Immediately after escaping from this peril, a still greater onehad befallen him. Scudding before the hurricane, he reached aplace, which, as he afterwards found, was called Laestrygonia,where some monstrous giants had eaten up many of hiscompanions, and had sunk every one of his vessels, except thatin which he himself sailed, by flinging great masses of rock atthem, from the cliffs along the shore. After going through suchtroubles as these, you cannot wonder that King Ulysses was gladto moor his tempest-beaten bark in a quiet cove of the greenisland, which I began with telling you about. But he hadencountered so many dangers from giants, and one-eyed Cyclops,and monsters of the sea and land, that he could not helpdreading some mischief, even in this pleasant and seeminglysolitary spot. For two days, therefore, the poor weather-wornvoyagers kept quiet, and either staid on board of their vessel,or merely crept along under the cliffs that bordered the shore;and to keep themselves alive, they dug shellfish out of thesand, and sought for any little rill of fresh water that mightbe running towards the sea.
Before the two days were spent, they grew very weary of thiskind of life; for the followers of King Ulysses, as you willfind it important to remember, were terrible gormandizers, andpretty sure to grumble if they missed their regulars meals, andtheir irregular ones besides. Their stock of provisions wasquite exhausted, and even the shellfish began to get scarce, sothat they had now to choose between starving to death orventuring into the interior of the island, where perhaps somehuge three-headed dragon, or other horrible monster, had hisden. Such misshapen creatures were very numerous in those days;and nobody ever expected to make a voyage, or take a journey,without running more or less risk of being devoured by them.
But King Ulysses was a bold man as well as a prudent one; andon the third morning he determined to discover what sort of aplace the island was, and whether it were possible to obtain asupply of food for the hungry mouths of his companions. So,taking a spear in his hand, he clambered to the summit of acliff, and gazed round about him. At a distance, towards thecenter of the island, he beheld the stately towers of whatseemed to be a palace, built of snow-white marble, and risingin the midst of a grove of lofty trees. The thick branches ofthese trees stretched across the front of the edifice, and morethan half concealed it, although, from the portion which hesaw, Ulysses judged it to be spacious and exceedinglybeautiful, and probably the residence of some great nobleman orprince. A blue smoke went curling up from the chimney, and wasalmost the pleasantest part of the spectacle to Ulysses. For,from the abundance of this smoke, it was reasonable to concludethat there was a good fire in the kitchen, and that, atdinner-time, a plentiful banquet would be served up to theinhabitants of the palace, and to whatever guests might happento drop in.
With so agreeable a prospect before him, Ulysses fancied thathe could not do better than go straight to the palace gate, andtell the master of it that there was a crew of poor shipwreckedmariners, not far off, who had eaten nothing for a day or two,save a few clams and oysters, and would therefore be thankfulfor a little food. And the prince or nobleman must be a verystingy curmudgeon, to be sure, if, at least, when his owndinner was over, he would not bid them welcome to the brokenvictuals from the table.
Pleasing himself with this idea, King Ulysses had made a fewsteps in the direction of the palace, when there was a greattwittering and chirping from the branch of a neighboring tree.A moment afterwards, a bird came flying towards him, andhovered in the air, so as almost to brush his face with itswings. It was a very pretty little bird, with purple wings andbody, and yellow legs, and a circle of golden feathers roundits neck, and on its head a golden tuft, which looked like aking's crown in miniature. Ulysses tried to catch the bird. Butit fluttered nimbly out of his reach, still chirping in apiteous tone, as if it could have told a lamentable story, hadit only been gifted with human language. And when he attemptedto drive it away, the bird flew no farther than the bough ofthe next tree, and again came fluttering about his head, withits doleful chirp, as soon as he showed a purpose of goingforward.
"Have you anything to tell me, little bird?" asked Ulysses.
And he was ready to listen attentively to whatever the birdmight communicate; for, at the siege of Troy, and elsewhere, hehad known such odd things to happen, that he would not haveconsidered it much out of the common run had this littlefeathered creature talked as plainly as himself.
"Peep!" said the bird, "peep, peep, pe--weep!" And nothing elsewould it say, but only, "Peep, peep, pe--weep!" in a melancholycadence, and over and over and over again. As often as Ulyssesmoved forward, however, the bird showed the greatest alarm, anddid its best to drive him back, with the anxious flutter of itspurple wings. Its unaccountable behavior made him conclude, atlast, that the bird knew of some danger that awaited him, andwhich must needs be very terrible, beyond all question, sinceit moved even a little fowl to feel compassion for a humanbeing. So he resolved, for the present, to return to thevessel, and tell his companions what he had seen.
This appeared to satisfy the bird. As soon as Ulysses turnedback, it ran up the trunk of a tree, and began to pick insectsout of the bark with its long, sharp bill; for it was a kind ofwoodpecker, you must know, and had to get its living in thesame manner as other birds of that species. But every littlewhile, as it pecked at the bark of the tree, the purple birdbethought itself of some secret sorrow, and repeated itsplaintive note of "Peep, peep, pe--weep!"
On his way to the shore, Ulysses had the good luck to kill alarge stag by thrusting his spear into his back. Taking it onhis shoulders (for he was a remarkably strong man), he luggedit along with him, and flung it down before his hungrycompanions. I have already hinted to you what gormandizers someof the comrades of King Ulysses were. From what is related ofthem, I reckon that their favorite diet was pork, and that theyhad lived upon it until a good part of their physical substancewas swine's flesh, and their tempers and dispositions were verymuch akin to the hog. A dish of venison, however, was nounacceptable meal to them, especially after feeding so long onoysters and clams. So, beholding the dead stag, they felt ofits ribs, in a knowing way, and lost no time in kindling a fireof driftwood, to cook it. The rest of the day was spent infeasting; and if these enormous eaters got up from table atsunset, it was only because they could not scrape anothermorsel off the poor animal's bones.
