with such a stupid and helpless aspect as made them ridiculous to
behold. When their hostess saw this, she laughed aloud; so did her four
damsels; so did the two-and-twenty serving men that bore the dishes, and
their two-and-twenty fellows that poured out the wine. And the louder
they all laughed, the more stupid and helpless did the two-and-twenty
gormandizers look. Then the beautiful woman took her stand in the middle
of the saloon, and stretching out a slender rod (it had been all the
while in her hand, although they never noticed it till this moment), she
turned it from one guest to another, until each had felt it pointed at
himself. Beautiful as her face was, and though there was a smile on it,
it looked just as wicked and mischievous as the ugliest serpent that
ever was seen; and fat-witted as the voyagers had made themselves, they
began to suspect that they had fallen into the power of an evil-minded
enchantress.
"Wretches," cried she, "you have abused a lady's hospitality; and in
this princely saloon your behavior has been suited to a hogpen. You are
already swine in everything but the human form, which you disgrace, and
which I myself should be ashamed to keep a moment longer, were you to
share it with me. But it will require only the slightest exercise of
magic to make the exterior conform to the hoggish disposition. Assume
your proper shapes, gormandizers, and begone to the sty!"
Uttering these last words, she waved her wand; and stamping her foot
imperiously, each of the guests was struck aghast at beholding, instead
of his comrades in human shape, one-and-twenty hogs sitting on the same
number of golden thrones. Each man (as he still supposed himself to be)
essayed to give a cry of surprise, but found that he could merely grunt,
and that, in a word, he was just such another beast as his companions.
It looked so intolerably absurd to see hogs on cushioned thrones, that
they made haste to wallow down upon all fours, like other swine. They
tried to groan and beg for mercy, but forthwith emitted the most awful
grunting and squealing that ever came out of swinish throats. They would
have wrung their hands in despair, but, attempting to do so, grew all
the more desperate for seeing themselves squatted on their hams, and
pawing the air with their fore trotters. Dear me! what pendulous ears
they had! what little red eyes, half buried in fat! and what long
snouts, instead of Grecian noses!
But brutes as they certainly were, they yet had enough of human nature
in them to be shocked at their own hideousness; and, still intending to
groan, they uttered a viler grunt and squeal than before. So harsh and
ear-piercing it was, that you would have fancied a butcher was sticking
his knife into each of their throats, or, at the very least, that
somebody was pulling every hog by his funny little twist of a tail.
"Begone to your sty!" cried the enchantress, giving them some smart
strokes with her wand; and then she turned to the serving-men, "Drive
out these swine, and throw down some acorns for them to eat."
The door of the saloon being flung open, the drove of hogs ran in all
directions save the right one, in accordance with their hoggish
perversity, but were finally driven into the back yard of 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 a cabbage leaf and there a turnip-top, and
rooting their noses in the earth for whatever they could find. In their
sty, moreover, they behaved more piggishly than the pigs that had been
born so; for they bit and snorted at one another, put their feet in the
trough, and gobbled up their victuals in a ridiculous hurry; and, when
there was nothing more to be had, they made a great pile of themselves
among some unclean straw, and fell fast asleep. If they had any human
reason left, it was just enough 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, and waited, and
waited, in the entrance-hall of the palace, without being able to
comprehend what had befallen his friends. At last, when the swinish
uproar resounded through the palace, and when he saw the image of a hog
in the marble basin, he thought it best to hasten back to the vessel,
and inform the wise Ulysses of these marvellous occurrences. So he ran
as fast as he could down the steps, and never stopped to draw breath
till he reached the shore.
"Why do you come alone?" asked King Ulysses, as soon as he saw him.
"Where are your two-and-twenty comrades?"
At these questions, Eurylochus burst into tears.
"Alas!" cried he, "I greatly fear that we shall never see one of their
faces again."
Then he told Ulysses all that had happened, as far as he knew it, and
added that he suspected the beautiful woman to be a vile enchantress,
and the marble palace, magnificent as it looked, to be only a dismal
cavern in reality. As for his companions, 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 hanging his bow
and quiver over his shoulders, and taking his spear in his right hand.
When his followers saw their wise leader making these preparations, they
inquired whither he was going, and earnestly besought him not to leave
them.
"You are our king," cried they; "and what is more, you are the wisest
man in the whole world, and nothing but your wisdom and courage can get
us out of this danger. If you desert us, and go to the enchanted palace,
you will suffer the same fate as our poor companions, and not a soul of
us will ever see our dear Ithaca again."
