第25章 THE DRAGON'S TEETH(5)

"After a few days, to be sure," said he, mournfully, "I might make shift to hobble along with a stick.But that would only delay you, and perhaps hinder you from finding dear little Europa, after all your pains and trouble.Do you go forward, therefore, my beloved companions, and leave me to follow as I may.""Thou hast been a true friend, dear Thasus," said Queen Telephassa, kissing his forehead."Being neither my son, nor the brother of our lost Europa, thou hast shown thyself truer to me and her than Phoenix and Cilix did, whom we have left behind us.Without thy loving help, and that of my son Cadmus, my limbs could not have borne me half so far as this.Now, take thy rest, and be at peace.For--and it is the first time I have owned it to myself--I begin to question whether we shall ever find my beloved daughter in this world."Saying this, the poor queen shed tears, because it was a grievous trial to the mother's heart to confess that her hopes were growing faint.From that day forward, Cadmus noticed that she never traveled with the same alacrity of spirit that had heretofore supported her.Her weight was heavier upon his arm.

Before setting out, Cadmus helped Thasus build a bower; while Telephassa, being too infirm to give any great assistance, advised them how to fit it up and furnish it, so that it might be as comfortable as a hut of branches could.Thasus, however, did not spend all his days in this green bower.For it happened to him, as to Phoenix and Cilix, that other homeless people visited the spot, and liked it, and built themselves habitations in the neighborhood.So here, in the course of a few years, was another thriving city, with a red freestone palace in the center of it, where Thasus sat upon a throne, doing justice to the people, with a purple robe over his shoulders, a sceptre in his hand, and a crown upon his head.

The inhabitants had made him king, not for the sake of any royal blood (for none was in his veins), but because Thasus was an upright, true-hearted, and courageous man, and therefore fit to rule.

But when the affairs of his kingdom were all settled, King Thasus laid aside his purple robe and crown, and sceptre, and bade his worthiest subjects distribute justice to the people in his stead.Then, grasping the pilgrim's staff that had supported him so long, he set forth again, hoping still to discover some hoof-mark of the snow-white bull, some trace of the vanished child.He returned after a lengthened absence, and sat down wearily upon his throne.To his latest hour, nevertheless, King Thasus showed his true-hearted remembrance of Europa, by ordering that a fire should always be kept burning in his palace, and a bath steaming hot, and food ready to be served up, and a bed with snow-white sheets, in case the maiden should arrive, and require immediate refreshment.And, though Europa never came, the good Thasus had the blessings of many a poor traveler, who profited by the food and lodging which were meant for the little playmate of the king's boyhood.

Telephassa and Cadmus were now pursuing their weary way, with no companion but each other.The queen leaned heavily upon her son's arm, and could walk only a few miles a day.But for all her weakness and weariness, she would not be persuaded to give up the search.It was enough to bring tears into the eyes of bearded men to hear the melancholy tone with which she inquired of every stranger whether he could not tell her any news of the lost child.

"Have you seen a little girl--no, no, I mean a young maiden of full growth--passing by this way, mounted on a snow-white bull, which gallops as swiftly as the wind?""We have seen no such wondrous sight," the people would reply;and very often, taking Cadmus aside, they whispered to him, "Is this stately and sad-looking woman your mother? Surely she is not in her right mind; and you ought to take her home, and make her comfortable, and do your best to get this dream out of her fancy.""It is no dream," said Cadmus."Everything else is a dream, save that."But, one day, Telephassa seemed feebler than usual, and leaned almost her whole weight on the arm of Cadmus, and walked more slowly than ever before.At last they reached a solitary spot, where she told her son that she must needs lie down, and take a good long rest.

"A good long rest!" she repeated, looking Cadmus tenderly in the face."A good long rest, thou dearest one!""As long as you please, dear mother," answered Cadmus.

Telephassa bade him sit down on the turf beside her, and then she took his hand.

"My son," said she, fixing her dim eyes most lovingly upon him, "this rest that I speak of will be very long indeed! You must not wait till it is finished.Dear Cadmus, you do not comprehend me.You must make a grave here, and lay your mother's weary frame into it.My pilgrimage is over."Cadmus burst into tears, and, for a long time, refused to believe that his dear mother was now to be taken from him.But Telephassa reasoned with him, and kissed him, and at length made him discern that it was better for her spirit to pass away out of the toil, the weariness, and grief, and disappointment which had burdened her on earth, ever since the child was lost.

He therefore repressed his sorrow, and listened to her last words.