King Pluto had taken a road which now began to grow excessively gloomy.It was bordered on each side with rocks and precipices, between which the rumbling of the chariot wheels was reverberated with a noise like rolling thunder.The trees and bushes that grew in the crevices of the rocks had very dismal foliage; and by and by, although it was hardly noon, the air became obscured with a gray twilight.The black horses had rushed along so swiftly, that they were already beyond the limits of the sunshine.But the duskier it grew, the more did Pluto's visage assume an air of satisfaction.After all, he was not an ill-looking person, especially when he left off twisting his features into a smile that did not belong to them.
Proserpina peeped at his face through the gathering dusk, and hoped that he might not be so very wicked as she at first thought him.
"Ah, this twilight is truly refreshing," said King Pluto, "after being so tormented with that ugly and impertinent glare of the sun.How much more agreeable is lamplight or torchlight, more particularly when reflected from diamonds! It will be a magnificent sight, when we get to my palace.""Is it much farther?" asked Proserpina."And will you carry me back when I have seen it?""We will talk of that by and by," answered Pluto."We are just entering my dominions.Do you see that tall gateway before us?
When we pass those gates, we are at home.And there lies my faithful mastiff at the threshold.Cerberus! Cerberus! Come hither, my good dog!"So saying, Pluto pulled at the reins, and stopped the chariot right between the tall, massive pillars of the gateway.The mastiff of which he had spoken got up from the threshold, and stood on his hinder legs, so as to put his fore paws on the chariot wheel.But, my stars, what a strange dog it was! Why, he was a big, rough, ugly-looking monster, with three separate heads, and each of them fiercer than the two others; but fierce as they were, King Pluto patted them all.He seemed as fond of his three-headed dog as if it had been a sweet little spaniel, with silken ears and curly hair.Cerberus, on the other hand, was evidently rejoiced to see his master, and expressed his attachment, as other dogs do, by wagging his tail at a great rate.Proserpina's eyes being drawn to it by its brisk motion, she saw that this tail was neither more nor less than a live dragon, with fiery eyes, and fangs that had a very poisonous aspect.And while the three-headed Cerberus was fawning so lovingly on King Pluto, there was the dragon tail wagging against its will, and looking as cross and ill-natured as you can imagine, on its own separate account.
"Will the dog bite me?" asked Proserpina, shrinking closer to Pluto."What an ugly creature he is!""O, never fear," answered her companion."He never harms people, unless they try to enter my dominions without being sent for, or to get away when I wish to keep them here.Down, Cerberus! Now, my pretty Proserpina, we will drive on."On went the chariot, and King Pluto seemed greatly pleased to find himself once more in his own kingdom.He drew Proserpina's attention to the rich veins of gold that were to be seen among the rocks, and pointed to several places where one stroke of a pickaxe would loosen a bushel of diamonds.All along the road, indeed, there were sparkling gems, which would have been of inestimable value above ground, but which here were reckoned of the meaner sort and hardly worth a beggar's stooping for.
Not far from the gateway, they came to a bridge, which seemed to be built of iron.Pluto stopped the chariot, and bade Proserpina look at the stream which was gliding so lazily beneath it.Never in her life had she beheld so torpid, so black, so muddy-looking a stream; its waters reflected no images of anything that was on the banks, and it moved as sluggishly as if it had quite forgotten which way it ought to flow, and had rather stagnate than flow either one way or the other.
"This is the River Lethe," observed King Pluto."Is it not a very pleasant stream?""I think it a very dismal one," answered Proserpina.
"It suits my taste, however," answered Pluto, who was apt to be sullen when anybody disagreed with him."At all events, its water has one excellent quality; for a single draught of it makes people forget every care and sorrow that has hitherto tormented them.Only sip a little of it, my dear Proserpina, and you will instantly cease to grieve for your mother, and will have nothing in your memory that can prevent your being perfectly happy in my palace.I will send for some, in a golden goblet, the moment we arrive.""O, no, no, no!" cried Proserpina, weeping afresh."I had a thousand times rather be miserable with remembering my mother, than be happy in forgetting her.That dear, dear mother! Inever, never will forget her."
