Book 9

Then many-counselled Odysseus answered him and said:"Alcinous, lord, most shining glory of all your people,truly it is a lovely thing to listen to a singersuch as this man is, whose voice is like the gods'.For I declare no more gracious end can ever bethan when gladness holds the whole assembled people,and the feasters through the halls give ear unto the singer,seated in order, while the tables stand all ladenwith bread and meats, and drawing wine out of the mixing bowlthe cupbearer carries it round and pours into the cups.This seems to me the fairest thing within my heart.But your heart has been moved to ask about my sorrows,my lamentable griefs, that I may grieve yet more and groan.What then shall I tell you first, and what shall I tell you last?For the gods, the dwellers in heaven, have given me many sorrows.But now I will first tell my name, so that you alsomay know it, and I hereafter, escaping the pitiless day,may be your guest-friend, though I dwell in homes far off.I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, who among all menam known for every kind of cunning, and my fame reaches heaven.I dwell in Ithaca, a land of clear light; and in it is a mountain,Neriton, quivering with leaves, most conspicuous; and around itmany islands lie, exceedingly close to one another,Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacynthus.But Ithaca itself lies low, farthest out in the sea,toward the darkness, while the others lie apart toward the dawn and the sun,a rugged land, yet a good nurse of men; nor can Isee any other land more sweet than my own land.Truly Calypso, shining among goddesses, held me therein her hollow caves, longing that I should be her husband;and in like manner Circe the guileful detained me in her halls,in Aeaea, longing that I should be her husband;but they never persuaded the heart within my breast.So nothing is sweeter than a man's own country and his parents,not even if one dwells far off in a rich housein an alien land, far away from his parents.But come, I will tell you too of my sorrowful homecoming,which Zeus laid upon me as I set out from Troy.From Troy the wind bore me and brought me to the Cicones,to Ismarus. There I sacked the city and destroyed the men;and taking the wives and many possessions from the citywe divided them, so that no man should go short of his equal share.There I urged my men to flee with nimble feet,but they, great fools, would not obey me.There much wine was drunk, and many sheepthey slaughtered on the shore, and oxen of rolling gait and crumpled horns.Meanwhile the Cicones who had gone off called to the other Cicones,who were their neighbours, more numerous and more valiant,dwelling on the mainland, skilled to fight against menfrom horses, and on foot where it was needful so to fight.Then they came, as many as the leaves and flowers in springtime,at dawn; and then the evil fate of Zeus stood by us,for us ill-fated men, that we might suffer many griefs.Forming their ranks they fought a battle beside the swift ships,and they hurled at one another their bronze-tipped spears.So long as morning was, and the sacred day grew,so long we stood defending and held against their greater numbers.But when the sun turned toward the time of unyoking oxen,then the Cicones broke and routed the Achaeans.And from each ship six well-greaved comradesperished; and we others fled death and doom.Thence we sailed onward, grieving at heart,glad to have escaped death, but having lost our dear companions.Nor did my curved ships move onwardbefore we had cried out three times to each of the wretched menwho died, slain on the plain beneath the Cicones.But upon our ships Zeus the cloud-gatherer roused the North Windwith a wondrous squall, and with clouds he coveredearth together with sea; and night rushed down from heaven.Then the ships were borne headlong, and the sailsthe force of the wind tore into three and into four pieces.And these we lowered into the ships, fearing destruction,and rowed the ships onward swiftly toward the mainland.There for two nights and two days together, always,we lay, eating our hearts out with toil and with grief.But when the third day was brought to its end by fair-haired Dawn,we set up the masts and hoisted the white sailsand sat us down, and the wind and the helmsmen steered the ships.And now I would have come unharmed to my native land,but the wave and the current, as I rounded Malea,and the North Wind drove me back, and I was carried past Cythera.Thence for nine days I was borne by destructive windsover the fish-filled sea; but on the tenth we set footon the land of the Lotus-eaters, who eat a flowery food.There we went ashore and drew water,and quickly my comrades took their meal beside the swift ships.But when we had eaten our food and our drink,then I sent my comrades to go and learnwhat men they were who ate bread upon that land,choosing two men, and sending a herald as a third with them.They went quickly and mingled with the Lotus-eating men;nor did the Lotus-eaters devise destruction for my comrades,but they gave them the lotus to taste.And whoever of them ate the honey-sweet fruit of the lotus,no longer wished to report back or to return home,but they wished to stay there among the Lotus-eating men,feeding on the lotus, and to forget their homecoming.These I brought to the ships, weeping, by force,and I dragged them into the hollow ships and bound them beneath the benches.And the rest of my trusty comrades I orderedto hurry and board the swift ships,lest anyone eat the lotus and forget his homecoming.They quickly boarded and sat at the rowing benches,and sitting in order they struck the grey sea with their oars.Thence we sailed onward, grieving at heart,and we came to the land of the Cyclopes, the overbearing, lawless folk,who, trusting in the immortal gods,neither plant any plant with their hands nor plough the earth,but all these things grow unsown and unploughed,wheat and barley and vines, which bearwine of noble clusters, and the rain of Zeus makes them grow.They have no councils for counsel nor ordinances,but they dwell on the peaks of high mountainsin hollow caves, and each one gives lawsto his children and his wife, and they care nothing for one another.Then there is a low island lying just off the harbour,neither near the land of the Cyclopes nor far from it,wooded; and in it countless wild goats have been born;for no path of men keeps them away,nor do hunters enter it, who through the woodlandsuffer hardships, following the peaks of the mountains.Nor is it held by flocks nor ploughed by men,but all its days it stands unsown and unploughed,empty of men, and it feeds bleating goats.For the Cyclopes have no ships with red-painted cheeks,and there are no shipwrights among them, who might buildwell-benched ships, which could accomplish everythingby reaching the towns of men, all the many placeswhere men cross the sea in ships to one another's lands,men who might also have built them a well-settled island.For it is not at all a bad land, but would bear all things in season;for in it are meadows along the shores of the grey sea,well-watered and soft; unfailing vines would grow there.And in it is smooth ploughland; they would reap a deep harvestalways in season, for the soil beneath is very rich.And in it is a good harbour, where there is no need of a cable,nor to cast anchor stones nor to tie stern-ropes,but to beach the ship and wait for the time until the sailors'hearts urge them and the breezes blow.And at the head of the harbour bright water flows,a spring beneath