Part 5 of The Argonauts from The Heroes This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org The Heroes, or Greek fairy tales for my children, by Charles Kingsley Part 5 of The Argonauts How the Argonauts were driven into the unknown sea So they fled away in haste to the westward, but Aetes manned his fleet and followed them And Lynsius the quick-eyed saw him coming while he was still many a mile away and cried I see a hundred ships like a flock of white swans far in the east And at that they rode hard like heroes, but the ships came nearer every hour Then Medea the dark witchmaiden laid a cruel and cunning plot For she killed Absurtus her young brother and cast him into the sea And said, Air my father can take up his corpse and bury it. He must wait long and be left far behind And all the heroes shuttered and looked at one another for shame Yet they did not punish that dark witch woman because she had won for them the golden fleece And when Aetes came to the place he saw the floating corpse And he stopped a long while and bewailed his son and took him up and went home But he sent on his sailors toward the westward and bound them by a mighty curse Bring back to me that dark witch woman that she may die a dreadful death But if you return without her you shall die by the same death yourselves So the Argonauts escaped for that time But Father Zeus saw that foul crime and out of the heavens he set a storm And swept the ship far from her course Day after day the storm drove her amid foam and blinding mist Till they knew no longer where they were for the sun was blotted from the skies And at last the ship struck on a shoal amid low aisles of mud and sand And the waves rolled over her and threw her and the heroes lost all hope of life Then Jason cried to Hera Fair Queen, who has befriended us till now, why hast thou left us in our misery to die here Among unknown seas? It is hard to lose the honour which we have won with such toil and danger And hard never to see Hellas again and the pleasant bay of Pagasai Then out and spoke the magic bow which stood upon the Argos beak Because Father Zeus is angry all this has fallen on you For a cruel crime has been done on board and the sacred ship is foul with blood At that some of the heroes cried, Medea is the murderous, let the witch woman bear her sin and die And they seized Medea to hurl her into the sea and atone for the young boy's death But the magic bow spoke again Let her live till her crimes are full Vengeance waits for her slow and sure But she must live for you need her still She must show you the way to her sister Circe who lives among the islands of the west To her you must sail a weary way and she shall cleanse you from your guilt Then all the heroes wept aloud when they heard the sentence of the oak For they knew that a dark journey lay before them and years of bitter toil And some up raided the dark witch woman and some said, Nay, we are her debtors still without her we should never have won the fleece But most of them bit their lips in silence for they feared the witch's spells And now the sea grew calmer and the sun shone out once more And the heroes thrust the ship off the sandbank and rode forward on their weary course Under the guiding of the dark witch maiden into the wastes of the unknown sea Whether they went I cannot tell Nor how they came to Circe's Isle Some say that they went to the westward and up the ister stream And so came into the Adriatic dragging their ship over the snowy Alps And others say that they went southward into the red Indian sea And passed the sunny lands where spices grow round the Ethiopia toward the west And that at last they came to Libya and dragged their ship across the burning sands And over the hills into the Cirtis where the flats and quicksands spread for many a mile Between rich Sirini and the lotus-eaters shore But all these are but dreams and fables and dim hints of unknown lands But all say that they came to a place where they had to drag their ship across the land Nine days with ropes and rollers till they came into an unknown sea And the best of all the old songs tells us how they went away toward the north Till they came up to the slope of Caucasus where it sinks into the sea And to the narrow Cimmerian Bosphorus where the titans swam across upon the bull And thence into the lazy waters of the still Mayoted Lake And thence they went northward ever up the Tanius which we call Don Past the Galoni and Soromati And many a wandering shepherd tribe and the one-eyed Aramaspi of whom old Greek poets tell Who steal the gold from the Gryphins in the cold Raphayan hills And they passed the Scythian archers and the Tauri who eat men And the wandering Hyperborei who feed their flocks beneath the pole star Until they came unto the northern ocean the dull dead Cronian sea And there Argo would move on no longer and each man clasped his elbow And leaned his head upon his hand heartbroken with toil and hunger And gave himself up to death But brave on Kyos the Helmsmen cleared up their hearts once more And bade them leap on land and haul the ship with ropes and rollers For many a weary day whether over land or mud or ice I know not For the song is mixed and broken like a dream And it says next how they came to the rich nation of the famous long-lived men And to the coast of the Cimmerians who never saw the sun Buried deep in the glens of the snow mountains And to the fair land of Hermione where dwelt the most righteous of all nations And to the gates of the world below and to the dwelling place of dreams And at last on Kyos shouted Endure a little while brave friends the worst is surely past for I can see the pure west wind Ruffle the water and hear the roar of the ocean on the sands So raise up the mast and set the sail and face what comes like men Then out spoke the magic bow Ah wood that I had perished long ago And been whelmed by the dread blue rocks beneath the fierce swell of the Uxini Better so than to wander forever disgraced by the guilt of my princes For the blood of Abserta still tracks me and woe follows hard upon woe And now some dark horror will clutch me if I come near the Isle of Iirni Unless you will cling to the land and sail southward and southward forever I shall wander beyond the Atlantic to the ocean which has no shore Then they blessed the magic bow and sailed southward along the land But ere they could pass Iirni the land of mists and storms The wild wind came down dark and roaring And caught the sail and strained the ropes And away they drove twelve nights on the wild western sea Through the foam and over the rollers while they saw neither sun nor stars And they cried again we shall perish for we know not where we are We are lost in the dreary damp darkness and cannot tell north from south But Linceus the long sight had called Gaeli from the boughs Take art again brave sailors for I see a pine clad isle and the halls of the kind earth mother With a crown of clouds around them But Orpheus said turn from them for no living man can live there There is no harbor on the coast but steep walled cliffs all around So and Chios turned the ship away and for three days more they sailed on Till they came to Iaia Circe's home and the fairy island of the west And there Jason bid them land and seek about for any sign of living man And as they went inland Circe met them coming down toward the ship And they trembled when they saw her for her hair and face and robes shown like flame And she came and looked at Medea and Medea hid her face beneath her veil And Circe cried ah wretched girl have you forgotten all your sins That you come hither to my island where the flowers bloom all year round Where is your aged father and the brother whom you killed Little do I expect you to return in safety with these strangers whom you love I will send you food and wine but your ship must not stay here for it is foul with sin And foul with sin it's cruel and the heroes prayed to her but in vain and cried cleanse Us from our guilt but she sent them away and said Go on to Malaya and there you may be cleansed and return home Then a fair wind rose and they sailed eastward by Tartesis on the Iberian shore Till they came to the pillars of Hercules and the Mediterranean Sea And thence they sailed on through the deeps of Sardinia And passed the Ossonian islands and the capes of the Turinian shore Till they came to a flowery island upon a still bright summer's eve And as they neared it slowly and wearily they heard sweet songs upon the shore But when Medea heard it she started and cried Beware all heroes for these are the rocks of the sirens You must pass close by them for there is no other channel but those who listen to that song are lost Then Orpheus spoke the king of all minstrels Let them match their song against mine I have charmed stones and trees and dragons how much more the hearts of men So he caught up his lyre and stood upon the poop and began his magic song And now they could see the sirens on Anthemousa, the flowery isle Three fair maidens sitting on the beach beneath a red rock in the setting sun Among beds of crimson puppies and golden asphodel Slowly they sung and sleepily with silver voices mild and clear Which stole over the golden waters and into the hearts of the heroes In spite of Orpheus's song And all things stayed around them and listened The gulls sat in white lines along the rocks On the beach great seals lay basking and kept time with lazy heads While silver shoals of fish came up to harken and whispered as they broke the shining calm The wind overhead hushed his whistling As he shepherded his clouds toward the west And the clouds stood in mid-blue and listened dreaming Like a flock of golden sheep And as the heroes listened the oars fell from their hands And their heads drooped on their breasts And they closed their heavy eyes And they dreamed of bright still gardens And of slumbers under murmuring pines Till all their toil seemed foolishness And they thought of their renown no more Then one lifted his head suddenly and cried What use in wandering forever? Let us stay here and rest a while And another let us row to the shore and hear the words they sing And another I care not for the words but for the music They shall sing me to sleep that I may rest But beauties the son of pandion the fairest of all mortal men leapt out and swam toward the