Escape beneath the rams

32“The rams were plump and beautiful, and large
With thick dark fleeces. These I silently
Bound to each other, three and three, with twigs
Of which that prodigy of lawless guilt,
The Cyclops, made his bed. The middle ram
Of every three conveyed a man; the two,
One on each side, were there to make him safe.
Thus each of us was borne by three; but I
Chose for myself the finest one of all,
And seized him by the back, and, slipping down
Beneath his shaggy belly, stretched myself
At length, and clung with resolute heart, and hands
That firmly clenched the rich abundant fleece.
Then sighed we for the holy Eos to rise.

33“And when again the daughter of the dawn,
The rosy-fingered Eos, looked forth, the males
Went forth to pasture, while the ewes remained
Within the stables, bleating, yet unmilked,
For heavy were their udders. Carefully
The master handled, though in grievous pain,
The back of everyone that rose and passed,
Yet, slow of thought, perceived not that my men
Were clinging hid beneath their woolly breasts.
As the last ram of all the flock went out,
His thick fleece heavy with my weight, and I
In agitated thought, he felt his back,
And thus the giant Polyphemus spoke: —

34“ ‘My favorite ram, how are you now the last
To leave the cave? It has not been your wont
To let the sheep go first, but you did come
Earliest to feed among the flowery grass,
Walking with stately strides, and you were first
At the fresh stream, and first at eve to seek
The stable; now you are the last of all.
Do you grieve for your master, who has lost
His eye, put out by a deceitful wretch
And his vile crew, who stupefied me first
With wine —this Noman —who, if right I deem,
Has not escaped from death. O, did you think
As I do, and had but the power of speech
To tell me where he hides from my strong arm,
Then should his brains, dashed out against the ground,
Be scattered here and there; then should my heart
Be somewhat lighter, even amid the woes
Which Noman, worthless wretch, has brought on me!’

35“He spoke, and sent him forth among the rest;
And when we were a little way beyond
The cavern and the court, I loosed my hold
Upon the animal and unbound my men.
Then quickly we surrounded and drove off,
Fat sheep and stately paced, a numerous flock,
And brought them to our ship, where joyfully
Our friends received us, though with grief and tears
For those who perished. Yet I suffered not
That they should weep, but, frowning, gave command
By signs to lift with speed the fair-woolled sheep
On board, and launch our ship on the salt sea.
They went on board, where each one took his place
Upon the benches, and with diligent oars
Smote the gray deep; and when we were as far
As one upon the shore could hear a shout,
Thus to the Cyclops tauntingly I called: —
“ ‘Ha! Cyclops! those whom in your rocky cave
You, in your brutal fury, have devoured,
Were friends of one not unexpert in war;
Amply have your own guilty deeds returned
Upon you. Cruel one! who did not fear
To eat the strangers sheltered by your roof,
Zeus and the other gods avenge them thus.’