it much out of the
common run had this little feathered creature talked as plainly as
himself.

"Peep!" said the bird. "Peep, peep, pe--weep!" And nothing else would it
say, but only, "Peep, peep, pe--weep!" in a melancholy cadence, and over
and over and over again. As often as Ulysses moved forward, however, the
bird showed the greatest alarm, and did its best to drive him back, with
the anxious flutter of its purple wings. Its unaccountable behavior made
him conclude, at last, that the bird knew of some danger that awaited him,
and which must needs be very terrible, beyond all question, since it moved
even a little fowl to feel compassion for a human being. So he resolved,
for the present, to return to the vessel, and tell his companions what he
had seen.

This appeared to satisfy the bird. As soon as Ulysses turned back, it ran
up the trunk of a tree, and began to pick insects out of the bark with its
long, sharp bill; for it was a kind of woodpecker, you must know, and had
to get its living in the same manner as other birds of that species. But
every little while, as it pecked at the bark of the tree, the purple bird
bethought itself of some secret sorrow, and repeated its plaintive note of
"Peep, peep, pe--weep!"

On his way to the shore, Ulysses had the good luck to kill a large stag by
thrusting his spear into its back. Taking it on his shoulders (for he was
a remarkably strong man), he lugged it along with him, and flung it down
before his hungry companions. I have already hinted to you what
gormandizers some of the comrades of King Ulysses were. From what is
related of them, I reckon that their favorite diet was pork, and that they
had lived upon it until a good part of their physical substance was
swine's flesh, and their tempers and dispositions were very much akin to
the hog. A dish of venison, however, was no unacceptable meal to them,
especially after feeding so long on oysters and clams. So, beholding the
dead stag, they felt of its ribs in a knowing way, and lost no time in
kindling a fire, of drift-wood, to cook it. The rest of the day was spent
in feasting; and if these enormous eaters got up from table at sunset, it
was only because they could not scrape another morsel off the poor
animal's bones.

The next morning their appetites were as sharp as ever. They looked at
Ulysses, as if they expected him to clamber up the cliff again, and come
back with another fat deer upon his shoulders. Instead of