While she passed down along their whole array,
Smearing another drug on each of them;
And off their limbs the bristles fell away,
That the first baleful drug from Circe’s store
Had made to grow upon them; and once more
Men they became, and younger were to see
And taller far and goodlier than before.[[9]]
Then the ship was hauled into a cave, and their companions were induced to come up to Circe’s house, where they all joined in feasting and merriment. Cautious Eurylochus tried to dissuade them; but Odysseus would give no heed to his warning; and there followed a long interval of riotous pleasure over which Circe and the river-nymphs who were her handmaidens presided as queens. The days went by uncounted in luxurious ease; and if, in rare moments, Odysseus had an uneasy flash of memory, Circe’s caressing voice would flatter and soothe him into complacence again, persuading him to stay yet a little longer.
“Myself I know
What sorrows you have suffered in the deep