The people loved Aeson; and they feared Pelias. And because the
people loved him and would be maddened by his slaying, Pelias and
the men of war left him living. With his wife, Alcimide, and his
infant son, Aeson went from the city, and in a village that was
at a distance from Iolcus he found a hidden house and went to
dwell in it.

Aeson would have lived content there were it not that he was
fearful for Jason, his infant son. Jason, he knew, would grow
into a strong and a bold youth, and Pelias, the king, would be
made uneasy on his account. Pelias would slay the son, and
perhaps would slay the father for the son's sake when his memory
would come to be less loved by the people. Aeson thought of such
things in his hidden house, and he pondered on ways to have his
son reared away from Iolcus and the dread and the power of King
Pelias.

He had for a friend one who was the wisest of all creatures
Chiron the centaur; Chiron who was half man and half horse;
Chiron who had lived and was yet to live measureless years.
Chiron had fostered Heracles, and it might be that he would not
refuse to foster Jason, Aeson's child.

Away in the fastnesses of Mount Pelion Chiron dwelt; once Aeson
had been with him and had seen the centaur hunt with his great
bow and his great spears. And Aeson knew a way that one might
come to him; Chiron himself had told him of the way.

Now there was a slave in his house who had been a huntsman and
who knew all the ways of the Mountain Pelion. Aeson talked with