typing_rust

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A small typing test program in Rust

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Jaglekon <58274093+Jaglekon@users.noreply.github.com>2026-09-26 22:27 UTC

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Added file: assets/oddyssey.txt+10230 additions@@ -0,0 +1,10230 @@
+Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide
+after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit,
+and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was
+acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his
+own life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could
+not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in
+eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them
+from ever reaching home. Tell me, too, about all these things, oh
+daughter of Jove, from whatsoever source you may know them.
+
+So now all who escaped death in battle or by shipwreck had got safely
+home except Ulysses, and he, though he was longing to return to his
+wife and country, was detained by the goddess Calypso, who had got him
+into a large cave and wanted to marry him. But as years went by, there
+came a time when the gods settled that he should go back to Ithaca;
+even then, however, when he was among his own people, his troubles were
+not yet over; nevertheless all the gods had now begun to pity him
+except Neptune, who still persecuted him without ceasing and would not
+let him get home.
+
+Now Neptune had gone off to the Ethiopians, who are at the world's end,
+and lie in two halves, the one looking West and the other East. He had
+gone there to accept a hecatomb of sheep and oxen, and was enjoying
+himself at his festival; but the other gods met in the house of
+Olympian Jove, and the sire of gods and men spoke first. At that moment
+he was thinking of Aegisthus, who had been killed by Agamemnon's son
+Orestes; so he said to the other gods:
+
+"See now, how men lay blame upon us gods for what is after all nothing
+but their own folly. Look at Aegisthus; he must needs make love to
+Agamemnon's wife unrighteously and then kill Agamemnon, though he knew
+it would be the death of him; for I sent Mercury to warn him not to do
+either of these things, inasmuch as Orestes would be sure to take his
+revenge when he grew up and wanted to return home. Mercury told him
+this in all good will but he would not listen, and now he has paid for
+everything in full."
+
+Then Minerva said, "Father, son of Saturn, King of kings, it served
+Aegisthus right, and so it would any one else who does as he did; but
+Aegisthus is neither here nor there; it is for Ulysses that my heart
+bleeds, when I think of his sufferings in that lonely sea-girt island,
+far away, poor man, from all his friends. It is an island covered with
+forest, in the very middle of the sea, and a goddess lives there,
+daughter of the magician Atlas, who looks after the bottom of the
+ocean, and carries the great columns that keep heaven and earth
+asunder. This daughter of Atlas has got hold of poor unhappy Ulysses,
+and keeps trying by every kind of blandishment to make him forget his
+home, so that he is tired of life, and thinks of nothing but how he may
+once more see the smoke of his own chimneys. You, sir, take no heed of
+this, and yet when Ulysses was before Troy did he not propitiate you
+with many a burnt sacrifice? Why then should you keep on being so angry
+with him?"
+
+And Jove said, "My child, what are you talking about? How can I forget
+Ulysses than whom there is no more capable man on earth, nor more
+liberal in his offerings to the immortal gods that live in heaven? Bear
+in mind, however, that Neptune is still furious with Ulysses for having
+blinded an eye of Polyphemus king of the Cyclopes. Polyphemus is son to
+Neptune by the nymph Thoosa, daughter to the sea-king Phorcys;
+therefore though he will not kill Ulysses outright, he torments him by
+preventing him from getting home. Still, let us lay our heads together
+and see how we can help him to return; Neptune will then be pacified,
+for if we are all of a mind he can hardly stand out against us."
+
+And Minerva said, "Father, son of Saturn, King of kings, if, then, the
+gods now mean that Ulysses should get home, we should first send
+Mercury to the Ogygian island to tell Calypso that we have made up our
+minds and that he is to return. In the meantime I will go to Ithaca, to
+put heart into Ulysses' son Telemachus; I will embolden him to call the
+Achaeans in assembly, and speak out to the suitors of his mother
+Penelope, who persist in eating up any number of his sheep and oxen; I
+will also conduct him to Sparta and to Pylos, to see if he can hear
+anything about the return of his dear father—for this will make people
+speak well of him."
+
+So saying she bound on her glittering golden sandals, imperishable,
+with which she can fly like the wind over land or sea; she grasped the
+redoubtable bronze-shod spear, so stout and sturdy and strong,
+wherewith she quells the ranks of heroes who have displeased her, and
+down she darted from the topmost summits of Olympus, whereon forthwith
+she was in Ithaca, at the gateway of Ulysses' house, disguised as a
+visitor, Mentes, chief of the Taphians, and she held a bronze spear in
+her hand. There she found the lordly suitors seated on hides of the
+oxen which they had killed and eaten, and playing draughts in front of
+the house. Men-servants and pages were bustling about to wait upon
+them, some mixing wine with water in the mixing-bowls, some cleaning
+down the tables with wet sponges and laying them out again, and some
+cutting up great quantities of meat.
+
+Telemachus saw her long before any one else did. He was sitting moodily
+among the suitors thinking about his brave father, and how he would
+send them flying out of the house, if he were to come to his own again
+and be honoured as in days gone by. Thus brooding as he sat among them,
+he caught sight of Minerva and went straight to the gate, for he was
+vexed that a stranger should be kept waiting for admittance. He took
+her right hand in his own, and bade her give him her spear. "Welcome,"
+said he, "to our house, and when you have partaken of food you shall
+tell us what you have come for."
+
+He led the way as he spoke, and Minerva followed him. When they were
+within he took her spear and set it in the spear-stand against a strong
+bearing-post along with the many other spears of his unhappy father,
+and he conducted her to a richly decorated seat under which he threw a
+cloth of damask. There was a footstool also for her feet, and he set
+another seat near her for himself, away from the suitors, that she
+might not be annoyed while eating by their noise and insolence, and
+that he might ask her more freely about his father.
+
+A maid servant then brought them water in a beautiful golden ewer and
+poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their hands, and she
+drew a clean table beside them. An upper servant brought them bread,
+and offered them many good things of what there was in the house, the
+carver fetched them plates of all manner of meats and set cups of gold
+by their side, and a manservant brought them wine and poured it out for
+them.
+
+
+Then the suitors came in and took their places on the benches and
+seats. Forthwith men servants poured water over their hands, maids
+went round with the bread-baskets, pages filled the mixing-bowls with
+wine and water, and they laid their hands upon the good things that
+were before them. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink they
+wanted music and dancing, which are the crowning embellishments of a
+banquet, so a servant brought a lyre to Phemius, whom they compelled
+perforce to sing to them. As soon as he touched his lyre and began to
+sing Telemachus spoke low to Minerva, with his head close to hers that
+no man might hear.
+
+"I hope, sir," said he, "that you will not be offended with what I am
+going to say. Singing comes cheap to those who do not pay for it, and
+all this is done at the cost of one whose bones lie rotting in some
+wilderness or grinding to powder in the surf. If these men were to see
+my father come back to Ithaca they would pray for longer legs rather
+than a longer purse, for money would not serve them; but he, alas, has
+fallen on an ill fate, and even when people do sometimes say that he is
+coming, we no longer heed them; we shall never see him again. And now,
+sir, tell me and tell me true, who you are and where you come from.
+Tell me of your town and parents, what manner of ship you came in, how
+your crew brought you to Ithaca, and of what nation they declared
+themselves to be—for you cannot have come by land. Tell me also truly,
+for I want to know, are you a stranger to this house, or have you been
+here in my father's time? In the old days we had many visitors for my
+father went about much himself."
+
+And Minerva answered, "I will tell you truly and particularly all about
+it. I am Mentes, son of Anchialus, and I am King of the Taphians. I
+have come here with my ship and crew, on a voyage to men of a foreign
+tongue being bound for Temesa with a cargo of iron, and I shall bring
+back copper. As for my ship, it lies over yonder off the open country
+away from the town, in the harbour Rheithron under the wooded mountain
+Neritum. Our fathers were friends before us, as old Laertes will tell
+you, if you will go and ask him. They say, however, that he never comes
+to town now, and lives by himself in the country, faring hardly, with
+an old woman to look after him and get his dinner for him, when he
+comes in tired from pottering about his vineyard. They told me your
+father was at home again, and that was why I came, but it seems the
+gods are still keeping him back, for he is not dead yet not on the
+mainland. It is more likely he is on some sea-girt island in mid ocean,
+or a prisoner among savages who are detaining him against his will. I
+am no prophet, and know very little about omens, but I speak as it is
+borne in upon me from heaven, and assure you that he will not be away
+much longer; for he is a man of such resource that even though he were
+in chains of iron he would find some means of getting home again. But
+tell me, and tell me true, can Ulysses really have such a fine looking
+fellow for a son? You are indeed wonderfully like him about the head
+and eyes, for we were close friends before he set sail for Troy where
+the flower of all the Argives went also. Since that time we have never
+either of us seen the other."
+
+"My mother," answered Telemachus, "tells me I am son to Ulysses, but it
+is a wise child that knows his own father. Would that I were son to one
+who had grown old upon his own estates, for, since you ask me, there is
+no more ill-starred man under heaven than he who they tell me is my
+father."
+
+And Minerva said, "There is no fear of your race dying out yet, while
+Penelope has such a fine son as you are. But tell me, and tell me true,
+what is the meaning of all this feasting, and who are these people?
+What is it all about? Have you some banquet, or is there a wedding in
+the family—for no one seems to be bringing any provisions of his own?
+And the guests—how atrociously they are behaving; what riot they make
+over the whole house; it is enough to disgust any respectable person
+who comes near them."
+
+"Sir," said Telemachus, "as regards your question, so long as my father
+was here it was well with us and with the house, but the gods in their
+displeasure have willed it otherwise, and have hidden him away more
+closely than mortal man was ever yet hidden. I could have borne it
+better even though he were dead, if he had fallen with his men before
+Troy, or had died with friends around him when the days of his fighting
+were done; for then the Achaeans would have built a mound over his
+ashes, and I should myself have been heir to his renown; but now the
+storm-winds have spirited him away we know not whither; he is gone
+without leaving so much as a trace behind him, and I inherit nothing
+but dismay. Nor does the matter end simply with grief for the loss of
+my father; heaven has laid sorrows upon me of yet another kind; for the
+chiefs from all our islands, Dulichium, Same, and the woodland island
+of Zacynthus, as also all the principal men of Ithaca itself, are
+eating up my house under the pretext of paying their court to my
+mother, who will neither point blank say that she will not marry, nor
+yet bring matters to an end; so they are making havoc of my estate, and
+before long will do so also with myself."
+
+"Is that so?" exclaimed Minerva, "then you do indeed want Ulysses home
+again. Give him his helmet, shield, and a couple of lances, and if he
+is the man he was when I first knew him in our house, drinking and
+making merry, he would soon lay his hands about these rascally suitors,
+were he to stand once more upon his own threshold. He was then coming
+from Ephyra, where he had been to beg poison for his arrows from Ilus,
+son of Mermerus. Ilus feared the ever-living gods and would not give
+him any, but my father let him have some, for he was very fond of him.
+If Ulysses is the man he then was these suitors will have a short
+shrift and a sorry wedding.
+
+"But there! It rests with heaven to determine whether he is to return,
+and take his revenge in his own house or no; I would, however, urge you
+to set about trying to get rid of these suitors at once. Take my
+advice, call the Achaean heroes in assembly to-morrow morning—lay your
+case before them, and call heaven to bear you witness. Bid the suitors
+take themselves off, each to his own place, and if your mother's mind
+is set on marrying again, let her go back to her father, who will find
+her a husband and provide her with all the marriage gifts that so dear
+a daughter may expect. As for yourself, let me prevail upon you to take
+the best ship you can get, with a crew of twenty men, and go in quest
+of your father who has so long been missing. Some one may tell you
+something, or (and people often hear things in this way) some
+heaven-sent message may direct you. First go to Pylos and ask Nestor;
+thence go on to Sparta and visit Menelaus, for he got home last of all
+the Achaeans; if you hear that your father is alive and on his way
+home, you can put up with the waste these suitors will make for yet
+another twelve months. If on the other hand you hear of his death, come
+home at once, celebrate his funeral rites with all due pomp, build a
+barrow to his memory, and make your mother marry again. Then, having
+done all this, think it well over in your mind how, by fair means or
+foul, you may kill these suitors in your own house. You are too old to
+plead infancy any longer; have you not heard how people are singing
+Orestes' praises for having killed his father's murderer Aegisthus? You
+are a fine, smart looking fellow; show your mettle, then, and make
+yourself a name in story. Now, however, I must go back to my ship and
+to my crew, who will be impatient if I keep them waiting longer; think
+the matter over for yourself, and remember what I have said to you."
+
+"Sir," answered Telemachus, "it has been very kind of you to talk to me
+in this way, as though I were your own son, and I will do all you tell
+me; I know you want to be getting on with your voyage, but stay a
+little longer till you have taken a bath and refreshed yourself. I will
+then give you a present, and you shall go on your way rejoicing; I will
+give you one of great beauty and value—a keepsake such as only dear
+friends give to one another."
+
+Minerva answered, "Do not try to keep me, for I would be on my way at
+once. As for any present you may be disposed to make me, keep it till I
+come again, and I will take it home with me. You shall give me a very
+good one, and I will give you one of no less value in return."
+
+With these words she flew away like a bird into the air, but she had
+given Telemachus courage, and had made him think more than ever about
+his father. He felt the change, wondered at it, and knew that the
+stranger had been a god, so he went straight to where the suitors were
+sitting.
+
+Phemius was still singing, and his hearers sat rapt in silence as he
+told the sad tale of the return from Troy, and the ills Minerva had
+laid upon the Achaeans. Penelope, daughter of Icarius, heard his song
+from her room upstairs, and came down by the great staircase, not
+alone, but attended by two of her handmaids. When she reached the
+suitors she stood by one of the bearing posts that supported the roof
+of the cloisters with a staid maiden on either side of her. She held a
+veil, moreover, before her face, and was weeping bitterly.
+
+"Phemius," she cried, "you know many another feat of gods and heroes,
+such as poets love to celebrate. Sing the suitors some one of these,
+and let them drink their wine in silence, but cease this sad tale, for
+it breaks my sorrowful heart, and reminds me of my lost husband whom I
+mourn ever without ceasing, and whose name was great over all Hellas
+and middle Argos."
