“Some day,” said Theseus, “I will
be your king, but not now; for there are other deeds
for me to do.” And with that he donned his
sword and his sandals and his princely cloak, and
threw his great iron club upon his shoulder, and went
out of Eleusis; and all the people ran after him for
quite a little way, shouting, “May good fortune
be with you, O king, and may Athena bless and guide
you!”
V. PROCRUSTES THE PITILESS.
Athens was now not more than twenty miles away, but
the road thither led through the Parnes Mountains,
and was only a narrow path winding among the rocks
and up and down many a lonely wooded glen. Theseus
had seen worse and far more dangerous roads than this,
and so he strode bravely onward, happy in the thought
that he was so near the end of his long journey.
But it was very slow traveling among the mountains,
and he was not always sure that he was following the
right path. The sun was almost down when he came
to a broad green valley where the trees had been cleared
away. A little river flowed through the middle
of this valley, and on either side were grassy meadows
where cattle were grazing; and on a hillside close
by, half hidden among the trees, there was a great
stone house with vines running over its walls and roof.
While Theseus was wondering who it could be that lived
in this pretty but lonely place, a man came out of
the house and hurried down to the road to meet him.
He was a well-dressed man, and his face was wreathed
with smiles; and he bowed low to Theseus and invited
him kindly to come up to the house and be his guest
that night.
“This is a lonely place,” he said, “and
it is not often that travelers pass this way.
But there is nothing that gives me so much joy as to
find strangers and feast them at my table and hear
them tell of the things they have seen and heard.
Come up, and sup with me, and lodge under my roof;
and you shall sleep on a wonderful bed which I have—a
bed which fits every guest and cures him of every
ill.”
Theseus was pleased with the man’s ways, and
as he was both hungry and tired, he went up with him
and sat down under the vines by the door; and the
man said:
“Now I will go in and make the bed ready for
you, and you can lie down upon it and rest; and later,
when you feel refreshed, you shall sit at my table
and sup with me, and I will listen to the pleasant
tales which I know you will tell.”
When he had gone into the house, Theseus looked around
him to see what sort of a place it was. He was
filled with surprise at the richness of it—at
the gold and silver and beautiful things with which
every room seemed to be adorned—for it
was indeed a place fit for a prince. While he
was looking and wondering, the vines before him were
parted and the fair face of a young girl peeped out.
“Noble stranger,” she whispered, “do
not lie down on my master’s bed, for those who
do so never rise again. Fly down the glen and
hide yourself in the deep woods ere he returns, or
else there will be no escape for you.”
