Page:The Music of the Spheres.djvu/109

 because they lie at such an unthinkable distance from our solar system.

An ancient story, current 246, relates that this constellation was named after the beautiful hair of Berenice, Queen of Euergetes, one of the Ptolemies of Egypt. The husband of this Queen had gone to Assyria on a dangerous campaign and, grieving over his delay in returning, the Queen vowed to cut off her long locks of hair and consecrate it to the gods in the temple of Venus, if he might only come back to Egypt safe and victorious.

Not long after this great sacrifice had been determined upon, Euergetes returned and the Queen cut off her tresses and hung them in the temple of the goddess. But that same night the hair was stolen! Conon, the royal astronomer of Alexandria, however, in his goodness of heart and thinking to protect the guardians of the temple from their majesties' displeasure, stepped forward and declared that Venus had so appreciated such love as possessed by this faithful Queen that she had caught up the strands of beautiful hair and laid them in the heavens. All looked toward the spot at which the astronomer pointed, and, sure enough, there lay near Leo a group of fine stars which shone like the mist on a woman's hair! Thus the guardians were saved, the husband appeased and the astounded Queen Berenice flattered and satisfied.

The Lion, Leo, however, was now obliged to change the position of his tail and instead of having it extended and brightened with this sprinkling of delicate stars, he was forced