shore Crying I come I come fair maidens to live and die here listening to your song Then Medea clapped her hands together and cried Sing louder, Orpheus, sing a bolder strain Wake up these hapless sluggards Or none of them will see the land of Hellas more Then Orpheus lifted his harp and crashed his cunning hand across the strings And his music and his voice rose like a trumpet through the still evening air Into the air it rushed like thunder till the rocks rang and the sea And into their souls it rushed like wine till all hearts beat fast within their breasts And he sung the song of Perseus how the gods led him over land and sea And how he slew the loathly Gorgon and won himself a peerless bride And how he sits now with the gods upon Olympus a shining star in the sky Immortal with his immortal bride and honored by all men below So Orpheus sang and the sirens answering each other across the golden sea Till Orpheus's voice drowned the sirens and the heroes caught their oars again And they cried we will be men like Perseus and we will dare and suffer to the last Sing us his song again brave Orpheus that we may forget the sirens and their spell And as Orpheus sang they dashed their oars into the sea and kept time to his music As they fled fast away and the sirens voices died behind them in the hissing of the foam Along their wake but beauties swam to the shore and knelt down before the sirens and cried Sing on sing on but he could say no more for a charmed sleep came over him And a pleasant humming in his ears and he sank all along the pebbles And forgot all heaven and earth and never looked at that sad beach around him All strewn with the bones of men Then slowly rose up those three fair sisters with a cruel smile upon their lips And slowly they crept down towards him like leopards who creep upon their prey And their hands were like the talons of eagles as they stepped across the bones of their victims To enjoy their cruel feast But Ferrastaphrodite saw him from the highest idalian peak and she pitied his youth and his beauty And leapt up from her golden throne and like a falling star she cleft the sky and left a trail Of glittering light till she stooped to the aisle of the sirens and snatched their prey from Their claws and she lifted beauties as he lay sleeping and wrapped him in golden mist And she bore him to the peak of lilybium and he slept there for many a pleasant year But when the sirens saw that they were conquered they shrieked for envy and rage And leaped from the beach into the sea and were changed into rocks until this day Then they came to the Straits of lilybium and saw Sicily the three-cornered island Under which Enceladus the giant lies groaning day and night And when he turns the earth quakes and his breath bursts out in roaring flames from the highest cone of ethna above the chestnut woods and their caribdis caught them in its fearful coils of wave and rolled mass high about them and spun them round and round And they could neither go back nor forward while the whirlpool sucked them in And while they struggled they saw near them on the other side the strait a rock standing in the water with its peak wrapped round in clouds a rock which no man could climb though he had twenty hands and feet for the stone was smooth and slippery as if polished by man's hand and halfway up a misty cave looked out toward the west and when Orpheus saw it he groaned and struck his hands together and little will it help us he cried to escape the jaws of the whirlpool for in that cave lives silla the sea hag with a young welp's voice my mother warned me of her air we sailed away from helis she has six heads and six long necks and hides in that dark cleft and from her cave she fishes for all things which pass by for sharks and seals and dolphins and all the herds of amphretite and never ships crew boasted that they came safe by her rock for she bends her long necks down to them and every mouth takes up a man and who will help us now for Hera and Zeus hate us and our ship is foul with guilt so we must die whatever befalls then out of the depths came Thetis Peleus's silver-footed bride for love of her gallant husband and all her nymphs around her and they played like snow white dolphins diving on from wave to wave before the ship and in her wake and beside her as dolphins play and they caught the ship and guided her and passed her on from hand to hand and tossed her through the billows as maidens tossed the ball and when Silla stooped to seize her they struck back her ravening heads and foul Silla whined as a welp wines at the touch of their gentle hands but she shrank into her cave of frighted for all bad things shrink from good and Argo leapt safe past her while a fair breeze rose behind then Thetis and her nymphs sank down to their coral caves beneath the sea and their gardens of green and purple where live flowers bloom all year round while the heroes went on rejoicing yet dreading what might come next after that they rode on steadily for many a weary day till they saw a long high island and beyond it a mountain land and they searched till they found a harbor and there rode boldly in and after a while they stopped and wondered for there stood a great city on the shore and temples and walls and gardens and castles high in air upon the cliffs and on either side they saw a harbor with a narrow mouth but wide within and black ships without number high and dry upon the shore then and kios the wise helmsman spoke what new wonder is this I know all isles and harbors and the windings of all seas and this should be Coursera where a few wild goat herds dwell but whence come these new harbors and vast works of polished stone but jason said they can be no savage people we will go in and take our chance so they rode into the harbor among a thousand black beaked ships each larger far than Argo toward a key of polished stone and they wondered at that mighty city with its roofs of burnished brass and long and lofty walls of marble with strong palisades above and the keys were full of people merchants and mariners and slaves going to and fro with merchandise among the crowds of ships and the hero's hearts were humbled and they looked at each other and said we thought ourselves a gallant crew when we sailed from Iulcos by the sea but how small we look before this city like an ant before a hive of bees then the sailors hailed them roughly from the key what men are you we want no strangers here nor pirates we keep our business to ourselves but jason answered gently with many a flattering word and praised their city and their harbor and their fleet of gallant ships surely you are the children of Poseidon and the masters of the sea and we are but poor wandering mariners worn out with thirst and toil give us but food and water and we will go on our voyage in peace then the sailors laughed and answered stranger you are no fool you talk like an honest man and you shall find us honest too we are the children of Poseidon and the masters of the sea but come ashore to us and you shall have the best that we can give so they limped ashore all stiff and weary with long ragged beards and sunburnt cheeks and garments torn and weather stained and weapons rusted with the spray while the sailors laughed at them for they were rough-tongued though their hearts were frank and kind and one said these fellows are but raw sailors they look as if they had been seasick all the day and another their legs have grown crooked with much rowing till they waddle in their walk like ducks at that ides the rash would have struck them but jason held him back till one of the merchant kings spoke to them a tall and stately man do not be angry strangers the sailor boys must have their jest but we will treat you justly and kindly for strangers and poor men come from god and you seem no common sailors by your strength and height and weapons come up with me to the palace of alcinus the rich seagoing king and we will feast you well and heartily and after that you shall tell us your name but medea hung back and trembled and whispered in jason's ear we are betrayed and are going to our ruin for i see my countrymen among the crowd dark eyed colky and steel male shirts such as they wear in my father's land it is too late to turn said jason and he spoke to the merchant king what country is this good sir and what is this new built town this is the land of the fiasis beloved of all the immortals for they come hither and feast like friends with us and sit by our side in the hall hither we come from libernia to escape the unrighteous cyclops for they robbed us peaceful merchants of our hard-earned wares and wealth so noseth us the son of Poseidon brought us hither and died in peace and now his son alcinus rules us and arete the wisest of queens so they went up across the square and wondered still more as they went for along the keys lay in order great cables and yards and masts before the fair temple of Poseidon the blue-haired king of the seas and round the square worked the shipwrights as many in number as ants twining ropes and hewing timber and smoothing long yards and oars and the menui went on in silence through clean white marble streets till they came to the hall of alcinus and they wondered then still more for the lofty palace shown aloft in the sun with walls of plated brass from the threshold to the innermost chamber and the doors were of silver and gold and on each side of the doorway sat living dogs of gold who never grew old or died so well Hephaestus had made them in his forges in smoking Lemnos and gave them to alcinus to guard his gates by night and within against the walls stood thrones on either side down the whole length of the hall strewn with rich glossy shawls and on them the merchant kings of those crafty sea roving fiasces sat eating and drinking in pride and feasting there all year round and boys of molten gold stood each on a polished altar and held torches in their hands to give light all night to the guests and round the house sat fifty maid servants some grinding the meal in the mill some turning the spindle some weaving at the loom while their hands twinkled as they passed the shuttle like quivering aspen leaves and outside before the palace a great garden was walled round filled full of stately fruit trees gray olives and sweet figs and pomegranates pears and apples which bore the