12. ARCAS AND CALLISTO

Callisto stood on her hind legs and came toward him, holding out her great paws, trying to speak and tell him that she was his mother, enchanted into this wild beast. Arcas saw her coming and raised his spear to kill the bear, but something held his arm and the spear was not thrown.

Jupiter, watching over Arcas on his first hunt, had seen beneath the bear's fur and hairy paws, and knew that this was the nymph Callisto.

He stayed the hand of Arcas, and took away his spear. He could not undo Juno's evil work, so he changed Arcas into ayoung bear. At once he understood his mother and knew what she had been trying to tell him.

Callisto and Arcas would have been happy to roam the woods together, but Jupiter thought of something betterfor them. He took them up into the heavenly realms and gave them the sky for their playground, and you can see them there on clear nights, the Great Bear and the Little Bear.