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016 - Chapter 5 Part III - Myths of the Sun Moon and Stars · Guide to Mythology

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Speaker 1: Chapter five, Part three of A Guide to Mythology by
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Speaker 1: Helen Clark. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
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Speaker 1: Chapter five, Part three, Myths of the Sun, Moon and Stars.
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Speaker 1: The death of Balder the Good from the Norse EDAs
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Speaker 1: this was an event which the Assus deemed of great importance.
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Speaker 1: Balder the Good, having been tormented by terrible dreams indicating
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Speaker 1: that his life was in great peril, communicated them to
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Speaker 1: the assembled gods, who, sorrow stricken, resolved to conjure all
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Speaker 1: things to avert from him the threatened danger. Then frig
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Speaker 1: exacted an oath from fire and water, from iron and
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Speaker 1: all others, as well as from stones, earths, diseases, beasts, birds, poisons,
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Speaker 1: and creeping things, that none of them would do any
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Speaker 1: harm to Balder. Still, Odin feared that the prosperity of
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Speaker 1: the gods had vanished. He saddled his steed sleep Near
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Speaker 1: and rode down to Nievelheim, where the dog from Hell
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Speaker 1: met him. It was bloody on the breast and barked
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Speaker 1: a long time at Odin. Odin advanced, the earth trembled
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Speaker 1: beneath him, and he came to the high dwelling of Hell,
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Speaker 1: east of the door, he knew the grave of the
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Speaker 1: Valla was situated. Thither. He rode and sang magic songs
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Speaker 1: Coval Galdra, until she unwillingly stood up and asked to
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Speaker 1: disturb to piece. After she had been lying so long,
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Speaker 1: covered with snow and wet with dew, Odin called himself Vegtam,
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Speaker 1: a son of Voltam, and asked for whom the benches
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Speaker 1: were strewn with rings and the couches were swimming in gold.
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Speaker 1: She replied that the mead was brewed for balder, but
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Speaker 1: all the gods would despair. When Odin asked further, who
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Speaker 1: should be Baldur's bane, she answered that Oder would hurl
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Speaker 1: the famous branch and become the bane of Odin's son.
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Speaker 1: But Rind should give birth to a son who only
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Speaker 1: one night old, should wield a sword, and would neither
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Speaker 1: wash his hands nor comb his hair before he had
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Speaker 1: avenged his brother. But recognizing Odin by an enigmatical question,
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Speaker 1: she said, you are not Vegtam, as I believed, but
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Speaker 1: you are Odin, the old ruler. Odin replied, you are
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Speaker 1: no Avala, but the mother of three giants. Then the
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Speaker 1: Valla told Odin to ride home and boast of his journey,
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Speaker 1: but assured him that no one should again visit her.
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Speaker 1: Thus before Loki should be loosed from his chains, and
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Speaker 1: the ruin of the gods had come. When it had
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Speaker 1: been made known that nothing in the world would harm Balder,
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Speaker 1: it became a favorite pastime of the gods at their
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Speaker 1: meetings to get Balder to stand up and serve them
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Speaker 1: as a mark. Some hurling darts at him, some stones,
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Speaker 1: while others hewed at him with their swords and battle axes.
