"
Then all the heroes cried together: "I will go!" "and I!" "and I!" And
Idas the rash grew mad with envy; for he longed to be foremost in all
things. But Medeia calmed them, and said: "Orpheus shall go with Jason,
and bring his magic harp; for I hear of him that he is the king of all
minstrels, and can charm all things on earth."
And Orpheus laughed for joy, and clapped his hands, because the choice
had fallen on him; for in those days poets and singers were as bold
warriors as the best.
So at midnight they went up the bank, and found Medeia; and beside came
Absyrtus her young brother, leading a yearling lamb.
Then Medeia brought them to a thicket, beside the War-god's gate; and
there she bade Jason dig a ditch, and kill the lamb and leave it there,
and strew on it magic herbs and honey from the honeycomb.
Then sprang up through the earth, with the red fire flashing before her,
Brimo the wild witch huntress, while her mad hounds howled around. She
had one head like a horse's, and another like a ravening hound's, and
another like a hissing snake's, and a sword in either hand. And she
leapt into the ditch with her hounds, and they ate and drank their fill,
while Jason and Orpheus trembled, and Medeia hid her eyes. And at last
the witch queen vanished, and fled with her hounds into the woods; and
the bars of the gates fell down, and the brazen doors flew wide, and
Medeia and the heroes ran forward and hurried through the poison wood,
among the dark stems of the mighty beeches, guided by the gleam of the
golden fleece, until they saw it hanging on one vast tree in the midst.
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