What was still more remarkable , whenever the sun shone on this huge figure , it flickered and glimmered ; its vast countenance , too , had a metallic lustre , and threw great flashes of splendor through the air . The folds of its garments , moreover , instead of waving in the wind , fell heavily over its limbs , as if woven of some kind of metal . The nigher the vessel came , the more Theseus wondered what this immense giant could be , and whether it actually had life or no . For , though it walked , and made other lifelike motions , there yet was a kind of jerk in its gait , which , together with its brazen aspect , caused the young prince to suspect that it was no true giant , but only a wonderful piece of machinery . The figure looked all the more terrible because it carried an enormous brass club on its shoulder . `` What is this wonder ? '' Theseus asked of the master of the vessel , who was now at leisure to answer him . `` It is Talus , the Man of Brass , '' said the master . `` And is he a live giant , or a brazen image ? '' asked Theseus . `` That , truly , '' replied the master , `` is the point which has always perplexed me . Some say , indeed , that this Talus was hammered out for King Minos by Vulcan himself , the skilfullest of all workers in metal . But who ever saw a brazen image that had sense enough to walk round an island three times a day , as this giant walks round the island of Crete , challenging every vessel that comes nigh the shore ? And , on the other hand , what living thing , unless his sinews were made of brass , would not be weary of marching eighteen hundred miles in the twenty-four hours , as Talus does , without ever sitting down to rest ? He is a puzzler , take him how you will . '' Still the vessel went bounding onward ; and now Theseus could hear the brazen clangor of the giant 's footsteps , as he trod heavily upon the sea-beaten rocks , some of which were seen to crack and crumble into the foaming waves beneath his weight . As they approached the entrance of the port , the giant straddled clear across it , with a foot firmly planted on each headland , and uplifting his club to such a height that its butt-end was hidden in the cloud , he stood in that formidable posture , with the sun gleaming all over his metallic surface . There seemed nothing else to be expected but that , the next moment , he would fetch his great club down , slam bang , and smash the vessel into a thousand pieces , without heeding how many innocent people he might destroy ; for there is seldom any mercy in a giant , you know , and quite as little in a piece of brass clockwork . But just when Theseus and his companions thought the blow was coming , the brazen lips unclosed themselves , and the figure spoke . `` Whence come you , strangers ? ''
And when the ringing voice ceased , there was just such a reverberation XXXXX you may have heard within a great church bell , for a moment or two after the stroke of the hammer .
For across as beneath into that unless upon whether without