e people of the
land, were a kindly folk, and gave of the fruit to some of the sailors,
not meaning them any harm, but thinking it to be the best that they had to
give. These, when they had eaten, said that they would not sail any more
over the sea; which, when I heard, I bade their comrades bind them and
carry them, sadly complaining, to the ships.

Then, the wind having abated, we took to our oars, and rowed for many days
till we came to the country where the Cyclops dwell. Now, a mile or so
from the shore there was an island, very fair and fertile, but no man
dwells there or tills the soil, and in the island a harbor where a ship
may be safe from all winds, and at the head of the harbor a stream falling
from a rock, and whispering alders all about it. Into this the ships
passed safely, and were hauled up on the beach, and the crews slept by
them, waiting for the morning.

When the dawn appeared, then we wandered through the island; and the
nymphs of the land started the wild goats that my company might have food
to eat. Thereupon we took our bows and our spears from the ships, and shot
at the goats; and the Gods gave us plenty of prey. Twelve ships I had in
my company, and each ship had nine goats for its share, and my own portion
was ten.

Then all the day we sat and feasted, drinking the sweet wine which we had
taken from the city of the Cicones, and eating the flesh of the goats; and
as we sat we looked across to the land of the Cyclops, seeing the smoke
and hearing the voices of the men and of the sheep and of the goats. And
when the sun set and darkness came over the land, we lay down upon the
seashore and slept.

The next day I gathered my men together, and said, "Abide ye here, dear
friends; I with my own ship and my own company will go and make trial of
the folk that dwell in yonder island, whether they are just or unjust."

So I climbed into my ship, and bade my company follow me; so we came to
the land of the Cyclops. Close to the shore was a cave, with laurels round
about the mouth. This was the dwelling of the Cyclops. Alone he dwelt, a
creature without law. Nor was he like to mortal men, but rather to some
wooded peak of the hills that stands out apart from all the rest.

Then I bade the rest of my comrades abide by the ship, and keep it, but I
took twelve men, the bravest that there were in the crew, and went forth.
I had with me a goat-skin full of the wine, dark red, and sweet, which the
priest