Pray tell us, sirs, of some river-spring whence we might draw a draught to slake our thirst, or of someone willing to sell victuals to mariners in need.Why, what is this? We seem to have chanced upon a city of the Bromian god; here by the caves I see a group of Satyrs. To the eldest first I bid All hail!SilenusAll hail, sir! tell me who thou art, and name thy country.OdysseusOdysseus of Ithaca, king of the Cephallenians’ land.SilenusI know him for a prating knave, one of Sisyphus’ shrewd offspring.OdysseusI am the man; abuse me not.SilenusWhence hast thou sailed hither to Sicily?OdysseusFrom Ilium and the toils of Troy.SilenusHow was that? didst thou not know the passage to thy native land?OdysseusTempestuous winds drove me hither against my will.SilenusGod wot! thou art in the same plight as I am.OdysseusWhy, wert thou too drifted hither against thy will?SilenusI was, as I pursued the pirates who carried Bromius off.OdysseusWhat land is this and who are its inhabitants?SilenusThis is mount Aetna, the highest point in Sicily.OdysseusBut where are the city-walls and ramparts?SilenusThere are none; the headlands, sir, are void of men.OdysseusWho then possess the land? the race of wild creatures?SilenusThe Cyclopes, who have caves, not roofed houses.OdysseusObedient unto whom? or is the power in the people’s hands?SilenusThey are rovers; no man obeys another in anything.OdysseusDo they sow Demeter’s grain, or on what do they live?SilenusOn milk and cheese and flesh of sheep.OdysseusHave they the drink of Bromius, the juice of the vine?SilenusNo indeed! and thus it is a joyless land they dwell in.OdysseusAre they hospitable and reverent towards strangers?SilenusStrangers, they say, supply the daintiest meat.OdysseusWhat, do they delight in killing men and eating them?SilenusNo one has ever arrived here without being butchered.