`` He has some very good qualities ; and I really think I can bear to spend six months in his palace , if he will only let me spend the other six with you . He certainly did very wrong to carry me off ; but then , as he says , it was but a dismal sort of life for him , to live in that great gloomy place , all alone ; and it has made a wonderful change in his spirits to have a little girl to run up stairs and down . There is some comfort in making him so happy ; and so , upon the whole , dearest mother , let us be thankful that he is not to keep me the whole year round . '' THE GOLDEN FLEECE . When Jason , the son of the dethroned King of Iolchos , was a little boy , he was sent away from his parents , and placed under the queerest schoolmaster that ever you heard of . This learned person was one of the people , or quadrupeds , called Centaurs . He lived in a cavern , and had the body and legs of a white horse , with the head and shoulders of a man . His name was Chiron ; and , in spite of his odd appearance , he was a very excellent teacher , and had several scholars , who afterwards did him credit by making a great figure in the world . The famous Hercules was one , and so was Achilles , and Philoctetes likewise , and Aesculapius , who acquired immense repute as a doctor . The good Chiron taught his pupils how to play upon the harp , and how to cure diseases , and how to use the sword and shield , together with various other branches of education , in which the lads of those days used to be instructed , instead of writing and arithmetic . I have sometimes suspected that Master Chiron was not really very different from other people , but that , being a kind-hearted and merry old fellow , he was in the habit of making believe that he was a horse , and scrambling about the schoolroom on all fours , and letting the little boys ride upon his back . And so , when his scholars had grown up , and grown old , and were trotting their grandchildren on their knees , they told them about the sports of their school days ; and these young folks took the idea that their grandfathers had been taught their letters by a Centaur , half man and half horse . Little children , not quite understanding what is said to them , often get such absurd notions into their heads , you know . Be that as it may , it has always been told for a fact -LRB- and always will be told , as long as the world lasts -RRB- , that Chiron , with the head of a schoolmaster , had the body and legs of a horse . Just imagine the grave old gentleman clattering and stamping into the schoolroom on his four hoofs , perhaps treading on some little fellow 's toes , flourishing his switch tail instead of a rod , and , now and then , trotting out of doors to eat a mouthful of grass ! I wonder what the blacksmith charged him for a set of iron shoes ? So Jason dwelt in the cave , with this four-footed Chiron , from the time that he was an infant , only a few months old , until he had grown to the full height of a man . He became a very good harper , I suppose , and skilful in the use of weapons , and tolerably acquainted with herbs and other doctor 's stuff , and , above all , an admirable horseman ; for , in teaching young people to ride , the good Chiron must have been without a rival among schoolmasters . At length , being now a tall and athletic youth , Jason resolved to seek his fortune in the world , without asking Chiron 's advice , or telling him anything about the matter . This was very unwise , to be sure ; and I hope none of you , my little hearers , will ever follow Jason 's example .
But , you are to understand , he had heard how that he himself was a prince royal , and how his father , King Jason , had been deprived XXXXX the kingdom of Iolchos by a certain Pelias , who would also have killed Jason , had he not been hidden in the Centaur 's cave .
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