 Section six of Tanglewood Tales. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Robert Beach, July 2009. Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Dragon's Teeth, Part One. Cadmus, Phoenix, and Silex, the three sons of King Aginor, and their little sister Europa, who was a very beautiful child, were at play together near the seashore in their father's kingdom of Phoenicia. They had rambled to some distance from the palace where their parents dwelt, and were now in a verdant meadow, on one side of which lay the sea, all sparkling and dimpling in the sunshine, and murmuring gently against the beach. The three boys were very happy, gathering flowers and twining them into garlands, with which they adorned the little Europa. Seated on the grass, the child was almost hidden under an abundance of buds and blossoms, whence her rosy face peeped merrily out, and, as Cadmus said, was the prettiest of all the flowers. Just then there came a splendid butterfly, fluttering along the meadow, and Cadmus, Phoenix, and Silex set off in pursuit of it, crying out that it was a flower with wings. Europa, who was a little wearied with plain all day long, did not chase the butterfly with her brothers, but sat still where they had left her, and closed her eyes. For a while she listened to the pleasant murmur of the sea, which was like a voice saying, hush, and bidding her go to sleep. But the pretty child, if she slept at all, could not have slept more than a moment when she heard something trample on the grass not far from her, and peeping out from the heap of flowers beheld a snow-white bull. And whence could this bull have come? Europa and her brothers had been a long time playing in the meadow, and had seen no cattle nor other living thing, either there or on the neighboring hills. Brother Cadmus cried Europa, starting up out of the midst of the roses and lilies. Phoenix, Silex, where are you all? Help! Help! Come and drive away this bull! But her brothers were too far off to hear, especially as the fright took away Europa's voice, and hindered her from calling very loudly. So there she stood, with her pretty mouth wide open, as pale as the white lilies that were twisted among the other flowers in her garlands. Nevertheless it was the suddenness with which she had perceived the bull, rather than anything frightful in his appearance, that caused Europa so much alarm. On looking at him more attentively, she began to see that he was a beautiful animal, and even fancied a particularly amiable expression in his face. As for his breath, the breath of cattle, you know, is always sweet. It was as fragrant as if he had been grazing on no other food than rose buds, or at least the most delicate of clover blossoms. Never before did a bull have such bright and tender eyes, and such smooth horns of ivory as this one. And the bull ran little races, and capered sportively around the child, so that she quite forgot how big and strong he was, and from the gentleness and playfulness of his actions soon came to consider him as innocent a creature as a pet lamb. Thus, frightened as she at first was, you might by and by have seen Europa stroking the bull's forehead with her small white hand, and taking the garlands off her own head to hang them on his neck and ivory horns. Then she pulled up some blades of grass, and he ate them out of her hand, not as if he were hungry, but because he wanted to be friends with the child, and took pleasure in eating what she had touched. Well, my stars, was there ever such a gentle, sweet, pretty, and amiable creature as this bull, and ever such a nice playmate for a little girl? When the animal saw, for the bull had so much intelligence, that it is really wonderful to think of, when he saw that Europa was no longer afraid of him, he grew overjoyed, and could hardly contain himself for delight. He frisked about the meadow, now here, now there, making sprightly leaps with as little effort as a bird expends in hopping from twig to twig. Indeed, his motion was as light as if he were flying through the air, and his hoof seemed hardly to leave their print in the grassy soil over which he trod. With his spotless hue he resembled a snowdrift waffed along by the wind. Once he galloped so far away that Europa feared, lest she might never see him again. So, setting up her childish voice, called him back. Come back, pretty creature, she cried. Here's a nice clover blossom. And then it was delightful to witness the gratitude of this amiable bull, and how he was so full of joy and thankfulness that he capered higher than ever. He came running and bowed his head before Europa, as if he knew her to be a king's daughter, or else recognized the important truth that a little girl is everybody's queen. And not only did the bull bend his neck, he absolutely knelt down at her feet and made such intelligent nods and other inviting gestures that Europa understood what he meant, just as well as if he had put it in so many words. Come, dear child, was what he wanted to say. Let me give you a ride on my back. At the first thought of such a thing, Europa drew back. But then she considered in her wise little head that there could be no possible harm in taking just one gallop on the back of this docile and friendly animal, who would certainly set her down the very instant she desired it. And how it would surprise her brothers to see her riding across the green meadow and what merry times they might have, either taking turns for a gallop or clamoring on the gentle creature, all four children together, and careering round the field with shouts of laughter that would be heard as far off as King Aginor's palace. I think I will do it, said the child to herself. And indeed, why not? She cast a glance around and caught a glimpse of Cadmus, Phoenix, and Silux, who were still in pursuit of the butterfly, almost at the other end of the meadow. It would be the quickest way of rejoining them to get upon the white bull's back. She came a step nearer to him, therefore, and sociable creature that he was, he showed so much joy at this mark of her confidence that the child could not find in her heart to hesitate any longer. Making one bound for this little princess was as active as a squirrel. There sat Europa on the beautiful bull, holding an ivory horn in each hand, lest she should fall off. Softly, pretty bull, softly, she said, rather frightened at what she had done. Do not gallop too fast. Having got the child on his back, the animal gave a leap into the air and came down so like a feather that Europa did not know when his hoofs touched the ground. He then began a race to that part of the flowery plain where her three brothers were, and they thought their splendid butterfly. Europa screamed with delight, and Phoenix, Silas, and Cadmus stood gaping at the spectacle of their sister mounted on a white bull, not knowing whether to be frightened or to wish the same good luck for themselves. The gentle and innocent creature, for who could possibly doubt that he was so, pranced round among the children as sportively as a kitten. Europa, all the while, looked down upon her brothers, nodding and laughing, but yet with a sort of statelyness as the bull wheeled about to take another gallop across the meadow, the child waved her hand and said, Goodbye, playfully pretending that she was now bound on a distant journey, and might not see her brothers again for nobody could tell how long. Goodbye, shouted Cadmus, Phoenix, and Silas, all in one breath. But together with her enjoyment of the sport, there was still a little remnant of fear in the child's heart so that her last look at the three boys was a troubled one and made them feel as if their dear sister were really leaving them forever. And what do you think the snowy bull did next? Why, he set off as swift as the wind, straight down to the seashore, scampered across the sand, took an airy leap and plunged right in among the foaming billows. The white spray rose in a shower over him and little Europa and fell spattering down upon the water. Then what a scream of terror did the poor girl send forth. The three brothers screamed manfully, likewise, to the shore as fast as their legs would carry them, with Cadmus at their head. But it was too late. When they reached the margin of the sand, the treacherous animal was already far away in the wide blue sea, with only his snowy head and tail emerging and poor little Europa between them, stretching out one hand towards her dear brothers while she grasped the bull's ivory horn with the other. And there stood Cadmus, Phoenix, and Silas, gazing at this sad spectacle through their tears until they could no longer distinguish the bull's snowy head from the white capped billows that seemed to boil up out of the sea's depths around him. Nothing more was ever seen of the white bull, nothing more of the beautiful child. This was a mournful story, as you may well think, for the three boys to carry home to their parents. King Aginor, their father, was the ruler of the whole country, but he loved his little daughter Europa better than his kingdom, or than all his other children, or than anything else in the world. Therefore, when Cadmus and his two brothers came crying home and told him how that a white bull had carried off their sister and swam with her over the sea, the king was quite beside himself with grief and rage. Although it was now twilight and fast-growing dark, he bade them set out instantly in search of her. Never shall you see my face again, he cried, unless you bring me back my little Europa to gladden me with her smiles and her pretty ways, be gone and enter my presence until you come leading her by the hand. As King Aginor said this, his eyes flashed fire, for he was a very passionate king, and he looked so terribly angry that the poor boys did not even venture to ask for their suppers, but slunk away out of the palace, and only paused on the steps a moment to consult whether they should go first. While they were standing there, all in dismay, their mother, Queen Telefisa, who happened not to be by when they told the story to the king, after them, and said that she too would go in quest of her daughter. Oh, no mother, cried the boys, the night is dark, and there is no knowing what troubles and perils we may meet with. Alas, my dear children, answered poor Queen Telefisa, weeping bitterly, that is only another reason why I should go with you, if I should lose you too, as well as my little Europa, what would become of me? And let me go likewise, who came running to join them. Thassus was the son of a seafaring person in the neighborhood. He had been brought up with the young princes, and was their intimate friend, and loved Europa very much, so they consented that he should accompany them. The whole party therefore set forth together. Cadmus, Phoenix, Silux, and Thassus clustered round Queen Telefisa, grasping her skirts and begging her to lean upon their shoulders whenever she felt weary. In this manner they went down the palace steps and began a journey which turned out to be a great deal longer than they dreamed of. The last that they saw of King Aginor he came to the door with a servant holding a torch beside him, and called after them into the gathering darkness. Remember, never ascend these steps again without the child. Never, sobbed Queen Telefisa, and the three brothers and Thassus answered, never, never, never, never. And they kept their word. Year after year King Aginor sat in the solitude of his beautiful palace, listening in vain for their returning footsteps, hoping to hear the familiar voice of the Queen, and the cheerful talk of his sons and their playful Thassus entering the door together, and the sweet childish accents of little Europa in the midst of them. But so long a time went by that, at last, if they had really come, the King would not have known that this was the voice of Telefisa and these younger voices were playing about the palace. We must now leave King Aginor to sit on his throne, and must go along with Queen Telefisa and her four youthful companions. They went on and on and traveled a long way, and passed over mountains and rivers and sailed overseas. Here and there and everywhere they made continual inquiry if any person could tell them what had become of Europa. The rustic people of whom they asked this question paused a little while from their labors in the field, and looked very much surprised. They thought it strange to behold a woman in the garb of a queen, for Telefisa in her haste had forgotten to take off her crown and her royal robes, roaming about the country with four lads around her on such an errand as this seemed to be. But nobody could give them any tidings of Europa. Nobody had seen a little girl dressed like a princess and mounted on a snow-white bull which galloped as swiftly as the wind. I cannot tell you how long Queen Telefisa and Cadmus, their three sons, and Thassus, their playfellow, went wandering along the highways and by-paths or through the pathless wildernesses of the earth in this manner. But certain it is that before they reached any place of rest their splendid garments were quite worn out. They all looked very much travel-stained and would have had the dust of many countries on their shoes if the streams through which they waited had not washed it all away. When they had been gone a year, Telefisa threw away her crown it has given me many a headache, said the poor queen, and it cannot cure my heartache. As fast as their princely robes got torn and tattered, they exchanged them for such mean attire as ordinary people wore. By and by they come to have a wild and homeless aspect so that you would much sooner have taken them for a gypsy family than a queen and three princes and a young nobleman who had once a palace for a home and a train of servants to do their bidding. The four boys grew up to be tall young men with sun-burned faces. Each of them girded on a sword to defend themselves against the perils of the way. When the husband men at whose farmhouses they sought hospitality needed their assistance in the harvest field, they gave it