should clutch them in its claws. The surge broke up in foam, but
it fell again in flakes of snow; and it frosted the hair of the
three Gray Sisters, and the bones in the ice-cliff above their
heads. They passed the eye from one to the other, but for all that
they could not see; and they passed the tooth from one to the
other, but for all that they could not eat; and they sat in the
full glare of the moon, but they were none the warmer for her
beams. And Perseus pitied the three Gray Sisters; but they did not
pity themselves.

So he said, 'Oh, venerable mothers, wisdom is the daughter of old
age. You therefore should know many things. Tell me, if you can,
the path to the Gorgon.'

Then one cried, 'Who is this who reproaches us with old age?' And
another, 'This is the voice of one of the children of men.'

And he, 'I do not reproach, but honour your old age, and I am one
of the sons of men and of the heroes. The rulers of Olympus have
sent me to you to ask the way to the Gorgon.'

Then one, 'There are new rulers in Olympus, and all new things are
bad.' And another, 'We hate your rulers, and the heroes, and all
the children of men. We are the kindred of the Titans, and the
Giants, and the Gorgons, and the ancient monsters of the deep.'
And another, 'Who is this rash and insolent man who pushes unbidden
into our world?' And the first, 'There never was such a world as
ours, nor will be; if we let him see it, he will spoil it all.'

Then one cried, 'Give me the eye, that I may see him;' and another,