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 to 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 . `` Peep ! '' said the bird , `` peep , peep , pe -- weep ! '' And nothing else would it say , but only , `` Peep , peep , pe -- weep ! '' in a melancholy cadence , and over and over and over again . As often as Ulysses moved forward , however , the bird showed the greatest alarm , and did its best to drive him back , with the anxious flutter of its purple wings .
Its unaccountable behavior made him conclude , XXXXX last , that the bird knew of some danger that awaited him , and which must needs be very terrible , beyond all question , since it moved even a little fowl to feel compassion for a human being .
about across as at before of on that towards with