Sisyphus on a Scooter

Oh look! Professor Healey's sent us another one! said Belle et Bonne. He must be on a roll.

What's this one called, asked The VeloDrone. King Keret on a Kawasaki?

How funny you are papa! Perhaps you should write one yourself. No, this one's called Sisyphus on a Scooter.

I should have known, said The VeloDrone. Read it to me, my dear.

She began:

Sisyphus on a Scooter

Sisyphus was the son of King Aeolus, of Thessaly. He was greedy and deceitful and had been known to kill his guests. He had seduced his niece and stolen his brother's scooter......

Scooter? interjected The VeloDrone. Did they have scooters in those days?

Papa! scolded Belle et Bonne. Remember the title!

.....so Zeus became angry and ordered Death to chain him up in Tartarus. As Death was fixing up the chains, Sisyphus asked him to show him how they worked, and so it was that Death fell for the oldest trick in the book. Now Death was in chains and Sisyphus was free. The trouble was that now no one could die.

This annoyed the God of War no end. Eventually he intervened, freed Death and Sisyphus was sent back to Tartarus.

Sisyphus' punishment was to roll a huge rock up a steep hill, and just before he reached the top, the rock would roll down to the bottom again, obliging him to keep on doing it for ever.

Even with the scooter, this was tough.

Well, said Belle et Bonne, what did you think of that, papa?

That was silly, said The VeloDrone. Where would he have got the petrol? I'm really going to have to insist that our contributors stick to bicycles.