Page:Tanglewood tales (Dulac).djvu/27

 'Well, but, dear mother,' asked the boy, 'why cannot I go to this famous city of Athens, and tell King Ægeus that I am his son?'

'That may happen by and by,' said Æthra. 'Be patient, and we shall see. You are not yet big and strong enough to set out on such an errand.'

'And how soon shall I be strong enough?' Theseus persisted in inquiring.

'You are but a tiny boy as yet,' replied his mother. 'See if you can lift this rock on which we are sitting?'

The little fellow had a great opinion of his own strength. So, grasping the rough protuberances of the rock, he tugged and toiled amain, and got himself quite out of breath, without being able to stir the heavy stone. It seemed to be rooted into the ground. No wonder he could not move it; for it would have taken all the force of a very strong man to lift it out of its earthy bed.

His mother stood looking on, with a sad kind of a smile on her lips and in her eyes, to see the zealous and yet puny efforts of her little boy. She could not help being sorrowful at finding him already so impatient to begin his adventures in the world.

'You see how it is, my dear Theseus,' said she. 'You must possess far more strength than now before I can trust you to go to Athens, and tell King Ægeus that you are his son. But when you can lift this rock and show me what is hidden beneath it, I promise you my permission to depart.' 11