Chapter X: IO

There was once a princess named Io, whose father was king of the town of Argos, in Greece. Zeus loved Io because she was fair and gentle, and he often came down to earth in order to be with her. But Hera was angry with Zeus for going away from her, and one day when he went to see the beautiful Io, she followed him. Then Zeus changed Io into a white cow, and pretended that he had only come to look at the cow. But Hera knew it was Io, and she begged him so earnestly to make her a present of the cow that he could not refuse. Hera gave the white cow into the charge of the watchman Argus, who had a hundred eyes that slept by turns so that half of them were always on the watch. He took her to a sacred grove and tied her to an olive tree, and then he climbed a little hill that was close by, and sat there day and night watching her. Io ate grass and flowers when she was hungry, but she was very sad and lowed mournfully, for she longed to see her father and her playfellows again.

After some time Zeus commanded the crafty god Hermes to steal away the cow, and Hermes went into the wood and began to play upon the shepherd's flute. Argus called him to his side for the playing pleased {32} him well, so Hermes came and played all his most beautiful tunes, whilst Argus stretched himself out on the grass and enjoyed himself more than he had ever done in his life before. Then all the hundred eyes fell asleep at once, and Hermes took a sharp sickle and cut off his head. After that he loosed the cow, and was preparing to take her home to her father, but Hera, who had seen what he had done, was very angry, and she came down and commanded him to let go the cow. As Hera was mightier than he, Hermes was obliged to obey, and then Hera made a great insect as large as a bat, which buzzed horribly and tormented Io. She ran away in order to try and escape from it, but it pursued her all over the country, and even though she swam across a wide sea and went on through the country on the further side, still the insect kept flying round and round her and gave her no peace. For a whole year she fled from it, till at last when she had reached the land of Egypt in Africa she was so tired that she could go no further. Hera was just then asleep, and Zeus was able to come quickly down and kill the cruel gad-fly; then he stroked the back of the cow with his hand and she received back her human form, but she was pale and wasted, and not so beautiful as before. After this she remained in Egypt where the people of the country were good to her, but Hera was even more unkind than before, and when after a time Io had a little son, she caused the child to be stolen from her. Then Io was again in great distress, and she set out to seek for her child. She journeyed from morning to night without stopping, and she had gone through the whole country without {33} being able to find it and was beginning to be terribly afraid that it must have perished, when someone told her that Hera had given it to a queen in the land of Syria to take care of. It was a long way off, and the journey was full of danger on account of robbers and wild beasts, but Io set off at once for the land of Syria, and when she got there, the queen gave back the child to her.

After this, Hera left off persecuting Io, and the King of Egypt asked her to be his wife and made her the queen. But she could never forget her past troubles, and as often as she saw a white cow, she thought of how she too had once been a cow, and had eaten grass and flowers.

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