pale yellow
light, which broods on the land of the Gorgons, showed to him the dark
stream, as he stood on the banks and summoned the nymphs to do his
bidding. Presently they stood before him, and greeted him by his name,
and they said, "O Perseus, thou art the first of living men whose feet
have trodden this desolate shore. Long time have we known that the
will of Zeus would bring thee hither to accomplish the doom of the
mortal Medusa. We know the things of which thou art in need, and
without us thy toil would in very truth be vain. Thou hast to come
near to beings who can see all around them, for the snakes which twist
about their heads are their eyes, and here is the helmet of Hades,
which will enable thee to draw nigh to them unseen. Thou hast the
sword which never falls in vain; but without this bag which we give
thee, thou canst not bear away the head, the sight of which changes
all mortal things to stone. And when thy work of death is done on the
mortal maiden, thou must fly from her sisters who can not die, and who
will follow thee more swiftly than eagles, and here are the sandals
which shall waft thee through the air more quickly than a dream.
Hasten, then, child of Danae, for we are ready to bear thee in our
hands across the Ocean stream."

So they bare Perseus to the Gorgon land, and he journeyed on in the
pale yellow light which rests upon it everlastingly.

On that night, in the darkness of their lonesome dwelling, Medusa
spake to her sisters of the doom which should one day be accomplished,
and she said, "Sisters, ye care little for the grief whose image on my
face turns all mortal things to stone. Ye who know not old age or
death, know not the awful weight of my agony, and can not feel the
signs of the change that is coming. But I know them. The snakes which
twine around my head warn me not in vain; but they warn me against
perils which I care not now to shun. The wrath of Athene, who crushed
the faint hopes which lingered in my heart, left me mortal still, and
I am weary with the woe of the ages that are past. O sisters, ye know
not what it is to pity, but something more, ye know what it is to
love, for even in this living tomb we have dwelt together in peace,
and peace is of kin to love. But hearken to me now. Mine eyes are
heavy with sleep, and my heart tells me that the doom is coming, for I
am but a mortal maiden, and I care not if the slumber which is
stealing on me be the sleep of those whose li