The next morning, their appetites were as sharp as ever. Theylooked at Ulysses, as if they expected him to clamber up thecliff again, and come back with another fat deer upon hisshoulders. Instead of setting out, however, he summoned thewhole crew together, and told them it was in vain to hope thathe could kill a stag every day for their dinner, and thereforeit was advisable to think of some other mode of satisfyingtheir hunger.
"Now," said he, "when I was on the cliff, yesterday, Idiscovered that this island is inhabited. At a considerabledistance from the shore stood a marble palace, which appearedto be very spacious, and had a great deal of smoke curling outof one of its chimneys."
"Aha!" muttered some of his companions, smacking their lips."That smoke must have come from the kitchen fire. There was agood dinner on the spit; and no doubt there will be as good aone to-day."
"But," continued the wise Ulysses, "you must remember, my goodfriends, our misadventure in the cavern of one-eyed Polyphemus,the Cyclops! Instead of his ordinary milk diet, did he not eatup two of our comrades for his supper, and a couple more forbreakfast, and two at his supper again? Methinks I see him yet,the hideous monster, scanning us with that great red eye, inthe middle of his forehead, to single out the fattest. Andthen, again, only a few days ago, did we not fall into thehands of the king of the Laestrygons, and those other horriblegiants, his subjects, who devoured a great many more of us thanare now left? To tell you the truth, if we go to yonder palace,there can be no question that we shall make our appearance atthe dinner table; but whether seated as guests, or served up asfood, is a point to be seriously considered."
"Either way," murmured some of the hungriest of the crew; "itwill be better than starvation; particularly if one could besure of being well fattened beforehand, and daintily cookedafterwards."
"That is a matter of taste," said King Ulysses, "and, for myown part, neither the most careful fattening nor the daintiestof cookery would reconcile me to being dished at last. Myproposal is, therefore, that we divide ourselves into two equalparties, and ascertain, by drawing lots, which of the two shallgo to the palace, and beg for food and assistance. If these canbe obtained, all is well. If not, and if the inhabitants proveas inhospitable as Polyphemus, or the Laestrygons, then therewill but half of us perish, and the remainder may set sail andescape."
As nobody objected to this scheme, Ulysses proceeded to countthe whole band, and found that there were forty-six men,including himself. He then numbered off twenty-two of them, andput Eurylochus (who was one of his chief officers, and secondonly to himself in sagacity) at their head. Ulysses tookcommand of the remaining twenty-two men, in person. Then,taking off his helmet, he put two shells into it, on one ofwhich was written, "Go," and on the other "Stay." Anotherperson now held the helmet, while Ulysses and Eurylochus drewout each a shell; and the word "Go" was found written on thatwhich Eurylochus had drawn. In this manner, it was decided thatUlysses and his twenty-two men were to remain at the seasideuntil the other party should have found out what sort oftreatment they might expect at the mysterious palace. As therewas no help for it, Eurylochus immediately set forth at thehead of his twenty-two followers, who went off in a verymelancholy state of mind, leaving their friends in hardlybetter spirits than themselves.
No sooner had they clambered up the cliff, than they discernedthe tall marble towers of the palace, ascending, as white assnow, out of the lovely green shadow of the trees whichsurrounded it. A gush of smoke came from a chimney in the rearof the edifice. This vapor rose high in the air, and, meetingwith a breeze, was wafted seaward, and made to pass over theheads of the hungry mariners. When people's appetites are keen,they have a very quick scent for anything savory in the wind.
"That smoke comes from the kitchen!" cried one of them, turningup his nose as high as he could, and snuffing eagerly. "And, assure as I'm a half-starved vagabond, I smell roast meat in it."
"Pig, roast pig!" said another. "Ah, the dainty little porker.My mouth waters for him."
"Let us make haste," cried the others, "or we shall be too latefor the good cheer! "
But scarcely had they made half a dozen steps from the edge ofthe cliff, when a bird came fluttering to meet them. It was thesame pretty little bird, with the purple wings and body, theyellow legs, the golden collar round its neck, and thecrown-like tuft upon its head, whose behavior had so muchsurprised Ulysses. It hovered about Eurylochus, and almostbrushed his face with its wings.
"Peep, peep, pe--weep!" chirped the bird.
So plaintively intelligent was the sound, that it seemed as ifthe little creature were going to break its heart with somemighty secret that it had to tell, and only this one poor noteto tell it with.
"My pretty bird," said Eurylochus--for he was a wary person,and let no token of harm escape his notice--"my pretty bird,who sent you hither? And what is the message which you bring?"
"Peep, peep, pe--weep! " replied the bird, very sorrowfully.
Then it flew towards the edge of the cliff, and looked aroundat them, as if exceedingly anxious that they should returnwhence they came. Eurylochus and a few of the others wereinclined to turn back. They could not help suspecting that thepurple bird must be aware of something mischievous that wouldbefall them at the palace, and the knowledge of which affectedits airy spirit with a human sympathy and sorrow. But the restof the voyagers, snuffing up the smoke from the palace kitchen,ridiculed the idea of returning to the vessel. One of them(more brutal than his fellows, and the most notoriousgormandizer in the crew) said such a cruel and wicked thing,that I wonder the mere thought did not turn him into a wildbeast, in shape, as he already was in his nature.
"This troublesome and impertinent little fowl," said he, "wouldmake a delicate titbit to begin dinner with. Just one plumpmorsel, melting away between the teeth. If he comes within myreach, I'll catch him, and give him to the palace cook to beroasted on a skewer."
The words were hardly out of his mouth, before the purple birdflew away, crying, "Peep, peep, pe--weep," more dolorously thanever.
"That bird," remarked Eurylochus, "knows more than we do aboutwhat awaits us at the palace."
"Come on, then," cried his comrades, "and we'll soon know asmuch as he does."
The party, accordingly, went onward through the green andpleasant wood. Every little while they caught new glimpses ofthe marble palace, which looked more and more beautiful thenearer they approached it. They soon entered a broad pathway,which seemed to be very neatly kept, and which went windingalong, with streaks of sunshine falling across it and specks oflight quivering among the deepest shadows that fell from thelofty trees. It was bordered, too, with a great manysweet-smelling flowers, such as the mariners had never seenbefore. So rich and beautiful they were, that, if the shrubsgrew wild here, and were native in the soil, then this islandwas surely the flower garden of the whole earth; or, iftransplanted from some other clime, it must have been from theHappy Islands that lay towards the golden sunset.