a cave; and around it black poplars grow.There we sailed in, and some god guided usthrough the dark night, and we could not see by the light;for a deep mist lay about the ships, nor did the moonshine forth from heaven, and it was covered with clouds.So no one saw that island with his eyes,nor did we see the long waves rolling toward the shore,before we had beached the well-benched ships.And when the ships were beached, we lowered all the sails,and we ourselves too went out upon the wave-beat shore;there we fell asleep and waited for shining Dawn.But when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,wondering at the island, we wandered about it.And the nymphs, daughters of Zeus the shield-bearer, rousedmountain goats, so that my comrades might have their dinner.Straightway we took our curved bows and long-shafted javelinsfrom the ships, and divided into three groups wethrew; and a god soon gave us a satisfying hunt.Twelve ships followed me, and to each shipnine goats fell by lot; and for me alone they set apart ten.So then for the whole day until the sun went downwe sat feasting on countless flesh and sweet wine;for the red wine from the ships was not yet gone,but remained; for much we had drawn in amphoraefrom the Cicones, when we took the sacred citadel.And we looked at the land of the Cyclopes, who were near,and at their smoke and their voices, and those of their sheep and goats.But when the sun had set and darkness came,then we slept upon the wave-beat shore.But when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,then I called an assembly and spoke among them all:'You others now remain here, my trusty comrades;but I with my own ship and with my own comradeswill go and try these men, and learn who they are,whether they are violent and savage and not just,or kind to strangers, and have a god-fearing mind.'So speaking I went aboard the ship, and I ordered my comradesto embark themselves and loose the stern-cables.They quickly boarded and sat at the rowing benches,and sitting in order they struck the grey sea with their oars.But when we came to that place, it being near,there at the edge we saw a cave hard by the sea,high, roofed over with laurels. There manyflocks, sheep and goats, used to sleep; and around it a courtyardhigh had been built of stones set in the groundand of long pines and high-crowned oaks.There a monstrous man used to sleep, who alonepastured his flocks, far off; nor did he go aboutamong others, but dwelling apart he knew lawless things.For he had been made a monstrous wonder, and did not resemblea man who eats bread, but rather a wooded peakof the high mountains, which appears alone apart from the others.Then I ordered the rest of my trusty comradesto stay there by the ship and to guard the ship,but I chose twelve of my comrades, the best of them,and went; and I had a goatskin of dark wine,sweet, which Maron gave me, son of Euanthes,priest of Apollo, who guarded Ismarus,because we had sheltered him with his child and his wifeout of reverence; for he dwelt in a wooded groveof Phoebus Apollo. And he gave me splendid gifts:he gave me seven talents of well-wrought gold,and he gave me a mixing bowl all of silver, and thendrawing off wine into twelve amphorae in all,sweet, unmixed, a divine drink; nor did anyof his slaves or handmaids in the house know of it,but he himself and his dear wife and one housekeeper alone.And when they drank that honey-sweet red wine,he would fill one cup with water, and twenty measureshe would pour in; and a sweet fragrance from the mixing bowlrose up, wondrous; then it was not easy to hold back from it.Of this I filled a great goatskin and carried it, and alsofood in a basket; for at once my proud heart guessedthat a man would come upon us, clothed in great might,savage, one who knew neither justice nor ordinances.Swiftly we came to the cave, but we did not find himwithin, but he was pasturing his flocks on the rich pasture.Entering the cave, we looked at everything.The baskets were heavy with cheeses, and the pens were crowdedwith lambs and kids; and each kind was pennedapart, the older ones apart, the middle ones apart,and the newborn apart. And all the vessels were full of whey,crates and bowls, well-made, in which he milked.Then at the first my comrades begged me with wordsto take some of the cheeses and go back again, and thenquickly to drive the kids and lambs from the pensto the swift ship and sail over the salt water;but I would not obey, and truly it would have been far better,in order that I might see him, and see whether he would give me guest-gifts.But he was not to appear to my comrades as a welcome sight.There we lit a fire and made sacrifice, and we ourselvestook some of the cheeses and ate, and we waited for him within,sitting, until he came herding. And he carried a mighty burdenof dry wood, so that he might have it for his supper;and throwing it down inside the cave he made a din.And we, afraid, rushed away to the inner recess of the cave.But he drove his fat flocks into the wide cave,all those he milked; but he left the males outside the door,the rams and the he-goats, outside the deep courtyard.Then he lifted and set in place a great door-stone,a mighty one; not even two-and-twentygood four-wheeled wagons could have shifted it from the ground;so huge a rock he set in the doorway.Sitting down he milked the sheep and the bleating goats,all in due order, and he put a suckling under each.Straightway he curdled half the white milkand gathered it into woven baskets and set it down,and the other half he set in vessels, so that it might be therefor him to take and drink, and be there for his supper.But when he had hurried and finished his work,then he kindled a fire and saw us, and asked us:'Strangers, who are you? From where do you sail the watery ways?Is it for some business, or do you wander at random,like pirates over the sea, who wander aboutstaking their lives, bringing harm to strangers?'So he spoke, and our own dear hearts were broken within us,as we feared his heavy voice and the huge man himself.But even so I answered him and spoke in words:'We are Achaeans, driven off course from Troyby all sorts of winds over the great gulf of the sea,hastening homeward, but by another road and other wayswe have come; so, I suppose, Zeus willed it to be devised.And we claim to be the people of Agamemnon, son of Atreus,whose fame is now the greatest under heaven;for he sacked so great a city and destroyed manypeoples. And we, coming to your knees as suppliants,have come, in case you might give us a guest-gift, or otherwisegrant us a gift, which is the custom for strangers.But have respect, best of men, for the gods; we are your suppliants,and Zeus is the avenger of suppliants and of strangers,the protector of guests, who attends upon reverend strangers.'So I spoke, and he answered me at once with a pitiless heart:'You are a fool, stranger, or you have come from far away,who bid me to fear the gods or to avoid them;for the Cyclopes care nothing for Zeus the shield-bearernor for the blessed gods, since we are far stronger;nor would I, to avoid the hatred of Zeus, spareeither you or your comrades, unless my heart bade me.But tell me where you moored your well-made ship,whether somewhere at the edge, or near, so that I may know.'So he spoke, testing me, but I was not unaware, knowing many things,but I answered him again with guileful words:'Poseidon the earth-shaker has broken my shiphurling it against the rocks at the borders of your land,driving it onto a headland; and the wind bore