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Speaker 1: For whatever they did, none of them could harm him,
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Speaker 1: and this was regarded by all as a great honor
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Speaker 1: shown to Balder. But when Loki Louis Versan beheld the scene,
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Speaker 1: he was sorely vexed that Balder was not hurt. Assuming
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Speaker 1: therefore the guise of a woman, he went to Fensal,
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Speaker 1: the mansion of Frig. That goddess. Seeing the pretended woman,
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Speaker 1: inquired of her whether she knew what the gods were
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Speaker 1: doing at their meetings. The woman Loki replied that they
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Speaker 1: were throwing darts and stones at Balder without being able
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Speaker 1: to hurt him. Aye, said Frig, neither metal nor wood
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Speaker 1: can hurt Balder, For I have exacted an oath from
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Speaker 1: all of them, what exclaimed the woman, have all things
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Speaker 1: sworn to spare Balder? All things, replied frig except one
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Speaker 1: little shrub that rose on the eastern side of val Hall,
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Speaker 1: and is called mistletoe, and which I thought too young
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Speaker 1: and feeble to crave an oath from. As soon as
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Speaker 1: Loki heard this, he went away, and, resuming his natural form,
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Speaker 1: pulled up the mistletoe and repaired to the place where
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Speaker 1: the gods were assembled. There he found Hoder standing far
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Speaker 1: to one side, without engaging in the sport on account
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Speaker 1: of his blindness. Loki, going up to him, said, why
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Speaker 1: do not you also throw something at Balder? Because I
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Speaker 1: am blind, answered Hoder, and cannot see where Balder is,
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Speaker 1: and besides, I have nothing to throw at him. Come, then,
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Speaker 1: said Loki, do like the rest and show honor to
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Speaker 1: Balder by throwing this twig at him, and I will
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Speaker 1: direct your arm toward the place where he stands Hoder
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Speaker 1: then took the mistletoe, and, under the guidance of Loki,
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Speaker 1: darted it at Balder, who pierced through and through fell
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Speaker 1: down lifeless. Surely never was there witnessed, either among gods
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Speaker 1: or men, a more atrocious deed than this. When Balder fell,
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Speaker 1: the gods were struck speechless with horror. And then they
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Speaker 1: looked at each other, and all were of one mind
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Speaker 1: to lay hands on him who had done the deed,
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Speaker 1: But they were obliged to delay their vengeance out of
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Speaker 1: respect for the sacred place place of peace where they
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Speaker 1: were assembled. They at length gave vent to their grief
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Speaker 1: by such loud lamentations that they were not able to
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Speaker 1: express their grief to one another. Odin, however, fell this
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Speaker 1: misfortune most severely, because he knew best how great was
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Speaker 1: the mischief and the loss which the gods had sustained
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Speaker 1: by the death of Balder. When the gods were a
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Speaker 1: little composed, frig asked who among them wished to gain
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Speaker 1: all her love and favor by riding to the lower
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Speaker 1: world to try to find Balder, and offer a ransom
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Speaker 1: to Hell if she would permit Balder to return to Asgard,
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Speaker 1: whereupon hermot, surnamed the Nimble, offered to undertake the journey.
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Speaker 1: Odin's horse, sleep Near, was then led forth and prepared
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Speaker 1: for the journey. Harmot mounted him and galloped hastily away.
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Speaker 1: The gods then took the dead body of Balder and
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Speaker 1: carried it to the sea where lay Balder's ship, Ringhorn,
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Speaker 1: which was the largest of all ships. But when they
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Speaker 1: wanted to launch this ship and ordered to make Balder's
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Speaker 1: funeral pile on it, they were unable to move it
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Speaker 1: from the place. In this predicament, they sent a message
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Speaker 1: to Jotenheim for a certain giantess named higher Kin the
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Speaker 1: Smoking Fire, who came riding on a wolf and had
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Speaker 1: twisted serpents for her reins. As soon as she alighted,
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Speaker 1: Odin ordered four berserks to hold her steed, but they
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Speaker 1: were obliged to throw the animal down on the ground
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Speaker 1: before they could manage it. Higher Kin then went to
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Speaker 1: the prow of the ship and with a single push,
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Speaker 1: set it afloat. But the motion was so violent that
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Speaker 1: fires sparkled from the underlaid rollers, and the whole world
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Speaker 1: shook bor and raged. The Sight grasped his mallet and
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Speaker 1: would have broken the woman's skull had not the gods
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Speaker 1: interceded for her. Baldur's body was then carried to the
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Speaker 1: funeral pile on board the ship, and this ceremony had
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Speaker 1: such an effect upon Baldur's wife, Nana, daughter of nap
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Speaker 1: that her heart broke with grief, and her body was
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Speaker 1: laid upon the same pile and burned with that of
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Speaker 1: her husband. Thor stood beside the pile and consecrated it
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Speaker 1: with his hammer Meolnir. Before his feet sprang up. A
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Speaker 1: dwarf called lit Thor kicked him with his foot into
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Speaker 1: the fire, so that he also was burned. There was
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Speaker 1: a vast concourse of various kinds of people at Balder's
