et fruit of the lotus
flower. Those who ate the lotus ceased to remember that there was a
past or a future. All duties they forgot, and all sadness. All day
long they would sit and dream and dream idle, happy dreams that never
ended.

Here Odysseus and his men landed and drew water. Three of his warriors
Odysseus sent into the country to see what manner of men dwelt there.
To them the Lotus Eaters gave their honey-sweet food, and no sooner
had each man eaten than he had no wish ever to return to the ships. He
longed for ever to stay in that pleasant land, eating the lotus fruit,
and dreaming the happy hours away.

Back to the ships Odysseus dragged the unwilling men, weeping that
they must leave so much joy behind. Beneath the benches of his ship he
tightly bound them, and swiftly he made his ships sail from the shore,
lest yet others of his company might eat of the lotus and forget their
homes and their kindred.

Soon they had all embarked, and, with heavy hearts, the men of Ithaca
smote the gray sea-water with their long oars, and sped away from the
land of forgetfulness and of sweet day-dreams.

II

HOW ODYSSEUS CAME TO THE LAND OF THE CYCLOPES, AND HIS ADVENTURES
THERE

On and on across the waves sailed the dark-prowed ships of Odysseus,
until again they came to land.

It was the Land of the Cyclopes, a savage and lawless people, who
never planted, nor plowed, nor sowed, and whose fields yet gave them
rich harvests of wheat and of barley, and vines with heavy clusters of
grapes. In deep caves, high up on the hills, these people dwelt, and
each man ruled his own wife and children, but himself knew no ruler.

Outside the harbor of the Land of the Cyclopes lay a thickly wooded
island. No hunters went there, for the Cyclopes owned neither ships
nor boats, so that many goats roamed unharmed through the woods and
cropped the fresh green grass.

It was a green and pleasant land. Rich meadows stretched down to the
sea, the vines grew strong and fruitful, and there was a fair harbor
where ships might be run right on to the beach. At the head of the
harbor was a well of clear water flowing out of a cave, and with
poplars growing around it. Thither Odysseus directed his ships. It was
dark night, with no moon to guide, and mist lay deep on either side,
yet they passed the breakers and rolling surf without knowing it, and
anchored safely on the beach.

All night they slept, and when rosy dawn came they expl