Latest / Adventure Books Collection / 09 - The Odyssey - Homer

Transcript

09 - The Odyssey - Homer · Adventure Books Collection

0:00
Book nine, Ulysses declares himself and begins his story. The seacons the Tophagy
0:11
and Cyclops, and Ulysses answered King Altinouse, it is a good thing to
0:19
hear a bard with such a divine voice as this man has. There is
0:24
nothing better or more delightful than when a whole people make merry together, with
0:30
the guest sitting orderly to listen, while the table is loaded with bread and
0:34
meats, and the cup bearer draws wine and fills his cup for every man.
0:41
This is indeed as fair a sight as a man can see. Now.
0:46
However, since you are inclined to ask the story of my sorrows and
0:51
rekindle my own sad memories in respect of them, I do not know how
0:56
to begin, nor yet how to continue and conclude my tail, for the
1:02
hand of heaven has been laid heavily upon me. Firstly, then I will
1:08
tell you my name, that you too may know it, and one day,
1:14
if I outlive this time of sorrow, may become my guests. Though
1:18
I live so far away from all of you, I am Ulysses, son
1:23
of Laertes, renowned among mankind for all manner of subtlety, so that my
1:29
fame ascends to heaven. I live in Ithaca, where there is a high
1:34
mountain called Neritum, covered with forests, and not far from it there is
1:40
a group of islands very near to one another, the Lychium Samee and the
1:45
wooded island of Zacinthus. It lies squat on the horizon, all highest up
1:52
in the sea, towards the sunset, while the others lie away from it
1:56
towards dawn. It is a rugged island, but it breeds brave men,
2:02
and my eyes know none that they better love to look upon. The goddess
2:07
Calypso kept me with her in her cave and wanted me to marry her,
2:13
as did also the cunning and Ian goddess Circe. But they could neither of
2:17
them persuade me. For there is nothing dearer to a man than his own
2:22
country and his parents. And however splendid a home he may have in a
2:27
foreign country, if it be far from father or mother, he does not
2:31
care about it. Now, however, I will tell you of the many
2:37
hazardous adventures which, by Jove's will I met with on my return from Troy.
2:45
When I had set sail fence, the wind took me first to Ismarus,
2:49
which is the city of the Sekhins. There I sacked the town and
2:53
put the people to the sword. We took their wives, and also much
2:59
booty, which we divided equitably amongst us, so that none might have reason
3:04
to complain. I then said that we had better make off at once,
3:09
but my men, very foolishly would not obey me. So they stayed there,
3:14
drinking much wine and killing great numbers of sheep and oxen on the sea
3:17
shore. Meanwhile, the Secins cried out for help to other Sekins who lived
3:23
in land. These were more in number and stronger, and they were more
3:29
skilled in the art of war, for they could fight either from chariots or
3:35
on foot, as the occasion served. In the morning. Therefore, they
3:39
came as thick as leaves and bloom in summer, and the hand of heaven
3:44
was against us, so that we were hard pressed. They set the battle
3:49
in array near the ships, and the hosts aimed their bronze shod spears at
3:53
one another. So long as the day waxed and it was still mourning,
3:58
we held our own against them them, though they were more in number than
4:00
we. But as the sun went down towards the time when men lose their
4:05
oxen. The Seacans got the better of us, and we lost half a
4:10
dozen men from every ship we had, so we got away with those that
4:14
were left. Thence we sailed onward with sorrow in our hearts, but glad
4:19
to have escaped death, though we had lost our comrades. Nor did we
4:25
leave till we had thrice in vote each one of the poor fellows who had
4:29
perished by the hands of the sekins. Then Jove raised the north wind against
4:34
us, till it blew a hurricane, so that land and sky were hidden
4:39
in thick clouds, and knights sprang forth out of the heavens. We let
4:44
the ships run before the gale, but the force of the wind tore our
4:47
sails to tatters, so we took them down for fear of shipwreck, and
4:51
rowed our hardest towards the land. There we lay two days and two nights,
4:58
suffering much alike from toil and distress of mind. But on the morning
5:02
of the third day we again raised our masts, set sail, and took
5:08
our places, letting the wind and steersmen direct our ship. I should have
5:13
got home at that time unharmed, had not the north wind and the currents
5:16
been against me as I was doubling Cape Malaya, and set me off my
5:21
course hard by the island of Scyphia. I was driven hence by foul winds,
5:29
for a space of nine days upon the sea. But on the tenth
5:32
day we reached the land of the lotus eaters, who live on a food
5:36
that comes from a kind of flower. Here we landed to take in fresh
5:42
water, and our crews got their midday meal on the shore near the ships.
