He heaved , he lifted , he resolved now to succeed , or else to perish there , and let the rock be his monument forever ! Aethra stood gazing at him , and clasped her hands , partly with a mother 's pride , and partly with a mother 's sorrow . The great rock stirred ! Yes , it was raised slowly from the bedded moss and earth , uprooting the shrubs and flowers along with it , and was turned upon its side . Theseus had conquered ! While taking breath , he looked joyfully at his mother , and she smiled upon him through her tears . `` Yes , Theseus , '' she said , `` the time has come , and you must stay no longer at my side ! See what King Aegeus , your royal father , left for you beneath the stone , when he lifted it in his mighty arms , and laid it on the spot whence you have now removed it . '' Theseus looked , and saw that the rock had been placed over another slab of stone , containing a cavity within it ; so that it somewhat resembled a roughly-made chest or coffer , of which the upper mass had served as the lid . Within the cavity lay a sword , with a golden hilt , and a pair of sandals . `` That was your father 's sword , '' said Aethra , `` and those were his sandals . When he went to be king of Athens , he bade me treat you as a child until you should prove yourself a man by lifting this heavy stone . That task being accomplished , you are to put on his sandals , in order to follow in your father 's footsteps , and to gird on his sword , so that you may fight giants and dragons , as King Aegeus did in his youth . '' `` I will set out for Athens this very day ! '' cried Theseus . But his mother persuaded him to stay a day or two longer , while she got ready some necessary articles for his journey . When his grandfather , the wise King Pittheus , heard that Theseus intended to present himself at his father 's palace , he earnestly advised him to get on board of a vessel , and go by sea ; because he might thus arrive within fifteen miles of Athens , without either fatigue or danger . `` The roads are very bad by land , '' quoth the venerable king ; `` and they are terribly infested with robbers and monsters . A mere lad , like Theseus , is not fit to be trusted on such a perilous journey , all by himself . No , no ; let him go by sea . ''
But when XXXXX heard of robbers and monsters , he pricked up his ears , and was so much the more eager to take the road along which they were to be met with .
Aegeus Aethra Athens Pittheus Theseus coffer day hands left palace