timelets | (no subject)

“I will only a marry man who can run faster than me.’
‘Very well. So let it be.’
Atalanta was safe. Her speed could never be matched.
‘Oh, and any suitor who takes the challenge and fails must die,’ she added.
Schoeneus grunted his assent and arranged for the word to be put out.
Great was Atalanta’s fame and beauty, great the value of Schoeneus’s kingdom and great the conviction of many fine, fit and fast young fellows that no woman could ever best them. Many made the journey to Arcadia: all were defeated and all were killed. The crowds loved it.
...

The third apple Hippomenes deliberately rolled at an angle, so that as it shot past Atalanta it veered off the track. Atalanta saw it flash by and took off in hot pursuit. ”

--- Stephen Fry. “Heroes: Volume II of Mythos.”