“The azure from the sea I will take,
Twilight its wealth of purple shall give too;
Twinkling stars shall add the sparks which they make,
And flowers shall yield their perfume and dew. 
By fairy touch, light as a caress,
Made from all this material so bright,
My beloved rainbow, in Chipryd’s rich dress
Thou shalt be clothed by the God of Light.”

And the voice of the God of Light was so beautiful that it performed a miracle, for, behold! in the ambrosian night the gold spear standing on the Acropolis of Athens trembled, and the marble head of the gigantic statue turned toward the Acropolis in order to hear better.  Heaven and Earth listened to it; the sea stopped roaring and lay peacefully near the shore; even the pale Selene stopped her night wandering in the sky and stood motionless over Athens.

And when Apollo had finished, a light wind arose and carried the song throughout the whole of Greece, and wherever a child in the cradle heard only a tone of it, that child became a poet.

But before Latona’s son had finished his divine singing, the angry Eryfile began to scream: 

“What an ass!  He tries to bribe me with flowers and dew; do you think that you are privileged because my husband is not at home?  What a pity that our servants are not at hand; I would give you a good lesson!  But wait; I will teach you to wander during the night with songs!”

So saying she seized a pot of dough, and, throwing it through the gate, splashed it over the face, neck, robe, and lyre of the Radiant.  Apollo groaned, and, covering his inspired head with a corner of his wet robe, he departed in shame and wrath.

Hermes, waiting for him, laughed, turned somersaults, and twirled his caduceus.  But when the sorrowful son of Latona approached him, the foxy patron of merchants simulated compassion and said: 

“I am sorry you have lost, O puissant archer!”

“Go away, you rascal!” answered the angry Apollo.

“I shall go when you give me Lampecja.”

“May Cerberus bite your calves.  I shall not give you Lampecja, and I tell you to go away, or I will twist your neck.”

The Argo-robber knew that he must not joke when Apollo was angry, so he stood aside cautiously and said: 

“If you wish to cheat me, then in the future be Hermes and I will be Apollo.  I know that you are above me in power, and that you can harm me, but happily there is some one who is stronger than you and he will judge us.  Radiant, I call you to the judgment of Chronid!  Come with me.”

Apollo feared the name of Chronid.  He did not care to refuse, and they departed.

In the mean time day began to break.  The Attic came out from the shadows.  Pink-fingered dawn had arisen in the sky from the Archipelago.  Zeus passed the night on the summit of Ida, whether he slept or not, and what he did there no one knew, because, Fog-carrying, he wrapped himself in such a thick cloud that even Hera could not see through it.  Hermes trembled a little on approaching the god of gods and of people.