when they suffer wrong.’
“I spake, and savagely he answered me:— ‘Thou art a fool, O stranger, or art come From some far country—thou who biddest me Fear or regard the gods. We little care— We Cyclops—for the Aegis-bearer, Jove, Or any other of the blessed gods; We are their betters. Think not I would spare Thee or thy comrades to avoid the wrath Of Jupiter, unless it were my choice; But say—for I would know—where hast thou left Thy gallant barque in landing? was it near, Or in some distant corner of the isle?’
“He spake to tempt me, but I well perceived His craft, and answered with dissembling words:—
“ ‘Neptune, who shakes the shores, hath wrecked my barque
On rocks that edge thine island, hurling it
Against the headland. From the open sea
The tempest swept it hitherward, and I,
With these, escaped the bitter doom of death.’