Well , he must have been wonderfully strong in his arms , to be sure . But the secret of the matter was , that the brazen bulls were enchanted creatures , and that Jason had broken the spell of their fiery fierceness by his bold way of handling them . And , ever since that time , it has been the favorite method of brave men , when danger assails them , to do what they call `` taking the bull by the horns '' ; and to gripe him by the tail is pretty much the same thing -- that is , to throw aside fear , and overcome the peril by despising it . It was now easy to yoke the bulls , and to harness them to the plow , which had lain rusting on the ground for a great many years gone by ; so long was it before anybody could be found capable of plowing that piece of land . Jason , I suppose , had been taught how to draw a furrow by the good old Chiron , who , perhaps , used to allow himself to be harnessed to the plow . At any rate , our hero succeeded perfectly well in breaking up the greensward ; and , by the time that the moon was a quarter of her journey up the sky , the plowed field lay before him , a large tract of black earth , ready to be sown with the dragon 's teeth . So Jason scattered them broadcast , and harrowed them into the soil with a brush-harrow , and took his stand on the edge of the field , anxious to see what would happen next . `` Must we wait long for harvest time ? '' he inquired of Medea , who was now standing by his side . `` Whether sooner or later , it will be sure to come , '' answered the princess . `` A crop of armed men never fails to spring up , when the dragon 's teeth have been sown . '' The moon was now high aloft in the heavens , and threw its bright beams over the plowed field , where as yet there was nothing to be seen . Any farmer , on viewing it , would have said that Jason must wait weeks before the green blades would peep from among the clods , and whole months before the yellow grain would be ripened for the sickle . But by and by , all over the field , there was something that glistened in the moonbeams , like sparkling drops of dew . These bright objects sprouted higher , and proved to be the steel heads of spears . Then there was a dazzling gleam from a vast number of polished brass helmets , beneath which , as they grew farther out of the soil , appeared the dark and bearded visages of warriors , struggling to free themselves from the imprisoning earth . The first look that they gave at the upper world was a glare of wrath and defiance . Next were seen their bright breastplates ; in every right hand there was a sword or a spear , and on each left arm a shield ; and when this strange crop of warriors had but half grown out of the earth , they struggled -- such was their impatience of restraint -- and , as it were , tore themselves up by the roots . Wherever a dragon 's tooth had fallen , there stood a man armed for battle . They made a clangor with their swords against their shields , and eyed one another fiercely ; for they had come into this beautiful world , and into the peaceful moonlight , full of rage and stormy passions , and ready to take the life of every human brother , in recompense of the boon of their own existence .
There have been many other armies in the world that seemed to possess the same fierce nature with the one which had now sprouted XXXXX the dragon 's teeth ; but these , in the moonlit field , were the more excusable , because they never had women for their mothers .
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