A Fleece of Gold

A Fleece of Gold

The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Fleece of Gold, by Charles Stewart
Given Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check
the copyright laws for your country before downloading or
redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: A Fleece of Gold Five Lessons from the Fable of Jason and the
Golden Fleece
Author: Charles Stewart Given
Release Date: September, 2005 [EBook #8881] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on August 20,
2003]
Edition: 10

Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A FLEECE
OF GOLD ***

Produced by Distributed Proofreaders

A Fleece of Gold
Five Lessons from the Fable of Jason and the Golden Fleece
by
Charles Stewart Given
1905

Second Edition Revised

To my sons Kingsley and Gordon
"Jason and his men seized the favorable moment of the rebound, plied
their oars with vigor, and passed through in safety."

Contents

Introduction
I. The Ruling Element, "Jason and his men."
II. The Golden Quality, "They passed through."
III. The Messenger of Fate, "They seized the favourable moment."
IV. The Active Hand, "They plied their oars with vigor."
V. Ethics of Activity

Foreword

Among the smaller forces which operate upon the mind and tend
toward strengthening and exalting the best ideals, are little books like
this. They are especially valuable when so much of the author's own

experience forms a thread upon which are suspended jewels of thought
and illustration serviceable to those who would see and know the best
things.
I have found these characteristics in this small volume, and gladly
recommend it to all those who would become more familiar with what
our author calls "the key to that cabinet of character in which nature
conceals not only the motive power of every-day life, but those latent
talents and energies that, through a knowledge of self, we can bring to
bear upon our lives." This book will help many who have small
opportunities in the form of time and money to expend in the use of
larger volumes.
Charles Stewart Given

Introduction

The fable of Jason and the Golden Fleece is known to old and young
the world around. To the latter, perhaps, no other simple narrative in
Greek mythology is more fascinating, nor holds a more valuable lesson
if they will but seek to learn it. But especially to the boy or young man
of thoughtful mind does the glorious adventure appeal and make its
lessons obvious. By way of refreshing the memory of those who were
once familiar with the myth, but who, in the practical school of
experience, have lost the chord of their adventure-loving days; and also
for those, perchance, who are not acquainted with the tale, a brief
sketch will here serve our purpose.
In Thessaly dwell a king and a queen with their two children, a boy and
a girl. The holy alliance between the two royal members of the
household becomes disrupted, and Nephele, the good mother, appeals
to Mercury, the messenger of the gods, to assist her in secretly placing
the children out of reach of their father, the king. Mercury provides a
ram with a golden fleece, on which the boy and girl are placed. The
shining creature springs into the air, bearing its precious burden across
the sea. Unfortunately, the girl falls from the ram's back and is drowned,
but the boy is landed safely on the other shore in the kingdom of
Colchis. Here he sacrifices the ram to Jupiter and presents the golden
fleece to the king, who places it in a consecrated grove under the care
of a sleepless dragon.

Now Jason is heir to the throne of Æson, ruler of another kingdom in
Thessaly, from whence the royal children started on their adventurous
journey. Years have passed, however, since this remarkable incident,
and Jason, being now a young man and having been told the dramatic
tale of the Golden Fleece, begins to think what a glorious adventure it