ngerous to encounter.
King Iobates, perceiving the courage of his youthful visitor, proposed
to him to go and fight the Chimaera, which everybody else was afraid of,
and which, unless it should be soon killed, was likely to convert Lycia
into a desert. Bellerophon hesitated not a moment, but assured the king
that he would either slay this dreaded Chimaera, or perish in the
attempt.

But, in the first place, as the monster was so prodigiously swift, he
bethought himself that he should never win the victory by fighting on
foot. The wisest thing he could do, therefore, was to get the very best
and fleetest horse that could anywhere be found. And what other horse,
in all the world, was half so fleet as the marvellous horse Pegasus, who
had wings as well as legs, and was even more active in the air than on
the earth? To be sure, a great many people denied that there was any
such horse with wings, and said that the stories about him were all
poetry and nonsense. But, wonderful as it appeared, Bellerophon
believed that Pegasus was a real steed, and hoped that he himself might
be fortunate enough to find him; and, once fairly mounted on his back,
he would be able to fight the Chimaera at better advantage.

And this was the purpose with which he had travelled from Lycia to
Greece, and had brought the beautifully ornamented bridle in his hand.
It was an enchanted bridle. If he could only succeed in putting the
golden bit into the mouth of Pegasus, the winged horse would be
submissive, and would own Bellerophon for his master, and fly
whithersoever he might choose to turn the rein.

But, indeed, it was a weary and anxious time, while Bellerophon waited
and waited for Pegasus, in hopes that he would come and drink at the
Fountain of Pirene. He was afraid lest King Iobates should imagine that
he had fled from the Chimaera. It pained him, too, to think how much
mischief the monster was doing, while he himself, instead of fighting
with it, was compelled to sit idly poring over the bright waters of
Pirene, as they gushed out of the sparkling sand. And as Pegasus had
come thither so seldom, in these latter days, and scarcely alighted
there more than once in a lifetime, Bellerophon feared that he might
grow an old man, and have no strength left in his arms nor courage in
his heart, before the winged horse would appear. Oh, how heavily passes
the time while an adventurous youth is yearning to do his part in life,
and to gathe