"As I am your king," answered Ulysses, "and wiser than any of you, it is
therefore the more my duty to see what has befallen our comrades, and
whether anything can yet be done to rescue them. Wait for me here until
to-morrow. If I do not then return, you must hoist sail, and endeavor to
find your way to our native land. For my part, I am answerable for the
fate of these poor mariners, who have stood by my side in battle, and
been so often drenched to the skin, along with me, by the same
tempestuous surges. I will either bring them back with me or perish."
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 so determined, they let him go, and sat
down on the sand, as disconsolate a set of people as could be, waiting
and praying for his return.
It happened to Ulysses, just as before, that, when he had gone a few
steps from the edge of the cliff, the purple bird came fluttering
towards him, crying, "Peep, peep, pe--weep!" and using all the art it
could to persuade him to go no farther.
"What mean you, little bird?" cried Ulysses. "You are arrayed like a
king in purple and gold, and wear a golden crown upon your head. Is it
because I too am a king, that you desire so earnestly 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--ep!"
Certainly there lay some heavy anguish at the little bird's heart; and
it was a sorrowful predicament that he could not, at least, have the
consolation of telling what it was. But Ulysses had no time to waste in
trying to get at the mystery. He therefore quickened his pace, and had
gone a good way along the pleasant wood-path, when there met him a young
man of very brisk and intelligent aspect, and clad in a rather singular
garb. He wore a short cloak, and a sort of cap that seemed to be
furnished with a pair of wings; and from the lightness of his step, you
would have supposed that there might likewise be wings on his feet. To
enable him to walk still better (for he was always on one journey or
another), he carried a winged staff, around which two serpents were
wriggling and twisting. In short, I have said enough to make you guess
that it was Quicksilver; and Ulysses (who knew him of old, and had
learned a great deal of his wisdom from him) recognized him in a moment.
"Whither are you going in such a hurry, wise Ulysses?" asked
Quicksilver. "Do you not know that this island is enchanted? The wicked
enchantress (whose name is Circe, the sister of King AEetes) dwells in
the marble palace which you see yonder among the trees. By her magic
arts, she changes every human being into the 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 of his purple
robe, and his crown, and the golden chain about his neck; so he was
forced to take the shape of a gaudy-feathered bird. The lions, and
wolves, and tigers, who will come running to meet you, in front of the
palace, were formerly fierce and cruel men, resembling in their
dispositions the wild beasts whose forms they now rightfully wear."
"And my poor companions," said Ulysses. "Have they undergone a similar
change, through the arts of this wicked Circe?"
"You well know what gormandizers they were," replied Quicksilver; and,
rogue that he was, he could not help laughing at the joke. "So you will
not be surprised to hear that they have all taken the shapes of swine!
If Circe had never done anything worse, I really should not think her so
very much to blame."
"But can I do nothing to help them?" inquired Ulysses.
"It will require all your wisdom," said Quicksilver, "and a little of my
own into the bargain, to keep your royal and sagacious self from being
transformed into a fox. But do as I bid you; and the matter may end
better than it has begun."
While he was speaking, Quicksilver seemed to be in search of something;
he went stooping along the ground, and soon laid his hand on a little
plant with a snow-white flower, which he plucked and smelt of. Ulysses
had been looking at that very spot only just before; and it appeared to
him that the plant had burst into full flower the instant when
Quicksilver touched it with his fingers.
"Take this flower, King Ulysses," said he. "Guard it as you do your
eyesight; for I can assure you it is exceedingly rare and precious, and
you might seek the whole earth over without ever finding another like
it. Keep it in your hand, and smell of it frequently after you enter the
palace, and while you are talking with the enchantress. Especially when
she offers you food, or a draught of wine out of her goblet, be careful
to fill your nostrils with the flower's fragrance. Follow these
directions, and you may defy her magic arts to change you into a 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 coming safely out of her
enchanted palace. After listening attentively, Ulysses thanked his good
friend, and resumed his way. But he had taken only a few steps, when,
recollecting some other questions which he wished to ask, he turned
round again, and beheld nobody on the spot where Quicksilver had stood;
for that winged cap of his, and those winged shoes, with the help of the
winged staff, had carried him quickly out of sight.
When Ulysses reached the lawn, in front of the palace, the lions and
other savage animals came bounding to meet him, and would have fawned
upon him and licked his feet. But the wise king struck at them with his
long spear, and sternly bade them begone out of his path; for he knew
that they had once been bloodthirsty men, and would now tear him limb
from limb, instead of fawning upon him, could they do the mischief that
was 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 the centre of
it. The up-gushing water had now again taken the shape of a man in a
long, white, fleecy robe, who appeared to be making gestures of welcome.
