fleece, on which the boy and girl are placed. The shining creature springs
into the air, bearing its precious burden across the sea. Unfortunately,
the girl falls from the ram's back and is drowned, but the boy is landed
safely on the other shore in the kingdom of Colchis. Here he sacrifices
the ram to Jupiter and presents the golden fleece to the king, who places
it in a consecrated grove under the care of a sleepless dragon.

Now Jason is heir to the throne of AEson, ruler of another kingdom in
Thessaly, from whence the royal children started on their adventurous
journey. Years have passed, however, since this remarkable incident, and
Jason, being now a young man and having been told the dramatic tale of
the Golden Fleece, begins to think what a glorious adventure it would be
to go in quest of the royal prize. Forthwith he makes preparations for
the expedition, and with a band of other lusty young heroes starts on a
sea voyage toward the land of the Colchian king. It is not without
difficulty, however, that they accomplish the voyage, for at the entrance
of the Euxine Sea they encounter two floating islands, veritable
mountains of rock, huge and shaggy, which, in their tossings and
heavings, at intervals come together "crushing and grinding to atoms any
object that might be caught between them." But "_Jason and his men seized
the favorable moment of the rebound, plied their oars with vigor and
passed through in safety_."

Approaching the royal palace Jason makes known his mission, whereupon
the king promises to relinquish the valuable possession if Jason will
yoke to the plow two fire-breathing bulls and sow the teeth of the
dragon. Apprehending that by this means the king seeks to destroy him,
Jason pleads his cause to Medea, the king's daughter, who furnishes him
a charm by which he can safely encounter the fiery breath of the beasts
and the armed men that will spring up in the furrow where the dragon's