by thrusting his spear into its back. Taking it on his shoulders (for he
was a remarkably strong man), he lugged it along with him, and flung it
down before his hungry companions. I have already hinted to you what
gormandizers some of the comrades of King Ulysses were. From what is
related of them, I reckon that their favorite diet was pork, and that
they had lived upon it until a good part of their physical substance was
swine's flesh, and their tempers and dispositions were very much akin
to the hog. A dish of venison, however, was no unacceptable meal to
them, especially after feeding so long on oysters and clams. So,
beholding the dead stag, they felt of its ribs in a knowing way, and
lost no time in kindling a fire, of drift-wood, to cook it. The rest of
the day was spent in feasting; and if these enormous eaters got up from
table at sunset, it was only because they could not scrape another
morsel off the poor animal's bones.
The next morning their appetites were as sharp as ever. They looked at
Ulysses, as if they expected him to clamber up the cliff again, and come
back with another fat deer upon his shoulders. Instead of setting out,
however, he summoned the whole crew together, and told them it was in
vain to hope that he could kill a stag every day for their dinner, and
therefore it was advisable to think of some other mode of satisfying
their hunger.
"Now," said he, "when I was on the cliff yesterday, I discovered that
this island is inhabited. At a considerable distance from the shore
stood a marble palace, which appeared to be very spacious, and had a
great deal of smoke curling out of one of its chimneys."
"Aha!" muttered some of his companions, smacking their lips. "That smoke
must have come from the kitchen fire. There was a good dinner on the
spit; and no doubt there will be as good a one to-day."
"But," continued the wise Ulysses, "you must remember, my good friends,
our misadventure in the cavern of one-eyed Polyphemus, the Cyclops!
Instead of his ordinary milk diet, did he not eat up two of our comrades
for his supper, and a couple more for breakfast, and two at his supper
again? Methinks I see him yet, the hideous monster, scanning us with
that great red eye, in the middle of his forehead, to single out the
fattest. And then again only a few days ago, did we not fall into the
hands of the king of the Laestrygons, and those other horrible giants,
his subjects, who devoured a great many more of us than are now left?
To tell you the truth, if we go to yonder palace, there can be no
question that we shall make our appearance at the dinner-table; but
whether seated as guests, or served up as food, is a point to be
seriously considered."
"Either way," murmured some of the hungriest of the crew, "it will be
better than starvation; particularly if one could be sure of being well
fattened beforehand, and daintily cooked afterwards."
"That is a matter of taste," said King Ulysses, "and, for my own part,
neither the most careful fattening nor the daintiest of cookery would
reconcile me to being dished at last. My proposal is, therefore, that we
divide ourselves into two equal parties, and ascertain, by drawing lots,
which of the two shall go to the palace, and beg for food and
assistance. If these can be obtained, all is well. If not, and if the
inhabitants prove as inhospitable as Polyphemus, or the Laestrygons, then
there will but half of us perish, and the remainder may set sail and
escape."
As nobody objected to this scheme, Ulysses proceeded to count the whole
band, and found that there were forty-six men including himself. He then
numbered off twenty-two of them, and put Eurylochus (who was one of his
chief officers, and second only to himself in sagacity) at their head.
Ulysses took command of the remaining twenty-two men, in person. Then,
taking off his helmet, he put two shells into it, on one of which was
written, "Go," and on the other "Stay." Another person now held the
helmet, while Ulysses and Eurylochus drew out each a shell; and the word
"Go" was found written on that which Eurylochus had drawn. In this
manner, it was decided that Ulysses and his twenty-two men were to
remain at the seaside until the other party should have found out what
sort of treatment they might expect at the mysterious palace. As there
was no help for it, Eurylochus immediately set forth at the head of his
twenty-two followers, who went off in a very melancholy state of mind,
leaving their friends in hardly better spirits than themselves.
