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 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 frost work 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 tige