ou not sing to me, and tell me what has
happened in the world? You would be glad to hear stories and music if
you had nothing to do but watch a cow, even if it was the cow of a
queen."

So Mercury sang and told stories. Some of the songs were merry, and some
were sad. The watchman closed one eye, then another and another, but
there were two eyes that would not close for all the sad songs and all
the merry ones. Then Mercury drew forth a hollow reed that he had
brought from the river and began to play on it. It was a magic reed, and
as he played, one could hear the water rippling gently on the shore and
the breath of the wind in the pine-trees; one could see the lilies
bending their heads as the dusk came on, and the stars twinkling softly
in the summer sky.

It is no wonder that Argus closed one eye and then the other. Every one
of his hundred eyes was fast asleep, and Mercury went away to the king
of the gods with the cream-white cow.

[Illustration]

Juno had so often played tricks on the king that he was happy because he
had played this one on her, but Juno was angry, and she said to Argus,
"You are a strange watchman. You have a hundred eyes, and you could not
keep even one of them from falling asleep. My peacock is wiser than you,
for he knows when any one is looking at him. I will put every one of
your eyes in the tail of the peacock." And to-day, whoever looks at the
peacock can count in his tail the hundred eyes that once belonged to
Argus.

THE STORY OF THE BEES AND THE FLIES.

There were once two tribes of little people who lived near together.
They were not at all alike, for one of the tribes looked for food and
carried it away to put it up safely for winter, while the other played
and sang and danced all day long.

"Come and play with us," said the lazy people, but the busy workers
answered, "No, come and work with us. Winter will soon be here. Snow and
ice will be everywhere, and if we do not put up food now we shall have
none for the cold, stormy days."

So the busy people brought honey from the flowers, but the lazy people
kept on playing. They laughed together and whispered to one another,
"See those busy workers! They will have food for two tribes, and they
will give us some. Let us go and dance."

While the summer lasted, one tribe worked and the other played. When
winter came, the busy workers were sorry for their friends and said,
"Let us give them some of our honey." So the peopl