Odysseus laughed in scorn. "Would I might as surely strip you of life and send you to Hades as it is sure the Earth-shaker will never heal your eye."
Then for the first time in his life the monster prayed, stretching forth his hands to the sky:
"Hear me, thou girder of the land, dark-haired Poseidon. If I am truly thine, and thou art called my father, vouchsafe no coming home to this Odysseus, spoiler of cities, Laertes' son, whose home is Ithaca. Yet if it be his lot to see his friends once more, and reach his stately home and native land, late let him come, in evil plight, with loss of all his crew, on the vessel of a stranger, and may he at his home find trouble."
He finished. His anger burst forth fiercely once more. Heaving up another rock far larger than the first, he swung it back and forth, put forth his utmost strength and hurled the mountainous mass out to sea. It struck behind the galley, which shot up as if lifted by a tidal wave. Odysseus called his order; the oars struck the water; the tough shafts bent with the strain; but in a few moments the galley was riding safe beyond the whirlpool and speeding toward the outer island.
But through all the rejoicings with which they met their comrades in the other ships, through the feast, and through the propitiatory sacrifice, the heart of Odysseus was heavy within him.
It was with a solemn brow that he loosed sail at dawn next day and set forth to accomplish what remained of his amazing destiny.
CHAPTER IV
WHEN THOR WENT TO JOTUNHEIM
Odin, he of the nine-and-forty names, dwelt in bright Asgard with his fellow Æsir and Asynjar. Father of gods and men though he was, born though he was of a giant mother, there was bitter strife between him and the vast Frost and Mountain Giants, the seed of Ymir's feet. They alone ventured openly to dispute his sovereignty.