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

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Speaker 1: Book five. And now as Dawn rose from her couch,
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Speaker 1: besides Tithness, harbinger of light alike to mortals and immortals,
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Speaker 1: the gods met in council, and with them Jove, the
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Speaker 1: Lord of Thunder, who is their king. Thereon, Minerva began
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Speaker 1: to tell them of the many sufferings of Ulysses, for
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Speaker 1: she pitied him away there in the house of a
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Speaker 1: nymph Calypso. Father Jove said she, and all you other
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Speaker 1: gods that live in everlasting bliss, I hope there may
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Speaker 1: never be such a thing as a kind and well
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Speaker 1: disposed ruler any more, nor one who will govern equitably.
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Speaker 1: I hope they will all be henceforth cruel and unjust,
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Speaker 1: for there is not one of his subjects but has
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Speaker 1: forgotten Ulysses, who ruled them as though he were their father.
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Speaker 1: There he is lying in great pain in an island
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Speaker 1: where dwells the nymph Calypso, who will not let him go.
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Speaker 1: And he cannot get back to his own country, for
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Speaker 1: he can find neither ships nor sailors to take him
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Speaker 1: over the sea. Furthermore, wicked people are now trying to
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Speaker 1: murder his only son, Telemachus, who is coming home from
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Speaker 1: Pelis and Lacedaemon, where he has been to sea, if
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Speaker 1: he can get further news of his father. What, my dear,
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Speaker 1: are you talking about, replied her father. Did you not
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Speaker 1: send him there yourself because you thought it would help
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Speaker 1: Ulysses to get home and punish the suitors. Besides, you
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Speaker 1: are perfectly able to protect Telemachus and to see him
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Speaker 1: safely home again, while the suitors have to come hurry
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Speaker 1: scurrying back without having killed him. When he had thus spoken,
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Speaker 1: he said to his son Mercury, Mercury, you are our messenger.
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Speaker 1: Go therefore and tell Calypso we have decreed that poor
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Speaker 1: Ulysses is to return home. He is to be convoyed
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Speaker 1: neither by gods nor men, But after a perilous voyage
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Speaker 1: of twenty days upon a raft, he is to reach
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Speaker 1: fertile Shuria, the land of the Phaeacians, who are near
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Speaker 1: of kin to the gods, and will honor him as
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Speaker 1: though he were one of ourselves. They will send him
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Speaker 1: in a ship to his own country, and will give
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Speaker 1: him more bronze and gold and raiment than he would
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Speaker 1: have brought back from Troy if he had had all
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Speaker 1: his prize money. And had got home without disaster. This
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Speaker 1: is how we have settled that he shall return to
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Speaker 1: his country and his friends. Thus he spoke, and mercury
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Speaker 1: guide and guardian slayer of Argus did as he was told. Forthwith,
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Speaker 1: he bound on his glittering golden sandals, with which he
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Speaker 1: could fly like the wind, and over land and sea.
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Speaker 1: He took the wand with which he seals men's eyes
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Speaker 1: in sleep, or wakes them just as he pleases, and
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Speaker 1: flew holding it in his hand, over Piria. Then he
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Speaker 1: swooped down through the firmament, till he reached the level
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Speaker 1: of the sea, whose waves he skimmed, like a cormorant
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Speaker 1: that flies, fishing every hole in corner of the ocean
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Speaker 1: and drenching its thick plumage in the spray. He flew
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Speaker 1: and flew over many a weary wave. But when at
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Speaker 1: last he got to the island, which was his journey's end,
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Speaker 1: he left the sea and went on by land till
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Speaker 1: he came to the cave where the nymph Calypso lived.
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Speaker 1: He found her at home. There was a large fire
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Speaker 1: burning on the hearth, and one could smell from far
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Speaker 1: the fragrant reek of burning cedar and sandalwood. As for herself,
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Speaker 1: she was busy at her loom, shooting her golden shuttle
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Speaker 1: through the warp and singing beautifully. Round her cave there
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Speaker 1: was a thick wood of alder poplar and sweet smelling
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Speaker 1: cypress trees, wherein all kinds of great birds had built
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Speaker 1: their nests, owls, hawks and chattering sea crows that occupy
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Speaker 1: their business in the waters. A vine loaded with grapes
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Speaker 1: was trained and grew luxuriantly. About the mouth of the cave.
