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The lad with one sandal, Chapter 2 · The Golden Porch

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Section thirteen of The Golden Porch. This is a LibriVox recording, though all
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LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information ought to volunteer,
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please visit LibriVox dot org. Read by Beeswax Candle The Golden Porch by W.
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M. L. Hutchinson, The Lad with One Sandal, Chapter two.
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With the first light of day, Jason and two of his comrades set
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forth inland that they might find some inhabited place and learn if this was the
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country to which they were bound. Presently, they spied smoke curling up through
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the trees of the forest, and they went towards it, and came to
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a great house of timber standing in an open glade, with buyers and barns
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around it. As they drew near, a lad met them driving cows to
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pasture, and they asked them the name of the land, and who dwelt
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in that house. Strangers said he, this is the country of the Chalchians,
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and yonder house is the palace of Aites, their king. Then Jason
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and the two comrades with them, who were castor and Polajuices, were glad
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because they were at their journey's end, and they went into the palace and
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found the king sitting in the hall among his chieftains, dark skinned men of
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fierce countenance, clad in golden armor of strange fashion. Aites looked grimly upon
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the strangers that he bade them sit down and feast with him, and his
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slaves. Set food before them in plenty and dark, sweet drink, brood
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of herbs and honey. When they had eaten and drunk, the king asked
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them whence they came, and where they had left the ship that brought them,
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For he knew that they must have come by sea to his country,
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since by land it was walled about with trackless forests. And Jason answered discreetly,
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not making nerven hiss errand, but saying they were come from a land
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far south, and had moored their ship in the river not far away.
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It is well, said the King. Let your two comrades now go and
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bring the rest of your crew hither, that I may feast them all.
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To day we will make merry, and you shall try your mettle and sort
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play with my warriors, and to morrow you shall tell me your errand.
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So the twin brethren went forth to fetch their comrades, but the king,
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under show of courtesy, kept Jason from returning to the ship, lest the
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strangers should put to sea and escape out of his hands. For this,
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Aetes was a cruel prince and a cunning and he thought to make easy prey
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of these young men and their companions, and seize their fair wrought arms and
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any treasure they might have with them. But meantime he covered his evil purpose
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with friendly speech, bidding Jason refresh himself after his voyaging, and caused him
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to be led to a chamber where a bath was made ready. As the
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youth entered it, he saw an ancient serving woman pouring water into the bath
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out of a steaming caldron. And she said to him, Prince Jason,
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when you leave this chamber, the King's daughter will meet you and offer you
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a posset in a silver cup. Beware you taste it not, for it
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is deadly, but poured it on the ground, and say, for those
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below, then give this to the King's daughter. So saying, the old
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woman took a shining thing from her bosom and gave it to Jason, and
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went quickly forth. But as she went out, the fashion of her changed,
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and she shone with a beauty not earthly, so that he perceived some
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goddess had spoken to him. Now the shining thing was in the form of
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a four spoked wheel, and it was golden, and the figure of a
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speckled bird molded in clay was bound upon the spokes by the outspread wings and
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by the feet. Jason viewed it with wonder, and he bathed himself quickly,
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eager to see what should next betide. Then, when he was arrayed
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again and came out of that chamber, there greeted him a dark maiden robed
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in scarlet, and she offered him drink in a silver cup. But he
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took it from her hand, smiling, and poured the drink upon the ground,
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and said for those below. The king's daughter looked at the youth in
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silence, and her olive cheeks turned pale. Princess of the Colchians said,
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he, let it not displease you that I deal thus with your gift,
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but take a gift in return, And he laid the golden wheel in her
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hand and left her standing mute. Now, the daughter of Aith's was a
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great enchantress, one that could draw the moon out of the sky by her
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incantations. And knew all spells that can be wrought with strange drugs and herbs
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of might. At her father's bidding, she had mingled a potion for the
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stranger prince that would have destroyed him in three days, withering his veins with
