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

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