whole year round for the rich southwest wind fed them till pear grew ripe on pear fig on fig and grape on grape all the winter and the spring and at the farther end gay flower beds bloomed all through the seasons of the year and two fair fountains rose and ran one through the garden grounds and one beneath the palace gate to water all the town such noble gifts the heavens had given to alcinas the wise so they went in and saw him sitting like Poseidon on his throne with his golden scepter by him in garments stiff with gold and in his hand a sculptured goblet as he pledged the merchant kings and beside him stood ariti his wise and lovely queen and leaned against a pillar as she spun her golden threads then alcinas rose and welcomed them and bade them sit and eat and the servants brought them tables and bread and meat and wine but medea went on trembling toward ariti the fair queen and fell at her knees and clasped them and cried weeping as she knelt i am your guest fair queen and i entreat you by Zeus from whom prayers come do not send me back to my father to die some dreadful death but let me go my way and bear my burden have i not had enough of punishment and shame who are you strange maiden and what is the meaning of your prayer i am medea daughter of aities and i saw my countrymen here today and i know that they are come to find me and to take me home to die some dreadful death then ariti frowned and said lead this girl in my maidens and let the kings decide not i and alcinas leapt up from his throne and cried speak strangers who are you and who is this maiden we are the heroes of the minnow i said jason and this maiden has spoken truth we are the men who took the golden fleece the men whose fame has run round every shore we came hither out of the ocean after sorrows such as man never saw before and we went out many and come back few for many a noble comrade have we lost so let us go as you should let your guests go in peace that the world may say alcinas is a just king but alcinas frowned and stood deep in thought and at last he spoke had not the deed been done which is done i should have said this day to myself it is an honor to alcinas and to his children after him that the fair famed argonauts are his guests but these colki are my guests as you are and for this month they have waited here with all their fleet for they have hunted all the seas of helis and could not find you and dared neither go farther nor go home let them choose out their champions and we will fight them man for man no guests of ours shall fight upon our island and if you go outside they will outnumber you i will do justice between you for i know and do what is right and he turned to his kings and said this may stand over till tomorrow tonight we will feast our guests and hear the story of all their wanderings and how they came hither out of the ocean so alcinas bade the servants take the heroes in and bathe them and give them clothes and they were glad when they saw the warm water for it was long since they had bathed and they washed off the sea salt from their limbs and anointed themselves from head to foot with oil and combed out their golden hair then they came back again into the hall while the merchant kings rose up to do them honor and each man said to his neighbor no wonder that these men won fame how they stand now like giants or titans or immortals come down from olympus though many a winter has worn them and many a fearful storm what must they have been when they sailed from eolcus in the bloom of their youth long ago then they went out to the garden and the merchant princes said heroes run races with us let us see whose feet are nimblest we cannot race you for our limbs are stiff from sea and we have lost our two swift comrades the sons of the north wind but do not think us cowards if you wish to try our strength we will shoot and box and wrestle against any men on earth and elsinus smiled and answered i believe you gallant guests with your long limbs and broad shoulders we could never match you here for we care nothing here for boxing or for shooting with the bow but for feasts and songs and harping and dancing and running races to stretch our limbs on shore so they danced there and ran races the jolly merchant kings till the night fell and all went in and then they ate and drank and comforted their weary souls till alcinus called a herald and bade him go and fetch a harper the herald went out and fetched a harper and led him in by the hand and alcinus cut him a piece of meat from the fattest of the haunch and sent it to him and said sing to us noble harper and rejoice the hero's hearts so the harper played and sang while the dancers danced strange figures and after that the tumblers showed their tricks till the heroes laughed again then tell me heroes asked alcinus who have sailed the ocean round and seen the manner of all nations have you seen such dancers as ours here or heard such music and such singing we hold ours to be the best on earth such dancing we have never seen said orpheus and your singer is a happy man for febus himself must have taught him or else he is the son of a muse as i am also and have sung once or twice though not so well as he sing to us then noble stranger said alcinus and we will give you precious gifts so orpheus took his magic harp and sang to them a stirring song of their voyage from ilcos and their dangers and how they won the golden fleece and of medea's love and how she helped them and went with them over the land and sea and of all their fearful dangers from monsters and rocks and storms till the heart of ariti was softened and all the women wept and the merchant kings rose up each man from off his golden throne and clapped their hands and shouted hail to the noble organots who sailed the unknown sea then he went on and told their journey over the sluggish northern main and through the shoreless outer ocean to the ferry island of the west and of the sirens and sila and caribdis and all the wonders they had seen till midnight passed and the day dawned but the kings never thought of sleep each man sat still and listened with his chin upon his hand and at last when orpheus had ended they all went thoughtful out and the heroes lay down to sleep beneath the sounding porch outside where ariti had strewn them rugs and carpet in the sweet still summer night but ariti pleaded hard with her husband for medea for her heart was softened and she said the gods will punish her not we after all she is our guest and my suppliant and prayers are the daughters of Zeus and who too dare part man and wife after all they have endured together and elsinus smiled the minstrel song has charmed you but i must remember what is right for songs cannot alter justice and i must be faithful to my name elsinus i am called the man of sturdy sense and elsinus i will be but for all that ariti besought him until she won him round so next morning he sent a herald and called the kings into the square and said this is a puzzling matter remember but one thing these menui live close by us and we may meet them often on the seas but ariti's lives far off and we have only heard his name which then of the two is safer to offend the men near us or the men far off the princes laughed and praised his wisdom and elsinus called the heroes to the square and the colqui also and they came and stood opposite each other but medea stayed in the palace then elsinus spoke heroes of the colqui what is your errand about this lady to carry her home with us that she may die a shameful death but if we return without her we must die the death she should have died what say you to this jason the eolid said elsinus turning to the menui i say said the cunning jason that they are come here on a bootless errand do you think that you can make her follow you heroes of colqui her who knows all spells and charms she will cast away your ships on quicksands or call down on you brimo the wild huntress or the chains will fall from off her wrists and she will escape in her dragon car or if not thus some other way for she has a thousand plans and wiles and why return home at all brave heroes and face the long seas again in the bus for us in the stormy uxini and double all your toil there is many a fair land around these coasts which waits for gallant men like you better to settle there and build a city and let ietes and colqui's help themselves then a murmur arose among the colqui and some cried he has spoken well and some we have had enough of roving we will sail the seas no more and the chief said at last be it so then a plague she has been to us and a plague to the house of her father and a plague she will be to you take her since you are no wiser and we will sail away toward the north then elsinus gave them food and water and garments and rich presents of all sorts and he gave the same to the manui and sent them all away in peace so jason kept the dark witch woman to breed him woe and shame and the colqui went northward into the adriatic and settled and built towns along the shore then the heroes rode away to the east word to reach helis their beloved land but a storm came down upon them and swept them far away toward the south and they rode till they were spent with struggling through the darkness and the blinding rain but where they were they could not tell and they gave up all hope of life and at last touched the ground and when daylight came waited to the shore and saw nothing round but sand and desolate salt pools for they had come to the quick sands of the seartus and the dreary treeless flats which lie between numidia and serene on the burning shore of africa and there they wandered starving for many a weary day ere they could launch their ship again and gain the open sea and their canthus was killed while he was trying to drive off sheep by a stone which a herdsman threw and there too mopsus died the seer who knew the voices of all birds but he could not foretell his own end for he was bitten in the foot by a snake one of those which sprang from the gorgon's head when persius carried it across the sands at last they rode away toward the northward for many a weary day till their water was spent and their food was eaten and they were worn out with hunger and thirst but at last they saw a long steep island and a blue peak high among the clouds and they knew it for the peak of ida and the