to
appease the anger of the gods, till the whole earth was filled with
blood. Far away in the hidden glens of the Arcadian hills the sons of
Lykaon feasted and spake proud words against the majesty of Zeus, and
Zeus himself came down from his throne to see their way and their
doings.

The sun was sinking down in the sky when an old man drew nigh to the
gate of Lykosoura. His gray locks streamed in the breeze, and his
beard fell in tangled masses over his tattered mantle. With staff in
hand he plodded wearily on his way, listening to the sound of revelry
which struck upon his ear. At last he came to the Agora, and the sons
of Lykaon crowded round him. "So the wise seer is come," they said;
"what tale hast thou to tell us, old man? Canst thou sing of the days
when the earth came forth from Chaos? Thou art old enough to have been
there to see." Then with rude jeering they seized him and placed him
on the ground near the place where they were feasting. "We have done
a great sacrifice to Zeus this day, and thy coming is timely, for thou
shalt share the banquet." So they placed before him a dish, and the
food that was in it was the flesh of man, for with the blood of men
they thought to turn aside the anger of the gods. But the old man
thrust aside the dish, and, as he rose up, the weariness of age passed
away from his face, and the sons of Lykaon were scorched by the glory
of his countenance, for Zeus stood before them and scathed them all
with his lightnings, and their ashes cumbered the ground.

[Illustration: LAOCOON, THE FALSE PRIEST. (_Sculptured 3000
years ago._)]

Then Zeus returned to his home on Olympos, and he gave the word that a
flood of waters should be let loose upon the earth, that the sons of
men might die for their great wickedness. So the west wind rose in his
might, and the dark rain-clouds veiled the whole heaven, for the winds
of the north which drive away the mists and vapors were shut up in
their prison-house. On the hill and valley burst the merciless rain,
and the rivers, loosened from their courses, rushed over the wide
plains and up the mountain-side. From his home on the highlands of
Phthia, Deukalion looked forth on the angry sky, and, when he saw the
waters swelling in the valleys beneath, he called Pyrrha, his wife,
the daughter of Epimetheus, and said to her, "The time is come of
which my father, the wise Prometheus, forewarned me. Make ready,
therefore, the ark which I have built,