Hercules feasted merrily in the palace of Eurystheus, and the rumor about his amazing exploits rolled from kingdom to kingdom, from city to city, to the very ends of the earth. People and gods everywhere glorified the hero. But the more they talked about him, the more Eurystheus envied him. The evil king saw that the son of Zeus could do any feat. Moreover, he felt how the mighty servant despised his cowardly master. And he finally decided to lime Hercules with overwork.
Gloomy and angry, Eurystheus walked from corner to corner for days on end, thinking about where to send the hero, how to disgrace him in front of all people. Every night, Eurystheus drank a whole bowl of sleeping pills in order to quickly see the insidious Hera in a dream.
But the goddess herself could not think of anything, and Tsar Eurystheus instead had various stupid dreams. From this, he woke up even more angry than he had been in the evening, and in the morning he began to beat all the courtiers with his staff.
Everyone who sat at the feast persuaded Hercules to abandon the stupid idea, believing that he would definitely lose, but the mighty hero accepted the king's challenge.
As soon as morning dawned, he took a shovel, asked the slaves for an ax and went through the city into the forest, which grew in the valley between two rivers. As he walked through the streets, people leaned out of the doors of houses, from behind the columns of temples and, choking with laughter, pointed their fingers at him. But the hero paid no attention to them. Breaking into the very thicket of the forest, he began to cut and fell trees one after another. By noon the whole forest was cut down. Only fresh stumps stuck out of the moss.
Having finished the felling, Hercules dumped the thick logs in a heap, wrapped his arms around them and carried them to the shore of Peneus. There he threw them into the water, showered them with earth and stones, and completely blocked the river. Then he built a dam on Alfea.
The whole city came running to look at the work of Hercules. Seeing how he was carrying heavy logs, the merry townspeople stopped laughing. They shook their heads, not understanding why Hercules needed dams, and said that famous hero probably went crazy.
The sun was already setting when Hercules completed both dams.
He shouted to the shepherds to quickly drive all the bulls out of the stalls and open the gates as wide as possible. Then Hercules calmly sat down on the bank and began to watch how the turbulent waters of both rivers, arriving every minute, rose to the very top of the dam. The water seethed and bubbled, trying to drive away the heavy logs. Meanwhile, Avgiy came to see what Hercules had done in a day. Seeing the dams, the king only shrugged his shoulders, and everyone agreed that Hercules, obviously, really was crazy: after all, the sun was already setting, and he still did not think to start cleaning the stalls. But as soon as the sun touched the earth, the rivers gushed over the dams. Their waters roared into one mighty stream and flooded the valley, in the middle of which stood the Augean stable. Whirling and foaming, the stream rushed through the gates of the dirty stables and, before the people had time to come to their senses, washed away all the manure and carried it through the second gate into a wide field. The very thing that people could not do in a year, the rivers did in half an hour. The stalls of King Augeas were cleared.
Then Hercules destroyed the dams and, calming the seething waters, returned the streams to their former channels. The water has subsided. The glade immediately dried up, and Augeas, and with him all the people, saw through the wide-open gates the stalls so cleanly washed, as if the bulls themselves had licked them with their rough tongues.
The news of this feat of Hercules rolled throughout the country. Blind singers sang about him, sitting in the dust in the sun at the city gates. Mothers told their daughters about him, and fathers told their sons. But the heart of the hero himself was restless. After all, the blood of the children he had killed still troubled his conscience. Six great things were done by his powerful hands. Many times he looked into the eyes of death. But it is always easier to commit a bad deed than to make amends later. This must never be forgotten.
It was necessary to perform many more feats before Hercules could receive the desired forgiveness. I had to hurry. great hero did not want to grow old and die without completing the lesson assigned to him by the gods.
That's why he didn't argue with the greedy miser Augeas when he refused to pay him to clear the stalls.
Rejoice, O king of misers! - the hero said to Augeas with contempt. - I don't have time now to insist on my truth. But beware of the day when I will accomplish my twelfth labor. Then I'll come back here and you'll regret your deceit...
Having said this, he left Elis and went back to Eurysthes.
her. And people from that time to the present day, when they want to talk about some dirty and disorderly place, they say:
These are real Augean stables.
Sixth feat. Heracles cleans the Augean stables.
The king of Elis, Avgiy, was unspeakably rich. Countless herds of his bulls and sheep and herds of horses grazed in the fertile valley of the river Alfea. He had three hundred horses with legs as white as snow, two hundred were red as copper; twelve horses were all white as swans, and one of them had a star shining in its forehead.
Avgii had so many cattle that the servants did not have time to clean the barns and stables, and for many years manure had accumulated in them up to the very roofs.
King Eurystheus, wanting to please Augia and humiliate Hercules, sent the hero to clean the Augean stables.
Hercules appeared in Elis and said to Augeas:
If you give me a tenth of your horses, I will clear the stables in one day.
Augeas laughed: he thought that they could not be cleansed at all. So the king said to Hercules:
I will give you a tenth of my horses if you clear out my stables in one day.
Then Hercules demanded that they give him a shovel, and Augius, grinning, ordered to bring it to the hero.
How long will you have to work with this shovel! - he said.
Only one day, - said Hercules and went to the shore of Alpheus.
For half a day he worked diligently with a shovel. The earth took off from under it and lay down in a high shaft. Hercules dammed the riverbed and led it straight to the royal stables. The waters of Alpheus flowed rapidly through them, taking with them manure, stalls, feeders, even dilapidated walls.
Leaning on a shovel, Hercules watched how quickly the river worked, and only sometimes came to her aid. The stables were cleared by sunset.
Do not seek, the king, - said Hercules, - I cleared your stables not only from manure, but also from everything that was dilapidated and rotted long ago. I did more than I promised. Now you give me what you promised.
But the greedy Avgiy argued, began to scold and refused to give the horses to Hercules. Then Hercules became furious, entered into battle with Avgiy and killed him in a duel.
Sixth feat. Heracles cleans the Augean stables.
The king of Elis, Avgiy, was unspeakably rich. Countless herds of his bulls and sheep and herds of horses grazed in the fertile valley of the river Alfea. He had three hundred horses with legs as white as snow, two hundred were red as copper; twelve horses were all white as swans, and one of them had a star shining in its forehead.
Avgii had so many cattle that the servants did not have time to clean the barns and stables, and for many years manure had accumulated in them up to the very roofs.
King Eurystheus, wanting to please Augia and humiliate Hercules, sent the hero to clean the Augean stables.
Hercules appeared in Elis and said to Augeas:
If you give me a tenth of your horses, I will clear the stables in one day.
Augeas laughed: he thought that they could not be cleansed at all. So the king said to Hercules:
I will give you a tenth of my horses if you clear out my stables in one day.
Then Hercules demanded that they give him a shovel, and Augius, grinning, ordered to bring it to the hero.
How long will you have to work with this shovel! - he said.
Only one day, - said Hercules and went to the shore of Alpheus.
For half a day he worked diligently with a shovel. The earth took off from under it and lay down in a high shaft. Hercules dammed the riverbed and led it straight to the royal stables. The waters of Alpheus flowed rapidly through them, taking with them manure, stalls, feeders, even dilapidated walls.
Leaning on a shovel, Hercules watched how quickly the river worked, and only sometimes came to her aid. The stables were cleared by sunset.
Do not seek, the king, - said Hercules, - I cleared your stables not only from manure, but also from everything that was dilapidated and rotted long ago. I did more than I promised. Now you give me what you promised.
But the greedy Avgiy argued, began to scold and refused to give the horses to Hercules. Then Hercules became furious, entered into battle with Avgiy and killed him in a duel.
