hide not thou, stranger, from us aught that I shall ask thee. Tell
us by what name they call thee at home, for no man lacketh a name.
Tell us also of thy land and thy city, that our ships may shape
their course to take thee thither. For these are not as the ships
of other men, that have steersmen and rudders. They have an
understanding of their own, and know all the cities of men, and
they pass over the deep, covered with cloud, and have no fear of
wreck. But my father was wont to say that Poseidon bore a grudge
against us because we carry all men safely to their homes; and
that one day he would smite a ship of ours as it came home from
such an errand, changing it to a rock that should overshadow our
city. But thou, stranger, tell us of thyself,--whither thou hast
wandered, and what cities thou hast seen, be they cities of the
unrighteous, or cities of them that are hospitable to strangers
and fear the gods. Tell us, too, why thou didst weep at hearing of
the tale of Troy. Hadst thou, perchance, a kinsman, or a friend--
for a wise friend is ever as a brother--among those that perished
at Troy?"




CHAPTER X

THE CYCLOPS

(THE TALE OF ULYSSES)


Then Ulysses answered the King, saying: "What shall I tell thee