when there met him a young man of very brisk
and intelligent aspect, and clad in a rather sin-
gular garb. He wore a short cloak, and a sort
of cap that seemed to be furnished with a pair
of wings; and from the lightness of his step,
you would have supposed that there might like-
wise be wings on his feet. To enable him to
walk still better, (for he was always on one jour-
ney or another,) he carried a winged staff, around
which two serpents were wriggling and twisting.
In short, I have said enough to make you guess
that it was Quicksilver; and Ulysses (who knew
him of old, and had learned a great deal of his
wisdom from him) recognized him in a moment.

"Whither are you going in such a hurry, wise
Ulysses?" asked Quicksilver. "Do you not know
that this island is enchanted? The wicked en-
chantress (whose name is Circe, the sister of King
Aeetes) 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 re-
semble."

"That little bird, which met me at the edge
of the cliff," exclaimed Ulysses, "was he a
human being once?"

[[197]]

p196 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p197w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p198

v?