`` Come on , then , '' cried his comrades , `` and we 'll soon know as much as he does . '' The party , accordingly , went onward through the green and pleasant wood . Every little while they caught new glimpses of the marble palace , which looked more and more beautiful the nearer they approached it . They soon entered a broad pathway , which seemed to be very neatly kept , and which went winding along , with streaks of sunshine falling across it and specks of light quivering among the deepest shadows that fell from the lofty trees . It was bordered , too , with a great many sweet-smelling flowers , such as the mariners had never seen before . So rich and beautiful they were , that , if the shrubs grew wild here , and were native in the soil , then this island was surely the flower garden of the whole earth ; or , if transplanted from some other clime , it must have been from the Happy Islands that lay towards the golden sunset . `` There has been a great deal of pains foolishly wasted on these flowers , '' observed one of the company ; and I tell you what he said , that you may keep in mind what gormandizers they were . `` For my part , if I were the owner of the palace , I would bid my gardener cultivate nothing but savory pot herbs to make a stuffing for roast meat , or to flavor a stew with . '' `` Well said ! '' cried the others . `` But I 'll warrant you there 's a kitchen garden in the rear of the palace . '' At one place they came to a crystal spring , and paused to drink at it for want of liquor which they liked better . Looking into its bosom , they beheld their own faces dimly reflected , but so extravagantly distorted by the gush and motion of the water , that each one of them appeared to be laughing at himself and all his companions . So ridiculous were these images of themselves , indeed , that they did really laugh aloud , and could hardly be grave again as soon as they wished . And after they had drank , they grew still merrier than before . `` It has a twang of the wine cask in it , '' said one , smacking his lips . `` Make haste ! '' cried his fellows : `` we 'll find the wine cask itself at the palace , and that will be better than a hundred crystal fountains . '' Then they quickened their pace , and capered for joy at the thought of the savory banquet at which they hoped to be guests . But Eurylochus told them that he felt as if he were walking in a dream .
`` If I am really awake , '' continued he , `` then , in my opinion , we are XXXXX the point of meeting with some stranger adventure than any that befell us in the cave of Polyphemus , or among the gigantic man-eating Laestrygons , or in the windy palace of King Aeolus , which stands on a brazen-walled island .
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