back with the head of Medusa, you shall show me the beautiful

horror, that I may lose my feeling and my breathing, and
become a stone for ever; for it is weary labour for me to

hold the heavens and the earth apart.'
Then Perseus promised, and the eldest of the Nymphs went

down, and into a dark cavern among the cliffs, out of which
came smoke and thunder, for it was one of the mouths of Hell.

And Perseus and the Nymphs sat down seven days, and waited
trembling, till the Nymph came up again; and her face was

pale, and her eyes dazzled with the light, for she had been
long in the dreary darkness; but in her hand was the magic

hat.
Then all the Nymphs kissed Perseus, and wept over him a long

while; but he was only impatient to be gone. And at last
they put the hat upon his head, and he vanished out of their

sight.
But Perseus went on boldly, past many an ugly sight, far away

into the heart of the Unshapen Land, beyond the streams of
Ocean, to the isles where no ship cruises, where is neither

night nor day, where nothing is in its right place, and
nothing has a name; till he heard the rustle of the Gorgons'

wings and saw the glitter of their brazen talons; and then he
knew that it was time to halt, lest Medusa should freeze him

into stone.
He thought awhile with himself, and remembered Athene's

words. He rose aloft into the air, and held the mirror of
the shield above his head, and looked up into it that he

might see all that was below him.
And he saw the three Gorgons sleeping as huge as elephants.

He knew that they could not see him, because the hat of
darkness hid him; and yet he trembled as he sank down near

them, so terrible were those brazen claws.
Two of the Gorgons were foul as swine, and lay sleeping

heavily, as swine sleep, with their mighty wings outspread;
but Medusa tossed to and fro restlessly, and as she tossed

Perseus pitied her, she looked so fair and sad. Her plumage
was like the rainbow, and her face was like the face of a

nymph, only her eyebrows were knit, and her lips clenched,
with everlasting care and pain; and her long neck gleamed so

white in the mirror that Perseus had not the heart to strike,
and said, 'Ah, that it had been either of her sisters!'

But as he looked, from among her tresses the vipers' heads
awoke, and peeped up with their bright dry eyes, and showed

their fangs, and hissed; and Medusa, as she tossed, threw
back her wings and showed her brazen claws; and Perseus saw

that, for all her beauty, she was as foul and venomous as the
rest.

Then he came down and stepped to her boldly, and looked
steadfastly on his mirror, and struck with Herpe stoutly

once; and he did not need to strike again.
Then he wrapped the head in the goat-skin, turning away his

eyes, and sprang into the air aloft, faster than he ever
sprang before.

For Medusa's wings and talons rattled as she sank dead upon
the rocks; and her two foul sisters woke, and saw her lying

dead.
Into the air they sprang yelling and looked for him who had

done the deed. Thrice they swung round and round, like hawks
who beat for a partridge; and thrice they snuffed round and

round, like hounds who draw upon a deer. At last they struck
upon the scent of the blood, and they checked for a moment to

make sure; and then on they rushed with a fearful howl, while
the wind rattled hoarse in their wings.

On they rushed, weeping" target="_blank" title="a.掠过的 n.扫除；清除">sweeping and flapping, like eagles after a
hare; and Perseus' blood ran cold, for all his courage, as he

saw them come howling on his track; and he cried, 'Bear me
well now, brave sandals, for the hounds of Death are at my

heels!'
And well the brave sandals bore him, aloft through cloud and

sunshine, across the shoreless sea; and fast followed the
hounds of Death, as the roar of their wings came down the

wind. But the roar came down fainter and fainter, and the
howl of their voices died away; for the sandals were too

swift, even for Gorgons, and by nightfall they were far
behind, two black specks in the southern sky, till the sun

sank and he saw them no more.
Then he came again to Atlas, and the garden of the Nymphs;

and when the giant heard him coming he groaned, and said,
'Fulfil thy promise to me.' Then Perseus held up to him the

Gorgon's head, and he had rest from all his toil; for he
became a crag of stone, which sleeps for ever far above the

clouds.
Then he thanked the Nymphs, and asked them, 'By what road

shall I go homeward again, for I wandered far round in coming
hither?'

And they wept and cried, 'Go home no more, but stay and play
with us, the lonelymaidens, who dwell for ever far away from

Gods and men.'
But he refused, and they told him his road, and said, 'Take

with you this magic fruit, which, if you eat once, you will
not hunger for seven days. For you must go eastward and

eastward ever, over the doleful Lybian shore, which Poseidon
gave to Father Zeus, when he burst open the Bosphorus and the

Hellespont, and drowned the fair Lectonian land. And Zeus
took that land in exchange, a fair bargain, much bad ground

for a little good, and to this day it lies waste and desert
with shingle, and rock, and sand.'

Then they kissed Perseus, and wept over him, and he leapt
down the mountain, and went on, lessening and lessening like

a sea-gull, away and out to sea.
PART IV - HOW PERSEUS CAME TO THE AETHIOPS

SO Perseus flitted onward to the north-east, over many a
league of sea, till he came to the rolling sand-hills and the

dreary Lybian shore.
And he flitted on across the desert: over rock-ledges, and

banks of shingle, and level wastes of sand, and shell-drifts
bleaching in the sunshine, and the skeletons of great sea-

monsters, and dead bones of ancient giants, strewn up and
down upon the old sea-floor. And as he went the blood-drops

fell to the earth from the Gorgon's head, and became
poisonous asps and adders, which breed in the desert to this

day.
Over the sands he went, - he never knew how far or how long,

feeding on the fruit which the Nymphs had given him, till he
saw the hills of the Psylli, and the Dwarfs who fought with

cranes. Their spears were of reeds and rushes, and their
houses of the egg-shells of the cranes; and Perseus laughed,