willingly. And Queen Telefisa, who had done no work in her palace, saved to braid silk threads with golden ones, came behind them to bind the sheaves. If payment was offered they shook their heads and only asked for tidings of Europa. There are bulls enough in my pasture, the old farmers would reply, but I never heard of one like this you tell me of. A snow-white bull with a little princess on his back? Ho-ho! I ask your pardon, good folks, but there are never such a sight seen hereabouts. At last, when his upper lip began to have the down on it, Phoenix grew weary of rambling hither and thither to no purpose. So one day, when they happened to be passing through a pleasant and solitary tract of country, he sat himself down on a heap of moss. I can go no farther, said Phoenix. It is a mere foolish waste of life to spend it as we do, always wandering up and down and never coming to any home at nightfall. Our sister is lost and never will be found. She probably perished in the sea, or whatever shore the white bull may have carried her to. It is now so many years ago that there would be neither love nor acquaintance between us should we meet again. My father has forbidden us to return so I shall build me a hut of branches and dwell here. Well, son Phoenix, said Telephysa sorrowfully, you have grown to be a man and must do as you judge best, but for my part I will still go in quest of my poor child. And we three will go along with you, cried Cadmus and Silux, and their faithful friend Thassus. But before setting out they all helped Phoenix to build a habitation. When completed it was a sweet rural bower roofed overhead with an arch of living bowels. Inside there were two pleasant rooms, one of which had a soft heap of moss for a bed, while the other was furnished with a rustic seat or two, curiously fashioned out of the crooked roots of trees. So comfortable and home-like did it seem that Telephysa and her three companions could not help sign to think that they must still roam about the world instead of spending the remainder of their lives in some such cheerful abode as they had here built for Phoenix. But when they bade him farewell Phoenix shed tears and probably regretted that he was no longer to keep them company. However he had fixed upon an admirable place to dwell in, and by and by there came other people who chanced to have no homes and seeing how pleasant a spot it was they built themselves huts in the neighborhood of Phoenix's habitation. Thus before many years went by a city had grown up there in the center of which was seen a stately palace of marble wherein dwelt Phoenix clothed in a purple robe and wearing a golden crown upon his head. For the inhabitants of the new city finding that he had royal blood in his veins had chosen him to be their king. The very first decree of state which King Phoenix issued was that if a maiden happened to arrive in the kingdom mounted on a snow-white bull and calling herself Europa his subjects should treat her with the greatest kindness and respect and immediately bring her to the palace. You may see by this that Phoenix's conscience never quite ceased to trouble him for giving up the quest of his dear sister and sitting himself down to be comfortable while his mother and her companions went onward. But often and often at the close of a weary day's journey did Telefisa and Cadmus, Silux and Thassus remember the pleasant spot in which they had left Phoenix. It was a sorrowful prospect for these wanderers that on the morrow they must again set forth and that after many nightfalls they would perhaps be no nearer the close of their toilsome pilgrimage than now. These thoughts made them all melancholy at times, but appeared to torment Silux more than the rest of the party. At length one morning when they were taking their staffs in hand to set out he thus addressed them. My dear mother and you good brother Cadmus and my friend Thassus we think we are like people in a dream. There is no substance in the life which we are leading. It is such a dreary length of time since the white bull carried off my sister Europa that I have quite forgotten how she looked and the tones of her voice and indeed almost doubt whether such a little girl ever lived in the world and whether she once lived or no I am convinced that she no longer survives and that therefore it is the merest folly to waste our own lives and happiness in seeking her. Were we to find her she would now be a woman grown and would look upon us all as strangers. So to tell you the truth I have resolved to take up my abode here and I entreat you mother brother and friend to follow my example. Not I for one not I for one said Telefisa although the poor queen firmly as she spoke was so travel-worn that she could hardly put her foot to the ground. Not I for one in the depths of my heart little Europa is still the rosy child who ran to gather flowers so many years ago she has not grown to womanhood nor forgotten me at noon, at night, journeying onward sitting down to rest her childish voice is always in my ears calling mother, mother no repose for me nor for me said Cadmus while my dear mother pleases to go onward and the faithful Thassus too was resolved to bear them company they remained with Silax a few days however and helped him to build a rustic bower resembling the one which they had formerly built for Phoenix End of part one of the Dragon's Teeth Section 7 of Tanglewood Tales This is a Librivox recording all Librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit Librivox.org recording by Robert Beach, July 2009 Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne The Dragon's Teeth, Part 2 When they were bidding him farewell Silax burst into tears and told his mother that it seemed just as melancholy a dream to stay there in solitude as to go onward if she really believed that they would ever find Europa he was willing to continue the search with them even now so the pilgrims took their leave of him and departed and were hardly out of sight before some other wandering people came along that way and saw Silax's habitation and were greatly delighted with the appearance of the place there being an abundance of unoccupied ground in the neighborhood these strangers built huts for themselves and were soon joined by a multitude of new settlers who quickly formed a city in the middle of it was seen a magnificent palace of colored marble on the balcony of which every noontide appeared Silax in a long purple robe and with a jeweled crown upon his head for the inhabitants when they found out that he was a king's son had considered him the fittest of all men to be a king himself one of the first acts of King Silax's government was to send out an expedition consisting of a grave ambassador and an escort of bold and hearty young men with orders to visit the principal kingdoms of the earth and inquire whether a young maiden had passed through those regions galloping swiftly on a white bull it is therefore plain to mind that Silax secretly blamed himself for giving up the search for Europa as long as he was able to put one foot before the other as for Telefisa and Cadmus and the good Thassus it grieves me to think of them still keeping up that weary pilgrimage the two young men did their best for the poor queen helping her over the rough places often carrying her across rivulets in their faithful arms and seeking to shelter her at nightfall even when they themselves lay on the ground sad, sad it was to hear them asking of every passerby if he had seen Europa so long after the white bull had carried her away but though the grey years thrust themselves between and made the child's figure dim in their remembrance neither of these true-hearted three ever dreamed of giving up the search one morning however poor Thassus found that he had sprained his ankle and could not possibly go a step farther after a few days to be sure said he mournfully I might make shift and hobble along with a stick but that would only delay you and perhaps hinder you from finding dear little Europa after all your pains and trouble do you go forward therefore my beloved companions and leave me to follow as I may that has been a true friend dear Thassus said queen Telefisa kissing his forehead being neither my son nor the brother of our lost Europa thou has shown thyself truer to me and her than Phoenix and Salix did whom we have left behind us without thy loving help and that of my son Cadmus my limbs could not have borne me half so far as this now take thy rest and be at peace for and it is the first time I have owned it to myself I begin to question whether we shall ever find my beloved daughter in this world saying this the poor queen shed tears because it was a grievous trial to the mother's heart to confess that her hopes were growing faint from that day forward Cadmus noticed that she never traveled with the same alacrity of spirit that had heretofore supported her her weight was heavier upon his arm before setting out Cadmus helped Thassus build a bower while Telefisa being too infirm to give any great assistance advised them how to fit it up and furnish it as comfortable as a hut of branches could Thassus however did not spend all his days in this green bower for it happened to him as to Phoenix and Salix that other homeless people visited the spot and liked it and built themselves habitations in the neighborhood so here in the course of a few years was another thriving city with a red free stone palace in the center of it where Thassus sat upon a throne doing justice to the people with a purple robe over his shoulders a scepter in his hand and a crown upon his head the inhabitants had made him king not for the sake of any royal blood for none was in his veins but because Thassus was an upright, true-hearted and courageous man and therefore fit to rule but when the affairs of his kingdom were all settled King Thassus laid aside his purple robe and crowned and scepter and bade his worthiest subjects distribute justice to the people in his stead then grasping the pilgrim staff that had supported him so long forth again hoping still to discover some hoof mark of the snow-white bull some trace of the vanished child he returned after a lengthened absence and sat down weirdly upon his throne to his latest hour nevertheless King Thassus showed his true-hearted remembrance of Europa by ordering that a fire should always be kept burning in his palace and a bath steaming hot and food ready to be served up and a bed with snow-white sheets in case the maiden should arrive by her immediate refreshment and though Europa never came the good Thassus had the blessings of many of poor traveller who profited by the food and lodging which were meant for the little playmate of the king's boyhood Talathissa and Cadmus were now pursuing their weary way with no companion but each other the queen leaned heavily upon her son's arm and could walk only a few miles a day but for all her weakness and weariness she would not be persuaded to give up the search it was enough to bring tears into the eyes of bearded men to hear the melancholy tone with which she inquired of every stranger whether he could not tell her any news of the lost child have you seen a little girl no, no, I mean a young maiden of full growth passing by this way mounted on a snow-white bull which gallops as swiftly as the wind we have seen no such wondrous sight the people would reply and very often taking Cadmus's side they whispered to him is this stately and sad-looking woman your mother surely she is not in her right mind and you ought to take her home and make her comfortable and do your best to get this dream out of her fancy it is no dream said Cadmus everything else is a dream save that but one day Talathissa seemed feebler than usual and leaned almost her whole weight on the arm of Cadmus and walked more slowly than ever before at last they reached a solitary spot where she told her son that she must needs lie down and take a good long rest a good long rest she repeated looking Cadmus tenderly in the face a good long rest thou dearest one as long as you pleased your mother answered Cadmus Talathissa bade him sit down on the turf beside her and then she took his hand my son said she fixing her dim eyes most lovingly upon him this rest that I speak of will be very long indeed you must not wait till it is finished dear Cadmus you do not comprehend me you must make a grave here and lay your mother's weary frame into it my pilgrimage is over Cadmus burst into tears and for a long time refused to believe that his dear mother was now to be taken from him but Talathissa reasoned with him and kissed him and at length bade him discern that it was better for her spirit to pass away out of the toil the weariness and grief and disappointment which had burdened her on earth ever since the child was lost he therefore repressed his sorrow and listened to her last words dearest Cadmus she said thou hast been the truest son that ever mother had and faithful to the very last who else would have born with my infirmities as thou hast it is owing to thy care thou tenderest child that my grave was not dug long years ago in some valley or on some hillside that lies far far behind us it is enough thou shalt wander no more on this hopeless search but when thou hast laid thy mother in the earth then go my son to Delphi and inquire of the oracle what thou shalt do next oh mother mother cried Cadmus couldst thou but have seen my sister before this hour it matters little now answered Talathissa and there was a smile upon her face I go now to the better world and sooner or later shall find my daughter there I will not sadden you my little hearers with telling how Talathissa died and was buried but we'll only say that her dying smile grew brighter instead of vanishing from her dead face so that Cadmus left convinced that at her very first step into the better world she had caught Europa in her arms he planted some flowers on his mother's grave and left them to grow there and make the place beautiful when he should be far away after performing this last sorrowful duty he set forth