fleecy silver; although, when they plunged\ninto it, they found themselves chilled and moistened with gray mist.  So\nswift was their flight, however, that, in an instant, they emerged from\nthe cloud into the moonlight again.  Once, a high-soaring eagle flew\nright against the invisible Perseus.  The bravest sights were the\nmeteors, that gleamed suddenly out, as if a bonfire had been kindled in\nthe sky, and made the moonshine pale for as much as a hundred miles\naround them.\n\nAs the two companions flew onward, Perseus fancied that he could hear\nthe rustle of a garment close by his side; and it was on the side\nopposite to the one where he beheld Quicksilver, yet only Quicksilver\nwas visible.\n\n\u201cWhose garment is this,\u201d inquired Perseus, \u201cthat keeps rustling close\nbeside me, in the breeze?\u201d\n\n\u201cO, it is my sister\u2019s!\u201d  answered Quicksilver.  \u201cShe is coming along\nwith us, as I told you she would.  We could do nothing without the help\nof my sister.  You have no idea how wise she is.  She has such eyes,\ntoo!  Why, she can see you, at this moment, just as distinctly as if you\nwere not invisible; and I\u2019ll venture to say, she will be the first to\ndiscover the Gorgons.\u201d\n\nBy this time, in their swift voyage through the air, they had come\nwithin sight of the great ocean, and were soon flying over it.  Far\nbeneath them, the waves tossed themselves tumultuously in mid-sea, or\nrolled a white surf-line upon the long beaches, or foamed against the\nrocky cliffs, with a roar that was thunderous, in the lower world;\nalthough it became a gentle murmur, like the voice of a baby half\nasleep, before it reached the ears of Perseus.  Just then a voice spoke\nin the air close by him.  It seemed to be a woman\u2019s voice, and was\nmelodious, though not exactly what might be called sweet, but grave and\nmild.\n\n\u201cPerseus,\u201d said the voice, \u201cthere are the Gorgons.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere?\u201d  exclaimed Perseus.  \u201cI cannot see them.\u201d\n\n\u201cOn the shore of that island beneath you,\u201d replied the voice.  \u201cA\npebble, dropped from your hand, would strike in the midst of them.\u201d\n\n\u201cI told you she would be the first to discover them,\u201d said Quicksilver\nto Perseus.  \u201cAnd there they are!\u201d\n\nStraight downward, two or three thousand feet below him, Perseus\nperceived a small island, with the sea breaking into white foam all\naround its rocky shore, except on one side, where there was a beach of\nsnowy sand.  He descended towards it, and, looking earnestly at a\ncluster or heap of brightness, at the foot of a precipice of black\nrocks, behold, there were the terrible Gorgons!  They lay fast asleep,\nsoothed by the thunder of the sea; for it required a tumult that would\nhave deafened everybody else to lull such fierce creatures into slumber.\nThe moonlight glistened on their steely scales, and on their golden\nwings, which drooped idly over the sand.  Their brazen claws, horrible\nto look at, were thrust out, and clutched the wave-beaten fragments of\nrock, while the sleeping Gorgons dreamed of tearing some poor mortal all\nto pieces.  The snakes that served them instead of hair seemed likewise\nto be asleep; although, now and then, one would writhe, and lift its\nhead, and thrust out its forked tongue, emitting a drowsy hiss, and then\nlet itself subside among its sister snakes.\n\nThe Gorgons were more like an awful, gigantic kind of insect,--immense,\ngolden-winged beetles, or dragon-flies, or things of that sort,--at once\nugly and beautiful,--than like anything else; only that they were a\nthousand and a million times as big.  And, with all this, there was\nsomething partly human about them, too.  Luckily for Perseus, their\nfaces were completely hidden from him by the posture in which they lay;\nfor, had he but looked one instant at them, he would have fallen heavily\nout of the air, an image of senseless stone.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d whispered Quicksilver, as he hovered by the side of Perseus,--\u201cnow\nis your time to do the deed!  Be quick; for, if one of the Gorgons\nshould awake, you are too late!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhich shall I strike at?\u201d asked Perseus, drawing his sword and\ndescending a little lower.  \u201cThey all three look alike.  All three have\nsnaky locks.  Which of the three is Medusa?\u201d\n\nIt must be understood that Medusa was the only one of these dragon-monsters\nwhose head Perseus could possibly cut off.  