5:46
When they had eaten and drunk, I sent two of my company to
5:50
see what manner of men the people of the place might be, and they
5:56
had a third man under them. They started at once and went about among
6:00
the lotus eaters, who did them no hurt, but gave them to eat
6:05
of the lotus, which was so delicious that those who ate of it left
6:11
off caring about home, and did not even want to go back and say
6:15
what had happened to them, but were for staying and munching lotus with the
6:18
lotus eaters, without thinking further of their return. Nevertheless, though they wept
6:26
bitterly, I forced them back to the ships and made them fast under the
6:30
benches. Then I told the rest to go on board at once, lest
6:33
any of them should taste of the lotus and leave off wanting to go home.
6:39
So they took their places and smoked the gray sea with their oars.
6:45
We sailed, hence always in much distress, till we came to the land
6:48
of the lawless and inhuman cyclops. Now the cyclops neither plant nor plow,
6:56
but trust in providence, and live on such wheat grapes as grow wild without
7:01
any kind of tillage, and their wild grapes yield them wine as the sun
7:06
and the rain may grow them. They have no laws nor assemblies of the
7:12
people, but live in caves on the tops of high mountains. Each is
7:17
lord and master in his family, and they take no account of their neighbours.
7:24
Now off their harbour there lies a wooded and fertile island, not quite
7:29
close to the land of the cyclops, but still not far. It is
7:33
overrun with wild goats that breed there in great numbers, and are never disturbed
7:39
by foot of man. For sportsmen, who as a rule will suffer so
7:44
much hardship in forest or among mountain precipices, do not go there. Nor
7:50
yet again is it ever plowed or fed down. But it lies a wilderness,
7:56
untilled and unsown from year to year, and has no living thing upon
8:00
it, but only goats. For the cyclops have no ships, nor yet
8:05
shipwrights who could make ships for them. They cannot therefore go from city to
8:11
city or sail over the sea to one another's country, as people who have
8:15
ships can do. If they had had these, they would have colonized the
8:20
island, for it is a very good one and would yield everything in due
8:24
season. There are meadows that in some places come right down to the seashore,
8:31
well watered and full of luscious grass. Grapes would do there excellently.
8:37
There is level land for plowing, and it would always yield heavily at harvest
8:41
time, for the soil is deep. There is a good harbor where no
8:46
cables are wanted, nor yet anchors, nor need a ship be moored.
8:52
That all one has to do is to beach one's vessel and stay there till
8:56
the wind becomes fair for putting out to sea again. At the head of
9:01
the harbor, there was a spring of clear water coming out of a cave,
9:05
and there are poplars growing all round it. Here we entered, But
9:11
so dark was the night that some god must have brought us in, for
9:16
there was nothing whatever to be seen. A thick mist hung all round our
9:20
ships. The moon was hidden behind a mass of clouds, so that no
9:24
one could have seen the island if he had looked for it, Nor were
9:28
there any breakers to tell us. We were close in shore before we found
9:33
ourselves upon the land itself. When, however, we had beached the ships,
9:37
we took down the sails, went ashore, and camped upon the beach
9:41
till daybreak, when the child of morning, rosy fingered dawn appeared. We
9:48
admired the island and wandered all over it, while the nymphs Jove's daughters roused
9:54
the wild goats that we might get some meat for our dinner. On this
10:00
we fetched our spears and bows and arrows from the ships, and, dividing
10:03
ourselves into three bands, began to shoot the goats. Heaven Center's excellent sport.
