Page:The Music of the Spheres.djvu/81

 With his heart filled with sorrow at the thought of this wellnigh impossible task, Perseus went out into the fields and walked about alone. What chance had he against this fearful creature that had the wings of an eagle and hair that writhed in living snakes about her shoulders, and coiled and hissed and darted on her head? More than this, her eyes were filled with horror and turned all who gazed upon her into stone! Walking along thus enwrapped in dreary thoughts, the youth felt himself suddenly grow buoyant, and looking down on his sandals saw that living wings had grown upon their heels; then a polished shield reflecting like a mirror was hung upon his arm, and a sword carved from a diamond, which must have once equaled the size of a bowlder, was thrust into his hand. The gods had again taken care of their own! Holding himself proudly, our hero walked to the end of the island where a high cliff jutted above the rocky shore below. He stood on the edge and looked down at the rocks beneath him; then he raised his head and looked at the high white clouds in the sunny sky. He thought of the gods and his mother—and bravely stepped over—then laughed joyously as he skimmed like a bird in the warm rays of the sun.

It is a long tale to tell how he journeyed northward to the land of snow and ice, then southward again, and across the Mediterranean.

After finding the Three Gray Sisters who had but one eye between them, Perseus forced them to tell him where to find the country where the Gorgons dwelt. After many hardships, he found this country on the western shore of Africa and knew it immediately, for all around stood the images of men and beasts whose flesh and blood the Medusa's eyes had hardened into stone