STORY OF PHAETHOUT 47 



self can do that, not even Jupiter, the king of 

 all the gods. 



" How can you, who are only mortal, hope to 

 do it? 



" The horses are wild and the road is steep. 



" First it goes up and up, so that the horses 

 can scarcely climb it. 



" The middle of the way is so high that you 

 dare not look down upon the earth, far below 

 you. 



" The last part is down such a steep hill that 

 you are in danger of falling headlong." 



He told him, too, of the monsters of the sky ; 

 the Great Bear, the Scorpion, the Lion. 



But Pliaethon would not be satisfied with 

 anything else. And, as Apollo had promised, it 

 had to be so. 



By this time the Dawn had opened the doors 

 of the East. 



The horses were led from the stable and har- 

 nessed to the sun-car. 



This was made of gold and diamonds. 



The wheels were of gold, with spokes of 

 silver. 



The horses breathed fire from their great 

 nostrils. 



