“Then,” said Eurystheus, “go and see them at once. Go and bring me some of the Golden Apples—as many as you can.”
PART VIII.—HIS ELEVENTH LABOR: THE GARDEN OF THE HESPERIDES.
SO Hercules, without being allowed any time for rest, had to go back the whole way he had come, without any certain knowledge of where the golden-fruited gardens of the Hesperides were to be found, except that it was somewhere in Africa. Somebody must know, however, or else the gardens would never have been heard of, for travelers never told anything but the truth in those days. He therefore diligently asked everybody he met where the gardens were to be found, and, among others, some nymphs whom he met on the banks of the river Po, while he was passing through Italy.
“We cannot tell you,” said they; “but we know who can—old Nereus, the sea-god, if you can only get him to tell.”
“And why should he not tell?” asked Hercules.
“Because he never will tell anybody anything, unless he is obliged.”
“And how is he to be obliged?” asked Hercules again.
“He is bound to answer anybody who is stronger than he.”
“Well, I am pretty strong,” said Hercules, modestly. “Anyhow, I can but try.”
“Yes, you do look strong,” said the nymphs; “but——” Here they broke into a laugh, as if some sort of a joke were in their minds. “Well, if you go to the Ægean Sea, where King Ægeus was drowned, you’ll be sure to find Nereus sleeping in the sun somewhere along the shore.”