of huge birds, foul and uncleanly.  These hateful creatures had long before been sent by the Gods to plague Pheneus the Blind, king of Thrace, who had cruelly treated his sons.  Whenever a meal was spread for the king, the Harpies used to descend and devour it.  At last some brave warriors, who were passing through Thrace, were persuaded by the promise of rewards from Pheneus to rid him of the monsters, and drove them to the far Strophades, where they had ever since dwelt.

Irritated at the loss of their feast, AEneas and his companions prepared more food, and determined, if necessary, to defend it with their swords.  They accordingly concealed their weapons in the grass, and stationed one of their number on the watch, to give notice with the sound of a trumpet when the Harpies were approaching.  This was done accordingly, and the obscene creatures, when they again swooped down to seize on the cooked meats, which they relished more than any other food, were driven off, though not without difficulty.  But one of them, perching on a high rock, croaked forth to the astonished mariners this dismal prophecy:—­

“Woe to you, Trojans!  Do you dare to make war upon us after having slain our oxen, and to banish the innocent Harpies from the kingdom which is theirs by right?  Fix, then, in your minds these words, which the father of Gods and men revealed to Phoebus Apollo, and Apollo to me.  Italy is the land you seek, and Italy you shall reach at last, after many perils; but you shall not build up the walls of your new-founded city until dire famine and suffering, visiting you because you have injured us, shall compel you to devour your tables as well as the food that is upon them.”

The gloomy prediction terrified most of the wanderers, and they urged AEneas to endeavor to propitiate the unclean monsters with invocations and sacrifices.  But Anchises, after imploring Jupiter to ward off the threatened calamities, commanded that the expedition should at once quit that melancholy shore.  After passing the rugged cliffs of Ithaca, and uttering maledictions on the land that bred Ulysses, the most cunning enemy of Troy, the exiles arrived in safety at the harbor of Leucadia, where the ships were anchored, and the travelers landed to rest awhile after the fatigues of the voyage.  Here they celebrated the games of their country; and AEneas hung on the door-posts of an ancient and famous temple of Apollo a suit of armor, which he had taken from a Greek warrior slain before Troy, placing above it an inscription, “These arms AEneas won from the victorious Greeks.”

AENEAS IN THE LAND OF THE CYCLOPS

By Charles Henry Hanson