And he bade him cut down a bough, and
sacrifice to Hera and to Zeus; and they took the bough and came to
Iolcos, and nailed it to the beak head of the ship.
And at last the ship was finished, and they tried to launch her down the
beach; but she was too heavy for them to move her, and her keel sank
deep in the sand. Then all the heroes looked at each other blushing; but
Jason spoke, and said, "Let us ask the magic bough; perhaps it can help
us in our need."
Then a voice came from the bough, and Jason heard the words it said, and
bade Orpheus play upon the harp, while the heroes waited round, holding
the pine-trunk rollers, to help her toward the sea.
Then Orpheus took his harp, and began his magic song: "How sweet it is
to ride upon the surges, and to leap from wave to wave, while the wind
sings cheerful in the cordage, and the oars flash fast among the foam!
How sweet it is to roam across the ocean, and see new towns and wondrous
lands, and to come home laden with treasure, and to win undying fame!"
And the good ship Argo heard him, and longed to be away and out at sea;
till she stirred in every timber, and heaved from stem to stern, and
leapt up from the sand upon the rollers, and plunged onward like a
gallant horse; and the heroes fed her path with pine trunks, till she
rushed into the whispering sea.
Then they stored her well with food and water, and pulled the ladder up
on board, and settled themselves each man to his oar, and kept time to
Orpheus's harp; and away across the bay they rowed southward, while the
people lined the cliffs; and the women wept while the men shouted, at
the starting of that gallant crew.
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