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Speaker 1: funeral procession. First of all came Odin, accompanied by Frick,
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Speaker 1: the Valkyries and his ravens. Then came Frey in his
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Speaker 1: chariot drawn by the boar Gullinbursty gold Brush or sleeve drug,
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Speaker 1: Tinny the sharp toothed Heimdal rode his horse gold Top,
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Speaker 1: and Freya drove in her chariot drawn by cats. There
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Speaker 1: were also a great number of frost giants and mountain
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Speaker 1: giants present. Odin cast upon the funeral pile the famous
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Speaker 1: ring Draupner, which had been made for him by the
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Speaker 1: dwarfs and possessed the property of producing every ninth night
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Speaker 1: eight rings of equal weight. Balder's horse, fully caparisoned, was
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Speaker 1: also laid upon the pile and consumed in the same
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Speaker 1: flames with the body of his master. Meanwhile, Herma was
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Speaker 1: proceeding on his mission of him. It is to be
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Speaker 1: related that he drove nine days and as many nights
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Speaker 1: through dark and deep valleys, so dark that he could
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Speaker 1: not discern anything, until he came to the river Goal
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Speaker 1: and passed over the Jallar bridge bridge over the river Goal,
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Speaker 1: which is covered with glittering gold Madgod. The maiden who
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Speaker 1: kept the bridge, asked him his name and parentage, and
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Speaker 1: added that the day before five Philkahs kingdoms bands of
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Speaker 1: dead men had ridden over the bridge. But she said
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Speaker 1: it did not shake as much beneath all of them
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Speaker 1: together as it does under you alone. And you have
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Speaker 1: not the complexion of the dead, Why then do you
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Speaker 1: ride here on your way to Hell? I ride to Hell,
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Speaker 1: answered Hermont, to seek for Balder. Have you perchance seen
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Speaker 1: him pass this way? She replied that Balder had ridden
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Speaker 1: over the jah Lar bridge, and that the road to
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Speaker 1: the abodes of death to Hell lay downward and toward
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Speaker 1: the north. Harmont then continued his journey until he came
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Speaker 1: to the barred gates of Hell. Then he alighted from
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Speaker 1: his horse, drew the girths tighter, remounted him and clapped
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Speaker 1: both spurs into him. The horse cleared the gate with
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Speaker 1: a tremendous leap without touching it. Harmont then rode forward
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Speaker 1: to the palace, alighted, and went in, where he found
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Speaker 1: his brother Balder occupying the most distinguished seat in the hall,
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Speaker 1: and spent the night in his company. The next morning
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Speaker 1: he entreated Hell Death to let Baldur ride home with him,
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Speaker 1: representing to her the sorrow which prevailed among the gods.
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Speaker 1: Hell replied that it should now be tried whether Balder
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Speaker 1: was so universally beloved as he was said to be. If, therefore,
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Speaker 1: she added, all things in the world, the living as
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Speaker 1: well as the lifeless, will weep for him, then he
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Speaker 1: shall return to the gods. But if anything speak against
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Speaker 1: him or refuse to weep, then Hell will keep him.
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Speaker 1: After this, hermot rose up Balder, went with him out
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Speaker 1: of the hall, and gave him the ring dropner to
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Speaker 1: present as a keepsake. To Odin, Nana sent frig a carpet,
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Speaker 1: together with several other gifts, and to Fulla she sent
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Speaker 1: a gold finger ring. Hermot then rode back to Asgard
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Speaker 1: and related everything that he had heard and witnessed. The gods.
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Speaker 1: Upon this dispatched messengers throughout all the world to beseech
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Speaker 1: everything to weep in order that Balder might be delivered
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Speaker 1: from the power of Hell. All things very willingly complied
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Speaker 1: with the request, man, animals, the earth, stones, trees, and
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Speaker 1: all metals, just as we see things weep when they
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Speaker 1: come out of the frost into the warm air. When
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Speaker 1: the messengers were returning with the conviction that their mission
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Speaker 1: had been quite successful, they found on their way home
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Speaker 1: a giantess Ogris Geiger, who called herself though they bade
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Speaker 1: her also weep Balder out of the dominion of Hell,
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Speaker 1: but she answered, thok will weep with dry tears for
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Speaker 1: Balder's death. Neither in life nor in death gave he
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Speaker 1: me gladness. Let Hell keep what she has. Battle between
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Speaker 1: Ra and on Apeph or apep in the underworld, Egyptian,
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Speaker 1: get thee back, depart retreat from me O on a
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Speaker 1: pef withdraw, or thou shalt be drowned at the pool
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Speaker 1: of new at the place where thy father hath ordered
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Speaker 1: that thy slaughter be performed. Depart thou from the divine
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Speaker 1: place of birth of raw, wherein is thy terror. I
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Speaker 1: am Ra, who dwelleth in his terror, get thee back,
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Speaker 1: fiend before the darts of his beams. Ra hath overthrown
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Speaker 1: thy words. The gods have turned thy face backward. The
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Speaker 1: lynx hath torn open thy breast. The scorpion hath cast
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Speaker 1: fetters upon thee, and Mayat hath sent forth thy destruction.
