And thus Mother Ceres went wandering about for nine long days and nights, finding no trace of Proserpina, unless it were now and then a withered flower; and these she picked up and put in her bosom, because she fancied that they might have fallen from her poor child's hand.All day she traveled onward through the hot sun; and, at night again, the flame of the torch would redden and gleam along the pathway, and she continued her search by its light, without ever sitting down to rest.
On the tenth day, she chanced to espy the mouth of a cavern within which (though it was bright noon everywhere else) there would have been only a dusky twilight; but it so happened that a torch was burning there.It flickered, and struggled with the duskiness, but could not half light up the gloomy cavern with all its melancholy glimmer.Ceres was resolved to leave no spot without a search; so she peeped into the entrance of the cave, and lighted it up a little more, by holding her own torch before her.In so doing, she caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a woman, sitting on the brown leaves of the last autumn, a great heap of which had been swept into the cave by the wind.
This woman (if woman it were) was by no means so beautiful as many of her sex; for her head, they tell me, was shaped very much like a dog's, and, by way of ornament, she wore a wreath of snakes around it.But Mother Ceres, the moment she saw her, knew that this was an odd kind of a person, who put all her enjoyment in being miserable, and never would have a word to say to other people, unless they were as melancholy and wretched as she herself delighted to be.
"I am wretched enough now," thought poor Ceres, "to talk with this melancholy Hecate, were she ten times sadder than ever she was yet." So she stepped into the cave, and sat down on the withered leaves by the dog-headed woman's side.In all the world, since her daughter's loss, she had found no other companion.
"O Hecate," said she, "if ever you lose a daughter, you will know what sorrow is.Tell me, for pity's sake, have you seen my poor child Proserpina pass by the mouth of your cavern?""No," answered Hecate, in a cracked voice, and sighing betwixt every word or two; "no, Mother Ceres, I have seen nothing of your daughter.But my ears, you must know, are made in such a way, that all cries of distress and affright all over the world are pretty sure to find their way to them; and nine days ago, as I sat in my cave, making myself very miserable, I heard the voice of a young girl, shrieking as if in great distress.
Something terrible has happened to the child, you may rest assured.As well as I could judge, a dragon, or some other cruel monster, was carrying her away.""You kill me by saying so," cried Ceres, almost ready to faint.
"Where was the sound, and which way did it seem to go?""It passed very swiftly along," said Hecate, "and, at the same time, there was a heavy rumbling of wheels towards the eastward.I can tell you nothing more, except that, in my honest opinion, you will never see your daughter again.The best advice I can give you is, to take up your abode in this cavern, where we will be the two most wretched women in the world.""Not yet, dark Hecate," replied Ceres."But do you first come with your torch, and help me to seek for my lost child.And when there shall be no more hope of finding her (if that black day is ordained to come), then, if you will give me room to fling myself down, either on these withered leaves or on the naked rock, I will show what it is to be miserable.But, until I know that she has perished from the face of the earth, I will not allow myself space even to grieve."The dismal Hecate did not much like the idea of going abroad into the sunny world.But then she reflected that the sorrow of the disconsolate Ceres would be like a gloomy twilight round about them both, let the sun shine ever so brightly, and that therefore she might enjoy her bad spirits quite as well as if she were to stay in the cave.So she finally consented to go, and they set out together, both carrying torches, although it was broad daylight and clear sunshine.The torchlight seemed to make a gloom; so that the people whom they met, along the road, could not very distinctly see their figures; and, indeed, if they once caught a glimpse of Hecate, with the wreath of snakes round her forehead, they generally thought it prudent to run away, without waiting for a second glance.
As the pair traveled along in this woe-begone manner, a thought struck Ceres.