"There has been a great deal of pains foolishly wasted on theseflowers," observed one of the company; and I tell you what hesaid, that you may keep in mind what gormandizers they were."For my part, if I were the owner of the palace, I would bid mygardener cultivate nothing but savory pot herbs to make astuffing for roast meat, or to flavor a stew with."
" Well said!" cried the others. "But I'll warrant you there's akitchen garden in the rear of the palace."
At one place they came to a crystal spring, and paused to drinkat it for want of liquor which they liked better. Looking intoits bosom, they beheld their own faces dimly reflected, but soextravagantly distorted by the gush and motion of the water,that each one of them appeared to be laughing at himself andall his companions. So ridiculous were these images ofthemselves, indeed, that they did really laugh aloud, and couldhardly be grave again as soon as they wished. And after theyhad drank, they grew still merrier than before.
"It has a twang of the wine cask in it," said one, smacking hislips.
"Make haste!" cried his fellows: "we'll find the wine caskitself at the palace, and that will be better than a hundredcrystal fountains."
Then they quickened their pace, and capered for joy at thethought of the savory banquet at which they hoped to be guests.But Eurylochus told them that he felt as if he were walking ina dream.
"If I am really awake," continued he, "then, in my opinion, weare on the point of meeting with some stranger adventure thanany that befell us in the cave of Polyphemus, or among thegigantic man-eating Laestrygons, or in the windy palace of KingAeolus, which stands on a brazen-walled island. This kind ofdreamy feeling always comes over me before any wonderfuloccurrence. If you take my advice, you will turn back."
"No, no," answered his comrades, snuffing the air, in which thescent from the palace kitchen was now very perceptible. "Wewould not turn back, though we were certain that the king ofthe Laestrygons, as big as a mountain, would sit at the head ofthe table, and huge Polyphemus, the one-eyed Cyclops, at itsfoot."
At length they came within full sight of the palace, whichproved to be very large and lofty, with a great number of airypinnacles upon its roof. Though it was midday, and the sunshone brightly over the marble front, yet its snowy whiteness,and its fantastic style of architecture, made it look unreal,like the frost work on a window pane, or like the shapes ofcastles which one sees among the clouds by moonlight. But, justthen, a puff of wind brought down the smoke of the kitchenchimney among them, and caused each man to smell the odor ofthe dish that he liked best; and, after scenting it, theythought everything else moonshine, and nothing real save thispalace, and save the banquet that was evidently ready to beserved up in it.
So they hastened their steps towards the portal, but had notgot half way across the wide lawn, when a pack of lions,tigers, and wolves came bounding to meet them. The terrifiedmariners started back, expecting no better fate than to be tornto pieces and devoured. To their surprise and joy, however,these wild beasts merely capered around them, wagging theirtails, offering their heads to be stroked and patted, andbehaving just like so many well-bred house dogs, when they wishto express their delight at meeting their master, or theirmaster's friends. The biggest lion licked the feet ofEurylochus; and every other lion, and every wolf and tiger,singled out one of his two and twenty followers, whom the beastfondled as if he loved him better than a beef bone.
But, for all that, Eurylochus imagined that he saw somethingfierce and savage in their eyes; nor would he have beensurprised, at any moment, to feel the big lion's terribleclaws, or to see each of the tigers make a deadly spring,or each wolf leap at the throat of the man whom he had fondled.Their mildness seemed unreal, and a mere freak; but theirsavage nature was as true as their teeth and claws.
Nevertheless, the men went safely across the lawn with the wildbeasts frisking about them, and doing no manner of harm;although, as they mounted the steps of the palace, you mightpossibly have heard a low growl, particularly from the wolves;as if they thought it a pity, after all, to let the strangerspass without so much as tasting what they were made of.
Eurylochus and his followers now passed under a lofty portal,and looked through the open doorway into the interior of thepalace. The first thing that they saw was a spacious hall, anda fountain in the middle of it, gushing up towards the ceilingout of a marble basin, and falling back into it with acontinual plash. The water of this fountain, as it spoutedupward, was constantly taking new shapes, not very distinctly,but plainly enough for a nimble fancy to recognize what theywere. Now it was the shape of a man in a long robe, the fleecywhiteness of which was made out of the fountain's spray; now itwas a lion, or a tiger, or a wolf, or an ass, or, as often asanything else, a hog, wallowing in the marble basin as if itwere his sty. It was either magic or some very curiousmachinery that caused the gushing waterspout to assume allthese forms. But, before the strangers had time to look closelyat this wonderful sight, their attention was drawn off by avery sweet and agreeable sound. A woman's voice was singingmelodiously in another room of the palace, and with her voicewas mingled the noise of a loom, at which she was probablyseated, weaving a rich texture of cloth, and intertwining thehigh and low sweetness of her voice into a rich tissue ofharmony.
By and by, the song came to an end; and then, all at once,there were several feminine voices, talking airily andcheerfully, with now and then a merry burst of laughter, suchas you may always hear when three or four young women sit atwork together.
"What a sweet song that was!" exclaimed one of the voyagers.
"Too sweet, indeed," answered Eurylochus, shaking his head."Yet it was not so sweet as the song of the Sirens, thosebird-like damsels who wanted to tempt us on the rocks, so thatour vessel might be wrecked, and our bones left whitening alongthe shore."
"But just listen to the pleasant voices of those maidens, andthat buzz of the loom, as the shuttle passes to and fro," saidanother comrade. "What a domestic, household, home-like soundit is! Ah, before that weary siege of Troy, I used to hear thebuzzing loom and the women's voices under my own roof. Shall Inever hear them again? nor taste those nice little savorydishes which my dearest wife knew how to serve up?"