it in from the sea;but I with these men here escaped sheer destruction.'So I spoke, but he answered me nothing with his pitiless heart,but he sprang up and laid his hands upon my comrades,and snatching two of them he dashed them on the ground like puppies,and their brains ran down to the earth and wetted the ground.Then cutting them limb from limb he made ready his supper;and he ate like a mountain-bred lion, and left nothing behind,neither entrails nor flesh nor bones with marrow.And we, weeping, held up our hands to Zeus,seeing these dreadful deeds, and helplessness held our hearts.But when the Cyclops had filled his great bellyeating human flesh and drinking unmixed milk,he lay down within the cave, stretched out among his flocks.Then I planned in my great-hearted spiritto go near him, drawing the sharp sword from beside my thigh,and strike him in the chest, where the midriff holds the liver,feeling with my hand; but another thought held me back.For there we too would have perished in sheer destruction;for we could not have pushed back with our hands the highdoor-stone, the mighty rock which he had set in place.So then, groaning, we waited for shining Dawn.But when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,then he kindled a fire and milked his famous flocks,all in due order, and he put a suckling under each.But when he had hurried and finished his work,then he snatched two more of us and made ready his meal.After eating, he drove his fat flocks out of the cave,easily lifting away the great door-stone; and thenhe set it back, as if he were putting a lid upon a quiver.With loud whistling the Cyclops turned his fat flocks toward the mountain;but I was left behind, brooding on evil in my heart,whether I might somehow take revenge, if Athena would grant me glory.And this plan seemed best to me in my heart.For there lay the Cyclops' great club beside the pen,green and of olive wood; he had cut it, so that he might carry itwhen it had dried. We judged it, looking at it,to be as large as the mast of a ship of twenty oars, black,a broad merchant ship, which crosses the great gulf;so long was it, so thick to look upon.From it I stood and cut off about a fathom's lengthand laid it beside my comrades, and told them to smooth it;they made it even; and I stood and sharpenedthe point, and taking it at once I hardened it in the blazing fire.And I laid it carefully, hiding it under the dung,which lay spread through the cave in great heaps;and I ordered the others to cast lots by shaking,whoever would dare with me to lift the stakeand grind it in his eye, whenever sweet sleep came upon him.And the lot fell to those whom I myself would have chosen,four of them, and I chose myself as fifth among them.In the evening he came, herding his fair-fleeced flocks.Straightway he drove his fat flocks into the wide cave,all of them, and left nothing outside the deep courtyard,either because he suspected something, or a god so bade him.Then he lifted and set in place the great door-stone,and sitting down he milked the sheep and the bleating goats,all in due order, and he put a suckling under each.But when he had hurried and finished his work,then he snatched two more of us and made ready his supper.And then I stood near the Cyclops and spoke to him,holding in my hands a cup of dark wine:'Cyclops, here, drink wine, since you have eaten human flesh,so that you may know what kind of drink our shipwas carrying. And I brought it as a drink-offering for you, in case you would pity meand send me home; but you are raging beyond all bearing.Wretch, how could any other man hereafter come to youamong the many, since you have acted against what is right?'So I spoke, and he took it and drank it; and he was wondrously pleaseddrinking the sweet drink, and he asked me for a second:'Give me more readily, and tell me your nameat once now, so that I may give you a guest-gift that you will enjoy;for the grain-giving earth bears for the Cyclopeswine of noble clusters, and the rain of Zeus makes it grow;but this is a stream of ambrosia and of nectar.'So he spoke, and I gave him the flaming wine again.Three times I gave it, bearing it, and three times he drank in his folly.But when the wine had come into the Cyclops' wits,then I spoke to him with honeyed words:'Cyclops, you ask me my famous name, and Iwill tell you; but you must give me the guest-gift, as you promised.Nobody is my name; and Nobody is what they call me,my mother and my father and all my other comrades.'So I spoke, and he answered me at once with a pitiless heart:'Nobody I will eat last, after his comrades,and the others first; that shall be your guest-gift.'He spoke, and leaning back he fell on his back, and thenhe lay with his thick neck twisted aside, and sleepthe all-subduer seized him; and from his throat poured out wineand pieces of human flesh; and he belched, heavy with wine.And then I thrust the stake under much ash,until it should grow warm; and with words I encouragedall my comrades, so that none might shrink back through fear.But when the olive-wood stake was about to catchin the fire, green though it was, and glowed terribly,then I brought it near out of the fire, and around me my comradesstood; and a god breathed great courage into us.They took the olive-wood stake, sharp at the point,and thrust it into his eye; and I, pressing down from above,turned it, as when a man bores a ship's timberwith a drill, and others below keep it spinning with a strapthat they have fastened on both sides, and it runs on without ceasing.So we took the fire-sharpened stake in his eye and turned it,and the blood flowed all around it, hot as it was.And the steam singed all his eyelids and his eyebrows,as the eyeball burned, and its roots crackled in the fire.As when a smith dips a great axe or an adzein cold water, and it hisses loudly,tempering it; for that is the strength of iron,so his eye hissed around the olive-wood stake.And he bellowed terribly, and the rock echoed around,and we, afraid, rushed back; but hedrew the stake out of his eye, all smeared with much blood.Then he threw it from him with his hands, frantic,and he shouted loudly to the Cyclopes, who livedaround him in caves along the windy peaks.They heard his shout and came running from all sides,and standing around the cave they asked what troubled him:'Why, Polyphemus, have you cried out so in your griefthrough the immortal night, and made us sleepless?Surely no mortal is driving your flocks away against your will?Surely no one is killing you by guile or by force?'And mighty Polyphemus answered them from the cave:'My friends, Nobody is killing me by guile and not by force.'And they answered him and spoke winged words:'If then no one is doing you violence, you being alone,then it is not possible to avoid the sickness of great Zeus;but pray to lord Poseidon, your father.'So they spoke and went away, and my own dear heart laughed,how my name and my blameless cunning had deceived him.And the Cyclops, groaning and gripped by pangs of pain,groping with his hands took the stone from the doorwayand sat himself down in the doorway, stretching out his hands,in case he might catch someone going out among the sheep;for so he thought me to be a fool in his heart.But I planned how it might be best of all,if I could find for my comrades and for myselfsome deliverance from death; and I wove all kinds of guile and cunningas if for my very life; for a great evil was at hand.And this plan seemed best to me in my heart.There were well-fed rams, thick-fleeced,beautiful and large, with