Chapter XIV: Book IX

_The voyages of Ulysses--The Cicons, Lotus eaters, and
the Cyclops Polyphemus_.

Then Ulysses rose. "King Alcinous," said he, "you ask
my name and I will tell you. I am Ulysses, and dwell in
Ithaca, an island which contains a high mountain called
Neritum. In its neighbourhood there are other islands
near to one another, Dulichium, Same, and Zacynthus. It
lies on the horizon all highest up in the sea towards the 25
West, while the other islands lie away from it to the
East. This is the island which I would reach, for however
fine a house a man may have in a land where his parents
are not, there will still be nothing sweeter to him than
his home and his own father and mother.

"I will now tell you of my adventures. On leaving Troy 37
we first made a descent on the land of the Cicons, and
sacked their city but were eventually beaten off, though
we took our booty with us.

"Thence we sailed South with a strong North wind behind 62
us, till we reached the island of Cythera, where we were
driven off our course by a continuance of North wind
which prevented my doubling Cape Malea.

"Nine days was I driven by foul winds, and on the tenth 82
we reached the land of the Lotus eaters, where the people
were good to my men but gave them to eat of the lotus,
which made them lose all desire to return home, so that I
had a great work to get those who had tasted it on board
again.

"Thence we were carried further, till we came to the land 105
of the savage Cyclopes. Off their coast, but not very
far, there is a wooded island abounding with wild goats.
It is untrodden by the foot of man; even the huntsmen,
who as a general rule will suffer any hardship in forest 120
or on mountain top, never go there; it is neither tilled
nor fed down, but remains year after year uninhabited
save by goats only. For the Cyclopes have no ships, and
cannot therefore go from place to place as those who have
ships can do. If they had ships they would have colonised
the island, for it is not at all a bad one and would
bring forth all things in their season. There is meadow
land, well watered and of good quality, that stretches
down to the water's edge. Grapes would do wonderfully
well there; it contains good arable land, which would
yield heavy crops, for the soil is rich; moreover it has
a convenient port--into which some god must have taken
us, for the night was so dark that we could see nothing.
There was a thick darkness all round the ships, neither
was there any moon, for the sky was covered with clouds.
No one could see the island, nor yet waves breaking upon
the shore till we found ourselves in the harbour. Here,
then, we moored our ships and camped down upon the beach.

"When morning came we hunted the wild goats, of which we 152
killed over a hundred,[17] and all day long to the going
down of the sun we feasted on them and the store of wine
we had taken from the Cicons. We kept looking also on the
land of the Cyclopes over against us, which was so near
that we could see the smoke of their stubble fires, and
almost fancy we heard the bleating of their sheep and
goats.

"We camped a second night upon the beach, and at day 169
break, having called a council, I said I would take my
own ship and reconnoitre the country, but would leave
the other ships at the island. Thereon I started, but
when we got near the main land we saw a great cave in the
cliff, not far from the sea, and there were large sheep
yards in front of it. On landing I chose twelve men and
went inland, taking with me a goat skin full of a very
wondrous wine that Maron, priest of Apollo, had given me
when I spared his life and that of his family at the time
that we were sacking the city of the Cicons. The rest of
my crew were to wait my return by the sea side.

"We soon reached the cave, and finding that the owner was 216
not at home we examined all that it contained; we saw
vessels brimful of whey, and racks loaded with cheeses:
the yards also were full of lambs and kids. My men
implored me to let them steal some cheeses, drive off
some of the lambs and kids, and sail away, but I would
not, for I hoped the owner might give me something.

"We lit a fire in the cave, sacrificed some of the 233
cheeses to the gods, and ate others ourselves, waiting
till the owner should return. When he came we found him
to be a huge monster, more like a peak standing out
against the sky on some high mountain than a human
being. He brought in with him a great bundle of firewood,
which he flung down upon the floor with such a noise that
we were scared and hid ourselves. He drove all his female
goats and ewes into the cave, but left the males outside;
and then he closed the door with a huge stone which not
even two and twenty waggons could carry. He milked his 245
goats and ewes all orderly, and gave each one her own
young [for these had been left in the yards all day];
then he drank some of the milk, and put part by for his
supper. Presently he lit his fire and caught sight of us,
whereon he asked us who we were.

