It evidently drew nearer ; for , at every instant , this wonderful object became larger and more lustrous . At length , it had come so nigh that Hercules discovered it to be an immense cup or bowl , made either of gold or burnished brass . How it had got afloat upon the sea , is more than I can tell you . There it was , at all events , rolling on the tumultuous billows , which tossed it up and down , and heaved their foamy tops against its sides , but without ever throwing their spray over the brim . `` I have seen many giants , in my time , '' thought Hercules , `` but never one that would need to drink his wine out of a cup like this ! '' And , true enough , what a cup it must have been ! It was as large -- as large -- but , in short , I am afraid to say how immeasurably large it was . To speak within bounds , it was ten times larger than a great mill-wheel ; and , all of metal as it was , it floated over the heaving surges more lightly than an acorn-cup adown the brook . The waves tumbled it onward , until it grazed against the shore , within a short distance of the spot where Hercules was standing . As soon as this happened , he knew what was to be done ; for he had not gone through so many remarkable adventures without learning pretty well how to conduct himself , whenever anything came to pass a little out of the common rule . It was just as clear as daylight that this marvellous cup had been set adrift by some unseen power , and guided hitherward , in order to carry Hercules across the sea , on his way to the garden of the Hesperides . Accordingly , without a moment 's delay , he clambered over the brim , and slid down on the inside , where , spreading out his lion 's skin , he proceeded to take a little repose . He had scarcely rested , until now , since he bade farewell to the damsels on the margin of the river . The waves dashed , with a pleasant and ringing sound , against the circumference of the hollow cup ; it rocked lightly to and fro , and the motion was so soothing that , it speedily rocked Hercules into an agreeable slumber . His nap had probably lasted a good while , when the cup chanced to graze against a rock , and , in consequence , immediately resounded and reverberated through its golden or brazen substance , a hundred times as loudly as ever you heard a church-bell . The noise awoke Hercules , who instantly started up and gazed around him , wondering whereabouts he was . He was not long in discovering that the cup had floated across a great part of the sea , and was approaching the shore of what seemed to be an island . And , on that island , what do you think he saw ? No ; you will never guess it , not if you were to try fifty thousand times ! It positively appears to me that this was the most marvellous spectacle that had ever been seen by Hercules , in the whole course of his wonderful travels and adventures .
It was a greater marvel than the hydra with nine heads , which kept growing twice as fast as they were cut off ; greater than the six-legged man-monster ; greater than Antreus ; greater than anything that was ever beheld by anybody , before or since the days of XXXXX , or than anything that remains to be beheld , by travellers in all time to come .
Hercules Hesperides adown church-bell damsels daylight fro hitherward sea while