fire Zeus was angry. "I have already given too much to your people," he said. "Let them now help themselves."

Prometheus was sad, indeed. He loved his people more than he did himself. At last he said: "They shall have the fire. I will pay for it with my life." He went straight to Zeus' throne and filled a ferule with it, and carried it to his people. Then the people began to be wise. He taught them to cook, and to build houses, and to sail their ships upon the ocean. He showed them how to get rich ores from the mountains and prepare them for use. They learned how to plow and to reap and to store up their food for the winter.

Zeus was angry with Prometheus. He chained him to a rock on the top of a high mountain. He sent a great bird each day to torment him. Zeus said that he must stay there until he repented and returned the fire to heaven. There Prometheus stayed and suffered for many burning summers and long, cold winters. Sometimes he grew faint-hearted and wished to be free. Then he looked down and saw how the fire was helping the people and how happy they were, and he grew strong again. After many, many years, a Greek hero who was sailing over the mountain in a golden cup saw Prometheus. It was Hercules. He shot the bird with a golden arrow, unbound the chains and set the wise Prometheus free.

Æolus was the father of all the winds, great and small. Long ago, they all lived happily together in a dark cave near the sea. On holidays, North Wind, South Wind, East Wind and West Wind and their faithful sisters, came home and told of their travels. The whirlwinds performed their most wonderful feats, and the zephyrs sang their sweetest songs. These holidays, however, did not come often.

There were no idle children in the family of Æolus. They swept and dusted the whole world. They carried water over all the earth. They helped push the great ships across the ocean. The smaller winds scattered the seeds and sprinkled the flowers, and did many other things which you may find out for yourselves. Indeed, they were so busy that Æolus was often left alone in his dark home for several days at a time.

He was glad when one summer morning a baby came to the cave. The baby's name was Hermes, but Æolus called him "Little Mischief," because he was so little and so full of tricks. Zeus was Hermes' father and his mother was the beautiful Queen Maia. She was often called "Star of Spring," because people thought that wherever she stepped flowers sprang from under the snow.

Æolus loved Hermes dearly. He taught him many secrets which only the winds 

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