10:11
I had twelve ships with me, and each ship got nine goats,
10:15
while my own ship had ten. Thus, through the livelong day to the
10:20
going down of the sun, we ate and drank our fill, and we
10:24
had plenty of wine left for each one of us had taken many jars full
10:30
when we sacked the city of the Seakins, and this had not yet run
10:33
out. While we were feasting, we kept turning our eyes towards the land
10:39
of the Cyclops, which was hard by, and saw the smoke of their
10:43
stubborn fires. We could almost fancy we heard their voices and the bleating of
10:50
their sheep and goats. But when the sun went down and it came on
10:54
dark, we camped down upon the beach, and next morning I called a
10:58
council. Stay here, my brave fellows, said I, all the rest
11:03
of you, while I go with my ship and exploit these people myself.
11:09
I want to see if they are uncivilized savages or a hospitable and humane race.
11:15
I went on board, bidding my men to do so also, and
11:18
loose the horses. So they took their places and smoked the gray sea with
11:24
their oars. When we got to the land, which was not far there,
11:30
on the face of a cliff near the sea, we saw a great
11:33
cave overhung with laurels. It was a station for a great many sheep and
11:39
goats, and outside there was a large yard with a high wall round.
11:43
It made of stones built into the ground, and of trees, both pine
11:48
and oak. This was the abode of a huge monster who was then away
11:54
from home shepherding his flocks. He would have nothing to do with us other
12:00
people, but led the life of an outlaw. He was a horrid creature,
12:05
not like a human being at all, but resembling rather some crag that
12:09
stands out boldly against the sky on the top of a high mountain. I
12:16
told my men to draw the ship ashore and stay where they were, all
12:20
but the twelve best among them, who were to go along with myself.
12:24
I also took a goat skin of sweet black wine, which had been given
12:28
me by Maron, son of Euanthes, who was priest of Apollo, the
12:35
patron god of Ismarus, and lived within the wooded preescings of the temple.
12:41
When we were sacking the city. We respected him and spared his life,
12:46
as also his wife and child. So he made me some presence of great
12:50
value, seven talents of fine gold and a bowl of silver with twelve jars
12:58
of sweet wine, unblended and of the most exquisite flavor. Not a man
13:05
nor maid in the house knew about it, but only himself, his wife,
13:09
and one housekeeper. When he drank it, he mixed twenty parts of
13:15
water to one of wine, and yet the fragrance from the mixing bowl was
13:20
so exquisite that it was impossible to refrain from drinking. I filled a large
13:26
skin with this wine and took a wallet full of provisions with me. From
13:31
my mind, misgave me that I might have to deal with some savage who
13:35
would be of great strength and would respect neither right nor law. We soon
13:41
reached his cave, but he was out shepherding, so we went inside and
13:48
took stock of all that we could see. His cheese racks were loaded with
13:52
cheeses, and he had more lambs and kids than his pens could hold.
13:58
They were kept in separate flocks. First there were the hoggits, then the
14:05
oldest of the younger lambs, and lastly the very young ones, all kept
14:11
apart from one another. As for his dairy, all the vessels, bowls,
14:18
and milk pails into which he milked were swimming with whey. When they
14:22
saw all this, my men begged me to let them first steal some cheeses
14:28
and make off with them to the ship. They would then return drive down
14:33
the lambs and kids, put them on board, and sail away with them.
14:37
It would have been indeed better if we had done so, but I
14:41
would not listen to them, for I wanted to see the owner himself,
14:45
in the hope that he might give me a present. When however, we
14:50
saw him, my poor men found him ill to deal with. We lit
14:56
a fire, offered some of the cheeses inside, sacrifice eight others of them,
15:03
and then sat waiting till the sight clocks should come in with his sheep.
15:07
When he came, he bought in with him a huge load of dry
15:11
firewood to light the fire for his supper, and this he flung with such
15:16
a noise onto the floor of his cave that we hid ourselves for fear at
15:20
the far end of the cavern. Meanwhile, he drove all the ewes inside,
15:26
as well as the she goats that he was going to milk, leaving
15:31
the males, both rams and he goats outside in the yards. Then he
15:37
rolled a huge stone to the mouth of the cave, so huge that two
15:43
and twenty strong four wheeled wagons could not be enough to draw it from its
15:46
place against the doorway. When he had done so, he sat down and
15:52
milked his ewes and goats, all in due course, and then he let
15:58
each of them have her own young He curdled half the milk and set it
16:03
aside in wicker strainers, but the other half he poured into bowls that he
16:08
might drink it for his supper. When he had got through with all his
16:14
work, he lit the fire, and then caught sight of us, whereupon
16:18
he said, strangers, who are you? Where do you sail from?
