Keep it in your hand , and smell of it frequently after you enter the palace , and while you are talking with the enchantress . Especially when she offers you food , or a draught of wine out of her goblet , be careful to fill your nostrils with the flower 's fragrance . Follow these directions , and you may defy her magic arts to change you into a fox . '' Quicksilver then gave him some further advice how to behave , and bidding him be bold and prudent , again assured him that , powerful as Circe was , he would have a fair prospect of coming safely out of her enchanted palace . After listening attentively , Ulysses thanked his good friend , and resumed his way . But he had taken only a few steps , when , recollecting some other questions which he wished to ask , he turned round again , and beheld nobody on the spot where Quicksilver had stood ; for that winged cap of his , and those winged shoes , with the help of the winged staff , had carried him quickly out of sight . When Ulysses reached the lawn , in front of the palace , the lions and other savage animals came bounding to meet him , and would have fawned upon him and licked his feet . But the wise king struck at them with his long spear , and sternly bade them begone out of his path ; for he knew that they had once been bloodthirsty men , and would now tear him limb from limb , instead of fawning upon him , could they do the mischief that was in their hearts . The wild beasts yelped and glared at him , and stood at a distance , while he ascended the palace steps . On entering the hall , Ulysses saw the magic fountain in the center of it . The up-gushing water had now again taken the shape of a man in a long , white , fleecy robe , who appeared to be making gestures of welcome . The king likewise heard the noise of the shuttle in the loom and the sweet melody of the beautiful woman 's song , and then the pleasant voices of herself and the four maidens talking together , with peals of merry laughter intermixed . But Ulysses did not waste much time in listening to the laughter or the song . He leaned his spear against one of the pillars of the hall , and then , after loosening his sword in the scabbard , stepped boldly forward , and threw the folding doors wide open . The moment she beheld his stately figure standing in the doorway , the beautiful woman rose from the loom , and ran to meet him with a glad smile throwing its sunshine over her face , and both her hands extended . `` Welcome , brave stranger ! '' cried she . `` We were expecting you . '' And the nymph with the sea-green hair made a courtesy down to the ground , and likewise bade him welcome ; so did her sister with the bodice of oaken bark , and she that sprinkled dew-drops from her fingers ' ends , and the fourth one with some oddity which I can not remember . And Circe , as the beautiful enchantress was called -LRB- who had deluded so many persons that she did not doubt of being able to delude Ulysses , not imagining how wise he was -RRB- , again addressed him : `` Your companions , '' said she , `` have already been received into my palace , and have enjoyed the hospitable treatment to which the propriety of their behavior so well entitles them .
If such be your pleasure , you shall first take some refreshment , and then join them XXXXX the elegant apartment which they now occupy .
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