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consuming fire. But by his offering it to the dead, she understood that
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he knew death was in the cup, and great fear of him took hold
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of her, for she had deemed that he had that knowledge by art magical,
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that his gift was some potent charm. This, in truth, it
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was, as shall presently be told. As soon as Argo's crew were come
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to the palace, King Ayites made them cheer with a feast of good things,
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And after the banquet he had them forth into a meadow and desired them
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to show him what skill they had with their weapons. And he set ten
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chosen warriors to sword play with Jason and nine of his companions, while he
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sat to watch on a grassy knoll and his daughter beside him. Then,
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under color of sport, the Kochian warriors aimed deadly strokes at the strangers,
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for so had the king given sea command, trusting to see his champions slay
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those youthful guests write speedily. But the ten comrades fought like young lions with
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their fierce adversaries, and when they saw the battle was for life or death,
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they spared, not to spite them to always slain upon the place,
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sore, wearied, but unwounded. In that deadly fray, the heroes sheathed
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their resistless swords at last, and Jason cried to the King, we are
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guiltless aites of the deaths of these men in an evil hour? Have we
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come to such a host as this, who would make it his past time
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to see guests slaughtered before his face? Aytes rose up with a laugh and
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answered, though that fair to strange lands must meet with strange customs. But
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since you like Alcochian manner of sports so little, I will henceforth dear with
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you in earnest. With that, he took them back to the palace,
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but because it was now late, he sent them to the guest chambers,
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saying he would hear their errand in the morning. That night, the witch
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princess could not sleep, for thinking on the bright haired stranger and the meaning
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of the gift he had given her, she was afraid to keep it and
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afraid to leave it, and she had it hidden in the folds above her
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girdle while she watched them fighting for his life with her father's best swordsman.
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Nor for all her skill and enchantments did she know that the spell of it
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was at work upon her. Even then at last she slept and dreamed that
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a queen crowned with roses stood at her bedside and asked her what thoughts those
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were that troubled her? But when she essayed to answer, she could find
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no words and fell to weeping. Then said the rose crowned queen, I
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am Afrodite, known among gods and men for an enchantress of power, and
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to pleasure great hearer, I have put a charm upon you, mightier than
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all your spells. For as the bird is bound upon the wheel, I
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bade Prince Jason give you, so your heart is bound with cords of desire
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to the giver by the virtue of that charm. Rise now and follow me
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to his chamber. The thoughts that you could not speak I know, and
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the struggle of your soul. But stronger than all is the thought that he
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must not die. The King's daughter awoke and behold She was no longer in
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her own chamber, but stood beside the sleeping stranger. Moonlight fell upon his
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face, an hair of ruddy gold, and the drawn sword by his side,
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and she looked at him long before she aroused him with a touch of
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her hand, calling him by name. Who calls me? Said Jason,
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springing to his feet and grasping his sword. It is I Midair, said
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the King's daughter. I am come to bid your fly from this house while
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it is yet night, For to morrow Ayiti his purposes to slay you and
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your comrades. Come awaken the others, and I will unbar the gates.
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Meanwhile, the gods shall not hear us, for I have power to keep
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them slumbering soundly. Noble Madir answered the Prince. I have seen strange things
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on my way hither, But here is the strangest of all, that you,
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who would have destroyed me with your potion, and are fain to save
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my life. I thank whatever God has changed your heart towards me, and
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praise your kindly thought. But as for flight, neither I nor my true
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comrades will quit this place without the prize we are come in quest of.
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And thereupon he took Madair by the hand and seated her beside him on the
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couch, and told her all the tale from the beginning, but the task
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Pelias laid upon him and the Argo's perilous voyage. Now, while he spoke
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of the dangers he had passed, and pleaded with her and sweet per suays
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of words for help to win the golden fleece, Pity and love overflowed the
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heart of the witch princess, and she forgot all the world but him only,
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and promised at last to aid him to the uttermost against her father.