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Speaker 1: Those who are in the ways have overthrown thee, fall
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Speaker 1: down and depart. O Apep, thou, enemy of Ra, O
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Speaker 1: thou that passest over the region in the eastern part
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Speaker 1: of heaven with the sound of the roaring thunder cloud,
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Speaker 1: O Ra, who openest the gates of the horizon straightway
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Speaker 1: on thy appearance, apep hath sunk helpless under thy gashings.
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Speaker 1: I have performed thy will, O Rah, I have performed
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Speaker 1: thy will. I have done that which is fair. I
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Speaker 1: have done that which is fair. I have labored for
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Speaker 1: the peace of Ra. I have made to advance thy fetters,
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Speaker 1: O Rah, and Apep hath fallen through thy, drawing them tight.
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Speaker 1: The gods of the South and of the north, of
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Speaker 1: the west and of the east have fastened chains upon him,
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Speaker 1: and they have fettered him with fetters. The god Reeks
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Speaker 1: hath overthrown him, and the god hurt it, hath put
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Speaker 1: him in chains. Ra setteth Ra setteth, Ra is strong
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Speaker 1: at his setting. Apep hath fallen. Apep, the enemy of
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Speaker 1: Ra departeth. Greater is the punishment which hath been afflicted
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Speaker 1: on THEE than the sting which is the scorpion goddess.
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Speaker 1: And mightily hath she whose course is everlasting worked in
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Speaker 1: upon THEE, and with deadly effect. Thou shalt never enjoy
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Speaker 1: the delights of love. Thou shalt never fulfill thy desire.
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Speaker 1: O Apep, thou enemy of Ra. He maketh THEE to
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Speaker 1: go back, O Thou, who art hateful to Ra. He
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Speaker 1: looketh upon THEE, get THEE back. He pierceth thy head.
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Speaker 1: He cutteth through thy face. He divideth thy head at
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Speaker 1: the two sides of the ways, and it is crushed
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Speaker 1: in his land. Thy bones are smashed in pieces, Thy
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Speaker 1: members are hacked off THEE, and the God Acre hath
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Speaker 1: condemned THEE. O Apep, Thou enemy of Ra. Thy mariners
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Speaker 1: are those who keep the reckoning for THEE. O Rah,
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Speaker 1: as thou advancest and thou restest there within it are
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Speaker 1: the offerings made to thee. As thou advancest, as thou
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Speaker 1: advancest toward the house, Let not any baleful obstacle proceed
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Speaker 1: from thy mouth against me. When thou workest on my behalf,
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Speaker 1: I am set who let loose the storm clouds and
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Speaker 1: the thunder and the horizon of heaven. The story of
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Speaker 1: Phoebus Apollo Greek. Soon after his birth, the sun god
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Speaker 1: spent a year among the Hyperborean, where for six continuous
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Speaker 1: months of the year there is sunshine and spring, soft climate,
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Speaker 1: profusion of herbs and flowers, and the very ecstasy of life.
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Speaker 1: During this delay, the Delphians sang paeans hymns of praise
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Speaker 1: to Apollo, and danced in chorus about the tripod or
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Speaker 1: three legged stool, where the expectant priestess of Apollo had
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Speaker 1: taken her seat. At last, when the year was warm,
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Speaker 1: came the God in his chariot, drawn by swans, heralded
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Speaker 1: by songs of springtide of nightingales and swallows and crickets.