+
+"Mother," answered Telemachus, "let the bard sing what he has a mind
+to; bards do not make the ills they sing of; it is Jove, not they, who
+makes them, and who sends weal or woe upon mankind according to his own
+good pleasure. This fellow means no harm by singing the ill-fated
+return of the Danaans, for people always applaud the latest songs most
+warmly. Make up your mind to it and bear it; Ulysses is not the only
+man who never came back from Troy, but many another went down as well
+as he. Go, then, within the house and busy yourself with your daily
+duties, your loom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants; for
+speech is man's matter, and mine above all others —for it is I who am
+master here."
+
+She went wondering back into the house, and laid her son's saying in
+her heart. Then, going upstairs with her handmaids into her room, she
+mourned her dear husband till Minerva shed sweet sleep over her eyes.
+But the suitors were clamorous throughout the covered cloisters, and
+prayed each one that he might be her bed fellow.
+
+Then Telemachus spoke, "Shameless," he cried, "and insolent suitors,
+let us feast at our pleasure now, and let there be no brawling, for it
+is a rare thing to hear a man with such a divine voice as Phemius has;
+but in the morning meet me in full assembly that I may give you formal
+notice to depart, and feast at one another's houses, turn and turn
+about, at your own cost. If on the other hand you choose to persist in
+spunging upon one man, heaven help me, but Jove shall reckon with you
+in full, and when you fall in my father's house there shall be no man
+to avenge you."
+
+The suitors bit their lips as they heard him, and marvelled at the
+boldness of his speech. Then, Antinous, son of Eupeithes, said, "The
+gods seem to have given you lessons in bluster and tall talking; may
+Jove never grant you to be chief in Ithaca as your father was before
+you."
+
+Telemachus answered, "Antinous, do not chide with me, but, god willing,
+I will be chief too if I can. Is this the worst fate you can think of
+for me? It is no bad thing to be a chief, for it brings both riches and
+honour. Still, now that Ulysses is dead there are many great men in
+Ithaca both old and young, and some other may take the lead among them;
+nevertheless I will be chief in my own house, and will rule those whom
+Ulysses has won for me."
+
+Then Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered, "It rests with heaven to
+decide who shall be chief among us, but you shall be master in your own
+house and over your own possessions; no one while there is a man in
+Ithaca shall do you violence nor rob you. And now, my good fellow, I
+want to know about this stranger. What country does he come from? Of
+what family is he, and where is his estate? Has he brought you news
+about the return of your father, or was he on business of his own? He
+seemed a well to do man, but he hurried off so suddenly that he was
+gone in a moment before we could get to know him."
+
+"My father is dead and gone," answered Telemachus, "and even if some
+rumour reaches me I put no more faith in it now. My mother does indeed
+sometimes send for a soothsayer and question him, but I give his
+prophecyings no heed. As for the stranger, he was Mentes, son of
+Anchialus, chief of the Taphians, an old friend of my father's." But in
+his heart he knew that it had been the goddess.
+
+The suitors then returned to their singing and dancing until the
+evening; but when night fell upon their pleasuring they went home to
+bed each in his own abode. Telemachus's room was high up in a tower
+that looked on to the outer court; hither, then, he hied, brooding and
+full of thought. A good old woman, Euryclea, daughter of Ops, the son
+of Pisenor, went before him with a couple of blazing torches. Laertes
+had bought her with his own money when she was quite young; he gave the
+worth of twenty oxen for her, and shewed as much respect to her in his
+household as he did to his own wedded wife, but he did not take her to
+his bed for he feared his wife's resentment. She it was who now
+lighted Telemachus to his room, and she loved him better than any of
+the other women in the house did, for she had nursed him when he was a
+baby. He opened the door of his bed room and sat down upon the bed; as
+he took off his shirt he gave it to the good old woman, who folded it
+tidily up, and hung it for him over a peg by his bed side, after which
+she went out, pulled the door to by a silver catch, and drew the bolt
+home by means of the strap. But Telemachus as he lay covered with a
+woollen fleece kept thinking all night through of his intended voyage
+and of the counsel that Minerva had given him.
+
+Now when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared Telemachus
+rose and dressed himself. He bound his sandals on to his comely feet,
+girded his sword about his shoulder, and left his room looking like an
+immortal god. He at once sent the criers round to call the people in
+assembly, so they called them and the people gathered thereon; then,
+when they were got together, he went to the place of assembly spear in
+hand—not alone, for his two hounds went with him. Minerva endowed him
+with a presence of such divine comeliness that all marvelled at him as
+he went by, and when he took his place in his father's seat even the
+oldest councillors made way for him.
+
+Aegyptius, a man bent double with age, and of infinite experience, was
+the first to speak. His son Antiphus had gone with Ulysses to Ilius,
+land of noble steeds, but the savage Cyclops had killed him when they
+were all shut up in the cave, and had cooked his last dinner for him.
+He had three sons left, of whom two still worked on their father's
+land, while the third, Eurynomus, was one of the suitors; nevertheless
+their father could not get over the loss of Antiphus, and was still
+weeping for him when he began his speech.
+
+"Men of Ithaca," he said, "hear my words. From the day Ulysses left us
+there has been no meeting of our councillors until now; who then can it
+be, whether old or young, that finds it so necessary to convene us? Has
+he got wind of some host approaching, and does he wish to warn us, or
+would he speak upon some other matter of public moment? I am sure he is
+an excellent person, and I hope Jove will grant him his heart's
+desire."
+
+Telemachus took this speech as of good omen and rose at once, for he
+was bursting with what he had to say. He stood in the middle of the
+assembly and the good herald Pisenor brought him his staff. Then,
+turning to Aegyptius, "Sir," said he, "it is I, as you will shortly
+learn, who have convened you, for it is I who am the most aggrieved. I
+have not got wind of any host approaching about which I would warn you,
+nor is there any matter of public moment on which I would speak. My
+grievance is purely personal, and turns on two great misfortunes which
+have fallen upon my house. The first of these is the loss of my
+excellent father, who was chief among all you here present, and was
+like a father to every one of you; the second is much more serious, and
+ere long will be the utter ruin of my estate. The sons of all the chief
+men among you are pestering my mother to marry them against her will.
+They are afraid to go to her father Icarius, asking him to choose the
+one he likes best, and to provide marriage gifts for his daughter, but
+day by day they keep hanging about my father's house, sacrificing our
+oxen, sheep, and fat goats for their banquets, and never giving so much
+as a thought to the quantity of wine they drink. No estate can stand
+such recklessness; we have now no Ulysses to ward off harm from our
+doors, and I cannot hold my own against them. I shall never all my days
+be as good a man as he was, still I would indeed defend myself if I had
+power to do so, for I cannot stand such treatment any longer; my house
+is being disgraced and ruined. Have respect, therefore, to your own
+consciences and to public opinion. Fear, too, the wrath of heaven, lest
+the gods should be displeased and turn upon you. I pray you by Jove and
+Themis, who is the beginning and the end of councils, [do not hold
+back, my friends, and leave me singlehanded—unless it be that my
+brave father Ulysses did some wrong to the Achaeans which you would now
+avenge on me, by aiding and abetting these suitors. Moreover, if I am
+to be eaten out of house and home at all, I had rather you did the
+eating yourselves, for I could then take action against you to some
+purpose, and serve you with notices from house to house till I got paid
+in full, whereas now I have no remedy."
+
+With this Telemachus dashed his staff to the ground and burst into
+tears. Every one was very sorry for him, but they all sat still and no
+one ventured to make him an angry answer, save only Antinous, who spoke
+thus:
+
+"Telemachus, insolent braggart that you are, how dare you try to throw
+the blame upon us suitors? It is your mother's fault not ours, for she
+is a very artful woman. This three years past, and close on four, she
+had been driving us out of our minds, by encouraging each one of us,
+and sending him messages without meaning one word of what she says. And
+then there was that other trick she played us. She set up a great
+tambour frame in her room, and began to work on an enormous piece of
+fine needlework. 'Sweet hearts,' said she, 'Ulysses is indeed dead,
+still do not press me to marry again immediately, wait—for I would not
+have skill in needlework perish unrecorded—till I have completed a pall
+for the hero Laertes, to be in readiness against the time when death
+shall take him. He is very rich, and the women of the place will talk
+if he is laid out without a pall.'
+
+"This was what she said, and we assented; whereon we could see her
+working on her great web all day long, but at night she would unpick
+the stitches again by torchlight. She fooled us in this way for three
+years and we never found her out, but as time wore on and she was now
+in her fourth year, one of her maids who knew what she was doing told
+us, and we caught her in the act of undoing her work, so she had to
+finish it whether she would or no. The suitors, therefore, make you
+this answer, that both you and the Achaeans may understand—'Send your
+mother away, and bid her marry the man of her own and of her father's
+choice'; for I do not know what will happen if she goes on plaguing us
+much longer with the airs she gives herself on the score of the
+accomplishments Minerva has taught her, and because she is so clever.
+We never yet heard of such a woman; we know all about Tyro, Alcmena,
+Mycene, and the famous women of old, but they were nothing to your
+mother any one of them. It was not fair of her to treat us in that way,
+and as long as she continues in the mind with which heaven has now
+endowed her, so long shall we go on eating up your estate; and I do not
+see why she should change, for she gets all the honour and glory, and
+it is you who pay for it, not she. Understand, then, that we will not
+go back to our lands, neither here nor elsewhere, till she has made her
+choice and married some one or other of us."
+
+Telemachus answered, "Antinous, how can I drive the mother who bore me
+from my father's house? My father is abroad and we do not know whether
+he is alive or dead. It will be hard on me if I have to pay Icarius the
+large sum which I must give him if I insist on sending his daughter
+back to him. Not only will he deal rigorously with me, but heaven will
+also punish me; for my mother when she leaves the house will call on
+the Erinyes to avenge her; besides, it would not be a creditable thing
+to do, and I will have nothing to say to it. If you choose to take
+offence at this, leave the house and feast elsewhere at one another's
+houses at your own cost turn and turn about. If, on the other hand, you
+elect to persist in spunging upon one man, heaven help me, but Jove
+shall reckon with you in full, and when you fall in my father's house
+there shall be no man to avenge you."
+
+As he spoke Jove sent two eagles from the top of the mountain, and they
+flew on and on with the wind, sailing side by side in their own lordly
+flight. When they were right over the middle of the assembly they
+wheeled and circled about, beating the air with their wings and glaring
+death into the eyes of them that were below; then, fighting fiercely
+and tearing at one another, they flew off towards the right over the
+town. The people wondered as they saw them, and asked each other what
+all this might be; whereon Halitherses, who was the best prophet and
+reader of omens among them, spoke to them plainly and in all honesty,
+saying:
+
+"Hear me, men of Ithaca, and I speak more particularly to the suitors,
+for I see mischief brewing for them. Ulysses is not going to be away
+much longer; indeed he is close at hand to deal out death and
+destruction, not on them alone, but on many another of us who live in
+Ithaca. Let us then be wise in time, and put a stop to this wickedness
+before he comes. Let the suitors do so of their own accord; it will be
+better for them, for I am not prophesying without due knowledge;
+everything has happened to Ulysses as I foretold when the Argives set
+out for Troy, and he with them. I said that after going through much
+hardship and losing all his men he should come home again in the
+twentieth year and that no one would know him; and now all this is
+coming true."
+
+Eurymachus son of Polybus then said, "Go home, old man, and prophesy to
+your own children, or it may be worse for them. I can read these omens
+myself much better than you can; birds are always flying about in the
+sunshine somewhere or other, but they seldom mean anything. Ulysses has
+died in a far country, and it is a pity you are not dead along with
+him, instead of prating here about omens and adding fuel to the anger
+of Telemachus which is fierce enough as it is. I suppose you think he
+will give you something for your family, but I tell you—and it shall
+surely be—when an old man like you, who should know better, talks a
+young one over till he becomes troublesome, in the first place his
+young friend will only fare so much the worse—he will take nothing by
+it, for the suitors will prevent this—and in the next, we will lay a
+heavier fine, sir, upon yourself than you will at all like paying, for
+it will bear hardly upon you. As for Telemachus, I warn him in the
+presence of you all to send his mother back to her father, who will
+find her a husband and provide her with all the marriage gifts so dear
+a daughter may expect. Till then we shall go on harassing him with our
+suit; for we fear no man, and care neither for him, with all his fine
+speeches, nor for any fortune-telling of yours. You may preach as much
+as you please, but we shall only hate you the more. We shall go back
+and continue to eat up Telemachus's estate without paying him, till
+such time as his mother leaves off tormenting us by keeping us day
+after day on the tiptoe of expectation, each vying with the other in
+his suit for a prize of such rare perfection. Besides we cannot go
+after the other women whom we should marry in due course, but for the
+way in which she treats us."
+
+Then Telemachus said, "Eurymachus, and you other suitors, I shall say
+no more, and entreat you no further, for the gods and the people of
+Ithaca now know my story. Give me, then, a ship and a crew of twenty
+men to take me hither and thither, and I will go to Sparta and to Pylos
+in quest of my father who has so long been missing. Some one may tell
+me something, or (and people often hear things in this way) some
+heaven-sent message may direct me. If I can hear of him as alive and on
+his way home I will put up with the waste you suitors will make for yet
+another twelve months. If on the other hand I hear of his death, I will
+return at once, celebrate his funeral rites with all due pomp, build a
+barrow to his memory, and make my mother marry again."
+
+With these words he sat down, and Mentor who had been a friend of
+Ulysses, and had been left in charge of everything with full authority
+over the servants, rose to speak. He, then, plainly and in all honesty
+addressed them thus:
+
+"Hear me, men of Ithaca, I hope that you may never have a kind and
+well-disposed ruler any more, nor one who will govern you equitably; I
+hope that all your chiefs henceforward may be cruel and unjust, for
+there is not one of you but has forgotten Ulysses, who ruled you as
+though he were your father. I am not half so angry with the suitors,
+for if they choose to do violence in the naughtiness of their hearts,
+and wager their heads that Ulysses will not return, they can take the
+high hand and eat up his estate, but as for you others I am shocked at
+the way in which you all sit still without even trying to stop such
+scandalous goings on—which you could do if you chose, for you are many
+and they are few."