No sooner had they clambered up the cliff, than they discerned the tall
marble towers of the palace, ascending, as white as snow, out of the
lovely green shadow of the trees which surrounded it. A gush of smoke
came from a chimney in the rear of the edifice. This vapor rose high in
the air, and, meeting with a breeze, was wafted seaward, and made to
pass over the heads 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, turning up his
nose as high as he could, and snuffing eagerly. "And, as sure 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 late for the
good cheer!"
But scarcely had they made half a dozen steps from the edge of the
cliff, when a bird came fluttering to meet them. It was the same pretty
little bird, with the purple wings and body, the yellow legs, the golden
collar round its neck, and the crown-like tuft upon its head, whose
behavior had so much surprised Ulysses. It hovered about Eurylochus, and
almost brushed his face with its wings.
"Peep, peep, pe--weep!" chirped the bird.
So plaintively intelligent was the sound, that it seemed as if the
little creature were going to break its heart with some mighty secret
that it had to tell, and only this one poor note to 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 round at them, as
if exceedingly anxious that they should return whence they came.
Eurylochus and a few of the others were inclined to turn back. They
could not help suspecting that the purple bird must be aware of
something mischievous that would befall them at the palace, and the
knowledge of which affected its airy spirit with a human sympathy and
sorrow. But the rest of 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 notorious gormandizer
in the whole crew) said such a cruel and wicked thing, that I wonder the
mere thought did not turn him into a wild beast in shape, as he already
was in his nature.
"This troublesome and impertinent little fowl," said he, "would make a
delicate titbit to begin dinner with. Just one plump morsel, melting
away between the teeth. If he comes within my reach, I'll catch him, and
give him to the palace cook to be roasted on a skewer."
The words were hardly out of his mouth, before the purple bird flew
away, crying "Peep, peep, pe--weep," more dolorously than ever.
"That bird," remarked Eurylochus, "knows more than we do about what
awaits us at the palace."
"Come on, then," cried his comrades, "and we'll soon know as much as he
does."
The party, accordingly, went onward through the green and pleasant wood.
Every little while they caught new glimpses of the marble palace, which
looked more and more beautiful the nearer they approached it. They soon
entered a broad pathway, which seemed to be very neatly kept, and which
went winding along with streaks of sunshine falling across it, and
specks of light quivering among the deepest shadows that fell from the
lofty trees. It was bordered, too, with a great many sweet-smelling
flowers, such as the mariners had never seen before. So rich and
beautiful they were, that, if the shrubs grew wild here, and were native
in the soil, then this island was surely the flower-garden of the whole
earth; or, if transplanted from some other clime, it must have been from
the Happy Islands that lay towards the golden sunset.
"There has been a great deal of pains foolishly wasted on these
flowers," observed one of the company; and I tell you what he said, that
you may keep in mind what gormandizers they were. "For my part, if I
were the owner of the palace, I would bid my gardener cultivate nothing
but savory potherbs to make a stuffing for roast meat, or to flavor a
stew with."
"Well said!" cried the others. "But I'll warrant you there's a
kitchen-garden in the rear of the palace."
At one place they came to a crystal spring, and paused to drink at it
for want of liquor which they liked better. Looking into its bosom, they
beheld their own faces dimly reflected, but so extravagantly distorted
by the gush and motion of the water, that each one of them appeared to
be laughing at himself and all his companions. So ridiculous were these
images of themselves, indeed, that they did really laugh aloud, and
could hardly be grave again as soon as they wished. And after they had
drank, they grew still merrier than before.
"It has a twang of the wine-cask in it," said one, smacking his lips.
"Make haste!" cried his fellows; "we'll find the wine-cask itself at the
palace; and that will be better than a hundred crystal fountains."
Then they quickened their pace, and capered for joy at the thought of
the savory banquet at which they hoped to be guests. But Eurylochus told
them that he felt as if he were walking in a dream.
"If I am really awake," continued he, "then, in my opinion, we are on
the point of meeting with some stranger adventure than any that befell
us in the cave of Polyphemus, or among the gigantic man-eating
Laestrygons, or in the windy palace of King AEolus, which stands on a
brazen-walled island. This kind of dreamy feeling always comes over me
before any wonderful occurrence. If you take my advice, you will turn
back."
