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the heroes-第17章

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the Minuai; in  Iolcos by the sea。'

And all the heroes pressed round; and vowed to her that she  should be their queen。

Medeia wept; and shuddered; and hid her face in her hands;  for her heart yearned after her sisters and her playfellows;  and the home where she was brought up as a child。  But at  last she looked up at Jason; and spoke between her sobs …

'Must I leave my home and my people; to wander with strangers  across the sea?  The lot is cast; and I must endure it。  I  will show you how to win the golden fleece。  Bring up your  ship to the wood…side; and moor her there against the bank;  and let Jason come up at midnight; and one brave comrade with  him; and meet me beneath the wall。'

Then all the heroes cried together; 'I will go!' 'and I!'  'and I!'  And Idas the rash grew mad with envy; for he longed  to be foremost in all things。  But Medeia calmed them; and  said; 'Orpheus shall go with Jason; and bring his magic harp;  for I hear of him that he is the king of all minstrels; and  can charm all things on earth。'

And Orpheus laughed for joy; and clapped his hands; because  the choice had fallen on him; for in those days poets and  singers were as bold warriors as the best。

So at midnight they went up the bank; and found Medeia; and  beside came Absyrtus her young brother; leading a yearling  lamb。

Then Medeia brought them to a thicket beside the War…god's  gate; and there she bade Jason dig a ditch; and kill the  lamb; and leave it there; and strew on it magic herbs and  honey from the honeycomb。

Then sprang up through the earth; with the red fire flashing  before her; Brimo the wild witch…huntress; while her mad  hounds howled around。  She had one head like a horse's; and  another like a ravening hound's; and another like a hissing  snake's; and a sword in either hand。  And she leapt into the  ditch with her hounds; and they ate and drank their fill;  while Jason and Orpheus trembled; and Medeia hid her eyes。   And at last the witch…queen vanished; and fled with her  hounds into the woods; and the bars of the gates fell down;  and the brazen doors flew wide; and Medeia and the heroes ran  forward and hurried through the poison wood; among the dark  stems of the mighty beeches; guided by the gleam of the  golden fleece; until they saw it hanging on one vast tree in  the midst。  And Jason would have sprung to seize it; but  Medeia held him back; and pointed; shuddering; to the tree… foot; where the mighty serpent lay; coiled in and out among  the roots; with a body like a mountain pine。  His coils  stretched many a fathom; spangled with bronze and gold; and  half of him they could see; but no more; for the rest lay in  the darkness far beyond。

And when he saw them coming he lifted up his head; and  watched them with his small bright eyes; and flashed his  forked tongue; and roared like the fire among the woodlands;  till the forest tossed and groaned。  For his cries shook the  trees from leaf to root; and swept over the long reaches of  the river; and over Aietes' hall; and woke the sleepers in  the city; till mothers clasped their children in their fear。

But Medeia called gently to him; and he stretched out his  long spotted neck; and licked her hand; and looked up in her  face; as if to ask for food。  Then she made a sign to  Orpheus; and he began his magic song。

And as he sung; the forest grew calm again; and the leaves on  every tree hung still; and the serpent's head sank down; and  his brazen coils grew limp; and his glittering eyes closed  lazily; till he breathed as gently as a child; while Orpheus  called to pleasant Slumber; who gives peace to men; and  beasts; and waves。

Then Jason leapt forward warily; and stept across that mighty  snake; and tore the fleece from off the tree…trunk; and the  four rushed down the garden; to the bank where the ARGO lay。

There was a silence for a moment; while Jason held the golden  fleece on high。  Then he cried; 'Go now; good ARGO; swift and  steady; if ever you would see Pelion more。'

And she went; as the heroes drove her; grim and silent all;  with muffled oars; till the pine…wood bent like willow in  their hands; and stout ARGO groaned beneath their strokes。

On and on; beneath the dewy darkness; they fled swiftly down  the swirling stream; underneath black walls; and temples; and  the castles of the princes of the East; past sluice…mouths;  and fragrant gardens; and groves of all strange fruits; past  marshes where fat kine lay sleeping; and long beds of  whispering reeds; till they heard the merry music of the  surge upon the bar; as it tumbled in the moonlight all alone。