+
+Leiocritus, son of Evenor, answered him saying, "Mentor, what folly is
+all this, that you should set the people to stay us? It is a hard thing
+for one man to fight with many about his victuals. Even though Ulysses
+himself were to set upon us while we are feasting in his house, and do
+his best to oust us, his wife, who wants him back so very badly, would
+have small cause for rejoicing, and his blood would be upon his own
+head if he fought against such great odds. There is no sense in what
+you have been saying. Now, therefore, do you people go about your
+business, and let his father's old friends, Mentor and Halitherses,
+speed this boy on his journey, if he goes at all—which I do not think
+he will, for he is more likely to stay where he is till some one comes
+and tells him something."
+
+On this he broke up the assembly, and every man went back to his own
+abode, while the suitors returned to the house of Ulysses.
+
+Then Telemachus went all alone by the sea side, washed his hands in the
+grey waves, and prayed to Minerva.
+
+"Hear me," he cried, "you god who visited me yesterday, and bade me
+sail the seas in search of my father who has so long been missing. I
+would obey you, but the Achaeans, and more particularly the wicked
+suitors, are hindering me that I cannot do so."
+
+As he thus prayed, Minerva came close up to him in the likeness and
+with the voice of Mentor. "Telemachus," said she, "if you are made of
+the same stuff as your father you will be neither fool nor coward
+henceforward, for Ulysses never broke his word nor left his work half
+done. If, then, you take after him, your voyage will not be fruitless,
+but unless you have the blood of Ulysses and of Penelope in your veins
+I see no likelihood of your succeeding. Sons are seldom as good men as
+their fathers; they are generally worse, not better; still, as you are
+not going to be either fool or coward henceforward, and are not
+entirely without some share of your father's wise discernment, I look
+with hope upon your undertaking. But mind you never make common cause
+with any of those foolish suitors, for they have neither sense nor
+virtue, and give no thought to death and to the doom that will shortly
+fall on one and all of them, so that they shall perish on the same day.
+As for your voyage, it shall not be long delayed; your father was such
+an old friend of mine that I will find you a ship, and will come with
+you myself. Now, however, return home, and go about among the suitors;
+begin getting provisions ready for your voyage; see everything well
+stowed, the wine in jars, and the barley meal, which is the staff of
+life, in leathern bags, while I go round the town and beat up
+volunteers at once. There are many ships in Ithaca both old and new; I
+will run my eye over them for you and will choose the best; we will get
+her ready and will put out to sea without delay."
+
+Thus spoke Minerva daughter of Jove, and Telemachus lost no time in
+doing as the goddess told him. He went moodily home, and found the
+suitors flaying goats and singeing pigs in the outer court. Antinous
+came up to him at once and laughed as he took his hand in his own,
+saying, "Telemachus, my fine fire-eater, bear no more ill blood neither
+in word nor deed, but eat and drink with us as you used to do. The
+Achaeans will find you in everything—a ship and a picked crew to
+boot—so that you can set sail for Pylos at once and get news of your
+noble father."
+
+"Antinous," answered Telemachus, "I cannot eat in peace, nor take
+pleasure of any kind with such men as you are. Was it not enough that
+you should waste so much good property of mine while I was yet a boy?
+Now that I am older and know more about it, I am also stronger, and
+whether here among this people, or by going to Pylos, I will do you all
+the harm I can. I shall go, and my going will not be in vain—though,
+thanks to you suitors, I have neither ship nor crew of my own, and must
+be passenger not captain."
+
+As he spoke he snatched his hand from that of Antinous. Meanwhile the
+others went on getting dinner ready about the buildings, jeering at
+him tauntingly as they did so.
+
+"Telemachus," said one youngster, "means to be the death of us; I
+suppose he thinks he can bring friends to help him from Pylos, or again
+from Sparta, where he seems bent on going. Or will he go to Ephyra as
+well, for poison to put in our wine and kill us?"
+
+Another said, "Perhaps if Telemachus goes on board ship, he will be
+like his father and perish far from his friends. In this case we should
+have plenty to do, for we could then divide up his property amongst us:
+as for the house we can let his mother and the man who marries her have
+that."
+
+This was how they talked. But Telemachus went down into the lofty and
+spacious store-room where his father's treasure of gold and bronze lay
+heaped up upon the floor, and where the linen and spare clothes were
+kept in open chests. Here, too, there was a store of fragrant olive
+oil, while casks of old, well-ripened wine, unblended and fit for a god
+to drink, were ranged against the wall in case Ulysses should come home
+again after all. The room was closed with well-made doors opening in
+the middle; moreover the faithful old house-keeper Euryclea, daughter
+of Ops the son of Pisenor, was in charge of everything both night and
+day. Telemachus called her to the store-room and said:
+
+"Nurse, draw me off some of the best wine you have, after what you are
+keeping for my father's own drinking, in case, poor man, he should
+escape death, and find his way home again after all. Let me have twelve
+jars, and see that they all have lids; also fill me some well-sewn
+leathern bags with barley meal—about twenty measures in all. Get these
+things put together at once, and say nothing about it. I will take
+everything away this evening as soon as my mother has gone upstairs for
+the night. I am going to Sparta and to Pylos to see if I can hear
+anything about the return of my dear father."
+
+When Euryclea heard this she began to cry, and spoke fondly to him,
+saying, "My dear child, what ever can have put such notion as that into
+your head? Where in the world do you want to go to—you, who are the one
+hope of the house? Your poor father is dead and gone in some foreign
+country nobody knows where, and as soon as your back is turned these
+wicked ones here will be scheming to get you put out of the way, and
+will share all your possessions among themselves; stay where you are
+among your own people, and do not go wandering and worrying your life
+out on the barren ocean."
+
+"Fear not, nurse," answered Telemachus, "my scheme is not without
+heaven's sanction; but swear that you will say nothing about all this
+to my mother, till I have been away some ten or twelve days, unless she
+hears of my having gone, and asks you; for I do not want her to spoil
+her beauty by crying."
+
+The old woman swore most solemnly that she would not, and when she had
+completed her oath, she began drawing off the wine into jars, and
+getting the barley meal into the bags, while Telemachus went back to
+the suitors.
+
+Then Minerva bethought her of another matter. She took his shape, and
+went round the town to each one of the crew, telling them to meet at
+the ship by sundown. She went also to Noemon son of Phronius, and asked
+him to let her have a ship—which he was very ready to do. When the sun
+had set and darkness was over all the land, she got the ship into the
+water, put all the tackle on board her that ships generally carry, and
+stationed her at the end of the harbour. Presently the crew came up,
+and the goddess spoke encouragingly to each of them.
+
+Furthermore she went to the house of Ulysses, and threw the suitors
+into a deep slumber. She caused their drink to fuddle them, and made
+them drop their cups from their hands, so that instead of sitting over
+their wine, they went back into the town to sleep, with their eyes
+heavy and full of drowsiness. Then she took the form and voice of
+Mentor, and called Telemachus to come outside.
+
+"Telemachus," said she, "the men are on board and at their oars,
+waiting for you to give your orders, so make haste and let us be off."
+
+On this she led the way, while Telemachus followed in her steps. When
+they got to the ship they found the crew waiting by the water side, and
+Telemachus said, "Now my men, help me to get the stores on board; they
+are all put together in the cloister, and my mother does not know
+anything about it, nor any of the maid servants except one."
+
+With these words he led the way and the others followed after. When
+they had brought the things as he told them, Telemachus went on board,
+Minerva going before him and taking her seat in the stern of the
+vessel, while Telemachus sat beside her. Then the men loosed the
+hawsers and took their places on the benches. Minerva sent them a fair
+wind from the West, that whistled over the deep blue waves whereon
+Telemachus told them to catch hold of the ropes and hoist sail, and
+they did as he told them. They set the mast in its socket in the cross
+plank, raised it, and made it fast with the forestays; then they
+hoisted their white sails aloft with ropes of twisted ox hide. As the
+sail bellied out with the wind, the ship flew through the deep blue
+water, and the foam hissed against her bows as she sped onward. Then
+they made all fast throughout the ship, filled the mixing bowls to the
+brim, and made drink offerings to the immortal gods that are from
+everlasting, but more particularly to the grey-eyed daughter of Jove.
+
+Thus, then, the ship sped on her way through the watches of the night
+from dark till dawn.
+
+but as the sun was rising from the fair sea into the firmament of
+heaven to shed light on mortals and immortals, they reached Pylos the
+city of Neleus. Now the people of Pylos were gathered on the sea shore
+to offer sacrifice of black bulls to Neptune lord of the Earthquake.
+There were nine guilds with five hundred men in each, and there were
+nine bulls to each guild. As they were eating the inward meats and
+burning the thigh bones [on the embers in the name of Neptune,
+Telemachus and his crew arrived, furled their sails, brought their ship
+to anchor, and went ashore.
+
+Minerva led the way and Telemachus followed her. Presently she said,
+"Telemachus, you must not be in the least shy or nervous; you have
+taken this voyage to try and find out where your father is buried and
+how he came by his end; so go straight up to Nestor that we may see
+what he has got to tell us. Beg of him to speak the truth, and he will
+tell no lies, for he is an excellent person."
+
+"But how, Mentor," replied Telemachus, "dare I go up to Nestor, and how
+am I to address him? I have never yet been used to holding long
+conversations with people, and am ashamed to begin questioning one who
+is so much older than myself."
+
+"Some things, Telemachus," answered Minerva, "will be suggested to you
+by your own instinct, and heaven will prompt you further; for I am
+assured that the gods have been with you from the time of your birth
+until now."
+
+She then went quickly on, and Telemachus followed in her steps till
+they reached the place where the guilds of the Pylian people were
+assembled. There they found Nestor sitting with his sons, while his
+company round him were busy getting dinner ready, and putting pieces of
+meat on to the spits while other pieces were cooking. When they saw
+the strangers they crowded round them, took them by the hand and bade
+them take their places. Nestor's son Pisistratus at once offered his
+hand to each of them, and seated them on some soft sheepskins that were
+lying on the sands near his father and his brother Thrasymedes. Then he
+gave them their portions of the inward meats and poured wine for them
+into a golden cup, handing it to Minerva first, and saluting her at the
+same time.
+
+"Offer a prayer, sir," said he, "to King Neptune, for it is his feast
+that you are joining; when you have duly prayed and made your drink
+offering, pass the cup to your friend that he may do so also. I doubt
+not that he too lifts his hands in prayer, for man cannot live without
+God in the world. Still he is younger than you are, and is much of an
+age with myself, so I will give you the precedence."
+
+As he spoke he handed her the cup. Minerva thought it very right and
+proper of him to have given it to herself first; she accordingly
+began praying heartily to Neptune. "O thou," she cried, "that
+encirclest the earth, vouchsafe to grant the prayers of thy servants
+that call upon thee. More especially we pray thee send down thy grace
+on Nestor and on his sons; thereafter also make the rest of the Pylian
+people some handsome return for the goodly hecatomb they are offering
+you. Lastly, grant Telemachus and myself a happy issue, in respect of
+the matter that has brought us in our ship to Pylos."
+
+When she had thus made an end of praying, she handed the cup to
+Telemachus and he prayed likewise. By and by, when the outer meats were
+roasted and had been taken off the spits, the carvers gave every man
+his portion and they all made an excellent dinner. As soon as they had
+had enough to eat and drink, Nestor, knight of Gerene, began to speak.
+
+"Now," said he, "that our guests have done their dinner, it will be
+best to ask them who they are. Who, then, sir strangers, are you, and
+from what port have you sailed? Are you traders? or do you sail the
+seas as rovers with your hand against every man, and every man's hand
+against you?"
+
+Telemachus answered boldly, for Minerva had given him courage to ask
+about his father and get himself a good name.
+
+"Nestor," said he, "son of Neleus, honour to the Achaean name, you ask
+whence we come, and I will tell you. We come from Ithaca under
+Neritum, and the matter about which I would speak is of private not
+public import. I seek news of my unhappy father Ulysses, who is said to
+have sacked the town of Troy in company with yourself. We know what
+fate befell each one of the other heroes who fought at Troy, but as
+regards Ulysses heaven has hidden from us the knowledge even that he is
+dead at all, for no one can certify us in what place he perished, nor
+say whether he fell in battle on the mainland, or was lost at sea amid
+the waves of Amphitrite. Therefore I am suppliant at your knees, if
+haply you may be pleased to tell me of his melancholy end, whether you
+saw it with your own eyes, or heard it from some other traveller, for
+he was a man born to trouble. Do not soften things out of any pity for
+me, but tell me in all plainness exactly what you saw. If my brave
+father Ulysses ever did you loyal service, either by word or deed, when
+you Achaeans were harassed among the Trojans, bear it in mind now as in
+my favour and tell me truly all."
+
+"My friend," answered Nestor, "you recall a time of much sorrow to my
+mind, for the brave Achaeans suffered much both at sea, while
+privateering under Achilles, and when fighting before the great city of
+king Priam. Our best men all of them fell there—Ajax, Achilles,
+Patroclus peer of gods in counsel, and my own dear son Antilochus, a
+man singularly fleet of foot and in fight valiant. But we suffered much
+more than this; what mortal tongue indeed could tell the whole story?
+Though you were to stay here and question me for five years, or even
+six, I could not tell you all that the Achaeans suffered, and you would
+turn homeward weary of my tale before it ended. Nine long years did we
+try every kind of stratagem, but the hand of heaven was against us;
+during all this time there was no one who could compare with your
+father in subtlety—if indeed you are his son—I can hardly believe my
+eyes—and you talk just like him too—no one would say that people of
+such different ages could speak so much alike. He and I never had any
+kind of difference from first to last neither in camp nor council, but
+in singleness of heart and purpose we advised the Argives how all might
+be ordered for the best.
+
+"When, however, we had sacked the city of Priam, and were setting sail
+in our ships as heaven had dispersed us, then Jove saw fit to vex the
+Argives on their homeward voyage; for they had not all been either wise
+or understanding, and hence many came to a bad end through the
+displeasure of Jove's daughter Minerva, who brought about a quarrel
+between the two sons of Atreus.
+
+"The sons of Atreus called a meeting which was not as it should be, for
+it was sunset and the Achaeans were heavy with wine. When they
+explained why they had called the people together, it seemed that
+Menelaus was for sailing homeward at once, and this displeased
+Agamemnon, who thought that we should wait till we had offered
+hecatombs to appease the anger of Minerva. Fool that he was, he might
+have known that he would not prevail with her, for when the gods have
+made up their minds they do not change them lightly. So the two stood
+bandying hard words, whereon the Achaeans sprang to their feet with a
+cry that rent the air, and were of two minds as to what they should do.
