Then he cut them in pieces and made his
supper on them. Fearful it was to see him as he ate, crunching up
flesh and bones and marrow all together, like a ravening lion. When he
had devoured the last morsel he took a deep draught of milk, and lay
down on the cavern floor among his flocks to sleep.
As soon as the heavy breathing of Polyphemus showed that he was fast
asleep, Odysseus crept from his corner, resolved to slay the cannibal
giant on the spot. He had already drawn his sword, when a sudden
thought made him pause. If he killed Polyphemus, how was he to escape
from the cavern? The entrance was blocked by that ponderous stone,
which a hundred men could not have moved; and he and his men must in
that case perish miserably of hunger and thirst. Restrained by this
reflection, he put up his sword, and went back to his companions to
wait for day.
Polyphemus rose early, and after milking his flocks he laid hold of
two more of the miserable captives, butchered them in the same manner,
and made his breakfast on their warm, quivering bodies. Then he drove
forth his sheep and goats, pushing aside the door of rock, and set it
back in its place, as a man sets the lid on a quiver. They heard his
wild cries, as he called to his flocks, and their loud bleatings as he
drove them out to pasture; then the sounds grew fainter and fainter,
and silence settled on the vast, shadowy cave.
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