`` Up with you , lazy bones ! The strange Giant 's club is bigger than your own , his shoulders are the broadest , and we think him the stronger of the two . '' Antaeus could not endure to have it said that any mortal was half so mighty as himself . This latter remark of the Pygmies pricked him deeper than their swords ; and , sitting up , in rather a sulky humor , he gave a gape of several yards wide , rubbed his eyes , and finally turned his stupid head in the direction whither his little friends were eagerly pointing . No sooner did he set eyes on the stranger , than , leaping on his feet , and seizing his walking stick , he strode a mile or two to meet him ; all the while brandishing the sturdy pine tree , so that it whistled through the air . `` Who are you ? '' thundered the Giant . `` And what do you want in my dominions ? '' There was one strange thing about Antaeus , of which I have not yet told you , lest , hearing of so many wonders all in a lump , you might not believe much more than half of them . You are to know , then , that whenever this redoubtable Giant touched the ground , either with his hand , his foot , or any other part of his body , he grew stronger than ever he had been before . The Earth , you remember , was his mother , and was very fond of him , as being almost the biggest of her children ; and so she took this method of keeping him always in full vigor . Some persons affirm that he grew ten times stronger at every touch ; others say that it was only twice as strong . But only think of it ! Whenever Antaeus took a walk , supposing it were but ten miles , and that he stepped a hundred yards at a stride , you may try to cipher out how much mightier he was , on sitting down again , than when he first started . And whenever he flung himself on the earth to take a little repose , even if he got up the very next instant , he would be as strong as exactly ten just such giants as his former self . It was well for the world that Antaeus happened to be of a sluggish disposition and liked ease better than exercise ; for , if he had frisked about like the Pygmies , and touched the earth as often as they did , he would long ago have been strong enough to pull down the sky about people 's ears . But these great lubberly fellows resemble mountains , not only in bulk , but in their disinclination to move . Any other mortal man , except the very one whom Antaeus had now encountered , would have been half frightened to death by the Giant 's ferocious aspect and terrible voice . But the stranger did not seem at all disturbed . He carelessly lifted his club , and balanced it in his hand , measuring Antaeus with his eye , from head to foot , not as if wonder-smitten at his stature , but as if he had seen a great many Giants before , and this was by no means the biggest of them .
In fact , XXXXX the Giant had been no bigger than the Pygmies -LRB- who stood pricking up their ears , and looking and listening to what was going forward -RRB- , the stranger could not have been less afraid of him .
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