for ever afterwards.'"

Venus thought this reasonable, so she took off her girdle and lent
it to Juno, an act by the way which argues more good nature than
prudence on her part. Then Juno goes down to Thrace, and in search
of Sleep the brother of Death. She finds him and shakes hands with
him. Then she tells him she is going up to Olympus to make love to
Jove, and that while she is occupying his attention Sleep is to send
him off into a deep slumber.

Sleep says he dares not do it. He would lull any of the other gods,
but Juno must remember that she had got him into a great scrape once
before in this way, and Jove hurled the gods about all over the
palace, and would have made an end of him once for all, if he had
not fled under the protection of Night, whom Jove did not venture to
offend.

Juno bribes him, however, with a promise that if he will consent she
will marry him to the youngest of the Graces, Pasithea. On this he
yields; the pair then go up to the top of Mount Ida, and Sleep gets
into a high pine tree just in front of Jove.

As soon as Jove sees Juno, armed as she for the moment was with all
the attractions of Venus, he falls desperately in love with her, and
says she is the only goddess he ever really loved. True, there had
been the wife of Ixion and Danae, and Europa and Semele, and
Alcmena, and Latona, not to mention herself in days gone by, but he
never loved any of these as he now loved her, in spite of his having
been married to her for so many years. What then does she want?