By and by , Jason imagined that he could distinguish words , but very confusedly , because each separate leaf of the tree seemed to be a tongue , and the whole myriad of tongues were babbling at once . But the noise waxed broader and deeper , until it resembled a tornado sweeping through the oak , and making one great utterance out of the thousand and thousand of little murmurs which each leafy tongue had caused by its rustling . And now , though it still had the tone of a mighty wind roaring among the branches , it was also like a deep bass voice , speaking as distinctly as a tree could be expected to speak , the following words : `` Go to Argus , the shipbuilder , and bid him build a galley with fifty oars . '' Then the voice melted again into the indistinct murmur of the rustling leaves , and died gradually away . When it was quite gone , Jason felt inclined to doubt whether he had actually heard the words , or whether his fancy had not shaped them out of the ordinary sound made by a breeze , while passing through the thick foliage of the tree . But on inquiry among the people of Iolchos , he found that there was really a man in the city , by the name of Argus , who was a very skilful builder of vessels . This showed some intelligence in the oak ; else how should it have known that any such person existed ? At Jason 's request , Argus readily consented to build him a galley so big that it should require fifty strong men to row it ; although no vessel of such a size and burden had heretofore been seen in the world . So the head carpenter and all his journeymen and apprentices began their work ; and for a good while afterwards , there they were , busily employed , hewing out the timbers , and making a great clatter with their hammers ; until the new ship , which was called the Argo , seemed to be quite ready for sea . And , as the Talking Oak had already given him such good advice , Jason thought that it would not be amiss to ask for a little more . He visited it again , therefore , and standing beside its huge , rough trunk , inquired what he should do next . This time , there was no such universal quivering of the leaves , throughout the whole tree , as there had been before . But after a while , Jason observed that the foliage of a great branch which stretched above his head had begun to rustle , as if the wind were stirring that one bough , while all the other boughs of the oak were at rest . `` Cut me off ! '' said the branch , as soon as it could speak distinctly ; `` cut me off ! cut me off ! and carve me into a figure-head for your galley . '' Accordingly , Jason took the branch at its word , and lopped it off the tree . A carver in the neighborhood engaged to make the figurehead . He was a tolerably good workman , and had already carved several figure-heads , in what he intended for feminine shapes , and looking pretty much like those which we see nowadays stuck up under a vessel 's bowsprit , with great staring eyes , that never wink at the dash of the spray .
But -LRB- what was very strange -RRB- the carver found that his hand was guided XXXXX some unseen power , and by a skill beyond his own , and that his tools shaped out an image which he had never dreamed of .
So above among at by for into like while with