So he spake, for all his streams were boiling—­as a cauldron boils with a great fire beneath it, when a man would melt the fat of a great hog; nor could he flow any longer to the sea, so sorely did the breath of the Fire-god trouble him.  Then he cried aloud to Juno, entreating her:  “O Juno, why doth thy son torment me only among all?  Why should I be blamed more than others that help the men of Troy?  Verily, I will cease from helping them, if he also will cease.  Nay, I will swear a great oath that I will keep no more the day of doom from the sons of Troy; no, not when all the city shall be consumed with fire.”

And Queen Juno heard him, and called to Vulcan, saying, “Cease, my son; it doth not beseem thee to work such damage to a god for the sake of a mortal man.”

So Vulcan quenched his fire, and the River flowed as he flowed before.

VULCAN MAKES ARMOR FOR ACHILLES

By Walter C. Perry

On high Olympus, the Loud-thundering Zeus spake mockingly to his consort, Juno, and said, “At length, thou hast what thou desirest, and hast roused Achilles to fight against the Trojans.  Surely, the long-haired Achaians must be thine own children, since thou lovest them so dearly!”

And the ox-eyed queen replied, “Dread son of Cronos! what words are these which have passed the barrier of thy teeth?  Even a mortal man doth what he can to help another; and shall not I, the chief of goddesses by birth and as thy wife—­O thou king of the deathless Gods!—­shall not I avenge myself upon the men of Troy?”

Thus these two strove with one another.

Meantime, the silver-footed Thetis came to the splendid palace of Vulcan, bright and immortal, which shone like a star among the mansions of the Gods.  She found him at his bellows, sweating from his mighty toil; for he was forging twenty tripods, to stand round the walls of his well-built mansion.  Beneath each of them he placed wheels of gold; and they move, of themselves, into the assembly of the Gods, and so return.

While he was thus employed, the silver-footed Thetis approached the house.  And Charis, of the shining veil, the wedded wife of Vulcan (whose first wife had been Aphrodite or Venus), came forth to meet her, and took her by the hand, and called her by her name.  “O long-robed Thetis! dear and honored as thou art! not oft, I ween, dost thou come to visit us.  But follow me, that I may show thee due hospitality.”

Then she led the way in, and seated Thetis on a lofty chair with silver studs, beautiful, and cunningly wrought, and placed a footstool beneath her shining feet.  And she called to Vulcan, the divine artificer, “Come hither, Vulcan! for the silver-footed Thetis seeketh thine aid.”