GOLDEN APPLES
I T WAS A HILLY ISLAND . Meadows ran right down to the water’s edge. Deer and wild horses came down to the sea to swim. Towering above all was Atlas, snow-bearded, with huge misty eyes, holding the sky on his shoulders. If you didn’t know about the Titan, you would think he was a mountain.
Fruit trees grew thickly in the orchard, and Hercules searched for a long time before he saw the golden apples flashing among dark green leaves. He came closer, stepping carefully, waiting for the serpent to show itself. Then he saw it and stood there, amazed.
He had heard that Ladon would be wrapped around the tree trunk, but the serpent had unwrapped itself and was coiled in front of the tree. It raised its head as Hercules came near—at least, he thought it must be its head because he saw two eyes. Otherwise, the serpent’s body ran right into its head; its jaws were hinged at the tail. In other words, Ladon was a quarter-mile of living mouth lined with teeth.
“Well,” said Hercules to himself, “how in the world am I expected to get past that monster? What did Nereus say? ‘Honey to the snake.’ But everything he said was a lie, wasn’t it? And it doesn’t really seem that I could buy off this beast with a dab of honey. What shall I do, though? He’s too big to strangle. No blade will pierce that leather hide. I can’t use my poison arrows and spoil all the fruit of the orchard and poison the rivers and streams of this beautiful island. ‘Honey to the snake.’ Nereus was a liar, but the best liars always throw in a tiny bit of truth to make their lies sound good. Honeycomb, bees … Perhaps I’m getting an idea.”
He backed away from the serpent and angled off into the woods searching for a dead tree. He reached in and pulled out a beehive and hung it from his belt. The bees buzzed angrily. They swarmed out in a black cloud and settled on his chest and shoulders, stabbing with their stingers. But his skin was too tough; the stingers broke off. The bees crept back into their hive. He searched for other hollow trees. When he came back to the orchard, his belt was hung with buzzing cones.
He walked slowly toward Hera’s tree. The serpent saw him and opened its jaws. Hercules was looking right down a quarter-mile of pink and black gullet set with ivory knives. The jaws slithered toward him. He took a hive from his belt and, aiming carefully, threw it straight into the jaws, through the hedge of teeth, and saw it travel down the gullet to the jaw hinge at the serpent’s tail.
One by one, he pulled the hives from his belt and hurled them into the yawning gullet. The serpent, drunk on the smell of honey, closed its jaws. But it wasn’t only combs being crunched. The bees were in there too, and bees make a peppery dish. They swarmed out and thrust the wicked little hooks of their tails into the serpent’s palate, the only place on its body not covered by leather hide. It was like eating fire.
In instant agony, Ladon uncoiled with the force of a thousand steel springs. High, high into the air went the serpent, tail flailing. Hercules held his oak-tree club, waiting. The serpent turned in the air and came plunging down at him. He swung his great club, smashing it into Ladon’s body, splitting it open, shattering its fangs. Bits of ivory and honeycomb rained down on the meadow, and the body of the serpent, squashed like an earthworm by a gardener’s spade, fell into the sea and sank out of sight.
Hercules walked toward Hera’s tree. He reached for an apple. Thunder spoke out of the clear sky.
“Stop, thief!”
He dropped his hand. He knew it must be Atlas speaking, and he remembered that he would have to meet the Titan before he could take the apples. He walked through the orchard and made his way to the other side of the island where Atlas stood. Here he saw the heavy blue bowl of the sky pressing on the shoulders of the Titan. He stood at the giant feet and looked up, up toward the snowy beard
I T WAS A HILLY ISLAND . Meadows ran right down to the water’s edge. Deer and wild horses came down to the sea to swim. Towering above all was Atlas, snow-bearded, with huge misty eyes, holding the sky on his shoulders. If you didn’t know about the Titan, you would think he was a mountain.
Fruit trees grew thickly in the orchard, and Hercules searched for a long time before he saw the golden apples flashing among dark green leaves. He came closer, stepping carefully, waiting for the serpent to show itself. Then he saw it and stood there, amazed.
He had heard that Ladon would be wrapped around the tree trunk, but the serpent had unwrapped itself and was coiled in front of the tree. It raised its head as Hercules came near—at least, he thought it must be its head because he saw two eyes. Otherwise, the serpent’s body ran right into its head; its jaws were hinged at the tail. In other words, Ladon was a quarter-mile of living mouth lined with teeth.
“Well,” said Hercules to himself, “how in the world am I expected to get past that monster? What did Nereus say? ‘Honey to the snake.’ But everything he said was a lie, wasn’t it? And it doesn’t really seem that I could buy off this beast with a dab of honey. What shall I do, though? He’s too big to strangle. No blade will pierce that leather hide. I can’t use my poison arrows and spoil all the fruit of the orchard and poison the rivers and streams of this beautiful island. ‘Honey to the snake.’ Nereus was a liar, but the best liars always throw in a tiny bit of truth to make their lies sound good. Honeycomb, bees … Perhaps I’m getting an idea.”
He backed away from the serpent and angled off into the woods searching for a dead tree. He reached in and pulled out a beehive and hung it from his belt. The bees buzzed angrily. They swarmed out in a black cloud and settled on his chest and shoulders, stabbing with their stingers. But his skin was too tough; the stingers broke off. The bees crept back into their hive. He searched for other hollow trees. When he came back to the orchard, his belt was hung with buzzing cones.
He walked slowly toward Hera’s tree. The serpent saw him and opened its jaws. Hercules was looking right down a quarter-mile of pink and black gullet set with ivory knives. The jaws slithered toward him. He took a hive from his belt and, aiming carefully, threw it straight into the jaws, through the hedge of teeth, and saw it travel down the gullet to the jaw hinge at the serpent’s tail.
One by one, he pulled the hives from his belt and hurled them into the yawning gullet. The serpent, drunk on the smell of honey, closed its jaws. But it wasn’t only combs being crunched. The bees were in there too, and bees make a peppery dish. They swarmed out and thrust the wicked little hooks of their tails into the serpent’s palate, the only place on its body not covered by leather hide. It was like eating fire.
In instant agony, Ladon uncoiled with the force of a thousand steel springs. High, high into the air went the serpent, tail flailing. Hercules held his oak-tree club, waiting. The serpent turned in the air and came plunging down at him. He swung his great club, smashing it into Ladon’s body, splitting it open, shattering its fangs. Bits of ivory and honeycomb rained down on the meadow, and the body of the serpent, squashed like an earthworm by a gardener’s spade, fell into the sea and sank out of sight.
Hercules walked toward Hera’s tree. He reached for an apple. Thunder spoke out of the clear sky.
“Stop, thief!”
He dropped his hand. He knew it must be Atlas speaking, and he remembered that he would have to meet the Titan before he could take the apples. He walked through the orchard and made his way to the other side of the island where Atlas stood. Here he saw the heavy blue bowl of the sky pressing on the shoulders of the Titan. He stood at the giant feet and looked up, up toward the snowy beard
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