As for the other\ntwo, let him have the sharpest sword that ever was forged, and he might\nhave hacked away by the hour together, without doing there the least\nharm.\n\n\u201cBe cautious,\u201d said the calm voice which had before spoken to him.  \u201cOne\nof the Gorgons is stirring in her sleep, and is just about to turn over.\nThat is Medusa.  Do not look at her!  The sight would turn you to stone!\nLook at the reflection of her face and figure in the bright mirror of\nyour shield.\u201d\n\nPerseus now understood Quicksilver\u2019s motive for so earnestly exhorting\nhim to polish his shield.  In its surface he could safely look at the\nreflection of the Gorgon\u2019s face.  And there it was,--that terrible\ncountenance,--mirrored in the brightness of the shield, with the\nmoonlight falling over it, and displaying all its horror.  The snakes,\nwhose venomous natures could not altogether sleep, kept twisting\nthemselves over the forehead.  It was the fiercest and most horrible\nface that ever was seen or imagined, and yet with a strange, fearful,\nand savage kind of beauty in it.  The eyes were closed, and the Gorgon\nwas still in a deep slumber; but there was an unquiet expression\ndisturbing her features, as if the monster was troubled with an ugly\ndream.  She gnashed her white tusks, and dug into the sand with her\nbrazen claws.\n\nThe snakes, too, seemed to feel Medusa\u2019s dream, and to be made more\nrestless by it.  They twined themselves into tumultuous knots, writhed\nfiercely, and uplifted a hundred hissing heads, without opening their\neyes.\n\n\u201cNow, now!\u201d whispered Quicksilver, who was growing impatient.  \u201cMake a\ndash at the monster!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut be calm,\u201d said the grave, melodious voice, at the young man\u2019s side.\n\u201cLook in your shield, as you fly downward, and take care that you do not\nmiss your first stroke.\u201d\n\nPerseus flew cautiously downward, still keeping his eyes on Medusa\u2019s\nface, as reflected in his shield.  The nearer he came, the more terrible\ndid the snaky visage and metallic body of the monster grow.  At last,\nwhen he found himself hovering over her within arm\u2019s length, Perseus\nuplifted his sword, while, at the same instant, each separate snake upon\nthe Gorgon\u2019s head stretched threateningly upward, and Medusa unclosed\nher eyes.  But she awoke too late.  The sword was sharp; the stroke fell\nlike a lightning-flash; and the head of the wicked Medusa tumbled from\nher body!\n\n\u201cAdmirably done!\u201d  cried Quicksilver.  \u201cMake haste, and clap the head\ninto your magic wallet.\u201d\n\nTo the astonishment of Perseus, the small, embroidered wallet, which he\nhad hung about his neck, and which had hitherto been no bigger than a\npurse, grew all at once large enough to contain Medusa\u2019s head.  As quick\nas thought, he snatched it up, with the snakes still writhing upon it,\nand thrust it in.\n\n\u201cYour task is done,\u201d said the calm voice.  \u201cNow fly; for the other\nGorgons will do their utmost to take vengeance for Medusa\u2019s death.\u201d\n\nIt was, indeed, necessary to take flight; for Perseus had not done the\ndeed so quietly, but that the clash of his sword, and the hissing of the\nsnakes, and the thump of Medusa\u2019s head as it tumbled upon the sea-beaten\nsand, awoke the other two monsters.  There they sat, for an instant,\nsleepily rubbing their eyes with their brazen fingers, while all the\nsnakes on their heads reared themselves on end with surprise, and with\nvenomous malice against they knew not what.  But when the Gorgons saw\nthe scaly carcass of Medusa, headless, and her golden wings all ruffled,\nand half spread out on the sand, it was really awful to hear what yells\nand screeches they set up.  And then the snakes!  They sent forth a\nhundred-fold hiss, with one consent, and Medusa\u2019s snakes answered them\nout of the magic wallet.\n\nNo sooner were the Gorgons broad awake, than they hurtled upward into\nthe air, brandishing their brass talons, gnashing their horrible tusks,\nand flapping their huge wings so wildly, that some of the golden\nfeathers were shaken out, and floated down upon the shore.  And there,\nperhaps, those very feathers he scattered, till this day.  Up rose the\nGorgons, as I tell you, staring horribly about, in hopes of turning\nsomebody to stone.  Had Perseus looked them in the face, or had he\nfallen into their clutches, his poor mother would never have kissed her\nboy again!  But he took good care to turn his eyes another way; and, as\nhe wore the helmet of invisibility, the Gorgons knew not in what\ndirection to follow him; nor did he fail to make the best use of the\nwinged slippers, by soaring upward a perpendicular mile or so.  