94 ODYSSEY • BOOK V l22^

By now the sun had set and it grew dark. So the two retired
to a recess in the cavern and there in each other's arms they spent
a night of love.

But the new Dawn had scarcely touched the East with red
before Odysseus put his cloak and tunic on. The Nymph dressed
herself too in a long silvery mantle of a light material charming
to the eye, with a splendid golden belt round her waist, and a
veil over her head. Then she turned her thoughts to the problem
other noble guest's departure. First she gave him a great axe of
broirze. Its double blade was sharpened well, and the shapely
handle of olive-wood fixed firmly in its head was fitted to his
grip. Next she handed him an adze of polished metal; and then
led the way for him to the farthest part of the island, where the
trees grew tall, alders and poplars and firs that shot up to the sky,
all withered timber that had long since lost its sap and would
make buoyant material for his boat. When she had shown him
the place where the trees were tallest the gracious goddess left
for home, and Odysseus began to cut the timber down. He
made short work of the task. Twenty trees in all he felled, and
lopped their branches with his axe; then trimmed them in a
workmanlike manner and trued them to the line. Presently Ca-
lypso brought him augers. With these he drilled through all his
planks, cut them to fit across each other, and fixed this flooring
together by means of dowels driven through the interlocking
joints, giving the same width to his boat as a skilled shipwright
would choose in designing the hull for a broad-bottomed trad-
ing vessel. He next put up the decking, which he fitted to ribs at
short intervals, finishing offwith long gunwales down the sides.
He made a mast to go in the boat, with a yard fitted to it; and
a steering-oar too, to keep her on her course. And from stem to
stern he fenced her sides with plaited osier twigs and a plentiful
backing of brushwood, as someprotecrion against theheavy seas.
Meanwhile the goddess Calypso had brought him cloth with
which to make the sail. This he manufactured too; and then
lashed the braces, halyards, and sheets in their places on board.
Finally he dragged her down on rollers into the tranquil sea.