alone and took the road towards the famous oracle of Delphi as Talathissa had advised him on his way thither he still inquired of most people whom he met whether they had seen Europa for to say the truth Cadmus had grown so accustomed to ask the question that it came to his lips as readily as a remark about the weather he received various answers some told him one thing and some another among the rest a mariner affirmed that many years before in a distant country he had heard a rumor about a white bull which came swimming across the sea with a child on his back dressed up in flowers that were blighted by the sea water he did not know what had become of the child or the bull and Cadmus suspected indeed by a queer twinkle in the mariner's eyes that he was putting a joke upon him and had never really heard anything about the matter poor Cadmus found it more weirsome to travel alone than to bear all his dear mother's weight while she had kept in company his heart, you will understand so heavy that it seemed impossible sometimes to carry it any farther but his limbs were strong and active and well accustomed to exercise he walked swiftly along thinking of King Aginor and Queen Telefisa and his brothers and the friendly Thassus all of whom he had left behind him at one point of his pilgrimage or another and never expected to see them anymore full of these remembrances he came with inside of a lofty mountain which the people thereabouts told him was called Parnassus on the slope of Mount Parnassus the famous Delphi with her Cadmus was going this Delphi was supposed to be the very midmost spot of the whole world the place of the oracle was a certain cavity in the mountainside over which when Cadmus came thither he found a rude bower of branches it reminded him of those which he had helped to build for phoenix and silix and afterwards for Thassus in latter times when multitudes of people came from great distances to put questions to the oracle a spacious temple of marble was erected over the spot but in the days of Cadmus as I have told you there was only this rustic bower with its abundance of green foliage and a tough to shrubbery that ran wild over the mysterious hole in the hillside when Cadmus had thrust a passage through the tangled boughs and made his way into the bower he did not at first discern the half hidden cavity but soon felt a cold stream of air rushing out of it with so much force that it shook the ringlets on his cheek pulling away the shrubbery which clustered over the hole he bent forward and spoke in a distinct but reverential tone as if addressing some unseen personage inside the mountain sacred oracle of Delphi said he whither shall I go next in quest of my dear sister Europa there was at first a deep silence and then a rushing sound or a noise like a long sigh proceeding out of the interior of the earth this cavity you must know was looked upon as a sort of fountain of truth which sometimes gushed out in audible words although for the most part these words were such a riddle that they might just as well have stayed at the bottom of the hole but Cadmus was more fortunate than many others who went to Delphi in search of truth by and by the rushing noise began to sound like articulate language it repeated over and over again the following sentence which after all was so like the vague whistle of a blast of air Cadmus really did not quite know whether it meant anything or not seek her no more what then shall I do asked Cadmus for ever since he was a child you know it had been the great object of his life to find his sister from the very hour that he left following the butterfly in the meadow near his father's palace he had done his best to follow Europa over land and sea and now if he must give up the search he seemed to have no more business in the world but again the sighing gust of air grew into something like a horse voice follow the cow it said follow the cow follow the cow and when these words have been repeated until Cadmus was tired of hearing them especially as he could not imagine what cow it was or why he was to follow her the gusty hole gave vent to another sentence where the stray cow lies down there is your home these words were pronounced by a single time and died away into a whisper before Cadmus was fully satisfied that he had caught the meaning he put other questions but received no answer only the gust of wind sighed continually out of the cavity and blew the withered leaves rustling along the ground before it did there really come any words out of the hole, thought Cadmus or have I been dreaming all this while he turned away from the oracle and thought himself no wiser than when he came thither carrying little what might happen to him he took the first path that offered itself and went along at a sluggish pace for having no object in view nor any reason to go one way more than another it would certainly have been foolish to make haste whenever he met anybody the old question was at his tongue's end have you seen a beautiful maiden dressed like a king's daughter and mounted on a snow white bull that gallops as swiftly as the wind but remembering what the oracle had said he only half uttered the words and then mumbled the rest indistinctly and from his confusion people must have imagined that this handsome young man had lost his wits I know not how far Cadmus had gone nor could he himself have told you when at no great distance before him he beheld a brindled cow she was lying down by the wayside and quietly chewing her cud nor did she take any notice of the young man until he had approached pretty nigh then getting leisurely upon her feet and giving her head a gentle toss the young man began to move along at a moderate pace often pausing just long enough to crop a mouthful of grass Cadmus loitered behind whistling idly to himself and scarcely noticing the cow until the thought occurred to him whether this could possibly be the animal which according to the oracle's response was to serve him for a guide but he smiled at himself for fancying such a thing he could not seriously think that this was the cow because she went along so quietly behaving just like any other cow recently she neither knew nor cared so much as a wisp of hay about Cadmus and was only thinking how to get her living along the wayside where the herbage was green and fresh perhaps she was going home to be milked cow, cow, cow cried Cadmus hey, brindle, hey, stop, my good cow he wanted to come up with the cow so as to examine her and see if it would appear to know him or whether there were any peculiarities to distinguish her from a thousand other cows whose only business is to fill the milk pail and sometimes kick it over but still the brindle cow trudged on whisking her tail to keep the flies away and taking as little notice of Cadmus as she well could if he walked slowly, so did the cow and seized the opportunity to graze if he quickened his pace the cow went just so much the faster and once when Cadmus tried to catch her by running she threw out her heels, stuck her tail straight on end and set off at a gallop looking as queerly as cows generally do while putting themselves to their speed when Cadmus saw that it was impossible to come up with her he walked on moderately as before the cow too went leisurely on without looking behind wherever the grass was greenest there she nibbled a mouthful or two where a brook glistened brightly across the path there the cow drank and breathed a comfortable sigh and drank again and trudged onward at the pace I do believe, thought Cadmus, that this may be the cow that was foretold me if it be the one I suppose she will lie down somewhere hereabouts whether it were the oracular cow or some other one it did not seem reasonable that she should travel a great way farther so whenever they reached a particularly pleasant spot on a breezy hillside or in a sheltered veil or flowery meadow on the shore of a calm lake or along the bank of a clear stream Cadmus looked eagerly around to see if the situation would suit him for a home but still, whether he liked the place or no the brindled cow never offered to lie down on she went at the quiet pace of a cow going homeward to the barnyard and every moment Cadmus expected to see a milkmaid approaching with a pail or a herdsman running to head the stray animal and turn her back towards the pasture but no milkmaid came no herdsman drove her back and Cadmus followed the stray brindle till he was almost ready to drop down with fatigue oh brindled cow cried he in a tone of despair do you never mean to stop? he had now grown too intent on following her to think of lagging behind however along the way and whatever might be his fatigue indeed it seemed as if there were something about the animal that bewitched people several persons who happened to see the brindled cow and Cadmus following behind began to trudge after her precisely as he did Cadmus was glad of somebody to converse with and therefore talked very freely to these good people he told them all his adventures and how he had left King Aginor in his palace and Phoenix at one place and Silux at another and Thassus at a third and his dear mother Queen Telephysa under a flowery sod so that now he was quite alone both friendless and homeless he mentioned likewise that the oracle had bitten him beguided by a cow and inquired of the strangers whether they suppose that this brindled animal could be the one why Tiz a very wonderful affair answered one of his new companions I'm pretty well acquainted with the ways of Cadle and I never knew a cow of her own accord to go so far without stopping if my legs will let me I'll never leave following the beast till she lies down nor I said a second nor I tried a third if she goes a hundred miles farther I am determined to see the end of it End of Part 2 of The Dragon's Teeth Section 8 of Tanglewood Tales this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Robert Beach July 2009 Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne The Dragon's Teeth Part 3 the secret of it was you must know that the cow was an enchanted cow and that without their being conscious of it she threw some of her enchantment over everybody that took so much as half a dozen steps behind her they could not possibly help following her though all the time they fancied themselves doing it of their own accord the cow was by no means very nice in choosing her path so that sometimes they had to scramble over rocks or wade through mud and mire and all in a terribly bedraggled condition and tired to death and very hungry into the bargain what a weary business it was but still they kept trudging stoutly forward and talking as they went the strangers grew very fond of Cadmus and resolved never to leave him but to help him build a city wherever the cow might lie down in the center of it there should be a noble palace in which Cadmus might dwell and be their king with a throne, a crown, a scepter, a purple robe and everything else that a king ought to have for in him there was the royal blood and the royal heart and the head that knew how to rule while they were talking of these schemes and beguiling the tediousness of the way with laying out the plan of the new city one of the company happened to look at the cow joy joy cried he, clapping his hands Brindle is going to lie down they all looked and sure enough the cow had stopped and was staring leisurely about her as other cows do when on the point of lying down and slowly slowly did she recline herself on the soft grass first bending her four legs and then crouching her hind ones when Cadmus and his companions came up with her there was the Brindle cow taking her ease chewing her cud and looking them quietly in the face as if this was just the spot she had been seeking for and as if it were all a matter of course this then said Cadmus gazing around him this is to be my home it was a fertile and lovely plain with great trees flinging their sunspeckled shadows over it and hills fencing it in from the rough weather at no great distance they beheld a river claiming in the sunshine a home feeling stole into the heart of poor Cadmus he was very glad to know that here he might awaken the morning without the necessity of putting on his dusty sandals to travel farther and farther the days and the years would pass over him and find him still in this pleasant spot if he could have had his brothers with him and his friend Thassus and could have seen his dear mother under a roof of his own he might here have been happy after all their disappointments some day or other too his sister Europa might have come quietly to the door of his home and smiled round upon the familiar faces but indeed since there was no hope of regaining the friends of his boyhood or ever seeing his dear sister again Cadmus resolved to make himself happy with these new companions who had grown so fond of him while following the cow yes my friends said he to them this is to be our home here we will build our habitations the brindled cow which has led us hither will supply us with milk we will cultivate the neighboring soil and lead an innocent and happy life his companions joyfully assented to this plan and in the first place being very hungry and thirsty they looked about them for the means of providing a comfortable meal not far off they saw a tuft of trees which appeared as if there might be a spring of water beneath them they went thither to fetch some leaving Cadmus stretched on the ground along with the brindled cow for now that he had found a place of rest it seemed as if all the weariness of his pilgrimage ever since he left King Agenor's palace had fallen upon him at once but his new friends had not long been gone when he was suddenly startled by cries shouts and screams and the noise of a terrible struggle and in the midst of it all a most awful hissing which went right through his ears like a rough saw running towards the tuft of trees he beheld the head and fiery eyes of an immense serpent or dragon with the widest jaws that ever a dragon had and a vast many rows of horribly sharp teeth before Cadmus could reach the