"It seems to be a case of very early depravity," said Bergan, smiling, yet puzzled.
"Early enough to be termed 'original sin,'" returned Astra. "For
'The babe was born at the first peep of day * *
And the same evening did he steal away
Apollo's herds.'—
Did you ever read Homer's 'Hymn to Mercury?'"
"Never. Indeed, I am not quite sure that I ever heard of it," replied Bergan. "Is it usually counted among his works?"
"I think so; though it is fair to say that his authorship of it has been questioned. At any rate, Shelley has put it into very musical English verse; and there I found my subject. The circumstances of Mercury's birth being first narrated, the newborn immortal is described as 'a babe all other babes excelling,' and also a subtle schemer and thief. He first invents the lyre, and accompanies his own impromptu song of 'plastic verse,' with it; then he is 'seized with a sudden fancy for fresh meat,' and betakes himself to the Pierian mountains, where Apollo's 'immortal oxen' are feeding. Separating fifty from the herd,
'He drove them wandering o'er the sandy way,
But, being ever mindful of his craft,—'
that is to say, his inborn guile,—
'Backward and forward drove he them astray,
So that the tracks, which seemed before, were aft:
His sandals then he threw to the ocean-spray,
And for each foot he wrought a kind of raft
Of tamarisk and tamarisk-like twigs,'"—
"I see," said Bergan, smiling. "The consummate little rogue!"