"No, no," answered his comrades, snuffing the air, in which the scent
from the palace kitchen was now very perceptible. "We would not turn
back, though we were certain that the king of the Laestrygons, as big as
a mountain, would sit at the head of the table, and huge Polyphemus, the
one-eyed Cyclops, at its foot."
At length they came within full sight of the palace, which proved to be
very large and lofty, with a great number of airy pinnacles upon its
roof. Though it was now midday, and the sun shone brightly over the
marble front, yet its snowy whiteness, and its fantastic style of
architecture, made it look unreal, like the frostwork on a window-pane,
or like the shapes of castles which one sees among the clouds by
moonlight. But, just then, a puff of wind brought down the smoke of the
kitchen chimney among them, and caused each man to smell the odor of the
dish that he liked best; and, after scenting it, they thought everything
else moonshine, and nothing real save this palace, and save the banquet
that was evidently ready to be served up in it.
So they hastened their steps towards the portal, but had not got
half-way across the wide lawn, when a pack of lions, tigers, and wolves
came bounding to meet them. The terrified mariners started back,
expecting no better fate than to be torn to pieces and devoured. To
their surprise and joy, however, these wild beasts merely capered around
them, wagging their tails, offering their heads to be stroked and
patted, and behaving just like so many well-bred house-dogs, when they
wish to express their delight at meeting their master, or their master's
friends. The biggest lion licked the feet of Eurylochus; and every other
lion, and every wolf and tiger, singled out one of his two-and-twenty
followers, whom the beast fondled as if he loved him better than a
beef-bone.
But, for all that, Eurylochus imagined that he saw something fierce and
savage in their eyes; nor would he have been surprised, at any moment,
to feel the big lion's terrible claws, 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 their
savage nature was as true as their teeth and claws.
Nevertheless, the men went safely across the lawn with the wild beasts
frisking about them, and doing no manner of harm; although, as they
mounted the steps of the palace, you might possibly have heard a low
growl, particularly from the wolves; as if they thought it a pity, after
all, to let the strangers pass 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 the palace. The first
thing that they saw was a spacious hall, and a fountain in the middle of
it, gushing up towards the ceiling out of a marble basin, and falling
back into it with a continual plash. The water of this fountain, as it
spouted upward, was constantly taking new shapes, not very distinctly,
but plainly enough for a nimble fancy to recognize what they were. Now
it was the shape of a man in a long robe, the fleecy whiteness of which
was made out of the fountain's spray; now it was a lion, or a tiger, or
a wolf, or an ass, or, as often as anything else, a hog, wallowing in
the marble basin as if it were his sty. It was either magic or some very
curious machinery that caused the gushing waterspout to assume all
these forms. But, before the strangers had time to look closely at this
wonderful sight, their attention was drawn off by a very sweet and
agreeable sound. A woman's voice was singing melodiously in another room
of the palace, and with her voice was mingled the noise of a loom, at
which she was probably seated, weaving a rich texture of cloth, and
intertwining the high and low sweetness of her voice into a rich tissue
of harmony.
By and by, the song came to an end; and then, all at once, there were
several feminine voices, talking airily and cheerfully, with now and
then a merry burst of laughter, such as you may always hear when three
or four young women sit at work 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, those birdlike damsels who
wanted to tempt us on the rocks, so that our vessel might be wrecked,
and our bones left whitening along the shore."
"But just listen to the pleasant voices of those maidens, and that buzz
of the loom, as the shuttle passes to and fro," said another comrade.
"What a domestic, household, homelike sound it is! Ah, before that weary
siege of Troy, I used to hear the buzzing loom and the women's voices
under my own roof. Shall I never hear them again? nor taste those nice
little savory dishes which my dearest wife knew how to serve up?"
