for there the
sons of the North Wind turned, and it was late in the night when they
came back to the hall of Phineus, and to their companions.

Here Phineus was telling Jason and his company how they might win their
way to Colchis and the world's end, and the wood of the Fleece of Gold.
'First,' he said, 'you shall come in your ship to the Rocks Wandering,
for these rocks wander like living things in the sea, and no ship has
ever sailed between them. They open, like a great mouth, to let ships
pass, and when she is between their lips they clash again, and crush her
in their iron jaws. By this way even winged things may never pass; nay,
not even the doves that bear ambrosia to Father Zeus, the lord of
Olympus, but the rocks ever catch one even of these. So, when you come
near them, you must let loose a dove from the ship, and let her go
before you to try the way. And if she flies safely between the rocks
from one sea to the other sea, then row with all your might when the
rocks open again. But if the rocks close on the bird, then return, and
do not try the adventure. But, if you win safely through, then hold
right on to the mouth of the River Phasis, and there you shall see the
towers of Aetes, the king, and the grove of the Fleece of Gold. And then
do as well as you may.'

So they thanked him, and the next morning they set sail, till they came
to a place where the Rocks Wandering wallowed in the water, and all was
foam; but when the Rocks leaped apart the stream ran swift, and the
waves roared beneath the rocks, and the wet cliffs bellowed. Then
Euphemus took the dove in his hands, and set her free, and she flew
straight at the pass where the rocks met, and sped right through, and
the rocks gnashed like gnashing teeth, but they caught only a feather
from her tail.

Then slowly the rocks opened again, like a wild beast's mouth that
opens, and Tiphys, the helmsman, shouted, 'Row on, hard all!' and he
held the ship straight for the pass. Then the oars bent like bows in the
hands of men, and the good ship leaped at the stroke. Three strokes they
pulled, and at each the ship leaped, and now they were within the black
jaws of the rocks, the water boiling round them, and so dark it was that
overhead they could see the stars, but the oarsmen could not see the
daylight behind them, and the steersman could not see the daylight in
front. Then the great tide rushed in between the rocks like a rushing
river, and lifted the ship a