saw him loved him, but the one that loved him most was a goddess named
Aurora.

Every goddess had her own work, but the work of Aurora was most
beautiful of all, for she was the goddess of the morning. It was she who
went out to meet the sun and to light up his pathway. She watched over
the flowers, and whenever they saw her coming, their colors grew
brighter. She loved everything beautiful, and that is why she loved
Tithonus.

"Many a year have I roamed through this country," she said to herself,
"but never have I seen such bright blue eyes as those. O fairest of
youths," she cried, "who are you? Some name should be yours that sounds
like the wind in the pine trees, or like the song of a bird among the
first blossoms."

The young man fell upon his knees before her. "I know well," said he,
"that you are no maiden of the earth. You are a goddess come down to us
from the skies. I am but a hunter, and I roam through the forest looking
for deer."

"Come with me, fairest of hunters," said Aurora. "Come with me to the
home of my father. You shall live among my brothers and hunt with them,
or go with me at the first brightness of the morning to carry light and
gladness to the flowers."

So it was that Tithonus went away from his own country and his own home
to live in the home of Aurora.

For a long time they were happy together, but one day Aurora said,
"Tithonus, I am a goddess, and so I am immortal, but some day death will
bear you away from me. I will ask the father of the gods that you too
may be immortal."

Then Aurora went to the king of the gods and begged that he would make
Tithonus immortal.

"Sometimes people are not pleased even when I have given them what they
ask," replied the king, "so think well before you speak."

"I have only one wish," said Aurora, "and it is that Tithonus, the
fairest of youths, shall be immortal."

"You have your wish," said the king of the gods, and again Tithonus and
Aurora roamed happily together through forest and field.

One day Tithonus asked, "My Aurora, why is it that I cannot look
straight into your eyes as once I did?" Another day he said, "My Aurora,
why is it that I cannot put my hand in yours as once I did?"

Then the goddess wept sorrowfully. "The king of the gods gave me what I
asked for," she wailed, "and I begged that you should be immortal. I did
not remember to ask that you should be always young."

Everyday Tithonus grew older and smaller. "I am no long