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die, the child must die.' XXIII. "Then was I born to sorrow; and in fear The dark priest took me from my sire, and bore A wailing child through beech and pinewood drear, Up to the knees of Ida, and the hoar Rocks whence a fountain breaketh evermore, And leaps with shining waters to the sea, Through black and rock-wall'd pools without a shore,-- And there they deem'd they took farewell of me. XXIV. "But round my neck they tied a golden ring That fell from Ganymedes when he soar'd High over Ida on the eagle's wing, To dwell for ever with the Gods adored, To be the cup-bearer beside the board Of Zeus, and kneel at the eternal throne,-- A jewel 'twas from old King Tros's hoard, That ruled in Ilios ages long agone. XXV. "And there they left me in that dell untrod,-- Shepherd nor huntsman ever wanders there, For dread of Pan, that is a jealous God,-- Yea, and the ladies of the streams forbear The Naiad nymphs, to weave their dances fair, Or twine their yellow tresses with the shy Fronds of forget-me-not and maiden-hair,-- There had the priests appointed me to die. XXVI. "But vainly doth a man contend with Fate! My father had less pity on his son Than wild things of the woodland desolate. 'Tis said that ere the Autumn day was done A great she-bear, that in these rocks did wonn, Beheld a sleeping babe she did convey Down to a den beheld not of the sun, The cavern where her own soft litter lay. XXVII. "And therein was I nurtured wondrously, So Rumour saith: I know not of these things, For mortal men are ever wont to lie, Whene'er they speak of sceptre-bearing kings: I tell what I was told, for memory brings No record of those days, that are as deep Lost as the lullaby a mother sings In ears of children that are fallen on sleep. XXVIII. "Men say that now five autumn days had pass'd, When Agelaus, following a hurt deer, Trod soft on crackling acorns, and the mast That lay beneath the oak and beech-wood sere, In dread lest angry Pan were sleeping near, Then heard a cry from forth a cavern grey, And peeping round the fallen rocks in fear, Beheld where in the wild beast's tracks I lay. XXIX. "So Agelaus bore me from the wild, Down to his hut; and with his children I Was nurtured, being, as was deem'd, the child Of Hermes, or some mountain deity; For these with the wild nymphs are wont to lie Within the
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