He would have followed, but Charon, now on guard, drove him back. Seven
days he lingered there between the worlds of life and death, but after
the broken promise, Hades would not listen to his song. Back to the
Earth he wandered, though it was sweet to him no longer. He died young,
singing to the last, and round about the place where his body rested,
nightingales nested in the trees. His lyre was set among the stars; and
he himself went down to join Eurydice, unforbidden.
Those two had no need of Lethe, for their life on earth had been wholly
fair, and now that they are together they no longer own a sorrow.
ICARUS AND DAEDALUS.
Among all those mortals who grew so wise that they learned the secrets
of the gods, none was more cunning than Daedalus.
He once built, for King Minos of Crete, a wonderful Labyrinth of
winding ways so cunningly tangled up and twisted around that, once
inside, you could never find your way out again without a magic clue.
But the king's favor veered with the wind, and one day he had his
master architect imprisoned in a tower. Daedalus managed to escape from
his cell; but it seemed impossible to leave the island, since every
ship that came or went was well guarded by order of the king.
At length, watching the sea-gulls in the air,--the only creatures that
were sure of liberty,--he thought of a plan for himself and his young
son Icarus, who was captive with him.
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