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Speaker 1: There were also four running rills of water, and channels
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Speaker 1: cut pretty close together, and turned hither and thither so
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Speaker 1: as to irrigate the beds of violets and luscious herbage
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Speaker 1: over which they flowed. Even a god could not help
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Speaker 1: being charmed with such a lovely spot. So Mercury stood
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Speaker 1: still and looked at it. But when he had admired
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Speaker 1: it sufficiently, he went inside the cave. Calypso knew him
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Speaker 1: at once, for the gods all know each other, no
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Speaker 1: matter how far they lived from one another. But Ulysses
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Speaker 1: was not within. He was on the sea shore as usual,
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Speaker 1: looking out upon the barren ocean, with tears in his eyes.
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Speaker 1: Groaning and breaking his heart for sorrow. Calypso gave Mercury
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Speaker 1: a seat and said, why have you come to see me?
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Speaker 1: Mercury honored and ever welcome, for you do not visit
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Speaker 1: me often. Say what you want, I will do it
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Speaker 1: for you at once, if I can, and if it
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Speaker 1: can be done at all. But come inside and let
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Speaker 1: me set refreshment before you. As she spoke, she drew
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Speaker 1: a table loaded with ambrosia beside him and mixed him
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Speaker 1: some red nectar. So Mercury ate and drank till he
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Speaker 1: had had enough, and then said, we are speaking God
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Speaker 1: and Goddess to one another. And you ask me why
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Speaker 1: I have come here, and I will tell you truly
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Speaker 1: as you would have me do. Jove sent me. It
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Speaker 1: was no doing of mine. Who could possibly want to
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Speaker 1: come all this way over the sea, where there are
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Speaker 1: no cities full of people to offer me sacrifices or choice? Hecatombs. Nevertheless,
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Speaker 1: I had to come, for none of us other gods
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Speaker 1: can cross Jove nor transgress his orders. He says that
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Speaker 1: you have here the most ill starred of all those
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Speaker 1: who bought nine years before the city of king Briam
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Speaker 1: and sailed home in the tenth year, after having sacked it.
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Speaker 1: On their way home, they sinned against Minerva, who raised
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Speaker 1: both wind and waves against them, so that all his
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Speaker 1: brave companions perished, and he alone was carried hither by
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Speaker 1: wind and tide. Jove says that you are to let
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Speaker 1: this man go at once, for it is decreed that
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Speaker 1: he shall not perish here far from his own people,
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Speaker 1: but shall return to his house and country and see
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Speaker 1: his friends again. Calypso trembled with rage when she heard this.
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Speaker 1: You gods, she exclaimed, ought to be ashamed of yourselves.
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Speaker 1: You are always jealous and hate seeing a goddess take
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Speaker 1: a fancy to a mortal man and live with him
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Speaker 1: in open matrimony. So when rosy fingered Dawn made love
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Speaker 1: to Orion, you precious gods, were all view furious till
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Speaker 1: Diana went and killed him in Ortijah. So again when
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Speaker 1: Cyries fell in love with Asian and yielded to him
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Speaker 1: in a thrice plowed fallow field, Jove came to hear
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Speaker 1: of it before so long, and kill Daisian with his thunderbolts.
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Speaker 1: And now you are angry with me too, because I
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Speaker 1: have a man here. I found the poor creature sitting
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Speaker 1: all alone astride of a keel. For Jove had struck
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Speaker 1: his ship with lightning and sunk it in mid ocean,
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Speaker 1: so that all his crew were drowned, while he himself
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Speaker 1: was driven by wind and waves on to my island.
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Speaker 1: I got fond of him and cherished him, and had
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Speaker 1: set my heart on making him immortal, so that he
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Speaker 1: should never grow old all his days. Still, I cannot
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Speaker 1: cross Jove nor bring his counsels to nothing. Therefore, if
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Speaker 1: he insists upon it, let the man go beyond the
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Speaker 1: seas again. But I cannot send him anywhere myself, for
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Speaker 1: I have neither ships nor men who can take him. Nevertheless,
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Speaker 1: I will readily give him such advice in all good
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Speaker 1: faith as will be likely to bring him safely to
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Speaker 1: his own country. Then send him away, said Mercury, or
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Speaker 1: Jove will be angry with you and punish you on this.
