Last Voyage: Selected Poems of Giovanni Pascoli

XIX. The Cyclops

171 XIX. The Cyclops So: he told his companions to stay near the ship and to watch over it. And he had already moved toward the cave, alone, to see the Cyclops but not be seen, as the shining flocks covered the mountain. Then Iro the beggar spoke to the hero: “I would really like to see that man who eats so much, and to carry away, if I can, some intestines, already cleaned, for sausage, and some lamb to stuff it full. For your Iro is hungry. And if the great Cyclops is within the cave, you know Iro is very fast though not very brave, and like the angry sky that comes, he flees on foot with the wind.” The hero smiled, and the two of them climbed, the beggar and the hero, until they reached the cave. Cyclops wasn’t there. They went up the mountain covered with flocks. And the two of them marveled at seeing baskets filled with cheeses and overflowing with lamb and with goatskins, also filled, and everything was laid out, everything was there, first courses, middle courses, later courses. And from one of the fences that stood there, with a child to her breast, there was a high-waisted woman, who said: “Guests, be joyful. Who are you? Where are you from? Are you here to trade?” But the hero, beyond the fence, with the beggar, glanced around at food already baking in the sun. 172 Ma pur mangiate, se il tardar v’è noia. Sorrise ad Iro il vecchio Eroe: poi disse: Ospite donna, e pur con te sia gioia. Ma dunque l’uomo a venerare apprese gli dei beati, ed ora sa la legge, benché tuttora abiti le spelonche, come i suoi pari, per lo scabro monte? E l’altocinta femmina rispose: Ospite, ognuno alla sua casa è legge, e della moglie e de’ suoi nati è re. Ma noi non deprediamo altri: ben altri, ch’errano in vano su le nere navi, come ladroni, a noi pecore o capre hanno predate. Altrui portando il male rischian essi la vita. Ma voi siete vecchi, e cercate un dono qui, non prede. Verso Iro il vecchio anche ammiccò: poi disse: Ospite donna, ben di lui conosco quale sia l’ospitale ultimo dono. Ed ecco un grande tremulo belato s’udì venire, e un suono di zampogna, e sufolare a pecore sbandate: e ne’ lor chiusi si levò più forte il vagir degli agnelli e dei capretti. Ch’egli veniva, e con fragore immenso depose un grande carico di selva fuori dell’antro: e ne rintronò l’antro. E Iro in fondo s’appiattò tremando. 173 If the meal was already eaten, and we are too late, it would be rude to ask to be fed. Smiling to Iro, the old hero says: “Hostess, equal joy also to you. But how should a man, approaching, honor these lucky men, and to know now their customs, because they always live in a cave and leave their tracks on the rough mountain.” And the high-waisted woman responded: “Guest, everyone is the law in his own house, and of his wife, and his children and possessions. But we do not plunder others; yet those on the black ships who were too proud, like thieves, have plundered our sheep, our goats. Others think only evil and so they risk their lives. But you are old, and seek a gift, not plunder.” The old hero winked at Iro, then said: “Hostess, I know him well, this Cyclops, and as the host he should find me a gift.” And at this they heard a great trembling and bleating approaching, and a sound of bagpipes. And trembling, the black sheep scatter, and no force can hold back the cry of the sheep and the goats. And then Cyclops with a great crash, dropped an enormous bundle of wood outside, and thundered into the cave. And Iro hid, shaking, on the ground. ...