The king likewise heard the noise of the shuttle in the loom, and the
sweet melody of the beautiful woman's song, and then the pleasant
voices of herself and the four maidens talking together, with peals of
merry laughter intermixed. But Ulysses did not waste much time in
listening to the laughter or the song. He leaned his spear against one
of the pillars of the hall, and then, after loosening his sword in the
scabbard, stepped boldly forward, and threw the folding-doors wide open.
The moment she beheld his stately figure standing in the doorway, the
beautiful woman rose from the loom, and ran to meet him with a glad
smile throwing its sunshine over her face, and both her hands extended.
"Welcome, brave stranger!" cried she. "We were expecting you."
And the nymph with the sea-green hair made a courtesy down to the
ground, and likewise bade him welcome; so did her sister with the bodice
of oaken bark, and she that sprinkled dew-drops from her fingers' ends,
and the fourth one with some oddity which I cannot remember. And Circe,
as the beautiful enchantress was called (who had deluded so many persons
that she did not doubt of being able to delude Ulysses, not imagining
how wise he was), again addressed him.
"Your companions," said she, "have already been received into my palace,
and have enjoyed the hospitable treatment to which the propriety of
their behavior so well entitles them. If such be your pleasure, you
shall first take some refreshment, and then join them in the elegant
apartment which they now occupy. See, I and my maidens have been weaving
their figures into this piece of tapestry."
She pointed to the web of beautifully woven cloth in the loom. Circe and
the four nymphs must have been very diligently at work since the arrival
of the mariners: for a great many yards of tapestry had now been
wrought, in addition to what I before described. In this new part,
Ulysses saw his two-and-twenty friends represented as sitting on
cushioned and canopied thrones, greedily devouring dainties and
quaffing deep draughts of wine. The work had not yet gone any further.
Oh no, indeed. The enchantress was far too cunning to let Ulysses see
the mischief which her magic arts had since brought upon the
gormandizers.
"As for yourself, valiant sir," said Circe, "judging by the dignity of
your aspect, I take you to be nothing less than a king. Deign to follow
me, and you shall be treated as befits your rank."
So Ulysses followed her into the oval saloon, where his two-and-twenty
comrades had devoured the banquet, which ended so disastrously for
themselves. But, all this while, he had held the snow-white flower in
his hand, and had constantly smelt of it while Circe was speaking; and
as he crossed the threshold of the saloon, he took good care to inhale
several long and deep snuffs of its fragrance. Instead of two-and-twenty
thrones, which had before been ranged around the wall, there was now
only a single throne, in the centre of the apartment. But this was
surely the most magnificent seat that ever a king or an emperor reposed
himself upon, all made of chased gold, studded with precious stones,
with a cushion that looked like a soft heap of living roses, and
overhung by a canopy of sunlight which Circe knew how to weave into
drapery. The enchantress took Ulysses by the hand, and made him sit down
upon this dazzling throne. Then, clapping her hands, she summoned the
chief butler.
"Bring hither," said she, "the goblet that is set apart for kings to
drink out of. And fill it with the same delicious wine which my royal
brother, King AEetes, praised so highly, when he last visited me with my
fair daughter Medea. That good and amiable child! Were she now here, it
would delight her to see me offering this wine to my honored guest."
But Ulysses, while the butler was gone for the wine, held the snow-white
flower to his nose.
"Is it a wholesome wine?" he asked.
At this the four maidens tittered; whereupon the enchantress looked
round at them, with an aspect of severity.
"It is the wholesomest juice that ever was squeezed out of the grape,"
said she; "for, instead of disguising a man, as other liquor is apt to
do, it brings him to his true self, and shows him as he ought to be."
The chief butler liked nothing better than to see people turned into
swine, or making any kind of a beast of themselves; so he made haste to
bring the royal goblet, filled with a liquid as bright as gold, and
which kept sparkling upward, and throwing a sunny spray over the brim.
But, delightfully as the wine looked, it was mingled with the most
potent enchantments that Circe knew how to concoct. For every drop of
the pure grape-juice there were two drops of the pure mischief; and the
danger of the thing was, that the mischief made it taste all the better.
The mere smell of the bubbles, which effervesced at the brim, was enough
to turn a man's beard into pig's bristles, or make a lion's claws grow
out of his fingers, or a fox's brush behind him.
"Drink, my noble guest," said Circe, smiling as she presented him with
the goblet. "You will find in this draught a solace for all your
troubles."
King Ulysses took the goblet with his right hand, while with his left he
held the snow-white flower to his nostrils, and drew in so long a breath
that his lungs were quite filled with its 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 the form of the
brute whom you most resemble. If a hog, go join your fellow-swine in the
sty; if a lion, a wolf, a tiger, go howl with the wild beasts on the
lawn; if a fox, go exercise your 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 of wallowing
down from his throne in swinish shape, or taking any other brutal form,
Ulysses looked even more manly and king-like than before. He gave the
magic goblet a toss, and sent it clashing over the marble floor, to the
farthest end of the saloon. Then, drawing his sword, he seized the
enchantress by her beautiful ringlets, and made a gesture as if he meant
to strike off her head at one blow.