16:25
Are you traders? Or do you sail the sea as rovers? With your
16:27
hands against every man and every man's hand against you. We were frightened out
16:34
of our senses by his loud voice and monstrous form, but I managed to
16:40
say, we are Achaean's on our way home from Troy, and by the
16:45
will of Jove and stress of weather, we have been driven far out of
16:49
our course. We are the people of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, who
16:56
has won infinite renown throughout the whole world by sak so great a city and
17:00
killing so many people. We therefore humbly pray you to show us some hospitality
17:07
and otherwise make us such presents as visitors may reasonably expect. May your excellency,
17:14
fear the wrath of heaven, for we are your suppliants, and Jove
17:18
takes all respectable travelers under his protection, for he is the avenger of all
17:22
suppliants and foreigners in distress. To this he gave me but a pitiless answer.
17:30
Stranger said he you are a fool, or else you know nothing of
17:36
this country. Talk to me indeed about fearing the gods or shunning their anger.
17:42
We cyclops do not care about Jove or any of your blessed gods,
17:48
for we are ever so much stronger than they. I shall not spare either
17:53
yourself or your companions out of any regard for Jove, unless I am in
18:00
the humor for doing so. And now tell me where you made your ship
18:04
fast when you came on shore. Was it round the point? Or is
18:10
she lying straight off the land? He said this to draw me out,
18:15
But I was too cunning to be caught in that way, so I answered
18:19
with a lie. Neptune said, I send my ship onto the rocks at
18:25
the far end of your country and wrecked it. We were driven onto them
18:30
from the open sea, but I and those who are with me escaped the
18:34
jaws of death. The cruel wretch vouchsafed me not one word of answer,
18:41
but with a sudden clutch, he gripped up two of my men at once
18:45
and dashed them down upon the ground, as though they had been puppies.
18:49
Their brains were shed upon the ground, and the earth was wet with their
18:52
blood. Then he tore them limb from limb and sucked upon them, gobbled
19:00
them up like a lion in the wilderness, flesh, bones, marrow,
19:04
and entrails, without leaving anything uneaten. As for us, we wept and
19:11
lifted up our hands to heaven on seeing such a horrid sight, for we
19:17
did not know what else to do. But when the cyclops had filled his
19:22
huge paunch and had washed down his meal of human flesh with a drink of
19:26
neat milk, he stretched himself full length upon the ground among his sheep and
19:32
went to sleep. I was at first inclined to seize my sword, draw
19:37
it and drive it into his vitals, but I reflected that if I did,
19:42
we should all certainly be lost, for we should never be able to
19:47
shift the stone which the monster had put in front of the door. So
19:52
we stayed, sobbing and sighing, where we were till morning came. When
19:57
the child of morning rose fingered dawn appeared. He again lit his fire,
20:03
milked his goats and ews all quite rightly, and then let each have her
20:07
own young. As soon as he had got through with all his work,
20:12
he clutched up two more of my men and began eating them for his morning's
20:15
meal. Presently, with the utmost ease, he rolled the stone away from
20:22
the door and drove out his sheep. But he at once put it back
20:26
again as easily as though he were merely clapping the lid onto a quiver full
20:30
of arrows. As soon as he had done so, he shouted and cried,
20:36
sho show after his sheep to drive them onto the mountain. So I
20:42
was left to scheme some way of taking my revenge and covering myself with glory.
