FOOTNOTES: 

[Footnote 18:  One of the three Fates, the first and second being Clotho and Lachesis.  They spun, measured, and cut off, respectively, the thread of life for men at their birth.]

[Illustration]

XXXVIII

THE COMPANIONS OF ULYSSES

(Book XII.—­No. 1)

That great hero-wanderer Ulysses had been with his companions driven hither and thither at the will of the winds for ten years, never knowing what their ultimate fate was to be.  At length they disembarked upon a shore where Circe, the daughter of Apollo, held her court.  Receiving them she brewed a delicious but baneful liquor, which she made them drink.  The result of this was that first they lost their reason, and a few moments after, their bodies took the forms and features of various animals; some unwieldy, some small.  Ulysses alone, having the wisdom to withstand the temptation of the treacherous cup, escaped the metamorphosis.  He, besides possessing wisdom, bore the look of a hero and had the gift of honeyed speech, so that it came about that the goddess herself imbibed a poison little different from her own; that is to say, she became enamoured of the hero and declared her love to him.  Now was the time for Ulysses to profit by this turn of events, and he was too cunning to miss the opportunity, so he begged and obtained the boon that his friends should be restored to their natural shapes.

“But will they be willing to accept their own forms again?” asked the nymph.  “Go to them and make them the offer.”

Ulysses, glad and eager, ran to his Greeks and cried, “The poisoned cup has its remedy, and I come to offer it to you.  Dear friends of mine, will you not be glad to have your manly forms again?  Speak, for your speech is already restored.”

The lion was the first to reply.  Making an effort to roar he said, “I, for one, am not such a fool.  What! renounce all the great advantages that have just been given me?  I have teeth.  I have claws.  I can pull to pieces anything that attacks me.  I am, in fact, a king.  Do you think it would suit me to become a citizen of Ithaca once more?  Who knows but that you might make of me a common soldier again.  Thank you; but I will remain as I am.”

Ulysses, in sad surprise, turned to the bear.  “Ah, brother! what form is this you have taken, you who used to be so handsome?”

“Well, really!  I like that!” said the bear in his way.  “What form is this? you ask.  Why it is the form that a bear should have.  Pray who instructed you that one form is more handsome than another?  Is it your business to judge between us?  I prefer to appeal to the sight of the gentler sex in our ursine race.  Do I displease you?  Then pass on.  Go your ways and leave me to mine.  I am free and content as I am, and I tell you frankly and flatly that I will not change my state.”