Prometheus began to laugh in spite of himself. He gazed out, past the rim of the mountain, toward the sun just beginning to slide down to the horizon.
“Oh, dear Brother, wait till I tell you about my girl!”
GLOSSARY
Names, pronunciations, and descriptions of gods, demigods, other integral immortals, places, objects, and fictional personages appearing within these pages. Definitions derived from three primary sources: Edith Hamilton’s Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes; Webster’s Online Dictionary, which derives many of its definitions from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (further sources are also indicated on this Web site); and the author’s own brain.
Atlas (AT-lass): one of the original Titans and, in some myths, Prometheus’s brother. Zeus condemned Atlas to bear the crushing vault of the heavens on his shoulders forever. (Often he is portrayed as also having to hold up the earth as well, but that’s just illogical. I mean, think about it, where would he stand? Hmm?)
Balearic Islands (buh-LAIR-ick): a group of islands in the western Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Spain.
Espania (ess-PAN-ia): an archaic (or ancient) name for Spain.
fenugreek (FEN-you-greek): annual herb of southern Europe and eastern Asia having off-white flowers and aromatic seeds used medicinally and in curry.
Hiero II (HERO): ruler (and tyrant) of Syracuse from 270 to 215 BC.
Jbel Toubkal ( juh-BELL toob-CALL . . . but say it fast!): sometimes written as Jebel Toubkal. At 4,167 meters, it is the highest peak in the Atlas Mountains and in North Africa.
Mauretania (more-ih-TAIN-ia): a Roman province on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, where Algeria is now, east of Morocco.
parasite (PAR-uh-site): an animal or plant that lives in or on a host (another animal or plant); the parasite obtains nourishment from the host without benefiting or killing the host.
Somnus (SOM-nuss): the Roman God of Sleep. The Greek name for the same god is Hypnus.
Styx (STICKS): a river in Hades across which Charon carried dead souls.
Ulmus rubra (UHL-muss ROOB-ruh): an elm with a hard wood inner bark that can be ground into a nutrient-rich paste. The bark also contains a mucilage that is used as a remedy for sore throats and in poultices.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to Harriet Shapiro, PhD; Marcia Wallace; Scott Hennesy; Antoinette Spolar-Levine; Phyllis Kramer; Deb Shapiro; Tom Stacey; Rosemary Rossi; Simon Lewis; Debby O’Connor; Michy and the Cool-ettes; and Dominic Friesen.
Special thanks to Elizabeth Schonhorst, Caroline Abbey, Minnie, Josie, Rosie, and Sara.
Carolyn Hennesy
is also the author of Pandora Gets Jealous, Pandora Gets Vain, and Pandora Gets Heart. A Los Angeles native, she has more than twenty-five years’ experience in the entertainment industry and can currently be seen on the daytime drama General Hospital. In addition to her full-time acting and writing careers, Ms. Hennesy also teaches improvisational comedy and has become a flying-trapeze artist. She lives in the Los Angeles area with her fab husband, cool cat, and groovy dog.
www.pandyinc.com
www.carolynhennesy.com
READ ON FOR A SNEAK PEEK AT
PANDORA’S NEXT MYTHIC MISADVENTURE
“Everyone up!” Eteocles was shouting the next morning. Pandy woke with a start. She’d been dreaming that Athena was offering her some ambrosia and nectar, saying, “Come on! Become immortal . . . you know you want to!” Suddenly waking up, surrounded by tall trees, she had no idea where she was. Alcie’s palm accidentally mashed down on Pandy’s wrist as Alcie lifted herself off the tarp.
“Ow!” Pandy said, and instantly she remembered that she was somewhere on Mount Pelion, looking for Lust.
“Sorry,” Alcie said, jumping down off the cart.
Once more, after a hasty first meal of creamed oats (“Where did he get oats?” Pandy had whispered to Iole. “I always keep a spare pouch handy,” Eteocles had called out), they were off again. Alcie stubbed her toe, then Iole twisted her ankle, then Pandy tripped getting the cart out of a hole and landed on her face; she was getting more and more frustrated. But they had only walked for a few hours when Eteocles brought the oxen to a halt.
“Very well,” Eteocles began.
“Is this where you drop us off and get that hour’s head start?” Pandy asked snidely.
Even Alcie looked at her.
“Touchy this morning, aren’t we?” Eteocles replied.