"Tush! we shall fare better here," said another. "But howinnocently those women are babbling together, without guessingthat we overhear them! And mark that richest voice of all, sopleasant and so familiar, but which yet seems to have theauthority of a mistress among them. Let us show ourselves atonce. What harm can the lady of the palace and her maidens doto mariners and warriors like us?"
"Remember," said Eurylochus, "that it was a young maiden whobeguiled three of our friends into the palace of the king ofthe Laestrygons, who ate up one of them in the twinkling of aneye."
No warning or persuasion, however, had any effect on hiscompanions. They went up to a pair of folding doors at thefarther end of the hall, and throwing them wide open, passedinto the next room. Eurylochus, meanwhile, had stepped behind apillar. In the short moment while the folding doors opened andclosed again, he caught a glimpse of a very beautiful womanrising from the loom, and coming to meet the poorweather-beaten wanderers, with a hospitable smile, and her handstretched out in welcome. There were four other young women,who joined their hands and danced merrily forward, makinggestures of obeisance to the strangers. They were only lessbeautiful than the lady who seemed to be their mistress. YetEurylochus fancied that one of them had sea-green hair, andthat the close-fitting bodice of a second looked like the barkof a tree, and that both the others had something odd in theiraspect, although he could not quite determine what it was, inthe little while that he had to examine them.
The folding doors swung quickly back, and left him standingbehind the pillar, in the solitude of the outer hall. ThereEurylochus waited until he was quite weary, and listenedeagerly to every sound, but without hearing anything that couldhelp him to guess what had become of his friends. Footsteps, itis true, seemed to be passing and repassing, in other parts ofthe palace. Then there was a clatter of silver dishes, orgolden ones, which made him imagine a rich feast in a splendidbanqueting hall. But by and by he heard a tremendous gruntingand squealing, and then a sudden scampering, like that ofsmall, hard hoofs over a marble floor, while the voices of themistress and her four handmaidens were screaming all together,in tones of anger and derision. Eurylochus could not conceivewhat had happened, unless a drove of swine had broken into thepalace, attracted by the smell of the feast. Chancing to casthis eyes at the fountain, he saw that it did not shift itsshape, as formerly, nor looked either like a long-robed man, ora lion, a tiger, a wolf, or an ass. It looked like nothing buta hog, which lay wallowing in the marble basin, and filled itfrom brim to brim.
But we must leave the prudent Eurylochus waiting in the outerhall, and follow his friends into the inner secrecy of thepalace. As soon as the beautiful woman saw them, she arose fromthe loom, as I have told you, and came forward, smiling, andstretching out her hand. She took the hand of the foremostamong them, and bade him and the whole party welcome.
"You have been long expected, my good friends," said she. "Iand my maidens are well acquainted with you, although you donot appear to recognize us. Look at this piece of tapestry, andjudge if your faces must not have been familiar to us."
So the voyagers examined the web of cloth which the beautifulwoman had been weaving in her loom; and, to their vastastonishment, they saw their own figures perfectly representedin different colored threads. It was a life-like picture oftheir recent adventures, showing them in the cave ofPolyphemus, and how they had put out his one great moony eye;while in another part of the tapestry they were untying theleathern bags, puffed out with contrary winds; and farther on,they beheld themselves scampering away from the gigantic kingof the Laestrygons, who had caught one of them by the leg.Lastly, there they were, sitting on the desolate shore of thisvery island, hungry and downcast, and looking ruefully at thebare bones of the stag which they devoured yesterday. This wasas far as the work had yet proceeded; but when the beautifulwoman should again sit down at her loom, she would probablymake a picture of what had since happened to the strangers, andof what was now going to happen.
"You see," she said, "that I know all about your troubles; andyou cannot doubt that I desire to make you happy for as long atime as you may remain with me. For this purpose, my honoredguests, I have ordered a banquet to be prepared. Fish, fowl,and flesh, roasted, and in luscious stews, and seasoned, Itrust, to all your tastes, are ready to be served up. If yourappetites tell you it is dinner time, then come with me to thefestal saloon."
At this kind invitation, the hungry mariners were quiteoverjoyed; and one of them, taking upon himself to bespokesman, assured their hospitable hostess that any hour ofthe day was dinner time with them, whenever they could getflesh to put in the pot, and fire to boil it with. So thebeautiful woman led the way; and the four maidens (one of themhad sea-green hair, another a bodice of oak bark, a thirdsprinkled a shower of water drops from her fingers' ends, andthe fourth had some other oddity, which I have forgotten), allthese followed behind, and hurried the guests along, until theyentered a magnificent saloon. It was built in a perfect oval,and lighted from a crystal dome above. Around the walls wereranged two and twenty thrones, overhung by canopies of crimsonand gold, and provided with the softest of cushions, which weretasselled and fringed with gold cord. Each of the strangers wasinvited to sit down; and there they were, two and twenty storm-beaten mariners, in worn and tattered garb, sitting on two andtwenty cushioned and canopied thrones, so rich and gorgeousthat the proudest monarch had nothing more splendid in hisstateliest hall.
Then you might have seen the guests nodding, winking with oneeye, and leaning from one throne to another, to communicatetheir satisfaction in hoarse whispers.
"Our good hostess has made kings of us all," said one. "Ha! doyou smell the feast? I'll engage it will be fit to set beforetwo and twenty kings."
"I hope," said another, "it will be, mainly, good substantialjoints, sirloins, spareribs, and hinder quarters, without toomany kickshaws. If I thought the good lady would not take itamiss, I should call for a fat slice of fried bacon to beginwith."
Ah, the gluttons and gormandizers! You see how it was withthem. In the loftiest seats of dignity, on royal thrones, theycould think of nothing but their greedy appetite, which was theportion of their nature that they shared with wolves and swine;so that they resembled those vilest of animals far more thanthey did kings--if, indeed, kings were what they ought to be.
