`` You must follow that sound through the windings of the labyrinth , and , by and by , you will find him . Stay ! take the end of this silken string ; I will hold the other end ; and then , if you win the victory , it will lead you again to this spot . Farewell , brave Theseus . '' So the young man took the end of the silken string in his left hand , and his gold-hilted sword , ready drawn from its scabbard , in the other , and trod boldly into the inscrutable labyrinth . How this labyrinth was built is more than I can tell you . But so cunningly contrived a mizmaze was never seen in the world , before nor since . There can be nothing else so intricate , unless it were the brain of a man like Daedalus , who planned it , or the heart of any ordinary man ; which last , to be sure , is ten times as great a mystery as the labyrinth of Crete . Theseus had not taken five steps before he lost sight of Ariadne ; and in five more his head was growing dizzy . But still he went on , now creeping through a low arch , now ascending a flight of steps , now in one crooked passage and now in another , with here a door opening before him , and there one banging behind , until it really seemed as if the walls spun round , and whirled him round along with them . And all the while , through these hollow avenues , now nearer , now farther off again , resounded the cry of the Minotaur ; and the sound was so fierce , so cruel , so ugly , so like a bull 's roar , and withal so like a human voice , and yet like neither of them , that the brave heart of Theseus grew sterner and angrier at every step ; for he felt it an insult to the moon and sky , and to our affectionate and simple Mother Earth , that such a monster should have the audacity to exist . As he passed onward , the clouds gathered over the moon , and the labyrinth grew so dusky that Theseus could no longer discern the bewilderment through which he was passing . He would have left quite lost , and utterly hopeless of ever again walking in a straight path , if , every little while , he had not been conscious of a gentle twitch at the silken cord . Then he knew that the tender-hearted Ariadne was still holding the other end , and that she was fearing for him , and hoping for him , and giving him just as much of her sympathy as if she were close by his side . O , indeed , I can assure you , there was a vast deal of human sympathy running along that slender thread of silk . But still he followed the dreadful roar of the Minotaur , which now grew louder and louder , and finally so very loud that Theseus fully expected to come close upon him , at every new zizgag and wriggle of the path . And at last , in an open space , at the very center of the labyrinth , he did discern the hideous creature . Sure enough , what an ugly monster it was ! Only his horned head belonged to a bull ; and yet , somehow or other , he looked like a bull all over , preposterously waddling on his hind legs ; or , if you happened to view him in another way , he seemed wholly a man , and all the more monstrous for being so . And there he was , the wretched thing , with no society , no companion , no kind of a mate , living only to do mischief , and incapable of knowing what affection means .
Theseus hated him , and shuddered at him , and yet could not but be sensible of some sort XXXXX pity ; and all the more , the uglier and more detestable the creature was .
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