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Speaker 1: Then the crystal fount of Castalia and the stream cephasis
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Speaker 1: overflowed their bounds, and mankind made grateful offerings to the God.
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Speaker 1: But his advent was not altogether peaceful. And enormous serpent
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Speaker 1: Python had crept forth from the slime with which after
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Speaker 1: the flood the earth was covered, and in the caves
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Speaker 1: of Mount Parnassus, this terror of the people lurked him.
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Speaker 1: Apollo encountered, and, after fearful combat, slew with arrows, weapons
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Speaker 1: which the God of the Silver Bow had not before
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Speaker 1: used against any but feeble animals. In commemoration of this conquest,
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Speaker 1: he instituted the Pythian Games, in which the victor in
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Speaker 1: feats of strength, swiftness of foot, or in the chariot race,
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Speaker 1: should be crowned with a wreath of beech leaves. In
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Speaker 1: his conflict with another monster of darkness, Apollo had the
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Speaker 1: assistance of his sister Artemis Diana. By their unerring fiery darts,
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Speaker 1: they subdued the giant Titus, who not only had obstructed
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Speaker 1: the peaceful ways to the Oracle of Delphi, but had
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Speaker 1: ventured to insult the mother of the Twin deities. Another
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Speaker 1: event in the life of Apollo shows the fatal effect
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Speaker 1: of his fiery darts upon a young friend. Hyacinthus, the
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Speaker 1: God of the Silver Bow, was in the habit of
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Speaker 1: going with Hyacinthus, when he went forth on his hunting
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Speaker 1: and fishing expeditions, or upon tramps in the mountains. One
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Speaker 1: day they decided to play a game of quoits together. Apollo,
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Speaker 1: heaving aloft the discus, with strength, mingled with skill, sent
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Speaker 1: it high and far. Hyacinthus, excited with the sport and
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Speaker 1: eager to make his throw, ran forward to seize the missile,
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Speaker 1: but it bounded from the earth and struck him in
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Speaker 1: the forehead. He fainted and fell. The god as pale
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Speaker 1: as himself, raised him and tried all his art to
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Speaker 1: staunch the wound and retain the flo life. But in vain,
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Speaker 1: as when one has broken the stem of a lily
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Speaker 1: in the garden, it hangs its head and turns its
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Speaker 1: flowers to the earth. So the head of the dying boy,
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Speaker 1: as if too heavy for his neck, fell over on
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Speaker 1: his shoulder. Thou diest, hyacinth said, Phoebus, robbed of thy
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Speaker 1: life by me, would that I could die for THEE.
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Speaker 1: But since that may not be, my leer shall celebrate thee.
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Speaker 1: My song shall tell thy fate, and thou shalt become
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Speaker 1: a flower inscribed with my regret. While the golden God
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Speaker 1: spoke the blood, which had flowed on the ground and
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Speaker 1: stained the herbage, ceased to be blood, and a flower
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Speaker 1: of hue, more beautiful than Tyrian purple, sprang up, resembling
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Speaker 1: in Shppe the lily. Phoebus, then, to confer still greater honor,
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Speaker 1: marked the petals with his sorrow inscribing aye Aye upon them.
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Speaker 1: The flower bears the name of Hyacinthus, and with returning spring,
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Speaker 1: revives the memory of his fate. Apollo was also a
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Speaker 1: perfect magician in music. He helped Neptune, the god of
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Speaker 1: the Sea, to build the walls of the ancient and
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Speaker 1: far famed city of Troy, simply by playing on his lear.
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Speaker 1: It is said that upon one occasion, Pan had the
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Speaker 1: temerity to compare his music with that of Apollo, and
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Speaker 1: to challenge the god of the Leir to a trial
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Speaker 1: of skill. The challenge was accepted, and Tumulus, the mountain god,
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Speaker 1: was chosen of Empire the Senior, took his seat and
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Speaker 1: cleared away the trees from his ears to listen. At
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Speaker 1: a given signal, Pan blew on his pipes, and with
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Speaker 1: his rustic melody, gave great satisfaction to himself and his
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Speaker 1: faithful follower Midas, who happened to be present. Then to
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Speaker 1: Molus turned his head toward the sun God, and all
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Speaker 1: his trees turned with him. Apollo rose, his brow wreathed
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Speaker 1: with Parnassian laurel, while his robe of Tyrian purple swept
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Speaker 1: the ground. In his left hand he held the leer,
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Speaker 1: and with his right hand struck the strings to Molus
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Speaker 1: at once awarded the victory to the lyric god, and
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Speaker 1: all but Midas acquiesced in the judgment. He dissented and
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Speaker 1: questioned the justice of the award, and Apollo promptly transformed
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Speaker 1: his depraved pair of ears into those of an ass.