wool of violet dark.These I silently bound together with well-twisted withes,on which the monstrous Cyclops, knowing lawless things, used to sleep,taking them three abreast; and the middle one carried a man,and the other two on either side went protecting the comrades.So three men were carried by each sheep; but I,for there was a ram, by far the best of all the flocks,taking hold of his back, I curled beneath his shaggy bellyand lay there; and with my hands, clutching the wondrous wool,I clung unceasingly, twisted in, with a patient heart.So then, groaning, we waited for shining Dawn.But when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,then the male flocks rushed out to the pasture,but the females bleated unmilked around the pens;for their udders were bursting. And the master, tormentedby cruel pains, touched the backs of all the sheepas they stood upright; but the fool did not noticethat beneath the woolly sheep his men were bound to their chests.Last of the flock the ram came out through the doorway,weighed down by his wool and by me, thinking close thoughts.And mighty Polyphemus touched him and spoke:'Dear ram, why do you come through the cave last of the flock?Never before have you come left behind the sheep,but you grazed far first among the tender flowers of grass,striding far, and first you reached the streams of rivers,and first you longed to return to the sheepfoldin the evening; now you are last of all. Surely you long for your master'seye, which a wicked man blindedwith his wretched comrades, after his wits were overcome with wine,Nobody, whom I say has not yet escaped destruction.If only you could think as I do and find voiceto tell me where that man is escaping my fury;then his brains would be dashed through the cave, here and there,as he is struck, upon the floor, and my heartwould be eased of the griefs that worthless Nobody gave me.'So speaking he sent the ram out from him through the doorway.And when we had gone a little from the cave and the courtyard,first I loosed myself from under the ram, and I loosed my comrades.And quickly, the sheep with long feet and rich with fat,many of them, we drove, turning them about, until we cameto the ship. And we appeared welcome to our dear comrades,we who had escaped death; but for the others they groaned and wept.But I would not let them, and I nodded to each with my brows,to weep, but I ordered them quickly to throw the manyfair-fleeced sheep into the ship and sail over the salt water.They quickly boarded and sat at the rowing benches,and sitting in order they struck the grey sea with their oars.But when we were as far off as a man's shout carries,then I spoke to the Cyclops with mocking words:'Cyclops, you were not to eat the comrades of a weak manin your hollow cave by your brute force.And your evil deeds were certainly to catch up with you,wretch, since you did not shrink from eating your guestsin your own house; therefore Zeus has punished you, and the other gods.'So I spoke, and he was angered still more in his heart,and he broke off the peak of a great mountain and hurled it,and it fell in front of the dark-prowed ship,a little short, and it lacked but a little of reaching the tip of the steering-oar.And the sea was stirred up as the rock came down;and the back-rushing wave carried it straight for the shore,a flood from the deep, and forced it to reach the land.But I took in my hands a long poleand pushed it off, and urging on my comrades I ordered themto fall to the oars, so that we might escape disaster,nodding with my head; and they leaned forward and rowed.But when we had gone twice as far over the sea,then I spoke to the Cyclops; and around me my comradesheld me back from one side and another with gentle words:'Wretch, why do you wish to provoke a savage man,who even now has thrown a missile into the sea and driven the shipback to the land, and we thought we had perished there.And if he hears the voice or the speech of any of us,he will smash our heads and the ship's timbers together,hurling a jagged rock; for so far does he throw.'So they spoke, but they did not persuade my great-hearted spirit,but I answered him again with an angry heart:'Cyclops, if any mortal manasks you about the shameful blinding of your eye,say that Odysseus, the sacker of cities, blinded you,son of Laertes, who has his home in Ithaca.'So I spoke, and he groaned and answered me with words:'Alas, truly the old prophecies have come upon me.There was a prophet here, a man good and great,Telemus, son of Eurymus, who was skilled in prophecyand grew old among the Cyclopes prophesying;he told me that all these things would come to pass hereafter,that I should lose my sight at the hands of Odysseus.But I always expected some man great and handsometo come here, clothed in great might;but now a man who is small and worthless and feeblehas blinded my eye, after he overcame me with wine.But come here, Odysseus, so that I may set guest-gifts before you,and urge the famous earth-shaker to grant you safe passage;for I am his son, and he claims to be my father.He himself, if he wishes, will heal me, and no one else,neither of the blessed gods nor of mortal men.'So he spoke, and I answered him and said:'If only I could strip you of life and of souland send you to the house of Hades,as surely as not even the earth-shaker will heal your eye.'So I spoke, and then he prayed to lord Poseidon,stretching his hands up to the starry heaven:'Hear me, Poseidon, earth-holder, dark-haired,if truly I am yours, and you claim to be my father,grant that Odysseus, the sacker of cities, may not come home,the son of Laertes, who has his home in Ithaca.But if it is his fate to see his loved ones and to cometo his well-built house and to his native land,may he come late and in misery, having lost all his comrades,on a stranger's ship, and may he find troubles in his house.'So he spoke in prayer, and the dark-haired one heard him.But he lifted a far greater stone againand hurled it, swinging it, and put his boundless strength behind it,and it fell behind the dark-prowed ship,a little short, and it lacked but a little of reaching the tip of the steering-oar.And the sea was stirred up as the rock came down;and the wave carried it forward and forced it to reach the land.But when we came to the island, where the otherwell-benched ships were waiting together, and around them the comradessat grieving, always waiting for us,when we came there we beached the ship in the sand,and we ourselves too went out upon the wave-beat shore.And taking the Cyclops' sheep from the hollow shipwe divided them, so that no one should go short of his equal share.And the well-greaved comrades gave the ram to me alone,as the flocks were divided, a gift of special honour; and on the shoreI cut the thigh-bones and burned them for Zeus the dark-clouded, son of Cronos, who rules over all;but he did not heed the offerings,but he pondered how all my well-benched shipsmight be destroyed, and my trusty comrades.So then for the whole day until the sun went downwe sat feasting on countless flesh and sweet wine;but when the sun had set and darkness came,then we slept upon the wave-beat shore.But when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,then I urged on my comrades and ordered themto embark themselves and loose the stern-cables.They quickly boarded and sat at the rowing benches,and sitting in order they struck the grey sea with their oars.Thence we sailed onward, grieving at heart,glad to have escaped death, but having lost our dear companions.

