When Hercules was a fair-faced youth, he went out one morning to do an errand. But as he walked he came to a place where two roads met; and he stopped, not certain which one to take. 

 The road on his right was hilly and rough; there was no beauty in it or about it: but he saw that it led straight toward the blue mountains in the far distance. The road on his left was broad and smooth, with shade trees on either side, where sang an innumerable choir of birds; where bloomed countless flowers: but it ended in fog and mist long before it reached the wonderful blue mountains in the distance. 

 While the lad stood in doubt as to these roads, he saw two fair women coming toward him, each on a different road. The one who came by the flowery way reached him first. “O noble youth,” she said, “be no longer bowed down with labor and sore trials, but come and follow me, I will lead you into pleasant paths, where there are no storms to disturb and no troubles to annoy. You shall live in ease.

By this time the other fair woman had drawn near, and she now spoke to the lad. “I have nothing to promise you,” said she, “save that which you shall win with your own strength. The road upon which I would lead you is uneven and hard. Nevertheless, the road leads to the blue mountains of endless fame. They cannot be reached without labor; in fact, there is nothing worth having that must not be won by toil. If you would have eternal fame, you must not scorn the hard road that leads to it.” “What is your name?” he asked. “Some call me Virtue” she answered, “but others know me as Arete.”
 Then he turned to the first lady. “And what is your name?” he asked. “Some call me Vice,” she said, with a bewitching smile, “but I choose to be known as Kakia.”

 “Virtue,” said Hercules, “I will take thee as my guide! 
The road of labor and honest effort shall be mine, and my heart shall no longer cherish bitterness or discontent.”

 And he put his hand into that of Arete, 
 and entered with her upon the hard road.