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Speaker 1: The story of Artemis and Orion Greek. Orion, the son
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Speaker 1: of Neptune, was a giant and mighty hunter, whose prowess
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Speaker 1: and manly favor gained for him the rare good will
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Speaker 1: of Artemis. It is related that he loved Merope, the
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Speaker 1: daughter of Enopion, king of Caius, and sought her in marriage.
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Speaker 1: He cleared the island of wild beasts and brought the
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Speaker 1: spoils of the chase as presence to his beloved, But
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Speaker 1: as Enopian constantly deferred his consent, Orion attempted to gain
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Speaker 1: possession of the maiden by violence. Her father, incensed at
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Speaker 1: this conduct, made Orion drunk, deprived him of his sight,
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Speaker 1: and cast him out on the sea shore. The blinded hero,
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Speaker 1: instructed by an oracle to seek the rays of mourning,
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Speaker 1: followed the sound of a cyclop's hammer till he reached Lemnos,
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Speaker 1: where Vulcan, taking pity on him, gave him Sedalion, one
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Speaker 1: of his men, to be his guide to the abode
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Speaker 1: of the Sun. Placing Sedalion on his shoulders, Orion proceeded
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Speaker 1: to the east, and there, meeting the Sun god, was
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Speaker 1: restored to sight by his beam. After this, he used
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Speaker 1: to go hunting with Artemis, much to the displeasure of Apollo,
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Speaker 1: who did not like his sister to make such a
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Speaker 1: friend of Orion. One day, therefore, observing Orion as he
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Speaker 1: walked through the sea with his head just above water,
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Speaker 1: Apollo pointed out the black object to his sister and
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Speaker 1: maintained that she could not hid it. The archer goddess
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Speaker 1: discharged a shaft with fatal aim. The waves rolled the
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Speaker 1: dead body of Orion to the land. Then, bewailing with
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Speaker 1: many tears the death of her friend, Artemis placed him
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Speaker 1: among the stars, where he appears as a giant with
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Speaker 1: a girdle, sword, lion's skim and club Sirius, his dog,
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Speaker 1: follows him and the Pleiades fly before him. In the
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Speaker 1: beginning of winter, all through the night, Orion follows the
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Speaker 1: chase across the heavens, but with dawn he sinks toward
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Speaker 1: the waters of his father Neptune. In the beginning of summer,
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Speaker 1: he may be seen with daybreak in the Eastern Si
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Speaker 1: till Artemis draws again her darts and slays him. The
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Speaker 1: myths of the stars are almost as numerous as those
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Speaker 1: of the Sun and moon, and exist everywhere. A very
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Speaker 1: prevalent idea in regard to them is that human beings
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Speaker 1: are transformed into stars. For example, in Australia they say
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Speaker 1: that the god Punjel made stars of all the good
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Speaker 1: men and women after the deluge. In Greek mythology, the
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Speaker 1: gods very frequently turned men and women into stars, both
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Speaker 1: in Australia and Greece. The stars the Greeks called and
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Speaker 1: we now know as Castor and Pollux were two young men.
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Speaker 1: In the first case, they are said to be two hunters.