But the beautiful woman now clapped her hands; and immediatelythere entered a train of two and twenty serving man, bringingdishes of the richest food, all hot from the kitchen fire, andsending up such a steam that it hung like a cloud below thecrystal dome of the saloon. An equal number of attendantsbrought great flagons of wine, of various kinds, some of whichsparkled as it was poured out, and went bubbling down thethroat; while, of other sorts, the purple liquor was so clearthat you could see the wrought figures at the bottom of thegoblet. While the servants supplied the two and twenty guestswith food and drink, the hostess and her four maidens went fromone throne to another, exhorting them to eat their fill, and toquaff wine abundantly, and thus to recompense them- selves, atthis one banquet, for the many days when they had gone withouta dinner. But whenever the mariners were not looking at them(which was pretty often, as they looked chiefly into the basinsand platters), the beautiful woman and her damsels turnedaside, and laughed. Even the servants, as they knelt down topresent the dishes, might be seen to grin and sneer, while theguests were helping themselves to the offered dainties.
And, once in a while, the strangers seemed to taste somethingthat they did not like.
"Here is an odd kind of spice in this dish," said one. "I can'tsay it quite suits my palate. Down it goes, however."
"Send a good draught of wine down your throat," said hiscomrade on the next throne. "That is the stuff to make thissort of cookery relish well. Though I must needs say, the winehas a queer taste too. But the more I drink of it, the better Ilike the flavor."
Whatever little fault they might find with the dishes, they satat dinner a prodigiously long while; and it would really havemade you ashamed to see how they swilled down the liquor andgobbled up the food. They sat on golden thrones, to be sure;but they behaved like pigs in a sty; and, if they had had theirwits about them, they might have guessed that this was theopinion of their beautiful hostess and her maidens. It brings ablush into my face to reckon up, in my own mind, what mountainsof meat and pudding, and what gallons of wine, these two andtwenty guzzlers and gormandizers ate and drank. They forgot allabout their homes, and their wives and children, and all aboutUlysses, and everything else, except this banquet, at whichthey wanted to keep feasting forever. But at length they beganto give over, from mere incapacity to hold any more.
"That last bit of fat is too much for me," said one.
"And I have not room for another morsel," said his nextneighbor, heaving a sigh. "What a pity! My appetite is as sharpas ever."
In short, they all left off eating, and leaned back on theirthrones, with such a stupid and helpless aspect as made themridiculous to behold. When their hostess saw this, she laughedaloud; so did her four damsels; so did the two and twentyserving men that bore the dishes, and their two and twentyfellows that poured out the wine. And the louder they alllaughed, the more stupid and helpless did the two and twentygormandizers look. Then the beautiful woman took her stand inthe middle of the saloon, and stretching out a slender rod (ithad been all the while in her hand, although they never noticedit till this moment), she turned it from one guest to another,until each had felt it pointed at himself. Beautiful as herface was, and though there was a smile on it, it looked just aswicked and mischievous as the ugliest serpent that ever wasseen; and fat-witted as the voyagers had made themselves, theybegan to suspect that they had fallen into the power of anevil-minded enchantress.
"Wretches," cried she, "you have abused a lady's hospitality;and in this princely saloon your behavior has been suited to ahog-pen. You are already swine in everything but the humanform, which you disgrace, and which I myself should be ashamedto keep a moment longer, were you to share it with me. But itwill require only the slightest exercise of magic to make theexterior conform to the hoggish disposition. Assume your propershapes, gormandizers, and begone to the sty!"
Uttering these last words, she waved her wand; and stamping herfoot imperiously, each of the guests was struck aghast atbeholding, instead of his comrades in human shape, one andtwenty hogs sitting on the same number of golden thrones. Eachman (as he still supposed himself to be) essayed to give a cryof surprise, but found that he could merely grunt, and that, ina word, he was just such another beast as his companions. Itlooked so intolerably absurd to see hogs on cushioned thrones,that they made haste to wallow down upon all fours, like otherswine. They tried to groan and beg for mercy, but forthwithemitted the most awful grunting and squealing that ever cameout of swinish throats. They would have wrung their hands indespair, but, attempting to do so, grew all the more desperatefor seeing themselves squatted on their hams, and pawing theair with their fore trotters. Dear me! what pendulous ears theyhad! what little red eyes, half buried in fat! and what longsnouts, instead of Grecian noses!
But brutes as they certainly were, they yet had enough of humannature in them to be shocked at their own hideousness; andstill intending to groan, they uttered a viler grunt and squealthan before. So harsh and ear-piercing it was, that you wouldhave fancied a butcher was sticking his knife into each oftheir throats, or, at the very least, that somebody was pullingevery hog by his funny little twist of a tail.
"Begone to your sty!" cried the enchantress, giving them somesmart strokes with her wand; and then she turned to the servingmen--"Drive out these swine, and throw down some acorns forthem to eat."
The door of the saloon being flung open, the drove of hogs ranin all directions save the right one, in accordance with theirhoggish perversity, but were finally driven into the back yardof the palace. It was a sight to bring tears into one's eyes(and I hope none of you will be cruel enough to laugh at it),to see the poor creatures go snuffing along, picking up here acabbage leaf and there a turnip top, and rooting their noses inthe earth for whatever they could find. In their sty, moreover,they behaved more piggishly than the pigs that had been bornso; for they bit and snorted at one another, put their feet inthe trough, and gobbled up their victuals in a ridiculoushurry; and, when there was nothing more to be had, they made agreat pile of themselves among some unclean straw, and fellfast asleep. If they had any human reason left, it was justenough to keep them wondering when they should be slaughtered,and what quality of bacon they should make.
Meantime, as I told you before, Eurylochus had waited, andwaited, and waited, in the entrance hall of the palace, withoutbeing able to comprehend what had befallen his friends. Atlast, when the swinish uproar resounded through the palace, andwhen he saw the image of a hog in the marble basin, he thoughtit best to hasten back to the vessel, and inform the wiseUlysses of these marvelous occurrences. So he ran as fast as hecould down the steps, and never stopped to draw breath till hereached the shore.
"Why do you come alone?" asked King Ulysses, as soon as he sawhim. "Where are your two and twenty comrades?"
At these questions, Eurylochus burst into tears.
