Jason and the Argonauts by Bernard Evslin Read Free Book Online Page A

noosed in golden cords even as we watched the trees heaving. Oak and pine and tall cedar, they swayed and jerked in a kind of gigantic dance. One by one they pulled themselves out of the earth and hobbled toward us on their roots and stood among us listening to my brother sing:
    “… trees, flowers, birds, beasts, and man. Oh, my brothers, Eurynome means ‘far-wandering,’ the first name given the moon … Ophion means ‘moon-serpent.’ And long before there were any gods, there was the All-Mother. The Moon Goddess.”
    After the song, the deer slid back into the forest, and the wolves vanished. The bear grunted and slouched away. The trees did not return to their holes but hobbled to the beach on their roots and lay down as if to sleep.

FOURTEEN
    E KION
    W E NOW HAD OUR shipwright and timber to meet his crazed specifications. But we had no tools. Argos carried none; he expected them to appear. He never brought anything anywhere but his talent.
    I put Autolycus in charge of procurement.
    He left camp that evening and returned at dawn driving an oxcart loaded with axes, mallets, picks, and shovels.
    “Brother,” I said, “I hope you’re not robbing poor farmers.”
    “Not even rich ones. I’m buying these things.”
    “What are you using for money?”
    “Money.”
    “And how do you come by it?”
    “Same way the king does, from taxes. I happened to meet a tax collector on the road and persuaded him to let me carry his bag of gold.”
    “Persuaded?”
    “A little knock on the head,” Autolycus said. “He found it persuasive.”
    “You robbed a royal tax collector—”
    “Who had been robbing farmers. Actually, what I did, you might say, is give them back their money. The king is taxing them too heavily; it’s bad policy.”
    “Knowing Pelius as I do, brother, I am certain he would not appreciate your method of reform.”
    “Well, the king did agree to finance this voyage, didn’t he?”
    “Yes, but he hates to keep such promises.”
    So Autolycus slipped away every dusk and reappeared every dawn. We would be awakened by the clanking of tools and would arise to see the great sun lifting itself out of the sea and ox and boy and wagon crawling blackly across the redness.
    Upon this dawn we heard the clanking, but everything else was different. The wagon floated strangely in the air; when it came closer, we saw that it was being borne like a litter by two giant figures. Upon it sprawled the limp shape of Autolycus.
    It was always a wonder to me how swiftly Jason could move without seeming to. He was streaking now across the grass. He was confronting two huge men. They stood listening to him, then gently lowered the wagon to the ground. One of them stooped and lifted Autolycus as if he were a baby, then laid him at Jason’s feet. Jason was kneeling, touching my brother’s head.
    Daphnis was there, too, now. I heard him whimper. Without looking at him, Jason raised his hand and the whimpering ceased. Argos had arisen by now and stood there confused, glaring at everyone. I strolled across the clearing to where the strangers stood. I had to find out if they had been sent by Pelius, and, if so, to send them away again. I was getting quite good at this. They were magnificent specimens. Standing there in the pink new sunlight, they were carved of rosy marble. Twins obviously, but not identical. One was slightly bigger.
    Autolycus was sitting up now, leaning against Jason, who was holding a cup to his mouth, as Daphnis hovered near.
    “Greetings,” I said. “I am Ekion, son of Hermes, and herald to King Pelius. And my brother is the one you brought out of the forest. He is still in no condition to thank you, so I do it in his stead.”
    The larger one spoke. “My name is Castor. And this is my brother, Pollux. We are princes of Sparta, sons of Leda, who is wife to King Tyndareus.”
    I had to think quickly. They called themselves sons of Leda, but not of her husband. Adding that fact to their gigantic