"Tush! we shall fare better here," said another. "But how innocently
those women are babbling together, without guessing that we overhear
them! And mark that richest voice of all, so pleasant and familiar, but
which yet seems to have the authority of a mistress among them. Let us
show ourselves at once. What harm can the lady of the palace and her
maidens do to mariners and warriors like us?"
"Remember," said Eurylochus, "that it was a young maiden who beguiled
three of our friends into the palace of the king of the Laestrygons, who
ate up one of them in the twinkling of an eye."
No warning or persuasion, however, had any effect on his companions.
They went up to a pair of folding-doors at the farther end of the hall,
and, throwing them wide open, passed into the next room. Eurylochus,
meanwhile, had stepped behind a pillar. In the short moment while the
folding-doors opened and closed again, he caught a glimpse of a very
beautiful woman rising from the loom, and coming to meet the poor
weather-beaten wanderers, with a hospitable smile, and her hand
stretched out in welcome. There were four other young women, who joined
their hands and danced merrily forward, making gestures of obeisance to
the strangers. They were only less beautiful than the lady who seemed to
be their mistress. Yet Eurylochus fancied that one of them had sea-green
hair, and that the close-fitting bodice of a second looked like the bark
of a tree, and that both the others had something odd in their aspect,
although he could not quite determine what it was, in the little while
that he had to examine them.
The folding-doors swung quickly back, and left him standing behind the
pillar, in the solitude of the outer hall. There Eurylochus waited until
he was quite weary, and listened eagerly to every sound, but without
hearing anything that could help him to guess what had become of his
friends. Footsteps, it is true, seemed to be passing and repassing in
other parts of the palace. Then there was a clatter of silver dishes, or
golden ones, which made him imagine a rich feast in a splendid
banqueting-hall. But by and by he heard a tremendous grunting and
squealing, and then a sudden scampering, like that of small, hard hoofs
over a marble floor, while the voices of the mistress and her four
handmaidens were screaming all together, in tones of anger and derision.
Eurylochus could not conceive what had happened, unless a drove of swine
had broken into the palace, attracted by the smell of the feast.
Chancing to cast his eyes at the fountain, he saw that it did not shift
its shape, as formerly, nor looked either like a long-robed man, or a
lion, a tiger, a wolf, or an ass. It looked like nothing but a hog,
which lay wallowing in the marble basin, and filled it from brim to
brim.
But we must leave the prudent Eurylochus waiting in the outer hall, and
follow his friends into the inner secrecy of the palace. As soon as the
beautiful woman saw them, she arose from the loom, as I have told you,
and came forward, smiling, and stretching out her hand. She took the
hand of the foremost among them, and bade him and the whole party
welcome.
"You have been long expected, my good friends," said she. "I and my
maidens are well acquainted with you, although you do not appear to
recognize us. Look at this piece of tapestry, and judge if your faces
must not have been familiar to us."
So the voyagers examined the web of cloth which the beautiful woman had
been weaving in her loom; and, to their vast astonishment they saw their
own figures perfectly represented in different colored threads. It was a
lifelike picture of their recent adventures, showing them in the cave of
Polyphemus, and how they had put out his one great moony eye; while in
another part of the tapestry they were untying the leathern bags, puffed
out with contrary winds; and farther on, they beheld themselves
scampering away from the gigantic king of the Laestrygons, who had caught
one of them by the leg. Lastly, there they were, sitting on the desolate
shore of this very island, hungry and downcast, and looking ruefully at
the bare bones of the stag which they devoured yesterday. This was as
far as the work had yet proceeded; but when the beautiful woman should
again sit down at her loom, she would probably make a picture of what
had since happened to the strangers, and of what was now going to
happen.
"You see," she said, "that I know all about your troubles; and you
cannot doubt that I desire to make you happy for as long a time as you
may remain with me. For this purpose, my honored guests, I have ordered
a banquet to be prepared. Fish, fowl, and flesh, roasted, and in
luscious stews, and seasoned, I trust, to all your tastes, are ready to
be served up. If your appetites tell you it is dinner-time, then come
with me to the festal saloon."