“We’ve walked for, basically, two days,” Pandy said, her anger rising. “We could have done that ourselves.”
“You wouldn’t have known where to go if you’d been by yourselves,” Eteocles answered, his voice calm.
“We’d have gotten here,” Alcie said.
“We actually helped you get this cart up the mountain. We don’t mind paying, but not for something unfair. You need to give back the bracelet,” Pandy said firmly.
Eteocles paused for a second, then threw back his head and laughed. Pandy saw a strange, thin pale line zigzag down his face. Then another. All at once, he began to grow. As he became larger and larger, his wrinkled brown skin began to crack, peel away, and drop to the ground, revealing taut, perfect white skin covering bulging muscles. The dirty toga was transformed into a clean, bright, silvery fabric, and the grayish hair became golden and curly, topped with a beautiful winged helmet.
“Down!” Pandy cried to the other three, who were staring, stupefied.
Instantly, all four were on their knees, heads bowed.
“Pears! Is that who I think it is?” Alcie whispered.
“Yes! Shhhh!” Pandy hissed back.
After a second of silence, she lifted her eyes.
“Okay, missy,” Hermes said with a grin, his arms folded across his massive chest, staring straight at her. “You are getting spunky!”
“I’m so sorry,” Pandy began.
“What’s with the ‘sorry’?” Hermes said. “I like it! All right . . . everybody up!”
Instantly, Pandy and the rest were on their feet.
“Eyes on me.”
Everyone looked straight at Hermes.
“Try not to look terrified,” Hermes said to the group as he walked toward Alcie.
“Hello, Alcestis,” he said softly, and then turned to the others. “Oh, I just realized . . . Pandora is the only one who’s actually met me. And yet I feel like I know all of you so well.”
“Mighty Hermes, swift and fleet footed,” Alcie began.
“Yes, Alcestis, thank you. I know,” Hermes said. “You’re doing very nice work.”
“Uh, thanks,” Alcie said.
“Homer,” Hermes said, approaching the youth. “Now, aren’t you glad you didn’t try to flatten me? It would have gotten out of hand . . . probably a little ugly. But you kept your cool and, hey, good times!”
“Uh . . .”
“I like you, Homer. We all do. Not the brightest lamp in the temple, but you have heart. And a noble soul.”
“Yes. Thank you. I think,” Homer said.
“Well, you try to and that’s what matters. Hello, Iole.”
“Wondrous Hermes . . .”
“Ach, can’t anyone just say ‘hello’?” Hermes rolled his eyes. “Okay, enough! Now, instructions first, questions afterward. I could be all godlike and get a little flowery but that would get us nowhere fast, and since you all need to get somewhere fast, I’ll put it to you straight. You’re going back in time. All of you. Many centuries. What you seek has traveled the river of ages— sorry, that was flowery. I’m going to get you there and bring you back, that’s if you’re all still alive. Here’s the rule: don’t change anything in the past or it will alter the future. Seriously. And it might not be good. Any questions?”
“Uh, yes,” Iole said, thinking fast, as the others just looked at one another, confused. “How far back are we going?”
“Roughly thirteen centuries. Next?”
“Lust is . . . is . . . back in time?” Pandy aske
d.
“Alcie, what’s the word you always say when somebody says something obvious? Starts with a delta, I think,” Hermes asked.
“Uh, ‘duh’?”
“That’s it! Duh!”
“Are you going to stay with us?” Pandy asked.
“Let me put it this way. I’ll be there, and I’ll know you’re you, but don’t look to me for help of any kind until and only if you’re ready to come back.”
“Oh!” gasped Iole suddenly.
Hermes stared at her for a second.
“You have it, don’t you?” he asked.
“Mount Pelion . . . thirteen hundred years ago,” she started.
“Give or take,” Hermes said casually.
“Oh! Oh! And they’re all going to be here?”
“What? Who!” Alcie cried, whacking Iole on her arm.
“Almost all,” said Hermes, smiling. “Someone’s missing. But then, you knew that, didn’t you?”
“Iole?” Pandy said, looking at her quizzically.
“Enough gab,” Hermes said. “Time’s a’wasting, and how. Everybody grab a little piece of my toga—don’t get fresh—and we’ll be off.”