Then Odysseus, full of tricks, answered him and said:"Alcinous, lord, most distinguished of all peoples,it really is a fine thing to listen to a singerlike this one, whose voice is like the gods'.For I say there is no more pleasant end than this:when joy holds the whole community,and the diners throughout the hall listen to the singersitting in a row, while the tables are filledwith bread and meat, and the cupbearer draws wine from the bowland carries it around and pours it into the cups.This seems to me the best thing in my mind.But your heart has turned to asking about my painful sorrows,so that I may grieve and groan still more.So what shall I tell you first, and what shall I tell you last?For the gods in heaven have given me many sorrows.But now I will first tell my name, so that you toomay know it, and then, after escaping the pitiless day,I may be a guest to you, though I live in a home far away.I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, who is known among all peoplefor every kind of trick, and my fame reaches heaven.I live in Ithaca, a land of clear light; and there is a mountain in it,Neriton, shaking with leaves, very conspicuous; and around itmany islands lie very close to one another,Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacynthus.Ithaca itself lies low, farthest out in the sea,toward the darkness, while the others lie away toward the dawn and the sun,a rough land, but a good nurse of men; and Icannot see anything sweeter than my own land.Calypso, shining among goddesses, certainly kept me therein her hollow caves, wanting me to be her husband;and in the same way Circe, the scheming one, held me back in her halls,in Aeaea, wanting me to be her husband;but they never persuaded the heart in my breast.So nothing is sweeter than a man's own country and his parents,not even if someone lives far away in a rich housein a foreign land, far from his parents.But come, I will tell you about my sorrowful journey home,which Zeus laid on me when I set out from Troy.From Troy the wind carried me and brought me to the Cicones,to Ismarus. There I sacked the city and killed the men;and taking the wives and many possessions from the citywe divided them, so that no one would go short of an equal share.There I told my men to run away with quick feet,but they were very foolish and did not obey me.There much wine was drunk, and many sheepthey killed on the shore, and cattle with a rolling walk and curved horns.Meanwhile the Cicones who had gone off called to the other Cicones,their neighbours, who were more numerous and stronger,who lived on the mainland and knew how to fight menfrom horseback, and on foot where fighting on foot was needed.Then they came, as many as the leaves and flowers in spring,at dawn; and then the evil fate of Zeus stood by us,for us doomed men, so that we would suffer many pains.They formed their ranks and fought a battle by the swift ships,and they threw bronze-tipped spears at one another.As long as it was morning and the sacred day grew,we stood our ground and held out against their greater numbers.But when the sun turned toward the time for unyoking oxen,then the Cicones broke and beat the Achaeans.And from each ship six well-greaved companionsdied; and the rest of us escaped death and fate.From there we sailed on, grieving at heart,glad to have escaped death, but having lost our dear companions.And my curved ships did not move onbefore we had called out three times to each of the poor menwho died, killed on the plain by the Cicones.But Zeus the cloud-gatherer stirred the North Wind against our shipswith a terrible squall, and with clouds he coveredthe earth together with the sea; night rushed down from heaven.Then the ships were carried headlong, and the force of the windtore the sails into three and four pieces.And we lowered them into the ships, afraid of destruction,and rowed the ships quickly toward the mainland.There for two nights and two days in a row, constantly,we lay, eating our hearts out with tiredness and pain.But when the third day was ended by fair-haired Dawn,we set up the masts and pulled up the white sailsand sat down, and the wind and the helmsmen steered the ships.And I would have come safely to my native land,but the wave and the current, as I rounded Malea,and the North Wind drove me back, and I was carried past Cythera.From there for nine days I was carried by destructive windsover the fish-filled sea; but on the tenth we set footon the land of the Lotus-eaters, who eat a flowery food.There we went ashore and drew water,and my comrades quickly took their meal by the swift ships.But when we had eaten food and drink,then I sent my comrades to go and find outwhat men they were who ate bread in that land,choosing two men, and sending a herald along as a third with them.They went quickly and mixed with the Lotus-eating men;and the Lotus-eaters did not plan any harm for my comrades,but they gave them the lotus to eat.And whoever of them ate the honey-sweet fruit of the lotusno longer wanted to report back or to come home,but they wanted to stay there among the Lotus-eating men,feeding on the lotus, and to forget their journey home.I brought these men to the ships, crying, by force,and I dragged them into the hollow ships and tied them under the benches.And I told the rest of my trusty comradesto hurry and get on board the swift ships,in case anyone ate the lotus and forgot his journey home.They quickly got on board and sat at the rowing benches,and sitting in a row they struck the grey sea with their oars.From there we sailed on, grieving at heart,and we came to the land of the Cyclopes, the arrogant and lawless people,who trust in the immortal godsand neither plant any plant with their hands nor plough the earth,but all these things grow unsown and unploughed,wheat and barley and vines, which bearwine from fine clusters, and the rain of Zeus makes them grow.They have no councils to give advice and no laws,but they live on the peaks of high mountainsin hollow caves, and each one makes the rulesfor his children and his wife, and they take no notice of one another.Then there is a low island lying just beyond the harbour,neither near the land of the Cyclopes nor far from it,wooded; and on it countless wild goats have been born;for no path of men keeps them away,and no hunters go into it, who through the woodssuffer hardship, following the peaks of the mountains.It is not held by flocks or used for ploughing,but all its days it lies unsown and unploughed,empty of men, and it feeds bleating goats.For the Cyclopes have no ships with red-painted sides,and there are no shipwrights among them, who could buildwell-benched ships, which could do everythingby reaching the towns of men, all the many placeswhere men cross the sea in ships to one another's lands,men who could also have made them a well-built island.For it is not a bad land at all, but would bear everything in season;for in it are meadows along the shores of the grey sea,well-watered and soft; vines would grow there without fail.And in it there is smooth ploughland; they would always reap a deep cropseason after season, since the soil beneath is very rich.And in it there is a good harbour, where there is no need of a rope,nor to throw out anchor stones nor to tie stern-ropes,but to beach the ship and wait for the time until the sailors'hearts urge them on and the breezes blow.And at the head of the harbour bright water flows,a spring under a cave; and around it black poplars grow.There we sailed in, and some god guided usthrough the dark night, and we