These being arrived , with the prudent Eurylochus at their head , they all made themselves comfortable in Circe 's enchanted palace , until quite rested and refreshed from the toils and hardships of their voyage . THE POMEGRANATE SEEDS . Mother Ceres was exceedingly fond of her daughter Proserpina , and seldom let her go alone into the fields . But , just at the time when my story begins , the good lady was very busy , because she had the care of the wheat , and the Indian corn , and the rye and barley and , in short , of the crops of every kind , all over the earth ; and as the season had thus far been uncommonly backward , it was necessary to make the harvest ripen more speedily than usual . So she put on her turban , made of poppies -LRB- a kind of flower which she was always noted for wearing -RRB- , and got into her car drawn by a pair of winged dragons , and was just ready to set off . `` Dear mother , '' said Proserpina , `` I shall be very lonely while you are away . May I not run down to the shore , and ask some of the sea nymphs to come up out of the waves and play with me ? '' `` Yes , child , '' answered Mother Ceres . `` The sea nymphs are good creatures , and will never lead you into any harm . But you must take care not to stray away from them , nor go wandering about the fields by yourself . Young girls , without their mothers to take care of them , are very apt to get into mischief . '' The child promised to be as prudent as if she were a grown-up woman ; and , by the time the winged dragons had whirled the car out of sight , she was already on the shore , calling to the sea nymphs to come and play with her . They knew Proserpina 's voice , and were not long in showing their glistening faces and sea-green hair above the water , at the bottom of which was their home . They brought along with them a great many beautiful shells ; and sitting down on the moist sand , where the surf wave broke over them , they busied themselves in making a necklace , which they hung round Proserpina 's neck . By way of showing her gratitude , the child besought them to go with her a little way into the fields , so that they might gather abundance of flowers , with which she would make each of her kind playmates a wreath . `` O no , dear Proserpina , '' cried the sea nymphs ; `` we dare not go with you upon the dry land . We are apt to grow faint , unless at every breath we can snuff up the salt breeze of the ocean . And do n't you see how careful we are to let the surf wave break over us every moment or two , so as to keep ourselves comfortably moist ? If it were not for that , we should look like bunches of uprooted seaweed dried in the sun . `` It is a great pity , '' said Proserpina .
`` But do you wait for me here , and I will run and gather my apron full of flowers , and be back again before the surf wave has broken ten times XXXXX you .
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