“When we had left the isle, and now appeared No other land, but only sea and sky, The son of Saturn caused a lurid cloud To gather o’er the galley, and to cast Its darkness on the deep.
Not long our ship Ran onward, ere the furious west-wind rose And blew a hurricane. A strong blast snapped Both ropes that held the mast; the mast fell back; The tackle dropped entangled to the hold; The mast, in falling on the galley’s stern, Dashed on the pilot’s head and crushed the bones, And from the deck he plunged like one who dives Into the deep; his gallant spirit left The limbs at once.
Jove thundered from on high, And sent a thunderbolt into the ship, That, quaking with the fearful blow, and filled With stifling sulphur, shook my comrades off Into the deep. They floated round the ship Like seamews; Jupiter had cut them off From their return.
I moved from place to place, Still in the ship, until the tempest’s force Parted the sides and keel. Before the waves The naked keel was swept. The mast had snapped Just at the base, but round it was a thong Made of a bullock’s hide; with this I bound The mast and keel together, took my seat Upon them, and the wild winds bore me on.
El céfiro dejó de enfurecerse; pero en su lugar sopló el noto, y me trajo amarga pena. Temí tener que desandar mi camino hacia la cruenta Caribdis. Toda la noche surqué las olas, y con el sol naciente me aproximé a la roca de Escila y a la terrible Caribdis, cuando su sima tragaba las olas del mar salado.
Allí, al llegar, me elevé en alto hasta poder asir la alta higuera, y me aferré a ella como se aferra un murciélago; pues ni podía hallar un lugar donde plantar los pies ni trepar, tan distantes estaban las raíces, tan separadas las largas y enormes ramas que ensombrecían Caribdis.
Mas me mantuve firmemente sujeto hasta que ella devolviera la quilla y el mástil, arrojándolos de nuevo desde el abismo.