could not see by the light;for a deep mist lay over the ships, and the moondid not shine from the sky, and it was covered by clouds.So no one saw that island with his eyes,and we did not see the long waves rolling toward the shorebefore we had beached the well-benched ships.And when the ships were beached, we lowered all the sails,and we ourselves also went out onto the wave-beat shore;there we fell asleep and waited for shining Dawn.But when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,we wandered around the island, marvelling at it.And the nymphs, daughters of Zeus who holds the aegis, rousedmountain goats, so that my comrades could have dinner.Straight away we took curved bows and long-shafted spearsfrom the ships, and dividing into three groups wethrew; and a god soon gave us a satisfying hunt.Twelve ships followed me, and to each shipnine goats fell by lot; and for me alone they set aside ten.So then for the whole day until the sun went downwe sat feasting on endless meat and sweet wine;for the red wine from the ships was not yet gone,but was still there; for we had drawn much into jarsfrom the Cicones, when we took the sacred citadel.And we looked at the land of the Cyclopes, who were near,and at their smoke and their voices, and at those of their sheep and goats.But when the sun had set and darkness came,then we slept on the wave-beat shore.But when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,then I held an assembly and spoke among them all:"You others now stay here, my trusty comrades;but I, with my own ship and with my own comrades,will go and find out about these men, who they are,whether they are violent and savage and not just,or kind to strangers, and have a god-fearing mind."So speaking I went aboard the ship, and I ordered my comradesto get on board themselves and untie the stern-ropes.They quickly got on board and sat at the rowing benches,and sitting in a row they struck the grey sea with their oars.But when we came to that place, it being near,there at the edge we saw a cave close to the sea,high, roofed over with laurels. There manyflocks, sheep and goats, used to sleep; and around it a courtyardhad been built high with stones set in the groundand with long pines and high-crowned oaks.There a monstrous man used to sleep, who alonepastured his flocks, far away; and he did not go aboutamong others, but living apart he knew lawless ways.For he had been made a monstrous wonder, and he did not look likea man who eats bread, but rather like a wooded peakof the high mountains, which appears alone, apart from the others.Then I ordered the rest of my trusty comradesto stay there by the ship and guard the ship,but I chose twelve of my comrades, the best of them,and went; and I had a goatskin of dark wine,sweet, which Maron gave me, son of Euanthes,priest of Apollo, who protected Ismarus,because we had sheltered him with his child and his wifeout of respect; for he lived in a wooded groveof Phoebus Apollo. And he gave me splendid gifts:he gave me seven talents of well-worked gold,and he gave me a mixing bowl all of silver, and thenhe drew off wine into twelve jars in all,sweet, unmixed, a divine drink; and noneof his slaves or serving women in the house knew about it,but only he himself and his dear wife and one housekeeper.And when they drank that honey-sweet red wine,he would fill one cup with water, and twenty measureshe would pour in; and a sweet smell from the bowlrose up wonderfully; then it was not easy to hold back from it.Of this I filled a big goatskin and carried it, and alsofood in a basket; for at once my proud heart guessedthat a man would come upon us, clothed in great strength,savage, one who knew neither justice nor laws.Quickly we came to the cave, but we did not find himinside, but he was pasturing his flocks on the rich pasture.After entering the cave, we looked at everything.The baskets were heavy with cheeses, and the pens were crowdedwith lambs and kids; and each kind was pennedseparately, the older ones apart, the middle ones apart,and the newborn apart. And all the vessels were full of whey,crates and bowls, well made, in which he milked.Then at first my comrades begged me with wordsto take some of the cheeses and go back, and thenquickly to drive the kids and lambs out of the pensto the swift ship and sail over the salt water;but I did not obey, and it really would have been far better,so that I might see him, and see whether he would give me guest-gifts.But he was not going to be a welcome sight to my comrades.There we lit a fire and made sacrifice, and we ourselvestook some of the cheeses and ate, and we waited for him inside,sitting, until he came back herding. And he carried a mighty loadof dry wood, so that he would have it for his supper;and throwing it down inside the cave he made a noise.And we, afraid, rushed away to the inner corner of the cave.But he drove his fat flocks into the wide cave,all those he milked; but he left the males outside the door,the rams and the he-goats, outside the deep courtyard.Then he lifted and set in place a great door-stone,a mighty one; not even twenty-twogood four-wheeled wagons could have shifted it from the ground;so huge a rock he set in the doorway.Sitting down he milked the sheep and the bleating goats,all in the right order, and he put a suckling under each.Straight away he curdled half the white milkand gathered it into woven baskets and set it down,and the other half he put into vessels, so that it would be therefor him to take and drink, and be there for his supper.But when he had hurried and finished his work,then he lit a fire and saw us, and asked us:"Strangers, who are you? From where do you sail the watery ways?Is it for some business, or do you wander at random,like pirates over the sea, who wander aboutrisking their lives and bringing harm to strangers?"So he spoke, and our own dear hearts were broken inside us,because we were afraid of his heavy voice and of the huge man himself.But even so I answered him and spoke in words:"We are Achaeans, driven off course from Troyby all sorts of winds over the great gulf of the sea,hurrying home, but by another road and other wayswe have come; so, I suppose, Zeus wanted it to be planned that way.And we claim to be the people of Agamemnon, son of Atreus,whose fame is now the greatest under heaven;for he sacked so great a city and destroyed manypeople. And we, coming to your knees as suppliants,have come, in case you might give us a guest-gift, or otherwisegive us a present, which is the custom for strangers.But respect the gods, best of men; we are your suppliants,and Zeus is the avenger of suppliants and of strangers,the protector of guests, who attends upon reverend strangers."So I spoke, and he answered me at once with a pitiless heart:"You are a fool, stranger, or you have come from far away,who tells me to fear the gods or to avoid them;for the Cyclopes do not care about Zeus who holds the aegisnor about the blessed gods, since we are far stronger;nor would I, to avoid the hatred of Zeus, spareeither you or your comrades, unless my heart told me to.But tell me where you moored your well-made ship,whether somewhere at the edge, or near, so that I may know."So he spoke, testing me, but I knew too much to be caught out,and I answered him again with tricky words:"Poseidon the earth-shaker has broken my shiphurling it against the rocks at the borders of your land,driving it onto a headland; and the wind brought it in from the sea;but I with these men here escaped sheer destruction."So I spoke, but he