'Whither are you going in such a hurry, wise Ulysses?' asked Quicksilver. 'Do you not know that this island is enchanted? The wicked enchantress (whose name is Circe, the sister of King Æetes) dwells in the marble palace which you see yonder among the trees. By her magic arts, she changes every human being into the brute beast or fowl whom he happens most to resemble.'
'That little bird, which met me at the edge of the cliff,' exclaimed Ulysses; 'was he a human being once?'
'Yes,' answered Quicksilver. 'He was once a king, named Picus, and a pretty good sort of a king too, only rather too proud of his purple robe, and his crown, and the golden chain about his neck; so he was forced to take the shape of a gaudy-feathered bird. The lions, and wolves, and tigers, who will come running to meet you, in front of the palace, were formerly fierce and cruel men, resembling in their dispositions the wild beasts whose forms they now rightfully wear.'
'And my poor companions?' said Ulysses. 'Have they undergone a similar change, through the arts of this wicked Circe?'
'You well know what gormandisers they were,' replied Quicksilver,—and, rogue that he was, he could not help laughing at the joke,—'so you will not be surprised to hear that they have all taken the shapes of swine! If Circe had never done anything worse, I really should not think her so very much to blame.'
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