spot this pitiless reptile had killed his poor companions and was busily devouring them making but a mouthful of each man it appears that the fountain of water was enchanted and that the dragon had been set to guard it so that no mortal might ever quench his thirst there as the neighboring inhabitants carefully avoided the spot it was now a long time not less than a hundred years or thereabouts since the monster had broken his fast and as was natural enough his appetite had grown to be enormous and was not half satisfied by the poor people whom he had just eaten up when he caught sight of Cadmus therefore he set up another abominable hiss and flung back his immense jaws until his mouth looked like a great red cavern at the farther end of which were seen the legs of his last victim whom he had hardly had time to swallow but Cadmus was so enraged at the destruction of his friends that he cared neither for the size of the dragon's jaws nor for his hundreds of sharp teeth drawing his sword he rushed at the monster and flung himself right into his cavernous mouth this bold method of attacking him took the dragon by surprise for in fact Cadmus had leaped so far down into his throat that the rows of terrible teeth could not close upon him nor do him the least harm in the world thus though the struggle was a tremendous one and though the dragon shattered the tuft of trees into small splinters by the lashing of his tail as Cadmus was all the while slashing and stabbing at his very vitals it was not long before the scaly wretch bethought himself of slipping away he had not gone his length however when the brave Cadmus gave him a sword thrust that finished the battle and creeping out of the gateway of the creature's jaws there he beheld him still wriggling his vast bulk although there was no longer life enough in him to harm a little child but do not you suppose that it made Cadmus sorrowful to think of the melancholy fate which had befallen those poor friendly people who had followed the cow along with him it seemed as if he were doomed to lose everybody whom he loved or to see them perish in one way or another and here he was after all his toils and troubles in a solitary place with not a single human being to help him build a hut what shall I do? cried he aloud it were better for me to have been devoured by the dragon as my poor companions were Cadmus said a voice but whether it came from above or below him or whether it spoke within his own breast the young man could not tell Cadmus pluck out the dragon's teeth and plant them in the earth this was a strange thing to do nor was it very easy I should imagine to dig out all those deep-rooted fangs from the dead dragon's jaws but Cadmus toiled and tugged and after pounding the monstrous head almost to pieces with a great stone he at last collected as many teeth as might have filled a bushel or two the next thing was to plant them this likewise was a tedious piece of work especially as Cadmus was already exhausted with killing the dragon and knocking his head to pieces and had nothing to dig the earth with that I know of unless it were his sword blade finally however a sufficiently large tract of ground was turned up and sewn with this new kind of seed although half of the dragon's teeth still remained to be planted some other day Cadmus quite out of breath stood leaning upon his sword and wondering what was to happen next he had waited but a few moments when he began to see a sight which was as great a marvel as the most marvelous thing I ever told you about the sun was shining slant-wise over the field and showed all the moist dark soil just like any other newly planted piece of ground all at once Cadmus fancy he saw something glisten very brightly first at one spot then at another and then at a hundred and a thousand spots together soon he perceived them to be the steel heads of spears sprouting up everywhere like so many stalks of grain and continually growing taller and taller next appeared a vast number of bright sword blades thrusting themselves up in the same way a moment afterwards the whole surface of the ground was broken by a multitude of polished brass helmets coming up like a crop of enormous beans so rapidly did they grow that Cadmus now discerned the fierce countenance of a man beneath everyone in short before he had time to think what a wonderful affair it was he beheld an abundant harvest of what looked like human beans armed with helmets and breast plates shields swords and spears and before they were well out of the earth they brandished their weapons and clashed them one against another seeming to think little while as they had yet lived that they had wasted too much of life without a battle every tooth of the dragon had produced one of these sons of deadly mischief up sprouted also a great many trumpeters and with the first breath that they drew they put their brazen trumpets to their lips and sounded a tremendous and ear-shattering blast so that the whole space just now so quiet and solitary reverberated with the clash and clang of arms the bray of warlike music and the shouts of angry men so enraged did they all look that Cadmus fully expected them to put the whole world to the sword how fortunate would it be for a great conqueror if he could get a bushel of the dragon's teeth to sew Cadmus said the same voice which he had heard before throw a stone into the midst of the armed men so Cadmus seized a large stone and flinging it into the middle of the earth army saw it strike the breastplate of a gigantic and fierce looking warrior immediately on feeling the blow he seemed to take it for granted that somebody had struck him and uplifting his weapon he smote his next neighbor a blow that cleft his helmet asunder and stretched him on the ground in an instant those nearest the fallen warrior began to strike at one another with their swords and stab with their spears the confusion spread wider and wider each man smote down his brother and was himself smitten down before he had time to exalt in his victory the trumpeters all the while blew their blasts shriller and shriller each soldier shouted a battle cry and often fell with it on his lips it was the strangest spectacle of causeless wrath and of mischief for no good end that had ever been witnessed but after all it was neither more foolish nor wicked than a thousand battles that have since been fought in which men have slain their brothers with just as little reason as these children of the dragon's teeth it ought to be considered too that the dragon people were made for nothing else whereas other mortals were born to love and help one another well this memorable battle continued to rage until the ground was strewn with helmeted heads that had been cut off of all the thousands that began the fight there were only five left standing these now rushed from different parts of the field and meeting in the middle of it clashed their swords and struck at each other's hearts as fiercely as ever Cadmus said the voice again bid those five warriors sheath their swords they will help you to build the city without hesitating an instant Cadmus stepped forward with the aspect of a king and a leader and extending his drawn sword amongst them spoke to the warriors in a stern and commanding voice sheath your weapons said he and forthwith feeling themselves bound to obey him the five remaining sons of the dragon's teeth made him a military salute with their swords returned them to their scabbards and stood before Cadmus in a rank eyeing him as soldiers eye their captain while awaiting the word of command these five men had probably sprung from the biggest of the dragon's teeth and were the boldest and strongest of the whole army they were almost giants indeed and had good need to be so else they never could have lived through so terrible a fight they still had a very furious look and if Cadmus happened to glance aside would glare at one another with fire flashing out of their eyes it was strange too to observe how the earth out of which they had so lately grown was encrusted here and there on their bright breast plates and even begrimed their faces just as you may have seen it cling into beets and carrots when pulled out of their native soil Cadmus hardly knew whether to consider them as men or some odd kind of vegetable although on the whole he concluded that there was human nature in them because they were so fond of trumpets and weapons and so ready to shed blood they looked him earnestly in the face waiting for his next order and evidently desiring no other employment than to follow him from one battlefield to another all over the wide world but Cadmus was wiser than these earth-born creatures with the dragon's fierceness in them to better how to use their strength and hardy-hood come, said he, you are sturdy fellows make yourselves useful quarry some stones with those great swords of yours and help me to build a city the five soldiers grumbled a little and muttered that it was their business to overthrow cities not to build them up but Cadmus looked at them with a stern eye and spoke to them in a tone of authority so that they knew him for their master and never again thought of disobeying his commands they set to work in good earnest and toiled so diligently that in a very short time a city began to make its appearance at first, to be sure, the workmen showed a quarrelsome disposition like savage beasts, they would doubtless have done one another a mischief if Cadmus had not kept watch over them and quelled the fierce old serpent that lurked in their hearts when he saw it, gleaming out of their wild eyes but in course of time they got accustomed to honest labour and had sense enough to feel that there was more true enjoyment in living at peace and doing good to one's neighbour than in striking at him with a two-edged sword it may not be too much to hope that the rest of mankind will by and by grow as wise and peaceable as these five earth-begrimed warriors who sprang from the dragon's teeth and now the city was built and there was a home in it for each of the workmen but the palace of Cadmus was not yet erected because they had left it till the last meaning to introduce all the new improvements of architecture and make it very commodious as well as stately and beautiful after finishing the rest of their labours they all went to bed betimes in order to rise in the grey of the morning and get at least the foundation of the edifice laid before nightfall but when Cadmus arose and took his way towards the site where the palace was to be built followed by his five sturdy workmen marching all in a row what do you think he saw? what should it be but the most magnificent palace that had ever been seen in the world it was built of marble and other beautiful kinds of stone and rose high into the air with a splendid dome and a portico along the front and carved pillars and everything else that befitted the habitation of a mighty king it had grown up out of the earth in almost as short a time as it had taken the armed host to spring from the dragon's teeth and what made the matter more strange no seed of this stately edifice ever had been planted when the five workmen beheld the dome with the morning sunshine making it look golden and glorious they gave a great shout long live King Cadmus they cried in his beautiful palace and the new king with his five faithful followers at his heels shouldering their pickaxes and marching in a rank for they still had a soldier-like sort of behaviour as their nature was and ended the palace steps halting at the entrance they gazed through a long vista of lofty pillars that were ranged from end to end of a great hall at the farther extremity of this hall approaching slowly towards him Cadmus beheld a female figure wonderfully beautiful and adorned with a royal robe and a crown of diamonds over her golden ringlets and the richest necklace that ever a queen wore his heart thrilled with delight and his long lost sister Europa now grown to womanhood coming to make him happy and to repay him with her sweet sisterly affection for all those weary wanderings in quest of her since he left King at Genors Palace for the tears that he had shed on parting with phoenix and Silux and Thassus for the heartbreakings that had made the whole world seem dismal to him over his dear mother's grave but as Cadmus advanced to meet the beautiful stranger he saw that her features were unknown to him although in the little time that it required to tread along the hall he had already felt a sympathy betwixt himself and her no Cadmus said the same voice that had spoken to him in the field of the armed men this is not that dear sister Europa whom you have sought so faithfully all over the wide world this is Harmonia a daughter of the sky who has given you instead of sister and brothers and friend and mother find all those dear ones in her alone so King Cadmus dwelt in the palace with his new friend Harmonia and found a great deal of comfort in his magnificent abode but would doubtless have found as much if not more in the humblest cottage by the wayside before many years went by there was a group of rosy little children but how they came thither has always been a mystery to me sporting in the great hall and on the marble steps of the palace they were joyfully to meet King Cadmus when affairs of state left him at leisure to play with them they called him father and Queen Harmonia mother the five old soldiers of the dragons teeth grew very fond of these small urchins and were never weary of showing them how to shoulder sticks flourish wooden swords and march in military order blowing a penny trumpet or beating an abominable rubber dub upon a little drum but King Cadmus of the dragons tooth in his children's disposition used to find time from his kingly duties to teach them their abc which he invented for their benefit and for which many little people I am afraid are not half so grateful to him as they ought to be end of the dragons teeth section nine of Tanglewood tales this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Linda Ferguson Tanglewood tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne Cersei's Palace Part One some of you have heard no doubt of the wise King Ulysses and how he went to the Siege of Troy and how after that famous city was taken and burned he spent ten long years in trying to get back again to his own little kingdom of Ithaca at one time in the course of this weary voyage he arrived at an island that looked very green and pleasant but the name of which was unknown to him for only little while before he came thither he had met with a terrible hurricane or rather a great many hurricanes at once which drove his fleet of vessels into a strange part of the sea when either himself nor any of his mariners had ever sailed this misfortune was entirely owing to the foolish curiosity of his shipmates who while Ulysses lay asleep had untied some very bulky leaven bags in which they supposed a valuable treasure to be concealed but in each of these stout bags King Eolus the ruler of the winds had tied up a tempest and had given it to Ulysses to keep in order that he might be sure of a favourable passage homeward to Ithaca and when the strings were loosened forth rushed the whistling blasts like air out of the blown bladder whitening the sea with foam and scattering the vessels nobody could tell wither immediately after escaping from this peril a still greater one had befallen him scutting before the hurricane he reached a place which, as he afterwards found was called Les Trigonia where some monstrous giants had eaten up many of his companions and had sunk every one of his vessels except that in which he himself sailed seeing great masses of rock at them from the cliffs along the shore after going through such troubles as these you cannot wonder that King Ulysses was glad to moor his tempest-beaten bark in a quiet cove of the Green Island which I began with telling you about but he had encountered so many dangers from giants and one-eyed cyclopses and monsters of the sea and land that he could not help dreading some mischief even in this pleasant and seemingly solitary spot for two days therefore the poor weather-worn voyagers kept quiet and either stayed on board of the vessel or merely crept along under the cliffs that boarded the shore and to keep themselves alive they dug shellfish out of the sand and sought for any little reel of fresh water that might be running toward the sea before the two days were spent they grew very weary of this kind of life for the followers of King Ulysses as you will find it important to remember were terrible gourmandesers and pretty sure to grumble if they missed their regular meals and their irregular ones besides their stock of provisions was quite exhausted and even the shellfish began to get scarce so that they had now to choose between starving to death or venturing into the interior of the island where perhaps some huge three-headed dragon or other horrible monster had his den such mishappen creatures were very numerous in those days and nobody ever expected to make a voyage or take a journey without running more or less risk of being devoured by them but King Ulysses was a bold man as well as a prudent one and on the third morning he determined to discover what sort of place the island was and whether it were possible to obtain a supply of food for the hungry mouths of his companions so taking a spear in his hand he climbed to the summit of the cliff and gazed round about him at a distance towards the centre of the island he beheld the stately towers of what seemed to be a palace built of snow-white marble and rising in the midst of a grove of lofty trees the thick branches of these trees stretched across the front of the edifice and more than half concealed it although from the portion which he saw Ulysses judged it to be spacious and exceedingly beautiful and probably the residence of some great nobleman or prince a blue smoke went curling up from the chimney and was almost the pleasantest part of the spectacle to Ulysses for from the abundance of this smoke it was reasonable to conclude that there was a good fire in the kitchen and that at dinner time a plentiful banquet would be served up to the inhabitants of the palace and to whatever guests might happen to drop in with so agreeable a prospect before him Ulysses fancied that he could not do better than go straight to the palace gate and tell the master of it that there was a crew of poor shipwreck mariners not far off who had eaten nothing for a day or two save a few clams and oysters and would therefore be thankful for a little food and the prince or nobleman must be a very stingy Comudian to be sure if at least when his own dinner was over he would not bid them welcome to the broken victuals of the table pleasing himself with this idea King Ulysses had made a few steps in the direction of the palace when there was a great twittering and chirping from the branch of a neighbouring tree a moment afterwards the bird came flying towards him and hovered in the air so as almost to brush his face with its wings it was a very pretty little bird with purple wings and body and yellow legs and a circle of golden feathers around its neck and on its head golden tuft which looked like a king's crown in miniature Ulysses tried to catch the bird but it fluttered nimbly out of his reach still chirping in a piteous tone as if it could have told a lamentable story had it only been gifted with human language and when he attempted to drive it away the bird flew no farther than the bow of the next tree and again came fluttering about his head with its doleful chirp as soon as he showed a purpose of going forward have you anything to tell me little bird? asked Ulysses and he was ready to listen attentively to whatever the bird might communicate for, at the siege of Troy and elsewhere he had known such odd things to happen that he would not have considered it much out of the common run had this little feathered creature talked plainly as himself peep! said the bird peep peep peep weep and nothing else would it say but only peep in a melancholy cadence and over and over and over again as often as Ulysses moved forward however the bird showed the greatest alarm and did its best to drive him back with the anxious flutter of its purple wings its unaccountable behaviour made him conclude, at last that the bird knew of some danger that awaited him and which must needs be very terrible beyond all question since it moved even a little foul to feel compassion for a human being so he resolved, for the present, to return to the vessel and tell his companions what he had seen this appeared to satisfy the bird as soon as Ulysses turned back it ran up the trunk of a tree and began to pick insects out of the bark with its long, sharp bill for it was kind of woodpecker, you must know and had to get its living in the same manner as other birds of that species but every little while as it pecked at the bark of the tree the purple bird bethought itself of some secret sorrow and repeated its plaintive note of peep peep peep weep on its way to the shore Ulysses had the good luck to kill a large stag by thrusting his spear into his back taking it on his shoulders for he was a remarkably strong man he lugged it along with him and flung it down before his hungry companions I have already hinted to you what Gormandises some of the comrades of King Ulysses were for what is related of them I reckon that their favourite diet was pork and that they had lived upon it until a good part of their physical substance and their tempers and dispositions were very much akin to the hog a dish of venison however was no unacceptable meal to them especially after feeding so long on oysters and clams so beholding the dead stag they felt of its ribs in a knowing way and lost no time in kindling a fire of driftwood to cook it the rest of the day was spent in feasting and if these enormous eaters got up from the table at sunset they could not scrape another morsel off the poor animal's bones the next morning their appetites were as sharp as ever they looked at Ulysses as if they expected him to clamour up the cliff again and come back with another fat deer upon his shoulders instead of setting out however he summoned the whole crew together and told them it was in vain to hope that he could kill a stag every day for their dinner and therefore it was advisable to think of some other mode of satisfying their hunger now said he when I was on the cliff yesterday I discovered that this island is inhabited at a considerable distance from the shore stood a marble palace which appeared to be very spacious and had a great deal of smoke curling out of one of its chimneys aha! muttered some of his companions smacking their lips that smoke must have come from the kitchen fire there was a good dinner on the spit and no doubt there will be as good a one today but continued the wise Ulysses you must remember my good friends our misadventure in the cavern of one-eyed polyphemus the Cyclops instead of his ordinary monk dyad did he not eat up two of our comrades for his supper and a couple more for breakfast and two at his supper again me thinks I see him yet the hideous monster scanning us with that great red eye in the middle of his forehead to single out the fattest and then again only a few days ago did we not fall into the hands of the King of Les Trigonies and those other horrible giants his subjects who devoured a great many more of us than are now left to tell you the truth if we go to the Under Palace there can be no question that we shall make our appearance at the dinner-table but whether seated as guests or served up as food is a point to be seriously considered either way, murmured some of the hungriest of the crew will be better than starvation particularly if one could be sure of being well fattened beforehand and daintily cooked afterwards that is a matter of taste, said King Ulysses and for my own part neither the most careful fattening nor the daintiest of cookery would reconcile me to being dished at last my proposal is, therefore, that we divide ourselves into two equal parties and ascertain by drawing lots which of the two shall go to the palace and beg for food and assistance if these can be attained all is well if not and the inhabitants prove as inhospitable as the Pole of Emus or the Lestriganese then there will be but half of us perish and the remainder may set sail and escape as nobody objected to this scheme Ulysses proceeded to count the whole band and found that there were forty-six men including himself he then numbered off twenty-two of them and put Eurylicus as one of his chief officers and second only to himself in sugasity at their head Ulysses took command of the remaining twenty-two men in person then taking off his helmet he put two shells into it one on which was written Go and on the other stay another person now held the helmet while Ulysses and Eurylicus drew out a shell and the word Go was found written on that which Eurylicus had drawn in that manner it was decided that Ulysses and his twenty-two men were to remain at the seaside until the other party should have found out what sort of treatment they might expect at the mysterious palace as there was no help for it Eurylicus immediately set forth at the head of his twenty-two followers who went off in a very melancholy state of mind leaving their friends in hardly better spirits than themselves no sooner had they clamoured up the cliff than they discerned the tall marble towers of the palace ascending as white as snow out of the lovely green shadow of the trees which surrounded it a gush of smoke came from a chimney in the rear of the edifice this vapour rose high in the air and meeting with a breeze was wafted seaward and made to pass over the heads of the hungry mariners when people's appetites are keen they have a very quick scent for anything savoury in the wind that smoke comes from the kitchen cried one of them turning up his nose as high as he could and snuffing eagerly and as sure as I'm a half-star vagabond I smell roast meat in it pig, roast pig! said another ah, the dainty little porka my mouth waters for him let us make haste! cried the others or we shall be too late for the good cheer but scarcely had they made half a dozen steps from the edge of the cliff when a bird came fluttering to meet them it was the same pretty little bird with the purple wings and body the yellow legs, the golden collar round its neck and the crown like tuft upon its head whose behaviour had so much surprise, Ulysses it hovered about Urelicus and almost brushed his face with its wings peep, peep, peep! chirped the bird so plaintively intelligent was the sound that it seemed as if the little creature were going to break its heart with some mighty secret that it had to tell and only this one poor note to tell it with my pretty bird said Urelicus for he was a wary person and let no token of harm escape his notice my pretty bird who sent you hither and what is the message which you bring peep, peep! replied the bird very sorrowfully then it flew towards the edge of the cliff and looked around at them as if exceedingly anxious that they should return whence they came Urelicus and a few of the others were inclined to turn back they could not help suspecting that the purple bird must be aware of something mischievous that would befall them at the palace and the knowledge of which affected its airy spirit with a human sympathy and sorrow but the rest of the voyages snuffing up the smoke from the palace kitchen ridiculed the idea of returning to the vessel one of them more brutal than his fellows and the most notorious gormantiser in the crew said such a cruel and wicked thing that I wonder the mere thought did not turn him into a wild beast in shape as he already was in his nature this troublesome and impertinent little fowl said he would make a delicate tit-bit to begin dinner with just one plump morsel melting away between the teeth if he comes within my reach I'll catch him and give him to the palace cook to be roasted on a skewer the words were hardly out of his mouth before the purple bird flew away crying