What Happened at Roncevaux




HOW APOLLO CAME TO PARNASSUS

A very long time ago, Apollo was born in the island of Delos. When the
glad news of his birth was told, Earth smiled, and decked herself with
flowers; the nymphs of Delos sang songs of joy that were heard to the
utmost bounds of Greece; and choirs of white swans flew seven times
around the island, piping notes of praise to the pure being who had
come to dwell among men. Then Zeus looked down from high Olympus, and
crowned the babe with a golden head-band, and put into his hands a
silver bow and a sweet-toned lyre such as no man had ever seen; and he
gave him a team of white swans to drive, and bade him go forth to teach
men the things which are right and good, and to make light that which
is hidden in darkness.

So Apollo arose, beautiful as the morning sun, and journeyed through
many lands, seeking a dwelling place. He stopped for a time at the
foot of Mount Olympus, and played so sweetly upon his lyre that Zeus
and all his court were entranced. Then he wandered up and down through
the whole length of the Thessalian land; but nowhere could he find a
spot in which he was willing to dwell. At length he climbed into his
car, and bade his swan team fly with him to the country of the
Hyperboreans beyond the far-off northern mountains. Forthwith they
obeyed; and through the pure regions of the upper air they bore him,
winging their way ever northward. They carried him over many an
unknown land, and on the seventh day they came to the Snowy Mountains