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12 - The Odyssey - Homer · Classic Adventure Books - Daily

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Speaker 1: Book twelve, The sirens Scylla and Cherabdies the Cattle of
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Speaker 1: the Sun. After we were clear of the river Oceanus
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Speaker 1: and had got out into the open sea, we went
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Speaker 1: on till we reached the Aegean Island, where there was
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Speaker 1: dawn and sunrise, as in other places. We then drew
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Speaker 1: our ship onto the sands and got out of her
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Speaker 1: on to the shore, where we went to sleep and
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Speaker 1: waited till day should break. Then, when the child of morning,
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Speaker 1: rosy fingered dawn appeared, I sent some men to Circe's
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Speaker 1: house to fetch the body of Elpinor. We cut firewood
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Speaker 1: from a wood where the head land jutted out into
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Speaker 1: the sea, and after we had wept over him and
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Speaker 1: lamented him, we performed his funeral. Rites When his body
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Speaker 1: and armor had been burned to ashes, we raised a cairn,
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Speaker 1: set a stone over it, and at the top of
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Speaker 1: the cairn we fixed the oar that he had been
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Speaker 1: used to row with. While we were doing all this, Circe,
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Speaker 1: who knew that we had got back from the House
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Speaker 1: of Hades, dressed herself and came to us as fast
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Speaker 1: as she could, and her maid servants came with her,
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Speaker 1: bringing us bread, meat, and wine. Then she stood in
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Speaker 1: the midst of us and said, you have done a
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Speaker 1: bold thing in going down alive to the house of Hades,
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Speaker 1: and you will have died twice to other people's wants. Now,
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Speaker 1: then stay here for the rest of the day, feast
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Speaker 1: your fill, and go on with your voyage at daybreak
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Speaker 1: tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I will tell Ulysses about
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Speaker 1: your course, and will explain everything to him so as
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Speaker 1: to prevent your suffering from misadventure, either by land or
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Speaker 1: by We agreed to do as she had said, and
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Speaker 1: feasted through the livelong day to the going down of
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Speaker 1: the sun. But when the sun had set and it
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Speaker 1: came on dark, the men laid themselves down to sleep
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Speaker 1: by the stern cables of the ship. Then Circe took
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Speaker 1: me by the hand and bade me be seated away
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Speaker 1: from the others, while she reclined by my side and
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Speaker 1: asked me all about our adventures. So far, so good,
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Speaker 1: said she, when I had ended my story, and now
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Speaker 1: pay attention to what I am about to tell you.
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Speaker 1: Heaven itself indeed will recall it to your recollection. First
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Speaker 1: you will come to the sirens who enchant all who
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Speaker 1: come near them. If any one unwarily draws in too
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Speaker 1: close and hears the singing of the sirens, his wife
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Speaker 1: and children will never welcome him home again, for they
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Speaker 1: sit in a green field and warble him to death
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Speaker 1: with the sweetness of their song. There is a great
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Speaker 1: heap of dead men's bones lying all around, with the
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Speaker 1: flesh still rotting off them. Therefore, pass these sirens by,
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Speaker 1: and stop your men's ears with wax, that none of
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Speaker 1: them may hear. But if you like, you can listen yourself,
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Speaker 1: For you may get the men to bind you as
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Speaker 1: you stand upright on a cross piece half way up
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Speaker 1: the mast, and they must lash the rope's ends to
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Speaker 1: the mast itself, that you may have the pleasure of listening.
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Speaker 1: If you beg and pray the men to unloose you,
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Speaker 1: then they must bind you faster. When your crew have
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Speaker 1: taken you past these sirens, I cannot give you coherent
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Speaker 1: directions as to which of two courses you are to take.
