Imagine having not one, not two, but FIFTY daughters! Well, a king named Danaus did. They were known as the Danaids, and they lived in a sunny land by the sea. King Danaus loved his daughters very much, and they loved playing and laughing together.

Now, King Danaus had a brother, King Aegyptus. And guess what? Aegyptus had fifty sons! Aegyptus thought, "Hmm, if my fifty sons marry Danaus's fifty daughters, we'll be one big, powerful family, and maybe I can be king of everything!"

But Danaus didn't like this idea one bit. He didn't trust his brother Aegyptus. "No way!" he said. "My daughters are not marrying your sons!" He worried his brother just wanted to take over his kingdom.

So, Danaus and his fifty daughters packed their bags, hopped on a big ship, and sailed away to a new land called Argos. They hoped to be safe there.

But Aegyptus and his sons weren't going to give up easily. They got on their own ships and sailed right after them! When they arrived in Argos, Aegyptus insisted, "You have to let my sons marry your daughters!" Poor Danaus felt he had no choice. He was worried for his daughters' safety if he said no again. So, a big wedding was planned. Fifty brides and fifty grooms!

But Danaus had a secret, unhappy plan. On the wedding day, just before the celebrations, he quietly told each of his daughters, "Tonight, you must do something terrible to your new husband. It's the only way we can be free from Aegyptus." He gave each of them a sharp hairpin. The daughters were very scared and didn't want to do it, but their father insisted.

The wedding feasts were grand, but the daughters were very nervous. When night came, forty-nine of the daughters, feeling they had to obey their father, did as he asked. They used their sharp hairpins, and their new husbands were... gone. It was a very sad and scary night.

But one daughter, whose name was Hypermnestra, couldn't do it. Her new husband, Lynceus, seemed kind and gentle. She didn't want to hurt him. So, instead of obeying her father's terrible command, she helped Lynceus escape secretly in the night.

The next morning, what a shock! Forty-nine grooms were missing, and only Lynceus was safe, thanks to Hypermnestra.

The gods, who lived up on Mount Olympus, saw everything. They were very unhappy with what the forty-nine daughters had done. It was a very wrong thing to do, even if their father told them to.

So, when these forty-nine daughters eventually went to the Underworld, the land of the dead, they were given a special, tricky punishment. They had to carry water in jars that had tiny holes in the bottom! No matter how much water they scooped up from the river, it would always leak out. Drip, drip, drip. They could never, ever fill their jars.

And that was their task, forever and ever, trying to fill leaky jars as a consequence for their terrible deed. As for Hypermnestra, because she chose kindness and listened to her own heart, her story turned out much happier. But that's a tale for another day!

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