and went his way to the north-east, hoping all day long to
see the blue Mediterranean sparkling, that he might fly

across it to his home.
But now came down a mighty wind, and swept him back southward

toward the desert. All day long he strove against it; but
even the winged sandals could not prevail. So he was forced

to float down the wind all night; and when the morning dawned
there was nothing to be seen, save the same old hateful waste

of sand.
And out of the north the sandstorms rushed upon him, blood-

red pillars and wreaths, blotting out the noonday sun; and
Perseus fled before them, lest he should be choked by the

burning dust. At last the gale fell calm, and he tried to go
northward again; but again came down the sandstorms, and

swept him back into the waste, and then all was calm and
cloudless as before. Seven days he strove against the

storms, and seven days he was driven back, till he was spent
with thirst and hunger, and his tongue clove to the roof of

his mouth. Here and there he fancied that he saw a fair
lake, and the sunbeams shining on the water; but when he came

to it it vanished at his feet, and there was nought but
burning sand. And if he had not been of the race of the

Immortals, he would have perished in the waste; but his life
was strong within him, because it was more than man's.

Then he cried to Athene, and said -
'Oh, fair and pure, if thou hearest me, wilt thou leave me

here to die of drought? I have brought thee the Gorgon's
head at thy bidding, and hitherto" target="_blank" title="ad.至今，迄今">hitherto thou hast prospered my

journey; dost thou desert me at the last? Else why will not
these immortal sandals prevail, even against the desert

storms? Shall I never see my mother more, and the blue
ripple round Seriphos, and the sunny hills of Hellas?'

So he prayed; and after he had prayed there was a great
silence.

The heaven was still above his head, and the sand was still
beneath his feet; and Perseus looked up, but there was

nothing but the blinding sun in the blinding blue; and round
him, but there was nothing but the blinding sand.

And Perseus stood still a while, and waited, and said,
'Surely I am not here without the will of the Immortals, for

Athene will not lie. Were not these sandals to lead me in
the right road? Then the road in which I have tried to go

must be a wrong road.'
Then suddenly his ears were opened, and he heard the sound of

running water.
And at that his heart was lifted up, though he scarcely dare

believe his ears; and weary as he was, he hurried forward,
though he could scarcely stand upright; and within a bowshot

of him was a glen in the sand, and marble rocks, and date-
trees, and a lawn of gay green grass. And through the lawn a

streamlet sparkled and wandered out beyond the trees, and
vanished in the sand.

The water trickled among the rocks, and a pleasant breeze
rustled in the dry date-branches and Perseus laughed for joy,

and leapt down the cliff, and drank of the cool water, and
ate of the dates, and slept upon the turf, and leapt up and

went forward again: but not toward the north this time; for
he said, 'Surely Athene hath sent me hither, and will not

have me go homeward yet. What if there be another noble deed
to be done, before I see the sunny hills of Hellas?'

So he went east, and east for ever, by fresh oases and
fountains, date-palms, and lawns of grass, till he saw before

him a mighty mountain-wall, all rose-red in the setting sun.
Then he towered in the air like an eagle, for his limbs were

strong again; and he flew all night across the mountain till
the day began to dawn, and rosy-fingered Eos came blushing up

the sky. And then, behold, beneath him was the long green
garden of Egypt and the shining stream of Nile.

And he saw cities walled up to heaven, and temples, and
obelisks, and pyramids, and giant Gods of stone. And he came

down amid fields of barley, and flax, and millet, and
clambering gourds; and saw the people coming out of the gates

of a great city, and setting to work, each in his place,
among the water-courses, parting the streams among the plants

cunningly with their feet, according to the wisdom of the
Egyptians. But when they saw him they all stopped their

work, and gathered round him, and cried -
'Who art thou, fair youth? and what bearest thou beneath thy

goat-skin there? Surely thou art one of the Immortals; for
thy skin is white like ivory, and ours is red like clay. Thy

hair is like threads of gold, and ours is black and curled.
Surely thou art one of the Immortals;' and they would have

worshipped him then and there; but Perseus said -
'I am not one of the Immortals; but I am a hero of the

Hellens. And I have slain the Gorgon in the wilderness, and
bear her head with me. Give me food, therefore, that I may

go forward and finish my work.'
Then they gave him food, and fruit, and wine; but they would

not let him go. And when the news came into the city that
the Gorgon was slain, the priests came out to meet him, and

the maidens, with songs and dances, and timbrels and harps;
and they would have brought him to their temple and to their

king; but Perseus put on the hat of darkness, and vanished
away out of their sight.

Therefore the Egyptians looked long for his return, but in
vain, and worshipped him as a hero, and made a statue of him

in Chemmis, which stood for many a hundred years; and they
said that he appeared to them at times, with sandals a cubit

long; and that whenever he appeared the season was fruitful,
and the Nile rose high that year.

Then Perseus went to the eastward, along the Red Sea shore;
and then, because he was afraid to go into the Arabian

deserts, he turned northward once more, and this time no
storm hindered him.

He went past the Isthmus, and Mount Casius, and the vast
Serbonian bog, and up the shore of Palestine, where the dark-

faced AEthiops dwelt.
He flew on past pleasant hills and valleys, like Argos

itself, or Lacedaemon, or the fair Vale of Tempe. But the
lowlands were all drowned by floods, and the highlands

blasted by fire, and the hills heaved like a babbling
cauldron, before the wrath of King Poseidon, the shaker of

the earth.
And Perseus feared to go inland, but flew along the shore

above the sea; and he went on all the day, and the sky was
black with smoke; and he went on all the night, and the sky

was red with flame.
And at the dawn of day he looked toward the cliffs; and at

the water's edge, under a black rock, he saw a white image