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Then Orpheus rose up sighing, and took his harp, and went
over Strymon. And he led Jason to the south-west, up the
banks of Haliacmon and over the spurs of Pindus, to Dodona
the town of Zeus, where it stood by the side of the sacred
lake, and the fountain which breathed out fire, in the
darkness of the ancient oakwood, beneath the mountain of the
hundred springs. And he led him to the holy oak, where the
black dove settled in old times, and was changed into the
priestess of Zeus, and gave oracles to all nations round.
And he bade him cut down a bough, and sacrifice to Hera and
to Zeus; and they took the bough and came to Iolcos, and
nailed it to the beak-head of the ship.
And at last the ship was finished, and they tried to launch
her down the beach; but she was too heavy for them to move
her, and her keel sank deep into the sand. Then all the
heroes looked at each other blushing; but Jason spoke, and
said, 'Let us ask the magic bough; perhaps it can help us in
our need.'
Then a voice came from the bough, and Jason heard the words
it said, and bade Orpheus play upon the harp, while the
heroes waited round, holding the pine-trunk rollers, to help
her toward the sea.
Then Orpheus took his harp, and began his magic song - 'How
sweet it is to ride upon the surges, and to leap from wave to
wave, while the wind sings cheerful in the cordage, and the
oars flash fast among the foam! How sweet it is to roam
across the ocean, and see new towns and wondrous lands, and
to come home laden with treasure, and to win undying fame!'
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