At this kind invitation, the hungry mariners were quite overjoyed; and
one of them, taking upon himself to be spokesman, assured their
hospitable hostess that any hour of the day was dinner-time with them,
whenever they could get flesh to put in the pot, and fire to boil it
with. So the beautiful woman led the way; and the four maidens (one of
them had sea-green hair, another a bodice of oak bark, a third sprinkled
a shower of water-drops from her fingers' ends, and the fourth had some
other oddity, which I have forgotten), all these followed behind, and
hurried the guests along, until they entered a magnificent saloon. It
was built in a perfect oval, and lighted from a crystal dome above.
Around the walls were ranged two-and-twenty thrones, overhung by
canopies of crimson and gold, and provided with the softest of cushions,
which were tasselled and fringed with gold cord. Each of the strangers
was invited to sit down; and there they were, two-and-twenty
storm-beaten mariners, in worn and tattered garb, sitting on
two-and-twenty canopied thrones, so rich and gorgeous that the proudest
monarch had nothing more splendid in his stateliest hall.
Then you might have seen the guests nodding, winking with one eye, and
leaning from one throne to another, to communicate their satisfaction in
hoarse whispers.
"Our good hostess has made kings of us all," said one. "Ha! do you smell
the feast? I'll engage it will be fit to set before two-and-twenty
kings."
"I hope," said another, "it will be, mainly, good substantial joints,
sirloins, spareribs, and hinder quarters, without too many kickshaws.
If I thought the good lady would not take it amiss, I should call for a
fat slice of fried bacon to begin with."
Ah, the gluttons and gormandizers! You see how it was with them. In the
loftiest seats of dignity, on royal thrones, they could think of nothing
but their greedy appetite, which was the portion of their nature that
they shared with wolves and swine; so that they resembled those vilest
of animals far more than they did kings,--if, indeed, kings were what
they ought to be.
But the beautiful woman now clapped her hands; and immediately there
entered a train of two-and-twenty serving-men, bringing dishes of the
richest food, all hot from the kitchen fire, and sending up such a steam
that it hung like a cloud below the crystal dome of the saloon. An equal
number of attendants brought great flagons of wine, of various kinds,
some of which sparkled as it was poured out, and went bubbling down the
throat; while, of other sorts, the purple liquor was so clear that you
could see the wrought figures at the bottom of the goblet. While the
servants supplied the two-and-twenty guests with food and drink, the
hostess and her four maidens went from one throne to another, exhorting
them to eat their fill, and to quaff wine abundantly, and thus to
recompense themselves, at this one banquet, for the many days when they
had gone without a dinner. But, whenever the mariners were not looking
at them (which was pretty often, as they looked chiefly into the basins
and platters), the beautiful woman and her damsels turned aside and
laughed. Even the servants, as they knelt down to present the dishes,
might be seen to grin and sneer, while the guests were helping
themselves to the offered dainties.
And, once in a while, the strangers seemed to taste something that they
did not like.
"Here is an odd kind of a spice in this dish," said one. "I can't say it
quite suits my palate. Down it goes, however."
"Send a good draught of wine down your throat," said his comrade on the
next throne. "That is the stuff to make this sort of cookery relish
well. Though I must needs say, the wine has a queer taste too. But the
more I drink of it the better I like the flavor."
Whatever little fault they might find with the dishes, they sat at
dinner a prodigiously long while; and it would really have made you
ashamed to see how they swilled down the liquor and gobbled up the food.
They sat on golden thrones, to be sure; but they behaved like pigs in a
sty; and, if they had had their wits about them, they might have guessed
that this was the opinion of their beautiful hostess and her maidens. It
brings a blush into my face to reckon up, in my own mind, what mountains
of meat and pudding, and what gallons of wine, these two-and-twenty
guzzlers and gormandizers ate and drank. They forgot all about their
homes, and their wives and children, and all about Ulysses, and
everything else, except this banquet, at which they wanted to keep
feasting forever. But at length they began to 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 next neighbor,
heaving a sigh. "What a pity! My appetite is as sharp as ever."