me,
to win the goods of strangers, I will give thee the fleece to bear away,
if thou dost wish, when I have tried thee. For against brave men I bear
no grudge, such as ye yourselves tell me of him who bears sway in
Hellas. And the trial of your courage and might shall be a contest which
I myself can compass with my hands, deadly though it be. Two bulls with
feet of bronze I have that pasture on the plain of Ares, breathing forth
flame from their jaws; them do I yoke and drive over the stubborn field
of Ares, four plough-gates; and quickly cleaving it with the share up to
the headland, I cast into the furrows for seed, not the corn of Demeter,
but the teeth of a dread serpent that grow up into the fashion of armed
men; them I slay at once, cutting them down beneath my spear as they
rise against me on all sides. In the morning do I yoke the oxen, and at
eventide I cease from the harvesting. And thou, if thou wilt accomplish
such deeds as these, on that very day shalt carry off the fleece to the
king's palace; ere that time comes I will not give it, expect it not.
For indeed it is unseemly that a brave man should yield to a coward."

Thus he spake; and Jason, fixing his eyes on the ground, sat just as he
was, speechless, helpless in his evil plight. For a long time he turned
the matter this way and that, and could in no way take on him the task
with courage, for a mighty task it seemed; and at last he made reply
with crafty words:

"With thy plea of right, Aeetes, thou dost shut me in overmuch.
Wherefore also I will dare that contest, monstrous as it is, though it
be my doom to die. For nothing will fall upon men more dread than dire
necessity, which indeed constrained me to come hither at a king's
command."

Thus he spake, smitten by his helpless plight; and the king with grim
words addressed him, sore troubled as he was: "Go forth now to the
gathering, since thou art eager for the toil; but if thou shouldst fear
to lift the yoke upon the oxen or shrink from the deadly harvesting,
then all this shall be my care, so that another too may shudder to come
to a man that is better than he."

He spake outright; and Jason rose from his seat, and Augeias and Telamon
at once; and Argus followed alone, for he signed to his brothers to stay
there on the spot meantime; and so they went forth from the hall. And
wonderfully among them all shone the son of Aeson for beauty and grace;
and the maiden looked at him with stealthy glance