“Where is the center of the world?"
This is the question which someone asked Jupiter as he sat in his golden hall. Of
course the mighty ruler of earth and sky was too wise to be puzzled by so simple a
thing, but he was too busy to answer it at once. So he said:
"Come again in one year from to-day, and I will show you the very place."
Then Jupiter took two swift eagles which could fly faster than the storm-wind, and
trained them till the speed of the one was the same as that of the other. At the end of
the year he said to his servants: "Take this eagle to the eastern rim of the earth, where
the sun rises out of the sea; and carry his fellow to the far west, where the ocean is lost
in darkness and nothing lies beyond. Then, when I give you the sign, loosen both at the
same moment."
The servants did as they were bidden, and carried the eagles to the outermost edges of
the world. Then Jupiter clapped his hands. The lightning flashed, the thunder rolled,
and the two swift birds were set free. One of them flew straight back towards the west,
the other flew straight back towards the east; and no arrow ever sped faster from the
bow than did these two birds from the hands of those who had held them.
On and on they went like shooting stars rushing to meet each other; and Jupiter and all
his mighty company sat amid the clouds and watched their flight. Nearer and nearer
they came, but they swerved not to the right nor to the left. Nearer and nearer-and then
with a crash like the meeting of two ships at sea, the eagles came together in mid-air
and fell dead to the ground.
"Who asked where is the center of the world?" said Jupiter. "The spot where the two
eagles lie-that is the center of the world.” They had fallen on the top of a mountain in
Greece which men have ever since called Parnassus.
"If that is the center of the world," said young Apollo, "then I will make my home there,
and I will build a house in that place, so that my light may be seen in all lands."
So Apollo went down to Parnassus, and looked about for a spot in which to lay the
foundations of his house. The mountain itself was savage and wild, and the valley
below it was lonely and dark. The few people who lived there kept themselves hidden
among the rocks as if in dread of some great danger. They told Apollo that near the foot
of the mountain where the steep cliff seemed to be split in two there lived a huge
serpent called the Python. This serpent often seized sheep and cattle, and sometimes
even men and women and children, and carried them up to his dreadful den and
devoured them.Then Apollo with his silver bow in his hands went up towards
the place where the Python lay. The monster had worn great
paths through the grass and among the rocks, and his lair
was not hard to find. When he caught sight of Apollo, he
uncoiled himself, and came out to meet him. The bright
prince saw the creature's glaring eyes and blood-red mouth,
and heard the rush of his scaly body over the stones. He
fitted an arrow to his bow, and stood still. The Python saw
that his foe was no common man, and turned to flee. Then
the arrow sped from the bow-and the monster was dead.
"Here I will build my house," said Apollo.Close to the foot of the steep cliff, and beneath the spot where Jupiter's eagles had
fallen, he laid the foundations; and soon where had been the lair of the Python, the
white walls of Apollo's temple arose among the rocks. Then the poor people of the land
came and built their houses nearby; and Apollo lived among them many years, and
taught them to be gentle and wise, and showed them how to be happy. The mountain
was no longer savage and wild, but was a place of music and song; the valley was no
longer dark and lonely, but was filled with beauty and light.
"What shall we call our city?" the people asked.
"Call it Delphi, or the Dolphin," said Apollo; "for it was a dolphin that carried my mother
across the sea." Summarize please fast
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jerusalam. is the center of the world
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