"I told him we were on our way home from Troy, and begged 256
him in heaven's name to do us no hurt; but as soon as I
had answered his question he gripped up two of my men,
dashed them on the ground, and ate them raw, blood,
bones, and bowels, like a savage lion of the wilderness.
Then he lay down on the ground of the cave and went to
sleep: on which I should have crept up to him and plunged
my sword into his heart while he was sleeping had I not
known that if I did we should never be able to shift the
stone. So we waited till dawn should come.

"When day broke the monster again lit his fire, milked 307
his ewes all orderly, and gave each one her own young.
Then he gripped up two more of my men, and as soon as
he had eaten them he rolled the stone from the mouth of
the cave, drove out his sheep, and put the stone back
again. He had, however, left a large and long piece of
olive wood in the cave, and when he had gone I and my men
sharpened this at one end, and hid it in the sheep dung
of which there was much in the cave. In the evening he
returned, milked his ewes, and ate two more men; whereon
I went up to him with the skin of wondrous wine that
Maron had given me and gave him a bowl full of it. He
asked for another, and then another, so I gave them to
him, and he was so much delighted that he enquired my
name and I said it was Noman.

"The wine now began to take effect, and in a short time 371
he fell dead drunk upon the ground. Then my men and I put
the sharp end of the piece of olive wood in the fire till
it was well burning, and drove it into the wretch's eye,
turning it round and round as though it were an auger.
After a while he plucked it out, flung it from him, and
began crying to his neighbours for help. When they came,
they said, 'What ails you? Who is harming you?' and he
answered, 'No man is harming me.' They then said that he
must be ill, and had better pray to his father Neptune;
so they went away, and I laughed at the success of my
stratagem.

"Then I hid my men by binding them under the sheep's 424
bellies. The Cyclops, whose name was Polyphemus, groped
his way to the stone, rolled it away, and sat at the
mouth of the cave feeling the sheep's backs as they went
out; but the men were under their bellies so he did not
find one of them. Nor yet did he discover me, for I was
ensconced in the thick belly-fleece of a ram which by
some chance he had brought in with the ewes. But he was
near finding me, for the ram went last, and he kept it
for a while and talked to it.

"When we were outside, I dropped from under the ram and 462
unbound my companions. We drove the ewes down to my ship,
got them on board, and rowed out to sea. When we were
a little way out I jeered at the Cyclops, whereon he
tore up a great rock and hurled it after us; it fell in
front of the ship and all but hit the rudder; the wash,
moreover, that it made nearly carried us back to the 483
land, but I kept the ship off it with a pole.

"When we had got about twice as far off as we were 491
before, I was for speaking to the Cyclops again, and
though my men tried to stay me, I shouted out to him
'Cyclops, if you would know who it is that has blinded
you, learn that it is I, Ulysses, son of Laertes, who
live in Ithaca.'

"'Alas,' he cried in answer, 'then the old prophecy about 506
me is coming true. I knew that I was to lose my sight by
the hand of Ulysses, but I was looking for some man of
great stature and noble mien, whereas he has proved to
be a mere whippersnapper. Come here, then, Ulysses that
I may offer you gifts of hospitality and pray my father
Neptune, who shall heal my eye, to escort you safely home.

"'I wish,' said I, 'that I could be as sure of killing 521
you body and soul as I am that not even Neptune will be
able to cure your eye.'

"Then he prayed to Neptune saying 'Hear me Neptune, if 526
I am indeed your son, and vouchsafe me that Ulysses son
of Laertes may never reach his home. Still, if he must
do so, and get back to his friends, let him lose all his
men, and though he get home after all, let it be late,
on another man's ship, and let him find trouble in his
house.'

"So saying he tore up a still larger rock and flung it 527
this time a little behind the ship, but so close that it
all but hit the rudder: the wash, however, that it made
carried us forward to the island from which we had set
out.

"There we feasted on the sheep that we had taken, and 556
mourned the loss of our comrades whom Polyphemus had
eaten.