famous land of crete and they said we will land in crete and see minos the just king and all his glory and his wealth at least he will treat us hospitably and let us fill our water casks upon the shore but when they came nearer to the island they saw a wondrous sight upon the cliffs for on a cape to the westward stood a giant taller than any mountain pine who glittered aloft against the sky like a tower of burnished brass he turned and looked on all sides around him till he saw the argo and her crew and when he saw them he came toward them more swiftly than the swiftest horse leaping across the glens at a bound and striding at one time from down to down and when he came abreast of them he brandished his arms up and down as a ship's hoist lowers her yards and shouted with his brazen throat like a trumpet from off the hills you are pirates under robbers if you dare land here you die then the heroes cried we are no pirates we are all good men and true and all we ask is food and water but the giant cried the more you are robbers you are pirates all i know you and if you land you shall die the death then he waved his arms as a signal and they saw the people flying inland driving their flocks before them while a great flame arose among the hills then the giant ran up a valley and vanished and the heroes lay on their oars in fear but medea stood watching all from under her steep black brows with a cunning smile upon her lips and a cunning plot within her heart at last she spoke i know this giant i heard of him in the east hefestos the fire king made him in his forge in etna beneath the earth and called him talus and gave him to minos for a servant to guard the coast of crete thrice a day he walks round the island and never stops to sleep and if strangers land he leaps into his furnace which flames there among the hills and when he is red hot he rushes on them and burns them in his brazen hands then all the heroes cried what shall we do wise medea we must have water or we die of thirst flesh and blood we can face fairly but who can face this red hot brass i can face red hot brass if the tale i hear be true for they say that he has but one vein in all his body filled with liquid fire and that this vein is closed with a nail but i know not where that nail is placed but if i can get it once into these hands you shall water your ship here in peace then she bade them put her on shore and row off again and wait what would be fall and the heroes obeyed her unwillingly for they were ashamed to leave her so alone but jason said she is dearer to me than to any of you yet i will trust her freely on shore she has more plots than we can dream of in the windings of that fair and cunning head so they left the witch maiden on the shore and she stood there in her beauty all alone till the giant strode back red hot from head to heel while the grass hissed and smoked beneath his tread and when he saw the maiden alone he stopped and she looked boldly up into his face without moving and began her magic song life is short though life is sweet and even men of brass and fire must die the brass must rust the fire must cool for time gnaws all things in their turn life is short though life is sweet but sweeter to live forever sweeter to live ever youthful like the gods who have icor in their veins icor which gives life and youth and joy and a bounding heart then talus said who are you strange Britain and where is this icor of youth then medea held up a flask of crystal and said here is the icor of youth i am medea the enchantress my sister cersei gave me this and said go and reward talus the faithful servant for his fame is gone out into all lands so come and i will pour this into your veins that you may live forever young and he listened to her false words that simple talus and came near and medea said dip yourself in the sea first and cool yourself lest you burn my tender hands then show me where the nail in your vein is that i may pour the icor in then that simple talus dipped himself in the sea till it hissed and roared and smoked and came and knelt before medea and showed her the secret nail and she drew the nail out gently but she poured no icor in and instead the liquid fire spouted forth like a stream of red hot iron and talus tried to leap up crying you have betrayed me false witch maiden but she lifted up her hands before him and sang till he sank beneath her spell and as he sank his brazen limbs clanked heavily and the earth groaned beneath his weight and the liquid fire ran from his heel like a stream of lava to the sea and medea laughed and called to the heroes come ashore and water your ship in peace so they came and found the giant lying dead and they fell down and kissed medea's feet and watered their ship and took sheep and oxen and so left that inhospitable shore at last after many more adventures they came to the cape of malea at the southwest point of the peloponnes and there they offered sacrifices and orpheus purged them from their guilt then they rode away again to the northward past the laconian shore and came all worn and tired by sunium and up the long ubonian strait until they saw once more pelion and afatai and ilkos by the sea and they ran the ship ashore but they had no strength left to haul her up the beach and they crawled out on the pebbles and sat down and wept till they could weep no more for the houses and the trees were all altered and all the faces which they saw were strange and their joy was swallowed up in sorrow while they thought of their youth and all their labor and the gallant comrades they had lost and the people crowded round and asked them who are you that sit weeping here we are the sons of your princes who sailed out many a year ago we went to fetch the golden fleece and we have brought it and grief therewith give us news of our fathers and our mothers if any of them be left alive on earth then there was shouting and laughing and weeping and all the kings came to the shore and they led away the heroes to their homes and bewailed the valiant dead then jason went up with medea to the palace of his uncle pelius and when he came in pelius sat by the hearth crippled and blind with age while opposite him sat ison jason's father crippled and blind likewise and the two old men's heads shook together as they tried to warm themselves before the fire and jason fell down at his father's knees and wept and called him by his name and the old man stretched his hands out and felt him and said do not mock me young hero my son jason is dead long ago at sea i am your son jason whom you trusted to the center upon pelion and i have brought home the golden fleece and a princess of the son's race for my bride so now give me up the kingdom pelius my uncle and fulfill your promise as i have fulfilled mine then his father clung to him like a child and wept and would not let him go and cried now i shall not go down and lonely to my grave promise me never to leave me till i die end of part five of the argonauts recording by tisto tystto.com part six of the argonauts from the heroes this is a libervox recording all libervox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libervox.org the heroes or greek fairy tales for my children by charles kingsley part six of the argonauts what was the end of the heroes and now i wish that i could end my story pleasantly but it is no fault of mine that i cannot the old songs end it sadly and i believe that they are right and wise for though the heroes were purified at malia yet sacrifices cannot make bad hearts good and jason had taken a wicked wife and he had to bear his burden to the last and first she laid a cunning plot to punish that poor old pelius instead of letting him die in peace for she told his daughters i can make old things young again i will show you how easy it is to do so she took an old ram and killed him and put him in a cauldron with magic herbs and whispered her spells over him and he leapt out again a young lamb so that medias cauldron is a proverb still by which we mean times of war and change when the world has become old and feeble and grows young again through bitter pains then she said to pelius's daughters due to your father's as i did to this ram and he will grow young and strong again but she only told them half the spell so they failed while medias mocked them and poor old pelius died and his daughters came to misery but the songs say she cured isan jason's father and he became young and strong again but jason could not love her after all her cruel deeds so he was ungrateful to her and wronged her and she revenged herself on him and a terrible revenge she took too terrible to speak of here but you will hear of it yourselves when you grow up for it has been sung in noble poetry and music and whether it be true or not it stands forever as a warning to us not to seek for help from evil persons or to gain good ends by evil means for if we use an adder even against our enemies it will turn again and sting us but of all the other heroes there is many a brave tale left which i have no space to tell you so you must read them for yourselves of the hunting of the boar in caladon which milleagre killed and of heracles twelve famous labors and of the seven who fought at thebes and of the noble love of castor and poleducies the twin diascuroi how when one died the other would not live without him so they shared their immortality between them and zeus changed them into the two twin stars which never rise both at once and what became of kiran the good immortal beast that too was a sad story for the heroes never saw him more he was wounded by a poisoned arrow at fallowy among the hills when heracles opened the fatal wine jar which kiran had warned him not to touch and the centaurs smelt the wine and flocked to it and fought for it with heracles but he killed them all with his poisoned arrows and kiran was left alone and kiran took up one of the arrows and dropped it by chance upon his foot and the poison ran like fire along his veins and he lay down and longed to die and cried through wine i perish the bane of all my race why should i live forever in this agony who will take my immortality that i may die then prometheus answered the good titan whom heracles had set free from Caucasus i will take your immortality and live forever then i may help poor mortal men so kiran gave him his immortality