y, the babe was born to light, and all was made
manifest; yea, then she bore a child of many a wile and cunning counsel,
a robber, a driver of the kine, a captain of raiders, a watcher of the
night, a thief of the gates, who soon should show forth deeds renowned
among the deathless Gods. Born in the dawn, by midday well he harped,
and in the evening stole the cattle of Apollo the Far-darter, on that
fourth day of the month wherein lady Maia bore him. Who, when he leaped
from the immortal knees of his mother, lay not long in the sacred cradle,
but sped forth to seek the cattle of Apollo, crossing the threshold of
the high-roofed cave. There found he a tortoise, and won endless
delight, for lo, it was Hermes that first made of the tortoise a
minstrel. The creature met him at the outer door, as she fed on the rich
grass in front of the dwelling, waddling along, at sight whereof the luck-
bringing son of Zeus laughed, and straightway spoke, saying:

"Lo, a lucky omen for me, not by me to be mocked! Hail, darling and
dancer, friend of the feast, welcome art thou! whence gatst thou the gay
garment, a speckled shell, thou, a mountain-dwelling tortoise? Nay, I
will carry thee within, and a boon shalt thou be to me, not by me to be
scorned, nay, thou shalt first serve my turn. Best it is to bide at
home, since danger is abroad. Living shalt thou be a spell against ill
witchery, and dead, then a right sweet music-maker."

[Hermes making the lyre. Bronze relief in the British Museum (Fourth
Century B.C.): lang136.jpg]

So spake he, and raising in both hands the tortoise, went back within the
dwelling, bearing the glad treasure. Then he choked the creature, and
with a gouge of grey iron he scooped out the marrow of the hill tortoise.
And as a swift thought wings through the breast of one that crowding
cares are haunting, or as bright glances fleet from the eyes, so swiftly
devised renowned Hermes both deed and word. He cut to measure stalks of
reed, and fixed them in through holes bored in the stony shell of the
tortoise, and cunningly stretched round it the hide of an ox, and put in
the horns of the lyre, and to both he fitted the bridge, and stretched
seven harmonious chords of sheep-gut. {136}

Then took he his treasure, when he had fashioned it, and touched the
strings in turn with the _plectrum_, and wondrously it sounded under his
hand, and fair sang the God to the notes, improvising his chant as he
played, like