peep peep peep weep more dolorously than ever that bird remarked Urelicus knows more than we do about what awaits us at the palace come on then cried his comrades and will soon know as much as he does the party accordingly went onward through the green and pleasant wood every little while they caught new glimpses of the marble palace which looked more and more beautiful the nearer they approached it they soon entered a broad pathway which seemed very neatly kept and which went winding along with streaks of sunshine falling across it and specks of light quivering amongst the deepest shadows that fell from the lofty trees it was bordered too with a great many sweet-smelling flowers such as the mariners had never seen before so rich and beautiful they were that if the shrubs grew wild here and were native in the soil then this island was surely the flower garden of the whole earth or if transplanted from some other climb it must have been from the happy islands that lay towards the golden sunset there has been a great deal of pains foolishly wasted on these flowers observed one of the company and I tell you what he said that you may keep in mind what gormandises they were for my part if I were the owner of the palace I would bid my garden a cultivate nothing but savoury pot herbs to make a stuffing for roast meat or to flavour a stew with well said cried the others but I'll warrant you there's a kitchen garden in the rear of the palace at one place they came to a crystal spring and paused a drink at it for want of liquor which they liked better looking into its bosom they beheld their own faces dimly reflected but so extravagantly distorted by the gush and motion of the water that each one of them appeared to be laughing at himself and all his companions so ridiculous were these images of themselves indeed they did really laugh aloud and could hardly be grave again as soon as they wished and after they had drank they grew still merrier than before it has a twang of the wine-cast in it said one smacking his lips make haste cried his fellows we'll find the wine-cast itself at the palace and that will be better than a hundred crystal fountains then they quickened their pace and caped for joy the thought of the savoury banquet at which they hoped to be guests but Euryllicas told them that he felt as if he were walking in a dream if I am really awake he continued then in my opinion we are on the point of meeting with some stranger adventure than any that befell us in the cave of the polyphemus among the gigantic man-eating Las Trigones or in the windy palace of King Illis which stands on a brazen walled island this kind of dreamy feeling always comes over me before any wonderful occurrence if you take my advice you will turn back no no answered his comrades snuffing the air in which the scent from the palace kitchen was now very perceptible we would not turn back though we were certain that the king of Las Trigones as big as a mountain would sit at the head of the table and huge polyphemus the one-eyed cyclops at his foot at length they came within full sight of the palace which proved to be very large and lofty with a great number of very pinnacles upon its roof though it was midday and the sun shone brightly over the marble front yet its snowy whiteness and its fantastic style of architecture made it look unreal like the frosty work in a window pane or like the shapes of castles which one sees among the clouds by moonlight but just then a puff of wind brought down the smoke of the kitchen chimney among them and caused each man to smell the odor of the dish that he liked best and after senting it they thought everything else moonshine and nothing real saved this palace and saved the banquet that was evidently ready to be served up in it so they hastened their steps towards the portal but had not got halfway across the wide lawn when a pack of lions, tigers and wolves came bounding to meet them the terrified mariners started back expecting no better fate than to be torn to pieces and devoured to their surprise and joy however these wild beasts merely caped around them wagging their tails offering their heads to be stroked and patted behaving just like so many well-bred house-dogs when they wished to express their delight at meeting their master or their master's friends the biggest lion licked the feet of Uryllicus and every other lion and every wolf and tiger singled out one of his two and twenty followers whom the beast fondled as if he loved him better than a beef bone but for all that Uryllicus imagined that he saw something fierce and savage in their eyes nor would he have been surprised at any moment to feel the big lion's terrible claws or to see each of the tigers make a deadly spring or each wolf leap at the throat of the man whom he had fondled their mildness seemed unreal and a mere freak but their savage nature was as true as their teeth and claws nevertheless the men went safely across the lawn with the wild beasts frisking about them and doing no manner of harm although as they mounted the steps of the palace you might possibly have heard a low growl particularly from the wolves as if they thought it a pity after all to let the strangers past without so much as tasting what they were made of End of Part 1 of Cersei's Palace Recording by Linda Ferguson Section 10 of Tanglewood Tales This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Linda Ferguson Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne Cersei's Palace Part 2 Eurylicus and his followers now passed under a lofty portal and looked through the open doorway into the interior of the palace The first thing that they saw was a spacious hall and a fountain in the middle of it gushing up towards the ceiling out of a marble basin and falling back into it with a continual splash The water of this fountain as it spouted upward was constantly taking new shapes not very distinctly but plainly enough for a nimble fancy to recognise what they were Now it was the shape of a man in a long robe the fleecy whiteness of which was made out of the fountain spray Now it was a lion or a tiger or a wolf or an arse or as often as anything else a hog wallowing in the marble basin as if it were his thigh It was either magic or some very curious machinery that caused the gushing water spout to assume all these forms But before the strangers had time to look closely at this wonderful sight their attention was drawn off by a very sweet and agreeable sound A woman's voice was singing melodiously in another room of the palace and with her voice was mingled the noise of a loom at which she was probably seated weaving a rich texture of cloth and intertwining the high and low sweetness of her voice into a rich tissue of harmony By and by the song came to an end and then all at once there were several feminine voices talking airily and cheerfully with now and then a merry burst of laughter such as you may always hear when three or four young women sit at work together What a sweet song that was! exclaimed one of the voyagers Too sweet indeed! answered Eurylicus, shaking his head Yet it was not so sweet as the song of the sirens those bird-like damsels who wanted to tempt us on the rocks so that our vessel might be wrecked and our bones left whitening along the shore But just listen to the pleasant voices of those maidens and that buzz of the loom as the shuttle passes to and fro said another comrade What a domestic household home-like sound it is Ah before that weary siege of Troy I used to hear the buzzing loom and the women's voices under my own roof Shall I never hear them again nor taste those nice little savory dishes which my dearest wife knew how to serve up Tush, we shall fare better here said another But how innocently those women are battling together without getting that we overhear them and mark that richest voice of all so pleasant and so familiar but which yet seems to have the authority of a mistress among them Let us show ourselves at once what harm can the Lady of the Palace and her maidens do to mariners and warriors like us Remember, said Eurylicus, that it was a young maiden who beguiled three of our friends into the Palace of the King of the Lestrigonies who ate up one of them in the twinkling of an eye No warning or persuasion, however, had any effect on his companions They went up to a pair of folding doors at the farther end of the hall and, throwing them wide open, passed into the next room Eurylicus, meanwhile, had stepped behind a pillar In the short moment while the folding doors opened and closed again he caught a glimpse of a very beautiful woman rising from the loom and coming to meet the poor weather-beaten wanderers with a hospitable smile and a hand stretched out in welcome There were four other young women who joined their hands and danced merrily forward making gestures of obeisance to the strangers There were only less beautiful than the Lady who seemed to be their mistress Yet Eurylicus fancied that one of them had sea-green hair and that the close-fitting bodice of a second looked like the bark of a tree and that both the others had something odd in their aspect although he could not quite determine what it was in the little while that he had to examine them The folding doors swung quickly back and left him standing behind the pillar in the solitude of the outer hall There Eurylicus waited until he was quite weary and listened eagerly to every sound but without hearing anything that could help him to guess what had become of his friends Footsteps, it is true, seemed to be passing and repassing in other parts of the palace Then there was a clatter of silver dishes or golden ones which made him imagine a rich feast in a splendid, banqueting hall But by and by he heard a tremendous grunting and squealing and then a sudden scampering like that of small, hard hooves over a marble floor while the voices of the mistress and her forehand maidens were screaming altogether in tones of anger and erision Eurylicus could not conceive what had happened unless a drove of swine had broken into the palace attracted by the smell of the feast Chancing to cast his eyes at the fountain he saw that it did not shift its shape as formally nor looked either like a long, robed man or a lion a tiger or wolf or an arse it looked like nothing but a hog which lay wellowing in the marble basin and filled it from brim to brim But we must leave the prudent Eurylicus waiting in the outer hall and follow his friends into the inner secrecy of the palace As soon as the beautiful woman saw them she arose from the loom, as I have told you and came forward smiling and stretching out her hand She took the hand of the foremost among them and bade him and the whole party welcome You have been long expected, my good friends said she I and my maidens are well acquainted with you although you do not appear to recognise us Look at this piece of tapestry and judge if your faces must not have been familiar to us So the voyages examined the web of cloth which the beautiful woman had been weaving in her loom and to their vast astonishment they saw their own figures perfectly represented in different coloured threads It was a life-like picture of their recent adventures showing them in the cave of Polyphemus and how they had put out his one great moony eye While in another part of the tapestry they were untying the leaven bags puffed out with contrarie winds and farther on they beheld themselves scampering away from the gigantic king of the Lestriganes who had caught one of them by the leg Lastly there they were sitting on the desolate shore of this very island hungry and downcast and looking broufully at the bare bones of the stag which they devoured yesterday This was as far as the work had yet preceded but when the beautiful woman should again sit down at her loom she would probably make a picture of what had since happened to the strangers and of what was now going to happen You see, she said that I know all about your troubles and you cannot doubt that I desire to make you happy for as long a time as you may remain with me For this purpose, my honoured guests I have ordered a banquet to be prepared Fish, fowl and flesh roasted and in luscious stews and seasoned I trust to all your tastes are ready to be served up If your appetites tell you it is dinner time then come with me to the feast or saloon At this kind invitation the hungry mariners were quite overjoyed and one of them, taking upon himself to be spokesmen assured their hospitable hostess that any hour of the day was dinner time with them whenever they could get flesh to put in the pot and fire to boil it with So the beautiful woman led the way and the four maidens One of them had sea-green hair another a bodice of oak bark a third sprinkled a shower of water-drops from her fingers' ends and the fourth had some other oddity which I have forgotten All these followed behind and hurried the guests along until they entered a magnificent saloon It was built in a perfect oval and lighted from a crystal dome above Around the walls were ranged two and twenty thrones overhung by canopies of crimson and gold and provided with the softest of cushions which were tassled and fringed with gold cord Each of the strangers was invited to sit down and there they were two and twenty storm-beaten mariners in worn and tattered garb sitting in two and twenty cushioned and canopied thrones so rich and gorgeous that the proudest monarch and nothing more splendid in his statelyest hall Then you might have seen the guests nodding winking with one eye and leaning from one throne to another to communicate the satisfaction in horse whispers Our good hostess has made kings of us all," said one Ha! Do you smell the feast? I'll engage it will be fit to set before two and twenty kings I hope," said another, it will be mainly good substantial joints, sirloins, spare ribs and hindercwaters without too many kick-shores If I thought the good lady would not take it amiss I should call for a fat slice of fried bacon to begin with Ah! the gluttons and gourmandisers You see how it was with them In the