answered me nothing with his pitiless heart,but he sprang up and threw his hands at my comrades,and snatching two of them he dashed them on the ground like puppies,and their brains ran down to the earth and wetted the ground.Then he cut them limb from limb and made ready his supper;and he ate like a mountain-bred lion, and left nothing behind,neither guts nor flesh nor bones with marrow.And we, crying, held up our hands to Zeus,seeing these dreadful deeds, and helplessness held our hearts.But when the Cyclops had filled his great bellyby eating human flesh and drinking unmixed milk,he lay down inside the cave, stretched out among his flocks.Then I planned in my great-hearted spiritto go near him, drawing the sharp sword from beside my thigh,and to strike him in the chest, where the midriff holds the liver,feeling with my hand; but another thought held me back.For there we too would have died in sheer destruction;for we could not have pushed back with our hands the highdoor-stone, the mighty rock which he had set in place.So then, groaning, we waited for shining Dawn.But when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,then he lit a fire and milked his famous flocks,all in the right order, and he put a suckling under each.But when he had hurried and finished his work,then he snatched two more of us and made ready his meal.After eating, he drove his fat flocks out of the cave,easily lifting away the great door-stone; and thenhe put it back, as if he were putting a lid on a quiver.With loud whistling the Cyclops turned his fat flocks toward the mountain;but I was left behind, planning evil in my heart,whether I might somehow take revenge, if Athena would give me glory.And this plan seemed best to me in my heart.For there lay the Cyclops' great club beside the pen,green and made of olive wood; he had cut it, so that he could carry itonce it had dried. We judged it, looking at it,to be as big as the mast of a ship of twenty oars, black,a broad merchant ship, which crosses the great gulf;so long was it, and so thick to look at.I stood and cut off about a fathom of itand laid it beside my comrades, and told them to smooth it;they made it even; and I stood and sharpenedthe point, and taking it at once I hardened it in the blazing fire.And I laid it carefully, hiding it under the dung,which lay spread through the cave in great heaps;and I ordered the others to cast lots by shaking,to see who would dare with me to lift the stakeand grind it in his eye, whenever sweet sleep came upon him.And the lot fell to those whom I myself would have chosen,four of them, and I chose myself as fifth among them.In the evening he came, herding his fair-fleeced flocks.Straight away he drove his fat flocks into the wide cave,all of them, and left nothing outside the deep courtyard,either because he suspected something, or a god told him to.Then he lifted and set in place the great door-stone,and sitting down he milked the sheep and the bleating goats,all in the right order, and he put a suckling under each.But when he had hurried and finished his work,then he snatched two more of us and made ready his supper.And then I stood near the Cyclops and spoke to him,holding in my hands a cup of dark wine:"Cyclops, here, drink wine, since you have eaten human flesh,so that you may know what kind of drink our shipwas carrying. And I brought it to you as a drink-offering, in case you would take pity on meand send me home; but you are raging beyond all bearing.Wretch, how could any other man later come to youamong the many, since you have acted against what is right?"So I spoke, and he took it and drank it; and he was terribly pleasedto drink the sweet drink, and he asked me for a second:"Give me more willingly, and tell me your nameright now, so that I may give you a guest-gift that you will enjoy;for the grain-giving earth bears for the Cyclopeswine from fine clusters, and the rain of Zeus makes it grow;but this is a stream of ambrosia and nectar."So he spoke, and I gave him the flaming wine again.Three times I gave it, carrying it, and three times he drank in his foolishness.But when the wine had gone to the Cyclops' wits,then I spoke to him with honeyed words:"Cyclops, you ask me my famous name, and Iwill tell you; but you must give me the guest-gift, as you promised.Nobody is my name; and Nobody is what they call me,my mother and my father and all my other comrades."So I spoke, and he answered me at once with a pitiless heart:"Nobody I will eat last, after his comrades,and the others first; that will be your guest-gift."He spoke, and leaning back he fell on his back, and thenhe lay there with his thick neck twisted aside, and sleepthe all-subduer seized him; and out of his throat poured wineand pieces of human flesh; and he belched, heavy with wine.And then I pushed the stake under a lot of ash,until it would grow warm; and with words I encouragedall my comrades, so that none would shrink back through fear.But when the olive-wood stake was about to catchin the fire, green though it was, and glowed terribly,then I brought it near, out of the fire, and around me my comradesstood; and a god breathed great courage into us.They took the olive-wood stake, sharp at the point,and thrust it into his eye; and I, pressing down from above,turned it, as when a man bores a ship's timberwith a drill, and others below keep it spinning with a strapthey have fastened on both sides, and it runs on without stopping.So we took the fire-sharpened stake in his eye and turned it,and the blood flowed all around it, hot as it was.And the steam singed all his eyelids and his eyebrows,as the eyeball burned, and its roots crackled in the fire.As when a smith dips a great axe or an adzein cold water, and it hisses loudly,tempering it; for that is the strength of iron,so his eye hissed around the olive-wood stake.And he bellowed terribly, and the rock echoed all around,and we, afraid, rushed back; but hepulled the stake out of his eye, all smeared with much blood.Then he threw it away from him with his hands, frantic,and he shouted loudly to the Cyclopes, who livedaround him in caves along the windy peaks.They heard his shout and came running from all sides,and standing around the cave they asked what was troubling him:"Why, Polyphemus, have you cried out like this in your griefthrough the immortal night, and made us sleepless?Surely no mortal is driving your flocks away against your will?Surely no one is killing you by trickery or by force?"And mighty Polyphemus answered them from the cave:"My friends, Nobody is killing me by trickery and not by force."And they answered him and spoke winged words:"If then no one is doing you violence, you being alone,then it is not possible to avoid the sickness sent by great Zeus;but pray to lord Poseidon, your father."So they spoke and went away, and my own dear heart laughed,at how my name and my blameless cunning had deceived him.And the Cyclops, groaning and gripped by pangs of pain,groping with his hands took the stone from the doorwayand sat himself down in the doorway, stretching out his hands,in case he might catch someone going out among the sheep;for that is how he thought me to be a fool in his heart.But I planned how it might turn out best,whether I could find for my comrades and for myselfsome release from death; and I wove all kinds of trickery and cunningas if for my very life; for a great evil was at hand.And this plan seemed best to me in my heart.There were well-fed rams, thick-fleeced,beautiful and large, with wool of violet dark.These I silently tied