"'It is well,' said Autolycus. 'Go now among my herds, and if you find any cattle bearing your mark upon them, they are yours: drive them back to your own pastures. This is the offer which I make to every man who comes claiming that I have stolen his cattle.'
"Then Sisyphus, to your grandfather's great surprise, went among the herds, and chose his own without making a single error.
"'See you not my initial, [sigma symbol], under the hoof of each of these beasts?' asked Sisyphus.
"Autolycus saw at once that he had been outwitted, and he fain would have made friends with one who was more crafty than himself. But Sisyphus dealt treacherously with him, as he did with every one who trusted him. Yet men say, that, now he is dead, he has his reward in Hades; for there he is doomed to the never-ending toil of heaving a heavy stone to the top of a hill, only to see it roll back again to the plain.[1] It was from him that men learned to call your grandfather the King of Cattle Thieves; with how much justice, you may judge for yourself."
[1] See [Note 3] at the end of this volume.
"You have explained a part of what I asked you," said Odysseus thoughtfully, "but you have not answered my question about Hermes."
"I will answer that at another time," said Phemius; "for to-morrow we must renew our journey, and I must go now and put every thing in readiness."[2]
[2] See [Note 4] at the end of this volume.
"But has the oracle spoken?" asked Odysseus in surprise.
"The Pythia has answered my question," said the bard. "I asked what fortune should attend you on this journey, and the oracle made this reply:--