and died and had rest from pain and heracles and prometheus wept over him and went to bury him on peleon but Zeus took him up among the stars to live forever grand and mild low down in the far southern sky and in time the heroes died all but nester the silver tongue doled man and left behind them valiant sons but not so great as they had been yet their fame too lives till this day for they fought at the ten years siege of Troy and their story is in the book which we call Homer in two of the noblest songs on earth the iliad which tells us of the siege of Troy and Achilles quarrel with the kings and the odyssey which tells the wanderings of Odysseus through many lands and for many years and how Alcinus sent him home at last safe to Ithaca his beloved island and to Penelope his faithful wife and Telemachus his son and Euphorbus the noble swineherd and the old dog who licked his hand and died we will read that sweet story children by the fire some winter night and now i will end my tale and begin another and a more cheerful one of a hero who became a worthy king and won his people's love end of the Argonauts recording by Tisto TYSTO.com part one of Theseus from The Heroes this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the heroes or Greek fairy tales for my children by Charles Kingsley part one of Theseus how Theseus lifted the stone once upon a time there was a princess in Troizini Aethra the daughter of Pythias the king she had one fair son named Theseus the bravest lad in all the land and Aethra never smiled but when she looked at him for her husband had forgotten her and lived far away and she used to go up to the mountain above Troizini to the temple of Poseidon and sit there all day looking out across the bay over Methana to the purple peaks of Vigina and the attic shore beyond and when Theseus was full 15 years old she took him up with her to the temple and into the thickets of the grove which grew in the temple yard and she led him to a tall plain tree beneath whose shade grew Arbitus and Lentisk and purple heather bushes and there she sighed and said Theseus my son go into that thicket and you will find at the plain tree foot a great flat stone lift it and bring me what lies underneath then Theseus pushed his way in through the thick bushes and saw that they had not been moved for many a year and searching among their roots he found a great flat stone all overgrown with ivy and acanthus and moss he tried to lift it but he could not and he tried till the sweat ran down his brow from heat and the tears from his eyes for shame but all was of no avail and at last he came back to his mother and said I have found the stone but I cannot lift it nor do I think that any man could in all Troisini then she sighed and said the gods wait long but they are just at last let it be for another year the day may come when you will be a stronger man than lives in all Troisini then she took him by the hand and went into the temple and prayed and came down again with Theseus to her home and when a full year was passed she led Theseus up again to the temple and made him lift the stone but he could not then she sighed and said the same words again and went down and came again the next year but Theseus could not lift the stone then nor the year after and he longed to ask his mother the meaning of that stone and what might lie underneath it but her face was so sad that he had not the heart to ask so he said to himself the day shall surely come when I will lift that stone though no man in Troisini can and in order to grow strong he spent all his days in wrestling and boxing and hurling and taming horses and hunting the boar and the bull and coursing goats and deer among the rocks till upon all the mountains there was no hunter so swift as Theseus and he killed Faia the wild sow of Cromion which wasted all the land till all the people said surely the gods are with the lad and when his eighteenth year was passed Ithra led him up again to the temple and said Theseus lift the stone this day or never know who you are and Theseus went into the thicket and stood over the stone and tugged at it and it moved then his spirit swelled within him and he said if I break my heart in my body it shall up and he tugged at it once more and lifted it and rolled it over with a shout and when he looked beneath it on the ground lay a sword of bronze with a hilt of glittering gold and buy it a pair of golden sandals and he caught them up and burst through the bushes like a wild boar and leapt to his mother holding them high above his head but when she saw them she wept long in silence hiding her fair face in her shawl and Theseus stood by her wondering and wept also he knew not why and when she was tired of weeping she lifted up her head and laid her finger on her lips and said hide them in your bosom Theseus my son and come with me where we can look down upon the sea then they went outside the sacred wall and looked down over the bright blue sea and Ithra said do you see this land at our feet and he said yes this is Troyzini where I was born and bred and she said it is but a little land barren and rocky and looks toward the bleak northeast do you see that land beyond yes that is Attica where the Athenian people dwell that is a fair land and large Theseus my son and it looks toward the sunny south a land of olive oil and honey the joys of gods and men for the gods have girdled it up with mountains whose veins are of pure silver and their bones of marble white as snow and there the hills are sweet with time and basil and the meadows with violet and asphodel and the nightingales sing all day in the thickets by the side of the ever-flowing streams there are twelve towns well-peopled the homes of an ancient race the children of kikrops the serpent king the son of mother earth who wear gold sycolas among the tresses of their golden hair for like the sycolas they sprang from the earth and like the sycolas they sing all day rejoicing in the genial sun what would you do sun Theseus if you were king of such a land then Theseus stood astonished as he looked across the broad bright sea and saw the fair Attic shore from Sunium to Hymetus and Pentelicus and all the mountain peaks which girdle Athens round but Athens itself he could not see for purple igina stood before it midway across the sea then his heart grew great within him and he said if I were king of such a land I would rule it wisely and well in wisdom and in might that when I died all men might weep over my tomb and cry alas for the shepherd of his people and aethra smiled and said take then the sword and the sandals and go to aegius king of Athens who lives on palace hill and say to him the stone is lifted but whose is the pledge beneath it then show him the sword and the sandals and take what the gods shall send but Theseus wept shall I leave you oh my mother but she answered weep not for me that which is fated must be and grief is easy to those who do not but grieve full of sorrow was my youth and full of sorrow my womanhood full of sorrow was my youth for bellera fawn the slayer of the chimera whom my father drove away by treason and full of sorrow my womanhood for thy treacherous father and for thee and full of sorrow my old age will be for I see my fate in dreams when the sons of the swan shall carry me captive to the hollow veil of Eurotus till I sail across the seas a slave the handmaid of the pest of Greece yet shall I be avenged when the golden-haired heroes sail against Troy and sack the palaces of Ilium then my son shall set me free from thrall them and I shall hear the tale of Theseus's fame yet beyond that I see new sorrows but I can bear them as I have borne the past then she kissed Theseus and wept over him and went into the temple and Theseus saw her no more end of part one of Theseus Recording by Tisto tystto.com


Few decisions taken by an electorate have held such profound implications for our country. May I begin by paying tribute to the voters in my own eastward constituency in East Renfrewshire, who again achieved a record turnout in Scotland of 76.1 per cent and who together with voters in Edinburgh achieved the highest vote for a main in Scotland and indeed the ninth and tenth highest votes respectively anywhere in the United Kingdom. My constituents voted to remain. As with all but a handful of members, I sought a different outcome and while I accept the outcome across the United Kingdom, I share the dismay and frustration expressed by the First Minister last Friday. There have been three referendums since devolution and while I appreciate that the First Minister has been on the losing side in all of them, being on the losing side this time has been a new experience for me. There have been some SNP lawyers this afternoon who have commended the First Minister on the leadership that she showed during the campaign and may I surprisingly join them and congratulate her on the energy that she brought to the contest both here in Scotland and in her participation in the UK referendum debate. But I cannot help but observe that the Scottish party whose supporters apparently voted to leave by the largest percentage were those of the SNP and perhaps the First Minister will reflect on why so many of her supporters ignored her advice and perhaps Richard Lockhead may well like to reflect on why nearly 50 per cent of his constituents voted to ignore him. Kezia Dugdale and Oliver Mundell were both right. This was not a clear cut result in every district and every community in Scotland but Kezia Dugdale has to reflect that while many Labour voters may have followed her advice in Scotland, by a far greater margin they rejected the absolutely shocking leadership from Jeremy Corbyn. No national leader has looked more lackluster smug or indifferent to the results since last Thursday than he has, so she can stew in her anger against this side but she needs to boil on the shame of her own juices over the complacent and indifferent leadership shown by Scotland's party's current UK leader at Westminster. In any event, I might observe too in passing, as did Elaine Smith, that proportional as this Parliament may be, it did not in its vote a few weeks ago reflect the balance of opinion in Scotland and that is something for us to reflect upon however awkward. In any event, the proposition I voted for last week and campaigned