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THE STORY OF IO.


In the town of Argos there lived a maiden named Io. She was so fair and
good that all who knew her loved her, and said that there was no one
like her in the whole world. When Jupiter, in his home in the clouds,
heard of her, he came down to Argos to see her. She pleased him so much,
and was so kind and wise, that he came back the next day and the next
and the next; and by and by he stayed in Argos all the time so that he
might be near her. She did not know who he was, but thought that he was
a prince from some far-off land; for he came in the guise of a young
man, and did not look like the great king of earth and sky that he was.

But Juno, the queen who lived with Jupiter and shared his throne in the
midst of the clouds, did not love Io at all. When she heard why Jupiter
stayed from home so long, she made up her mind to do the fair girl all
the harm that she could; and one day she went down to Argos to try what
could be done.

Jupiter saw her while she was yet a great way off, and he knew why she
had come. So, to save Io from her, he changed the maiden to a white cow.
He thought that when Juno had gone back home, it would not be hard to
give Io her own form again.