THE BLACK STEEDS OF AIDONEUS S3 



brought her to his halls. And the maid told him 

 that she had been too sad to think of food; yet 

 once, as she stood on the bank of the Styx, she 

 had plucked some bright red fruit that grew 

 there. 



"Did you taste it?" 



" Yes, I took just one small bite, and then 

 threw it far from me." 



Aidoneus clapped his hands with glee. 



" What kind of bright red fruit grows on the 

 banks of the Styx? " asked Hermes. 



" Pomegranates," said the King. 



" But what is a pomegranate? " asked Hermes. 

 " It is a poor kind of food. At the best, not more 

 than one third of it is fit to eat. The rest is skin 

 and seeds." 



And so he took Persephone back to Dame 

 Demeter, and said that for eight months of each 

 year she should live on the glad green earth ; but 

 that for four months Aidoneus might claim her 

 as his queen. Hence it is that so long as the 

 grains of com lie dead in the ground, Perse- 

 phone stays in the drear realms of Aidoneus. 

 But when the stalks begin to grow and the buds 

 of the fruit trees to burSt, then the sad-faced 

 King comes in his dark cloud-car, drawn by his 