loftiest seats of dignity, on royal thrones they could think of nothing but their greedy appetite which was the portion of their nature that they shared with the wolves and swine so that they resembled those vilest of animals far more than they did kings if indeed kings were what they ought to be But the beautiful woman now clapped her hands and immediately there entered a train of two and twenty serving men bringing dishes of the richest food all hot from the kitchen fire and sending up such esteem that it hung like a cloud below the crystal dome of the saloon An equal number of attendants brought great fluggins of wine of various kinds, some of which sparkled as it was poured out and went bubbling down the throat while of other sorts the purple liquor was so clear that you could see the wrought figures at the bottom of the goblet While the servants supplied the two and twenty guests with food and drink the hostess and her four maidens went from one throne to another exhorting them to eat their fill and to guff wine abundantly and thus to recompense themselves at this one banquet for the many days when they had gone without a dinner But whenever the mariners were not looking at them which was pretty often as they looked chiefly into the basins and platters the beautiful woman and her damsels turned aside and laughed Even the servants as they knelt down to present the dishes might be seen to grin and sneer while the guests were helping themselves to the offered dainties And once in a while the strangers seemed to taste something that they did not like Here is an odd kind of spice in this dish, said one I can't say it quite suits my palate Down it goes, however Send a good draught of wine down your throat, said his comrade on the next throne That is the stuff to make this sort of cookery relish well Though I must need say the wine has a queer taste too but the more I drink of it the better I like the flavour Whatever little fault they might find with the dishes they sat at dinner a prodigiously long while and it would really have made you ashamed to see how they swill down the liquor and gobbled up the food They sat on golden thrones to be sure but they behaved like pigs in a stye and if they had their wits about them they might have guessed that this was the opinion of their beautiful hostess and her maidens It brings a blush into my face to reckon up in my own mind what mountains of meat and pudding and what gallons of wine these two and twenty guzzlers and gormandisers ate and drank They forgot all about their homes and their wives and children and all about Ulysses and everything else except this banquet at which they wanted to keep feasting for ever but at length they began to give over from mere incapacity to hold any more That last bit of fat is too much for me, said one I have not room for another morsel, said his next neighbour heaving a sigh What a pity, my appetite is as sharp as ever In short they all left off eating and leaned back on their thrones with such a stupid and helpless aspect as made them ridiculous to behold When their hostess saw this she laughed aloud so did her four damsels, so did the two and twenty serving men that bore the dishes and their two and twenty fellows that poured out the wine and the louder they all laughed the more stupid and helpless did the two and twenty gormandisers look Then the beautiful woman took her stand in the middle of the slune and stretching out a slender rod it had been all the while in her hand although they never noticed it till this moment She turned it from one guest to another until each had felt it pointed at himself Beautiful as her face was and though there was a smile on it it looked just as wicked and mischievous as the ugliest serpent that ever was seen and fat-witted as the voyages had made themselves they began to suspect that they had fallen into the power of an evil-minded enchantress Wretched, cried she You have abused a lady's hospitality and in this princely saloon your behaviour has been suited to a hog-pen You are already swine in everything but the human form which you disgrace in which I myself should be ashamed to keep a moment longer were you to share it with me but it would require only the slightest exercise of magic to make the exterior conformed to the hog-ish disposition Assume your proper shape, gormandisers, and begone to the sty Uttering these last words she waved her wand and stamping her foot imperiously Each of the guests was struck aghast at beholding Instead of his comrades in human shape one and twenty hogs sitting on the same number of golden thrones Each man, as he still supposed himself to be essayed to give a cry of surprise but found that he could merely grunt and that in a word he was just such another beast as his companions It looked so intolerably absurd to see hogs on cushioned thrones that they made haste to wallow down upon all fours like other swine They tried to groan and beg for mercy but forthwith emitted the most awful grunting and squealing that ever came out of swine-ish throats They would have wrung their hands in despair but attempting to do so grew all the more desperate for seeing themselves squatted on their hams and pouring the air with their four-trotters Dear me, what pendulous ears they had what little red eyes, half buried in fat and what long snouts instead of the grecian noses But brutes as they certainly were they yet had enough of human nature in them to be shocked at their own hideousness and still intending to groan they uttered a vile grunt and squeal than before So harsh an ear-pissing it was that you would have fancied a butcher was sticking his knife into each of their throats or at very least that somebody was pulling every hog by his funny little twist of a tail Begone to your sty cried the enchantress giving them some smart strokes with her wand and then she turned to the serving men drive out these swine and throw down some acorns for them to eat The door of the saloon being flung open the drove of hogs ran in all directions save the right one in accordance with their hog-ish perversity finally driven into the backyard of the palace it was a sight to bring tears into one's eyes and I hope none of you will be cruel enough to laugh at it to see the poor creatures go snuffing along picking up here a cabbage leaf and there a turnip top and rooting their noses in the earth for whatever they could find In their stye moreover they behaved more pigishly than the pigs that had been born so for they bit and snorted at one another their feet in the trough and gobbled up their victuals in a ridiculous hurry and when there was nothing more to be had they made a great pile of themselves among some unclean straw and fell fast asleep If they had any human reason left it was just enough to keep them wondering when they should be slaughtered and what quality of bacon they should make Meantime, as I told you before Eurylicus had waited and waited and waited in the entrance hall of the palace without being able to comprehend what had befallen his friends At last when the swinish uproar resounded through the palace when he saw the image of a hog in the marble basin he thought it best to hasten back to the vessel and inform the wise Ulysses of these marvellous occurrences so he ran as fast as he could down the steps and never stopped to draw breath till he reached the shore Why do you come alone? asked King Ulysses as soon as he saw him Where are your two and twenty comrades? At these questions Eurylicus burst into tears Alas! he cried, I greatly fear that we shall never see one of their faces again Then he told Ulysses all that had happened as far as he knew it and added that he suspected the beautiful woman to be a vile enchantress and the marble palace magnificent as it looked to be only a dismal cavern in reality As for his companions he could not imagine what had become of them unless they had been given to the swine to be devoured alive At this intelligence all of the voyages were greatly affrighted but Ulysses lost no time in girding on his sword and hanging his bow and quiver over his shoulder and taking a spear in his right hand When his followers saw their wise leader making these preparations they inquired with her he was going and earnestly besought him not to leave them You are our king cried they and what is more you are the wisest man in the whole world and nothing but your wisdom and courage can get us out of this danger if you desert us and go to the enchanted palace you will suffer the same fate as our poor companions and not a soul of us will ever see our dear Ithica again As I am your king, answered Ulysses and wiser than any of you it is therefore the more my duty to see what has fallen our comrades and whether anything can yet be done to rescue them Wait for me here until to-morrow If I do not then return you must hoist sail and endeavor to find your way to our native land For my part I am answerable for the fate of these poor mariners who have stood by my side in battle and been so often drenched to the skin along with me by the same tempestuous surges I will either bring them back with me or perish Had his followers dared they would have detained him by force but King Ulysses frowned sternly on them and shook his spear and bade them stop him at their peril Seeing him so determined they let him go and sat down on the sand as disconsolidates said of people as could be waiting and praying for his return It happened to Ulysses just as before that when he had gone a few steps from the edge of the cliff the purple bird came fluttering towards him crying peep peep peep and using all the art it could to persuade him to go no farther What mean you little bird? cried Ulysses You are a raid like a king in purple and gold and wear a golden crown upon your head Is it because I too am a king that you desire so earnestly to speak with me? If you can talk in human language say what you would have me do peep! answered the purple bird very deloriously peep peep peep End of part two of Cersei's Palace Recording by Linda Ferguson Section 11 of Tanglewood Tales This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Linda Ferguson Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne Cersei's Palace Part 3 Certainly there lay some heavy anguish at the little bird's heart and it was a sorrowful predicament that he could not, at least, have the consolation of telling what it was but Ulysses had no time to waste in trying to get at the mystery He therefore quickened his pace and had gone a good way along the pleasant wood-path when there met him a young man of very brisk and intelligent aspect and clad in a rather singular garb He wore a short cloak and a sort of cap that seemed to be furnished with a pair of wings and from the lightness of his step you would have supposed that there might likewise be wings on his feet to enable him to walk still better for he was always on one journey or another He carried a winged staff around which two serpents were wriggling and twisting In short I have said enough to make you guess that it was quick silver and Ulysses, who knew him of old and had learned a great deal of his wisdom from him and recognised him in a moment Where are you going in such a hurry, wise Ulysses? asked quick silver Do not know that this island is enchanted The wicked Enchantress, whose name is Cersei the sister of King Aeates dwells in the marble palace which you see yonder among the trees By her magic arts she changes every human being into the brute, beast or foul whom he happens most to resemble That little bird, which met me at the edge of the cliff exclaimed Ulysses, was he a human being once? Yes, answered quick silver He was once a king, named Pickas and a pretty good sort of a king too only rather too proud of his purple robe and his crown and the golden chain about his neck so he was forced to take the shape of a gaudy feathered bird The lions and wolves and tigers who will come running to meet you in front of the palace are commonly fierce and cruel men resembling in their disposition the wild beast whose forms they now rightfully wear And my poor companions, said Ulysses have they undergone a similar change through the arts of this wicked Cersei? You well know what gormandisers they were replied quick silver and rogue that he was he could not help laughing at the joke so you will not be surprised to hear that they have all taken the shapes of swine if Cersei had never done anything worse I really should not think of so very much to blame but can I do nothing to help them? inquired Ulysses it will require all your wisdom said quick silver and a little of my own into the bargain to keep your royal and sagacious self from being transformed into a fox but do as I bid you and the matter may end better than it has begun While he was speaking quick silver seemed to be in search of something he went stooping along the ground and soon laid his hand on a little plant with a snow-white flower which he plucked and smelt of Ulysses had been looking at that very spot only just before and it appeared to him that the plant had burst into full flower the instant when quick silver touched it with his fingers take this flower king Ulysses said he guard it as you do your eyesight for I can assure you it is exceedingly rare and precious and you might seek the whole world over without ever finding another like it keep it in your hand and smell of it frequently after you enter the palace and while you are talking with the enchantress especially when she offers you food or a draft of wine out of her goblet be careful to fill your nostrils with the flower's fragrance follow these directions and you may defy her magic arts to change you into a fox quick silver then gave him some further advice how to behave and bidding him to be bold and prudent again assured him that powerful as Cersei was he would have a fair prospect of coming safely out of her enchanted palace after listening attentively Ulysses thanked his good friend and resumed his way but he had taken only a few steps when recollecting some other question which he wished to ask he turned