presumptuous king urged me. Grant a favour to thy suppliants, and to all
Hellas will I publish a glorious fame of thee; yea, we are ready now to
pay thee a swift recompense in war, whether it be the Sauromatae or some
other people that thou art eager to subdue to thy sway."

He spake, flattering him with gentle utterance; but the king's soul
brooded a twofold purpose within him, whether he should attack and slay
them on the spot or should make trial of their might. And this, as he
pondered, seemed the better way, and he addressed Jason in answer:

"Stranger, why needest thou go through thy tale to the end? For if ye
are in truth of heavenly race, or have come in no wise inferior to me,
to win the goods of strangers, I will give thee the fleece to bear away,
if thou dost wish, when I have tried thee. For against brave men I bear
no grudge, such as ye yourselves tell me of him who bears sway in
Hellas. And the trial of your courage and might shall be a contest which
I myself can compass with my hands, deadly though it be. Two bulls with
feet of bronze I have that pasture on the plain of Ares, breathing forth
flame from their jaws; them do I yoke and drive over the stubborn field
of Ares, four plough-gates; and quickly cleaving it with the share up to
the headland, I cast into the furrows for seed, not the corn of Demeter,
but the teeth of a dread serpent that grow up into the fashion of armed
men; them I slay at once, cutting them down beneath my spear as they
rise against me on all sides. In the morning do I yoke the oxen, and at
eventide I cease from the harvesting. And thou, if thou wilt accomplish
such deeds as these, on that very day shalt carry off the fleece to the
king's palace; ere that time comes I will not give it, expect it not.
For indeed it is unseemly that a brave man should yield to a coward."

Thus he spake; and Jason, fixing his eyes on the ground, sat just as he