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Speaker 1: In the second they were two brothers, so so famous
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Speaker 1: for their brotherly love that Zeus, desiring to make their
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Speaker 1: memory immortal, placed them both among the stars. Sometimes a
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Speaker 1: human being or an animal is transformed into a whole
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Speaker 1: constellation or group of stars. The story told about the
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Speaker 1: constellations of the Great Bear and the Little Bear in
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Speaker 1: Greece is that once a nymph Callisto of the Train
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Speaker 1: of Artemis, who fell in love, was changed into a
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Speaker 1: bear by Juno one day long after she saw a
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Speaker 1: youth hunting and recognized him as her own son. She
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Speaker 1: stopped and wanted to embrace him, but her son, not
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Speaker 1: recognizing her in her bear form, was on the point
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Speaker 1: of transfixing her when Zeus arrested the crime and snatching
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Speaker 1: away both of them, placed them in the heavens as
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Speaker 1: the Great Bear and the Little Bear. The story of
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Speaker 1: Orion's translation into a constellation has already been given. Around
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Speaker 1: the group of stars called the Pleiades cluster, many legends
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Speaker 1: of this group of seven stars. One is so dim
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Speaker 1: that it seems entirely to disappear. A South Australian legend
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Speaker 1: tells that the Pleiades were a queen and her six attendants.
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Speaker 1: The crow fell in love with the queen, who refused
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Speaker 1: to be his wife. The crow, however, found that the
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Speaker 1: Queen and her six maidens were in the habit of
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Speaker 1: hunting for white edible grubs in the bark of trees.
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Speaker 1: The crow at once changed himself into a grub and
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Speaker 1: hid in the bark of a tree. The six maidens
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Speaker 1: sought to pick him out with their wooden hooks, but
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Speaker 1: he broke the points of all the hooks. Then came
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Speaker 1: the Queen with her pretty bone hook. He let himself
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Speaker 1: be drawn out, took the shape of a giant, and
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Speaker 1: ran away with her. Ever since, there have only been
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Speaker 1: six stars and six maidens in the Plaides. According to
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Speaker 1: a Greek myth, the Plaides, who still fly before Orion
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Speaker 1: in the heavens, were daughters of Atlas and nymphs of
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Speaker 1: the train of Artemis. One day they were pursued by
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Speaker 1: the giant hunter Orion, and being very much frightened, they
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Speaker 1: prayed to the gods to change their form. Zeus heard
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Speaker 1: their prayers, changed them into pigeons and placed them among
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Speaker 1: the stars. Though their number was seven, only six stars
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Speaker 1: are now visible, for it is said Electra left the
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Speaker 1: place that she might not behold the ruin of Troy,
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Speaker 1: which had been founded by her son Dardness. The sight
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Speaker 1: had such an effect on her sisters that they blanched
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Speaker 1: and have been pale ever since. But Electra became a comet,
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Speaker 1: her hair floating wildly. She still ranges inconsolably the expanse
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Speaker 1: of heaven. The prettiest notion in regard to the stars
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Speaker 1: as that they are the souls of the dead. In Germany,
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Speaker 1: for example, they thought that when a child died, God
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Speaker 1: made a new star. The North American Indians are particularly
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Speaker 1: fond of star myths, and they have invented some charming
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Speaker 1: star stories. According to them, stars might come down and
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Speaker 1: talk to men, after the manner of one, whose story
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Speaker 1: is given below. It came down and told a hunter
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Speaker 1: where to find game. Some of the animal constellations among
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Speaker 1: the stars are evidently metamorphosed totems, for there is a
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Speaker 1: widespread belief that these star animals or men were the
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Speaker 1: ancestors of the people, and that ages ago they had
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Speaker 1: been lifted up to heaven. The Milky Way is described
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Speaker 1: by the Indians, sometimes as the Path of spirits and
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Speaker 1: the Road of souls, sometimes as the road of birds,
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Speaker 1: along which the souls of the good go flitting like
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Speaker 1: birds to dwell at last in heaven in peace. Story
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Speaker 1: of the Child and the Star Iowa Indian. Many years ago,
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Speaker 1: a child, when very young, observed a star in the
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Speaker 1: heavens that attracted him more than any other. As the
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Speaker 1: child grew to manhood, his attachment increased, his thoughts dwelt
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Speaker 1: continually on this beauty of the night. One day, while hunting,
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Speaker 1: as he sat down, travel worn and weary with his
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Speaker 1: ill success, his beloved star appeared to him and comforted
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Speaker 1: him with encouraging words, and then conducted him to a
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Speaker 1: place where he found a great plenty and variety of game.
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Speaker 1: From this time the young man showed a wonderful improvement
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Speaker 1: in the art of hunting, and soon became celebrated in
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Speaker 1: this pursuit and of Chapter five, Part three