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Speaker 1: He took his leave, and Calypso went out to look
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Speaker 1: for Ulysses, for she had heard Jove's message. She found
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Speaker 1: him sitting upon the beach, with his eyes ever filled
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Speaker 1: with tears and dying of sheer homesickness. For yet got
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Speaker 1: tired of Calypso and though he was forced to sleep
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Speaker 1: with her in the cave by night, it was she,
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Speaker 1: not he that would have it. So as for the daytime,
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Speaker 1: he spent it on the rocks and on the sea shore, weeping,
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Speaker 1: crying aloud for his despair, and always looking out upon
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Speaker 1: the sea. Calypso then went close up to him and said,
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Speaker 1: my poor fellow, you shall not stay here grieving and
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Speaker 1: fretting your life out any longer. I am going to
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Speaker 1: send you away of my own free will. So go
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Speaker 1: cut some beams of wood and make yourself a large
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Speaker 1: raft with an upper deck, that it may carry you
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Speaker 1: safely over the sea. I will put bread, wine, and
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Speaker 1: water on board to save you from starving. I will
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Speaker 1: also give you clothes, and will send you a fair
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Speaker 1: wind to take you home. If the gods in heaven
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Speaker 1: so will it. For they know more about these things
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Speaker 1: and can settle them better than I can. Ulysses shuddered
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Speaker 1: as he heard her. Now, goddess, he answered, there is
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Speaker 1: something behind all this. You cannot be really meaning to
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Speaker 1: help me home when you bid me do such a
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Speaker 1: dreadful thing as put to sea on a raft. Not
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Speaker 1: even a well found ship with a fair wind could
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Speaker 1: venture on such a distant voyage. Nothing that you can
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Speaker 1: say or do shall make me go on board a
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Speaker 1: raft unless you first solemnly swear that you mean me
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Speaker 1: no mischief. Calypso smiled at this and caressed him with
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Speaker 1: her hand. You know a great deal, said she, But
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Speaker 1: you are quite wrong. Here may Heaven above and earth
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Speaker 1: below be my witnesses with the waters of the river Styx.
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Speaker 1: And this is the most solemn oath which a blessed
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Speaker 1: God can take. That I mean you no sort of harm,
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Speaker 1: and am only advising you to do exactly what I
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Speaker 1: should do myself in your place. I am dealing with
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Speaker 1: you quite straightforwardly. My heart is not made of iron,
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Speaker 1: and I am very sorry for you. When she had
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Speaker 1: thus spoken, she led the way rapidly before him, and
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Speaker 1: Ulysses followed in her steps. So the pair goddess and
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Speaker 1: man went on and on till they came to Calypso's cave,
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Speaker 1: where Ulysses took the seat that Mercury had just left.
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Speaker 1: Calypso set meat and drink before him of the food
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Speaker 1: that mortals eat. But her maids brought ambrosia and nectar
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Speaker 1: for herself, and they laid their hands on the good
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Speaker 1: things that were before them, when they had satisfied themselves
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Speaker 1: with meat and drink. Calypso spoke, saying, Ulysses, nobles and
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Speaker 1: of laerties, So you would start home to your own
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Speaker 1: land at once. Good luck go with you. But if
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Speaker 1: you could only know how it suffering is in store
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Speaker 1: for you before you get back to your own country,
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Speaker 1: you would stay where you are, keep house along with me,
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Speaker 1: and let me make you a mortal. No matter how
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Speaker 1: anxious you may be to see this wife of yours,
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Speaker 1: of whom you are thinking all the time, day after day.
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Speaker 1: Yet I flatter myself that I am no whit less
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Speaker 1: tall or well looking than she is. For it is
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Speaker 1: not to be expected that a mortal woman should compare
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Speaker 1: in beauty with an immortal goddess. Replied Ulysses, do not
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Speaker 1: be angry with me about this. I am quite aware
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Speaker 1: that my wife Penelope is nothing like so tall or
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Speaker 1: so beautiful as yourself. She is only a woman, whereas
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Speaker 1: you are an immortal. Nevertheless, I want to get home,
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Speaker 1: and can think of nothing else. If some guard wrecks
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Speaker 1: me when I am on the sea, I will bear
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Speaker 1: it and make the best of it. I have had
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Speaker 1: infinite trouble both by land and sea already, so let
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Speaker 1: this go with the rest. Presently, the sun set and
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Speaker 1: it became dark. Were on the very tired into the
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Speaker 1: inner part of the cave, and went to bed. When
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Speaker 1: the child of morning, rosy fingered dawn appeared. Ulysses put
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Speaker 1: on his shirt and cloak, while the goddess wore a
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Speaker 1: dress of a light goosam of fabric, very fine and graceful,
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Speaker 1: with a beautiful golden girdle about her waist and a
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Speaker 1: veil to cover her head. She at once set herself
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Speaker 1: to think how she could speed Ulysses on his way.
