Beautiful, winning maidens they looked; and they sang, entreating
Odysseus by name to listen and abide and rest. Their voices were
golden-sweet above the sound of wind and wave, like drops of amber
floating on the tide; and for all his wisdom, Odysseus strained at his
bonds and begged his men to let him go free. But they, deaf alike to
the song and the sorcery, rowed harder than ever. At length, song and
island faded in the distance. Odysseus came to his wits once more, and
his men loosed his bonds and set him free.
But they were close upon new dangers. No sooner had they avoided the
Clashing Rocks (by a device of Circe's) than they came to a perilous
strait. On one hand they saw the whirlpool where, beneath a hollow
fig-tree, Charybdis sucks down the sea horribly. And, while they sought
to escape her, on the other hand monstrous Scylla upreared from the
cave, snatched six of their company with her six long necks, and
devoured them even while they called upon Odysseus to save them.
So, with bitter peril, the ship passed by and came to the island of
Thrinacia; and here are goodly pastures for the flocks and herds of the
Sun. Odysseus, who feared lest his men might forget the warning of
Tiresias, was very loath to land. But the sailors were weary and worn
to the verge of mutiny, and they swore, moreover, that they would never
lay hands on the sacred kine. So they landed, thinking to depart next
day.
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