+
+"That night we rested and nursed our anger, for Jove was hatching
+mischief against us. But in the morning some of us drew our ships into
+the water and put our goods with our women on board, while the rest,
+about half in number, stayed behind with Agamemnon. We—the other
+half—embarked and sailed; and the ships went well, for heaven had
+smoothed the sea. When we reached Tenedos we offered sacrifices to the
+gods, for we were longing to get home; cruel Jove, however, did not yet
+mean that we should do so, and raised a second quarrel in the course of
+which some among us turned their ships back again, and sailed away
+under Ulysses to make their peace with Agamemnon; but I, and all the
+ships that were with me pressed forward, for I saw that mischief was
+brewing. The son of Tydeus went on also with me, and his crews with
+him. Later on Menelaus joined us at Lesbos, and found us making up our
+minds about our course—for we did not know whether to go outside Chios
+by the island of Psyra, keeping this to our left, or inside Chios, over
+against the stormy headland of Mimas. So we asked heaven for a sign,
+and were shown one to the effect that we should be soonest out of
+danger if we headed our ships across the open sea to Euboea. This we
+therefore did, and a fair wind sprang up which gave us a quick passage
+during the night to Geraestus, where we offered many sacrifices to
+Neptune for having helped us so far on our way. Four days later Diomed
+and his men stationed their ships in Argos, but I held on for Pylos,
+and the wind never fell light from the day when heaven first made it
+fair for me.
+
+"Therefore, my dear young friend, I returned without hearing anything
+about the others. I know neither who got home safely nor who were lost
+but, as in duty bound, I will give you without reserve the reports that
+have reached me since I have been here in my own house. They say the
+Myrmidons returned home safely under Achilles' son Neoptolemus; so also
+did the valiant son of Poias, Philoctetes. Idomeneus, again, lost no
+men at sea, and all his followers who escaped death in the field got
+safe home with him to Crete. No matter how far out of the world you
+live, you will have heard of Agamemnon and the bad end he came to at
+the hands of Aegisthus—and a fearful reckoning did Aegisthus presently
+pay. See what a good thing it is for a man to leave a son behind him to
+do as Orestes did, who killed false Aegisthus the murderer of his noble
+father. You too, then—for you are a tall smart-looking fellow—show your
+mettle and make yourself a name in story."
+
+"Nestor son of Neleus," answered Telemachus, "honour to the Achaean
+name, the Achaeans applaud Orestes and his name will live through all
+time for he has avenged his father nobly. Would that heaven might grant
+me to do like vengeance on the insolence of the wicked suitors, who are
+ill treating me and plotting my ruin; but the gods have no such
+happiness in store for me and for my father, so we must bear it as best
+we may."
+
+"My friend," said Nestor, "now that you remind me, I remember to have
+heard that your mother has many suitors, who are ill disposed towards
+you and are making havoc of your estate. Do you submit to this tamely,
+or are public feeling and the voice of heaven against you? Who knows
+but what Ulysses may come back after all, and pay these scoundrels in
+full, either single-handed or with a force of Achaeans behind him? If
+Minerva were to take as great a liking to you as she did to Ulysses
+when we were fighting before Troy (for I never yet saw the gods so
+openly fond of any one as Minerva then was of your father), if she
+would take as good care of you as she did of him, these wooers would
+soon some of them forget their wooing."
+
+Telemachus answered, "I can expect nothing of the kind; it would be far
+too much to hope for. I dare not let myself think of it. Even though
+the gods themselves willed it no such good fortune could befall me."
+
+On this Minerva said, "Telemachus, what are you talking about? Heaven
+has a long arm if it is minded to save a man; and if it were me, I
+should not care how much I suffered before getting home, provided I
+could be safe when I was once there. I would rather this, than get home
+quickly, and then be killed in my own house as Agamemnon was by the
+treachery of Aegisthus and his wife. Still, death is certain, and when
+a man's hour is come, not even the gods can save him, no matter how
+fond they are of him."
+
+"Mentor," answered Telemachus, "do not let us talk about it any more.
+There is no chance of my father's ever coming back; the gods have long
+since counselled his destruction. There is something else, however,
+about which I should like to ask Nestor, for he knows much more than
+any one else does. They say he has reigned for three generations so
+that it is like talking to an immortal. Tell me, therefore, Nestor, and
+tell me true; how did Agamemnon come to die in that way? What was
+Menelaus doing? And how came false Aegisthus to kill so far better a
+man than himself? Was Menelaus away from Achaean Argos, voyaging
+elsewhither among mankind, that Aegisthus took heart and killed
+Agamemnon?"
+
+"I will tell you truly," answered Nestor, "and indeed you have yourself
+divined how it all happened. If Menelaus when he got back from Troy had
+found Aegisthus still alive in his house, there would have been no
+barrow heaped up for him, not even when he was dead, but he would have
+been thrown outside the city to dogs and vultures, and not a woman
+would have mourned him, for he had done a deed of great wickedness; but
+we were over there, fighting hard at Troy, and Aegisthus, who was
+taking his ease quietly in the heart of Argos, cajoled Agamemnon's wife
+Clytemnestra with incessant flattery.
+
+"At first she would have nothing to do with his wicked scheme, for she
+was of a good natural disposition; moreover there was a bard with
+her, to whom Agamemnon had given strict orders on setting out for Troy,
+that he was to keep guard over his wife; but when heaven had counselled
+her destruction, Aegisthus carried this bard off to a desert island and
+left him there for crows and seagulls to batten upon—after which she
+went willingly enough to the house of Aegisthus. Then he offered many
+burnt sacrifices to the gods, and decorated many temples with
+tapestries and gilding, for he had succeeded far beyond his
+expectations.
+
+"Meanwhile Menelaus and I were on our way home from Troy, on good terms
+with one another. When we got to Sunium, which is the point of Athens,
+Apollo with his painless shafts killed Phrontis the steersman of
+Menelaus' ship (and never man knew better how to handle a vessel in
+rough weather) so that he died then and there with the helm in his
+hand, and Menelaus, though very anxious to press forward, had to wait
+in order to bury his comrade and give him his due funeral rites.
+Presently, when he too could put to sea again, and had sailed on as far
+as the Malean heads, Jove counselled evil against him and made it blow
+hard till the waves ran mountains high. Here he divided his fleet and
+took the one half towards Crete where the Cydonians dwell round about
+the waters of the river Iardanus. There is a high headland hereabouts
+stretching out into the sea from a place called Gortyn, and all along
+this part of the coast as far as Phaestus the sea runs high when there
+is a south wind blowing, but after Phaestus the coast is more
+protected, for a small headland can make a great shelter. Here this
+part of the fleet was driven on to the rocks and wrecked; but the crews
+just managed to save themselves. As for the other five ships, they were
+taken by winds and seas to Egypt, where Menelaus gathered much gold and
+substance among people of an alien speech. Meanwhile Aegisthus here at
+home plotted his evil deed. For seven years after he had killed
+Agamemnon he ruled in Mycene, and the people were obedient under him,
+but in the eighth year Orestes came back from Athens to be his bane,
+and killed the murderer of his father. Then he celebrated the funeral
+rites of his mother and of false Aegisthus by a banquet to the people
+of Argos, and on that very day Menelaus came home, with as much
+treasure as his ships could carry.
+
+"Take my advice then, and do not go travelling about for long so far
+from home, nor leave your property with such dangerous people in your
+house; they will eat up everything you have among them, and you will
+have been on a fool's errand. Still, I should advise you by all means
+to go and visit Menelaus, who has lately come off a voyage among such
+distant peoples as no man could ever hope to get back from, when the
+winds had once carried him so far out of his reckoning; even birds
+cannot fly the distance in a twelve-month, so vast and terrible are the
+seas that they must cross. Go to him, therefore, by sea, and take your
+own men with you; or if you would rather travel by land you can have a
+chariot, you can have horses, and here are my sons who can escort you
+to Lacedaemon where Menelaus lives. Beg of him to speak the truth, and
+he will tell you no lies, for he is an excellent person."
+
+As he spoke the sun set and it came on dark, whereon Minerva said,
+"Sir, all that you have said is well; now, however, order the tongues
+of the victims to be cut, and mix wine that we may make drink-offerings
+to Neptune, and the other immortals, and then go to bed, for it is bed
+time. People should go away early and not keep late hours at a
+religious festival."
+
+Thus spoke the daughter of Jove, and they obeyed her saying. Men
+servants poured water over the hands of the guests, while pages filled
+the mixing-bowls with wine and water, and handed it round after giving
+every man his drink offering; then they threw the tongues of the
+victims into the fire, and stood up to make their drink offerings. When
+they had made their offerings and had drunk each as much as he was
+minded, Minerva and Telemachus were for going on board their ship, but
+Nestor caught them up at once and stayed them.
+
+"Heaven and the immortal gods," he exclaimed, "forbid that you should
+leave my house to go on board of a ship. Do you think I am so poor and
+short of clothes, or that I have so few cloaks and as to be unable to
+find comfortable beds both for myself and for my guests? Let me tell
+you I have store both of rugs and cloaks, and shall not permit the son
+of my old friend Ulysses to camp down on the deck of a ship—not while I
+live—nor yet will my sons after me, but they will keep open house as I
+have done."
+
+Then Minerva answered, "Sir, you have spoken well, and it will be much
+better that Telemachus should do as you have said; he, therefore, shall
+return with you and sleep at your house, but I must go back to give
+orders to my crew, and keep them in good heart. I am the only older
+person among them; the rest are all young men of Telemachus' own age,
+who have taken this voyage out of friendship; so I must return to the
+ship and sleep there. Moreover to-morrow I must go to the Cauconians
+where I have a large sum of money long owing to me. As for Telemachus,
+now that he is your guest, send him to Lacedaemon in a chariot, and let
+one of your sons go with him. Be pleased to also provide him with your
+best and fleetest horses."
+
+When she had thus spoken, she flew away in the form of an eagle, and
+all marvelled as they beheld it. Nestor was astonished, and took
+Telemachus by the hand. "My friend," said he, "I see that you are going
+to be a great hero some day, since the gods wait upon you thus while
+you are still so young. This can have been none other of those who
+dwell in heaven than Jove's redoubtable daughter, the Trito-born, who
+shewed such favour towards your brave father among the Argives. Holy
+queen," he continued, "vouchsafe to send down thy grace upon myself, my
+good wife, and my children. In return, I will offer you in sacrifice a
+broad-browed heifer of a year old, unbroken, and never yet brought by
+man under the yoke. I will gild her horns, and will offer her up to you
+in sacrifice."
+
+Thus did he pray, and Minerva heard his prayer. He then led the way to
+his own house, followed by his sons and sons in law. When they had got
+there and had taken their places on the benches and seats, he mixed
+them a bowl of sweet wine that was eleven years old when the
+housekeeper took the lid off the jar that held it. As he mixed the
+wine, he prayed much and made drink offerings to Minerva, daughter of
+Aegis-bearing Jove. Then, when they had made their drink offerings and
+had drunk each as much as he was minded, the others went home to bed
+each in his own abode; but Nestor put Telemachus to sleep in the room
+that was over the gateway along with Pisistratus, who was the only
+unmarried son now left him. As for himself, he slept in an inner room
+of the house, with the queen his wife by his side.
+
+Now when the child of morning rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, Nestor left
+his couch and took his seat on the benches of white and polished marble
+that stood in front of his house. Here aforetime sat Neleus, peer of
+gods in counsel, but he was now dead, and had gone to the house of
+Hades; so Nestor sat in his seat sceptre in hand, as guardian of the
+public weal. His sons as they left their rooms gathered round him,
+Echephron, Stratius, Perseus, Aretus, and Thrasymedes; the sixth son
+was Pisistratus, and when Telemachus joined them they made him sit with
+them. Nestor then addressed them.
+
+"My sons," said he, "make haste to do as I shall bid you. I wish first
+and foremost to propitiate the great goddess Minerva, who manifested
+herself visibly to me during yesterday's festivities. Go, then, one or
+other of you to the plain, tell the stockman to look me out a heifer,
+and come on here with it at once. Another must go to Telemachus' ship,
+and invite all the crew, leaving two men only in charge of the vessel.
+Some one else will run and fetch Laerceus the goldsmith to gild the
+horns of the heifer. The rest, stay all of you where you are; tell the
+maids in the house to prepare an excellent dinner, and to fetch seats,
+and logs of wood for a burnt offering. Tell them also to bring me some
+clear spring water."
+
+On this they hurried off on their several errands. The heifer was
+brought in from the plain, and Telemachus's crew came from the ship;
+the goldsmith brought the anvil, hammer, and tongs, with which he
+worked his gold, and Minerva herself came to accept the sacrifice.
+Nestor gave out the gold, and the smith gilded the horns of the heifer
+that the goddess might have pleasure in their beauty. Then Stratius and
+Echephron brought her in by the horns; Aretus fetched water from the
+house in a ewer that had a flower pattern on it, and in his other hand
+he held a basket of barley meal; sturdy Thrasymedes stood by with a
+sharp axe, ready to strike the heifer, while Perseus held a bucket.
+Then Nestor began with washing his hands and sprinkling the barley
+meal, and he offered many a prayer to Minerva as he threw a lock from
+the heifer's head upon the fire.
+
+When they had done praying and sprinkling the barley meal Thrasymedes
+dealt his blow, and brought the heifer down with a stroke that cut
+through the tendons at the base of her neck, whereon the daughters and
+daughters in law of Nestor, and his venerable wife Eurydice (she was
+eldest daughter to Clymenus) screamed with delight. Then they lifted
+the heifer's head from off the ground, and Pisistratus cut her throat.
+When she had done bleeding and was quite dead, they cut her up. They
+cut out the thigh bones all in due course, wrapped them round in two
+layers of fat, and set some pieces of raw meat on the top of them; then
+Nestor laid them upon the wood fire and poured wine over them, while
+the young men stood near him with five-pronged spits in their hands.
+When the thighs were burned and they had tasted the inward meats, they
+cut the rest of the meat up small, put the pieces on the spits and
+toasted them over the fire.
