The Golden Fleece., part 2 · page 21 2101"Tell me, wondrous image," exclaimed Jason,--"since you inherit the wisdom of the Speaking Oak of Dodona, whose daughter you are,--tell me, where shall I find fifty bold youths, who will take each of them an oar of my galley?102They must have sturdy arms to row, and brave hearts to encounter perils, or we shall never win the Golden Fleece."103"Go," replied the oaken image, "go, summon all the heroes of Greece."104And, in fact, considering what a great deed was to be done, could any advice be wiser than this which Jason received from the figure-head of his vessel?105He lost no time in sending messengers to all the cities, and making known to the whole people of Greece, that Prince Jason, the son of King Jason, was going in quest of the Fleece of Gold, and that he desired the help of forty-nine of the bravest and strongest young men alive, to row his vessel and share his dangers.106And Jason himself would be the fiftieth.107At this news, the adventurous youths, all over the country, began to bestir themselves.108Some of them had already fought with giants, and slain dragons; and the younger ones, who had not yet met with such good fortune, thought it a shame to have lived so long without getting astride of a flying serpent, or sticking their spears into a Chimaera, or, at least, thrusting their right arms down a monstrous lion's throat.109There was a fair prospect that they would meet with plenty of such adventures before finding the Golden Fleece.110As soon as they could furbish up their helmets and shields, therefore, and gird on their trusty swords, they came thronging to Iolchos, and clambered on board the new galley.111Shaking hands with Jason, they assured him that they did not care a pin for their lives, but would help row the vessel to the remotest edge of the world, and as much farther as he might think it best to go.1 2← previousThe Golden Fleece., part 1next →The Golden Fleece., part 3↑ back to Tanglewood TalesThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg976/26/page/2/