CHAPTER VI.

66 ONE SHOE OFF AND ONE SHOE ON."

Hard by Anau'ros I beheld the man,

Wide o'er its banks whose rapid currents ran;
(From snow-clad hills, in torrents loud and strong,
Roared the swoln streams the rugged rocks among.)
He on his back, though like a crone I stood,
Securely brought me o'er the foaming flood:
This won my love.

APOLLONIUS RHODIUS. - Translated by Fawkes.1

Some think the fable of their existence first arose because some Greek had seen a troop of mounted savages, long, long before the better civilized had thought of riding horseback.

And this seems not unlikely, for at a distance the view of the horses' heads might be lost, at least to one frightened at the strange sight, and such a person might imagine he had seen a herd of monsters, with horses' legs and bodies, but with human heads and arms and waists.

Their origin is wrapped in mist and mystery. Their maternal ancestor, according to some writers, was another Neph'ele; but this one, unlike the mother of Phrix'us, a woman that pretended to be a cloud, was a cloud that pretended to be a woman. She wedded poor Ixi'on, and a stormy life he had, as might have been expected.

The Cen'taurs, as a rule, were wild and savage, and little to be desired as friends, although they were well skilled in hunting, medicine, and music. But CHI'RON was a great and grand exception. He not only was the wisest of them all, but he was kind and gentle, and many of

the noble youths were brought to him by parents, who were glad to employ the celebrated Cen'taur as a teacher for their boys. Ene'as, Ver'gil's hero, and Achilles, mightiest warrior of the Greeks in after-years,' and wise Askle'pios, or Æscula'pius, Apollo's son and the first physician of renown, all these owed their teaching to the famous sage.

One day Chi'ron had wandered from his cave in Mount Pe'lion, and, from some impulse that he himself could not understand, had turned his steps toward Iol'cos. But He'ra could have told the reason why, for she, the queen of gods, had influenced his course, that she might bring disaster upon Pe'lias; for she hated him, and he now ruled over the city of which she was the patron goddess. Whom the gods would destroy, or spare, cannot always be told from the real character of the person; for in Greek mythology we find even the wicked living in the especial favor of those deities to whom they sacrificed abundantly.

But Pelias killed Side'ro, as you have read, 1 Appendix, Note 11.

at He'ra's altar, and had polluted the sacrificial knife and sacred fire with the blood of a murdered victim. For this impiety toward the goddess, and not for the trifling fact of having killed somebody, the luckless Pe'lias shall henceforth be pursued by a relentless foe.

Just as the Cen'taur reached the edge of a wood without the city, a man dashed toward him carrying a little child.

"Hallo, my friend," quoth Chi'ron, "what fine boy hast thou there?"

"Oh, help! good Cen'taur!" cried the man eagerly. "Thou art skilled in prophecy. Tell me how I may save my child from cruel Pe'lias, who has usurped my throne and now would slay my son."

"There are several lads of noble birth who dwell with me upon Mount Pelion," the Cen'taur answered, "and learn to play the harp, bend the unerring bow, and gather healing herbs. If thou wilt trust thy offspring to my care, I will instruct him in the same pursuits, and furthermore protect him from the danger that thou fearest."

This was more than 'son had hoped, and he could hardly speak for tears. He placed the boy, who laughed in childish glee, on Chiron's back, and saw him gallop away into the forest. Then 'son returned to his house to meet the messenger of Pe'lias, and, though he and Alcim'ede privately rejoiced at the good fortune of their son, they wept for him in public as though he were dead.

Meanwhile the young Ja'son was carefully reared upon Mount Pe'lion, and learned many useful arts. He was swift of foot, strong of arm, and none of Chi'ron's pupils could send an arrow straighter to the mark. At length he reached the age of twenty years, and that day came to Chi'ron's side and spoke as follows:

"Good master, you have taught me faithfully and well. I love and honor you, and have passed many happy hours here. But I feel that I am a boy no longer, and I greatly desire to go forth into the world of which you have so often sung, and dare its dangers."

Chi'ron lay upon a bed of fragrant boughs, holding his harp, on which he had been playing