; and with her come the nymphs in
attendance, gathering, some at the spring of Amnisus itself, others by
the glens and many-fountained peaks; and round her whine and fawn the
beasts cowering as she moves along: thus they sped through the city;
and on both sides the people gave way, shunning the eyes of the royal
maiden. But when she had left the city's well paved streets, and was
approaching the shrine as she drove over the plains, then she alighted
eagerly from the smooth-running chariot and spake as follows among her
maidens:

(ll. 891-911) "Friends, verily have I sinned greatly and took no heed
not to go among the stranger-folk 1 who roam over our land. The whole
city is smitten with dismay; wherefore no one of the women who formerly
gathered here day by day has now come hither. But since we have come
and no one else draws near, come, let us satisfy our souls without stint
with soothing song, and when we have plucked the fair flowers amid the
tender grass, that very hour will we return. And with many a gift shall
ye reach home this very day, if ye will gladden me with this desire of
mine. For Argus pleads with me, also Chalciope herself; but this that
ye hear from me keep silently in your hearts, lest the tale reach my
father's ears. As for yon stranger who took on him the task with the
oxen, they bid me receive his gifts and rescue him from the deadly
contest. And I approved their counsel, and I have summoned him to come
to my presence apart from his comrades, so that we may divide the gifts
among ourselves if he bring them in his hands, and in return may give
him a baleful charm. But when he comes, do ye stand aloof."

(ll. 912-918) So she spake, and the crafty counsel pleased them all. And
straightway Argus drew Aeson's son apart from his comrades as soon as
he heard from his brothers that Medea had gone at daybreak to the holy
shrine of Hecate, and led him over the plain; and with them went Mopsus,
son of Ampycus, skilled to utter oracles from the appearance of birds,
and skilled to give good counsel to those who set out on a journey.

(ll. 919-926) Never yet had there been such a man in the days of old,
neither of all the heroes of the lineage of Zeus himself, nor of those
who sprung from the blood of the other gods, as on that day the bride of
Zeus made Jason, both to look upon and to hold converse with. Even his
comrades wondered as they gazed upon him, radiant with manifold graces;
and the son of Ampycus re