Perseus looked about him rather disconsolately, and asked
Quicksilver whether they had a great deal farther to go.
"Hist! hist!" whispered his companion. "Make no noise. This is just the
time and place to meet the Three Gray Women. Be careful that they do
not see you before you see them, for, though they have but a single eye
among the three, it is as sharp-sighted as half a dozen common eyes."
"But what must I do," asked Perseus, "when we meet them?"
Quicksilver explained to Perseus how the Three Gray Women managed with
their one eye. They were in the habit, it seems, of changing it from
one to another, as if it had been a pair of spectacles or--which would
have suited them better--a quizzing-glass. When one of the three had
kept the eye a certain time, she took it out of the socket and passed
it to one of her sisters, whose turn it might happen to be, and who
immediately clapped it into her own head and enjoyed a peep at the
visible world. Thus it will easily be understood that only one of the
Three Gray Women could see, while the other two were in utter darkness;
and, moreover, at the instant when the eye was passing from hand to
hand neither of the poor old ladies was able to see a wink.
Pages:
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489