hort, I have said enough to make you guess that it was
Quicksilver; and Ulysses (who knew him of old, and had learned a great
deal of his wisdom from him) recognized him in a moment.

"Whither are you going in such a hurry, wise Ulysses?" asked Quicksilver.
"Do you not know that this island is enchanted? The wicked enchantress
(whose name is Circe, the sister of King AEetes) dwells in the marble
palace which you see yonder among the trees. By her magic arts, she
changes every human being into the brute, beast, or fowl whom he happens
most to resemble."

"That little bird which met me at the edge of the cliff," exclaimed
Ulysses; "was he a human being once?"

"Yes," answered Quicksilver. "He was once a king, named Picus, and a
pretty good sort of a king too, only rather too proud of his purple robe,
and his crown, and the golden chain about his neck; so he was forced to
take the shape of a gaudy-feathered bird. The lions, and wolves, and
tigers who will come running to meet you, in front of the palace, were
formerly fierce and cruel men, resembling in their dispositions the wild
beasts whose forms they now rightfully wear."

"And my poor companions," said Ulysses. "Have they undergone a similar
change, through the arts of this wicked Circe?"

"You well know what gormandizers they were," replied Quicksilver; and,
rogue that he was, he could not help laughing at the joke. "So you will
not be surprised to hear that they have all taken the shapes of swine! If
Circe had never done anything worse, I really should not think her so very
much to blame."

"But can I do nothing to help them?" inquired Ulysses.

"It will require all your wisdom," said Quicksilver, "and a little of my
own into the bargain, to keep your royal and sagacious self from being
transformed into a fox. But do as I bid you, and the matter may end better
than it has begun."

While he was speaking, Quicksilver seemed to be in search of something; he
went stooping along the ground, and soon laid his hand on a little plant
with a snow-white flower, which he plucked and smelt of. Ulysses had been
looking at that very spot only just before; and it appeared to him that
the plant had burst into full flower the instant when Quicksilver touched
it with his fingers.

"Take this flower, King Ulysses," said he. "Guard it as you do your
eyesight; for I can assure you it is exceedingly rare and precious, and
you might seek the whole earth over without ever finding