4 The bag of winds

Chapter 4 The bag of winds I tried to put the Cyclops' curse out of my mind, and we sailed on peacefully enough until we reached the island of Aeolus, Keeper of the Winds. Unlike our last host, Aeolus welcomed us kindly. We stayed at his palace for a month, feasting and telling stories.

When we left, Aeolus gave me a strange and wonderful present. "Here," he said to me, handing me a bulging cloth bag. "This bag contains powerful winds. Let out just a few puffs if you need to change course." I put the bag in a safe place, where my men wouldn't accidentally open it, and we went on our way. Aeolus also sent us a steady breeze to blow us home. Before we knew it, we were close enough to Ithaca to see people walking about on the shore.

By now, I was so exhausted that I couldn't keep my eyes open, and I took a nap. I dreamed of Penelope, my wife, and Telemachus, my son, who must be almost a man now. As I slept, some of my men pulled out the bag full of winds. They must have thought it contained treasure, because they opened it. A mighty hurricane whipped up around us. I woke with a start and realized that my men had released all the winds at once.

We were blown back and back and back the way we had come... all the way back to Aeolus. This time, he wouldn't help us. "The gods seem against you," he said. "I can't do anything more. So, we set sail yet again, only this time, without the winds of Aeolus, our ships seemed to crawl through the water. After a while, we came to an island and landed to stock up on food and water. I spotted a girl walking along the road, and I called out to her. She told us to go and see her mother and father, the king and queen of the Laestrygones, in their palace on the hill.

"They'd be delighted to have you for supper," she said, with a smile that I didn't like all that much. When we met the king and queen, we found out why they'd be so delighted -they were cannibals! We ran for our lives, but not all of us escaped. The Laestrygones army chased us all the way to the shore and hurled rocks at us, smashing almost all of our ships and killing many of my men.

Only one ship of sad, tired men sailed away from that island. We had no supplies, and hardly any hope left in our hearts. Next time we landed, I was more cautious. We drew lots, and one group of men stayed at the shore with me, and the other followed Eurylochus to explore. The scouting party soon came upon a stone house in the woods. Eurylochus told me later that outside the house were wolves and lions as meek and friendly as puppies and kittens. One lion even rolled on its back to have its tummy tickled.