together with well-twisted withes,on which the monstrous Cyclops, knowing lawless ways, used to sleep,taking them three at a time; and the middle one carried a man,and the other two on either side went along protecting the comrades.So three men were carried by each sheep; but I,for there was a ram, by far the best of all the flocks,taking hold of his back, I curled up beneath his shaggy bellyand lay there; and with my hands, clutching the wondrous wool,I clung on without stopping, twisted in, with a patient heart.So then, groaning, we waited for shining Dawn.But when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,then the male flocks rushed out to the pasture,but the females bleated unmilked around the pens;for their udders were bursting. And the master, tormentedby cruel pains, touched the backs of all the sheepas they stood upright; but the fool did not noticethat beneath the woolly sheep his men were tied to their chests.Last of the flock the ram came out through the doorway,weighed down by his wool and by me, thinking close thoughts.And mighty Polyphemus touched him and spoke:"Dear ram, why have you come through the cave last of the flock?Never before have you come left behind the sheep,but you grazed far ahead first among the tender flowers of grass,striding far, and you were first to reach the streams of rivers,and you were first to long to return to the sheepfoldin the evening; now you are last of all. Surely you are longing for your master'seye, which a wicked man blindedwith his wretched comrades, after his wits were overcome with wine,Nobody, whom I say has not yet escaped destruction.If only you could think as I do and find a voiceto tell me where that man is escaping my fury;then his brains would be dashed through the cave, here and there,as he is struck, upon the floor, and my heartwould be eased of the griefs that worthless Nobody gave me."So speaking he sent the ram out from him through the doorway.And when we had gone a little from the cave and the courtyard,first I untied myself from under the ram, and I untied my comrades.And quickly, the sheep with long feet and rich with fat,many of them, we drove them along, turning them about, until we cameto the ship. And we appeared welcome to our dear comrades,we who had escaped death; but for the others they groaned and wept.But I would not let them, and I nodded to each with my brows,to weep, but I ordered them quickly to throw the manyfair-fleeced sheep into the ship and sail over the salt water.They quickly got on board and sat at the rowing benches,and sitting in a row they struck the grey sea with their oars.But when we were as far off as a man's shout carries,then I spoke to the Cyclops with mocking words:"Cyclops, you were not going to eat the comrades of a weak manin your hollow cave by your brute force.And your evil deeds were certainly going to catch up with you,wretch, since you did not shrink from eating your guestsin your own house; therefore Zeus has punished you, and the other gods."So I spoke, and he was angered still more in his heart,and he broke off the peak of a great mountain and hurled it,and it fell in front of the dark-prowed ship,a little short, and it missed reaching the tip of the steering-oar.And the sea was stirred up as the rock came down;and the back-rushing wave carried it straight for the shore,a flood from the deep, and forced it to reach the land.But I took in my hands a long poleand pushed it off, and urging on my comrades I ordered themto fall to the oars, so that we might escape disaster,nodding with my head; and they leaned forward and rowed.But when we had gone twice as far over the sea,then I spoke to the Cyclops; and around me my comradesheld me back from one side and another with gentle words:"Wretch, why do you want to provoke a savage man,who even now has thrown a missile into the sea and driven the shipback to the land, and we thought we had died there.And if he hears the voice or the speech of any of us,he will smash our heads and the ship's timbers together,hurling a jagged rock; for that is how far he throws."So they spoke, but they did not persuade my great-hearted spirit,but I answered him again with an angry heart:"Cyclops, if any mortal manasks you about the shameful blinding of your eye,say that Odysseus, the sacker of cities, blinded you,son of Laertes, who has his home in Ithaca."So I spoke, and he groaned and answered me with words:"Alas, truly the old prophecies have come upon me.There was a prophet here, a man good and great,Telemus, son of Eurymus, who was skilled in prophecyand grew old among the Cyclopes prophesying;he told me that all these things would come to pass later on,that I would lose my sight at the hands of Odysseus.But I always expected some man great and handsometo come here, clothed in great strength;but now a man who is small and worthless and feeblehas blinded my eye, after he overcame me with wine.But come here, Odysseus, so that I may set guest-gifts before you,and urge the famous earth-shaker to grant you safe passage;for I am his son, and he claims to be my father.He himself, if he wishes, will heal me, and no one else,neither of the blessed gods nor of mortal men."So he spoke, and I answered him and said:"If only I could strip you of life and of souland send you to the house of Hades,as surely as not even the earth-shaker will heal your eye."So I spoke, and then he prayed to lord Poseidon,stretching his hands up to the starry heaven:"Hear me, Poseidon, earth-holder, dark-haired,if truly I am yours, and you claim to be my father,grant that Odysseus, the sacker of cities, may not come home,the son of Laertes, who has his home in Ithaca.But if it is his fate to see his loved ones and to cometo his well-built house and to his native land,may he come late and in misery, having lost all his comrades,on a stranger's ship, and may he find troubles in his house."So he spoke in prayer, and the dark-haired one heard him.But he lifted a far greater stone againand hurled it, swinging it, and put his boundless strength behind it,and it fell behind the dark-prowed ship,a little short, and it missed reaching the tip of the steering-oar.And the sea was stirred up as the rock came down;and the wave carried it forward and forced it to reach the land.But when we came to the island, where the otherwell-benched ships were waiting together, and around them the comradessat grieving, always waiting for us,when we came there we beached the ship in the sand,and we ourselves also went out onto the wave-beat shore.And taking the Cyclops' sheep from the hollow shipwe divided them, so that no one would go short of an equal share.And the well-greaved comrades gave the ram to me alone,as the flocks were divided, a gift of special honour; and on the shoreI cut the thigh-bones and burned them for Zeus the dark-clouded, son of Cronos, who rules over all;but he did not pay attention to the offerings,but he pondered how all my well-benched shipsmight be destroyed, and my trusty comrades.So then for the whole day until the sun went downwe sat feasting on endless meat and sweet wine;but when the sun had set and darkness came,then we slept on the wave-beat shore.But when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,then I urged on my comrades and ordered themto get on board themselves and untie the stern-ropes.They quickly got on board and sat at the rowing benches,and sitting in a row they struck the grey sea with their oars.From there we sailed on, grieving at heart,glad to have escaped death, but having lost our dear companions.