The one-eyed Giant
The Greek hero, Ulysses, king of Ithaca, had many great adventures. The stories of these adventures are told in a wonderful book called the odyssey. Here is one of them.
When Ulysses and his men reached Sicily, they stopped. Ulysses went on shore with twelve of his sailors. He took with him a jar of magic wine.
Soon, they came to a large cave. Inside the cave there were great stores of cheeses and milk.
Ulysses and his men ate the cheese and drank the milk. But they did not want to take them without paying, so they waited for the owner of the cave to arrive. When he came in, they filed in terror too the back of the cave.
The shepherd who came home driving is flocks of sheep were a terrible giant –a Cyclops with one eye in the middle of his forehead. His name was Polyphemus. Polyphemus placed a great stone to block the entrance of the cave. He lit a fire and milked his flocks. When he had finished he saw Ulysses and the twelve Ithacans at the back of the cave.
`ha, strangers, who are you?’ he cried out.
`We are from Ithaca,’ answered Ulysses. `We are no our way home. We have finished all over provisions and came to beg you for food.’
Polyphemus said nothing. He reached out, seized two of the men, killed them, and ate them. Then he went to sleep.
Ulysses crept out with his sword to kill him. But then he hesitated.
He realized that if Polyphemus died he and his men would not be able to move the great rock which blocked he entrance to the cave. So he decided to wait.
Next morning the Cyclops ate two more men for breakfast and then went out for the day with his flock. But before he went, he blocked the mouth of the cave with the great piece of stone.
All that day, Ulysses and his terrified men worked hard. They sharpened a great stake. Of wood and hid it away before Polyphemus came home.
That evening, the giant killed another two Ithacans. Then Ulysses stepped forward with a low bow, and handed him a bowl of wine. Polyphemus gulped down the wine and said, `tell me your name, stranger.’
` I am called nobody,’ answered Ulysses.
The Cyclops drank the wine and fell asleep. Then, Ulysses and his men took the sharp stake, heated its point in the fire, and thrust it into the giant’s one eye, and blinded him.
He roared with pain and rage and the other giants who lived nearby came, calling out, `Polyphemus! What is the matter? Who is hunting you?’
`Nobody is hunting me!’ cried Polyphemus.
When they heard this, the other giants went away.
In the morning Polyphemus opened the cave to let his sheep out. But he felt carefully along their backs to see if Ulysses and the rest of his men were escaping. But Ulysses tied his men under several sheep. He himself held on to the fleece of the biggest one.
When they had reached their ship and were sailing away, Ulysses shouted, `Polyphemus! You have not been defeated by a mere anybody. I am Ulysses of Ithaca!’
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