made the rest take to their heels, so that, if the
giants had had six legs apiece instead of six
arms, it would have served them better to run
away with.

Another strange adventure happened when
the voyagers came to Thrace, where they found
a poor blind king, named Phineus, deserted by
his subjects, and living in a very sorrowful way,
all by himself. On Jason's inquiring whether
they could do him any service, the king answered
that he was terribly tormented by three great
winged creatures, called Harpies, which had the
faces of women, and the wings, bodies, and
claws of vultures. These ugly wretches were in
the habit of snatching away his dinner, and al-
lowed him no peace of his life. Upon hearing
this, the Argonauts spread a plentiful feast on
the sea shore, well knowing, from what the blind
king said of their greediness, that the Harpies
would snuff up the scent of the victuals, and
quickly come to steal them away. And so it
turned out; for, hardly was the table set, before
the three hideous vulture women came flapping
their wings, seized the food in their talons, and
flew Qff as fast as they could. But the two sons

[[305]]

p304 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p305w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p306

v?