they press us with taxes, but there is no Scythian guard to protect us
from such stupid fellows!"

Apollo, who did not wish yet to acknowledge defeat, sang further:

"Ah, open thine arms--rounded, gleaming, white--
To thee eternal glory I will give.
Over goddess of earth, fair and bright,
Thy name above immortal shall live.
I kiss the dainty bloom of thy cheek,
To thy lustrous eyes the love-light I bring,
From the masses of thy silken hair I speak,
To thy beauty, peerless one, I sing.
White pearls are thy ruby lips between--
With might of godly words I thee endow;
An eloquence for which a Grecian queen
Would gladly give the crown from her brow.
Ah! Open, open thine arms!

"The azure from the sea I will take,
Twilight its wealth of purple shall give too;
Twinkling stars shall add the sparks which they make,
And flowers shall yield their perfume and dew.
By fairy touch, light as a caress,
Made from all this material so bright,
My beloved rainbow, in Chipryd's rich dress
Thou shalt be clothed by the God of Light."

And the voice of the God of Light was so beautiful that it performed a
miracle, for, behold! in the ambrosian night the gold spear standing