a plow. What more could he want? The ground in the
meadow was soft and black, and he drove the plow up and down, making
long furrows as he went. Then he dropped the teeth, one by one, into the
furrows and covered them over with the rich soil. When he had sown all
of them in this way, he sat down on the hillside and watched to see what
would happen.

In a little while the soil in the furrows began to stir. Then, at every
place that a tooth had been dropped, something bright grew up. It was a
brass helmet. The helmets pushed their way up, and soon the faces of men
were seen underneath, then their shoulders, then their arms, then their
bodies; and then, before Cadmus could think, a thousand warriors leaped
out of the furrows and shook off the black earth which was clinging to
them. Every man was clothed in a suit of brass armor; and every one had
a long spear in his right hand and a shield in his left.

Cadmus was frightened when he saw the strange crop which had grown up
from the dragon's teeth. The men looked so fierce that he feared they
would kill him if they saw him. He hid himself behind his plow and then
began to throw stones at them. The warriors did not know where the
stones came from, but each thought that his neighbor had struck him.
Soon they began to fight among themselves. Man after man was killed, and
in a little while only five were left alive. Then Cadmus ran towards
them and called out:

"Hold! Stop fighting! You are my men, and must come with me. We will
build a city here."

The men obeyed him. They followed Cadmus to the top of the hill; and
they were such good workmen that in a few days they had built a house on
the spot where the cow had lain down.

After that they built other houses, and people came to live in them.
They called the town Cadmeia, after Cadmus who was its first king. But
when the place had grown to be a large city, it was known by the name of
Thebes.

Cadmus was a wise king. The Mighty Folk who lived with Jupiter amid the
clouds were well pleased with him and helped him in more ways than one.
After a while he married Harmonia, the beautiful daughter of Mars. All
the Mighty Ones were at the wedding; and Athena gave the bride a
wonderful necklace about which you may learn something more at another
time.

But the greatest thing that Cadmus did is yet to be told. He was the
first schoolmaster of the Greeks, and taught them the letters which were
used in his own country across the