mittens reads with you. [last]

Instructions

So I vaunted and he groaned back in answer, 'Oh no, no—that prophecy years ago...it all comes home to me with a vengeance now! We once had a prophet here, a great tall man, Telemus, Eurymus' son, a master at reading signs, who grew old in his trade among his fellow-Cyclops. All this, he warned me, would come to pass someday—that I'd be blinded here at the hands of one Odysseus. But I always looked for a handsome giant man to cross my path, some fighter clad in power like armor-plate, but now, look what a dwarf, a spineless good-for-nothing, stuns me with wine, then gouges out my eye! Come here, Odysseus, let me give you a guest-gift and urge Poseidon the earthquake god to speed you home. I am his son and he claims to be my father, true, and he himself will heal me if he pleases—no other blessed god, no man can do the work!' 'Heal you!'—here was my parting shot—'Would to god I could strip you of life and breath and ship you down to the House of Death as surely as no one will ever heal your eye, not even your earthquake god himself!' But at that he bellowed out to lord Poseidon, thrusting his arms to the starry skies, and prayed, 'Hear me—Poseidon, god of the sea-blue mane who rocks the earth! If I really am your son and you claim to be my father—come, grant that Odysseus, raider of cities, Laertes' son who makes his home in Ithaca, never reaches home. Or if he's fated to see his people once again and reach his well-built house and his own native country, let him come home late and come a broken man—all shipmates lost, alone in a stranger's ship—and let him find a world of pain at home!' So he prayed and the god of the sea-blue mane Poseidon heard his prayer. The monster suddenly hoisted a boulder—far larger—wheeled and heaved it, putting his weight behind it, massive strength, and the boulder crashed close, landing just in the wake of our dark stern, just failing to graze the rudder's bladed edge. A huge swell reared up as the rock went plunging under, yes, and the tidal breaker drove us out to our island's far shore where all my well-decked ships lay moored, clustered, waiting, and huddled round them, crewmen sat in anguish, waiting, chafing for our return. We beached our vessel hard ashore on the sand, we swung out in the frothing surf ourselves, and herding Cyclops' sheep from our deep holds we shared them round so no one, not on my account, would go deprived of his fair share of spoils. But the splendid ram—as we meted out the flocks my friends-in-arms made him my prize of honor, mine alone, and I slaughtered him on the beach and burnt his thighs to Cronus' mighty son, Zeus of the thundercloud who rules the world. But my sacrifices failed to move the god: Zeus was still obsessed with plans to destroy my entire oarswept fleet and loyal crew of comrades. Now all day long till the sun went down we sat and feasted on sides of meat and heady wine. Then when the sun had set and night came on we lay down and slept at the water's shelving edge. When young Dawn with her rose-red fingers shone once more I roused the men straightway, ordering all crews to man the ships and cast off cables quickly. They swung aboard at once, they sat to the oars in ranks and in rhythm churned the water white with stroke on stroke. And from there we sailed on, glad to escape our death yet sick at heart for the comrades we had lost.”