And there Heracles went away into the woods, bow in hand, to hunt wild
deer; and Hylas the fair boy slipt away after him, and followed him by
stealth, until he lost himself among the glens, and sat down weary to
rest himself by the side of a lake; and there the water nymphs came up
to look at him, and loved him, and carried him down under the lake to be
their playfellow, forever happy and young. And Heracles sought for him
in vain, shouting his name till all the mountains rang; but Hylas never
heard him, far down under the sparkling lake. So while Heracles wandered
searching for him, a fair breeze sprang up, and Heracles was nowhere to
be found; and the Argo sailed away, and Heracles was left behind, and
never saw the noble Phasian stream.
Then the Minuai came to a doleful land, where Amycus the giant ruled,
and cared nothing for the laws of Zeus, but challenged all strangers to
box with him, and those whom he conquered he slew. But Polydeuces the
boxer struck him a harder blow than he ever felt before, and slew him;
and the Minuai went on up the Bosphorus, till they came to the city of
Phineus, the fierce Bithynian king; for Zetes and Calais bade Jason land
there, because they had a work to do.
And they went up from the shore toward the city, through forests white
with snow; and Phineus came out to meet them with a lean and woeful
face, and said, "Welcome, gallant heroes, to the land of bitter blasts,
a land of cold and misery; yet I will feast you as best I can.
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