[After slaying the Gorgon, the Greek hero Perseus finds Andromeda chained toa rock in the sea. He frees her, and asks her name.]
Andromeda answered weeping--
"I am the daughter of Cepheus, King of Iopa, and my mother is Cassiop?eia of the beautiful tresses, and they called me Andromeda, as long as life was mine. And I stand bound here, hapless that I am, for the sea-monster"s food, to atone for my mother"s sin. For she boasted of me once that I was fairer than Atergatis, Queen of the Fishes; so she in her wrath sent the sea-floods, and her brother the Fire King sent the earthquakes, and wasted all the land, and after the floods a monster bred of the slime, who devours all living things. And now he must devour me, guiltless though I am-me who never harmed a living thing, nor saw a fish upon the shore but I gave it life, and threw it back into the sea; for in our land we eat no fish, for fear of Atergatis their queen. Yet the priests say that nothing but my blood can atone for a sin which I never committed. "But Perseus laughed, and said, "A sea-monster ? I have fought with worse than he : I would have faced Immortals foryour sake; how much more a beast of the sea ! "Then Andromeda looked up at him, and new hope was kindled in her breast, so proud and fair did he stand, with one hend round her, and in the other the glittering sword. But she only sighed, and wept the more, and cried--"Why will you die, young as you are ? Is there not death and sorrow enough in the world already? It is noble for me to die, that I may save the lives of a whole people; but you, better than them all, why should I slay you too? Go you your way; I must go mine. "But Perseus cried, " Not so; for the Lords of Olympus, whom I serve, are the friends of the heroes, and help them on to noble deeds. Led by them, I slew the Gorgon, the beautiful horror; and not without them do I come hither, to slay this monster with that same Gorgon"s head. Yet hide your eyes when I leave you, lest the sight of it freeze you, too, to stone. " But the maiden answered nothing, for she could not believe his words. And then, suddenly looking up, she pointedto the sea, and shrieked:
" There he comes, with the sunrise, as they promised. I must die now. How shall I endure it? Oh, go! Is it not dreadful enough to be torn piecemeal, without having you to look on ? " And she tried to thrust him away.
But he said, "I go; yet promise me one thing ere I go: that if I slay this beast you will be my wife, and come back with me to my kingdom in fruitful Argos, for I am a king"s heir.
Promise me, and seal it with a kiss. "
Then she lifted up her face, and kissed him; and Perseus laughed for joy, and flew upward, while Andromeda crouched trembling on the rock, waiting for what might befall.
On came the great sea-monster, coasting along like a huge black galley, lazily breasting the ripple, and stopping at times by creek or headland to watch for the laughter of girls at their bleaching, or cattle pawing on the sand-hills, or boys bathing on the beach. His great sides were fringed with clustering shells and seaweeds, and the water gurgled in and out of his wide jaws, as he rolled along, dripping and glistening in the beams of the morning sun.
At last he saw Andromeda, and shot forward to take his prey, while the waves foamed white behind him, and before him the fish fled leaping.
Then down from the height of the air fell Perseus like a shooting star; down to the crests of the waves, while Andromeda hid her face as he shouted; and then there was silence for a while.
At last she looked up trembling, and saw Perseus springing toward her; and instead of the monster a long black rock, with the sea rippling quietly round it.
Who then so proud as Perseus, as he leapt back to the rock, and lifted his fair Andromeda in his arms, and flew with her to the cliff-top, as a falcon carries a dove ?
Who so proud as Perseus, and who so joyful as all the?thiop people ? For they had stood watching the monster from the cliffs, wailing for the maiden"s fate. And already a messenger had gone to Cepheus and Cassiop?ia, where they sat in sackcloth and ashes on the ground, in the innermost chambers, awaiting their daughter"s end. And they came, and all the city with them, to see the wonder, with songs and with dances, with cymbals and harps, and received their daughter back again, as one alive from the dead.
Then Cepheus said, " Hero of the Hellenes, stay here with me and be my son-in-law, and I will give you the half of my kingdom. ""I will be your son-in-law, " said Perseus; " but of your kingdom I will have none, for I long after the pleasant land of Greece, and my mother who waits for me at home. "Charles Kingsley, in The Heroes.
Author.-Charles Kingsley (see "Amyas Leigh and his Revenge").
General Notes.-Perseus was a mythical Greek hero whose exploits resemble those of Hercules. Andromeda (accent on the "drom ") herself explains who she is. Mt. Olympus was the home of the gods. The Gorgon referred to had snakes instead of hair, and turned people to stone who looked upon her; her name was Medusa. The Hellenes were the Greeks, the people of Hellas. Write a little story entitled " A Modern Perseus, " showing how he faced great dangers to save life.