+
+Meanwhile lovely Polycaste, Nestor's youngest daughter, washed
+Telemachus. When she had washed him and anointed him with oil, she
+brought him a fair mantle and shirt, and he looked like a god as he
+came from the bath and took his seat by the side of Nestor. When the
+outer meats were done they drew them off the spits and sat down to
+dinner where they were waited upon by some worthy henchmen, who kept
+pouring them out their wine in cups of gold. As soon as they had had
+enough to eat and drink Nestor said, "Sons, put Telemachus's horses to
+the chariot that he may start at once."
+
+Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said, and yoked the
+fleet horses to the chariot. The housekeeper packed them up a provision
+of bread, wine, and sweet meats fit for the sons of princes. Then
+Telemachus got into the chariot, while Pisistratus gathered up the
+reins and took his seat beside him. He lashed the horses on and they
+flew forward nothing loth into the open country, leaving the high
+citadel of Pylos behind them. All that day did they travel, swaying the
+yoke upon their necks till the sun went down and darkness was over all
+the land. Then they reached Pherae where Diocles lived, who was son to
+Ortilochus and grandson to Alpheus. Here they passed the night and
+Diocles entertained them hospitably. When the child of morning,
+rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, they again yoked their horses and drove
+out through the gateway under the echoing gatehouse. Pisistratus
+lashed the horses on and they flew forward nothing loth; presently they
+came to the corn lands of the open country, and in the course of time
+completed their journey, so well did their steeds take them.
+
+Now when the sun had set and darkness was over the land,
+
+they reached the low lying city of Lacedaemon, where they drove
+straight to the abode of Menelaus [and found him in his own house,
+feasting with his many clansmen in honour of the wedding of his son,
+and also of his daughter, whom he was marrying to the son of that
+valiant warrior Achilles. He had given his consent and promised her to
+him while he was still at Troy, and now the gods were bringing the
+marriage about; so he was sending her with chariots and horses to the
+city of the Myrmidons over whom Achilles' son was reigning. For his
+only son he had found a bride from Sparta, the daughter of Alector.
+This son, Megapenthes, was born to him of a bondwoman, for heaven
+vouchsafed Helen no more children after she had borne Hermione, who was
+fair as golden Venus herself.
+
+So the neighbours and kinsmen of Menelaus were feasting and making
+merry in his house. There was a bard also to sing to them and play his
+lyre, while two tumblers went about performing in the midst of them
+when the man struck up with his tune.
+
+Telemachus and the son of Nestor stayed their horses at the gate,
+whereon Eteoneus servant to Menelaus came out, and as soon as he saw
+them ran hurrying back into the house to tell his Master. He went close
+up to him and said, "Menelaus, there are some strangers come here, two
+men, who look like sons of Jove. What are we to do? Shall we take their
+horses out, or tell them to find friends elsewhere as they best can?"
+
+Menelaus was very angry and said, "Eteoneus, son of Boethous, you never
+used to be a fool, but now you talk like a simpleton. Take their horses
+out, of course, and show the strangers in that they may have supper;
+you and I have staid often enough at other people's houses before we
+got back here, where heaven grant that we may rest in peace
+henceforward."
+
+So Eteoneus bustled back and bade the other servants come with him.
+They took their sweating steeds from under the yoke, made them fast to
+the mangers, and gave them a feed of oats and barley mixed. Then they
+leaned the chariot against the end wall of the courtyard, and led the
+way into the house. Telemachus and Pisistratus were astonished when
+they saw it, for its splendour was as that of the sun and moon; then,
+when they had admired everything to their heart's content, they went
+into the bath room and washed themselves.
+
+When the servants had washed them and anointed them with oil, they
+brought them woollen cloaks and shirts, and the two took their seats by
+the side of Menelaus. A maid-servant brought them water in a beautiful
+golden ewer, and poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their
+hands; and she drew a clean table beside them. An upper servant brought
+them bread, and offered them many good things of what there was in the
+house, while the carver fetched them plates of all manner of meats and
+set cups of gold by their side.
+
+Menelaus then greeted them saying, "Fall to, and welcome; when you have
+done supper I shall ask who you are, for the lineage of such men as you
+cannot have been lost. You must be descended from a line of
+sceptre-bearing kings, for poor people do not have such sons as you
+are."
+
+On this he handed them a piece of fat roast loin, which had been set
+near him as being a prime part, and they laid their hands on the good
+things that were before them; as soon as they had had enough to eat and
+drink, Telemachus said to the son of Nestor, with his head so close
+that no one might hear, "Look, Pisistratus, man after my own heart, see
+the gleam of bronze and gold—of amber, ivory, and silver. Everything
+is so splendid that it is like seeing the palace of Olympian Jove. I am
+lost in admiration."
+
+Menelaus overheard him and said, "No one, my sons, can hold his own
+with Jove, for his house and everything about him is immortal; but
+among mortal men—well, there may be another who has as much wealth as I
+have, or there may not; but at all events I have travelled much and
+have undergone much hardship, for it was nearly eight years before I
+could get home with my fleet. I went to Cyprus, Phoenicia and the
+Egyptians; I went also to the Ethiopians, the Sidonians, and the
+Erembians, and to Libya where the lambs have horns as soon as they are
+born, and the sheep lamb down three times a year. Every one in that
+country, whether master or man, has plenty of cheese, meat, and good
+milk, for the ewes yield all the year round. But while I was travelling
+and getting great riches among these people, my brother was secretly
+and shockingly murdered through the perfidy of his wicked wife, so that
+I have no pleasure in being lord of all this wealth. Whoever your
+parents may be they must have told you about all this, and of my heavy
+loss in the ruin of a stately mansion fully and magnificently
+furnished. Would that I had only a third of what I now have so that I
+had stayed at home, and all those were living who perished on the plain
+of Troy, far from Argos. I often grieve, as I sit here in my house, for
+one and all of them. At times I cry aloud for sorrow, but presently I
+leave off again, for crying is cold comfort and one soon tires of it.
+Yet grieve for these as I may, I do so for one man more than for them
+all. I cannot even think of him without loathing both food and sleep,
+so miserable does he make me, for no one of all the Achaeans worked so
+hard or risked so much as he did. He took nothing by it, and has left a
+legacy of sorrow to myself, for he has been gone a long time, and we
+know not whether he is alive or dead. His old father, his
+long-suffering wife Penelope, and his son Telemachus, whom he left
+behind him an infant in arms, are plunged in grief on his account."
+
+Thus spoke Menelaus, and the heart of Telemachus yearned as he
+bethought him of his father. Tears fell from his eyes as he heard him
+thus mentioned, so that he held his cloak before his face with both
+hands. When Menelaus saw this he doubted whether to let him choose his
+own time for speaking, or to ask him at once and find what it was all
+about.
+
+While he was thus in two minds Helen came down from her high vaulted
+and perfumed room, looking as lovely as Diana herself. Adraste brought
+her a seat, Alcippe a soft woollen rug while Phylo fetched her the
+silver work-box which Alcandra wife of Polybus had given her. Polybus
+lived in Egyptian Thebes, which is the richest city in the whole world;
+he gave Menelaus two baths, both of pure silver, two tripods, and ten
+talents of gold; besides all this, his wife gave Helen some beautiful
+presents, to wit, a golden distaff, and a silver work box that ran on
+wheels, with a gold band round the top of it. Phylo now placed this by
+her side, full of fine spun yarn, and a distaff charged with violet
+coloured wool was laid upon the top of it. Then Helen took her seat,
+put her feet upon the footstool, and began to question her husband.
+
+"Do we know, Menelaus," said she, "the names of these strangers who
+have come to visit us? Shall I guess right or wrong?—but I cannot help
+saying what I think. Never yet have I seen either man or woman so like
+somebody else (indeed when I look at him I hardly know what to think)
+as this young man is like Telemachus, whom Ulysses left as a baby
+behind him, when you Achaeans went to Troy with battle in your hearts,
+on account of my most shameless self."
+
+"My dear wife," replied Menelaus, "I see the likeness just as you do.
+His hands and feet are just like Ulysses; so is his hair, with the
+shape of his head and the expression of his eyes. Moreover, when I was
+talking about Ulysses, and saying how much he had suffered on my
+account, tears fell from his eyes, and he hid his face in his mantle."
+
+Then Pisistratus said, "Menelaus, son of Atreus, you are right in
+thinking that this young man is Telemachus, but he is very modest, and
+is ashamed to come here and begin opening up discourse with one whose
+conversation is so divinely interesting as your own. My father, Nestor,
+sent me to escort him hither, for he wanted to know whether you could
+give him any counsel or suggestion. A son has always trouble at home
+when his father has gone away leaving him without supporters; and this
+is how Telemachus is now placed, for his father is absent, and there is
+no one among his own people to stand by him."
+
+"Bless my heart," replied Menelaus, "then I am receiving a visit from
+the son of a very dear friend, who suffered much hardship for my sake.
+I had always hoped to entertain him with most marked distinction when
+heaven had granted us a safe return from beyond the seas. I should have
+founded a city for him in Argos, and built him a house. I should have
+made him leave Ithaca with his goods, his son, and all his people, and
+should have sacked for them some one of the neighbouring cities that
+are subject to me. We should thus have seen one another continually,
+and nothing but death could have interrupted so close and happy an
+intercourse. I suppose, however, that heaven grudged us such great good
+fortune, for it has prevented the poor fellow from ever getting home at
+all."
+
+Thus did he speak, and his words set them all a weeping. Helen wept,
+Telemachus wept, and so did Menelaus, nor could Pisistratus keep his
+eyes from filling, when he remembered his dear brother Antilochus whom
+the son of bright Dawn had killed. Thereon he said to Menelaus,
+
+"Sir, my father Nestor, when we used to talk about you at home, told me
+you were a person of rare and excellent understanding. If, then, it be
+possible, do as I would urge you. I am not fond of crying while I am
+getting my supper. Morning will come in due course, and in the forenoon
+I care not how much I cry for those that are dead and gone. This is all
+we can do for the poor things. We can only shave our heads for them and
+wring the tears from our cheeks. I had a brother who died at Troy; he
+was by no means the worst man there; you are sure to have known him—his
+name was Antilochus; I never set eyes upon him myself, but they say
+that he was singularly fleet of foot and in fight valiant."
+
+"Your discretion, my friend," answered Menelaus, "is beyond your years.
+It is plain you take after your father. One can soon see when a man is
+son to one whom heaven has blessed both as regards wife and
+offspring—and it has blessed Nestor from first to last all his days,
+giving him a green old age in his own house, with sons about him who
+are both well disposed and valiant. We will put an end therefore to all
+this weeping, and attend to our supper again. Let water be poured over
+our hands. Telemachus and I can talk with one another fully in the
+morning."
+
+On this Asphalion, one of the servants, poured water over their hands
+and they laid their hands on the good things that were before them.
+
+Then Jove's daughter Helen bethought her of another matter. She drugged
+the wine with an herb that banishes all care, sorrow, and ill humour.
+Whoever drinks wine thus drugged cannot shed a single tear all the rest
+of the day, not even though his father and mother both of them drop
+down dead, or he sees a brother or a son hewn in pieces before his very
+eyes. This drug, of such sovereign power and virtue, had been given to
+Helen by Polydamna wife of Thon, a woman of Egypt, where there grow all
+sorts of herbs, some good to put into the mixing bowl and others
+poisonous. Moreover, every one in the whole country is a skilled
+physician, for they are of the race of Paeeon. When Helen had put this
+drug in the bowl, and had told the servants to serve the wine round,
+she said:
+
+"Menelaus, son of Atreus, and you my good friends, sons of honourable
+men (which is as Jove wills, for he is the giver both of good and evil,
+and can do what he chooses), feast here as you will, and listen while I
+tell you a tale in season. I cannot indeed name every single one of the
+exploits of Ulysses, but I can say what he did when he was before Troy,
+and you Achaeans were in all sorts of difficulties. He covered himself
+with wounds and bruises, dressed himself all in rags, and entered the
+enemy's city looking like a menial or a beggar, and quite different
+from what he did when he was among his own people. In this disguise he
+entered the city of Troy, and no one said anything to him. I alone
+recognised him and began to question him, but he was too cunning for
+me. When, however, I had washed and anointed him and had given him
+clothes, and after I had sworn a solemn oath not to betray him to the
+Trojans till he had got safely back to his own camp and to the ships,
+he told me all that the Achaeans meant to do. He killed many Trojans
+and got much information before he reached the Argive camp, for all
+which things the Trojan women made lamentation, but for my own part I
+was glad, for my heart was beginning to yearn after my home, and I was
+unhappy about the wrong that Venus had done me in taking me over there,
+away from my country, my girl, and my lawful wedded husband, who is
+indeed by no means deficient either in person or understanding."
+
+Then Menelaus said, "All that you have been saying, my dear wife, is
+true. I have travelled much, and have had much to do with heroes, but I
+have never seen such another man as Ulysses. What endurance too, and
+what courage he displayed within the wooden horse, wherein all the
+bravest of the Argives were lying in wait to bring death and
+destruction upon the Trojans. At that moment you came up to us; some
+god who wished well to the Trojans must have set you on to it and you
+had Deiphobus with you. Three times did you go all round our hiding
+place and pat it; you called our chiefs each by his own name, and
+mimicked all our wives—Diomed, Ulysses, and I from our seats inside
+heard what a noise you made. Diomed and I could not make up our minds
+whether to spring out then and there, or to answer you from inside, but
+Ulysses held us all in check, so we sat quite still, all except
+Anticlus, who was beginning to answer you, when Ulysses clapped his two
+brawny hands over his mouth, and kept them there. It was this that
+saved us all, for he muzzled Anticlus till Minerva took you away
+again."
+
+"How sad," exclaimed Telemachus, "that all this was of no avail to save
+him, nor yet his own iron courage. But now, sir, be pleased to send us
+all to bed, that we may lie down and enjoy the blessed boon of sleep."
+
+On this Helen told the maid servants to set beds in the room that was
+in the gatehouse, and to make them with good red rugs, and spread
+coverlets on the top of them with woollen cloaks for the guests to
+wear. So the maids went out, carrying a torch, and made the beds, to
+which a man-servant presently conducted the strangers. Thus, then, did
+Telemachus and Pisistratus sleep there in the forecourt, while the son
+of Atreus lay in an inner room with lovely Helen by his side.
+
+When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, Menelaus rose
+and dressed himself. He bound his sandals on to his comely feet, girded
+his sword about his shoulders, and left his room looking like an
+immortal god. Then, taking a seat near Telemachus he said:
+
+"And what, Telemachus, has led you to take this long sea voyage to
+Lacedaemon? Are you on public, or private business? Tell me all about
+it."
