I have come hither because this is my most convenient road to the garden of the Hesperides , whither I am going to get three of the golden apples for King Eurystheus . '' `` Caitiff , you shall go no farther ! '' bellowed Antaeus , putting on a grimmer look than before ; for he had heard of the mighty Hercules , and hated him because he was said to be so strong . `` Neither shall you go back whence you came ! '' `` How will you prevent me , '' asked Hercules , `` from going whither I please ? '' `` By hitting you a rap with this pine tree here , '' shouted Antaeus , scowling so that he made himself the ugliest monster in Africa . `` I am fifty times stronger than you ; and now that I stamp my foot upon the ground , I am five hundred times stronger ! I am ashamed to kill such a puny little dwarf as you seem to be . I will make a slave of you , and you shall likewise be the slave of my brethren here , the Pygmies . So throw down your club and your other weapons ; and as for that lion 's skin , I intend to have a pair of gloves made of it . '' `` Come and take it off my shoulders , then , '' answered Hercules , lifting his club . Then the Giant , grinning with rage , strode tower-like towards the stranger -LRB- ten times strengthened at every step -RRB- , and fetched a monstrous blow at him with his pine tree , which Hercules caught upon his club ; and being more skilful than Antaeus , he paid him back such a rap upon the sconce , that down tumbled the great lumbering man-mountain , flat upon the ground . The poor little Pygmies -LRB- who really never dreamed that anybody in the world was half so strong as their brother Antaeus -RRB- were a good deal dismayed at this . But no sooner was the Giant down , than up he bounced again , with tenfold might , and such a furious visage as was horrible to behold . He aimed another blow at Hercules , but struck awry , being blinded with wrath , and only hit his poor innocent Mother Earth , who groaned and trembled at the stroke . His pine tree went so deep into the ground , and stuck there so fast , that , before Antaeus could get it out , Hercules brought down his club across his shoulders with a mighty thwack , which made the Giant roar as if all sorts of intolerable noises had come screeching and rumbling out of his immeasurable lungs in that one cry . Away it went , over mountains and valleys , and , for aught I know , was heard on the other side of the African deserts . As for the Pygmies , their capital city was laid in ruins by the concussion and vibration of the air ; and , though there was uproar enough without their help , they all set up a shriek out of three millions of little throats , fancying , no doubt , that they swelled the Giant 's bellow by at least ten times as much . Meanwhile , Antaeus had scrambled upon his feet again , and pulled his pine tree out of the earth ; and , all aflame with fury , and more outrageously strong than ever , he ran at Hercules , and brought down another blow . `` This time , rascal , '' shouted he , `` you shall not escape me . ''
But once more Hercules warded off the stroke XXXXX his club , and the Giant 's pine tree was shattered into a thousand splinters , most of which flew among the Pygmies , and did them more mischief than I like to think about .
By as for in of on that to towards with