Book XIV

crew ready to attend him home. But me he first dismissed. There was a ship Of the Thesprotians just about to make A voyage to Dulichium, rich in fields Of wheat. He bade them take me faithfully To King Acastus; but another thought Found favor with the crew, a wicked scheme To plunge me deeper in calamity. And when our ship had sailed away from land, They hastened to prepare me for a life Of slavery. They took my garments off, Mantle and cloak, and clothed me in a vest And cloak, the very rags which thou dost see. The evening brought them to the pleasant fields Of Ithaca. They bound me in the ship With a strong cord, and disembarked, and took A hasty meal upon the ocean-side; Easily did the gods unbind my limbs. I wrapped a tattered cloth about my head, And, slipping from the polished rudder, brought My bosom to the sea, and spread my hands, And swam away. I soon had left the crew At distance; then I turned and climbed the shore, Where it was dark with forest, and lay close Within its shelter, while they wandered round And grumbled, but they ventured not to pass Into the island farther on their search. They turned, and went on board their roomy barque. Thus mightily the gods delivered me, And they have brought me to a wise man’s lodge, And now I see it is my lot to live.”