ese men are not like our men; there is
nothing which they cannot dare nor do."

And Medeia thought of Jason and his brave countenance, and said: "If
there was one among them who knew no fear, I could show him how to win
the fleece."

So in the dusk of evening they went down to the riverside, Chalciope and
Medeia the witch maiden, and Argus, Phrixus's son. And Argus the boy
crept forward, among the beds of reeds, till he came where the heroes
were sleeping, on the thwarts of the ship, beneath the bank, while Jason
kept ward on shore, and leant upon his lance full of thought. And the
boy came to Jason, and said:

"I am the son of Phrixus, your cousin; and Chalciope my mother waits for
you, to talk about the golden fleece."

Then Jason went boldly with the boy, and found the two princesses
standing; and when Chalciope saw him she wept, and took his hands, and
cried:

"O cousin of my beloved, go home before you die!"

"It would be base to go home now, fair princess, and to have sailed all
these seas in vain." Then both the princesses besought him: but Jason
said, "It is too late."

"But you know not," said Medeia, "what he must do who would win the
fleece. He must tame the two brazen-footed bulls, who breathe devouring
flame; and with them he must plough ere nightfall four acres in the
field of Ares; and he must sow them with serpents' teeth, of which each
tooth springs up into an armed man. Then he must fight with all those
warriors; and little will it profit him to conquer them; for the fleece
is guarded by a serpent, more huge than any mountain pine; and over his
body you must step, if you would reach the golden fleece."

Then Jason laughed bitterly. "Unjustly is that fleece kept here, and by
an unjust and lawless king; and unjustly shall I die in my youth, for I
will attempt it ere another sun be set."

Then Medeia trembled, and said: "No mortal man can reach that fleece,
unless I guide him through. For round it, beyond the river, is a wall
full nine ells high, with lofty towers and buttresses, and mighty gates
of threefold brass; and over the gates the wall is arched, with golden
battlements above. And over the gateway sits Brimo, the wild witch
huntress of the woods, brandishing a pine torch in her hands, while her
mad hounds howl around. No man dare meet her or look on her, but only I
her priestess, and she watches far and wide lest any stranger should
come near."

"No wall so high but it may be climbed