So it proved with the poor Giant , whom I am really a little sorry for , notwithstanding his uncivil way of treating strangers who came to visit him . When his strength and breath were quite gone , Hercules gave his huge body a toss , and flung it about a mile off , where it fell heavily , and lay with no more motion than a sand hill . It was too late for the Giant 's Mother Earth to help him now ; and I should not wonder if his ponderous bones were lying on the same spot to this very day , and were mistaken for those of an uncommonly large elephant . But , alas me ! What a wailing did the poor little Pygmies set up when they saw their enormous brother treated in this terrible manner ! If Hercules heard their shrieks , however , he took no notice , and perhaps fancied them only the shrill , plaintive twittering of small birds that had been frightened from their nests by the uproar of the battle between himself and Antaeus . Indeed , his thoughts had been so much taken up with the Giant , that he had never once looked at the Pygmies , nor even knew that there was such a funny little nation in the world . And now , as he had traveled a good way , and was also rather weary with his exertions in the fight , he spread out his lion 's skin on the ground , and , reclining himself upon it , fell fast asleep . As soon as the Pygmies saw Hercules preparing for a nap , they nodded their little heads at one another , and winked with their little eyes . And when his deep , regular breathing gave them notice that he was asleep , they assembled together in an immense crowd , spreading over a space of about twenty-seven feet square . One of their most eloquent orators -LRB- and a valiant warrior enough , besides , though hardly so good at any other weapon as he was with his tongue -RRB- climbed upon a toadstool , and , from that elevated position , addressed the multitude . His sentiments were pretty much as follows ; or , at all events , something like this was probably the upshot of his speech : `` Tall Pygmies and mighty little men ! You and all of us have seen what a public calamity has been brought to pass , and what an insult has here been offered to the majesty of our nation . Yonder lies Antaeus , our great friend and brother , slain , within our territory , by a miscreant who took him at disadvantage , and fought him -LRB- if fighting it can be called -RRB- in a way that neither man , nor Giant , nor Pygmy ever dreamed of fighting , until this hour . And , adding a grievous contumely to the wrong already done us , the miscreant has now fallen asleep as quietly as if nothing were to be dreaded from our wrath ! It behooves you , fellow-countrymen , to consider in what aspect we shall stand before the world , and what will be the verdict of impartial history , should we suffer these accumulated outrages to go unavenged . `` Antaeus was our brother , born of that same beloved parent to whom we owe the thews and sinews , as well as the courageous hearts , which made him proud of our relationship . He was our faithful ally , and fell fighting as much for our national rights and immunities as for his own personal ones . We and our forefathers have dwelt in friendship with him , and held affectionate intercourse as man to man , through immemorial generations . You remember how often our entire people have reposed in his great shadow , and how our little ones have played at hide-and-seek in the tangles of his hair , and how his mighty footsteps have familiarly gone to and fro among us , and never trodden upon any of our toes .
And there lies this dear brother -- this sweet and amiable friend -- this brave and faithful ally -- this virtuous Giant -- this blameless and excellent XXXXX -- dead !
Antaeus Hercules Pygmies contumely day fellow-countrymen fro hide-and-seek immunities shrieks