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Speaker 1: I will lay the two alternatives before you, and you
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Speaker 1: must consider them for yourself. On the one hand, there
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Speaker 1: are some overhanging rocks against which the deep blue waves
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Speaker 1: of the amphitrite beat with terrific fury. The blessed gods
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Speaker 1: call these rocks the wanderers. Here. Not even a bird
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Speaker 1: may pass, No, not even the timid doves that bring
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Speaker 1: ambrosia to Father Jove. But the sheer rock always carries
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Speaker 1: off one of them, and Father Jove has to send
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Speaker 1: another to make up their number. No ship that ever
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Speaker 1: yet came to these rocks has got away again. But
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Speaker 1: the waves and whirlwinds of fire are freighted with wreckage
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Speaker 1: and with the bodies of dead men. The only vessel
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Speaker 1: that ever sailed and got through was the famous Argo
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Speaker 1: on her way home from the House of Aetes, and
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Speaker 1: she too would have gone against these great rocks. Only
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Speaker 1: the Juno piloted her pass them for the love she
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Speaker 1: bore to Jason. Of these two rocks, the one riches heaven,
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Speaker 1: and its peak is lost in a dark cloud. This
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Speaker 1: never leaves it, so that the top is never clear,
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Speaker 1: not even in summer and early autumn. No man, though
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Speaker 1: he had twenty hands and twenty feet, could get a
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Speaker 1: foothold on it and climb up. For it runs sheer up,
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Speaker 1: as smooth as though it had been polished. In the
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Speaker 1: middle of it, there is a large cavern, looking west
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Speaker 1: and turned towards Erebus. You must take your ship this way,
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Speaker 1: But the cave is so high up that not even
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Speaker 1: the stoutest archer could send an arrow into it. Inside
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Speaker 1: the Scylla sits and yelps with a voice that you
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Speaker 1: might take to be that of a young hound. But
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Speaker 1: in truth she is a dreadful monster, and no one,
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Speaker 1: not even a god, could face her without being terror struck.
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Speaker 1: She has twelve misshapen feet and six necks of the
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Speaker 1: most prodigious length, and at the end of each neck
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Speaker 1: she has a frightful head, with three rows of teeth
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Speaker 1: in each, all set very close together, so that they
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Speaker 1: would crunch any one to death in a moment. And
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Speaker 1: she sits within her shady cell, thrusting out her heads
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Speaker 1: and peering all round the rock, fishing for dolphins, or dogfish,
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Speaker 1: or any larger monster that she can catch. Of the
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Speaker 1: thousands with which Amphitrite teams, no ship ever yet got
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Speaker 1: past her without losing some men, for she shoots out
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Speaker 1: all her heads at once and carries off a man
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Speaker 1: in each mouth. You will find the other rock lie lower,
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Speaker 1: but they are so close together that there is not
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Speaker 1: more than a bow shot between them. A large fig
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Speaker 1: tree in full leaf grows upon it, and under it
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Speaker 1: lies the sucking whirlpool of Cheribdis. Three times in a
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Speaker 1: day does she vomit forth her waters, and three times
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Speaker 1: she sucks them down again. See that you be not
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Speaker 1: there when she is sucking. For if you are Neptune
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Speaker 1: himself could not save you. You must hug the scilla
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Speaker 1: aside and drive ship by as fast as you can,
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Speaker 1: for you had better lose six men than your whole crew.
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Speaker 1: Is there no way, said I, of escaping Charibdis and
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Speaker 1: at the same time keeping Sylla off when she is
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Speaker 1: trying to harm my men. You dare devil, replied the goddess.
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Speaker 1: You are always wanting to fight somebody or something. You
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Speaker 1: will not let yourself be beaten even by the immortals,
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Speaker 1: for Scylla is not mortal. Moreover, she is savage, extreme, rude, cruel,
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Speaker 1: and invincible. There is no help for it, for if
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Speaker 1: you dawdle about her rock while you are putting on
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Speaker 1: your armor, she may catch you with the second cast
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Speaker 1: of her six heads and snap up another half dozen
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Speaker 1: of your men. So drive your ship past her at
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Speaker 1: full speed and roar out lustily to Cretaeus, who is
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Speaker 1: scyll is dam bad luck to her. She will then
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Speaker 1: stop her from making a second raid upon you. You
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Speaker 1: will now come to the Threnatian Island, and here you
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Speaker 1: will see many herds of cattle and flocks of sheep
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Speaker 1: belonging to the Sun god. Seven herds of cattle and
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Speaker 1: seven flocks of sheep, with fifty head in each flock.
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Speaker 1: They do not breed, nor do they become fewer in number,
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Speaker 1: and they are tended by the goddesses Pethusa and Lampity,
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Speaker 1: who are children of the sun god Hyperion by Nea'era.
