The enchantress was far too cunning to let Ulysses see the mischief which her magic arts had since brought upon the gormandizers . `` As for yourself , valiant sir , '' said Circe , `` judging by the dignity of your aspect , I take you to be nothing less than a king . Deign to follow me , and you shall be treated as befits your rank . '' So Ulysses followed her into the oval saloon , where his two and twenty comrades had devoured the banquet , which ended so disastrously for themselves . But , all this while , he had held the snow-white flower in his hand , and had constantly smelt of it while Circe was speaking ; and as he crossed the threshold of the saloon , he took good care to inhale several long and deep snuffs of its fragrance . Instead of two and twenty thrones , which had before been ranged around the wall , there was now only a single throne , in the center of the apartment . But this was surely the most magnificent seat that ever a king or an emperor reposed himself upon , all made of chased gold , studded with precious stones , with a cushion that looked like a soft heap of living roses , and overhung by a canopy of sunlight which Circe knew how to weave into drapery . The enchantress took Ulysses by the hand , and made him sit down upon this dazzling throne . Then , clapping her hands , she summoned the chief butler . `` Bring hither , '' said she , `` the goblet that is set apart for kings to drink out of . And fill it with the same delicious wine which my royal brother , King Aetes , praised so highly , when he last visited me with my fair daughter Medea . That good and amiable child ! Were she now here , it would delight her to see me offering this wine to my honored guest . '' But Ulysses , while the butler was gone for the wine , held the snow-white flower to his nose . `` Is it a wholesome wine ? '' he asked . At this the four maidens tittered ; whereupon the enchantress looked round at them , with an aspect of severity . `` It is the wholesomest juice that ever was squeezed out of the grape , '' said she ; `` for , instead of disguising a man , as other liquor is apt to do , it brings him to his true self , and shows him as he ought to be . '' The chief butler liked nothing better than to see people turned into swine , or making any kind of a beast of themselves ; so he made haste to bring the royal goblet , filled with a liquid as bright as gold , and which kept sparkling upward , and throwing a sunny spray over the brim . But , delightfully as the wine looked , it was mingled with the most potent enchantments that Circe knew how to concoct .
For every drop XXXXX the pure grape juice there were two drops of the pure mischief ; and the danger of the thing was , that the mischief made it taste all the better .
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