'Well for them that I looked back and saw them! And well for me too, for I shall have the more guests at my feast.

Wait awhile till I go down and call them, and we will eat and drink together the livelong night.

Happy am I, to whom Heaven sends so many guests at once!' And he ran back down the hill, waving his hand and shouting, to the merchants, while Theseus went slowly up the steep pass.
But as he went up he met an aged man, who had been gathering drift-wood in the torrent-bed.

He had laid down his faggot in the road, and was trying to lift it again to his shoulder.

And when he saw Theseus, he called to him, and said-- 'O fair youth, help me up with my burden, for my limbs are stiff and weak with years.' Then Theseus lifted the burden on his back.