for that the UK remain in the European Union no longer exists. That was the proposition on the ballot paper. It was not that I or anyone else for that matter vote for Scotland to remain in the EU whatever the terms of the circumstances. I voted for Scotland to remain in an EU where the whole of the UK was an influential member state. The First Minister in her statement last Friday quite reasonably expressed her frustration and, to be frank, anger at the fact that Scotland, along with Northern Ireland and London, spoke so differently to the rest of the United Kingdom. She is embarked on a strategy to explore all the options that are open to Scotland and has detailed those as she sees them in broad terms that are sensible and prudent. However, if I had the views expressed this morning in the European Parliament by Mr Juncker and the fact that, in the last few minutes, the European President Donald Tusk has turned down the First Minister's invitation for a meeting, suggests that it is not going to be an easy path forward, I suspect that, although the First Minister does no disservice in exploring her options, the reality of a union-based entreaty will assert itself, although I hope that my pragmatic pessimism proves wrong. However, in exploring all the options and within hours of the result, the First Minister confirmed that she had instructed officials. It seems almost before anything else and before anyone had even digested their breakfast to prepare the way for a second Scottish independence referendum. As I listened with care then to the options as the First Minister detailed them, I did not hear advance what many regard as the most probable outcome and which surely the SNP must acknowledge must be a possible scenario, that Scotland remains in the UK and outside of the European Union. It is not enough for SNP members to sit in their seats and sneer and say that this shows the true colours of people who consider that. It is surely imperative that, in that scenario, we not only secure the best possible terms in our exiting the formal EU for Scotland, but that, in the future life of our country, we ensure that the policies adopted for the areas of national life once again determined in the UK are unequivocally designed to advance Scotland's best interests, and at the very least, this option should enjoy a parallel status and effort from the Scottish Government. If they do not do that, if they focus on the campaign for India or F2, the SNP risks undermining Scotland's influence in the very negotiations and future planning that are taking place. As others conclude that Scotland's contribution is half-hearted, half-baked and designed to undermine the deal available. I do not argue that this would ever be the intention of ministers, but it could easily be the conclusion of others less enlightened. So we need to see Nicola Sturgeon at the heart of discussions in London, not in a busman's tour of European capitals. We need to see the First Minister join with and work with the Secretary of State for Scotland, who she did not mention in her statement today, and all others to represent Scotland's best interests. We need all of Scotland's Westminster MPs, who the First Minister did not mention today, to represent Scotland's interests, and not just of the SNP. We need to see and hear the voices in support of Scotland and not just suffer their belligerent tweets in support of SNP commands alternative agenda. Central to our national interest is the best possible access to the free trade market, which is of so fundamental importance to employment. No result last week changes the fact that the overwhelming majority of our business is with the rest of the UK or with the European Union. Jobs and futures depend upon it. Foremost in our minds, wherever we live in the UK, should be the future of our young people. I know from my own home and from the friends of my sons just how strongly they feel. It's not just a media fantasy. Rightly or wrongly, many young people feel that the 60 per cent of our oldest generation who voted to leave have scoffered the lifetime opportunity of the 75 per cent of our youngest generation who voted to remain. We have above all else to show and give these young people hope. Direct democracy has let them down in a way representative democracy would not do, but we have to offer them the opportunity to travel, study, volunteer work, wherever across Europe and the world they wish to do so. To facilitate that, in the potential absence of the many schemes available currently within the existing EU, like Erasmus, and to welcome others to the UK in exchange. Just a few weeks ago, and in all sides of this chamber, members spoke with passion and commitment for the UK's continued membership of the European Union. I argued, I hope and believe, not on the basis of why we should not leave, but why we should remain. I will always argue for the most positive, productive and engaging relationship with Europe, but now it is necessary for us to meet the challenge. Few of us sought. We need to meet it with steely purpose. We need to meet it with an agreed unity of purpose and with a message of hope. However, individuals may define it. Our adjudity is now to obtain the best possible outcome for Scotland. I will call Fiona Hyslop to wind up for the Government Cabinet. I thank all those who have participated in today's debate and to echo the First Minister's pride at the decision that voters in Scotland took to decisively vote in favour of Scotland and the UK's continuing membership of the EU. Just reflecting on the contribution, I think that Jackson Carlaw does protest too much. It is about the time that the Conservatives face up to what they have done. It does not behold him to lash out to other people and other members in this chamber. Some of the members today have contributed about how they felt personally, as Willie Rennie did, some about their constituents and how they feel. Some have talked about the immediate consequences of the referendum vote and some about the nature of the campaign that was fought and some about the immediate aftermath. Many have focused on the result itself—the infatic 62 per cent of Scots who chose to remain. I thought a very passionate speech. Kezia Dugdale reminded us to think and understand that, in some cases and in some places, some people voted to leave out of a sense of powerlessness and a need for change. We also have to think through the consequences of that. Patrick Harvie was correct to identify that there was space provided for division and fear and hatred to be agended and gendered.  Christina McKelvie talked about rights and respect for citizens and citizens of the EU. Many of the contributions that we have had today or that it has talked about to EU citizens living here. The European Minister, Alasdair Allan, visited two businesses yesterday morning in Edinburgh, owned by EU nationals, to hear first hand why they chose to make Scotland their home and to make it clear to them that their contribution is valued. Right across Scotland, employers, organisations and industries have been publishing messages and making statements stressing the continued welcome for their friends and colleagues. Professor Antony Muscatelli, from the University of Glasgow, stated on Friday that the university was founded in the European tradition and that nothing will change our international outlook.  Paul Gray, the head of NHS Scotland, has stated that he values the contribution of every member of staff in NHS Scotland, regardless of citizenship. The EU referendum has not changed that. Geoffrey Sharkey, the principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, emphasises that our EU and international students are past, present and future and will be the most welcome and valued members of our creative community. We can all agree that, however, each of us voted that the Scottish Government has a responsibility to provide reassurance to the 173,000 EU citizens that have chosen to make Scotland their home. The First Minister, ahead of today's debate, has already outlined the actions that we are taking to provide this reassurance. I met yesterday with the ambassadors of France, Germany and Slovakia, who all have citizens living here, and I underlined our commitment to the interests of their citizens. I think that it is important that we ensure that that welcome is known. We have always argued in this Government about the benefits of EU migration, and that is a consistent part of our message. I, of course, was also saddened and indeed angered the way that some seek to use a wholly misleading way migration to encourage people to leave. I thought that Clare Adamson gave a clarion call and a very powerful speech about how all of us going forward must face up and face down that behaviour. I think that we cannot express the Scottish Government's welcome more clearly than the words used by the First Minister on Friday morning. Scotland is your home, you are welcome here and your contribution is vowed. I also want to emphasise that, in my discussions with the ambassadors of France, Germany and Slovakia yesterday, I told them about this debate and that it was a motion about how approval to take forward and protect Scotland's interests in the EU and that all options would be assessed and that it was not asking Parliament about support for an independent referendum. Despite my disappointment in the UK's result, I want to stress again the commitment of the Scottish Government in ensuring that all Scotland's interests and those of our citizens are protected at this most uncertain of times. The Scottish Government will be taking forward that. Jackie Baillie asked about the economic aspects—indeed, Mike Russell touched on that as well. John Swinney and Keith Brown are taking forward some of the direct dialogue with business about how we can make sure that our interests are protected. However, we must also think about how we do that and who we do that with. Miles Briggs talks about the financial services industry in the city. How does he expect the financial services interests of the city of Edinburgh to be advanced if we do not have the opportunity to engage directly? I bear in mind that Lord Hill, the Financial Services Commissioner, has resigned. Although there might be similar interests with the financial services in London, there will also