Then Jupiter, in his turn, was angry, and ordered Apollo to come before him and be punished for what he had done.  He took away his bow and arrows and his wonderful lyre and all his beauty of form and feature; and after that Jupiter clothed him in the rags of a beggar and drove him down from the mountain, and told him that he should never come back nor be himself again until he had served some man a whole year as a slave.

And so Apollo went out, alone and friendless, into the world; and no one who saw him would have dreamed that he was once the sun-bright Lord of the Silver Bow.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

ADMETUS AND ALCESTIS.

I. The slave.

In a little town north of Delphi, and not very far from the sea, there lived a young man named Admetus.  He was the ruler of the town, and hence was called its king; but his kingdom was so small that he could walk all round it in half a day.  He knew the name of every man and woman and child in the town, and everybody loved him because he was so gentle and kind and at the same time a king.

Late one day, when the rain was falling and the wind was blowing cold from the mountains, a beggar came to his door.  The man was ragged and dirty and half starved, and Admetus knew that he must have come from some strange land, for in his own country no one ever went hungry.  So the kind king took him into the house and fed him; and after the man had bathed he gave him his own warm cloak, and bade the servants make a place for him to sleep through the night.

In the morning Admetus asked the poor man his name, but he shook his head and made no answer.  Then Admetus asked him about his home and his country; and all that the man would say was:  “Make me your slave, master!  Make me your slave, and let me serve you for a year.”

The young king did not need another servant.  But he saw that the poorest slave in the land was better off than this man, and so he took pity on him.  “I will do as you ask,” he said.  “I will give you a home and food and clothing; and you shall serve me and be my slave for one year.”

There was but little that the stranger knew how to do, and so he was sent to the hills to take care of the king’s sheep and goats.  For a whole year he tended the flocks, finding the greenest pastures and the freshest water for them, and keeping the wolves away.  Admetus was very kind to him, as he was to all his servants, and the food and clothing which he gave him were of the best in the land.  But the stranger did not tell his name nor say anything about his kindred or his home.

When a year and a day had passed, it so happened that Admetus was walking out among the hills to see his sheep.  All at once the sound of music fell upon his ear.  It was no such music as shepherds play, but sweeter and richer than any he had ever heard before.  He looked to see where the sound came from.  Ah! who was that sitting on the hilltop, with the sheep around him listening to his music?  Surely it was not his shepherd?