around again as nobody on the spot where quick silver had stood for that winged cap of his and those winged shoes with the help of the winged staff had carried him quickly out of sight when Ulysses reached the lawn in front of the palace the lions and other savage animals came bounding to meet him and would have formed upon him and licked his feet but the wise king struck at them with his long spear and sternly bade them begone out of his path so that they had once been bloodthirsty men would now tear him limb from limb instead of forning upon him could they do the mischief that was in their hearts the wild beasts yulped and glared at him and stood at a distance while he ascended the palace steps on entering the hall Ulysses saw the magic fountain in the centre of it the upgushing water had now again taken the shape of a man in a long white fleecy robe who appeared to be making gestures of welcome the king likewise heard the noise of the shuttle in the loom and the sweet melody of the beautiful woman's song and then the pleasant voices of herself and the four maidens talking together with peels of merry laughter intermixed but Ulysses did not waste much time in listening to the laughter or the song he leaned his spear against one of the pillars of the hall and then after loosening his sword in the scabbard stepped boldly forward folding doors wide open the moment she beholded his stately figure standing in the doorway the beautiful woman rose from the loom and ran to meet him with a glad smile throwing its sunshine over her face and both her hands extended Welcome brave stranger cried she we were expecting you and the nymph with the sea green hair made a curtsy down to the ground and likewise bathed him welcome the sister with the bottles of oak and bark and she that sprinkled dew drops from her fingers ends and the fourth one with some oddity which I cannot remember and Cersei as the beautiful enchantress was called who had deluded so many persons that she did not doubt of being able to delude Ulysses not imagining how wise he was again addressed him your companions said she have already been received into my palace a double treatment to which the propriety of their behaviour so well entitles them if such be your pleasure you shall first take some refreshment and then join them in the elegant apartment which they now occupy see I and my maidens have been weaving their figures into this piece of tapestry she pointed to the web of beautifully woven cloth in the loom Cersei and the four nymphs must have been very diligently at work since the arrival of the mariners for a great many yards of tapestry had now been wrought in addition to what I before described in this new part Ulysses saw his two and twenty friends represented as sitting on cushions and canopied thrones greedily devouring dainties and quaffing deep drafts of wine the work had not yet gone any further oh no indeed the enchantress was far too cunning to let Ulysses see the mischief which her magic arts had since brought upon the gormandisers as for yourself valiant sir said Cersei judging by the dignity of your aspect I take you to be nothing less than a king dain to follow me and you shall be treated as befits your rank so Ulysses followed her into the oval saloon where his two and twenty comrades devoured the banquet which ended so disastrously for themselves but all this while he had held the snow-white flower in his hand and had constantly smelt of it while Cersei was speaking and as he crossed the threshold of the saloon he took good care to inhale several long and deep snuffs of its fragrance instead of two and twenty thrones which had been before ranged round the wall there was now only a single throne in the centre of the apartment but this was surely the most magnificent seat that ever a king ever opposed himself upon all made of chased gold studded with precious stones with the cushioned that looked like a soft heap of living roses and overhung by a canopy of sunlight which Cersei knew how to weave into drapery the enchantress took Ulysses by the hand and made him sit down upon this dazzling throne then clapping her hands she summoned the chief butler bring hither said she that is set apart for kings to drink out of and fill it with the same delicious wine which my royal brother King Eates praised so highly when he last visited me with my fair daughter, Medea that good and amiable child were she now here it would delight her to see me offering this wine to my honoured guest but Ulysses while the butler was gone for the wine held the snow-white flower to his nose is it a wholesome wine he asked at this the four maidens titted whereupon the enchantress looked around at them with an aspect of severity it is the wholesomeest juice that ever was squeezed out of the grape said she for instead of disguising a man as other liquor is apt to do it brings him to his true self and shows him as he ought to be the chief butler liked nothing better than to see people turn into swine or making any kind of beast of themselves so he made haste to bring the royal goblet filled with liquid as bright as gold and which kept sparkling upward and throwing a sunny spray over the brim but delightfully as the wine looked it was mingled with the most potent enchantments that Cersei knew how to concoct for every drop of the pure grape juice there were two drops of the pure mischief and the danger of the thing was the mischief made it taste all the better the mere smell of the bubbles which effervesced at the brim was enough to turn a man's beard into pigs bristles or make a lion's claws grow out of his fingers or a fox's brush behind him drink, my noble guest said Cersei smiling as she presented him with the goblet you will find in this draft a solace for all your troubles King Ulysses took the goblet with his right hand while with his left he held the snow-white flower to his nostrils and drew in so long a breath that his lungs were quite filled with as pure and simple fragrance then drinking of all the wine he looked the enchantress calmly in the face wretch! cried Cersei giving him a smart stroke with her wand how dare you keep your human shape a moment longer take the form of the brute whom you most resemble if a hog go join your fellow's swine in the sty if a lion, a wolf, a tiger go howl with the wild beasts on the lawn if a fox go exercise your craft in stealing poultry thou hast quaffed off my wine and canst be a man no longer but such was the virtue of the snow-white flower instead of wallowing down from his throne in swine's shape or taking any other brutal form Ulysses looked even more manly and king-like than ever before he gave the magic goblet a toss and sent it clashing over the marble floor to the father's end of the saloon then drawing his sword he seized the enchantress by her beautiful ringlets and made a gesture as if he meant to strike off her head at one blow wicked Cersei cried he in a terrible voice this sword shall put an end to thy enchantments thou shalt die vile wretch and do no more mischief in the world by tempting human beings into the vices which make beasts of them the tone and countenance of Ulysses was so awful and his sword gleamed so brightly and seemed to have so intolerably keen an edge that Cersei was almost killed by the mere fright without waiting for a blow the chief butler scrambled out of the saloon picking up the golden goblet as he went and the enchantress and the four maidens fell on their knees ringing their hands and screaming for mercy spare me cried Cersei spare me royal and wise Ulysses for now I know that thou art he of whom Quicksilver forewarned me the most prudent of mortals against whom no enchantments can prevail thou only couldst have conquered Cersei spare me wisest of men I will show thee true hospitality and even give myself to be thy slave and this magnificent palace to be henceforth thy home the four nymphs meanwhile were making a most piteous adieu and especially the ocean nymph with the sea-green hair who whipped a great deal of salt water and the fountain nymph besides scattering dew-drops from her fingers' ends nearly melted away into tears but Ulysses would not be pacified until Cersei had taken a solemn oath to change back his companions and as many others as he should direct from their present forms of beasts or birds into their former shapes of men on these conditions said he I consent to spare your life otherwise you must die upon the spot with a drawn sword hanging over her the enchantress would readily have consented to do as much good as she had hitherto done mischief however little she might like such employment she therefore led Ulysses out of the back entrance of the palace and showed him the swine in their sty there were about fifty of these unclean beasts in the whole herd and though the greater part were hogs by birth and education there was wonderfully little difference to be seen betwixt them and their new brethren who had so recently worn the human shape to speak critically indeed the latter rather carried the thing to excess and seemed to make it a point to wallow in the merriest part of the sty and otherwise to outdo the original swine in their own natural vocation when men once turned to brutes the trifle of man's witch that remains in them adds tenfolds to their brutality the comrades of Ulysses however had not quite lost the resemblance of having formally stood erect when he approached the sty two and twenty enormous swine separated themselves from the herd and scambered towards him with such a chorus of horrible squealing as made him clap both hands to his ears and yet they did not seem to know what they wanted nor whether they were merely hungry or miserable from some other cause it was curious in the midst of their distress to observe them thrusting their noses into the mire in quest of something to eat the nymph with the bodice of oak and bark she was the hammer-dried of an oak through a handful of acorns among them and the two and twenty hogs scrambled and fought for the prize as if they had tasted not so much as a noggin of sour milk for a twelve month these must certainly be my comrades, said Ulysses I recognise their dispositions they are hardly worth the trouble of changing them into the human form again nevertheless we will have it done lest their bad example should corrupt the other hogs let them take their original shapes therefore Dame Cersei if your skill is equal to the task it will require greater magic I chose than it did to make swine of them so Cersei waved to one again and repeated a few magic words at the sound of which the two and twenty hogs pricked up their pendulous ears it was a wonder to behold how their snouts grew shorter and shorter and their mouths which they seemed to be sorry for because they could not gobble so expeditiously smaller and smaller and how one and another began to stand upon his behind legs and scratch his nose with his four trotters at first the spectators hardly knew whether to call them hogs or men but by and by came to the conclusion that they rather resembled the latter finally there stood the twenty-two comrades of Ulysses looking pretty much the same as when they left the vessel you must not imagine however that the swineish quality had entirely gone out of them when once it fastens itself into a person's character it is very difficult getting rid of it this was proved by the Hummerdryad who being exceedingly fond of mischief through another handful of acorns before the twenty-two newly restored people whereupon down they wallowed in a moment and gobbled them up in a very shameful way then recollecting themselves they scrambled to their feet and looked more than commonly foolish thanks noble Ulysses they cried from brute beast you have restored us to the condition of men again do not put yourselves to the trouble of thanking me said the wise king I fear I have done but little for you to say the truth there was a suspicious kind of grunt in their voices and for a long time afterward they spoke gruffly and were apt to set up a squeal it must depend on your own future behaviour added Ulysses whether you do not find your way back to the stye at this moment the note of a bird sounded from the branch of a neighbouring tree peep peep peee it was the purple bird who all this while had been sitting over their heads watching what was going forward and hoping that Ulysses would remember how he had done his utmost to keep him and his followers out of harm's way Ulysses ordered Cersei instantly to make a king of this good little fowl and leave him exactly as she had found him hardly with the word spoken and before the bird had time to utter another pea weep King Piccas leaped down from the bow of a tree as majestic a sovereign in the world dressed in a long purple robe and gorgeous yellow stockings with a splendidly wrought collar about his neck and a golden crown upon his head he and King Ulysses exchanged with one another the courtesies which belonged to their elevated rank but from that time forth King Piccas was no longer proud of his crown and his trappings of royalty nor of the fact of his being a king he felt himself merely the upper servant of his people that it must be his life-long labour to make them better and happier as for the lions, tigers and wolves though Cersei would have restored them to their former shapes at his slightest word Ulysses thought it advisable that they should remain as they now were and thus give warning of their cruel dispositions instead of going about under the guise of men and pretending to human sympathies while their hearts had the bloodthirstiness of wild beasts so he let them howl as much as they liked but never troubled his head about them and when everything was settled according to his pleasure he sent to summon the remainder of his comrades whom he had left at the seashore these being arrived with the prudent Ulysses at their head they all made themselves comfortable in Cersei's enchanted palace until quite rested and refreshed from the toils and hardships of their voyage End of Part Three of Cersei's Palace Recording by Linda Ferguson