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Speaker 1: Their mother, when she had borne them and had done
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Speaker 1: suckling them, sent them to the Threnatian Island, which was
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Speaker 1: a long way off, to live there and look after
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Speaker 1: their father's flocks and herds. If you leave these flocks
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Speaker 1: unharmed and think of nothing but getting home, you may yet,
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Speaker 1: after much hardship, reach Ithaca. But if you harm them,
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Speaker 1: then I forewarn you of the destruction both of your
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Speaker 1: ship and of your comrades. And even though you may
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Speaker 1: yourself escape, you will return late in bad plight, after
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Speaker 1: losing all your men. Here she ended and Dawn enthroned
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Speaker 1: in gold began to show in heaven, whereon she returned inland.
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Speaker 1: I then went on board and told my men to
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Speaker 1: loose the ship from her moorings. So they at once
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Speaker 1: got into her, took their places, and began to smite
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Speaker 1: the gray sea with their oars. Presently, the great and
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Speaker 1: cunning goddess Sir befriended us with a fair wind that
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Speaker 1: blew dead aft, and stayed steadily with us, keeping our
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Speaker 1: sails well filled. So we did whatever wanted doing to
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Speaker 1: the ship's gear, and let her go as wind and
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Speaker 1: helmsman headed her. Then, being much troubled in mind, I
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Speaker 1: said to my men, my friends, it is not right
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Speaker 1: that one or two of us alone should know the
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Speaker 1: prophecies that Circe has made me. I will therefore tell
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Speaker 1: you about them, so that whether we live or die,
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Speaker 1: we may do so with our eyes open. First, she
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Speaker 1: said we were to keep clear of the sirens, who
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Speaker 1: sit and sing most beautifully in a field of flowers.
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Speaker 1: But she said I might hear them myself, so long
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Speaker 1: as no one else did. Therefore, take me and bind
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Speaker 1: me to the cross piece half way up the mast.
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Speaker 1: Bind me as I stand upright with a bond, so
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Speaker 1: fat that I cannot possibly break away and lash the
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Speaker 1: rope's ends to the mast itself. If I beg and
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Speaker 1: pray you to set me free, then bind me more tightly.
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Speaker 1: Still I had hardly finished telling everything to the men
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Speaker 1: before we reached the island of the two Sirens, for
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Speaker 1: the wind had been very favorable. Then all of a
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Speaker 1: sudden it fell dead calm. There was not a breath
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Speaker 1: of wind, nor a ripple upon the water. So the
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Speaker 1: men furled the sails and stowed them. Then, taking to
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Speaker 1: their oars, they whitened the water with the foam they
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Speaker 1: raised in rowing. Meanwhile, I took a large wheel of
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Speaker 1: wax and cut it up small with my sword. Then
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Speaker 1: I kneaded the wax in my strong hands till it
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Speaker 1: became soft, which it soon did between the kneading and
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Speaker 1: the rays of the sun, God's sun of hyperion. Then
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Speaker 1: I stopped the ears of all my men, and they
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Speaker 1: bound me hands and feet to the mast as they
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Speaker 1: stood upright on the cross piece. But they went on
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Speaker 1: rowing themselves. When we had got within earshot of the land,
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Speaker 1: and the ship was going at a good rate, the
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Speaker 1: Sirens saw that we were getting in shore and began
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Speaker 1: with their singing, Come here, they sang, renowned Ulysses, honor
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Speaker 1: to the Achaean name, and listened to our two voices.
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Speaker 1: No one ever sailed past us without staying to hear
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Speaker 1: the enchanting sweetness of our song. And he who listens
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Speaker 1: will go on his way not only charmed, but wiser,
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Speaker 1: for we know all the ills that the gods laid
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Speaker 1: upon the Argives and Trojans before Troy, and can tell
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Speaker 1: you everything that is going to happen over the whole world.
