te
creation, and Hebe, cup-bearer to the gods.
Among the greatest of the gods were three sons
of Jupiter: Apollo, Mars, and Vulcan. Apollo,
or Phoebus, was god of the sun and patron of
music, archery, and prophecy. Mars (Ares) was
god of war, and Vulcan (Hephaestus), the lame
god of fire, was the blacksmith of the gods.

255

This version of the myth of Ceres and
Proserpine is taken by permission of the author
and the publishers from _Stories of Long Ago_,
by Grace H. Kupfer. (Copyright. D. C. Heath &
Co., Boston.) "Of all the beautiful fictions of
Greek mythology," said Aubrey DeVere, "there
are few more exquisite than the story of
Proserpine, and none deeper in symbolical
meaning." That portion of its meaning fitted to
the understanding of children is indicated in
the final paragraphs of Miss Kupfer's version.
Teachers should realize that "the fable has,
however, its moral significance also, being
connected with that great mystery of Joy and
Grief, of Life and of Death, which pressed so
heavily on the mind of Pagan Greece, and
imparts to the whole of her mythology a
profound interest, spiritual as well as
philosophical. It was the restoration of Man,
not of flowers, the victory over Death, not
over Winter, with which that high Intelligence
felt itself to be really concerned."
Hawthorne's version of this story appears in
_Tanglewood Tales_ as "The Pomegranate Seeds."

A STORY OF THE SPRINGTIME

GRACE H. KUPFER

PART I

In the blue Mediterranean Sea, which washes the southern shore of
Europe, lies the beautiful island of Sicily. Long, long ago, there lived
on this island a goddess named Ceres. She had power to make the earth
yield plentiful crops of grain, or to leave it barren; and on her
depended the food, and therefore the life of all the people on the
great, wide earth.

Ceres had one fair young daughter, whom she loved very dearly. And no
wonder, for Proserpine was the sunniest, happiest girl you could
imagine.

Her face was all white and pink, like apple blossoms in spring, and
there was just enough blue in her eyes to give you a glimpse of an April
morning sky. Her long, golden curls reminded you of the bright sunlight.
In fact there was somet