Into the surge they rushed; and ARGO leapt the breakers like  a horse; for she knew the time was come to show her mettle;  and win honour for the heroes and herself。

Into the surge they rushed; and ARGO leapt the breakers like  a horse; till the heroes stopped all panting; each man upon  his oar; as she slid into the still broad sea。

Then Orpheus took his harp and sang a paean; till the heroes'  hearts rose high again; and they rowed on stoutly and  steadfastly; away into the darkness of the West。


PART V … HOW THE ARGONAUTS WERE DRIVEN INTO THE UNKNOWN SEA


SO they fled away in haste to the westward; but Aietes manned  his fleet and followed them。  And Lynceus the quick…eyed saw  him coming; while he was still many a mile away; and cried;  'I see a hundred ships; like a flock of white swans; far in  the east。'  And at that they rowed hard; like heroes; but the  ships came nearer every hour。

Then Medeia; the dark witch…maiden; laid a cruel and a  cunning plot; for she killed Absyrtus her young brother; and  cast him into the sea; and said; 'Ere my father can take up  his corpse and bury it; he must wait long; and be left far  behind。'

And all the heroes shuddered; and looked one at the other for  shame; yet they did not punish that dark witch…woman; because  she had won for them the golden fleece。

And when Aietes came to the place he saw the floating corpse;  and he stopped a long while; and bewailed his son; and took  him up; and went home。  But he sent on his sailors toward the  westward; and bound them by a mighty curse … 'Bring back to  me that dark witch…woman; that she may die a dreadful death。   But if you return without her; you shall die by the same  death yourselves。'

So the Argonauts escaped for that time:  but Father Zeus saw  that foul crime; and out of the heavens he sent a storm; and  swept the ship far from her course。  Day after day the storm  drove her; amid foam and blinding mist; till they knew no  longer where they were; for the sun was blotted from the  skies。  And at last the ship struck on a shoal; amid low  isles of mud and sand; and the waves rolled over her and  through her; and the heroes lost all hope of life。

Then Jason cried to Hera; 'Fair queen; who hast befriended us  till now; why hast thou left us in our misery; to die here  among unknown seas?  It is hard to lose the honour which we  have won with such toil and danger; and hard never to see  Hellas again; and the pleasant bay of Pagasai。'

Then out and spoke the magic bough which stood upon the  ARGO'S beak; 'Because Father Zeus is angry; all this has  fallen on you; for a cruel crime has been done on board; and  the sacred ship is foul with blood。'

At that some of the heroes cried; 'Medeia is the murderess。   Let the witch…woman bear her sin; and die!'  And they seized  Medeia; to hurl her into the sea; and atone for the young  boy's death; but the magic bough spoke again; 'Let her live  till her crimes are full。  Vengeance waits for her; slow and  sure; but she must live; for you need her still。  She must  show you the way to her sister Circe; who lives among the  islands of the West。  To her you must sail; a weary way; and  she shall cleanse you from your guilt。'

Then all the heroes wept aloud when they heard the sentence  of the oak; for they knew that a dark journey lay before  them; and years of bitter toil。  And some upbraided the dark  witch…woman; and some said; 'Nay; we are her debtors still;  without her we should never have won the fleece。'  But most  of them bit their lips in silence; for they feared the  witch's spells。

And now the sea grew calmer; and the sun shone out once more;  and the heroes thrust the ship off the sand…bank; and rowed  forward on their weary course under the guiding of the dark  witch…maiden; into the wastes of the unknown sea。

Whither they went I cannot tell; nor how they came to Circe's  isle。  Some say that they went to the westward; and up the  Ister (2) stream; and so came into the Adriatic; dragging  their ship over the snowy Alps。  And others say that they  went southward; into the Red Indian Sea; and past the sunny  lands where spices grow; round AEthiopia toward the West; and  that at last they came to Libya; and dragged their ship  across the burning sands; and over the hills into the Syrtes;  where the flats and quicksands spread for many a mile;  between rich Cyrene and the Lotus…eaters' shore。  But all  these are but dreams and fables; and dim hints of unknown  lands。

But all say that they came to a place where they had to drag  their ship across the land nine days with ropes and roller
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