horse, with the head and shoulders of a
man. His name was Chiron; and in spite of his odd appearance, he was a
very excellent teacher and had several scholars who afterward did him
credit by making a great figure in the world. The famous Hercules was
one, and so was Achilles, and Philoctetes likewise, and AEsculapius, who
acquired immense repute as a doctor. The good Chiron taught his pupils
how to play upon the harp, and how to cure diseases, and how to use the
sword and shield, together with various other branches of education in
which the lads of those days used to be instructed instead of writing
and arithmetic.

I have sometimes suspected that Master Chiron was not really very
different from other people, but that, being a kind-hearted and merry
old fellow, he was in the habit of making believe that he was a horse,
and scrambling about the schoolroom on all fours and letting the little
boys ride upon his back. And so, when his scholars had grown up and
grown old and were trotting their grandchildren on their knees, they
told them about the sports of their school-days; and these young folks
took the idea that their grandfathers had been taught their letters by a
Centaur, half man and half horse. Little children, not quite
understanding what is said to them, often get such absurd notions into
their heads, you know.

Be that as it may, it has always been told for a fact (and always will
be told, as long as the world lasts) that Chiron, with the head of a
schoolmaster, had the body and legs of a horse. Just imagine the grave
old gentleman clattering and stamping into the schoolroom on his four
hoofs, perhaps treading on some little fellow's toes, flourishing his
switch tail instead of a rod and now and then trotting out of doors to
eat a mouthful of grass! I wonder what the blacksmith charged him for a
set of iron shoes.

So Jason dwelt in the cave, with this four-footed Chiron from the time
that he was an infant only a few months old, until he had grown to the
full height of a man. He became a very good harper, I suppose, and
skilful in the use of weapons and tolerably acquainted with herbs and
other doctor's stuff, and above all, an admirable horseman; for, in
teaching young people to ride, the good Chiron must have been without a
rival among schoolmasters. At length, being now a tall and athletic
youth, Jason resolved to seek his fortune in the world without asking
Chiron's advice or telling him anything about t