“Deep in the recesses of the Cretan mountains there lies a cavern, covered at the entrance with heath and copsewood, but large and lofty, wherein no mortal dares enter, for terror of the supernatural powers that might assail him; for in ancient times this was the birth-place of Zeus, the far-famed enchanter. Here, in the secret depths of the cave, Hygies concealed the blooming and beautiful damsel,--coming oftentimes to caress her at the dead of night, and bringing with him food and wine, with costly carpets, to defend her from the cold and hard rocks. Meanwhile she often said to him with anxious sighs,--‘Thou wert my deliverer, and art now become my dear husband; but beware, I pray thee, beware lest my dearly-beloved rose should wither!--From Damascus thou hast obtained a maiden and a sword, but do not forget that there is, moreover, a Damascene rose under thy protection.’ “Far and wide, even for a whole year, the Cretans sought through the land, but in vain; they knew not whither the beautiful captive had retired; but the knight Hygies, he alone well knew where to find the object of his affections; and because the cave, though wide, was no fit habitation for his beloved, he used to cut and hew the rocks with his invincible Damascene blade, till he had made a habitation under ground such as any queen might have envied. “But joy leads to sorrow, and pleasure to pain;--ere the year’s end the princess bore a son,--a bold, handsome boy, thus cradled among the rocks like the old enchanter Zeus, and the brave warrior Hygies took him in his arms with all a father’s love. So the mother’s pain was again changed to joy; and not long thereafter there was seen on the horizon a heart-enlivening shew of white sails all swelling in the breeze; and this was the fleet of the renowned Sir Hygies. That evening the ships cast anchor in a bay of the Cretan shore, and messengers came straightway to the noble owner, who rejoiced heartily at their arrival, and went, in the silence of the night, for his Damascene beauty,--brought her forth under the light of the moon and stars, with the child sleeping on his mother’s breast. Then, as they were proceeding on their way, the lady sighed deeply, and said,--‘Oh, Heaven!--how that thought comes irresistibly in the midst of all my joys!--Must I leave the dear rose-tree here on a foreign strand?--Have we not known each other so long in our affliction, and promised both, that if one of us should be set at liberty, the other should not be left in bondage?--See, yonder blooms the rose! dear husband, go and bring it to me!’--But the knight would not listen to her prayer, and urged her forward in rapid flight. The damsel sighed again, and would not go with him, but ran to the garden wherein she had planted her beloved flower. There a sudden noise from the castle alarmed her, and she would have fled, but the rose held her garments fast with its thorny fingers, and in her terror she shrieked and fell to the ground.