Tanglewood Tales Read Free Page B

greater danger awaited him than any
which he had encountered on the road. Yet this was the truth. You must
understand that the father of Theseus, though not very old in years, was
almost worn out with the cares of government, and had thus grown aged
before his time. His nephews, not expecting him to live a very great
while, intended to get all the power of the kingdom into their own
hands. But when they heard that Theseus had arrived in Athens, and
learned what a gallant young man he was, they saw that he would not be
at all the kind of a person to let them steal away his father's crown
and scepter, which ought to be his own by right of inheritance. Thus
these bad-hearted nephews of King Aegeus, who were the own cousins of
Theseus, at once became his enemies. A still more dangerous enemy was
Medea, the wicked enchantress; for she was now the king's wife, and
wanted to give the kingdom to her son Medus, instead of letting it be
given to the son of Aethra, whom she hated.
    It so happened that the king's nephews met Theseus, and found out who he
was, just as he reached the entrance of the royal palace. With all
their evil designs against him, they pretended to be their cousin's
best friends, and expressed great joy at making his acquaintance.
They proposed to him that he should come into the king's presence as
a stranger, in order to try whether Aegeus would discover in the young
man's features any likeness either to himself or his mother Aethra, and
thus recognize him for a son. Theseus consented; for he fancied that his
father would know him in a moment, by the love that was in his heart.
But, while he waited at the door, the nephews ran and told King Aegeus
that a young man had arrived in Athens, who, to their certain knowledge,
intended to put him to death, and get possession of his royal crown.
    "And he is now waiting for admission to your majesty's presence," added
they.
    "Aha!" cried the old king, on hearing this. "Why, he must be a very
wicked young fellow indeed! Pray, what would you advise me to do with
him?"
    In reply to this question, the wicked Medea put in her word. As I
have already told you, she was a famous enchantress. According to some
stories, she was in the habit of boiling old people in a large caldron,
under pretense of making them young again; but King Aegeus, I suppose,
did not fancy such an uncomfortable way of growing young, or perhaps
was contented to be old, and therefore would never let himself be
popped into the caldron. If there were time to spare from more important
matters, I should be glad to tell you of Medea's fiery chariot, drawn
by winged dragons, in which the enchantress used often to take an airing
among the clouds. This chariot, in fact, was the vehicle that first
brought her to Athens, where she had done nothing but mischief ever
since her arrival. But these and many other wonders must be left untold;
and it is enough to say, that Medea, amongst a thousand other bad
things, knew how to prepare a poison, that was instantly fatal to
whomsoever might so much as touch it with his lips.
    So, when the king asked what he should do with Theseus, this naughty
woman had an answer ready at her tongue's end.
    "Leave that to me, please your majesty," she replied. "Only admit this
evil-minded young man to your presence, treat him civilly, and invite
him to drink a goblet of wine. Your majesty is well aware that I
sometimes amuse myself by distilling very powerful medicines. Here is
one of them in this small phial. As to what it is made of, that is one
of my secrets of state. Do but let me put a single drop into the goblet,
and let the young man taste it; and I will answer for it, he shall quite
lay aside the bad designs with which he comes hither."
    As she said this, Medea smiled; but, for all her smiling face, she
meant nothing less than to poison the poor innocent Theseus, before
his father's eyes. And King Aegeus, like most other kings, thought any
punishment mild enough for a person who was