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For your sake, Prince, she said, I will brave the wrath of
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Aitis, though he kill me when he finds his treasure gone, And ask
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but this for reward, that you will think sometimes of Madir when you dwell
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happily in that far southern home you tell me of. Then Jason vowed a
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solemn vow that he would not leave her to suffer her father's vengeance, but
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take her home to be his wife and queen of fair Iolcos. And they
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plighted Troth together in that same hour, madea then fetched from her own chamber
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an ivory box of ointment, and bade him anoint himself therewith in the morning,
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and told him all else that he must do to outwit the crafty king.
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Thus did Queen hero, with the help of Aphrodite, accomplish victory for
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Jason over the enchantress, who else would have proved a foe too strong for
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him and all his crew. No sooner had the king and his guests broken
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fast on the morrow than he said to them, let him that his captain
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among you now declare the cause of your coming hither. And Jason made himself
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known to him, and in courteous words, desired him to restore the golden
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fleece to the rightful heirs of Phrixus. Aites heard him in silence to the
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end. Then he arose and beckoned the argo's crew to follow him, and
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they went after him, wondering to a fallow field hard by the palace.
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There they saw a huge plow of bronze lying, and two dun oxen stood
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near it, wondrous to behold. They had horns and hoofs of bronze,
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and breezed forth smoke and flame from their nostrils. The king, marked with
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his staff affurlong on the ground, took up the heavy, brazen plow yoke
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and yoked those great beasts therewith, heedless of their scorching breath that burnt black
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the grass around them, and the furious tossing of their terrible horns. Then,
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taking in hand oaths sharp pointed goad of iron, he drove the oxen
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to the mark and turned them and seve back again, cleaving the fallow soil
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with furrows deep and straight. And his guests watched with speechless amaze, so
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great a marble till he unyoked his team beside them, and said, if
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your chief can do as you have seen me do, the golden fleece shall
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be his. But I am sworn to give it to no man who cannot
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yoke my oxen and plow with my plow straightway. Jason stripped off his saffron
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vesture and stepped boldly to the task, putting his trust in divine aid.
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Even as Aites had done, so did he. He took up the yoke
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as it were a feather's weight, laid it on the necks of the oxen,
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despite their plungings hither and thither, and goaded them forward with one hand,
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while with the other he bore hard upon the plow's stilts, driving a
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true furrow. Alongside the King's aites looked to see him scorched to a cinder
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when he approached the fire breathing bulls, But the flames had no power on
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his flesh by reason of Medea's enchanted ointment, and a wordless cry broke from
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the king, beholding him unscathed and the god like strength that was in him.
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But all Jason's comrades shouted with a great shout, and the task was
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done, and they crowded about him to clasp his hands with praises and glad
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greetings, and they crowned him with a garland of flowering grasses in silent rage.
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The king now led the way to the grove of Aries, where hung
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the Golden Fleece. Yet he still had hopes that Jason, for all his
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prowess, would not be able to achieve the task that there awaited him,
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for the fleece had a guardian stranger and more terrible than the oxen whose breath
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was flame. The grove of Aries was a gloomy wood of ancient oaks that
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stooped their gnarled boughs low over dense undergrowths, of brambles and juniper. A
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stone altar stood before it, stained with dark blood, and far within the
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green gloom was broken by a spot of radiance, like the clear shining of
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a lamp. The voice of birds sounded in that drear wood, for all
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winged creatures shundered, except the woodpeckers, whose tapping was heard. Ever and
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Anon, in the deathly stillness yonder light, said, ates is the glither
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of the golden fleece, You, bold prince, would need no other guide
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to lead you. Thereto king, said Jason, who was forewarned by Madaa's
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council. I fear to lay hands upon the sacred thing till I have offered
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sacrifice upon this altar, and besought mighty Arees not to be wroth at the
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taking away of the treasure which Phrixus dedicated here. Suffer us therefore to return
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to our ship for the night, and to morrow we will bring offerings to
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the god of such things as we have. Ayeches gave them leave willingly for
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now. He feared Jason exceedingly, and was well content that he should either
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depart at once from the land, if such were his secret purpose, or
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meet his doom on the morrow from the Guardian of the fleece. A one
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of these things he trusted wood most surely before, for that guardian was a
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dragon of baleful, glaring eye, whose dappled coils were in length and thickness
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not less than the argo's hull that had fifty oars. So the king returned
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to his house, and Jason and his comrades went towards the river where their
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ship lay. But when they were gone a little way, Jason told the
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others what had chanced in the night. Now the King's door had wrought him
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deliverance from the bulls and shown him means to overcome yet greater peril. When
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they heard of the dragon and the grove, they were full eager to fight
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the monster, and prayed their captain by no means to encounter him alone.
