192 WARNER, CHARLES DUDLEY The Delights of Farming. From Being 275 198 249 It Is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free 263 To the Cuckoo A Visit to the Wreck. From The Swiss Family Robinson . 328 63 UNIV. OF THE HOWE FIFTH READER PHAETHON JOSEPHINE PRESTON PEABODY Once upon a time, the reckless whim of a lad came near to destroying the earth and robbing the spheres of their wits. There were two playmates, said to be of heavenly parentage. One was Epaphus, who claimed Zeus as a father; and one was Phaethon, the earthly child of Phoebus Apollo. One day they were boasting together, each of his own father, and Epaphus, angry at the other's fine story, dared him to go prove his kinship with the Sun. Full of rage and humiliation, Phaethon went to his mother, Clymene, where she sat with his young sisters, the Heliades. "It is true, my child," she said. "If you have any doubt, go to the land whence he rises at morning and ask of him any gift you will; he is your father, and he cannot refuse you." As soon as might be, Phaethon set out for the country |