|
|
Immortal Journey
The Tales of Heracles, Leo, Cancer,
Sagittarius, Centaurus, Draco, Sagitta and Cerberus
Chapter 6: The Stables of Augeus
"Your fifth labor will be to clean the Stables
of Augeas," Copreus said. "This labor will be a quick one, for from
the time you start, you will only have one day to complete it. In
that one day you must remove all the manure of all the King's cattle.
"Augeas is the king of Elis. Some say he is the son of Helius, the
Sun, others say he is the son of Poseidon. Either way, he is a very
rich and powerful man and has many herds of cattle. I can't imagine
how you could remove so much manure in such a short time. How can
Eurystheus even imagine it could be done so quickly?" Copreus said
sympathetically. Heracles smiled and set off for the land of Elis.
By the time he arrived, he had formulated a plan.
When Heracles arrived at the palace, he asked to be given an audience
with the king and was soon standing before King Augeas and the king's
son Phyleus. "I understand that you have many stables that need
to be cleaned," Heracles said and the king nodded. "I will clean
all of your stables in one day in exchange for one tenth of your
herds."
The king was amused by this proposal for there was no way anyone
could clean out all that manure in only one day. Obviously he would
get one day of free labor from this stranger, and would also have
some fun in the process. "Agreed," said the king. His son was witness
to the deal. "Show this man a place to sleep and wake him early
in the morning," the king instructed his servants. "He will need
a good night's rest to prepare for such a labor."
Early the next morning the servants woke Heracles, fed him a big
breakfast, took him to the stables and handed him forks and shovels
for the task. He thanked them for their help, placed the tools against
a wall, and walked around the buildings. The servants left in disgust.
They reported to King Augeas that this man was stupid and lazy,
for with so little time to do his job, he took a walk instead of
starting to work. The king decided that his servants assessed the
situation well and he would get less work out of this man than he
had figured. It wasn't the first time he had a lazy servant. King
Augeas put Heracles out of his mind and thought about more pressing
matters of the day.
Meanwhile, on his walk around the stables, Heracles noticed buildings
covering several acres. During inclement weather, these buildings
housed several thousand cattle, although that day the weather was
nice and the cattle were in a field far from the barns. At each
end of the barns there were corrals for holding cattle, and behind
the corrals were two streams. By noon, Heracles had split the foundations
of the corrals, creating channels into and out of each of the stables.
By two o'clock he pulled out some very large trees from the banks
of the streams, diverting the water from one river through the openings,
into the channels, through the barns, out through the exit channels
and back into the other stream. By three o'clock the stables were
empty of manure and washed as clean as when they were built. Of
course, the streams were still running through the corrals and buildings,
but that was not his problem as he had fulfilled his part of the
bargain. By four o'clock, after taking a little nap, he returned
to the palace.
King Augeas was surprised as Heracles' arrival was announced and
even more surprised when Heracles said that his task was completed.
The king, and the servants who had that morning predicted failure,
went out to the stable to take a look for themselves and were startled
by what they saw.
"Who is this Heracles?" demanded King Augeas. "I want you to find
out all you can about him and report back to me this evening," he
said to his cleverest servant. The king returned to the palace and
told Heracles to rest, for that night they would hold a feast in
his honor.
That evening, while everyone was seated at the feast, the servant
returned and whispered to the king, "Heracles was sent by King Eurystheus
to clean your stables."
"I have an announcement," the king rose and said. "We understand
that Heracles was ordered to clean my stables. We do not pay for
work ordered by another, and actually, I do not remember ever saying
that I would pay for this work."
Heracles stopped eating and, without any emotion, he said, "I'll
let the court settle this matter." Then he continued his meal.
"That's fine with me," roared the king.
The next day, judges were summoned. The king gave his side, then
Heracles rose to give his testimony. "I would like to call Prince
Phyleus, as he was witness to our agreement."
"My father agreed to pay Heracles one tenth of his cattle if Heracles
removed all the manure from the stables in one day," the young prince
said under oath.
While the judges were discussing the case among themselves, King
Augeas jumped to his feet and screamed, "Heracles. Phyleus. You
are both banished immediately. Guards, get them out of my sight."
Prince Phyleus left for the town of Dulichium, hoping that his father's
temper would soon cool down and Heracles began his trip back to
Tiryns.
On his way Heracles stopped to see his old friend Dexamenus in the
town of Olenus. Dexamenus was happy to see his old friend, for he
had a problem and needed his help. "A centaur named Eurytion wants
to marry my daughter Mnesimache," he said sadly. "Both she and I
have told him 'No!' but he claims that he will anyway. What can
we do?"
"Don't worry," said Heracles, "I'll take care of him!"
The next day the centaur arrived, and he was in a surly mood for
he expected to steal his bride, but instead he found Heracles waiting
for him. Although he knew of Heracles, he tried to bully him anyway,
but it didn't work and Heracles killed him. Father and daughter
thanked their guest, and Heracles continued on to Tiryns for his
next labor.
Copreus was waiting at the gate when Heracles arrived, as word had
already arrived about the stables of King Augeas and King Eurystheus
had already made his decision. "Our master refuses to accept the
cleaning of the stables as a completed labor for he says you did
it for payment." Heracles shook his head in disgust with himself.
In his attempt for personal gain, the task had counted for nothing
and he had only himself to blame.
"Therefore, he has told me what you fourth labor will be, but according
to our agreement, we will call it your sixth labor. You must rout
the Stymphalian Birds. They are said to have iron feathers. The
birds are sacred to Ares and have always inhabited the forests of
Stymphalis. Bring back some of their feathers as proof of your accomplishment."
The herald turned and left the gate and Heracles left immediately
for Stymphalis.
Tales of
the Immortal Night ©2003, J.J. Kuhl
|
|