+
+"I have come, sir," replied Telemachus, "to see if you can tell me
+anything about my father. I am being eaten out of house and home; my
+fair estate is being wasted, and my house is full of miscreants who
+keep killing great numbers of my sheep and oxen, on the pretence of
+paying their addresses to my mother. Therefore, I am suppliant at your
+knees if haply you may tell me about my father's melancholy end,
+whether you saw it with your own eyes, or heard it from some other
+traveller; for he was a man born to trouble. Do not soften things out
+of any pity for myself, but tell me in all plainness exactly what you
+saw. If my brave father Ulysses ever did you loyal service either by
+word or deed, when you Achaeans were harassed by the Trojans, bear it
+in mind now as in my favour and tell me truly all."
+
+Menelaus on hearing this was very much shocked. "So," he exclaimed,
+"these cowards would usurp a brave man's bed? A hind might as well lay
+her new born young in the lair of a lion, and then go off to feed in
+the forest or in some grassy dell: the lion when he comes back to his
+lair will make short work with the pair of them—and so will Ulysses
+with these suitors. By father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, if Ulysses is
+still the man that he was when he wrestled with Philomeleides in
+Lesbos, and threw him so heavily that all the Achaeans cheered him—if
+he is still such and were to come near these suitors, they would have a
+short shrift and a sorry wedding. As regards your questions, however, I
+will not prevaricate nor deceive you, but will tell you without
+concealment all that the old man of the sea told me.
+
+"I was trying to come on here, but the gods detained me in Egypt, for
+my hecatombs had not given them full satisfaction, and the gods are
+very strict about having their dues. Now off Egypt, about as far as a
+ship can sail in a day with a good stiff breeze behind her, there is an
+island called Pharos—it has a good harbour from which vessels can get
+out into open sea when they have taken in water—and here the gods
+becalmed me twenty days without so much as a breath of fair wind to
+help me forward. We should have run clean out of provisions and my men
+would have starved, if a goddess had not taken pity upon me and saved
+me in the person of Idothea, daughter to Proteus, the old man of the
+sea, for she had taken a great fancy to me.
+
+"She came to me one day when I was by myself, as I often was, for the
+men used to go with their barbed hooks, all over the island in the hope
+of catching a fish or two to save them from the pangs of hunger.
+'Stranger,' said she, 'it seems to me that you like starving in this
+way—at any rate it does not greatly trouble you, for you stick here day
+after day, without even trying to get away though your men are dying by
+inches.'
+
+"'Let me tell you,' said I, 'whichever of the goddesses you may happen
+to be, that I am not staying here of my own accord, but must have
+offended the gods that live in heaven. Tell me, therefore, for the gods
+know everything, which of the immortals it is that is hindering me in
+this way, and tell me also how I may sail the sea so as to reach my
+home.'
+
+"'Stranger,' replied she, 'I will make it all quite clear to you. There
+is an old immortal who lives under the sea hereabouts and whose name is
+Proteus. He is an Egyptian, and people say he is my father; he is
+Neptune's head man and knows every inch of ground all over the bottom
+of the sea. If you can snare him and hold him tight, he will tell you
+about your voyage, what courses you are to take, and how you are to
+sail the sea so as to reach your home. He will also tell you, if you so
+will, all that has been going on at your house both good and bad, while
+you have been away on your long and dangerous journey.'
+
+"'Can you show me,' said I, 'some stratagem by means of which I may
+catch this old god without his suspecting it and finding me out? For a
+god is not easily caught—not by a mortal man.'
+
+"'Stranger,' said she, 'I will make it all quite clear to you. About
+the time when the sun shall have reached mid heaven, the old man of the
+sea comes up from under the waves, heralded by the West wind that furs
+the water over his head. As soon as he has come up he lies down, and
+goes to sleep in a great sea cave, where the seals—Halosydne's chickens
+as they call them—come up also from the grey sea, and go to sleep in
+shoals all round him; and a very strong and fish-like smell do they
+bring with them. Early to-morrow morning I will take you to this
+place and will lay you in ambush. Pick out, therefore, the three best
+men you have in your fleet, and I will tell you all the tricks that the
+old man will play you.
+
+"'First he will look over all his seals, and count them; then, when he
+has seen them and tallied them on his five fingers, he will go to sleep
+among them, as a shepherd among his sheep. The moment you see that he
+is asleep seize him; put forth all your strength and hold him fast, for
+he will do his very utmost to get away from you. He will turn himself
+into every kind of creature that goes upon the earth, and will become
+also both fire and water; but you must hold him fast and grip him
+tighter and tighter, till he begins to talk to you and comes back to
+what he was when you saw him go to sleep; then you may slacken your
+hold and let him go; and you can ask him which of the gods it is that
+is angry with you, and what you must do to reach your home over the
+seas.'
+
+"Having so said she dived under the waves, whereon I turned back to the
+place where my ships were ranged upon the shore; and my heart was
+clouded with care as I went along. When I reached my ship we got supper
+ready, for night was falling, and camped down upon the beach.
+
+"When the child of morning rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, I took the
+three men on whose prowess of all kinds I could most rely, and went
+along by the sea-side, praying heartily to heaven. Meanwhile the
+goddess fetched me up four seal skins from the bottom of the sea, all
+of them just skinned, for she meant playing a trick upon her father.
+Then she dug four pits for us to lie in, and sat down to wait till we
+should come up. When we were close to her, she made us lie down in the
+pits one after the other, and threw a seal skin over each of us. Our
+ambuscade would have been intolerable, for the stench of the fishy
+seals was most distressing—who would go to bed with a sea monster if
+he could help it?—but here, too, the goddess helped us, and thought of
+something that gave us great relief, for she put some ambrosia under
+each man's nostrils, which was so fragrant that it killed the smell of
+the seals.
+
+"We waited the whole morning and made the best of it, watching the
+seals come up in hundreds to bask upon the sea shore, till at noon the
+old man of the sea came up too, and when he had found his fat seals he
+went over them and counted them. We were among the first he counted,
+and he never suspected any guile, but laid himself down to sleep as
+soon as he had done counting. Then we rushed upon him with a shout and
+seized him; on which he began at once with his old tricks, and changed
+himself first into a lion with a great mane; then all of a sudden he
+became a dragon, a leopard, a wild boar; the next moment he was running
+water, and then again directly he was a tree, but we stuck to him and
+never lost hold, till at last the cunning old creature became
+distressed, and said, 'Which of the gods was it, Son of Atreus, that
+hatched this plot with you for snaring me and seizing me against my
+will? What do you want?'
+
+"'You know that yourself, old man,' I answered, 'you will gain nothing
+by trying to put me off. It is because I have been kept so long in this
+island, and see no sign of my being able to get away. I am losing all
+heart; tell me, then, for you gods know everything, which of the
+immortals it is that is hindering me, and tell me also how I may sail
+the sea so as to reach my home?'
+
+"Then,' he said, 'if you would finish your voyage and get home quickly,
+you must offer sacrifices to Jove and to the rest of the gods before
+embarking; for it is decreed that you shall not get back to your
+friends, and to your own house, till you have returned to the
+heaven-fed stream of Egypt, and offered holy hecatombs to the immortal
+gods that reign in heaven. When you have done this they will let you
+finish your voyage.'
+
+"I was broken hearted when I heard that I must go back all that long
+and terrible voyage to Egypt; nevertheless, I answered, 'I will do
+all, old man, that you have laid upon me; but now tell me, and tell me
+true, whether all the Achaeans whom Nestor and I left behind us when we
+set sail from Troy have got home safely, or whether any one of them
+came to a bad end either on board his own ship or among his friends
+when the days of his fighting were done.'
+
+"'Son of Atreus,' he answered, 'why ask me? You had better not know
+what I can tell you, for your eyes will surely fill when you have heard
+my story. Many of those about whom you ask are dead and gone, but many
+still remain, and only two of the chief men among the Achaeans perished
+during their return home. As for what happened on the field of
+battle—you were there yourself. A third Achaean leader is still at sea,
+alive, but hindered from returning. Ajax was wrecked, for Neptune drove
+him on to the great rocks of Gyrae; nevertheless, he let him get safe
+out of the water, and in spite of all Minerva's hatred he would have
+escaped death, if he had not ruined himself by boasting. He said the
+gods could not drown him even though they had tried to do so, and when
+Neptune heard this large talk, he seized his trident in his two brawny
+hands, and split the rock of Gyrae in two pieces. The base remained
+where it was, but the part on which Ajax was sitting fell headlong into
+the sea and carried Ajax with it; so he drank salt water and was
+drowned.
+
+"'Your brother and his ships escaped, for Juno protected him, but when
+he was just about to reach the high promontory of Malea, he was caught
+by a heavy gale which carried him out to sea again sorely against his
+will, and drove him to the foreland where Thyestes used to dwell, but
+where Aegisthus was then living. By and by, however, it seemed as
+though he was to return safely after all, for the gods backed the wind
+into its old quarter and they reached home; whereon Agamemnon kissed
+his native soil, and shed tears of joy at finding himself in his own
+country.
+
+"'Now there was a watchman whom Aegisthus kept always on the watch, and
+to whom he had promised two talents of gold. This man had been looking
+out for a whole year to make sure that Agamemnon did not give him the
+slip and prepare war; when, therefore, this man saw Agamemnon go by, he
+went and told Aegisthus, who at once began to lay a plot for him. He
+picked twenty of his bravest warriors and placed them in ambuscade on
+one side the cloister, while on the opposite side he prepared a
+banquet. Then he sent his chariots and horsemen to Agamemnon, and
+invited him to the feast, but he meant foul play. He got him there, all
+unsuspicious of the doom that was awaiting him, and killed him when the
+banquet was over as though he were butchering an ox in the shambles;
+not one of Agamemnon's followers was left alive, nor yet one of
+Aegisthus', but they were all killed there in the cloisters.'
+
+"Thus spoke Proteus, and I was broken hearted as I heard him. I sat
+down upon the sands and wept; I felt as though I could no longer bear
+to live nor look upon the light of the sun. Presently, when I had had
+my fill of weeping and writhing upon the ground, the old man of the sea
+said, 'Son of Atreus, do not waste any more time in crying so bitterly;
+it can do no manner of good; find your way home as fast as ever you
+can, for Aegisthus may be still alive, and even though Orestes has been
+beforehand with you in killing him, you may yet come in for his
+funeral.'
+
+"On this I took comfort in spite of all my sorrow, and said, 'I know,
+then, about these two; tell me, therefore, about the third man of whom
+you spoke; is he still alive, but at sea, and unable to get home? or is
+he dead? Tell me, no matter how much it may grieve me.'
+
+"'The third man,' he answered, 'is Ulysses who dwells in Ithaca. I can
+see him in an island sorrowing bitterly in the house of the nymph
+Calypso, who is keeping him prisoner, and he cannot reach his home for
+he has no ships nor sailors to take him over the sea. As for your own
+end, Menelaus, you shall not die in Argos, but the gods will take you
+to the Elysian plain, which is at the ends of the world. There
+fair-haired Rhadamanthus reigns, and men lead an easier life than any
+where else in the world, for in Elysium there falls not rain, nor hail,
+nor snow, but Oceanus breathes ever with a West wind that sings softly
+from the sea, and gives fresh life to all men. This will happen to you
+because you have married Helen, and are Jove's son-in-law.'
+
+"As he spoke he dived under the waves, whereon I turned back to the
+ships with my companions, and my heart was clouded with care as I went
+along. When we reached the ships we got supper ready, for night was
+falling, and camped down upon the beach. When the child of morning,
+rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, we drew our ships into the water, and put
+our masts and sails within them; then we went on board ourselves, took
+our seats on the benches, and smote the grey sea with our oars. I again
+stationed my ships in the heaven-fed stream of Egypt, and offered
+hecatombs that were full and sufficient. When I had thus appeased
+heaven's anger, I raised a barrow to the memory of Agamemnon that his
+name might live for ever, after which I had a quick passage home, for
+the gods sent me a fair wind.
+
+"And now for yourself—stay here some ten or twelve days longer, and I
+will then speed you on your way. I will make you a noble present of a
+chariot and three horses. I will also give you a beautiful chalice that
+so long as you live you may think of me whenever you make a
+drink-offering to the immortal gods."
+
+"Son of Atreus," replied Telemachus, "do not press me to stay longer; I
+should be contented to remain with you for another twelve months; I
+find your conversation so delightful that I should never once wish
+myself at home with my parents; but my crew whom I have left at Pylos
+are already impatient, and you are detaining me from them. As for any
+present you may be disposed to make me, I had rather that it should be
+a piece of plate. I will take no horses back with me to Ithaca, but
+will leave them to adorn your own stables, for you have much flat
+ground in your kingdom where lotus thrives, as also meadow-sweet and
+wheat and barley, and oats with their white and spreading ears; whereas
+in Ithaca we have neither open fields nor racecourses, and the country
+is more fit for goats than horses, and I like it the better for that.
+None of our islands have much level ground, suitable for horses, and
+Ithaca least of all."
+
+Menelaus smiled and took Telemachus's hand within his own. "What you
+say," said he, "shows that you come of good family. I both can, and
+will, make this exchange for you, by giving you the finest and most
+precious piece of plate in all my house. It is a mixing bowl by
+Vulcan's own hand, of pure silver, except the rim, which is inlaid with
+gold. Phaedimus, king of the Sidonians, gave it me in the course of a
+visit which I paid him when I returned thither on my homeward journey.
+I will make you a present of it."
+
+Thus did they converse [and guests kept coming to the king's house.
+They brought sheep and wine, while their wives had put up bread for
+them to take with them; so they were busy cooking their dinners in the
+courts.
+
+Meanwhile the suitors were throwing discs or aiming with spears at a
+mark on the levelled ground in front of Ulysses' house, and were
+behaving with all their old insolence. Antinous and Eurymachus, who
+were their ringleaders and much the foremost among them all, were
+sitting together when Noemon son of Phronius came up and said to
+Antinous,
+
+"Have we any idea, Antinous, on what day Telemachus returns from Pylos?
+He has a ship of mine, and I want it, to cross over to Elis: I have
+twelve brood mares there with yearling mule foals by their side not yet
+broken in, and I want to bring one of them over here and break him."
