So in the dusk of the evening they went down to the river-side, Chalciope and Medeia the witch-maiden, and with them a lad.  And the lad crept forward, among the beds of reeds, till he came to where Jason kept ward on shore, leaning upon his lance, full of thought.

And the lad said, “Chalciope waits for you, to talk about the Golden Fleece.”

Then Jason went boldly with the boy and found the two Princesses.  When Chalciope saw him, she wept and took his hands and cried, “O cousin of my beloved Phrixus, go home before you die!”

“It would be base to go home now, fair Princess, and to have sailed all these seas in vain.”

Then both the Princesses besought him, but Jason said, “It is too late to return!”

“But you know not,” said Medeia, “what he must do who would win the fleece.  He must tame the two brazen-footed bulls, which breathe devouring flame, and with them he must plow ere nightfall four acres in a field.  He must sow the acres with serpents’ teeth, of which each tooth springs up into an armed man.  Then he must fight with all these warriors.  And little will it profit him to conquer them, for the fleece is guarded by a serpent more huge than any mountain pine.  Over his body you must step if you would reach the Golden Fleece.”

Then Jason laughed bitterly:  “Unjustly is that fleece kept here, and by an unjust and lawless King, and unjustly shall I die in my youth, for I will attempt it ere another sun be set.”

Medeia trembled and said, “No mortal man can reach that fleece unless I guide him through.”

But Jason cried, “No wall so high but it may be climbed at last, and no wood so thick but it may be crawled through.  No serpent so wary but he may be charmed, and I may yet win the Golden Fleece, if a wise maiden help bold men.”

And he looked at Medeia with his glittering eye, till she blushed and trembled and said, “Who can face the fire of the bulls’ breath and fight ten thousand armed men?”

“He whom you help,” said Jason, flattering her, “for your fame is spread over all the earth.”

And Medeia said slowly, “Why should you die?  I have an ointment here.  I made it from the magic ice-flower.  Anoint yourself with that, and you shall have in you the strength of seven, and anoint your shield with it, and neither fire nor sword shall harm you.  Anoint your helmet with it, before you sow the serpents’ teeth, and when the sons of earth spring up, cast your helmet among them, and every man of them shall perish.”

Then Jason fell on his knees before her, and thanked her and kissed her hands, and she gave him the vase of ointment, and fled trembling through the reeds.

And Jason told his comrades what had happened, and showed them the box of ointment.

So at sunrise Jason went and bathed and anointed himself from head to foot, and his shield and his helmet and his weapons.  And when the sun had risen, Jason sent two of his heroes to tell Aietes that he was ready for the fight.