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Speaker 1: They sang these words most musically, and as I longed
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Speaker 1: to hear them further, I made signs by frowning to
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Speaker 1: my men that they should set me free. But they
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Speaker 1: quickened their stroke, and Eurylochus and Paramedes bound me with
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Speaker 1: still stronger bonds till we had got out of the
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Speaker 1: hearing of the sirens voices. Then my men took the
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Speaker 1: wax from their ears and unbound me. Immediately after we
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Speaker 1: had got past the island, I saw a great wave
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Speaker 1: from which spray was rising, and I heard a loud,
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Speaker 1: roaring sound. The men were so frightened that they loosed
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Speaker 1: hold of their oars, for the whole sea resounded with
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Speaker 1: the rushing of the waters, but the ships stayed where
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Speaker 1: it was, for the men had left off rowing. I
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Speaker 1: went round therefore, and exhorted them, man by man not
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Speaker 1: to lose heart. My friends, said I, this is not
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Speaker 1: the first time that we have been in danger, and
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Speaker 1: we are in nothing like so bad a case as
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Speaker 1: when the Cyclops shut us up in his cave. Nevertheless,
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Speaker 1: my courage and wise counsel saved us then, and we
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Speaker 1: shall live to look back on all this as well. Now, therefore,
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Speaker 1: let us all do as I say, Trust in Jove
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Speaker 1: and row on with might and main. As for you, Coxswain,
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Speaker 1: these are your orders. Attend to them, for the ship
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Speaker 1: is in your hands. Turn her head away from these
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Speaker 1: steaming rapids and hug the rocks, or she will give
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Speaker 1: you the slip and be over yonder before you know
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Speaker 1: where you are, and you will be the death of us.
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Speaker 1: So they did as I told them, But I said
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Speaker 1: nothing about the awful monster Scylla, for I knew the
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Speaker 1: men would not go on rowing if I did, but
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Speaker 1: would huddle together in the hold. In one thing only
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Speaker 1: did I disobey Circe's strict instructions. I put on my armor, then,
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Speaker 1: seizing two strong spears. I took my stand on the
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Speaker 1: ship's bows, for it was there that I expected first
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Speaker 1: to see the monster of the rock, who was to
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Speaker 1: do my men so much harm. But I could not
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Speaker 1: make her out anywhere, though I strained my eyes with
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Speaker 1: looking the gloomy rock all over and over. Then we
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Speaker 1: entered the straits in great fear of mind, for on
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Speaker 1: the one hand was Scylla, and on the other dread
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Speaker 1: cherubdis kept sucking up the salt water as she vomited
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Speaker 1: it up. It was like the water in a cauldron
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Speaker 1: when it is boiling over upon a great fire, and
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Speaker 1: the spray reached the top of the rocks on either side.
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Speaker 1: When she began to suck again, we could see the
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Speaker 1: water all inside, whirling round and round, and it made
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Speaker 1: a deafening sound as it broke against the rocks. We
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Speaker 1: could see the bottom of the whirlpool all black with
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Speaker 1: sand and mud, and the men were at their wits
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Speaker 1: ends for fear. While we were taken up with this
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Speaker 1: and were expecting each moment to be our last, Sylla
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Speaker 1: pounced down suddenly upon us and snatched up my six
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Speaker 1: best men. I was looking at once, after both ship
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Speaker 1: and men and in a moment I saw their hands
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Speaker 1: and feet ever so high above me, struggling in the
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Speaker 1: air as Scylla was carrying them off, and I heard
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Speaker 1: them call up my name in one last despairing cry.
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Speaker 1: As a fisherman, seated spear in hand upon some jutting rock,
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Speaker 1: throws bait into the water to deceive the poor little fishes,
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Speaker 1: and spears them with the ox's horn with which his
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Speaker 1: spear is shod, throwing them gasping onto the land as
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Speaker 1: he catches them one by one. Even so did Silla
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Speaker 1: land these panting creatures on her rock and munched them
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Speaker 1: up at the mouth of her den, while they screamed
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Speaker 1: and strod out their hands to me in their mortal agony.
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Speaker 1: This was the most sickening sight that I saw throughout
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Speaker 1: all my voyages. When we had passed the wandering rocks
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Speaker 1: with Scylla and terrible Charibdis, we reached the noble island
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Speaker 1: of the Sun God, where were the goodly cattle and
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Speaker 1: sheep belonging to the Sun Hyperion. While still at sea
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Speaker 1: and my ship, I could bear the cattle lowing as
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Speaker 1: they came home to the yards, and the sheep bleeding.