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But Jason said that task must be mine only, and with Madeia to aid,
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I shall not fail, if the gods, Sir will do you.
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My comrades, hasten to our ship and make all ready to sail whenever I
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shall come to you. With that, he turned back and went alone to
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the dark grove, and at the setting of the sun Madeia came to him
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there, But as comrades went on board the Argo and looked well to all
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her gear and set her sails. When they had taken their supper, they
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sat each man at his owe, waiting in silence through the first watch of
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the night, while the autumn moon rose golden up the sky. And at
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midnight they were aware of two stately forms coming swiftly through the shadows of the
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wood, who seemed to carry between them a huge glittering shield. And the
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voice of Jason softly hailed them, and they saw that it was he and
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the witch Princess, who drew near, bearing a spear athwart their shoulders,
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whereon hung the fleece of gold, shining like a sun. Without words spoken,
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the two laid their burden on Argo's deck, and Jason, with finger
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on lip, took his own place and made signs to his crew to give
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way. Silently, they bent to their oars, and the good ships stole
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out into the stream and forth to the open sea. The Helsman turned her
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prow southward, but at that madea cried princess, steer not homeward on the
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course by which you came. For that way will Aiiti send to pursue you
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with a great host, and his ships sail fleeted than the wind. Through
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his enchantments, long must be your voyage, even half the circuit of the
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world, that if you will trust to me for piloting, I will guide
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you safe home. At last, the comrades hearkened gladly to those wise words,
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and turned Argo northward again at her command, and sailed for many days
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over a desolate sea where no man had come since the making of the world.
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At last, where that sea narrowed into a gulf between hills of ice
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and snow, they came forth upon the boundless ocean stream that girdles the round
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world, And now by Madair's guidance, they steered eastward and southward, till
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the cold of the frozen north was left behind, and the sun's heat gladdened
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them again. Three moons had risen and set while Argo bore them along the
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ocean stream. Before they saw on their right hand the red cliffs of the
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coast, and a wide channel of waters between. Through yonder strait lies our
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way, said Madair, and they steered northward once again along that firth of
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ruddy shores. Now at the head of it they found no passage for their
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ship. The dunes of yellow sand stretched before them as far as eye could
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see, and their hearts were discouraged. But Mada bade them draw Argo ashore,
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and said, beyond this sandy waste lies the Midland Sea, whose waters
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washed the shores of your own dear land. Be not duncast, brave comrades,
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for in twelve days Argo shall ride on the sea once more, if
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with starthearts you endure the toil of bearing her thither. So, when they
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had rested there that night, she who had been their pilot over a thousand
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leagues of ocean, guided the crew across the pathless desert, and they,
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by main strength, hoisting the ship to their shoulders, marched onward, thus
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laden under a burning sun. Never in their long seafaring had there known a
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labor like this. But the spirit of the heroes and the might of their
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young limbs did not fail nor falter in all that toilsome journey. On the
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twelfth day, the glittering of water was seen among the sand hills, and
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they pressed onward joyfully till they came to the margin of a vast and shallow
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mirr. Now when they would have drunk of its water, they could not,
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for it was brackish, but Madeia cast a certain herb therein, and
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forthwith it was sweetened. And she said to them, this water is bitter
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with brine of the sea that neighbors it. Launch Argo now upon the mere,
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and let us seek a channel among the shallows that may bring us to
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the open main. So they pushed off from the reedy bank and rode slowly,
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steering warily through the shallows of that great lagoon, till the helmsman's shore.
