The kingdoms in Peloponnese were small. If, say, a king grilled barbecue for lunch, then his neighbor on the leeward side would immediately be aware of what was going one there, and could easily be invited to have a dinner. And as the winds tend to blow in the same direction, the king Eurystheus always knew what was going on in the kingdom of neighbor Augeas. But the neighbor was greedy and did not invite him to the barbecue and spend the whole day in the barnyard, counting the number of the cattle. A tragedy for Augeas was the fact that every time different figures were come out, so there was no way to know exactly the livestock.
Apart from different bulls and cows in the barnyard were also kept horses, sheep, goats and even camels, and as the neighborhood abounded by meadows, the animals became more and more. The greedy king did not want to spend money on cleaning the farm; because of it the smell was disgusting. It was at the time when Eurystheus did not know how he could make Hercules harm and the thought of how the hero, the winner of different dragons and horrible mutants will tinker in the slurry, came in handy.
- Raise your head and smell the air - Eurystheus ordered to Hercules.
- Ugh, what an awful smell.
- Your task - to eliminate it.
- So, how?
- Go and clean barnyard of our neighbor Augeas. And do not forget to grab a mask, hee-hee-hee.
Hercules approached Augeas who was hanging around in the barnyard.
- Hello, nice Augeas, owner of the countless animals.
Augeas suspiciously looked at Hercules.
- What do you want?
- Just to help you, great king.
- Briefly.
- You know, I’m a specialist of performing feats, as well of cleaning stockyards.
- Oh, you mean you are the famous Hercules? And how much will it take you to clean up?
- Trivia. Only a tenth of your flocks, plus one camel.
- But why do you need a camel?
- That’s a matter of principle.
Augeas thought.
- I guess, I agree, but with one condition.
- How do I hate kings with their endless conditions - thought the hero.
- You'll have to do the job in a day.
Of course, Hercules had a plan, that’s why he easily agreed. The same evening, he found the river god Meneas, and then long negotiations began. Meneas first demanded ten oxen and a hundred cows, but without any luck. Hercules held talks toughly enough. They agreed on one bull and ten cows if Augeas met their conditions. The next day he got up early in the morning and, armed with a shovel, dug a new channel for the mountain stream, directing the flow of water to the farm. Within hours, the water has washed away all the manure, and then restoring the former channel, Hercules went to Augeas.
King examined the farm, and immediately guessed how Hercules cleaned it and said:
-It is not done by you, but the stream and I, we are ready to pay him. And for you- a fig with butter. And if you act I'll have to shoot you, and then hang up. Or the vice versa - first hang and then shoot twice.
- Well, all the good, Augeas. I'm sure we'll meet again.
Running ahead let us say that the threat was not vain - a few years later Hercules led troops which invaded the kingdom of Augeas and hit him with an arrow. That’s always so - you have to pay for everything.
And Eurystheus didn’t count the feat, repeating exactly the same words of Augeas.