red eye, in the middle of his forehead, to single out the
fattest. And then, again, only a few days ago, did we not fall into the
hands of the king of the Laestrygons, and those other horrible giants,
his subjects, who devoured a great many more of us than are now left? To
tell you the truth, if we go to yonder palace, there can be no question
that we shall make our appearance at the dinner table; but whether
seated as guests, or served up as food, is a point to be seriously
considered."

"Either way," murmured some of the hungriest of the crew; "it will be
better than starvation; particularly if one could be sure of being well
fattened beforehand, and daintily cooked afterwards."

"That is a matter of taste," said King Ulysses, "and, for my own part,
neither the most careful fattening nor the daintiest of cookery would
reconcile me to being dished at last. My proposal is, therefore, that we
divide ourselves into two equal parties, and ascertain, by drawing
lots, which of the two shall go to the palace, and beg for food and
assistance. If these can be obtained, all is well. If not, and if the
inhabitants prove as inhospitable as Polyphemus, or the Laestrygons,
then there will but half of us perish, and the remainder may set sail
and escape."

As nobody objected to this scheme, Ulysses proceeded to count the whole
band, and found that there were forty-six men, including himself. He
then numbered off twenty-two of them, and put Eurylochus (who was one
of his chief officers, and second only to himself in sagacity) at their
head. Ulysses took command of the remaining twenty-two men, in person.
Then, taking off his helmet, he put two shells into it, on one of which
was written, "Go," and on the other "Stay." Another person now held the
helmet, while Ulysses and Eurylochus drew out each a shell; and the
word "Go" was found written on that which Eurylochus had drawn. In
this manner, it was decided that Ulysses and his twenty-two men were to
remain at the seaside until the other party should have found out what
sort of treatment they might expect at the mysterious palace. As there
was no help for it, Eurylochus immediately set forth at the head of his
twenty-two followers, who went off in a very melancholy state of mind,
leaving their friends in hardly better spirits than themselves.

No sooner had they clambered up the cliff, than they discerned the tall
marble towers of the palace, ascending, as white as snow, out of the