And when the ringing voice ceased , there was just such a reverberation as you may have heard within a great church bell , for a moment or two after the stroke of the hammer . `` From Athens ! '' shouted the master in reply . `` On what errand ? '' thundered the Man of Brass . And he whirled his club aloft more threateningly than ever , as if he were about to smite them with a thunderstroke right amidships , because Athens , so little while ago , had been at war with Crete . `` We bring the seven youths and the seven maidens , '' answered the master , `` to be devoured by the Minotaur ! '' `` Pass ! '' cried the brazen giant . That one loud word rolled all about the sky , while again there was a booming reverberation within the figure 's breast . The vessel glided between the headlands of the port , and the giant resumed his march . In a few moments , this wondrous sentinel was far away , flashing in the distant sunshine , and revolving with immense strides round the island of Crete , as it was his never-ceasing task to do . No sooner had they entered the harbor than a party of the guards of King Minos came down to the water side , and took charge of the fourteen young men and damsels . Surrounded by these armed warriors , Prince Theseus and his companions were led to the king 's palace , and ushered into his presence . Now , Minos was a stern and pitiless king . If the figure that guarded Crete was made of brass , then the monarch , who ruled over it , might be thought to have a still harder metal in his breast , and might have been called a man of iron . He bent his shaggy brows upon the poor Athenian victims . Any other mortal , beholding their fresh and tender beauty , and their innocent looks , would have felt himself sitting on thorns until he had made every soul of them happy by bidding them go free as the summer wind . But this immitigable Minos cared only to examine whether they were plump enough to satisfy the Minotaur 's appetite . For my part , I wish he himself had been the only victim ; and the monster would have found him a pretty tough one .
One after another , King XXXXX called these pale , frightened youths and sobbing maidens to his footstool , gave them each a poke in the ribs with his sceptre -LRB- to try whether they were in good flesh or no -RRB- , and dismissed them with a nod to his guards .
Athenian Athens Crete Minos Minotaur Theseus amidships damsels vessel victims