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Speaker 1: Then I remembered with the blind theban prophet Terseus had
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Speaker 1: told me, and how carefully Aegean Circe had warned me
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Speaker 1: to shun the island of the Blessed Sun God. So,
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Speaker 1: being much troubled, I said to the men, my men,
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Speaker 1: I know you are hard pressed, but listen while I
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Speaker 1: tell you the prophecy that Terseus made me, and how
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Speaker 1: carefully Aegean Circe warned me to shun the island of
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Speaker 1: the Blessed Sun God, for it was here She said
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Speaker 1: that our worst danger would lie head the ship therefore
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Speaker 1: away from the island. The men were in despair at this,
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Speaker 1: and Eurylochus at once gave me an insolent answer. Ulysses said, he,
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Speaker 1: you are cruel. You are very strong yourself, and never
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Speaker 1: get worn out. You seem to be made of iron.
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Speaker 1: And now, though your men are exhausted with toil and
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Speaker 1: want of sleep, you will not let them land and
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Speaker 1: cook themselves a good supper upon this island, but bid
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Speaker 1: them put out to sea and go faring fruitlessly on
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Speaker 1: through the watches of the flying night. It is by
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Speaker 1: night that the winds blow hardest and do so much damage.
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Speaker 1: How can we escape should one of those sudden squalls
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Speaker 1: spring up from southwest or west, which so often wreck
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Speaker 1: a vessel when our lords the gods are unpropitious. Now, therefore,
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Speaker 1: let us obey the beheat of night and prepare our
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Speaker 1: supper here hard by the ship. Tomorrow morning we will
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Speaker 1: go on board again and put out to sea. Thus
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Speaker 1: spoke Eurylochus, and the men approved his words. I saw
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Speaker 1: that Heaven meant us a mischief, and said, you've forced
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Speaker 1: me to yield, for you are many against one. But
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Speaker 1: at any rate, each one of you must take his
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Speaker 1: solemn oath that if he meet with a herd of
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Speaker 1: cattle or a large flock of sheep, he will not
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Speaker 1: be so mad as to kill a single head of either,
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Speaker 1: but will be satisfied with the food that Circe has
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Speaker 1: given us. They all swore as I bade them, And
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Speaker 1: when they had completed their oath, we made the ship
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Speaker 1: fast in a harbor that was near a stream of
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Speaker 1: fresh water, and the men went ashore and cooked their suppers.
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Speaker 1: As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink,
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Speaker 1: they began talking about their poor comrades, whom Scylla had
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Speaker 1: snatched up and eaten. This them weeping, and they went
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Speaker 1: on crying till they fell off into a sound sleep.
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Speaker 1: In the third watch of the night, when the stars
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Speaker 1: had shifted their places, Jove raised a great gale of
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Speaker 1: wind that flew a hurricane, so that land and sea
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Speaker 1: were covered with thick clouds, and nights sprang forth out
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Speaker 1: of the heavens. When the child of morning, rosy fingered
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Speaker 1: dawn appeared, we brought the ship to land and drew
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Speaker 1: her into a cave, wherein the sea nymphs hold their
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Speaker 1: courts and dances. And I called the men together in council.
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Speaker 1: My friends said I. We have meat and drank in
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Speaker 1: the ship. Let us mind therefore, and not touch the cattle,
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Speaker 1: or we shall suffer for it. For these cattle and
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Speaker 1: sheep belonged to the mighty Sun, who sees and gives
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Speaker 1: ear to everything. And again they promised that they would obey.
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Speaker 1: For a whole month, the wind blew steadily from the south,
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Speaker 1: and there was no other wind, but only south and east.
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Speaker 1: As long as corn and wine held out, the men
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Speaker 1: did not touch the cattle when they were hungry. When however,
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Speaker 1: they had eaten all there was in the ship, they
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Speaker 1: were forced to go further afield with hook and line,
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Speaker 1: catching birds and taking whatever they could lay their hands on,
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Speaker 1: for they were starving. One day, therefore, I went up
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Speaker 1: inland that I might pray Heaven to show me some
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Speaker 1: means of getting away. When I had gone far enough
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Speaker 1: to be clear of all my men, and had found
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Speaker 1: a place that was well sheltered from the wind, I
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Speaker 1: washed my hands and prayed to all the gods and
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Speaker 1: Olympus till by and by they sent me off into
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Speaker 1: a sweet sleep. Meanwhile, Eurylochus had been giving evil counsel
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Speaker 1: to the men. Listen to me, said he, my poor comrades.