+
+They were astounded when they heard this, for they had made sure that
+Telemachus had not gone to the city of Neleus. They thought he was only
+away somewhere on the farms, and was with the sheep, or with the
+swineherd; so Antinous said, "When did he go? Tell me truly, and what
+young men did he take with him? Were they freemen or his own
+bondsmen—for he might manage that too? Tell me also, did you let him
+have the ship of your own free will because he asked you, or did he
+take it without your leave?"
+
+"I lent it him," answered Noemon, "what else could I do when a man of
+his position said he was in a difficulty, and asked me to oblige him? I
+could not possibly refuse. As for those who went with him they were the
+best young men we have, and I saw Mentor go on board as captain—or some
+god who was exactly like him. I cannot understand it, for I saw Mentor
+here myself yesterday morning, and yet he was then setting out for
+Pylos."
+
+Noemon then went back to his father's house, but Antinous and
+Eurymachus were very angry. They told the others to leave off playing,
+and to come and sit down along with themselves. When they came,
+Antinous son of Eupeithes spoke in anger. His heart was black with
+rage, and his eyes flashed fire as he said:
+
+"Good heavens, this voyage of Telemachus is a very serious matter; we
+had made sure that it would come to nothing, but the young fellow has
+got away in spite of us, and with a picked crew too. He will be giving
+us trouble presently; may Jove take him before he is full grown. Find
+me a ship, therefore, with a crew of twenty men, and I will lie in wait
+for him in the straits between Ithaca and Samos; he will then rue the
+day that he set out to try and get news of his father."
+
+Thus did he speak, and the others applauded his saying; they then all
+of them went inside the buildings.
+
+It was not long ere Penelope came to know what the suitors were
+plotting; for a man servant, Medon, overheard them from outside the
+outer court as they were laying their schemes within, and went to tell
+his mistress. As he crossed the threshold of her room Penelope said:
+"Medon, what have the suitors sent you here for? Is it to tell the
+maids to leave their master's business and cook dinner for them? I wish
+they may neither woo nor dine henceforward, neither here nor anywhere
+else, but let this be the very last time, for the waste you all make of
+my son's estate. Did not your fathers tell you when you were children,
+how good Ulysses had been to them—never doing anything high-handed, nor
+speaking harshly to anybody? Kings may say things sometimes, and they
+may take a fancy to one man and dislike another, but Ulysses never did
+an unjust thing by anybody—which shows what bad hearts you have, and
+that there is no such thing as gratitude left in this world."
+
+Then Medon said, "I wish, Madam, that this were all; but they are
+plotting something much more dreadful now—may heaven frustrate their
+design. They are going to try and murder Telemachus as he is coming
+home from Pylos and Lacedaemon, where he has been to get news of his
+father."
+
+Then Penelope's heart sank within her, and for a long time she was
+speechless; her eyes filled with tears, and she could find no
+utterance. At last, however, she said, "Why did my son leave me? What
+business had he to go sailing off in ships that make long voyages over
+the ocean like sea-horses? Does he want to die without leaving any one
+behind him to keep up his name?"
+
+"I do not know," answered Medon, "whether some god set him on to it, or
+whether he went on his own impulse to see if he could find out if his
+father was dead, or alive and on his way home."
+
+Then he went downstairs again, leaving Penelope in an agony of grief.
+There were plenty of seats in the house, but she had no heart for
+sitting on any one of them; she could only fling herself on the floor
+of her own room and cry; whereon all the maids in the house, both old
+and young, gathered round her and began to cry too, till at last in a
+transport of sorrow she exclaimed,
+
+"My dears, heaven has been pleased to try me with more affliction than
+any other woman of my age and country. First I lost my brave and
+lion-hearted husband, who had every good quality under heaven, and
+whose name was great over all Hellas and middle Argos, and now my
+darling son is at the mercy of the winds and waves, without my having
+heard one word about his leaving home. You hussies, there was not one
+of you would so much as think of giving me a call out of my bed, though
+you all of you very well knew when he was starting. If I had known he
+meant taking this voyage, he would have had to give it up, no matter
+how much he was bent upon it, or leave me a corpse behind him—one or
+other. Now, however, go some of you and call old Dolius, who was given
+me by my father on my marriage, and who is my gardener. Bid him go at
+once and tell everything to Laertes, who may be able to hit on some
+plan for enlisting public sympathy on our side, as against those who
+are trying to exterminate his own race and that of Ulysses."
+
+Then the dear old nurse Euryclea said, "You may kill me, Madam, or let
+me live on in your house, whichever you please, but I will tell you the
+real truth. I knew all about it, and gave him everything he wanted in
+the way of bread and wine, but he made me take my solemn oath that I
+would not tell you anything for some ten or twelve days, unless you
+asked or happened to hear of his having gone, for he did not want you
+to spoil your beauty by crying. And now, Madam, wash your face, change
+your dress, and go upstairs with your maids to offer prayers to
+Minerva, daughter of Aegis-bearing Jove, for she can save him even
+though he be in the jaws of death. Do not trouble Laertes: he has
+trouble enough already. Besides, I cannot think that the gods hate the
+race of the son of Arceisius so much, but there will be a son left to
+come up after him, and inherit both the house and the fair fields that
+lie far all round it."
+
+With these words she made her mistress leave off crying, and dried the
+tears from her eyes. Penelope washed her face, changed her dress, and
+went upstairs with her maids. She then put some bruised barley into a
+basket and began praying to Minerva.
+
+"Hear me," she cried, "Daughter of Aegis-bearing Jove, unweariable. If
+ever Ulysses while he was here burned you fat thigh bones of sheep or
+heifer, bear it in mind now as in my favour, and save my darling son
+from the villainy of the suitors."
+
+She cried aloud as she spoke, and the goddess heard her prayer;
+meanwhile the suitors were clamorous throughout the covered cloister,
+and one of them said:
+
+"The queen is preparing for her marriage with one or other of us.
+Little does she dream that her son has now been doomed to die."
+
+This was what they said, but they did not know what was going to
+happen. Then Antinous said, "Comrades, let there be no loud talking,
+lest some of it get carried inside. Let us be up and do that in
+silence, about which we are all of a mind."
+
+He then chose twenty men, and they went down to their ship and to the
+sea side; they drew the vessel into the water and got her mast and
+sails inside her; they bound the oars to the thole-pins with twisted
+thongs of leather, all in due course, and spread the white sails aloft,
+while their fine servants brought them their armour. Then they made the
+ship fast a little way out, came on shore again, got their suppers, and
+waited till night should fall.
+
+But Penelope lay in her own room upstairs unable to eat or drink, and
+wondering whether her brave son would escape, or be overpowered by the
+wicked suitors. Like a lioness caught in the toils with huntsmen
+hemming her in on every side she thought and thought till she sank into
+a slumber, and lay on her bed bereft of thought and motion.
+
+Then Minerva bethought her of another matter, and made a vision in the
+likeness of Penelope's sister Iphthime daughter of Icarius who had
+married Eumelus and lived in Pherae. She told the vision to go to the
+house of Ulysses, and to make Penelope leave off crying, so it came
+into her room by the hole through which the thong went for pulling the
+door to, and hovered over her head saying,
+
+"You are asleep, Penelope: the gods who live at ease will not suffer
+you to weep and be so sad. Your son has done them no wrong, so he will
+yet come back to you."
+
+Penelope, who was sleeping sweetly at the gates of dreamland, answered,
+"Sister, why have you come here? You do not come very often, but I
+suppose that is because you live such a long way off. Am I, then, to
+leave off crying and refrain from all the sad thoughts that torture me?
+I, who have lost my brave and lion-hearted husband, who had every good
+quality under heaven, and whose name was great over all Hellas and
+middle Argos; and now my darling son has gone off on board of a ship—a
+foolish fellow who has never been used to roughing it, nor to going
+about among gatherings of men. I am even more anxious about him than
+about my husband; I am all in a tremble when I think of him, lest
+something should happen to him, either from the people among whom he
+has gone, or by sea, for he has many enemies who are plotting against
+him, and are bent on killing him before he can return home."
+
+Then the vision said, "Take heart, and be not so much dismayed. There
+is one gone with him whom many a man would be glad enough to have stand
+by his side, I mean Minerva; it is she who has compassion upon you, and
+who has sent me to bear you this message."
+
+"Then," said Penelope, "if you are a god or have been sent here by
+divine commission, tell me also about that other unhappy one—is he
+still alive, or is he already dead and in the house of Hades?"
+
+And the vision said, "I shall not tell you for certain whether he is
+alive or dead, and there is no use in idle conversation."
+
+Then it vanished through the thong-hole of the door and was dissipated
+into thin air; but Penelope rose from her sleep refreshed and
+comforted, so vivid had been her dream.
+
+Meantime the suitors went on board and sailed their ways over the sea,
+intent on murdering Telemachus. Now there is a rocky islet called
+Asteris, of no great size, in mid channel between Ithaca and Samos, and
+there is a harbour on either side of it where a ship can lie. Here then
+the Achaeans placed themselves in ambush.
+
+And now, as Dawn rose from her couch beside Tithonus—harbinger of light
+alike to mortals and immortals—the gods met in council and with them,
+Jove the lord of thunder, who is their king. Thereon Minerva began to
+tell them of the many sufferings of Ulysses, for she pitied him away
+there in the house of the nymph Calypso.
+
+"Father Jove," said she, "and all you other gods that live in
+everlasting bliss, I hope there may never be such a thing as a kind and
+well-disposed ruler any more, nor one who will govern equitably. I hope
+they will be all henceforth cruel and unjust, for there is not one of
+his subjects but has forgotten Ulysses, who ruled them as though he
+were their father. There he is, lying in great pain in an island where
+dwells the nymph Calypso, who will not let him go; and he cannot get
+back to his own country, for he can find neither ships nor sailors to
+take him over the sea. Furthermore, wicked people are now trying to
+murder his only son Telemachus, who is coming home from Pylos and
+Lacedaemon, where he has been to see if he can get news of his father."
+
+"What, my dear, are you talking about?" replied her father, "did you
+not send him there yourself, because you thought it would help Ulysses
+to get home and punish the suitors? Besides, you are perfectly able to
+protect Telemachus, and to see him safely home again, while the suitors
+have to come hurry-skurrying back without having killed him."
+
+When he had thus spoken, he said to his son Mercury, "Mercury, you are
+our messenger, go therefore and tell Calypso we have decreed that poor
+Ulysses is to return home. He is to be convoyed neither by gods nor
+men, but after a perilous voyage of twenty days upon a raft he is to
+reach fertile Scheria, the land of the Phaeacians, who are near of
+kin to the gods, and will honour him as though he were one of
+ourselves. They will send him in a ship to his own country, and will
+give him more bronze and gold and raiment than he would have brought
+back from Troy, if he had had all his prize money and had got home
+without disaster. This is how we have settled that he shall return to
+his country and his friends."
+
+Thus he spoke, and Mercury, guide and guardian, slayer of Argus, did as
+he was told. Forthwith he bound on his glittering golden sandals with
+which he could fly like the wind over land and sea. He took the wand
+with which he seals men's eyes in sleep or wakes them just as he
+pleases, and flew holding it in his hand over Pieria; then he swooped
+down through the firmament till he reached the level of the sea, whose
+waves he skimmed like a cormorant that flies fishing every hole and
+corner of the ocean, and drenching its thick plumage in the spray. He
+flew and flew over many a weary wave, but when at last he got to the
+island which was his journey's end, he left the sea and went on by land
+till he came to the cave where the nymph Calypso lived.
+
+He found her at home. There was a large fire burning on the hearth, and
+one could smell from far the fragrant reek of burning cedar and sandal
+wood. As for herself, she was busy at her loom, shooting her golden
+shuttle through the warp and singing beautifully. Round her cave there
+was a thick wood of alder, poplar, and sweet smelling cypress trees,
+wherein all kinds of great birds had built their nests—owls, hawks, and
+chattering sea-crows that occupy their business in the waters. A vine
+loaded with grapes was trained and grew luxuriantly about the mouth of
+the cave; there were also four running rills of water in channels cut
+pretty close together, and turned hither and thither so as to irrigate
+the beds of violets and luscious herbage over which they flowed.
+Even a god could not help being charmed with such a lovely spot, so
+Mercury stood still and looked at it; but when he had admired it
+sufficiently he went inside the cave.
+
+Calypso knew him at once—for the gods all know each other, no matter
+how far they live from one another—but Ulysses was not within; he was
+on the sea-shore as usual, looking out upon the barren ocean with tears
+in his eyes, groaning and breaking his heart for sorrow. Calypso gave
+Mercury a seat and said: "Why have you come to see me,
+Mercury—honoured, and ever welcome—for you do not visit me often? Say
+what you want; I will do it for you at once if I can, and if it can be
+done at all; but come inside, and let me set refreshment before you."
+
+As she spoke she drew a table loaded with ambrosia beside him and mixed
+him some red nectar, so Mercury ate and drank till he had had enough,
+and then said:
+
+"We are speaking god and goddess to one another, and you ask me why I
+have come here, and I will tell you truly as you would have me do. Jove
+sent me; it was no doing of mine; who could possibly want to come all
+this way over the sea where there are no cities full of people to offer
+me sacrifices or choice hecatombs? Nevertheless I had to come, for none
+of us other gods can cross Jove, nor transgress his orders. He says
+that you have here the most ill-starred of all those who fought nine
+years before the city of King Priam and sailed home in the tenth year
+after having sacked it. On their way home they sinned against
+Minerva, who raised both wind and waves against them, so that all his
+brave companions perished, and he alone was carried hither by wind and
+tide. Jove says that you are to let this man go at once, for it is
+decreed that he shall not perish here, far from his own people, but
+shall return to his house and country and see his friends again."
+
+Calypso trembled with rage when she heard this, "You gods," she
+exclaimed, "ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You are always jealous
+and hate seeing a goddess take a fancy to a mortal man, and live with
+him in open matrimony. So when rosy-fingered Dawn made love to Orion,
+you precious gods were all of you furious till Diana went and killed
+him in Ortygia. So again when Ceres fell in love with Iasion, and
+yielded to him in a thrice-ploughed fallow field, Jove came to hear of
+it before so very long and killed Iasion with his thunderbolts. And now
+you are angry with me too because I have a man here. I found the poor
+creature sitting all alone astride of a keel, for Jove had struck his
+ship with lightning and sunk it in mid ocean, so that all his crew were
+drowned, while he himself was driven by wind and waves on to my island.
