‘Oh, never mind the ease or difficulty. If it’s possible to be done, I’ll do it.’
‘Then I’ll tell you. You’ll have to cut his thread of life.’
‘Really, and what with?’
‘Oh, anything you like. The trouble is to get to the place where they’re kept.’
‘Oh! and where is that?’
‘They’re kept by three old women who live in the moon. They’re called the Fates.’
‘And how am I to get to the moon?’
‘That’s just it. You’ll have to take a boat one evening at six, and if you sail straight towards the moon while she is visible, and anchor when she is out of sight, in three weeks and two days you will reach the end of the sea, where the moon touches at night, and then you can get out of the boat; and take care to haul it up out of reach of the sea, or else it’ll be carried off, and you won’t be able to get back to the earth again.’
‘And when I’ve got to the moon what am I to do?’