96 THE WONDER-BOOK OF HORSES 



Would you be rich and powerful, with fleet ships 

 upon the sea and great armies upon the land? 

 Would you make yourselves feared by all the na- 

 tions of the earth? Then accept me as your pa- 

 tron, and build me a temple here upon your 

 Acropolis ! " 



" Which shall it be, my people? " asked King 

 Cecrops of the multitude that had gathered 

 around. " Which shall we choose for our city's 

 heritage. Wisdom or Strength ? " 



" Wisdom ! " cried some. " Strength ! " cried 

 others. And there was great confusion. Finally, 

 an old man with white hair and very long white 

 beard made himself heard. 



" It seems to me, O King," he said, " that we 

 should choose that one for our patron and 

 guardian who can give us the most substantial 

 blessings. We are a new people, and as yet we 

 know so little of either Wisdom or Strength that 

 we are not qualified to judge which is best. But 

 let Athena and Poseidon each give us something, 

 now and here, as a sample of the blessings which 

 they promise us, and do you, O King, with your 

 twelve councilors, decide which has offered the 

 better gift; and then we will choose that one 

 to be the patron and guardian of our city, and to 



