If so I shall be very sorry for the little that I have had to do with the matter , in encouraging these first beginnings . I wish there were any likelihood of my soon seeing Primrose , Periwinkle , Dandelion , Sweet Fern , Clover Plantain , Huckleberry , Milkweed , Cowslip , Buttercup , Blue Eye , and Squash Blossom again . But as I do not know when I shall re-visit Tanglewood , and as Eustace Bright probably will not ask me to edit a third `` WonderBook , '' the public of little folks must not expect to hear any more about those dear children from me . Heaven bless them , and everybody else , whether grown people or children ! THE MINOTAUR . In the old city of Troezene , at the foot of a lofty mountain , there lived , a very long time ago , a little boy named Theseus . His grandfather , King Pittheus , was the sovereign of that country , and was reckoned a very wise man ; so that Theseus , being brought up in the royal palace , and being naturally a bright lad , could hardly fail of profiting by the old king 's instructions . His mother 's name was Aethra . As for his father , the boy had never seen him . But , from his earliest remembrance , Aethra used to go with little Theseus into a wood , and sit down upon a moss-grown rock , which was deeply sunken into the earth . Here she often talked with her son about his father , and said that he was called Aegeus , and that he was a great king , and ruled over Attica , and dwelt at Athens , which was as famous a city as any in the world . Theseus was very fond of hearing about King Aegeus , and often asked his good mother Aethra why he did not come and live with them at Troezene . `` Ah , my dear son , '' answered Aethra , with a sigh , `` a monarch has his people to take care of . The men and women over whom he rules are in the place of children to him ; and he can seldom spare time to love his own children as other parents do . Your father will never be able to leave his kingdom for the sake of seeing his little boy . '' `` Well , but , dear mother , '' asked the boy , `` why can not I go to this famous city of Athens , and tell King Aegeus that I am his son ? '' `` That may happen by and by , '' said Aethra . `` Be patient , and we shall see . You are not yet big and strong enough to set out on such an errand . '' `` And how soon shall I be strong enough ? ''
XXXXX persisted in inquiring .
Aegeus Cowslip Eustace Huckleberry Periwinkle Pittheus Tanglewood Theseus Troezene WonderBook