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Speaker 1: So she gave him a great bronze axe that suited
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Speaker 1: his hands. It was sharpened on both sides, and at
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Speaker 1: a beautiful olive wood adle fitted firmly on to it.
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Speaker 1: He also gave him a sharp ad, and then led
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Speaker 1: the way to the far end of the island, where
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Speaker 1: the largest trees grow alder, poplar and vine that reached
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Speaker 1: the sky, very dry and well seasoned, so as to
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Speaker 1: sell light for him in the water. Then, when she
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Speaker 1: had shown him where the best trees grow, calypso went home,
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Speaker 1: leaving him to cut them which he soon finished doing.
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Speaker 1: He cut down twenty trees in all, and adds them smooth,
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Speaker 1: squaring them by rule in good workmanlike fashion. Meanwhile, Calypso
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Speaker 1: came back with some august so he bore holes with
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Speaker 1: them and fitted the timbers together with bolts and rivets.
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Speaker 1: He made the raft as broad as a skilled shipwright
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Speaker 1: makes the beam of a large vessel, and he filed
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Speaker 1: a deck on top of the ribs, and ran a
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Speaker 1: gun wall all around it. He also made a mast
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Speaker 1: of yard arm and a rudder to steer with. He
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Speaker 1: fenced the raft all round with wicker hurdles as a
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Speaker 1: protection against the waves. And then he threw on a
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Speaker 1: quantity of wood. By and by Calypso brought him some
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Speaker 1: linen to make the sails, and he made these too, excellently,
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Speaker 1: making them fast with braces and sheets. Whist of all,
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Speaker 1: with the help of levers, he drew the raft down
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Speaker 1: into the water. In four days he had completed the
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Speaker 1: whole work, and on the fifth Calypso sent him from
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Speaker 1: the island, after washing him and giving him some clean clothes.
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Speaker 1: She gave him a goat skin full of black wine,
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Speaker 1: and another larger one of water. She also gave him
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Speaker 1: a wallet full of provisions, and found him much could meet. Moreover,
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Speaker 1: she made the wind fair and warm for him, and
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Speaker 1: gladly did Ulysses spread his sail before it. While he
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Speaker 1: sat and guided the raft skillfully by means of the rudder.
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Speaker 1: He never closed his eyes, but kept them fixed on
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Speaker 1: the Pleiades, on late setting boots, and on the bear,
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Speaker 1: which men also called the wain, and which turns round
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Speaker 1: and round where it is facing Orion, and alone, never
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Speaker 1: dipping into the stream of Oceanus, for Calypso had told
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Speaker 1: him to keep this to his left. Days seven and
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Speaker 1: ten did he sail over the sea, And on the
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Speaker 1: eighteenth the dim outlines of the mountains on the nearest
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Speaker 1: part of the Phaeacian coast appeared, rising like a shield
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Speaker 1: on the horizon. But King Neptune, who was returning from
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Speaker 1: the Ethiopians, caught sight of Ulysses a long way off
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Speaker 1: from the mountains of the Solome. He could see him
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Speaker 1: sailing upon the sea, and it made him very angry.
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Speaker 1: So he wagged his head and muttered to himself, saying, Heavens,
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Speaker 1: so the gods have been changing their minds about Ulysses
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Speaker 1: while I was away in Ethiopia. And now he is
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Speaker 1: close to the land of the Phaeacians, where it is
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Speaker 1: decreed that he shall escape from the calamities that have
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Speaker 1: befallen him. Still he shall have plenty of hardship. Yet
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Speaker 1: before he has done with it, thereon he gathered his
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Speaker 1: clouds together, grasped his trident, stirred it round in the sea,
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Speaker 1: and roused the rage of every wind that blows, till earth, sea,
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Speaker 1: and sky were hidden in cloud, and nights sprang forth
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Speaker 1: out of the heavens. Winds from east to south, north
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Speaker 1: and west fell upon him, all at the same time,
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Speaker 1: and a tremendous sea got up, so that ulysses heart
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Speaker 1: began to fail him. Alas he said to himself in
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Speaker 1: his dismay, whatever will become of me, I am afraid.
