Tracking Satyrs (260-280)

But first tell us about that scraping noise and who’s making it.

First of all, understand this: if you say one word of what I’m about to tell you, you’ll be in trouble. This business is a secret even among the gods, so that no news of it may come to Hera. You see, Zeus came secretly to Atlas’s house

⋯ to the deep-girdled goddess [*] ⋯ and in a cave begot a single son. I am bringing him up myself, for his mother’s strength is shaken by sickness as if by a storm. So I stay by his crib and take care of his food and drink and rest, all day and all night. He grows, day by day, in a very unusual way, and I’m astounded and afraid. It’s not even six days since he was born,

and he already stands as tall as a young man. His growth spurt hasn’t wasted any time coming. That’s the kind of child that’s in my treasure-house. His father has ensured he would be difficult to find. He has a hidden machine that makes the sound you’re asking about, that so surprised you. It’s a box full of pleasure that he made in just one day from a dead animal he found, and he’s down there shaking it.