Demeter was wroth in an unspeakable degree, and she became the goddess. Her steps, indeed, trod the ground, but her head touched Olympus. Then were they half dead, I wot, when they had seen the awful goddess, and on a sudden rushed away, having left the axe among the oaks. The rest she left alone, for by constraint they followed beneath their lord’s hands, but she replied to the king that vexed her: “So, so; build thy hall, thou dog, thou dog, wherein thou mayst hold banquets, for frequent festivals thou shalt have hereafter.” Forthwith she sent upon him a grievous, fierce hunger, burning and violent. So terrible was his appetite that he ate up everything his mother had, causing her to call on Neptune: “Either remove thou from him his sad disorder or thyself take and maintain him, for my tables have fallen short. Reft are my folds, and my stalls now void of beasts; and at length my cooks have declined the task. Nay, more, they have unyoked the mules from the great wains, and he ate the heifer which his mother was feeding for Vesta, and the prize-gaining steed and war horse, and the cat which lesser animals dread.” O Demeter, may he be no friend to me who is hated by you.... Sing ye virgins, and ye mothers join the acclaim. All hail, Demeter, many nurturing of many measures. And as the four white-maned steeds carry the basket, so shall the great goddess, wide ruling, come, bringing to us fair spring, fair summer, winter and autumn, and shall keep them for us to another year. Hail, goddess, and preserve this city in harmony and prosperity, and bring all things home ripe from the fields. Feed our cattle; support our fruit trees; bring forth the ear, produce the harvest; nurse also peace; that he who has sowed, that same may reap. Be propitious at my bidding, O thou, thrice-prayed-for, widely ruling among goddesses. THE STORY OF DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE (_Greek_) Once upon a time, when the giants had all been imprisoned by Zeus under Mount Ætna, Pluto, the ruler over the lower regions, or Hades, became very much alarmed lest the shock of their fall might expose his kingdom to the light of day. Under this apprehension, he mounted his chariot, drawn by black horses, and made a journey of inspection to satisfy himself of the extent of the damage. While he was thus engaged, he was espied by the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite (Venus), who was sitting on Mount Eryx, playing with her little boy Eros (Cupid).