be different interests. It is very important that we explore all options and to understand that. I want to turn to Oliver Mundell, in particular, who talked about no need to jump to hasty conclusions. In terms of our engagement, we are seeking urgent talks with the UK Government on its plans for withdrawal, but I make it clear that no one has any idea what those plans are. Oliver Mundell's perspective to wait and see is at best passive, but at worst is a complete and utter abdication of responsibility. If you listen to the tone of the Conservatives, both sides of remain and leave are acting and behaving as they wish it hadn't happened. Our job and our responsibility is to take forward Scotland's interests. I will ensure that we have dialogue and we have had dialogue with our colleagues across the United Kingdom. We have said quite clearly that Scotland must have a clear role in the UK negotiation, and indeed, the Prime Minister has confirmed that. However, we need a seat at the table, and we cannot have a repeat of the situation of the last year in terms of the negotiations of David Cameron's work that we were locked out of that. It is unclear how those developments will be taken forward. I have met the Secretary of State for Scotland on Friday. I am due to have a phone call with the European Minister, David Linton, tomorrow, but it is important that we ensure that we have an opportunity to look at all options, but we must have a direct engagement to ensure that all options can be explored with EU institutions as well as with the United Kingdom. Many members have cited different arguments for economic benefit from the EU, the access to the single market, the valuable social human rights, the importance of being able to pull sovereignty to look at big issues such as global challenges, tackling pollution, climate change and tackling the refugee crisis. We do not have to look too far back in history to acknowledge the importance of co-operation in the EU over conflict, and that is something that we must always remember. I am proud that the chamber in its debate barely a month ago set forward that positive case for membership, free from the fear-based campaigning that we saw on both sides during the closing stages. The benefits that we realised from our EU membership were as real last week as they are this week, and in voting to remain, the people of Scotland have recognised that. That is why the Scottish Government is committed to examining all options open to it, to preserve its relationship with the EU, so that those benefits can continue to be realised. In doing that, we will engage directly with member states, European institutions and the UK Government. I met the Secretary of State, as I said, and I am talking to the UK's European Minister, and we will continue our engagement in Brussels and with other interested member states. However, if we are to advance our interests in law, in business, in jobs and in the environment, we must identify what the options are and are available within the EU institutions and the member states. In doing so, we can build on the work of the European External Affairs Committee's report. Joe McAlpine set out the founding and grounding that we had in relation to that, and I can reassure both Jackson, Carla Lewis, Donald, Rondrie and indeed others that I will make sure that Opposition members and spokespeople are informed. However, we have the benefit in Scotland of taking that work forward with advice, with information, with knowledge and wisdom from a standing council on Europe that was announced by the First Minister to look at all the options that we can take forward in pursuing our interests. Presiding Officer, in terms of where we are now, we are in a unique and unprecedented situation. We are in uncharted waters. There is no obvious route forward, but together we must find a route forward. I am confident that we as a Parliament can work collaboratively going forward, taking all actions in the best interests of Scotland. The people of Scotland sent us here in our election only a few weeks ago to represent them and stand up for their interests. We have a clear responsibility and duty to work together, not just across the chamber, but together with the experienced knowledge and wisdom of the standing council and beyond to make sure that we identify, predict and advance Scotland's interests in the EU. Presiding Officer, it is in that spirit, in that intent, that I would urge members to think forward in the case of Scotland, not just to where we have been recently in this campaign but where we want Scotland to be in the future. We might not have a charted route forward, but if we have a commitment and a common endeavour and if we have the interests of Scotland clearly in our focus, I think that this Parliament working together can achieve much in difficult times. I urge all members to think about the opportunities that lie ahead, the challenges that lie ahead and be realistic about what they may be, but let's come together and give endorsements that that work should and must take place.


How is it annoying to see a spinner and the application takes forever to load? Performance is crucial in user experience and slow loading data can really hold an app back That's why today I'll be exploring one of the tools to enhance the data fetching and data loading It's called the graph QL This works, right? This should work like that You don't have a USB, of course Sorry about that Oh, I have a... Sorry, technical issues. I don't know. I don't have an AC I think this should work Yeah, yeah, of course Where is it? The shift? I'm just pressing whatever now You know, never mind Never mind, I will just use my keyboard It works, there you go Alright Thanks So today I'm presenting, again, the power of graph QL So we're going to explore the powerful capabilities of this tool And how we can use it for API and modern application But before I do that, quick introduction about myself And it's not working again Quick introduction about myself Hello everyone, my name is Yara Divyan I'm Lebanese, I currently live in Barcelona And I'm a software engineer at Factorial So before I start talking about GraphQL I'm just going to go over real quick REST API We all know about REST API, REST API And it's like the go-to solution When you're dealing with data fetching and data manipulation But with REST API, we can have some problems One of them is the underfetching And underfetching is when I'm requesting data And to get all my data, I need to have more than one REST API request Because I'm not getting enough for one request Also we have the problem of overfetching Which is actually the opposite It's when I get more data than I actually need in my request So all of this can result in this loading data In the appearance of spinners And we hate spinners in our application And they reduce responsiveness of the web application And overall the usability of the application, it undermines it So let's try to solve this question To solve this pain with GraphQL First, what is GraphQL? GraphQL is an API query tool Okay, I found this on the web for easy as e Check it out Sorry about that, it's my friend Siri Siri, shut up Alright, so GraphQL is an API query language And it has three main pillars The first one is the single request property And what do I mean by that? I mean that we can have all the data that we need In one single request And we're going to see later how we can do that The second one is the easy data manipulation And the GraphQL supports precise and simple data fetching And the last one is the strongly typed schema And when I say strongly typed schema We can think about it as a contract It's a strict contract between the server and the client So more about the schema Here in my diagram I have the schema that's defined And inside my schema I have all the logic Everything I need to know for my application I have the objects, I have the models that I want I also define the operations that I can do on my data So the query, the mutation, everything So what happens is the front end Or the client, it requests some data Or it wants to manipulate some data So it talks to the back end or the servers And what happens is the server needs to check with the schema Which has the contract with it And to see what kind of operations are allowed And what kind of types are defined and everything So everything happens inside the schema And the DB is there just to provide the data Or to execute some manipulation, some mutations for the data Now, what is the schema and how we construct it? We need to understand something, which is the types We have four main types in GraphQL The first one is the scaler, which are the basic types They can be integers, string, boolean The second one is when I don't have the types already predefined in GraphQL I construct something called customer scalers And this is used to express some date or time variables The last one, the third one is the enumerators Which is when I have a discrete set of choices That I want to express, and I know what output I am expecting For example, to define a role, I can define the role being an admin Or a guest, or a default, or a manager I know what kind of output I'm getting And the last one is the object And the object is actually a combination of all the previous types And also of some objects, they're the complex data structure That when you see, we can actually understand The last thing that I want to talk about is the query And from the name of query, what is query, is a function That used to request and fetch data from the GraphQL API It's a really cool thing about the query is that...  