brought ambrosia and set it beneath our nostrils, and that heavenly
perfume overpowered the noisome stench.

"So all the morning we lay and wafted patiently, and at noon the seals
came up out of the sea and lay down in order on the sand. Last of all
came Proteus, and counted his herd, reckoning us among their number,
with no suspicion of guile. We waited until he was fast asleep, and
then we rushed from our ambush and seized him hand and foot. Long and
hard was the struggle, and many the shapes which he took. First he
became a bearded lion, then a snake, then a leopard, then a huge boar;
after these he turned into running water 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.