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Speaker 1: Calypso was right when she said I should have trouble
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Speaker 1: by sea before I got back home. It is all
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Speaker 1: coming true. How black is Jove making heaven with his
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Speaker 1: clouds in what a sea? The winds are raising from
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Speaker 1: every quarter at once. I am now safe to perish.
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Speaker 1: Blest and thrice blest were those Danans who fell before
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Speaker 1: Troy and the cause of the sons of Atreus would
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Speaker 1: that had been killed on the day when the Trojans
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Speaker 1: were pressing me so sorely about the dead body of Achilles,
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Speaker 1: For then I should have had due burial, and the
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Speaker 1: Achians would have honored my name. But now it seems
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Speaker 1: that I shall come to a most pitiable end. As
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Speaker 1: he spoke, a sea broke over him, with such to
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Speaker 1: rest the fury that the raft reeled again, and he
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Speaker 1: was carried overboard a long way off. He let go
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Speaker 1: the helm and the forcesaraka and was so great that
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Speaker 1: it broke the mast half way up, and both sail
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Speaker 1: and yard went over into the sea. For a long time,
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Speaker 1: Ulysses was under water, and it was all he could
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Speaker 1: do to rise to the surface again, for the closed
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Speaker 1: calypso had given him weighed him down. But at last
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Speaker 1: he got his head above water and spat out the
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Speaker 1: bitter brine that was running down his face in streams.
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Speaker 1: In spite of all this, however, he did not lose
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Speaker 1: sight of his raft, but swam as fast as he
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Speaker 1: could towards it, got hold of it, and climbed on
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Speaker 1: board again so as to escape drowning. The sea took
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Speaker 1: the raft and tossed it about. As autumn winds whirled
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Speaker 1: thistle down round and round upon a road. It was
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Speaker 1: as though the south, north, east, and west winds were
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Speaker 1: all playing battledoor and shuttlecock with it at once. When
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Speaker 1: he was in this flight, Ino, daughter of Cadmus, also
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Speaker 1: called Leucathia, saw him. She had formerly been a mere mortal,
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Speaker 1: but had been since raised to the rank of a
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Speaker 1: marine goddess. Seeing in what great distress Ulysses now was,
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Speaker 1: she had compassion upon him, and, rising like a sea
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Speaker 1: gull from the waves, took her seat upon the raft.
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Speaker 1: My poor good man, said she. Why is Neptune so
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Speaker 1: furiously angry with you? He is giving you a great
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Speaker 1: deal of trouble, But for all his bluster he will
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Speaker 1: not kill you. You seem to be a sensible person.
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Speaker 1: Do then, as I bid you, strip leave your raft
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Speaker 1: to drive before the wind, and swim to the Phaeacian coast,
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Speaker 1: where better luck awaits you. And here, take my veil
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Speaker 1: and put it round your chest. It is enchanted, and
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Speaker 1: you can come to no harm so long as you
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Speaker 1: wear it. As soon as you touch land, take it off,
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Speaker 1: throw it back as far as you can into the
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Speaker 1: sea and then go away again. With these words, she
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Speaker 1: took off her veil and gave it to him. Then
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Speaker 1: she dived down again like a sea gull, and vanished
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Speaker 1: beneath the dark blue waters. But Ulysses did not know
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Speaker 1: what to think. Alas he said to himself in his dismay,
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Speaker 1: this is only some one or other of the gods
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Speaker 1: who is luring me to ruin by advising me to
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Speaker 1: quit my raft at any rate. I will not do
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Speaker 1: so at present. For the land where she said I
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Speaker 1: should be quit of all troubles seemed to be still
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Speaker 1: a good way off. I know what I will do.
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Speaker 1: I am sure it will be best no matter what happens.
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Speaker 1: I will stick to the raft as long as her
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Speaker 1: timbers hold together. But when the sea breaks her up,
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Speaker 1: I will swim for it. I do not see how
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Speaker 1: I can do any better than this. While he was
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Speaker 1: thus in two minds, Neptune sent a terrible great wave
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Speaker 1: that seemed to rear itself above his head till it
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Speaker 1: broke right over the raft, which then went to pieces,
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Speaker 1: as though it were a heap of dry chaff tossed
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Speaker 1: about by a whirlwind. Ulysses got astride of one blank
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Speaker 1: and rode upon it as if he were on horseback.