"Alas!" he cried, "I greatly fear that we shall never see oneof their faces again."
Then he told Ulysses all that had happened, as far as he knewit, and added that he suspected the beautiful woman to be avile enchantress, and the marble palace, magnificent as itlooked, to be only a dismal cavern in reality. As for hiscompanions, he could not imagine what had become of them,unless they had been given to the swine to be devoured alive.At this intelligence, all the voyagers were greatly affrighted.But Ulysses lost no time in girding on his sword, and hanginghis bow and quiver over his shoulders, and. taking a spear inhis right hand. When his followers saw their wise leader makingthese preparations, they inquired whither he was going, andearnestly besought him not to leave them.
"You are our king," cried they; "and what is more, you are thewisest man in the whole world, and nothing but your wisdom andcourage can get us out of this danger. If you desert us, and goto the enchanted palace, you will suffer the same fate as ourpoor companions, and not a soul of us will ever see our dearIthaca again."
"As I am your king," answered Ulysses, "and wiser than any ofyou, it is therefore the more my duty to see what has befallenour comrades, and whether anything can yet be done to rescuethem. Wait for me here until tomorrow. If I do not then return,you must hoist sail, and endeavor to find your way to ournative land. For my part, I am answerable for the fate of thesepoor mariners, who have stood by my side in battle, and been sooften drenched to the skin, along with me, by the sametempestuous surges. I will either bring them back with me, orperish."
Had his followers dared, they would have detained him by force.But King Ulysses frowned sternly on them, and shook his spear,and bade them stop him at their peril. Seeing him sodetermined, they let him go, and sat down on the sand, asdisconsolate a set of people as could be, waiting and prayingfor his return.
It happened to Ulysses, just as before, that, when he had gonea few steps from the edge of the cliff, the purple bird camefluttering towards him, crying, "Peep, peep, pe--weep!" andusing all the art it could to persuade him to go no farther.
"What mean you, little bird?" cried Ulysses. "You are arrayedlike a king in purple and gold, and wear a golden crown uponyour head. Is it because I too am a king, that you desire soearnestly to speak with me? If you can talk in human language,say what you would have me do."
"Peep!" answered the purple bird, very dolorously. "Peep, peep,pe--we--e!"
Certainly there lay some heavy anguish at the little bird'sheart; and it was a sorrowful predicament that he could not, atleast, have the consolation of telling what it was. But Ulysseshad no time to waste in trying to get at the mystery. Hetherefore quickened his pace, and had gone a good way along thepleasant wood path, when there met him a young man of verybrisk and intelligent aspect, and clad in a rather singulargarb. He wore a short cloak and a sort of cap that seemed to befurnished with a pair of wings; and from the lightness of hisstep, you would have supposed that there might likewise bewings on his feet. To enable him to walk still better (for hewas always on one journey or another) he carried a wingedstaff, around which two serpents were wriggling and twisting.In short, I have said enough to make you guess that it wasQuicksilver; and Ulysses (who knew him of old, and had learneda great deal of his wisdom from him) recognized him in amoment.
"Whither are you going in such a hurry, wise Ulysses?" askedQuicksilver. "Do you not know that this island is enchanted?The wicked enchantress (whose name is Circe, the sister of KingAetes) dwells in the marble palace which you see yonder amongthe trees. By her magic arts she changes every human being intothe brute, beast, or fowl whom he happens most to resemble."
"That little bird, which met me at the edge of the cliff,"exclaimed Ulysses; "was he a human being once?"
"Yes," answered Quicksilver. "He was once a king, named Picus,and a pretty good sort of a king, too, only rather too proud ofhis purple robe, and his crown, and the golden chain about hisneck; so he was forced to take the shape of a gaudy-featheredbird. The lions, and wolves, and tigers, who will come runningto meet you, in front of the palace, were formerly fierce andcruel men, resembling in their disposition the wild beastswhose forms they now rightfully wear."
"And my poor companions," said Ulysses. "Have they undergone asimilar change, through the arts of this wicked Circe?"
"You well know what gormandizers they were," repliedQuicksilver; and rogue that he was, he could not help laughingat the joke. "So you will not be surprised to hear that theyhave all taken the shapes of swine! If Circe had never doneanything worse, I really should not think her so very much toblame."
"But can I do nothing to help them?" inquired Ulysses.
"It will require all your wisdom," said Quicksilver, "and alittle of my own into the bargain, to keep your royal andsagacious self from being transformed into a fox. But do as Ibid you; and the matter may end better than it has begun."
While he was speaking, Quicksilver seemed to be in search ofsomething; he went stooping along the ground, and soon laid hishand on a little plant with a snow-white flower, which heplucked and smelt of. Ulysses had been looking at that veryspot only just before; and it appeared to him that the planthad burst into full flower the instant when Quicksilver touchedit with his fingers.
"Take this flower, King Ulysses," said he. "Guard it as you doyour eyesight; for I can assure you it is exceedingly rare andprecious, and you might seek the whole earth over without everfinding another like it. Keep it in your hand, and smell of itfrequently after you enter the palace, and while you aretalking with the enchantress. Especially when she offers youfood, or a draught of wine out of her goblet, be careful tofill your nostrils with the flower's fragrance. Follow thesedirections, and you may defy her magic arts to change you intoa fox."
Quicksilver then gave him some further advice how to behave,and bidding him be bold and prudent, again assured him that,powerful as Circe was, he would have a fair prospect of comingsafely out of her enchanted palace. After listeningattentively, Ulysses thanked his good friend, and resumed hisway. But he had taken only a few steps, when, recollecting someother questions which he wished to ask, he turned round again,and beheld nobody on the spot where Quicksilver had stood; forthat winged cap of his, and those winged shoes, with the helpof the winged staff, had carried him quickly out of sight.
When Ulysses reached the lawn, in front of the palace, thelions and other savage animals came bounding to meet him, andwould have fawned upon him and licked his feet. But the wiseking struck at them with his long spear, and sternly bade thembegone out of his path; for he knew that they had once beenbloodthirsty men, and would now tear him limb from limb,instead of fawning upon him, could they do the mischief thatwas in their hearts. The wild beasts yelped and glared at him,and stood at a distance, while he ascended the palace steps.
