According to some historians , the Pygmies used to go to the battle , mounted on the backs of goats and rams ; but such animals as these must have been far too big for Pygmies to ride upon ; so that , I rather suppose , they rode on squirrel-back , or rabbit-back , or rat-back , or perhaps got upon hedgehogs , whose prickly quills would be very terrible to the enemy . However this might be , and whatever creatures the Pygmies rode upon , I do not doubt that they made a formidable appearance , armed with sword and spear , and bow and arrow , blowing their tiny trumpet , and shouting their little war cry . They never failed to exhort one another to fight bravely , and recollect that the world had its eyes upon them ; although , in simple truth , the only spectator was the Giant Antaeus , with his one , great , stupid eye in the middle of his forehead . When the two armies joined battle , the cranes would rush forward , flapping their wings and stretching out their necks , and would perhaps snatch up some of the Pygmies crosswise in their beaks . Whenever this happened , it was truly an awful spectacle to see those little men of might kicking and sprawling in the air , and at last disappearing down the crane 's long , crooked throat , swallowed up alive . A hero , you know , must hold himself in readiness for any kind of fate ; and doubtless the glory of the thing was a consolation to him , even in the crane 's gizzard . If Antaeus observed that the battle was going hard against his little allies , he generally stopped laughing , and ran with mile-long strides to their assistance , flourishing his club aloft and shouting at the cranes , who quacked and croaked , and retreated as fast as they could . Then the Pygmy army would march homeward in triumph , attributing the victory entirely to their own valor , and to the warlike skill and strategy of whomsoever happened to be captain general ; and for a tedious while afterwards , nothing would be heard of but grand processions , and public banquets , and brilliant illuminations , and shows of wax-work , with likenesses of the distinguished officers , as small as life . In the above-described warfare , if a Pygmy chanced to pluck out a crane 's tail feather , it proved a very great feather in his cap . Once or twice , if you will believe me , a little man was made chief ruler of the nation for no other merit in the world than bringing home such a feather . But I have now said enough to let you see what a gallant little people these were , and how happily they and their forefathers , for nobody knows how many generations , had lived with the immeasurable Giant Antaeus . In the remaining part of the story , I shall tell you of a far more astonishing battle than any that was fought between the Pygmies and the cranes . One day the mighty Antaeus was lolling at full length among his little friends . His pine-tree walking stick lay on the ground , close by his side . His head was in one part of the kingdom , and his feet extended across the boundaries of another part ; and he was taking whatever comfort he could get , while the Pygmies scrambled over him , and peeped into his cavernous mouth , and played among his hair . Sometimes , for a minute or two , the Giant dropped asleep , and snored like the rush of a whirlwind . During one of these little bits of slumber , a Pygmy chanced to climb upon his shoulder , and took a view around the horizon , as from the summit of a hill ; and he beheld something , a long way off , which made him rub the bright specks of his eyes , and look sharper than before . At first he mistook it for a mountain , and wondered how it had grown up so suddenly out of the earth . But soon he saw the mountain move . As it came nearer and nearer , what should it turn out to be but a human shape , not so big as Antaeus , it is true , although a very enormous figure , in comparison with Pygmies , and a vast deal bigger than the men we see nowadays .
When the Pygmy was quite satisfied that his eyes had not deceived him , he scampered , as fast as his legs would carry him , XXXXX the Giant 's ear , and stooping over its cavity , shouted lustily into it : `` Halloo , brother Antaeus !
As During among for if in over than that to