Phoebus, who drives the Chariot of the Sun across the skies each day, does not get many mortal guests at his rich palace in India. But when the young man came in the great doors, he knew at once who it was.

?My son!? he called, from the high throne where he sat surrounded by the Hours, the Days, the Seasons and his other servants.

The boy stayed back at the door, holding up his hands to protect his eyes from the bright light. ?So it IS true!? he said. ?You ARE my father!?

Phoebus smiled and took the great crown of shining rays from his head so Phaeton could come closer. ?Of course I am,? he said. ?Did your mother never tell you about me??

Phaeton walked up to the throne. ?Yes, but the other boys laughed at me and said she made it up. They said it wasn?t true.?

?And you wanted to prove that it is,? his father nodded. ?I understand. Well, how can we show them?

Ask me for any gift, for any favour, and I swear by the sacred Stygian lake, you shall have it. How?s that for proof??

And the god laughed Phaeton smiled, too. ?I want to drive your chariot for one day!? he said.

At that, Phoebus lost his smile. ?Oh, son, please ask for something else,? he said.

?No mortal can drive that chariot and live. Indeed, I?m the only one of the gods who can drive those horses across the heavens! Even mighty Jupiter himself cannot control my chariot.?

?But you promised I could have whatever I wanted,? Phaeton said. ?You swore by the Stygian lake! You can?t break that vow!?

?That is true,? Phoebus admitted. ?But I didn?t think you would ask for something that would kill you! Isn?t there anything else I can do for you??

But nothing he said could persuade Phaeton to make another choice. So as morning came near, Phoebus brought his son out to where the four horses stood stamping the ground impatiently, waiting to take the Chariot of the Sun up across the heavens.

?Now, the first part is very steep,? Phoebus warned his son.

?Even when they are fresh in the morning, the horses have trouble climbing the first part of the route. When you get to the top, hold on tightly and don?t look around.

?Even I get dizzy so high above the earth, and I do this every day!? he cautioned Phaeton.

?Then, when you start back down, you?ll have to hold back the horses to keep the chariot from running away with you.

?In fact, you?ll have to hold them back the whole way, because they are very strong. But especially when you are heading back down in the afternoon.?

Phoebus brought out the crown and put it on his son?s head. ?As for steering, you?ll see the ruts from my wheels. Follow them carefully!

?You must avoid the horns of Taurus the bull, and the claws and tail of Scorpio! Watch out, too, for the archer, Sagittarius, and Leo the Lion!?

He paused before he fastened the strap to hold the crown on Phaeton?s head. ?Are you sure there?s nothing else I can do for you that would make you happy? Just say it, whatever it is, and you shall have it!? But Phaeton was already excited about driving the great horses across the sky, and nothing Phoebus said could make him change his mind. The god sighed and gave the signal to the grooms who stood at the horse?s heads, holding their bridles.

As soon as the horses realised that the strong hand of Phoebus was not on the reins, they began to run.

Nothing Phaeton did would hold them back, and they went far off their normal course, the chariot swinging behind them helplessly.

The constellations of the Great Bear and the Little Bear grew hot for the first time ever, and tried to douse themselves in the ocean. And Draco the Dragon, normally slow and stupid with cold, awoke in the warmth and began to rage across the heavens.

Meanwhile, Phaeton was holding the reins in one hand and clinging to the chariot with the other.

He didn?t know how to make the horses slow down or get back on course, and at last he had to let the reins go completely and hold on with both hands.

Feeling the reins loose on their backs, the horses raced even farther off course.

First they went too high, bumping into the stars, then too low, so that the clouds were boiled to nothing and the tops of the mountains caught fire. They went even lower, and the rivers dried up, the fields and orchards shrivelled and the cities began to burn.

Sitting on his throne on Olympus, Jupiter saw the destruction and heard the cries of the other gods and goddesses for something to be done.

At last, he sadly stood and reached for a bolt of lightning.

He looked at the frightened boy in the chariot for a moment, but then looked at the burning earth and sighed.

He hurled the lightning bolt, smashing the chariot and sending the pieces into the ocean below, bringing that horrifying, deadly day to a sudden end.

In his palace in the east, Phoebus closed the doors and sat upon his throne, weeping in the darkness.

?Too long I have worked every day, driving that chariot across the heavens,? he said.

?Now let someone else drive it. My son is dead and I never want to drive the Sun again.?

For a whole day, there was no light upon the earth except from the fires that still burned.

But Jupiter and the other gods came and spoke quietly to Phoebus, and Vulcan worked to repair the chariot. And the next morning, when rosy Dawn opened the doors to the heavens, Phoebus raced his chariot across the skies once more, as he has every day since.