For two days , therefore , the poor weather-worn voyagers kept quiet , and either staid on board of their vessel , or merely crept along under the cliffs that bordered the shore ; and to keep themselves alive , they dug shellfish out of the sand , and sought for any little rill of fresh water that might be running towards the sea . Before the two days were spent , they grew very weary of this kind of life ; for the followers of King Ulysses , as you will find it important to remember , were terrible gormandizers , and pretty sure to grumble if they missed their regulars meals , and their irregular ones besides . Their stock of provisions was quite exhausted , and even the shellfish began to get scarce , so that they had now to choose between starving to death or venturing into the interior of the island , where perhaps some huge three-headed dragon , or other horrible monster , had his den . Such misshapen creatures were very numerous in those days ; and nobody ever expected to make a voyage , or take a journey , without running more or less risk of being devoured by them . But King Ulysses was a bold man as well as a prudent one ; and on the third morning he determined to discover what sort of a place the island was , and whether it were possible to obtain a supply of food for the hungry mouths of his companions . So , taking a spear in his hand , he clambered to the summit of a cliff , and gazed round about him . At a distance , towards the center of the island , he beheld the stately towers of what seemed to be a palace , built of snow-white marble , and rising in the midst of a grove of lofty trees . The thick branches of these trees stretched across the front of the edifice , and more than half concealed it , although , from the portion which he saw , Ulysses judged it to be spacious and exceedingly beautiful , and probably the residence of some great nobleman or prince . A blue smoke went curling up from the chimney , and was almost the pleasantest part of the spectacle to Ulysses . For , from the abundance of this smoke , it was reasonable to conclude that there was a good fire in the kitchen , and that , at dinner-time , a plentiful banquet would be served up to the inhabitants of the palace , and to whatever guests might happen to drop in . With so agreeable a prospect before him , Ulysses fancied that he could not do better than go straight to the palace gate , and tell the master of it that there was a crew of poor shipwrecked mariners , not far off , who had eaten nothing for a day or two , save a few clams and oysters , and would therefore be thankful for a little food . And the prince or nobleman must be a very stingy curmudgeon , to be sure , if , at least , when his own dinner was over , he would not bid them welcome to the broken victuals from the table . Pleasing himself with this idea , King Ulysses had made a few steps in the direction of the palace , when there was a great twittering and chirping from the branch of a neighboring tree . A moment afterwards , a bird came flying towards him , and hovered in the air , so as almost to brush his face with its wings . It was a very pretty little bird , with purple wings and body , and yellow legs , and a circle of golden feathers round its neck , and on its head a golden tuft , which looked like a king 's crown in miniature . Ulysses tried to catch the bird . But it fluttered nimbly out of his reach , still chirping in a piteous tone , as if it could have told a lamentable story , had it only been gifted with human language . And when he attempted to drive it away , the bird flew no farther than the bough of the next tree , and again came fluttering about his head , with its doleful chirp , as soon as he showed a purpose of going forward . `` Have you anything to tell me , little bird ? '' asked Ulysses .
And he was ready to listen attentively XXXXX whatever the bird might communicate ; for , at the siege of Troy , and elsewhere , he had known such odd things to happen , that he would not have considered it much out of the common run had this little feathered creature talked as plainly as himself .
At With across like of than to towards whether without