Pandy, Alcie, Iole, and Homer each pinched a small amount of the silver fabric and instinctively braced themselves for a whirlwind journey back through time. Alcie and Iole hunched over as if preparing to face a horrible hurricane. Pandy clutched her pouch to her chest and planted her feet firmly on the ground. Homer grabbed his cloak with his free hand and closed his eyes, head down.
“Alcie, Iole . . . what are you doing?” Hermes asked.
“We’re hanging on. Won’t there be wind . . . or something?” Alcie yelled.
Pandy, looking at her toes, saw a small shift, a subtle repositioning of the stones on the ground around her feet. She noticed that the birds that had been singing were silenced, and a small white boulder had materialized on a patch of grass off to her left . . . and then nothing.
“You four are crazy!” Hermes laughed. “You look like you’re about to be attacked! It’s done. We’re there.”
“That’s it?” Pandy asked, looking around.
“That’s it,” Hermes said.
“I just thought there would be . . . wind,” Alcie said, standing up straight.
“You’re . . . ,” Pandy began.
“I’m what? Fabulous?” Hermes asked.
“No. I mean, yes! But you’re helping.” Pandy’s voice dropped to a whisper on the last word.
“I did, and I might again,” Hermes said. “Now don’t blow it by asking a lot of questions.”
The forest surrounding them was essentially the same. Some trees were taller, some were smaller, and some were new. There was a different cloud formation in the sky, but there was no other marked visible difference.
“I’m off,” Hermes said, then pointed east. “Your way lies down that road. Remember, change nothing.”
He stepped back and Pandy thought he was about to disappear when he stopped and turned to Iole.
“You’re kidding, right?”
Iole’s mouth fell open and then she looked down at the ground.
“I’m sorry.”
“At a time like this, that’s what you’re thinking about?” Hermes asked. I would have expected that of Alcie, not you.”
“Huh?” Alcie said.
“I’m sorry,” Iole said again.
“A deal is a deal, Iole. It doesn’t matter that I probably can’t use it. So, no, you can’t have the bracelet back.”
Iole nodded.
Hermes shook his head and disappeared in a bright white flash.
“Nice going, Miss I-Can- Give-Away-My-Presents,” Alcie said after a pause. “Now he hates us!”
“No he doesn’t, Alcie. Quit it,” Pandy said. “Iole, what in Zeus’s name is going on? What do you know?”
“Did either of you ever pay attention when Master Epeus was teaching ancient Greek history? Ever? Thirteen hundred years ago, Zeus was in love with the goddess Thetis. Hera found out about it and got so angry that not only did she force Zeus to stop seeing Thetis, she made Zeus give Thetis to a mortal man as his wife.”
“Oh, yeah! I was awake for this,” Pandy cried. “King Peleus! Whose palace is . . . was . . . is on Mount Pelion!”
“Correct!” Iole continued. “It was a huge celebration to which all the gods and goddesses were invited.”
“Except one,” Pandy said.
“Correct again. And if my guess is right, today is the big—”
“Do you think you have been hired to simply stand around!”
A shrill voice, like the sound of a horn, high and off-key, pierced the quiet of the forest. Pandy, Alcie, Iole, and Homer whipped their heads around.
Then their jaws dropped.
MYTHIC MISADVENTURES
BY CAROLYN HENNESY
Pandora Gets Jealous
Pandora Gets Vain
Pandora Gets Lazy
Pandora Gets Heart
Copyright © 2009 by Carolyn Hennesy
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
First published in the United States of America in April 2009
by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers
E-book edition published in August 2010
www.bloomsburykids.com
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, Bloomsbury BFYR, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Hennesy, Carolyn.
Pandora gets lazy / by Carolyn Hennesy.—1st U.S. ed.
p. cm.
Summary: On their way to find the third evil, laziness, Pandy and her friends, Alcie, Iole,
and Homer, face many dangers after Pandy falls from Apollo’s chariot and her friends
are captured by pirates who intend to sell them into slavery.
ISBN-13: 978-1-59990-198-5 • ISBN-10: 1-59990-198-6 (hardcover)
1. Pandora (Greek mythology)—Juvenile fiction. [1. Pandora (Greek mythology)—
Fiction. 2. Mythology, Greek—Fiction. 3. Gods, Greek—Fiction. 4. Goddesses, Greek—
Fiction. 5. Adventures and adventurers—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.H3917Paq 2009 [Fic]—dc22 2008034855
ISBN 978-1-59990-606-5 (e-book)
Pandora Gets Lazy Page 19