her loom. And straightway she rose, and bade her handmaidens bring bread and wine to the sea-shore for Odysseus and his men. Long time they feasted on the smooth beach, until they fell asleep for very weariness; but Kirkê took Odysseus to her own home, and bade him sit down by her side, while she told him of all the things which should befall him on his way to Ithaca. She told him of the Seirens, fair and false, and of their sweet song, by which they tempt the weary seamen as they sail on the white and burning sea. She told him of the wandering rocks, from which no ship ever escaped but the divine Argo, when Jason led the warriors to search for the golden fleece. She told him of the monstrous Skylla, with her twelve shapeless feet and her six necks, long and lean, from which six dreadful heads peer out over the dark water, each with a triple row of spearlike teeth, as she seizes on every living thing which the waves of the sea cast within her reach. She told him of Charybdis, the deathless monster, who, thrice each day, hurls forth the water from her boiling pool, and thrice each day sucks it back. She warned him of the Thrinakian land, where the cattle of Helios feed in their sunny pastures. There, each evening, as the sun goes down, and each morning as he rises from the eastern sea, two fair maidens came forth to tend them. These children of Helios, their mother-tender and loving as the light of early day-placed far off in the Thrinakian land, to tend their father's herds. 'Wherefore go not near that island,' said the Lady Kirkê, 'for no mortal man shall escape the wrath of Helios if any hurt befall his cattle. And if thy comrades stretch forth a hand against them, thy ship shall be sunk in the deep sea; and if ever thou mayest reach thy home, thou shalt return to it a lonely

man, mourning for all the friends whom thou hast lost.'

Even as she spake, the light of Eôs tinged the far-off sky, and Kirkê bade Odysseus farewell as he went back to the ship. So they sailed away from the house of the wise goddess, and they passed by the Seirens' land, where Odysseus heard the sweet sound of their singing as it rose clear and soft through the hot and breathless air. Thence they came to the secret caves of Skylla, and her six heads, stretched out above the boiling waters, seized each one of the men of Odysseus, and he heard their last shriek for help as they were sucked down her gaping jaws. But they went not near the whirlpool of Charybdis, for Odysseus feared the warning of Kirkê.

The sun was sinking down in the sky as the ship of Odysseus drew near towards the beautiful island of Helios. The long line of light danced merrily on the rippling sea, and the soft breeze fanned their cheeks with its gentle breathing. Then spake Odysseus, and said Listen, O friends, to my words. Last night, the Lady Kirkê talked with me, and told me of all the things that should come to pass as we journeyed home to Ithaca. She told me of the Seirens, of Skylla and Charybdis, and all things have come to pass as she said. But, most of all, she warned me not to set foot on the island of Helios, for there his cattle are tended. Each day, Helios looks down upon them as he journeys through the high heaven, and no mortal man may lay his hand on them and live. Wherefore hearken

to me, and turn the ship away, so that we may not come to this land. Well I know that ye are weary and sick with toil; but better is it to reach our home wearied and hungry, than to perish in distant

lands for evil deeds.' Then was Eurylochos filled with anger; so he spake out boldly, and said: 'Oh, Odysseus, hard of heart and cruel in soul, thou faintest not in thy limbs, neither is thy body tired out with toil. Surely thou must be framed of hard iron, that thou seekest to turn us away from the fair and happy land. Our hearts are faint, our bodies tremble for very weariness, and sleep lies heavy on our eyelids. Here, on the smooth beach, we may rest in peace, and cheer our souls with food and wine, and when the sun is risen we will go forth again in our long wanderings over the wide sea; but now will we not go, for who can sail safely while the night sits on her dark throne in the sky? for then dangers hang over mortal men, and the sudden whirlwind may come and sink us all beneath the tossing waters.'

So spake Eurylochos, and all the men shouted with loud voices to go to the land; but when Odysseus saw that it was vain to hinder them, he said: 'Swear then to me, all of you, a solemn oath, that ye will touch not one of the sacred herds who feed in the pastures of Helios, but that ye will only eat of the bread and drink the wine which the Lady Kirkê gave to us.' Then they sware all of them; and the ship came to land in a beautiful bay, where a soft stream of pure water trickled down from a high rock, and deep caves gave shelter from the dew of the night. Then they made their meal on the beach, and mourned over their six comrades whom the monstrous Skylla had swallowed with her greedy jaws, until sleep came down upon their eyelids; but when the stars were going down in the sky, and before Eôs spread her soft light through the heaven, Zeus sent forth a great wind to scourge the waters of the sea, and a dark cloud came down and hid

all things from their sight; so, when the sun was risen, they knew that they could not leave the island of Helios, and they dragged their ship up on the beach to a cave where the nymphs dance, and where their seats are carved in the living rock. Then Odysseus warned them once more. 'O friends, hunt not the cattle in this land, for they are flocks of the great god Helios, who sees and hears all things.'

All that day the storm raged on, and at night it ceased not from its fury. Day by day they looked in vain to see the waters go down, until the moon had gone through all her changes. Then the food and the wine which the Lady Kirkê gave to them was all spent, and they knew not how they might now live. All this time none had touched the sacred cattle, and even now they sought to catch birds and fishes, so that they might not hurt the herds of Helios. Wearied in body and faint in heart, Odysseus wandered over the island, praying to the undying gods that they would shew him some way of escaping; and when he had gone a long way from his comrades, he bathed his hands in a clear stream, and prayed to all the gods, and they sent down a sweet sleep on his eyelids, and he slept there on the soft grass, forgetting his cares and sorrows.

But while Odysseus was far away, Eurylochos gathered his comrades around him, and began to tempt them with evil words. O friends,' he said, 'long have ye toiled and suffered; listen now to my words. There is no

kind of death which is not dreadful to weak and mortal men; but of all deaths there is none so terrible as to waste away by slow, gnawing hunger. Wherefore let us seize the fairest of the cattle of Helios, and make a great sacrifice to the undying gods who dwell in the wide

heaven; and when we reach our home in Ithaca, we will build a temple to Helios Hyperiôn, and we will place in it rich and costly offerings, and the fat of rams and goats shall go up day by day to heaven upon his altar. But if he will, in his anger, destroy a ship with all its men for the sake of horned cattle, then rather would I sink by one plunge in the sea, than waste away here in pain and hunger.'

Then, with loud voices, all his comrades cried out that the words of Eurylochos were good, and they hastened to seize the fairest cattle of Helios. Soon they came back, for they fed near at hand, fearing no hurt, and dreading not the approach of men. So they made ready the sacrifice, and sprinkled soft oak leaves over the victims, for they had no white barley in their ship. Then they prayed to the gods, and smote the cattle, and, flaying off the skin, placed the limbs in order, and poured the water over the entrails, for they had no wine to sprinkle over the sacrifice while it was being. roasted by fire. So, when the sacrifice was done, they sat down and feasted richly.

But Odysseus had waked up from his sleep, and as he drew near to the bay where the ship was drawn up on the shore, the savour of the fat filled his nostrils; and he smote his hand upon his breast, and groaned aloud, and said: 'O father Zeus, and ye happy gods who know not death, of a truth ye have weighed me down by a cruel sleep, and my comrades have plotted a woeful deed while I was far away!'

Woeful was the sight as Odysseus drew nigh to the ship, and to his comrades who stood round the burntoffering. With fierce and angry words they reviled each other, and they looked with a terrible fear on the victims