asked Perseus , drawing his sword and descending a little lower . `` They all three look alike . All three have snaky locks . Which of the three is Medusa ? '' It must be understood that Medusa was the only one of these dragon-monsters whose head Perseus could possibly cut off . As for the other two , let him have the sharpest sword that ever was forged , and he might have hacked away by the hour together , without doing there the least harm . `` Be cautious , '' said the calm voice which had before spoken to him . `` One of the Gorgons is stirring in her sleep , and is just about to turn over . That is Medusa . Do not look at her ! The sight would turn you to stone ! Look at the reflection of her face and figure in the bright mirror of your shield . '' Perseus now understood Quicksilver 's motive for so earnestly exhorting him to polish his shield . In its surface he could safely look at the reflection of the Gorgon 's face . And there it was , -- that terrible countenance , -- mirrored in the brightness of the shield , with the moonlight falling over it , and displaying all its horror . The snakes , whose venomous natures could not altogether sleep , kept twisting themselves over the forehead . It was the fiercest and most horrible face that ever was seen or imagined , and yet with a strange , fearful , and savage kind of beauty in it . The eyes were closed , and the Gorgon was still in a deep slumber ; but there was an unquiet expression disturbing her features , as if the monster was troubled with an ugly dream . She gnashed her white tusks , and dug into the sand with her brazen claws . The snakes , too , seemed to feel Medusa 's dream , and to be made more restless by it .
They twined themselves XXXXX tumultuous knots , writhed fiercely , and uplifted a hundred hissing heads , without opening their eyes .
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