"On this we all went inland, and
Eurylokhos was not left behind after all, but came on too, for he was
frightened by the severe reprimand that I had given him.
"Meanwhile Circe had been seeing
that the men who had been left behind were washed and anointed with
olive oil; she had also given them woolen cloaks and shirts, and when
we came we found them all comfortably at dinner in her house. As soon
as the men saw each other face to face and knew one another, they
wept for joy and cried aloud till the whole palace rang again.
Thereon Circe came up to me and said, ‘Odysseus, noble son of
Laertes, tell your men to leave off crying; I know how much you have
all of you suffered at sea, and how ill you have fared among cruel
savages on the mainland, but that is over now, so stay here, and eat
and drink till you are once more as strong and hearty as you were
when you left Ithaca; for at present you are weakened both in body
and mind; you keep all the time thinking of the hardships - you have
suffered during your travels, so that you have no more cheerfulness
left in you.’
"Thus did she speak and we
assented. We stayed with Circe for a whole twelvemonth feasting upon
an untold quantity both of meat and wine. But when the year had
passed, and the seasons [hôrai] had turned
round, and the waning of moons and the long days had begun, my men
called me apart and said, ‘Sir, it is time you began to think
about going home, if so be you are to be spared to see your house and
native country at all.’
"Thus did they speak and I
assented. Thereon through the livelong day to the going down of the
sun we feasted our fill on meat and wine, but when the sun went down
and it came on dark the men laid themselves down to sleep in the
covered cloisters. I, however, after I had got into bed with Circe,
besought her by her knees, and the goddess listened to what I had got
to say. ‘Circe,’ said I, ‘please keep the promise you
made me about furthering me on my homeward voyage. I want to get back
and so do my men, they are always pestering me with their complaints
as soon as ever your back is turned.’
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