The cool thing about query is that it helps me define what I want And it helps me to get the exact data that I need So the thing here in this really simple query Is defining what I want as a response So here I'm trying, for example, to get a post And the query takes an argument as any function Here I'm taking an ID And I need the post to return the ID, the title And the author attribute, for example So everything is defined by the developers And I don't have any surprises from the back end From what I'm getting, because I'm defining what I need So it makes the API more efficient And more flexible for the developer So I'm going to let that thing end for two seconds And now that you have enough basic knowledge On the GraphQL and how things work I'm going to jump to a quick demo Suppose I have this weblog application I know, design is my passion So I have a user, I have some posts And I have a friend's list Now suppose I want to render this page What I will need is three requests First one to get the user The second one is to get the post And the last one is to get the list of friends So now suppose I want to take my application to the next level And I want to have this kind of pop-over Or tooltip or something And inside it I will be also displaying some information About the author of every post So I will need three additional requests To get the user information So it's more than four requests Just to get this simple page So imagine the amount of spinners I will be having now That's crazy and we hate that We hate spinners So let's try to solve this with the GraphQL First what I will do I will start with my schema Just to understand how things are done I have a user, I define the user attributes that I have ID, name, email, whatever And I also have posts that the user can see They belong to the user And what is a post is actually another object Inside the post I also define the attributes And the post has an author What is the author is actually a user And lastly also inside the user I have a friend's list And what is a friend is also a user So now we see how things are connected together Now that I constructed my schema I'm going to try to construct my first query What is this query doing? This query will try to render the page that I have And inside my query what I have I have my argument, I have my ID And again I'm defining what I want I'm telling the client The client is telling the server what it needs So I'm telling here for the user I need the user attributes I need a list of posts And I need a list of friends of this user So all of this is being done I need one request, which is SlashCraftQF So no more under fetching here I don't need more requests just to get One simple data that I have It's as simple as that This is how my output would look like Strict, basic, JSON format output I have all my information I have an array of posts I have an array of friends As simple as that Now one more thing Imagine I decide in my application That I don't want to show the email anymore I don't care about the email and I don't need it I don't need to render it So basically with REST API I will have to accept it Because this is my request to get the user So with the backend is giving me I'm gonna have to deal with it I'm gonna have to parse it and do all the logic there Or I'm gonna have to change the logic in the backend But with GraphQL all I can do Is just remove my email I don't need it here And this is how my output would look like No email, no overload of data No load of transfer So no more over fetching here I'm getting exactly what I need So Yeah I'm gonna go just one take a quick look Again on my application And if we look again We can see that we have something common here We have some common fields There are all the user And if I take a look again at my query I can see that inside my query I'm repeating myself here I'm repeating the attributes again And again And I think most of us are lazy When it comes to writing the thing Over and over again So what if we had a way To connect everything And just to group everything in one single query And this query is gonna Every time I'm gonna call it It's gonna just give me the information Of the user instead of me repeating myself Well that's possible It's possible with something called fragment And what is a fragment? The way, the only way Or the simplest way to think about Fragment is like An abstraction And it's like Extracting data from a query Extracting a sub-query And I can reuse it everywhere Like a puzzle piece And I can use it in every query And every time I'm using it I know what it's gonna get me I know that type it's gonna get me I can construct a query called user fragment And every time I will be calling This fragment It's gonna get me the ID, the name And the email So this is how my query would look like again I would be just calling the fragment In both places, for the user And for the friends Now the also cool part about it Is that it makes my code more maintainable And more modular Why? Suppose I decide to make my Application even more sophisticated And I wanted to add the bio attribute here Now, if I had the old query there I would have to go to everywhere I'm calling the user And call the bio again But with fragment I can just add it here And the bio will be requested everywhere I'm calling the fragment So yeah, that's pretty cool Now, everything I just explained And I went over Can be possible, or it's kind of A bit complicated to do And Apollo client is a simple library That's used to integrate GraphQL With our front end Front end project With React, Angular or any other Framework that we're working on And it provides caching capabilities And it makes it easy for developers To use GraphQL I'm gonna combine everything that we did It's just simple JavaScript file I'm sure if I'm gonna run this It's gonna fail It's pretty basic to understand How things are connected So I'm using my Apollo client here And I'm importing My use query method here And I'm gonna use this query To actually call the query that I constructed So I have here my query that I constructed before I'm not gonna put it here That gets user query And what I'm doing, for example here I'm defining a user profile component And inside it, I'm calling the use query From Apollo To my constructed query before And also the argument Which is the variable Which is here the user ID And what it's returning It's returning loading Which is a Boolean value To know if it's loading or not To know if I'm gonna display the spinner or not The only spinner And the header field And also the data So this is how it's gonna look like I have the user For example I can define it And I can be able to use it in my component User.name,.friends,.post Everything that I'm actually returning In my query Yeah, pretty cool And there is more I haven't even scratched the surface Of GraphQL We still have the mutation 15 minutes is not enough To talk about that We also have the pagination Which is used for extensive data And the other handling As seen before It's here Because the GraphQL It dedicates just the field For the errors In every response So it's so easy to handle it And to parse it And all of this So yeah I highly request Or advise you to check GraphQL It's a really interesting tool to have And it can take really like API management And data management to the next level And to check that There are a lot of tutorials online A lot of documentation One of them is the Official documentation for GraphQL And the official documentation For Apollo as well And there are a lot of free resources On the internet to check Last but not least I just want to go over Some real life use cases Of GraphQL Starting by Facebook Which is I forgot to mention Is the creator of GraphQL And Facebook is using it For the Instagram application Also we have GitHub That's using GraphQL To construct their public API We have Twitter using GraphQL For their Twitter lite application And Twitter lite is the application Used for slow connection environment So they're trying to Make the application more performance And requires less Less rendering So this is great When they try to escape The over fetching And under fetching and rest And lastly also Airbnb is using it To unify all the API And it makes it easy for developers To maintain Airbnb application So, yeah, we can see that GraphQL has made a huge impact In the tech industry And let's try together To unlock the power of GraphQL Thank you Hi How do you validate the query According to the defined schema? Sorry, I didn't hear the question How do you validate the query According to the defined schema? I don't... The schema does it itself It's Apollo It's the integration with Apollo That validates everything That's the thing I pass only my arguments to it And the schema is how it's defined Because I'm defining in my schema My user type, for example And I'm defining the user type Like the ID is always an integer And I don't know the name is a string Or the date has this format So every time I'm sending a request To my Apollo client It's gonna check this query It's gonna check what kind of type I'm passing, for example And it's gonna return it for me And if anything is not matching It's gonna throw the error by itself Is it possible to return a partial response For the request for the query? Partial response for the query It depends what I'm sending This is the thing I define in my query what I need So if I need the partial response I just need to tell it I need it partial So I only define it The principle stuff Yeah, you're welcome Where are you from? Great, thank you Thank you


James and what do you think about the way the offense responded tonight. Yeah, I mean it felt like I mean he coming in here He's a pretty good starter and we got him out of the game pretty quickly I think we had nine walks and only eight strikeouts so anytime you're walking more than you're striking out That's that's a great stat. So I mean, we were working counts. We're passing the baton to the next guy all night Just setting up big situations. We're fine taking a walk We're fine taking taking the ball where it was pitched like Gary's Homer was off the plate away And he just takes it the other way. I mean Really incredible group effort seemed like there were no breaks tonight top-to-bottom everyone was ready to work Ohtani clearly gave you a little bit of trouble, but overall, how do you assess your routing? Yeah? Yeah, I mean Ohtani even the pitches I threw him. I'm not really that mad about I mean, I thought there are some pretty good pitches He's just I mean, he's incredible. He's he's a great hitter and he's extremely hot right now Which which makes it tough, but you know, I was given a lead I felt like I at least filled up the zone and threw strikes and competed out there I gave up way too many two-strike hits, but you know, I'd take that over with a lead a big lead like that Just kind of nibbling and stuff. So I thought the fastball curve ball combo is good I thought the slider kind of stunk tonight, but Out of here with a W and the offense had my back