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 from the dragon 's teeth ; but these , in the moonlit field , were the more excusable , because they never had women for their mothers . And how it would have rejoiced any great captain , who was bent on conquering the world , like Alexander or Napoleon , to raise a crop of armed soldiers as easily as Jason did ! For a while , the warriors stood flourishing their weapons , clashing their swords against their shields , and boiling over with the red-hot thirst for battle . Then they began to shout -- `` Show us the enemy ! Lead us to the charge ! Death or victory ! '' `` Come on , brave comrades ! Conquer or die ! '' and a hundred other outcries , such as men always bellow forth on a battle field , and which these dragon people seemed to have at their tongues ' ends . At last , the front rank caught sight of Jason , who , beholding the flash of so many weapons in the moonlight , had thought it best to draw his sword . In a moment all the sons of the dragon 's teeth appeared to take Jason for an enemy ; and crying with one voice , `` Guard the Golden Fleece ! '' they ran at him with uplifted swords and protruded spears . Jason knew that it would be impossible to withstand this blood-thirsty battalion with his single arm , but determined , since there was nothing better to be done , to die as valiantly as if he himself had sprung from a dragon 's tooth .
Medea , however , bade him snatch up a stone XXXXX the ground .
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