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Speaker 1: He then took off the clothes Calypso had given him,
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Speaker 1: bound Ino's veil under his arms, and plunged into the sea,
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Speaker 1: meaning to swim on shore. King Neptune watched him as
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Speaker 1: he did so, and wagged his head, muttering to himself
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Speaker 1: and saying, there, now swim up and down as you
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Speaker 1: best can. Will you fall in with the well to
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Speaker 1: do people. I do not think you will be able
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Speaker 1: to say that I have let you off too lightly.
20:47
Speaker 1: On this he lashed his horses and drove to a
20:50
Speaker 1: gear where his palace is. But Minerva resolved to help Ulysses.
20:55
Speaker 1: So she bound the ways of all the winds except one,
20:59
Speaker 1: and made them lie quite still. But she roused a
21:02
Speaker 1: good stiff breeze from the north that should lay the
21:05
Speaker 1: waters till Ulysses reached the land of the Phaeacians, where
21:08
Speaker 1: he would be safe. Thereon, he floated about for two
21:12
Speaker 1: nights and two days in the water, with a heavy
21:15
Speaker 1: swell on the sea and death staring him in the face.
21:18
Speaker 1: But when the third day broke, the wind fell, and
21:21
Speaker 1: there was a dead calm, without so much as a
21:23
Speaker 1: breath of air stirring. As he rose on the swell.
21:27
Speaker 1: He looked eagerly ahead and could see land quite near. Then,
21:31
Speaker 1: as children rejoice when their dear father begins to get
21:34
Speaker 1: better after having for a long time borne sore affliction
21:39
Speaker 1: sent him by some angry spirit, but the gods deliver
21:43
Speaker 1: him from evil. So was Ulysses thankful when he again
21:47
Speaker 1: saw land and trees, and swam on with all his strength,
21:51
Speaker 1: that he might once more set foot upon dry ground. When, however,
21:55
Speaker 1: he got within ear shot, he began to hear the
21:58
Speaker 1: surf thundering up against the rock, for the swell still
22:01
Speaker 1: broke against them with a terrific roar. Everything was enveloped
22:05
Speaker 1: in spray. There were no harbors where a ship might ride,
22:09
Speaker 1: nor shelter of any kind, but only headlands, low lying rocks,
22:14
Speaker 1: and mountain top ulysses art now began to fail him,
22:18
Speaker 1: and he said despairingly to himself, alas Jove has let
22:22
Speaker 1: me see land, after swimming so far that I had
22:25
Speaker 1: given up all hope. But I can find no landing place.
22:29
Speaker 1: For the coast is rocky and surf beaten. The rocks
22:32
Speaker 1: are smooth and rise sheer from the sea with deep
22:35
Speaker 1: water close under them, so that I cannot climb out
22:38
Speaker 1: for want of foot old. I am afraid some great
22:41
Speaker 1: wave will lift me off my legs and dash me
22:44
Speaker 1: against the rocks as I leave the water, which would
22:47
Speaker 1: give me a sorry landing. If, on the other hand,
22:51
Speaker 1: I swam further in search of some shelving beach or harbor,
22:55
Speaker 1: a hurricane may carry me out to sea again sorely
22:58
Speaker 1: against my will, or Heaven may sent some great monster
23:02
Speaker 1: of the deep to attack me. For amphotrite breeds many
23:06
Speaker 1: such and I know that Neptune is very angry with me.
