Myths and Legendary Heroes | Page 3

written by its author:
"A great freedom of treatment was necessary but it will be observed by
every one who attempts to render these legends malleable in his
intellectual furnace, that they are marvelously independent of all
temporary modes and circumstances. They remain essentially the same,
after changes that would affect the identity of almost anything else."
Now to those who have not jumped over my head, or to those who,
having done so, may jump back to this foreword, I trust my few
remarks will have given some additional interest in our myths and
heroes of lands far and near.
DANIEL EDWIN WHEELER

MYTHS OF MANY COUNTRIES

MYTHS OF GREECE AND ROME

BAUCIS AND PHILEMON
ADAPTED BY C.E. SMITH
One evening, in times long ago, old Philemon and his wife Baucis sat
at their cottage door watching the sunset. They had eaten their supper
and were enjoying a quiet talk about their garden, and their cow, and

the fruit trees on which the pears and apples were beginning to ripen.
But their talk was very much disturbed by rude shouts and laughter
from the village children, and by the fierce barking of dogs.
"I fear," said Philemon, "that some poor traveler is asking for a bed in
the village, and that these rough people have set the dogs on him."
"Well, I never," answered old Baucis. "I do wish the neighbors would
be kinder to poor wanderers; I feel that some terrible punishment will
happen to this village if the people are so wicked as to make fun of
those who are tired and hungry. As for you and me, so long as we have
a crust of bread, let us always be willing to give half of it to any poor
homeless stranger who may come along."
"Indeed, that we will," said Philemon.
These old folks, you must know, were very poor, and had to work hard
for a living. They seldom had anything to eat except bread and milk,
and vegetables, with sometimes a little honey from their beehives, or a
few ripe pears and apples from their little garden. But they were two of
the kindest old people in the world, and would have gone without their
dinner any day, rather than refuse a slice of bread or a cupful of milk to
the weary traveler who might stop at the door.
Their cottage stood on a little hill a short way from the village, which
lay in a valley; such a pretty valley, shaped like a cup, with plenty of
green fields and gardens, and fruit trees; it was a pleasure just to look at
it. But the people who lived in this lovely place were selfish and
hard-hearted; they had no pity for the poor, and were unkind to those
who had no home, and they only laughed when Philemon said it was
right to be gentle to people who were sad and friendless.
These wicked villagers taught their children to be as bad as themselves.
They used to clap their hands and make fun of poor travelers who were
tramping wearily from one village to another, and they even taught the
dogs to snarl and bark at strangers if their clothes were shabby. So the
village was known far and near as an unfriendly place, where neither
help nor pity was to be found.
What made it worse, too, was that when rich people came in their
carriages, or riding on fine horses, with servants to attend to them, the
village people would take off their hats and be very polite and attentive:
and if the children were rude they got their ears boxed; as to the
dogs--if a single dog dared to growl at a rich man he was beaten and

then tied up without any supper.
So now you can understand why old Philemon spoke sadly when he
heard the shouts of the children, and the barking of the dogs, at the far
end of the village street.
He and Baucis sat shaking their heads while the noise came nearer and
nearer, until they saw two travelers coming along the road on foot. A
crowd of rude children were following them, shouting and throwing
stones, and several dogs were snarling at the travelers' heels.
They were both very plainly dressed, and looked as if they might not
have enough money to pay for a night's lodging.
"Come, wife," said Philemon, "let us go and meet these poor people
and offer them shelter."
"You go," said Baucis, "while I make ready some supper," and she
hastened indoors.
Philemon went down the road, and holding out his hand to the two men,
he said, "Welcome, strangers, welcome."
"Thank you," answered the younger of the two travelers. "Yours is a
kind welcome, very