I will play, and thou shalt hold out thy cap and be dumb.' So the stranger took the lyre and swept the strings, and men heard, as it were, the clashing of swords.

And he sang the fall of Troy--how Hector perished, slain by Achilles, the rush of chariots, the ring of hoofs, the roar of flames--and as he sang the people stopped to listen, breathless and eager, with rapt, attentive ear.

And when the singer ceased the soldier's cap was filled with coins, and the people begged for yet another song.

Then he sang of Venus, till all men's hearts were softly stirred, and the air was purple and misty and full of the scent of roses.

And in their joy men cast before Akeratos not coins only, but silver bracelets and rings, and gems and ornaments of gold, until the heap had to its utmost grown, making Akeratos rich in all men's sight.
Then suddenly the singer stood in a blaze of light, and the men of Argos saw their god of song, Phoebus Apollo, rise in glory to the skies." The girls were delighted; the Judge pleased both with his own rendering of the legend and the manifest appreciation with which it had been received.