The first thing that Jason thought of doing , after he left the king 's presence , was to go to Dodona , and inquire of the Talking Oak what course it was best to pursue . This wonderful tree stood in the center of an ancient wood . Its stately trunk rose up a hundred feet into the air , and threw a broad and dense shadow over more than an acre of ground . Standing beneath it , Jason looked up among the knotted branches and green leaves , and into the mysterious heart of the old tree , and spoke aloud , as if he were addressing some person who was hidden in the depths of the foliage . `` What shall I do , '' said he , `` in order to win the Golden Fleece ? '' At first there was a deep silence , not only within the shadow of the Talking Oak , but all through the solitary wood . In a moment or two , however , the leaves of the oak began to stir and rustle , as if a gentle breeze were wandering amongst them , although the other trees of the wood were perfectly still . The sound grew louder , and became like the roar of a high wind . 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 XXXXX 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 .
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