But Hercules would not let him go . In another minute , instead of the three-headed dog , what should appear but Geryon , the six-legged man-monster , kicking at Hercules with five of his legs , in order to get the remaining one at liberty ! But Hercules held on . By and by , no Geryou was there , but a huge snake , like one of those which Hercules had strangled in his babyhood , only a hundred times as big , and it twisted and twined about the hero 's neck and body , and threw its tail high into the air , and opened its deadly jaws as if to devour him outright ; so that it was really a very terrible spectacle ! But Hercules was no whit disheartened , and squeezed the great snake so tightly that he soon began to hiss with pain . You must understand that the Old Man of the Sea , though he generally looked so much like the wave-beaten figure-head of a vessel , had the power of assuming any shape he pleased . When he found himself so roughly seized by Hercules , he had been in hopes of putting him into such surprise and terror , by these magical transformations , that the hero would be glad to let him go . If Hercules had relaxed his grasp , the Old One would certainly have plunged down to the very bottom of the sea , whence he would not soon have given himself the trouble of coming up , in order to answer any impertinent questions . Ninety-nine people out of a hundred , I suppose , would have been frightened out of their wits by the very first of his ugly shapes , and would have taken to their heels at once . For , one of the hardest things in this world is , to see the difference between real dangers and imaginary ones . But , as Hercules held on so stubbornly , and only squeezed the Old One so much the tighter at every change of shape , and really put him to no small torture , he finally thought it best to reappear in his own figure . So there he was again , a fishy , scaly , webfooted sort of personage , with something like a tuft of sea-weed at his chin . `` Pray , what do you want with me ? '' cried the Old One , as soon as he could take breath ; for it is quite a tiresome affair to go through so many false shapes . `` Why do you squeeze me so hard ? Let me go , this moment , or I shall begin to consider you an extremely uncivil person ! '' `` My name is Hercules ! '' roared the mighty stranger . `` And you will never get out of my clutch , until you tell me the nearest way to the garden of the Hesperides ! '' When the old fellow heard who it was that had caught him , he saw , with half an eye , that it would be necessary to tell him everything that he wanted to know .
The Old One was an inhabitant of the sea , you must recollect , and roamed about everywhere , XXXXX other sea-faring people .
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