20:49
In the end I deemed it would be the best plan to do as
20:52
follows. The sight CLOBs had a great club which was lying near one of
20:59
the sheep pens. It was of green olive wood, and he had cut
21:03
it, intending it to use for a staff as soon as it should be
21:07
dry. It was so huge that we could only compare it to the mast
21:12
of a twenty odd merchant vessel of large burden and able to venture out into
21:18
open sea. I went up to this club and cut off about six feet
21:22
of it. I then gave this piece to the men and told them to
21:27
find it evenly off at one end, which they proceeded to do. And
21:33
lastly I brought it to a point, myself, charring the end in the
21:37
fire to make it harder. When I had done this, I hid it
21:42
under dung, which was lying about all over the cave, and told the
21:47
men to cast lots which of them should venture, along with myself, to
21:51
lift it and bore it into the monster's eye while he was asleep. The
21:56
lot fell upon the very four whom I should have, and I myself made
22:02
five. In the evening, the wretch came back from shepherding and drove his
22:07
flocks into the cave, this time driving them all inside and not leaving any
22:12
in the yards. I suppose some fancy must have taken him, or a
22:18
god must have prompted him to do so. As soon as he had put
22:22
the stone back in its place against the door, he sat down, milked
22:26
his ewes and his goats all quite rightly, and then let each have her
22:30
own young. When he had got through with all this work, he gripped
22:36
up two more of my men and made his supper of them. So I
22:41
went up to him with an ivy wood bowl of black wine in my hands.
22:45
Look here, Cyclops, said I, you have been eating a great
22:49
deal of man's flesh. So take this and drink some wine, that you
22:55
may see what kind of liquor we had on board my ship. I was
23:00
bringing it to you as a drink offering, in the hope that you would
23:03
take compassion upon me and further me on my way home. Whereas all you
23:07
do is go on ramping and raving most intolerably. You ought to be ashamed
23:12
of yourself. How can you expect people to come see you anymore if you
23:18
treat them in this way. He then took the cup and drank. He
23:23
was so delighted with the taste of the wine that he begged me for another
23:26
bowlful. Be so kind, he said, as to give me some more,
23:32
and tell me your name at once. I want to make you a
23:34
present that you'll be glad to have. We have wine even in this country,
23:41
for our soil grows grapes and the sun ripens them. But this drinks
23:47
like nectar and ambrosia, all in one. I then gave him some more.
23:52
Three times did I fill the bowl for him, and three times did
23:56
he drain it without thought or heed. Then, when I saw that the
24:02
wine had got into his head, I said to him as plausibly as I
24:04
could, Cyclops, you ask my name, and I will tell it to
24:10
you. Give me therefore the present you promised me. My name is no
24:15
man. This is what my father and mother and my friends have always called
24:21
me. But the cruel wretch said that I will eat all no man's comrades
24:27
before no man himself, and will keep no man for the last. This
24:33
is the present that I will make him. As he spoke, he reeled
24:38
and fell, sprawling face upwards on the ground. His great neck hung heavily
24:45
backwards, and a deep sleep told upon him. Presently he turned sick and
24:52
threw up both wine and the gobbets of human flesh on which he had been
24:56
gorging, for he was very drunk. Then I thrust the beam of wood
25:03
far into the embers to heat it, and encouraged my men lest any of
25:07
them should turn fainthearted. When the wood, green, though it was,
25:12
was about to blaze. I drew it out of the fire, glowing with
25:17
heat, and my men gathered round me, for Heaven had filled their hearts
25:22
with courage. We drove the sharp end of the beam into the monster's eye,
25:29
and, bearing upon it with all my weight, I kept turning it
25:32
round and round, as though I were boring a hole in a ship's plank
25:36
with an auger, which two men with a wheel and strap can keep on
25:41
turning as long as they choose. Even thus did we bore the red hot
25:47
beam into his eye, till the boiling blood bubbled all over it as we
25:52
worked it round and round, so that the steam from the burning eyeball scolded
25:56
his eyelids and eyebrows, and the root of the eye sputtered in the fire.
26:03
As a blacksmith plunges an axe or hatchet into cold water to temper it,
26:08
for it is this that gives strength to the iron, and it makes
26:12
a great hiss as he does so. Even thus did the cyclop's eye hiss
26:18
round the beam of olive wood, and his hideous yells made the cave ring
26:23
again. We ran away in a fright, but he plucked the beam,
26:30
all besmirched with gore, from his eye and hurled it from him in a
26:33
frenzy of rage and pain, shouting as he did so to the other cyclops
26:38
who lived on the bleak headlands near him. So they gathered from all quarters
26:42
round his cave when they heard him crying, and asked him what was the
26:47
matter with him? What ails you, Polyphemus said they, that you make
26:52
such a noise, breaking the stillness of the night and preventing us from being
26:56
able to sleep. Surely, no man is carrying off your sheep. Surely
27:03
no man is trying to kill you, either by fraud or by force.
