Verse
Odyssey
Book 12, Line 397 by Samuel Butler (English)
"For six days my men kept driving in the best cows and feasting upon them, but when Zeus the son of Kronos had added a seventh day, the fury of the gale abated; we therefore went on board, raised our masts, spread sail, and put out to sea. As soon as we were well away from the island, and could see nothing but sky and sea, the son of Kronos raised a black cloud over our ship, and the sea grew dark beneath it. We did not get on much further, for in another moment we were caught by a terrific squall from the West that snapped the forestays of the mast so that it fell aft, while all the ship's gear tumbled about at the bottom of the vessel. The mast fell upon the head of the helmsman in the ship's stern, so that the bones of his head were crushed to pieces, and he fell overboard as though he were diving, with no more life left in him.
OdysseyBook 12, Line 397Samuel ButlerEnglishVerse permalinkRead in Book 12
HomerProseID odyssey-odyssey-butler-en-prose-12-397