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Speaker 1: All deaths are bad enough, but there is none so
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Speaker 1: bad as famine. Why should not we drive in the
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Speaker 1: best of these cows and offer them in sacrifice to
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Speaker 1: the immortal gods. If we ever get back to Ithaca,
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Speaker 1: we can build a fine temple to the Sun God,
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Speaker 1: and enriched with every kind of ornament. If, however, he
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Speaker 1: is determined to sink our ship, but of revenge for
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Speaker 1: these home and cattle, and the other gods are of
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Speaker 1: the same mind, I, for one, would rather drink salt
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Speaker 1: water once for all and have done with it, than
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Speaker 1: be starved to death by inches in such a desert
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Speaker 1: island as this is. Thus spoke Eurylochus, and the men
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Speaker 1: approved his words. Now the cattle, so fair and goodly,
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Speaker 1: were feeding not far from the ship. The men therefore
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Speaker 1: drove in the best of them, and they all stood
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Speaker 1: round them, saying their prayers, and using young oak shoots
22:55
Speaker 1: instead of barley meal, for there was no barley left.
22:59
Speaker 1: When they had done praying, they killed the cows and
23:02
Speaker 1: dressed their carcasses. They cut out the thigh bones, wrapped
23:06
Speaker 1: them round in two layers of fat, and set some
23:09
Speaker 1: pieces of raw meat on top of them. They had
23:13
Speaker 1: no wine with which to make drink offerings over the
23:16
Speaker 1: sacrifice while it was cooking, so they kept pouring on
23:19
Speaker 1: a little water from time to time while the inward
23:23
Speaker 1: meats were being grilled. Then, when the thigh bones were
23:26
Speaker 1: burned and they had tasted the inward meats, they cut
23:30
Speaker 1: the rest up small and put the pieces upon the spits.
23:35
Speaker 1: By this time, my deep sleep had left me, and
23:38
Speaker 1: I turned back to the ship and to the sea shore.
23:42
Speaker 1: As I drew near, I began to smell hot roast meat.
23:46
Speaker 1: So I groaned out of prayer to the immortal gods,
23:49
Speaker 1: Father Jove, I exclaimed, and all you other gods who
23:53
Speaker 1: live in everlasting bliss, you have done me a cruel
23:56
Speaker 1: mischief by the sleep into which you have sent me.
23:59
Speaker 1: See I would find work these men of mine have
24:02
Speaker 1: been making in my absence. Meanwhile, Lampity went straight off
24:07
Speaker 1: to the Sun and told him we had been killing
24:09
Speaker 1: his cows. Whereon he flew into a great rage and said,
24:13
Speaker 1: to the immortals, Father Jove, and all you other gods
24:17
Speaker 1: who live in everlasting bliss, I must have vengeance on
24:20
Speaker 1: the crew of Ulysses's ship. They have had the insolence
24:24
Speaker 1: to kill my cows, which were the one thing I
24:27
Speaker 1: loved to look upon, whether I was going up heaven
24:30
Speaker 1: or down again. If they do not square accounts with
24:34
Speaker 1: me about my cows, I will go down to Hades
24:37
Speaker 1: and shine there among the dead, son, said Jove, go
24:42
Speaker 1: on shining upon us gods and upon mankind over the
24:46
Speaker 1: fruitful earth. I will shiver their ship into little pieces
24:50
Speaker 1: with a bolt of white lightning as soon as they
24:53
Speaker 1: get out to sea. I was told all this by Calypso,
24:58
Speaker 1: who said she had heard it from the mouth of Mercury.
25:02
Speaker 1: As soon as I got down to my ship and
25:04
Speaker 1: to the sea shore, I rebuked each one of the
25:06
Speaker 1: men separately, and we could see no way out of it,
25:10
Speaker 1: for the cows were dead already, and indeed the gods
25:14
Speaker 1: began at once to show signs and wonders among us,
25:17
Speaker 1: for the hides of the cattle crawled about, and the
25:20
Speaker 1: joints upon the spits began to low like cows, and
25:24
Speaker 1: the meat, whether cooked or raw, kept on making a noise,
25:28
Speaker 1: just as cows do. For six days my men kept
25:32
Speaker 1: driving in the best cows and feasting upon them. But
25:35
Speaker 1: when Jove, the son of Saturn, had added a seventh day,
25:39
Speaker 1: the fury of the gale abated. We therefore went on board,
25:44
Speaker 1: raised our masts, spread sail, and put out to sea.