27:10
But Polyphemus shouted to them from inside the cave, No man is killing me
27:15
by fraud. No man is killing me by force. Then said they,
27:22
if no man is attacking you, you must be ill. When Jove makes
27:26
people ill, there is no help for it, and you had better pray
27:30
to your father Neptune. Then they went away, and I laughed inwardly at
27:37
the success of my clever stratagem. But the Cyclops, groaning and in an
27:42
agony of pain, felt about with his hands till he found the stone and
27:48
took it from the door. Then he sat in the doorway and stretched his
27:52
hands in front of it to catch anyone going out with the sheep, for
27:57
he thought I might be foolish enough to attack. As for myself, I
28:03
kept on puzzling to think how I could best save my own life and those
28:07
of my companions. I schemed and schemed, as one who knows that his
28:12
life depends on it, for the danger was very great. In the end
28:18
I deemed that this plan would be the best. The male sheep were well
28:25
grown and carried a heavy black fleece, so I bound them noiselessly in threes,
28:32
together with some of the withis on which the wicked monster used to sleep.
28:37
There was to be a man under the middle sheep, and the two
28:41
on either side were to cover him, so that there were three sheep to
28:44
each man. As for myself, there was a ram finer than any of
28:49
the others. So I caught hold of him by the back esconced myself in
28:55
the thick wool under his belly, and hung on patiently to his fleece,
29:00
face upwards, keeping a firm hold on it all the time. Thus,
29:06
then did we wait in great fear of mind till morning came. But when
29:11
the child of morning rosy fingered dawn appeared. The male sheep hurried out to
29:18
feed, while the ewes remained bleating at the pens, waiting to be milked,
29:23
for their udders were full to bursting. But their master, in spite
29:29
of all his pain, felt the backs of all the sheep as they stood
29:33
upright without being sharp enough to find out that the men were underneath their bellies.
29:40
As the ram was going out last of all, heavy with its fleeces
29:45
and with the weight of my crafty self, Polyphemus laid hold of it and
29:48
said, my good Ram, what is it that makes you the last to
29:55
leave my cave this morning? You are not wont to let the u go
30:00
before you, but lead the mob with a run, whether to flowery mead
30:04
or bubbling fountain, and are the first to come home again at night.
30:10
But now you lag last of all? Is it because you know your master
30:15
has lost his eye and are sorry because that wicked no man and his horrid
30:21
crew has got him down on his drink and blinded him. But I will
30:26
have his life. Yet, if you could understand and talk, you would
30:30
tell me where the wretch is hiding, and I would dash his brains upon
30:36
the ground till they flew all over the cave. I should thus have some
30:41
satisfaction for the harm this no good no man has done me. As he
30:48
spoke, he drove the ram outside. But when we were a little way
30:52
out from the cave and yards, I first got from under the ram's belly,
30:57
and then freed my comrade. As for the sheep, which were very
31:03
fat, by constantly heading them in the right direction, we managed to drive
31:08
them down to the ship. The crew rejoiced greatly at seeing those of us
31:14
who had escaped death, but wept for the others whom the Cyclops had killed.
