Page 75 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade7_Flipbook

aCTIvITy 1.11
continued
poor Choices: “phaethon”
boasting: bragging, prideful talking
My Notes
15 “I’ll prove it to you,” cried Phaethon, stamping his foot. “I’ll go to the palace of the sun right now and hold my father to his promise. I’ll show you.”
16 “What promise?”
17 “He said I was getting to be so good a charioteer that next time he would let
me drive the sun chariot alone. All by myself. From dawn to night. Right across the sky. And this time is next time.”
18 “Proof — words are cheap,” said Epaphus. “How will I know it’s you driving the sun? I won’t be able to see you from down here.”
19 “You’ll know me,” said Phaethon. “When I pass the village I will come down close and drive in circles around your roof. You’ll see me all right. Farewell.”
20 “Are you starting now?”
21 “Now. At once. Just watch the sky tomorrow, son of Zeus.”
Chunk 3
22 And he went off. He was so stung by the words of his friend, and the boasting
and lying he had been forced to do, that he traveled night and day, not stopping for food or rest, guiding himself by the morning star and the evening star, heading always east. Nor did he know the way. For, indeed, he had never once seen his father Apollo. He knew him only through his mother’s stories. But he did know that the palace must lie in the east, because that is where he saw the sun start
each morning. He walked on and on until finally he lost his way completely, and weakened by hunger and exhaustion, fell swooning in a great meadow by the edge of a wood.
23 Now, while Phaethon was making his journey, Apollo sat in his great throne room on a huge throne made of gold and rubies. This was the quiet hour before dawn when night left its last coolness upon the Earth. And it was then, at this hour, that Apollo sat on his throne, wearing a purple cloak embroidered with the golden sign of the zodiac.5 On his head was a crown given him by the dawn goddess, made of silver and pearls. A bird flew in the window and perched on his shoulder and spoke to him. This bird had sky-blue feathers, golden beak, golden claws, and golden eyes. It was one of Apollo’s sun hawks. It was this bird’s job to fly here and there gathering gossip. Sometimes she was called the spy bird.
24 Now she said, “Apollo, I have seen your son!”
25 “Which son?”
26 “Phaethon. He’s coming to see you. But he has lost his way and lies exhausted
at the edge of the wood. The wolves will surely eat him. Do you care?”
27 “I will have to see him before I know whether I care. You had better get back to him before the wolves do. Bring him here in comfort. Round up some of your companions and bring him here as befits the son of a god.”
5 zodiac [zō´ dē ak]: An imaginary belt of the heavens, divided into 12 parts, called signs, and named after 12 constellations
48 SpringBoard® English Language Arts Grade 7
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