ater and a tall, leafy tree. But
we only held him the more firmly, and at last he grew weary and spake
to me in his own shape: 'What wouldst thou have, son of Atreus, and
who has taught thee to outwit me and take me captive by craft?'

"'Thou knowest my need,' I answered; 'why dost thou waste thy words?
Tell me rather how I may find release from my present strait'

"'Hear, then,' said he: 'thou hast forgotten thy duty to Zeus and the
other gods. Not a victim bled, not a prayer was offered, when thou
didst embark on this voyage. Go back to Egypt, to the holy waters of
Nile, and there pay thy vows, and offer a great sacrifice to their
offended deity; thus, and thus only, canst thou win thy return to
thine own country and thy stately home.'

"When I heard this my heart was broken within me, to think of that
long and perilous path across the misty deep. Nevertheless I consented
to take that journey, for I saw no other way of escape. And after I
had promised to obey him, I began to inquire further of the fate of
Nestor and the rest, whom I left behind me on my way home.

"''Tis a grievous story that thou requirest of me,' said Proteus, 'and
thou shalt have little joy in the hearing. Many have been taken and
many left. Two only perished in returning, and one is still living, a
prisoner of the sea. Ajax has paid his debt to Athene, whose shrine he
polluted; and this was the manner of his death: when his vessel was
shattered by that great tempest, he himself escaped to a rock, for
Poseidon came to his aid. But even the peril which he had just escaped
could not subdue his haughtiness and his pride, and he uttered an
impious vaunt, boasting that in despite of heaven he had escaped a
watery grave. Then Poseidon was wroth, and smote the rock with his
trident, and that half of the rock on which Ajax was sitting fell into
the sea, bearing him with it. So he died, when he had drunk the brine.

"'Now harden thy heart, and learn how thy brother Agamemnon fell.
After a long and stormy voyage he at length brought his shattered
vessels safe into harbour, and set foot on his native soil at Argos.
With tears of joy and thankfulness he fell on his knees and kissed the
sod, trusting that now his sorrows were passed. Now there was a
watchman whom AEgisthus had posted on a high place commanding the sea
to look out for Agamemnon's return. A whole year he watched, for he
had been promised a great reward. And when he saw the king's face he
wen