On entering the hall, Ulysses saw the magic fountain in thecenter of it. The up-gushing water had now again taken theshape of a man in a long, white, fleecy robe, who appeared tobe making gestures of welcome. The king likewise heard thenoise of the shuttle in the loom and the sweet melody of thebeautiful woman's song, and then the pleasant voices of herselfand the four maidens talking together, with peals of merrylaughter intermixed. But Ulysses did not waste much time inlistening to the laughter or the song. He leaned his spearagainst one of the pillars of the hall, and then, afterloosening his sword in the scabbard, stepped boldly forward,and threw the folding doors wide open. The moment she beheldhis stately figure standing in the doorway, the beautiful womanrose from the loom, and ran to meet him with a glad smilethrowing its sunshine over her face, and both her handsextended.
"Welcome, brave stranger!" cried she. "We were expecting you."
And the nymph with the sea-green hair made a courtesy down tothe ground, and likewise bade him welcome; so did her sisterwith the bodice of oaken bark, and she that sprinkled dew-dropsfrom her fingers' ends, and the fourth one with some odditywhich I cannot remember. And Circe, as the beautifulenchantress was called (who had deluded so many persons thatshe did not doubt of being able to delude Ulysses, notimagining how wise he was), again addressed him:
"Your companions," said she, "have already been received intomy palace, and have enjoyed the hospitable treatment to whichthe propriety of their behavior so well entitles them. If suchbe your pleasure, you shall first take some refreshment, andthen join them in the elegant apartment which they now occupy.See, I and my maidens have been weaving their figures into thispiece of tapestry."
She pointed to the web of beautifully-woven cloth in the loom.Circe and the four nymphs must have been very diligently atwork since the arrival of the mariners; for a great many yardsof tapestry had now been wrought, in addition to what I beforedescribed. In this new part, Ulysses saw his two and twentyfriends represented as sitting on cushions and canopiedthrones, greedily devouring dainties, and quaffing deepdraughts of wine. The work had not yet gone any further. O, no,indeed. The enchantress was far too cunning to let Ulysses seethe mischief which her magic arts had since brought upon thegormandizers.
"As for yourself, valiant sir," said Circe, "judging by thedignity of your aspect, I take you to be nothing less than aking. Deign to follow me, and you shall be treated as befitsyour rank."
So Ulysses followed her into the oval saloon, where his two andtwenty comrades had devoured the banquet, which ended sodisastrously for themselves. But, all this while, he had heldthe snow-white flower in his hand, and had constantly smelt ofit while Circe was speaking; and as he crossed the threshold ofthe saloon, he took good care to inhale several long and deepsnuffs of its fragrance. Instead of two and twenty thrones,which had before been ranged around the wall, there was nowonly a single throne, in the center of the apartment. But thiswas surely the most magnificent seat that ever a king or anemperor reposed himself upon, all made of chased gold, studdedwith precious stones, with a cushion that looked like a softheap of living roses, and overhung by a canopy of sunlightwhich Circe knew how to weave into drapery. The enchantresstook Ulysses by the hand, and made him sit down upon thisdazzling throne. Then, clapping her hands, she summoned thechief butler.
"Bring hither," said she, "the goblet that is set apart forkings to drink out of. And fill it with the same delicious winewhich my royal brother, King Aetes, praised so highly, when helast visited me with my fair daughter Medea. That good andamiable child! Were she now here, it would delight her to seeme offering this wine to my honored guest."
But Ulysses, while the butler was gone for the wine, held thesnow-white flower to his nose.
"Is it a wholesome wine?" he asked.
At this the four maidens tittered; whereupon the enchantresslooked round at them, with an aspect of severity.
"It is the wholesomest juice that ever was squeezed out of thegrape," said she; "for, instead of disguising a man, as otherliquor is apt to do, it brings him to his true self, and showshim as he ought to be."
The chief butler liked nothing better than to see people turnedinto swine, or making any kind of a beast of themselves; so hemade haste to bring the royal goblet, filled with a liquid asbright as gold, and which kept sparkling upward, and throwing asunny spray over the brim. But, delightfully as the winelooked, it was mingled with the most potent enchantments thatCirce knew how to concoct. For every drop of the pure grapejuice there were two drops of the pure mischief; and the dangerof the thing was, that the mischief made it taste all thebetter. The mere smell of the bubbles, which effervesced at thebrim, was enough to turn a man's beard into pig's bristles, ormake a lion's claws grow out of his fingers, or a fox's brushbehind him.
"Drink, my noble guest," said Circe, smiling, as she presentedhim with the goblet. "You will find in this draught a solacefor all your troubles."
King Ulysses took the goblet with his right hand, while withhis left he held the snow-white flower to his nostrils, anddrew in so long a breath that his lungs were quite filled withits pure and simple fragrance. Then, drinking off all the wine,he looked the enchantress calmly in the face.
"Wretch," cried Circe, giving him a smart stroke with her wand,"how dare you keep your human shape a moment longer! Take theform of the brute whom you most resemble. If a hog, go joinyour fellow-swine in the sty; if a lion, a wolf, a tiger, gohowl with the wild beasts on the lawn; if a fox, go exerciseyour craft in stealing poultry. Thou hast quaffed off my wine,and canst be man no longer."
But, such was the virtue of the snow-white flower, instead ofwallowing down from his throne in swinish shape, or taking anyother brutal form, Ulysses looked even more manly and king-likethan before. He gave the magic goblet a toss, and sent itclashing over the marble floor to the farthest end of thesaloon. Then, drawing his sword, he seized the enchantress byher beautiful ringlets, and made a gesture as if he meant tostrike off her head at one blow.
"Wicked Circe," cried he, in a terrible voice, "this swordshall put an end to thy enchant meets. Thou shalt die, vilewretch, and do no more mischief in the world, by tempting humanbeings into the vices which make beasts of them."
