But Cadmus was so enraged at the destruction of his friends that he cared neither for the size of the dragon 's jaws nor for his hundreds of sharp teeth . Drawing his sword , he rushed at the monster , and flung himself right into his cavernous mouth . This bold method of attacking him took the dragon by surprise ; for , in fact , Cadmus had leaped so far down into his throat , that the rows of terrible teeth could not close upon him , nor do him the least harm in the world . Thus , though the struggle was a tremendous one , and though the dragon shattered the tuft of trees into small splinters by the lashing of his tail , yet , as Cadmus was all the while slashing and stabbing at his very vitals , it was not long before the scaly wretch bethought himself of slipping away . He had not gone his length , however , when the brave Cadmus gave him a sword thrust that finished the battle ; and creeping out of the gateway of the creature 's jaws , there he beheld him still wriggling his vast bulk , although there was no longer life enough in him to harm a little child . But do not you suppose that it made Cadmus sorrowful to think of the melancholy fate which had befallen those poor , friendly people , who had followed the cow along with him ? It seemed as if he were doomed to lose everybody whom he loved , or to see them perish in one way or another . And here he was , after all his toils and troubles , in a solitary place , with not a single human being to help him build a hut . `` What shall I do ? '' cried he aloud . `` It were better for me to have been devoured by the dragon , as my poor companions were . '' `` Cadmus , '' said a voice but whether it came from above or below him , or whether it spoke within his own breast , the young man could not tell -- `` Cadmus , pluck out the dragon 's teeth , and plant them in the earth . '' This was a strange thing to do ; nor was it very easy , I should imagine , to dig out all those deep-rooted fangs from the dead dragon 's jaws . But Cadmus toiled and tugged , and after pounding the monstrous head almost to pieces with a great stone , he at last collected as many teeth as might have filled a bushel or two . The next thing was to plant them . This , likewise , was a tedious piece of work , especially as Cadmus was already exhausted with killing the dragon and knocking his head to pieces , and had nothing to dig the earth with , that I know of , unless it were his sword blade . Finally , however , a sufficiently large tract of ground was turned up , and sown with this new kind of seed ; although half of the dragon 's teeth still remained to be planted some other day . Cadmus , quite out of breath , stood leaning upon his sword , and wondering what was to happen next . He had waited but a few moments , when he began to see a sight , which was as great a marvel as the most marvelous thing I ever told you about . The sun was shining slantwise over the field , and showed all the moist , dark soil just like any other newly-planted piece of ground .
All at once , Cadmus fancied he saw something glisten very brightly , first XXXXX one spot , then at another , and then at a hundred and a thousand spots together .
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