“I spake, and readily my comrades swore As I required; and when that solemn oath Was taken, to the land we brought and moored Our galley in a winding creek, beside A fountain of sweet water. From the deck Stepped my companions and made ready there Their evening cheer. They ate and drank till thirst And hunger were appeased, and then they thought Of those whom Scylla from our galley’s deck Snatched and devoured; they thought and wept till sleep Stole softly over them amid their tears. Now came the third part of the night; the stars Were sinking when the Cloud-compeller Jove Sent forth a violent wind with eddying gusts, And covered both the earth and sky with clouds, And darkness fell from heaven. When Morning came, The rosy-fingered daughter of the Dawn, We drew the ship into a spacious grot. There were the seats of nymphs, and there we saw The smooth fair places where they danced. I called A council of my men, and said to them:—
“ ‘My friends, in our good ship are food and drink; Abstain we from these beeves, lest we be made To suffer; for these herds and these fair flocks Are sacred to a dreaded god, the Sun— The all-beholding and all-hearing Sun.’
“I spake, and all were swayed by what I said Full easily. A month entire the gales Blew from the south, and after that no wind Save east and south. While yet we had our bread And ruddy wine, my comrades spared the beeves, Moved by the love of life. But when the stores On board our galley were consumed, they roamed The island in their need, and sought for prey, And snared with barbed hooks the fish and birds— Whatever came to hand—till they were gaunt With famine. Meantime I withdrew alone Into the isle, to supplicate the gods, If haply one of them might yet reveal The way of my return. As thus I strayed Into the land, apart from all the rest, I found a sheltered nook where no wind came, And prayed with washen hands to all the gods Who dwell in heaven. At length they bathed my lids In a soft sleep. Meantime, Eurylochus With fatal counsels thus harangued my men:—