The wild creatures of the
wood crouched still as stone; the trees kept every leaf from rustling;
earth and air were silent as a dream. To hear such music cease was like
bidding farewell to father and mother.
When the charm was broken, the hearers fell at Apollo's feet and
proclaimed the victory his. All but Midas. He alone would not admit that
the music was better than Pan's.
"If thine ears are so dull, mortal," said Apollo, "they shall take the
shape that suits them." And he touched the ears of Midas. And straightway
the dull ears grew long, pointed, and furry, and they turned this way and
that. They were the ears of an ass!
For a long time Midas managed to hide the tell-tale ears from everyone;
but at last a servant discovered the secret. He knew he must not tell, yet
he could not bear not to; so one day he went into the meadow, scooped a
little hollow in the turf, and whispered the secret into the earth. Then
he covered it up again, and went away. But, alas, a bed of reeds sprang up
from the spot, and whispered the secret to the grass. The grass told it to
the tree-tops, the tree-tops to the little birds, and they cried it all
abroad.
And to this day, when the wind sets the reeds nodding together, they
whisper, laughing, "Midas has the ears of an ass! Oh, hush, hush!"
WHY THE SEA IS SALT[1]
[Footnote 1: There are many versions of this tale, in different
collections.
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