At that\nheight, when the screams of those abominable creatures sounded faintly\nbeneath him, he made a straight course for the island of Seriphus, in\norder to carry Medusa\u2019s head to King Polydectes.\n\nI have no time to tell you of several marvellous things that befell\nPerseus, on his way homeward; such as his killing a hideous sea-monster,\njust as it was on the point of devouring a beautiful maiden; nor how he\nchanged an enormous giant into a mountain of stone, merely by showing\nhim the head of the Gorgon.  If you doubt this latter story, you may\nmake a voyage to Africa, some day or other, and see the very mountain,\nwhich is still known by the ancient giant\u2019s name.\n\nFinally, our brave Perseus arrived at the island, where he expected to\nsee his dear mother.  But, during his absence, the wicked king had\ntreated Danae so very ill, that she was compelled to make her escape,\nand had taken refuge in a temple, where some good old priests were\nextremely kind to her.  These praiseworthy priests, and the kind-hearted\nfisherman, who had first shown hospitality to Danae and little Perseus\nwhen he found them afloat in the chest, seem to have been the only\npersons on the island who cared about doing right.  All the rest of the\npeople, as well as King Polydectes himself, were remarkably ill-behaved,\nand deserved no better destiny than that which was now to happen.\n\nNot finding his mother at home, Perseus went straight to the palace and\nwas immediately ushered into the presence of the king.  Polydectes was\nby no means rejoiced to see him; for he had felt almost certain, in his\nown evil mind, that the Gorgons would have torn the poor young man to\npieces, and have eaten him up, out of the way.  However, seeing him\nsafely returned, he put the best face he could upon the matter and asked\nPerseus how he had succeeded.\n\n\u201cHave you performed your promise?\u201d inquired he.  \u201cHave you brought me\nthe head of Medusa with the snaky locks?  If not, young man, it will\ncost you dear; for I must have a bridal present for the beautiful\nPrincess Hippodamia, and there is nothing else that she would admire so\nmuch.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, please your Majesty,\u201d answered Perseus, in a quiet way, as if it\nwere no very wonderful deed for such a young man as he to perform.  \u201cI\nhave brought you the Gorgon\u2019s head, snaky locks and all!\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed!  Pray let me see it,\u201d quoth King Polydectes.  \u201cIt must be a\nvery curious spectacle, if all that travellers tell about it be true!\u201d\n\n\u201cYour Majesty is in the right,\u201d replied Perseus.  \u201cIt is really an\nobject that will be pretty certain to fix the regards of all who look at\nit.  And, if your Majesty think fit, I would suggest that a holiday be\nproclaimed, and that all your Majesty\u2019s subjects be summoned to behold\nthis wonderful curiosity.  Few of them, I imagine, have seen a Gorgon\u2019s\nhead before, and perhaps never may again!\u201d\n\nThe king well knew that his subjects were an idle set of reprobates, and\nvery fond of sight-seeing, as idle persons usually are.  So he took the\nyoung man\u2019s advice, and sent out heralds and messengers, in all\ndirections, to blow the trumpet at the street-corners, and in the\nmarket-places, and wherever two roads met, and summon everybody to\ncourt.  Thither, accordingly, came a great multitude of good-for-nothing\nvagabonds, all of whom, out of pure love of mischief, would have been\nglad if Perseus had met with some ill-hap, in his encounter with the\nGorgons.  If there were any better people in the island (as I really\nhope there may have been, although the story tells nothing about any\nsuch), they stayed quietly at home, minding their own business, and\ntaking care of their little children.  Most of the inhabitants, at all\nevents, ran as fast as they could to the palace, and shoved, and pushed,\nand elbowed one another, in their eagerness to get near a balcony, on\nwhich Perseus showed himself, holding the embroidered wallet in his\nhand.\n\nOn a platform, within full view of the balcony, sat the mighty King\nPolydectes, amid his evil counsellors, and with his flattering courtiers\nin a semicircle round about him.  Monarch, counsellors, courtiers, and\nsubjects, all gazed eagerly towards Perseus.\n\n\u201cShow us the head!  Show us the head!\u201d shouted the people; and there was\na fierceness in their cry as if they would tear Perseus to pieces,\nunless he should satisfy them with what he had to show.  \u201cShow us the\nhead of Medusa with the snaky locks!\u201d\n\nA feeling of sorrow and pity came over the youthful Perseus.\n\n\u201cO King Polydectes,\u201d cried he, \u201cand ye many people, I am very loath to\nshow you the Gorgon\u2019s head!\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, the villain and coward!\u201d yelled the people, more fiercely than\nbefore.  \u201cHe is making game of us!  He has no Gorgon\u2019s head!  Show us\nthe head, if you have it, or we will take your own head for a football!\u201d\n\nThe evil counsellors whispered bad advice in the king\u2019s ear; the\ncourtiers murmured, with one consent, that Perseus had shown disrespect\nto their royal lord and master; and the great King Polydectes himself\nwaved his hand, and ordered him, with the stern, deep voice of\nauthority, on his peril, to produce the bead.\n\n\u201cShow me the Gorgon\u2019s head, or I will cut off your own!\u201d\n\nAnd Perseus sighed.\n\n\u201cThis instant,\u201d repeated Polydectes, \u201cor you die!\u201d\n\n\u201cBehold it, then!\u201d cried Perseus, in a voice like the blast of a\ntrumpet.\n\nAnd, suddenly holding up the head, not an eyelid had time to wink before\nthe wicked King Polydectes, his evil counsellors, and all his fierce\nsubjects were no longer anything but the mere images of a monarch and\nhis people.  They were all fixed, forever, in the look and attitude of\nthat moment!  At the first glimpse of the terrible head of Medusa, they\nwhitened into marble!  And Perseus thrust the head back into his wallet,\nand went to tell his dear mother that she need no longer be afraid of\nthe wicked King Polydectes.\n\n\n\nTANGLEWOOD PORCH.\n\nAFTER THE STORY.\n\n\u201cIs not that a very fine story?\u201d asked Eustace.\n\n\u201cO yes, yes!\u201d cried Cowslip, clapping her hands.  \u201cAnd those funny old\nwomen, with only one eye amongst them!  I never heard of anything so\nstrange.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs to their one tooth, which they shifted about,\u201d observed Primrose,\n\u201cthere was nothing so very wonderful in that.  I suppose it was a false\ntooth.  But think of your turning Mercury into Quicksilver, and talking\nabout his sister!  You are too ridiculous!\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd was she not his sister?\u201d asked Eustace Bright.  \u201cIf I had thought\nof it sooner, I would have described her as a maiden lady, who kept a\npet owl!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, at any rate,\u201d said Primrose, \u201cyour story seems to have driven\naway the mist.\u201d\n\nAnd, indeed, while the tale was going forward, the vapors had been quite\nexhaled from the landscape.  A scene was now disclosed which the\nspectators might almost fancy as having been created since they had last\nlooked in the direction where it lay.  About half a mile distant, in the\nlap of the valley, now appeared a beautiful lake, which reflected a\nperfect image of its own wooded banks, and of the summits of the more\ndistant hills.  It gleamed in glassy tranquillity, without the trace of\na winged breeze on any part of its bosom.  Beyond its farther shore was\nMonument Mountain, in a recumbent position, stretching almost across the\nvalley.  Eustace Bright compared it to a huge, headless sphinx, wrapped\nin a Persian shawl; and, indeed, so rich and diversified was the\nautumnal foliage of its woods, that the simile of the shawl was by no\nmeans too high-colored for the reality.  In the lower ground, between\nTanglewood and the lake, the clumps of trees and borders of woodland\nwere chiefly golden-leaved or dusky brown, as having suffered more from\nfrost than the foliage on the hillsides.\n\nOver all this scene there was a genial sunshine, intermingled with a\nslight haze, which made it unspeakably soft and tender.  O, what a day\nof Indian summer was it going to be!  The children snatched their\nbaskets, and set forth, with hop, skip, and jump, and all sorts of\nfrisks and gambols; while Cousin Eustace proved his fitness to preside\nover the party, by outdoing all their antics, and performing several new\ncapers, which none of them could ever hope to imitate.  Behind went a\ngood old dog, whose name was Ben.  He was one of the most respectable\nand kind-hearted of quadrupeds, and probably felt it to be his duty not\nto trust the children away from their parents without some better\nguardian than this feather-brained Eustace Bright.","title":"The Gorgon's Head: (From: \"A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys\")","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":10659}