But come thou hither, Ulysses, and I
will be a host indeed to thee. Or, at least, may Poseidon give thee such
a voyage to thy home as I would wish thee to have. For know that
Poseidon is my sire. May be that he may heal me of my grievous wound."
And Ulysses said, "Would to God, I could send thee down to the abode of
the dead, where thou wouldst be past all healing, even from Poseidon's
self."
Then Cyclops lifted up his hands to Poseidon and prayed:
"Hear me, Poseidon, if I am indeed thy son and thou my father. May this
Ulysses never reach his home! or, if the Fates have ordered that he
should reach it, may he come alone, all his comrades lost, and come to
find sore trouble in his house!"
And as he ended he hurled another mighty rock, which almost lighted on
the rudder's end, yet missed it as if by a hair's breadth. So Ulysses
and his comrades escaped, and came to the island of the wild goats,
where they found their comrades, who indeed had waited long for them, in
sore fear lest they had perished. Then Ulysses divided among his company
all the sheep which they had taken from the Cyclops. And all, with one
consent, gave him for his share the great ram which had carried him out
of the cave, and he sacrificed it to Zeus. And all that day they feasted
right merrily on the flesh of sheep and on sweet wine, and when the
night was come, they lay down upon the shore and slept.
Pages:
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277