for it is weary labour for me to hold the heavens and the earth
apart.'

Then Perseus promised, and the eldest of the Nymphs went down, and
into a dark cavern among the cliffs, out of which came smoke and
thunder, for it was one of the mouths of Hell.

And Perseus and the Nymphs sat down seven days, and waited
trembling, till the Nymph came up again; and her face was pale, and
her eyes dazzled with the light, for she had been long in the
dreary darkness; but in her hand was the magic hat.

Then all the Nymphs kissed Perseus, and wept over him a long while;
but he was only impatient to be gone. And at last they put the hat
upon his head, and he vanished out of their sight.

But Perseus went on boldly, past many an ugly sight, far away into
the heart of the Unshapen Land, beyond the streams of Ocean, to the
isles where no ship cruises, where is neither night nor day, where
nothing is in its right place, and nothing has a name; till he
heard the rustle of the Gorgons' wings and saw the glitter of their
brazen talons; and then he knew that it was time to halt, lest
Medusa should freeze him into stone.

He thought awhile with himself, and remembered Athene's words. He
rose aloft into the air, and held the mirror of the shield above
his head, and looked up into it that he might see all that was
below him.

And he saw the three Gorgons sleeping as huge as elephants. He