Hercules and His Jobs

Part One

Hercules was the strongest man in Greece. A king was afraid of him. The king gave him hard jobs.

First, Hercules had to clean a huge stable. The mess was as high as a roof!

He did not use a shovel. He dug a ditch from a river. Then he made a hole.

Whoosh! The river washed all the mess away. The stable was clean in one day!

The next job was to get three gold apples. They grew far away. A giant named Atlas could fetch them.

Atlas held up the sky. "I will get the apples," he said. "Please hold the sky."

He held the sky. Atlas came back with the apples. "What a nice walk!" he said.

"Now you hold the sky," said Atlas. He did not get cross. "All right," he said.

"Hold it while I fix my cloak." Atlas took the sky back. He took the apples and walked off.

Atlas was left with the sky. Hercules was strong, and he was clever too.

The last job was the hardest. Hercules went under the ground. He had to get a dog with three heads.

He did not hurt the dog. He gave it a pat. Then he carried it up to the sun.

The king saw three heads. He jumped into a big jar! "Take it back!" he cried.

Hercules did. The king had no more jobs for him. He had won with a trick and a river.