`` The Old One ! '' repeated Hercules , laughing at this odd name . `` And , pray , who may the Old One be ? '' `` Why , the Old Man of the Sea , to be sure ! '' answered one of the damsels . `` He has fifty daughters , whom some people call very beautiful ; but we do not think it proper to be acquainted with them , because they have sea-green hair , and taper away like fishes . You must talk with this Old Man of the Sea . He is a sea-faring person , and knows all about the garden of the Hesperides ; for it is situated in an island which he is often in the habit of visiting . '' Hercules then asked whereabouts the Old One was most likely to be met with . When the damsels had informed him , he thanked them for all their kindness , -- for the bread and grapes with which they had fed him , the lovely flowers with which they had crowned him , and the songs and dances wherewith they had done him honor , -- and he thanked them , most of all , for telling him the right way , -- and immediately set forth upon his Journey . But , before he was out of hearing , one of the maidens called after him . `` Keep fast hold of the Old-One , when you catch him ! '' cried she , smiling , and lifting her finger to make the caution more impressive . `` Do not be astonished at anything that may happen . Only hold him fast , and he will tell you what you wish to know . '' Hercules again thanked her , and pursued his way , while the maidens resumed their pleasant labor of making flower-wreaths . They talked about the hero , long after he was gone . `` We will crown him with the loveliest of our garlands , '' said they , `` when he returns hither with the three golden apples , after slaying the dragon with a hundred heads . '' Meanwhile , Hercules travelled constantly onward , over hill and dale , and through the solitary woods . Sometimes he swung his club aloft , and splintered a mighty oak with a downright blow .
His mind was so full of the giants and monsters XXXXX whom it was the business of his life to fight , that perhaps he mistook the great tree for a giant or a monster .
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