from his head down his dark
spine he lay lifeless; and where the arrows had left in his blood the
bitter gall of the Lernaean hydra, flies withered and died over the
festering wounds And close at hand the Hesperides, their white arms
flung over their golden heads, lamented shrilly; and the heroes drew
near suddenly; but the maidens, at their quick approach, at once became
dust and earth where they stood. Orpheus marked the divine portent, and
for his comrades addressed them in prayer: "O divine ones, fair and
kind, be gracious, O queens, whether ye be numbered among the heavenly
goddesses, or those beneath the earth, or be called the Solitary nymphs;
come, O nymphs, sacred race of Oceanus, appear manifest to our longing
eyes and show us some spring of water from the rock or some sacred flow
gushing from the earth, goddesses, wherewith we may quench the thirst
that burns us unceasingly. And if ever again we return in our voyaging
to the Achaean land, then to you among the first of goddesses with
willing hearts will we bring countless gifts, libations and banquets."

So he spake, beseeching them with plaintive voice; and they from their
station near pitied their pain; and lo! first of all they caused grass
to spring from the earth; and above the grass rose up tall shoots; and
then flourishing saplings grew standing upright far above the earth.
Hespere became a poplar and Eretheis an elm, and Aegle a willow's sacred
trunk. And forth from these trees their forms looked out, as clear as
they were before, a marvel exceeding great, and Aegle spake with gentle
words answering their longing looks:

"Surely there has come hither a mighty succour to your toils, that most
accursed man, who robbed our guardian serpent of life and plucked the
golden apples of the goddesses and is gone; and has left bitter grief
for us. For yesterday came a man most fell in wanton violence, most grim
in form; and his eyes flashed beneath his scowling brow; a ruthless
wretch; and he was clad in the skin of a monstrous lion of raw hide,
untanned; and he bare a sturdy bow of olive, and a bow, wherewith he
shot and killed this monster here. So he too came, as one traversing the
land on foot, parched with thirst; and he rushed wildly through this
spot, searching for water, but nowhere was he like to see it. Now here
stood a rock near the Tritonian lake; and of his own device, or by the
prompting of some god, he smote it below with his foot; and the water