`` No , '' answered the young man ; `` I will never leave Crete unless I can first slay the Minotaur , and save my poor companions , and deliver Athens from this cruel tribute . '' `` I knew that this would be your resolution , '' said Ariadne . `` Come , then , with me , brave Theseus . Here is your own sword , which the guards deprived you of . You will need it ; and pray Heaven you may use it well . '' Then she led Theseus along by the hand until they came to a dark , shadowy grove , where the moonlight wasted itself on the tops of the trees , without shedding hardly so much as a glimmering beam upon their pathway . After going a good way through this obscurity , they reached a high marble wall , which was overgrown with creeping plants , that made it shaggy with their verdure . The wall seemed to have no door , nor any windows , but rose up , lofty , and massive , and mysterious , and was neither to be clambered over , nor , as far as Theseus could perceive , to be passed through . Nevertheless , Ariadne did but press one of her soft little fingers against a particular block of marble and , though it looked as solid as any other part of the wall , it yielded to her touch , disclosing an entrance just wide enough to admit them They crept through , and the marble stone swung back into its place . `` We are now , '' said Ariadne , `` in the famous labyrinth which Daedalus built before he made himself a pair of wings , and flew away from our island like a bird . That Daedalus was a very cunning workman ; but of all his artful contrivances , this labyrinth is the most wondrous . Were we to take but a few steps from the doorway , we might wander about all our lifetime , and never find it again . Yet in the very center of this labyrinth is the Minotaur ; and , Theseus , you must go thither to seek him . '' `` But how shall I ever find him , '' asked Theseus , `` if the labyrinth so bewilders me as you say it will ? '' Just as he spoke , they heard a rough and very disagreeable roar , which greatly resembled the lowing of a fierce bull , but yet had some sort of sound like the human voice . Theseus even fancied a rude articulation in it , as if the creature that uttered it were trying to shape his hoarse breath into words . It was at some distance , however , and he really could not tell whether it sounded most like a bull 's roar or a man 's harsh voice . `` That is the Minotaur 's noise , '' whispered Ariadne , closely grasping the hand of Theseus , and pressing one of her own hands to her heart , which was all in a tremble . `` You must follow that sound through the windings of the labyrinth , and , by and by , you will find him . Stay !
take the end of this silken string ; I will hold the other end ; and then , XXXXX you win the victory , it will lead you again to this spot .
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