This , as your majesty is aware , is now hanging on a tree here at Colchis ; and I humbly solicit your gracious leave to take it away . '' In spite of himself , the king 's face twisted itself into an angry frown ; for , above all things else in the world , he prized the Golden Fleece , and was even suspected of having done a very wicked act , in order to get it into his own possession . It put him into the worst possible humor , therefore , to hear that the gallant Prince Jason , and forty-nine of the bravest young warriors of Greece , had come to Colchis with the sole purpose of taking away his chief treasure . `` Do you know , '' asked King Aetes , eyeing Jason very sternly , `` what are the conditions which you must fulfill before getting possession of the Golden Fleece ? '' `` I have heard , '' rejoined the youth , `` that a dragon lies beneath the tree on which the prize hangs , and that whoever approaches him runs the risk of being devoured at a mouthful . '' `` True , '' said the king , with a smile that did not look particularly good-natured . `` Very true , young man . But there are other things as hard , or perhaps a little harder , to be done before you can even have the privilege of being devoured by the dragon . For example , you must first tame my two brazen-footed and brazen-lunged bulls , which Vulcan , the wonderful blacksmith , made for me . There is a furnace in each of their stomachs ; and they breathe such hot fire out of their mouths and nostrils , that nobody has hitherto gone nigh them without being instantly burned to a small , black cinder . What do you think of this , my brave Jason ? '' `` I must encounter the peril , '' answered Jason , composedly , `` since it stands in the way of my purpose . '' `` After taming the fiery bulls , '' continued King Aetes , who was determined to scare Jason if possible , `` you must yoke them to a plow , and must plow the sacred earth in the Grove of Mars , and sow some of the same dragon 's teeth from which Cadmus raised a crop of armed men . They are an unruly set of reprobates , those sons of the dragon 's teeth ; and unless you treat them suitably , they will fall upon you sword in hand . You and your nine and forty Argonauts , my bold Jason , are hardly numerous or strong enough to fight with such a host as will spring up . '' `` My master Chiron , '' replied Jason , `` taught me , long ago , the story of Cadmus . Perhaps I can manage the quarrelsome sons of the dragon 's teeth as well as Cadmus did . '' `` I wish the dragon had him , '' muttered King Aetes to himself , `` and the four-footed pedant , his schoolmaster , into the bargain . Why , what a foolhardy , self-conceited coxcomb he is ! We 'll see what my fire-breathing bulls will do for him .
Well , Prince Jason , '' he continued , aloud , and as complaisantly as he could , `` make yourself comfortable for to-day , and to-morrow morning , XXXXX you insist upon it , you shall try your skill at the plow . ''
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