Thus I, relating all my tale, talked with my comrades.  Meanwhile our stanch ship swiftly neared the Sirens’ island; a fair wind swept her on.  On a sudden the wind ceased; there came a breathless calm; Heaven hushed the waves.  My comrades, rising, furled the sail, stowed it on board the hollow ship, then sitting at their oars whitened the water with the polished blades.  But I with my sharp sword cut a great cake of wax into small bits, which I then kneaded in my sturdy hands.  Soon the wax warmed, forced by the powerful pressure and by the rays of the exalted sun, the lord of all.  Then one by one I stopped the ears of all my crew; and on the deck they bound me hand and foot, upright upon the mast-block, round which they wound the rope; and sitting down they smote the foaming water with their oars.  But when we were as far away as one can call, and driving swiftly onward, our speeding ship, as it drew near, did not escape the Sirens, and thus they lifted up their penetrating voice:—­

“Come hither, come, Ulysses, whom all praise! great glory to the Achaians!  Bring on your ship, and listen to our song.  For none has ever passed us in a black-hulled ship till from our lips he heard ecstatic song, then went his way rejoicing and with larger knowledge.  For we know all that on the plain of Troy Argives and Trojans suffered at the Gods’ behest; we know whatever happens on the bounteous earth.”

So spoke they, sending forth their glorious song, and my heart longed to listen.  Knitting my brows, I signed my men to set me free; but bending forward, on they rowed.  And straightway Perimedes and Eurylochus arose and laid upon me still more cords, and drew them tighter.  Then, after passing by, when we could hear no more the Sirens’ voice nor any singing, quickly my trusty crew removed the wax with which I stopped their ears, and set me free from bondage.

Soon after we left the island, I observed a smoke, I saw high waves and heard a plunging sound.  From the hands of my frightened men down fell the oars, and splashed against the current.  There the ship stayed, for they worked the tapering oars no more.  Along the ship I passed, inspiriting my men with cheering words, standing by each in turn:—­

“Friends, hitherto we have not been untried in danger.  Here is no greater danger than when the Cyclops penned us with brutal might in the deep cave.  Yet out of that, through energy of mine, through will and wisdom, we escaped.  These dangers, too, I think some day we shall remember.  Come then, and what I say let us all follow.  You with your oars strike the deep breakers of the sea, while sitting at the pins, and see if Zeus will set us free from present death and let us go in safety.  And, helmsman, these are my commands for you; lay them to heart, for you control the rudders of our hollow ship:  keep the ship off that smoke and surf and hug the crags, or else, before you know it, she may veer off that way, and you will bring us into danger.”