"‘Stay where you are,
then,’ answered I, ‘eating and drinking at the ship, but I
must go, for I am most urgently bound to do so.’
"With this I left the ship and
went up inland. When I got through the charmed grove, and was near
the great house of the enchantress Circe, I met Hermes with his
golden wand, disguised as a young man in the hey-day of his youth and
beauty with the down just coming upon his face. He came up to me and
took my hand within his own, saying, ‘My poor unhappy man,
whither are you going over this mountain top, alone and without
knowing the way? Your men are shut up in Circe's pigsties, like
so many wild boars in their lairs. You surely do not fancy that you
can set them free? I can tell you that you will never get back and
will have to stay there with the rest of them. But never mind, I will
protect you and get you out of your difficulty. Take this herb, which
is one of great virtue, and keep it about you when you go to
Circe's house, it will be a talisman to you against every kind
of mischief.
"‘And I will tell you of all
the wicked witchcraft that Circe will try to practice upon you. She
will mix a potion for you to drink, and she will drug the meal with
which she makes it, but she will not be able to charm you, for the
virtue of the herb that I shall give you will prevent her spells from
working. I will tell you all about it. When Circe strikes you with
her wand, draw your sword and spring upon her as though you were
goings to kill her. She will then be frightened and will desire you
to go to bed with her; on this you must not point blank refuse her,
for you want her to set your companions free, and to take good care
also of yourself, but you make her swear solemnly by all the blessed
that she will plot no further mischief against you, or else when she
has got you naked she will unman you and make you fit for
nothing.’
"As he spoke he pulled the herb
out of the ground an showed me what it was like. The root was black,
while the flower was as white as milk; the gods call it Moly, and
mortal men cannot uproot it, but the gods can do whatever they
like.
Homer. The Odyssey. Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original. Samuel Butler. Based on public domain edition, revised by Timothy Power and Gregory Nagy. A. C. Fifield, London. 1900 (?).
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