23:10
Speaker 1: While he was thus in two mines, a wave caught
23:12
Speaker 1: him and took him with such force against the rocks
23:16
Speaker 1: that he would have been smashed and torn to pieces
23:19
Speaker 1: if Minerva had not shown him what to do. He
23:22
Speaker 1: caught hold of the rock with both hands and clung
23:24
Speaker 1: to it, groaning with pain, till the wave retired. So
23:28
Speaker 1: he was saved that time. But presently the wave came
23:31
Speaker 1: on again and carried him back with it far into
23:34
Speaker 1: the sea, tearing his hands. As the suckers of Apolybus
23:38
Speaker 1: are torn when some one plucks it from its bed,
23:41
Speaker 1: and the stones come up along with it. Even so
23:44
Speaker 1: did the rocks tear the skin from his strong hands,
23:47
Speaker 1: and then the wave drew him deep down under the water. Here,
23:51
Speaker 1: a poor Ulysses would have certainly perished, even in spite
23:55
Speaker 1: of his own destiny, if Minerva had not helped him
23:58
Speaker 1: to keep his wits about him. He swam seaward again,
24:01
Speaker 1: beyond reach of the surf that was beating against the land,
24:05
Speaker 1: and at the same time he kept looking towards the
24:07
Speaker 1: shore to see if he could find some haven or
24:10
Speaker 1: a spit that should take the waves. Aslant by and by,
24:14
Speaker 1: as he swam on, he came to the mouth of
24:17
Speaker 1: a river, and here he thought would be the best place,
24:20
Speaker 1: for there were no rocks, and it afforded shelter from
24:22
Speaker 1: the wind. He felt that there was a current, so
24:25
Speaker 1: he prayed inwardly and said, hear me, O, king, whoever
24:30
Speaker 1: you may be, and saved me from the anger of
24:33
Speaker 1: the sea. God Neptune, for I approach you prayerfully. Any
24:38
Speaker 1: One who has lost his way has at all times
24:40
Speaker 1: a claim even upon the gods. Wherefore, in my distress
24:45
Speaker 1: I draw near to your stream and cling to the
24:47
Speaker 1: knees of your river bed. Have mercy upon me, O King,
24:51
Speaker 1: for I declare myself your suppliant. Then the god stayed
24:55
Speaker 1: his stream and stilled the waves, making all calm before him,
25:00
Speaker 1: and bringing him safely into the mouth of the river.
25:03
Speaker 1: Here at last, ulysses, knees and strong hands fail to him,
25:07
Speaker 1: for the sea had completely broken him. His body was
25:10
Speaker 1: all swollen, and his mouth and nostrils ran down like
25:13
Speaker 1: a river of sea water, so that he could neither
25:16
Speaker 1: breathe nor speak, and lay swooning with sheer exhaustion. Presently,
25:22
Speaker 1: when he got his breath and came to himself again,
25:25
Speaker 1: he took off a scarf that Ino had given him
25:28
Speaker 1: and threw it back into the salt stream of the river,
25:31
Speaker 1: where Anino received it into her hands from the wave
25:34
Speaker 1: that bore it towards her. Then he left the river,
25:37
Speaker 1: laid himself down among the rushes, and kissed the bounteous
25:41
Speaker 1: earth alas he cried to himself in his dismay, whatever
25:45
Speaker 1: will become of me? And how is it all to end?
25:49
Speaker 1: If I stay here upon the river bed through the
25:52
Speaker 1: long watches of the night. I am so exhausted that
25:55
Speaker 1: the bitter cold and damp may make an end of me.
25:58
Speaker 1: For towards sunrise, there will be a keen wind blowing
26:01
Speaker 1: from off the river. If, on the other hand, I
26:04
Speaker 1: climbed the hillside, find shelter in the woods and sleep
26:08
Speaker 1: in some thicket, I may escape the cold and have
26:11
Speaker 1: a good night's rest. But some savage beast may take
26:14
Speaker 1: advantage of me and devour me. In the end, he
26:18
Speaker 1: deemed it best to take to the wood, and he
26:20
Speaker 1: found one upon some high ground not far from the water.
26:24
Speaker 1: There he crept beneath two shoots of olive that grew
26:27
Speaker 1: from a single stalk, the one an ungrafted sucker, while
26:31
Speaker 1: the other had been grafted. No wind, however, squally, could
26:35
Speaker 1: spreak through the cover they afforded, nor could the sun's
26:39
Speaker 1: rays pierce them, nor the rain get through them. So
26:42
Speaker 1: closely did they grow into one another. Ulysses crept under
26:47
Speaker 1: these and began to make himself a bed to lie on,
26:50
Speaker 1: For there was a great litter of dead leaves lying about,
26:53
Speaker 1: enough to make a covering for two or three men,
26:55
Speaker 1: even in hard winter weather. He was glad enough to
26:59
Speaker 1: see this, so he laid himself down and heaped the
27:02
Speaker 1: leaves all round him. Then, as one who lives alone
27:05
Speaker 1: in the country far from any neighbor hides a brand
27:08
Speaker 1: as fire seed in the ashes to save himself from
27:11
Speaker 1: having to get a light elsewhere. Even so did Ulysses
27:15
Speaker 1: cover himself up with leaves, and Minerva shed a sweet
27:19
Speaker 1: sleep upon his eyes, closed his eyelids, and made him
27:23
Speaker 1: lose all memories of his sorrows. End of Book five.