Page 219 - the-odyssey

forgetful of all that he had suffered both on the field of battle
and by the waves of the weary sea.
When the bright star that heralds the approach of dawn
began to show, the ship drew near to land. {112} Now there
is in Ithaca a haven of the old merman Phorcys, which lies
between two points that break the line of the sea and shut
the harbour in. These shelter it from the storms of wind and
sea that rage outside, so that, when once within it, a ship
may lie without being even moored. At the head of this har-
bour there is a large olive tree, and at no great distance a fine
overarching cavern sacred to the nymphs who are called Na-
iads. {113} There are mixing bowls within it and wine-jars
of stone, and the bees hive there. Moreover, there are great
looms of stone on which the nymphs weave their robes of
sea purple—very curious to see—and at all times there is
water within it. It has two entrances, one facing North by
which mortals can go down into the cave, while the other
comes from the South and is more mysterious; mortals can-
not possibly get in by it, it is the way taken by the gods.
Into this harbour, then, they took their ship, for they
knew the place. {114} She had so much way upon her that
she ran half her own length on to the shore; {115} when,
however, they had landed, the first thing they did was to lift
Ulysses with his rug and linen sheet out of the ship, and lay
him down upon the sand still fast asleep. Then they took
out the presents which Minerva had persuaded the Phae-
acians to give him when he was setting out on his voyage
homewards. They put these all together by the root of the
olive tree, away from the road, for fear some passer by {116}

1 The Odyssey