which the princess Nausicaa took great delight (as ladies are commonly
taken with these kind of travellers' stories) to hear of the monster
Polyphemus, of the men that devour each other in Laestrygonia, of the
enchantress Circe, of Scylla, and the rest; to which she listened with a
breathless attention, letting fall a shower of tears from her fair eyes
every now and then, when Ulysses told of some more than usual distressful
passage in his travels; and all the rest of his auditors, if they had
before entertained a high respect for their guest, now felt their
veneration increased tenfold, when they learned from his own mouth what
perils, what sufferance, what endurance, of evils beyond man's strength to
support, this much-sustaining, almost heavenly man, by the greatness of
his mind, and by his invincible courage, had struggled through.

[Illustration: _He gave them a brief relation of all the adventures that
had befallen him_.]

The night was far spent before Ulysses had ended his narrative, and with
wishful glances he cast his eyes towards the eastern parts, which the sun
had begun to flecker with his first red; for on the morrow Alcinous had
promised that a bark should be in readiness to convoy him to Ithaca.

In the morning a vessel well manned and appointed was waiting for him;
into which the king and queen heaped presents of gold and silver, massy
plate, apparel, armour, and whatsoever things of cost or rarity they
judged would be most acceptable to their guest; and the sails being set,
Ulysses, embarking with expressions of regret, took his leave of his royal
entertainers, of the fair princess (who had been his first friend), and of
the peers of Phaeacia; who crowding down to the beach to have the last
sight of their illustrious visitant, beheld the gallant ship with all her
canvas spread, bounding and curveting over the waves, like a horse proud