his escape. Passing through the deserts of Africa, and going as
fast as he could, he arrived at last on the shore of the great ocean.
And here, unless he could walk on the crests of the billows, it seemed
as if his journey must needs be at an end.

Nothing was before him, save the foaming, dashing, measureless ocean.
But, suddenly, as he looked towards the horizon, he saw something, a
great way off, which he had not seen the moment before. It gleamed
very brightly, almost as you may have beheld the round, golden disk of
the sun, when it rises or sets over the edge of the world. It
evidently drew nearer; for, at every instant, this wonderful object
became larger and more lustrous. At length, it had come so nigh that
Hercules discovered it to be an immense cup or bowl, made either of
gold or burnished brass. How it had got afloat upon the sea is more
than I can tell you. There it was, at all events, rolling on the
tumultuous billows, which tossed it up and down, and heaved their
foamy tops against its sides, but without ever throwing their spray
over the brim.

"I have seen many giants, in my time," thought Hercules, "but never
one that would need to drink his wine out of a cup like this!"

And, true enough, what a cup it must have been! It was as large--as
large--but, in short, I am afraid to say how immeasurably large it
was. To speak within bounds, it was ten times larger than a great
mill-wheel; and, all of metal as it was, it floated over the heaving
surges more lightly than an acorn-cup adown the brook. The waves
tumbled it onward, until it grazed against the shore, within a short
distance of the spot where Hercules was standing.

As soon as this happened, he knew what was to be done; for he had not
gone through so many remarkable adventures without learning pretty
well how to conduct himself, whenever anything came to pass a little
out of the common rule. It was just as clear as daylight that this
marvelous cup had been set adrift by some unseen power, and guided
hitherward, in order to carry Hercules across the sea, on his way to
the garden of the Hesperides. Accordingly, without a moment's delay,
he clambered over the brim, and slid down on the inside, where,
spreading out his lion's skin, he proceeded to take a little repose.
He had scarcely rested, until now, since he bade farewell to the
damsels on the margin of the river. The waves dashed, with a pleasant
and ringing sound, against the circumference of t