The tone and countenance of Ulysses were so awful, and hissword gleamed so brightly, and seemed to have so intolerablykeen an edge, that Circe was almost killed by the mere fright,without waiting for a blow. The chief butler scrambled out ofthe saloon, picking up the golden goblet as he went; and theenchantress and the four maidens fell on their knees, wringingtheir hands, and screaming for mercy.
"Spare me!" cried Circe. "Spare me, royal and wise Ulysses. Fornow I know that thou art he of whom Quicksilver forewarned me,the most prudent of mortals, against whom no enchantments canprevail. Thou only couldst have conquered Circe. Spare me,wisest of men. I will show thee true hospitality, and even givemyself to be thy slave, and this magnificent palace to behenceforth thy home."
The four nymphs, meanwhile, were making a most piteous ado; andespecially the ocean nymph, with the sea-green hair, wept agreat deal of salt water, and the fountain nymph, besidesscattering dewdrops from her fingers' ends, nearly melted awayinto tears. But Ulysses would not be pacified until Circe hadtaken a solemn oath to change back his companions, and as manyothers as he should direct, from their present forms of beastor bird into their former shapes of men.
"On these conditions," said he, "I consent to spare your life.Otherwise you must die upon the spot."
With a drawn sword hanging over her, the enchantress wouldreadily have consented to do as much good as she had hithertodone mischief, however little she might like such employment.She therefore led Ulysses out of the back entrance of thepalace, and showed him the swine in their sty. There were aboutfifty of these unclean beasts in the whole herd; and though thegreater part were hogs by birth and education, there waswonderfully little difference to be seen betwixt them and theirnew brethren, who had so recently worn the human shape. Tospeak critically, indeed, the latter rather carried the thingto excess, and seemed to make it a point to wallow in themiriest part of the sty, and otherwise to outdo the originalswine in their own natural vocation. When men once turn tobrutes, the trifle of man's wit that remains in them addstenfold to their brutality.
The comrades of Ulysses, however, had not quite lost theremembrance of having formerly stood erect. When he approachedthe sty, two and twenty enormous swine separated themselvesfrom the herd, and scampered towards him, with such a chorus ofhorrible squealing as made him clap both hands to his ears. Andyet they did not seem to know what they wanted, nor whetherthey were merely hungry, or miserable from some other cause. Itwas curious, in the midst of their distress, to observe themthrusting their noses into the mire, in quest of something toeat. The nymph with the bodice of oaken bark (she was thehamadryad of an oak) threw a handful of acorns among them; andthe two and twenty hogs scrambled and fought for the prize, asif they had tasted not so much as a noggin of sour milk for atwelvemonth.
"These must certainly be my comrades," said Ulysses. "Irecognize their dispositions. They are hardly worth the troubleof changing them into the human form again. Nevertheless, wewill have it done, lest their bad example should corrupt theother hogs. Let them take their original shapes, therefore,Dame Circe, if your skill is equal to the task. It will requiregreater magic, I trow, than it did to make swine of them."
So Circe waved her wand again, and repeated a few magic words,at the sound of which the two and twenty hogs pricked up theirpendulous ears. It was a wonder to behold how their snouts grewshorter and shorter, and their mouths (which they seemed to besorry for, because they could not gobble so expeditiously)smaller and smaller, and how one and another began to standupon his hind legs, and scratch his nose with his foretrotters. At first the spectators hardly knew whether to callthem hogs or men, but by and by came to the conclusion thatthey rather resembled the latter. Finally, there stood thetwenty-two comrades of Ulysses, looking pretty much the same aswhen they left the vessel.
You must not imagine, however, that the swinish quality hadentirely gone out of them. When once it fastens itself into aperson's character, it is very difficult getting rid of it.This was proved by the hamadryad, who, being exceedingly fondof mischief, threw another handful of acorns before the twenty-two newly-restored people; whereupon down they wallowed in amoment, and gobbled them up in a very shameful way. Then,recollecting themselves, they scrambled to their feet, andlooked more than commonly foolish.
"Thanks, noble Ulysses!" they cried. "From brute beasts youhave restored us to the condition of men again."
"Do not put yourselves to the trouble of thanking me," said thewise king. "I fear I have done but little for you."
To say the truth, there was a suspicious kind of a grunt intheir voices, and, for a long time afterwards, they spokegruffly, and were apt to set up a squeal.
"It must depend on your own future behavior," added Ulysses,"whether you do not find your way back to the sty."
At this moment, the note of a bird sounded from the branch of aneighboring tree.
"Peep, peep, pe--wee--e!"
It was the purple bird, who, all this while, had been sittingover their heads, watching what was going forward, and hopingthat Ulysses would remember how he had done his utmost to keephim and his followers out of harm's way. Ulysses ordered Circeinstantly to make a king of this good little fowl, and leavehim exactly as she found him. Hardly were the words spoken, andbefore the bird had time to utter another "pe--weep," KingPicus leaped down from the bough of a tree, as majestic asovereign as any in the world, dressed in a long purple robeand gorgeous yellow stockings, with a splendidly wrought collarabout his neck, and a golden crown upon his head. He and KingUlysses exchanged with one another the courtesies which belongto their elevated rank. But from that time forth, King Picuswas no longer proud of his crown and his trappings of royalty,nor of the fact of his being a king; he felt himself merely theupper servant of his people, and that it must be his life-longlabor to make them better and happier.
As for the lions, tigers, and wolves (though Circe would haverestored them to their former shapes at his slightest word),Ulysses thought it advisable that they should remain as theynow were, and thus give warning of their cruel dispositions,instead of going about under the guise of men, and pretendingto human sympathies, while their hearts had the blood-thirstiness of wild beasts. So he let them howl as much as theyliked, but never troubled his head about them. And, wheneverything was settled according to his pleasure, he sent tosummon the remainder of his comrades, whom he had left at thesea-shore. These being arrived, with the prudent Eurylochus attheir head, they all made themselves comfortable in Circe'senchanted palace, until quite rested and refreshed from thetoils and hardships of their voyage.
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