31:19
However, I made signs to them by nodding and frowning, that they
31:23
were to hush their crying, and told them to get all the sheep on
31:29
board at once and put out to sea. So they went aboard, took
31:34
their places, and smote the gray sea with their oars. Then, when
31:40
I had got as far out as my voice would reach, I began to
31:44
jeer at the Cyclops. Cyclops said, I, you should have taken better
31:49
measure of your man before eating up his comrades in your cave, You wretch,
31:56
eat up your visitors in your own house. I have known that your
32:00
sin would find you out, and now Jove and the other gods have punished
32:05
you. He got more and more furious as he heard me, so he
32:10
tore the top from off a high mountain and flung it just in front of
32:15
my ship, so that it was within a little of hitting the end of
32:19
the rudder. The sea quaked as the rock fell into it, and the
32:23
wash of the wave it rays carried us back towards the mainland, and forced
32:29
us towards the shore. But I snatched up a long pole and kept the
32:34
ship off, making signs to my men by nodding my head that they must
32:38
row for their lives. Whereupon they laid out with a will. When we
32:45
had got twice as far as we were before, I was for jeering at
32:49
the cyclops again, But the men begged and prayed of me to hold my
32:52
tongue. Do not, they exclaimed, be mad enough to provoke this savage
32:59
creature firm. He has thrown one rock at us already, which drove us
33:04
back again to the mainland, and we made sure it had been the death
33:07
of us. If it had then heard any further sound of voices, he
33:12
would have pounded our heads and our ship's timbers into a jelly with the rugged
33:16
rocks. He would have heaved at us, for he can throw them a
33:20
long way, but I would not listen to them, and shouted out to
33:24
him in my rage. Cyclops. If anyone asks you who it was that
33:30
put out your eye and spoiled your beauty, say it was a valiant warrior
33:36
Ulysses, son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca. On this he groaned
33:43
and cried out, alas, alas, that the old prophecy about me is
33:49
coming true. There was a prophet here at one time, a man both
33:54
brave and of great stratture, Telamus, son of you Mus, who was
34:00
an excellent seer and did all the prophecying for the Cyclops till he grew old.
34:08
He told me that all this would happen to me someday, and said
34:14
I should use my sight by the hand of Ulysses. I have been all
34:20
along expecting someone of imposing presence and superhuman strength, whereas he turns out to
34:28
be a little insignificant weakling who has managed to blind my eye by taking advantage
34:35
of me in my drink. Come here, then, Ulysses, that I
34:39
may make you presents to show my hospitality and urge Neptune to help you forward
34:45
on your journey. For Neptune and I are father and son. He if
34:52
he so will, shall heal me, which no one else, neither God
34:57
nor man can do. Then I said, I wish I could be as
35:04
sure of killing you outright and sending you down to the house of Hades,
35:08
as I am, that it will take more than Neptune to cure that eye
35:12
of yours. On this he lifted up his hands to the ferment of heaven
35:19
and prayed, saying, hear me, Great Neptune, if I am indeed
35:24
your own, true, bigotten son, grant that Ulysses may never reach his
35:30
home alive, or if he must get back to his friends at last,
35:35
let him do so late and in sore plight, after losing all his men.
35:42
Let him reach his home in another man's ship, and find trouble in
35:45
his house. Thus did he pray, and Neptune heard his prayer. Then
35:54
he picked up a rock much larger than the first, swung it aloft,
36:00
and hurled it with prodigious force. It fell just short of the ship,
36:05
but was within a little of hitting the end of the rudder the sea quaked
36:09
as the rock fell into it, and the wash of the wave it raised
36:13
drove us onwards on our way towards the shore of the island. When at
36:19
last we got to the island, where we had left the rest of our
36:22
ships, we found our comrades lamenting us and anxiously awaiting our return. We
36:30
ran our vessel upon the sands and got out of her onto the sea shore.
36:35
We also landed the cyclop's sheep, and divided them equitably amongst us,
36:39
so that none might have reason to complain. As for the ram, my
36:45
companions agreed that I should have it as an extra share, So I sacrificed
36:51
it on the seashore and burned its thigh bones to Jove, who is the
36:54
Lord of all. But he heeded not my sacrifice, and only thought how
37:00
he might destroy both my ships and my comrades. Thus, through the livelong
37:07
day to the going down of the sun, we feasted our fill on meat
37:12
and drink. But when the sun went down and it came on dark,
37:15
we camped upon the beach. When the child of morning, rosy fingered dawn,
37:22
appeared, I bade my men on board and loosed the horses. Then
37:27
they took their places and smote the gray sea with their oars. So we
37:31
sailed on with sorrow in our hearts, but glad to escaped death, though
37:37
we had lost our comrades. End of Book nine,