25:48
Speaker 1: As soon as we were well away from the island
25:50
Speaker 1: and could see nothing but sky and sea, the sun
25:54
Speaker 1: of Saturn raised a black cloud over our ship, and
25:58
Speaker 1: the sea grew dark beneath it. We did not get
26:01
Speaker 1: on much further, for in another moment we were caught
26:05
Speaker 1: by a terrific squaw from the west that snapped the
26:08
Speaker 1: four stays of the mast, so that it fell aft,
26:12
Speaker 1: while all the ship's gear tumbled about at the bottom
26:15
Speaker 1: of the vessel. The mast fell upon the head of
26:18
Speaker 1: the helmsman in the ship's stern, so that the bones
26:21
Speaker 1: of his head were crushed to pieces, and he fell
26:24
Speaker 1: overboard as though he were diving, with no more life
26:28
Speaker 1: left in him. Then Jove let fly with his thunderbolts,
26:33
Speaker 1: and the ship went round and round, and was filled
26:36
Speaker 1: with fire and brimstone. As the lightning struck it, the
26:40
Speaker 1: men all fell into the sea. They were carried about
26:43
Speaker 1: in the water round the ship, looking like so many
26:47
Speaker 1: sea gulls, but the God presently deprived them of all
26:50
Speaker 1: chance of getting home again. I stuck to the ship
26:54
Speaker 1: till the sea knocked her sides from her keel, which
26:57
Speaker 1: drifted about by itself, and struck ruck the mast out
27:00
Speaker 1: of her in the direction of the keel. But there
27:03
Speaker 1: was a back stay of stout ox thong still hanging
27:07
Speaker 1: about it, and with this I lashed the mast and
27:11
Speaker 1: keel together, and, getting astride of them, was carried wherever
27:15
Speaker 1: the winds chose to take me. The gale from the
27:19
Speaker 1: west had now spent its force, and the wind got
27:22
Speaker 1: into the south again, which frightened me. Lest I should
27:26
Speaker 1: be taken back to the terrible whirlpool of Charibdis. This
27:31
Speaker 1: indeed was what actually happened, for I was borne along
27:35
Speaker 1: by the waves all night, and by sunrise had reached
27:38
Speaker 1: the rock of Scylla and the whirlpool. She was then
27:42
Speaker 1: sucking down the salt sea water. But I was carried
27:46
Speaker 1: aloft toward the fig tree, which I caught hold of
27:49
Speaker 1: and clung onto like a bat. I could not plant
27:53
Speaker 1: my feet anywhere so as to stand securely, for the
27:57
Speaker 1: roots were a long way off, and the boughs that
27:59
Speaker 1: over shadowed the whole pool were too high, too vast,
28:04
Speaker 1: and too far apart for me to reach them. So
28:07
Speaker 1: I hung patiently on, waiting till the pool should discharge
28:11
Speaker 1: my mast and raft again. And a very long while
28:14
Speaker 1: it seemed a jury man is not more glad to
28:18
Speaker 1: get home to supper after having been long detained in
28:22
Speaker 1: court by troublesome cases, than I was to see my
28:26
Speaker 1: raft beginning to work its way out of the whirlpool again.
28:30
Speaker 1: At last, I let go with my hands and feet,
28:33
Speaker 1: and fell heavily into the sea, hard by my raft,
28:37
Speaker 1: unto which I then got and began to row with
28:40
Speaker 1: my hands. As for Scylla, the father of gods and
28:44
Speaker 1: men would not let her get further sight of me,
28:47
Speaker 1: otherwise I should have certainly been lost. Hence I was
28:53
Speaker 1: carried along for nine days till on the tenth night,
28:56
Speaker 1: the gods stranded me on the ogagean island where dwells
29:01
Speaker 1: the great and powerful goddess Calypso. She took me in
29:05
Speaker 1: and was kind to me. But I need say no
29:08
Speaker 1: more about this, for I told you and your noble
29:11
Speaker 1: wife all about it yesterday, and I hate saying the
29:15
Speaker 1: same thing over and over again. End of Book twelve.