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Blue water sparkling ahead, and cried the sea. The sea, and
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the glad heroes plied their oars with fresh vigor, and ere nightfall. Argo
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was anchored in a bay of the Midland Deep. At early dawn, when
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they had hoisted sailor were drawing up the anchors, a voice hailed them from
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the shore, and they turned in wonder to see who might call them in
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that lonely place. There at the waves edge stood a man stately and tall,
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and greeted them with kindly words, and desired them to tarry awhile and
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be his guests that day. But Jason and the rest made courteous excuse,
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pleading their haste to be at home, friends, said the stranger. I
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will not seek to delay you, who at least take a guest gift from
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my hands, for I would fain show you hospitality. I am the king
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of this desert land, and I know who are and the quest you sailed
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on. Be pleased to take this boon, the only one I have at
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hand, So saying, he stooped down and took up a clod of earth
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of the shore, and held it forth to them. Now Argo's prow was
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nearest to the land, for thereby she had been moored, as the manner
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was, and it was not yet turned seaward. And he that stood nearest
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her curved beak was a young prince named Euphemos. He, springing to the
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bullock, leaped lightly ashore and clasped hand with the stranger, and took the
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clod, and knew not what gift that was, nor who gave it.
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But as he sprang on board again and turned to speak thanks and farewell,
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the stranger vanished where he stood, and awe came on all the comrades,
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understanding that they had seen the god of that wilderness. Nevertheless, they set
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forth again, rejoicing because he had shown them favor and blessed them with a
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gift. Eupemos showed the clod to Madair and asked what it might be tooken,
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and she answered that the time was not yet come for him to know,
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but he must look well to the keeping of it, because there was
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a magic in it. But when they had sailed three days, a gale
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blew from the southwest at twilight, and the waves rose high round the ship,
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and the enchanted clod was washed from the deck where it was laid by
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the driving spray. Then Eupemos called aloud to Madair, Aless, wise,
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lady, what shall I do? The precious thing is lost, carried overboard
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by a dashing wave, and it is sunk into the depths of the sea.
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Nay, said Madair, it has not sunk, for there is a
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magic in it that is drifting even now to the shore of Yonder Island on
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our lie. Listen, heroes all, and I will tell you what power
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is in the clod, and what will become of it. It is fated
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that wherever it is laid upon the ground, the lord of that land should
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be lord also of the soil. Whence it was taken And if your Femos
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had brought it to the fields of his own fair domain and planted it there,
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then in the day when his children's children will seek new lordship overseas,
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they would have sailed to the land where we saw the solitary God and made
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it their kingdom. But now, because the Clod is flung by the salt
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waves on the strand of yonder Isle that has yet uninhabited, seventeen generations of
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men must pass away before the God's gift bears fruit. For the descendants of
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your Femos will make their home in that island, which shall then be called
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theer And long after they will voyage thence to the land of the Clod,
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and reigned there as kings of many cities. The comrades listened in silence to
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Medea's prophecy and pondered it in their hearts, and Euphemos ever after kept it
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in memory, teaching it to his sons, and they to theirs. And
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in the seventeenth generation the words were fulfilled. But now the gale freshened to
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a tempest, and Argo was driven before it out of her true course,
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and her crew were fain to run her for shelter under the white cliffs of
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another island far to northward. There they found a fair haven where they anchored,
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and forthwith an armed host came out to them from the city nigh at
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hand. Argo's men stared at these warriors with the maze, for they were
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women, and their leader a tall, black haired girl clad in rich armor.
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She came to the harbourside and greeted the strangers, asking who they were,
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and as they came peaceably peaceably in truth, oh queen, answered Jason.