"Wicked Circe," cried he, in a terrible voice, "this sword shall put an
end to thy enchantments. Thou shalt die, vile wretch, and do no more
mischief in the world, by tempting human beings into the vices which
make beasts of them."
The tone and countenance of Ulysses were so awful, and his sword gleamed
so brightly, and seemed to have so intolerably keen an edge, that Circe
was almost killed by the mere fright, without waiting for a blow. The
chief butler scrambled out of the saloon, picking up the golden goblet
as he went; and the enchantress and the four maidens fell on their
knees, wringing their hands, and screaming for mercy.
"Spare me!" cried Circe,--"spare me, royal and wise Ulysses. For now I
know that thou art he of whom Quicksilver forewarned me, the most
prudent of mortals, against whom no enchantments can prevail. Thou only
couldst have conquered Circe. Spare me, wisest of men. I will show thee
true hospitality, and even give myself to be thy slave, and this
magnificent palace to be henceforth thy home."
The four nymphs, meanwhile, were making a most piteous ado; and
especially the ocean-nymph, with the sea-green hair, wept a great deal
of salt water, and the fountain-nymph, besides scattering dew-drops from
her fingers' ends, nearly melted away into tears. But Ulysses would not
be pacified until Circe had taken a solemn oath to change back his
companions, and as many others as he should direct, from their present
forms of beast or 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 would readily have
consented to do as much good as she had hitherto done mischief, however
little she might like such employment. She therefore led Ulysses out of
the back entrance of the palace, and showed him the swine in their sty.
There were about fifty of these unclean beasts in the whole herd; and
though the greater part were hogs by birth and education, there was
wonderfully little difference to be seen betwixt them and their new
brethren who had so recently worn the human shape. To speak critically,
indeed, the latter rather carried the thing to excess, and seemed to
make it a point to wallow in the miriest part of the sty, and otherwise
to outdo the original swine in their own natural vocation. When men once
turn to brutes, the trifle of man's wit that remains in them adds
tenfold to their brutality.
The comrades of Ulysses, however, had not quite lost the remembrance of
having formerly stood erect. When he approached the sty, two-and-twenty
enormous swine separated themselves from the herd, and scampered towards
him, with such a chorus of horrible squealing as made him clap both
hands to his ears. And yet they did not seem to know what they wanted,
nor whether they were merely hungry, or miserable from some other cause.
It was curious, in the midst of their distress, to observe them
thrusting their noses into the mire, in quest of something to eat. The
nymph with the bodice of oaken bark (she was the hamadryad of an oak)
threw a handful of acorns among them; and the two-and-twenty hogs
scrambled and fought for the prize, as if they had tasted not so much as
a noggin of sour milk for a twelvemonth.
"These must certainly be my comrades," said Ulysses. "I recognize their
dispositions. They are hardly worth the trouble of changing them into
the human form again. Nevertheless, we will have it done, lest their bad
example should corrupt the other hogs. Let them take their original
shapes, therefore, Dame Circe, if your skill is equal to the task. It
will require greater 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 their pendulous ears.
It was a wonder to behold how their snouts grew shorter and shorter, and
their mouths (which they seemed to be sorry for, because they could not
gobble so expeditiously) smaller and smaller, and how one and another
began to stand upon his hind legs, and scratch his nose with his fore
trotters. At first the spectators hardly knew whether to call them hogs
or men, but by and by came to the conclusion that they rather resembled
the latter. Finally, there stood the twenty-two comrades of Ulysses,
looking pretty much the same as when they left the vessel.
You must not imagine, however, that the swinish quality had entirely
gone out of them. When once it fastens itself into a person's character,
it is very difficult getting rid of it. This was proved by the
hamadryad, who, being exceedingly fond of mischief, threw another
handful of acorns before the twenty-two newly restored people; whereupon
down they wallowed, in a moment, and gobbled them up in a very shameful
way. Then, recollecting themselves, they scrambled to their feet, and
looked more than commonly foolish.
"Thanks, noble Ulysses!" they cried. "From brute beasts you have
restored us to the condition of men again."
"Do not put yourselves to the trouble of thanking me," said the wise
king. "I fear I have done but little for you."
To say the truth, there was a suspicious kind of a grunt in their
voices, and for a long time afterwards they spoke gruffly, 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 a
neighboring tree.
"Peep, peep, pe--wee--ep!"