- Well, hero, was stuck on the first number? - Gleefully rubbed his hands Eurystheus- do not think you're getting off easily. It seems to me that you cannot see the immortality as your ears. So, I will not inform you about all your tasks in advance, understand? No fools. And the first thing you have to do - win the Nemean lion. Have you heard about this? Shall I show the photos, hehe? That's right.Sadly Hercules went to his lodgings in Baker Street. How to win an animal the skin of which was not broken with arrows, and the sword of tempered steel wasn’t taken? The few witnesses, who managed to survive, told absolutely amazing stories about the dimensions of the animal, its huge fangs, fantastic speed and ferocity. Dozens of heroes from around the world tried to kill the monster that terrorized all the Theban kingdom, but all was vain. The predator methodically killed hunters, after which ate them withchamp. Firstly, Hercules decided to find out more about the lion, for which he went to the neighboring kingdom, ruled by a Thestius. Learning that the son of Zeus came to visit ho, the king met him with great honors, set the table with overseas delicacies, and when time to sleep was, a pleasant surprise was waiting for him. A beautiful girl came up to him and took him to the bedroom.
- Who are you, darling?
- My name is Scheherazade and I want to tell you twenty tales.
- And about whom?
- They are different. About Sinbad the Sailor, about Harun al-Rashid. And many more.
Scheherazade had melodious voice and the fairy tales were incredibly interesting, so Hercules was listening with pleasure and was falling asleep just before dawn.
This lasted for fifty days, and Hercules was told thousand tales. (Fifty multiplied by the twenty will be thousand!)
- Listen, Scheherazade, why are you telling me these tales?
- Hercules, let me tell you the truth. I am assigned to tell you these stories so that you don’t sleep at night and gradually lose your strength. You see, Thestius is the vassal of king Eurystheus and he instructed him to harass you before hunting, because he is afraid of you and wishes your death.
Hercules was amazed at the treachery of his cousin. He had been harassed really intensively for fifty days- endless feasts, and at night - endless tales. And Hercules got angry, without having breakfast, left the palace, heading straight into the Cithaeron forest.
His had an amazing plan in his head. Hiding among the thick branches of the tree, Hercules found the lion through the telescope and, remembering the lessons of Euclid, with accuracy up to centimeters determined its dimensions - length, width, and the sizes of its large head. Next, he found a suitable crevice through which he could pass, but the lion - no. Then Hercules, knowing the speed of movement of the lion, calculated safe distance from the crevice, sat on a rock and began to whistle.
It should be noted that the Nemean lion hated whistlers, which he dealt first. Barely ten minutes later, a monster showed up. With great speed lion rushed at Hercules. The hero barely managed to reach the crevices. Calculations were accurate. He passed through the narrow part of the crevice, and the lion was completely stuck. Pulling for half an hour the lion stood with fear in its yellow eyes watched Hercules approaching him with a huge cudgel in his hand.
- What, my friend, got caught? Are you hungry? Here are my cudgels, taste! He hehe…
Ten minutes later all was over. With great difficulty, Hercules pulled the lion off from the crevice until late evening he was skinning and processing its fur. The next day, the winner went home. On the way he repeatedly was offered big money for the fur, but the hero refused as the fur was the proof of his feat’s achievement. With triumph Hercules came to Thebes. Eurystheus was looking with fear either at that a gigantic fur or at the very giant.
- Okay. I count the first labor. And by the way, I 'll let you take lion's fur so that you don’t think badly of me. It must be very warm.
In fact, the fur treated with chemicals terribly stank, and Eurystheus didn’t like bad smells.
- You can rest until the end of this week, and on Sunday evening I will tell you the conditions of the second feat.