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We are men of Iocos, homeward bound from a long seafaring and we
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do but seek shelter here till the storm is overpassed. Tell me, I
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pray you what land this is, and wherefore its warriors are women? Stranger,
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said the armed maiden. This land is Lennos, and my father was
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king of it. He and all our men folk went forth to war against
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certain pirates the mainland. And while they were abroad, Aphrodite took displeasure at
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us women, because we slighted her worship, and she caused us to become
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utterly hateful to our fathers and husbands when they returned. Therefore, they have
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thrust us away from bed and board, would have taken them wives of the
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captists they brought home. But we thus wronged, banded together for revenge,
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and slew them while they slept with their own swords. Not one did we
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spare except my father but him. Though I had sworn to show no mercy,
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I hidden a great chest, had it thrown to the sea, that
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if the gods so willed, he might drift to some other shore. Since
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then I HYPSIPII, and Queen and Nune. But women dwell in Lemnos.
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Arms we have, as you see, and have learnt the skill of them
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to defend ourselves against all comers. But you, if you are what you
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say, we will welcome as guests. Jason had little will to enter that
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city of dark deeds and consort with those women of fierce nature, but madea
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said, our ship was blown hither, not without divine purpose. Let us
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go ashore and lodge with the Queen as she would have us. So they
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sojourned seven days in Lemnos. For all that time the wind blew rough,
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and contrary, Queen Hypsopili entertained the comrades royally and held games in their honor.
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Setting forth prizes of golden goblets, embroidered mantles for running and wrestling,
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and throwing the spear. For these the warrior women can headed with the heroes,
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and overcame not a few of them, for they were cunning wrestlers and
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marvelous fleet footed, but in feats of strength they could not match Jason and
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his men. Law and the race for which the Queen gave the richest prize
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of all, a silver shield embossed with wild bulls and hunters driving them into
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the toils. That race was run by seven of the heroes in full armor,
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carrying their heavy shields, and there was laughter among the women when the
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seventh, whose name was Urginos, stepped to the starting place, because he,
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though yet young, was gray haired. Yet he outstripped the rest and
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came formest of the goal, and the mockers were ashamed when he took the
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silver shield of the victor's garland from the Queen's hands. After this, the
27:48
strangers found great favor with the island maidens, who would fain have had them
27:52
for their wedded lords, and hypsipially made offer to Jason of her hand and
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kingdom if he would abide in Lemnos. Now she was more beautiful than the
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Colchian enchantress, and Jason's heart was drawn to her. But false to his
28:07
word, he could not be and that was given to Midair. But some
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of his comrades took them brides among the Lemnian damsels, and of these was
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Euphemus, and the Dair at his wedding, prophesied good fortune to the marriage.
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Moreover, the gods, she said, had willedom to find a wife
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in that island, for which very cause they had driven Argo to its coast.
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And the truth of her saying was quickly made manifest, for that very
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day the wind blew fair again for Iolcos, so the heroes longed to set
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sail for home without delay. They listened not to any pleading, but made
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Argo ready for sea, and put their island brides on board, and went
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away. This was the last of their sea faring. The kindly breeze never
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failed toll. They dropped anchor once again in the haven where their good ship
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first floated. Here ends the story of Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece,
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for it needs not to tell the joy of his father and of all Ilkos
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at his homecoming nor how the brave comrades took farewell when they had seen him
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receive the kingdom from Pelias, who durst not draw back from his oath to
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yield it. Jason and Madair were wedded with splendor and rejoicings, and thereafter
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they had such happiness as seen good to the gods. But as for Pelias,
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though Jason did him no violence, he did not escape the death that
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was to be dealt him by his own kindred. For his daughters heard that
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Medea had made old Eson young again by her spells, and they entreated her
29:42
to do the like for their father. Then the enchantress killed an old ram
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before them, and cut it in pieces, and threw the pieces with magic
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herbs into a boiling caldron. And when she had said certain words over it,
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forthwith she drew out a lamb, alive and unhurt. And she gave
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a handful of herbs to the daughters of Pelias, saying, dorter, your
30:04
father, as you have seen me do to this sheep, which has become
30:08
a lamb again. The princesses did so, but madea had given them common
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herbs, and they had not bethought them to ask what those words were which
30:18
she said over the caldron. Therefore they could not bring their slain father to
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life again. Thus perished Pelias, even as the oracle had forewarned them by
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a doom that had its beginning, and the coming to Iochus of the lad
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with one sandal. End of Section thirteen.