and drove his sheep into the
cave, nor left the rams outside, as he had been wont to do before, but
shut them in. And having duly done his shepherd's work, he made his
cruel feast as before. Then Ulysses came forward with the wine skin in
his hand, and said:

"Drink, Cyclops, now that thou hast feasted. Drink, and see what
precious things we had in our ship. But no one hereafter will come to
thee with such like, if thou dealest with strangers as cruelly as thou
hast dealt with us."

Then the Cyclops drank, and was mightily pleased, and said, "Give me
again to drink, and tell me thy name, stranger, and I will give thee a
gift such as a host should give. In good truth this is a rare liquor.
We, too, have vines, but they bear not wine like this, which indeed must
be such as the gods drink in heaven."

Then Ulysses gave him the cup again, and he drank. Thrice he gave it to
him, and thrice he drank, not knowing what it was, and how it would work
within his brain.

Then Ulysses spake to him. "Thou didst ask my name, Cyclops. Lo! my name
is No Man. And now that thou knowest my name, thou shouldst give me thy
gift."

And he said, "My gift shall be that I will eat thee last of all thy
company."

And as he spake he fell back in a drunken sleep. Then Ulysses bade his
comrades be of good courage, for the time was come when they should be
delivered. And they thrust the stake of olive wood into the fire till it
was ready, green as it was, to burst into flame, and they thrust it into
the monster's eye; for he had but one eye, and that in the midst of his
forehead, with the eyebrow below it. And Ulysses leant with all his
force upon the stake, and thrust it in with might and main. And the
burning wood hissed in the eye, just as the red-hot iron hisses in the
water when a man seeks to temper steel for a sword.

Then the giant leapt up, and tore away the stake, and cried aloud, so
that all the Cyclopes who dwelt on the mountain side heard him and came
about his cave, asking him, "What aileth thee, Polyphemus, that thou
makest this uproar in the peaceful night, driving away sleep? Is any one
robbing thee of thy sheep, or seeking to slay thee by craft or force?"

And the giant answered, "No Man slays me by craft."

"Nay, but," they said, "if no man does thee wrong, we cannot help thee.
The sickness which great Zeus may send, who can avoid? Pray to our
father, Poseidon, for help."

Then they departed; and Ulysses was glad at h