Free Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne Page B

Pygmies
in his lion's skin, and carried them home to Greece, for the children of
King Eurystheus to play with. But this is a mistake. He left them, one
and all, within their own territory, where, for aught I can tell, their
descendants are alive to the present day, building their little houses,
cultivating their little fields, spanking their little children, waging
their little warfare with the cranes, doing their little business,
whatever it may be, and reading their little histories of ancient times.
In those histories, perhaps, it stands recorded, that, a great many
centuries ago, the valiant Pygmies avenged the death of the Giant
Antaeus by scaring away the mighty Hercules.

The Dragon's Teeth
*
    Cadmus, Phoenix, and Cilix, the three sons of King Agenor, 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 Cilix set off in pursuit of it, crying out
that it was a flower with wings. Europa, who was a little wearied with
playing 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 com? 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! Cilix! 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 rosebuds, 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