+I got fond of him and cherished him, and had set my heart on making him
+immortal, so that he should never grow old all his days; still I cannot
+cross Jove, nor bring his counsels to nothing; therefore, if he insists
+upon it, let the man go beyond the seas again; but I cannot send him
+anywhere myself for I have neither ships nor men who can take him.
+Nevertheless I will readily give him such advice, in all good faith, as
+will be likely to bring him safely to his own country."
+
+"Then send him away," said Mercury, "or Jove will be angry with you and
+punish you".
+
+On this he took his leave, and Calypso went out to look for Ulysses,
+for she had heard Jove's message. She found him sitting upon the beach
+with his eyes ever filled with tears, and dying of sheer home sickness;
+for he had got tired of Calypso, and though he was forced to sleep with
+her in the cave by night, it was she, not he, that would have it so. As
+for the day time, he spent it on the rocks and on the sea shore,
+weeping, crying aloud for his despair, and always looking out upon the
+sea. Calypso then went close up to him said:
+
+"My poor fellow, you shall not stay here grieving and fretting your
+life out any longer. I am going to send you away of my own free will;
+so go, cut some beams of wood, and make yourself a large raft with an
+upper deck that it may carry you safely over the sea. I will put bread,
+wine, and water on board to save you from starving. I will also give
+you clothes, and will send you a fair wind to take you home, if the
+gods in heaven so will it—for they know more about these things, and
+can settle them better than I can."
+
+Ulysses shuddered as he heard her. "Now goddess," he answered, "there
+is something behind all this; you cannot be really meaning to help me
+home when you bid me do such a dreadful thing as put to sea on a raft.
+Not even a well found ship with a fair wind could venture on such a
+distant voyage: nothing that you can say or do shall make me go on
+board a raft unless you first solemnly swear that you mean me no
+mischief."
+
+Calypso smiled at this and caressed him with her hand: "You know a
+great deal," said she, "but you are quite wrong here. May heaven above
+and earth below be my witnesses, with the waters of the river Styx—and
+this is the most solemn oath which a blessed god can take—that I mean
+you no sort of harm, and am only advising you to do exactly what I
+should do myself in your place. I am dealing with you quite
+straightforwardly; my heart is not made of iron, and I am very sorry
+for you."
+
+When she had thus spoken she led the way rapidly before him, and
+Ulysses followed in her steps; so the pair, goddess and man, went on
+and on till they came to Calypso's cave, where Ulysses took the seat
+that Mercury had just left. Calypso set meat and drink before him of
+the food that mortals eat; but her maids brought ambrosia and nectar
+for herself, and they laid their hands on the good things that were
+before them. When they had satisfied themselves with meat and drink,
+Calypso spoke, saying:
+
+"Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, so you would start home to your own
+land at once? Good luck go with you, but if you could only know how
+much suffering is in store for you before you get back to your own
+country, you would stay where you are, keep house along with me, and
+let me make you immortal, no matter how anxious you may be to see this
+wife of yours, of whom you are thinking all the time day after day; yet
+I flatter myself that I am no whit less tall or well-looking than she
+is, for it is not to be expected that a mortal woman should compare in
+beauty with an immortal."
+
+"Goddess," replied Ulysses, "do not be angry with me about this. I am
+quite aware that my wife Penelope is nothing like so tall or so
+beautiful as yourself. She is only a woman, whereas you are an
+immortal. Nevertheless, I want to get home, and can think of nothing
+else. If some god wrecks me when I am on the sea, I will bear it and
+make the best of it. I have had infinite trouble both by land and sea
+already, so let this go with the rest."
+
+Presently the sun set and it became dark, whereon the pair retired into
+the inner part of the cave and went to bed.
+
+When the child of morning rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, Ulysses put on
+his shirt and cloak, while the goddess wore a dress of a light gossamer
+fabric, very fine and graceful, with a beautiful golden girdle about
+her waist and a veil to cover her head. She at once set herself to
+think how she could speed Ulysses on his way. So she gave him a great
+bronze axe that suited his hands; it was sharpened on both sides, and
+had a beautiful olive-wood handle fitted firmly on to it. She also gave
+him a sharp adze, and then led the way to the far end of the island
+where the largest trees grew—alder, poplar and pine, that reached the
+sky—very dry and well seasoned, so as to sail light for him in the
+water. Then, when she had shown him where the best trees grew,
+Calypso went home, leaving him to cut them, which he soon finished
+doing. He cut down twenty trees in all and adzed them smooth, squaring
+them by rule in good workmanlike fashion. Meanwhile Calypso came back
+with some augers, so he bored holes with them and fitted the timbers
+together with bolts and rivets. He made the raft as broad as a skilled
+shipwright makes the beam of a large vessel, and he fixed a deck on top
+of the ribs, and ran a gunwale all round it. He also made a mast with a
+yard arm, and a rudder to steer with. He fenced the raft all round with
+wicker hurdles as a protection against the waves, and then he threw on
+a quantity of wood. By and by Calypso brought him some linen to make
+the sails, and he made these too, excellently, making them fast with
+braces and sheets. Last of all, with the help of levers, he drew the
+raft down into the water.
+
+In four days he had completed the whole work, and on the fifth Calypso
+sent him from the island after washing him and giving him some clean
+clothes. She gave him a goat skin full of black wine, and another
+larger one of water; she also gave him a wallet full of provisions, and
+found him in much good meat. Moreover, she made the wind fair and warm
+for him, and gladly did Ulysses spread his sail before it, while he sat
+and guided the raft skilfully by means of the rudder. He never closed
+his eyes, but kept them fixed on the Pleiads, on late-setting Bootes,
+and on the Bear—which men also call the wain, and which turns round and
+round where it is, facing Orion, and alone never dipping into the
+stream of Oceanus—for Calypso had told him to keep this to his left.
+Days seven and ten did he sail over the sea, and on the eighteenth the
+dim outlines of the mountains on the nearest part of the Phaeacian
+coast appeared, rising like a shield on the horizon.
+
+But King Neptune, who was returning from the Ethiopians, caught sight
+of Ulysses a long way off, from the mountains of the Solymi. He could
+see him sailing upon the sea, and it made him very angry, so he wagged
+his head and muttered to himself, saying, "Good heavens, so the gods
+have been changing their minds about Ulysses while I was away in
+Ethiopia, and now he is close to the land of the Phaeacians, where it
+is decreed that he shall escape from the calamities that have befallen
+him. Still, he shall have plenty of hardship yet before he has done
+with it."
+
+Thereon he gathered his clouds together, grasped his trident, stirred
+it round in the sea, and roused the rage of every wind that blows till
+earth, sea, and sky were hidden in cloud, and night sprang forth out of
+the heavens. Winds from East, South, North, and West fell upon him all
+at the same time, and a tremendous sea got up, so that Ulysses' heart
+began to fail him. "Alas," he said to himself in his dismay, "what ever
+will become of me? I am afraid Calypso was right when she said I should
+have trouble by sea before I got back home. It is all coming true. How
+black is Jove making heaven with his clouds, and what a sea the winds
+are raising from every quarter at once. I am now safe to perish. Blest
+and thrice blest were those Danaans who fell before Troy in the cause
+of the sons of Atreus. Would that I had been killed on the day when the
+Trojans were pressing me so sorely about the dead body of Achilles, for
+then I should have had due burial and the Achaeans would have honoured
+my name; but now it seems that I shall come to a most pitiable end."
+
+As he spoke a sea broke over him with such terrific fury that the raft
+reeled again, and he was carried overboard a long way off. He let go
+the helm, and the force of the hurricane was so great that it broke the
+mast half way up, and both sail and yard went over into the sea. For a
+long time Ulysses was under water, and it was all he could do to rise
+to the surface again, for the clothes Calypso had given him weighed him
+down; but at last he got his head above water and spat out the bitter
+brine that was running down his face in streams. In spite of all this,
+however, he did not lose sight of his raft, but swam as fast as he
+could towards it, got hold of it, and climbed on board again so as to
+escape drowning. The sea took the raft and tossed it about as Autumn
+winds whirl thistledown round and round upon a road. It was as though
+the South, North, East, and West winds were all playing battledore and
+shuttlecock with it at once.
+
+When he was in this plight, Ino daughter of Cadmus, also called
+Leucothea, saw him. She had formerly been a mere mortal, but had been
+since raised to the rank of a marine goddess. Seeing in what great
+distress Ulysses now was, she had compassion upon him, and, rising like
+a sea-gull from the waves, took her seat upon the raft.
+
+"My poor good man," said she, "why is Neptune so furiously angry with
+you? He is giving you a great deal of trouble, but for all his bluster
+he will not kill you. You seem to be a sensible person, do then as I
+bid you; strip, leave your raft to drive before the wind, and swim to
+the Phaeacian coast where better luck awaits you. And here, take my
+veil and put it round your chest; it is enchanted, and you can come to
+no harm so long as you wear it. As soon as you touch land take it off,
+throw it back as far as you can into the sea, and then go away again."
+With these words she took off her veil and gave it him. Then she dived
+down again like a sea-gull and vanished beneath the dark blue waters.
+
+But Ulysses did not know what to think. "Alas," he said to himself in
+his dismay, "this is only some one or other of the gods who is luring
+me to ruin by advising me to quit my raft. At any rate I will not do so
+at present, for the land where she said I should be quit of all
+troubles seemed to be still a good way off. I know what I will do—I am
+sure it will be best—no matter what happens I will stick to the raft as
+long as her timbers hold together, but when the sea breaks her up I
+will swim for it; I do not see how I can do any better than this."
+
+While he was thus in two minds, Neptune sent a terrible great wave that
+seemed to rear itself above his head till it broke right over the raft,
+which then went to pieces as though it were a heap of dry chaff tossed
+about by a whirlwind. Ulysses got astride of one plank and rode upon it
+as if he were on horseback; he then took off the clothes Calypso had
+given him, bound Ino's veil under his arms, and plunged into the
+sea—meaning to swim on shore. King Neptune watched him as he did so,
+and wagged his head, muttering to himself and saying, "There now, swim
+up and down as you best can till you fall in with well-to-do people. I
+do not think you will be able to say that I have let you off too
+lightly." On this he lashed his horses and drove to Aegae where his
+palace is.
+
+But Minerva resolved to help Ulysses, so she bound the ways of all the
+winds except one, and made them lie quite still; but she roused a good
+stiff breeze from the North that should lay the waters till Ulysses
+reached the land of the Phaeacians where he would be safe.
+
+Thereon he floated about for two nights and two days in the water, with
+a heavy swell on the sea and death staring him in the face; but when
+the third day broke, the wind fell and there was a dead calm without so
+much as a breath of air stirring. As he rose on the swell he looked
+eagerly ahead, and could see land quite near. Then, as children rejoice
+when their dear father begins to get better after having for a long
+time borne sore affliction sent him by some angry spirit, but the gods
+deliver him from evil, so was Ulysses thankful when he again saw land
+and trees, and swam on with all his strength that he might once more
+set foot upon dry ground. When, however, he got within earshot, he
+began to hear the surf thundering up against the rocks, for the swell
+still broke against them with a terrific roar. Everything was enveloped
+in spray; there were no harbours where a ship might ride, nor shelter
+of any kind, but only headlands, low-lying rocks, and mountain tops.
+
+Ulysses' heart now began to fail him, and he said despairingly to
+himself, "Alas, Jove has let me see land after swimming so far that I
+had given up all hope, but I can find no landing place, for the coast
+is rocky and surf-beaten, the rocks are smooth and rise sheer from the
+sea, with deep water close under them so that I cannot climb out for
+want of foot hold. I am afraid some great wave will lift me off my legs
+and dash me against the rocks as I leave the water—which would give me
+a sorry landing. If, on the other hand, I swim further in search of
+some shelving beach or harbour, a hurricane may carry me out to sea
+again sorely against my will, or heaven may send some great monster of
+the deep to attack me; for Amphitrite breeds many such, and I know that
+Neptune is very angry with me."
+
+While he was thus in two minds a wave caught him and took him with such
+force against the rocks that he would have been smashed and torn to
+pieces if Minerva had not shown him what to do. He caught hold of the
+rock with both hands and clung to it groaning with pain till the wave
+retired, so he was saved that time; but presently the wave came on
+again and carried him back with it far into the sea—tearing his hands
+as the suckers of a polypus are torn when some one plucks it from its
+bed, and the stones come up along with it—even so did the rocks tear
+the skin from his strong hands, and then the wave drew him deep down
+under the water.
+
+Here poor Ulysses would have certainly perished even in spite of his
+own destiny, if Minerva had not helped him to keep his wits about him.
+He swam seaward again, beyond reach of the surf that was beating
+against the land, and at the same time he kept looking towards the
+shore to see if he could find some haven, or a spit that should take
+the waves aslant. By and by, as he swam on, he came to the mouth of a
+river, and here he thought would be the best place, for there were no
+rocks, and it afforded shelter from the wind. He felt that there was a
+current, so he prayed inwardly and said:
+
+"Hear me, O King, whoever you may be, and save me from the anger of the
+sea-god Neptune, for I approach you prayerfully. Any one who has lost
+his way has at all times a claim even upon the gods, wherefore in my
+distress I draw near to your stream, and cling to the knees of your
+riverhood. Have mercy upon me, O king, for I declare myself your
+suppliant."
+
+Then the god staid his stream and stilled the waves, making all calm
+before him, and bringing him safely into the mouth of the river. Here
+at last Ulysses' knees and strong hands failed him, for the sea had
+completely broken him. His body was all swollen, and his mouth and
+nostrils ran down like a river with sea-water, so that he could neither
+breathe nor speak, and lay swooning from sheer exhaustion; presently,
+when he had got his breath and came to himself again, he took off the
+scarf that Ino had given him and threw it back into the salt stream
+of the river, whereon Ino received it into her hands from the wave that
+bore it towards her. Then he left the river, laid himself down among
+the rushes, and kissed the bounteous earth.
+
+"Alas," he cried to himself in his dismay, "what ever will become of
+me, and how is it all to end? If I stay here upon the river bed through
+the long watches of the night, I am so exhausted that the bitter cold
+and damp may make an end of me—for towards sunrise there will be a keen
+wind blowing from off the river. If, on the other hand, I climb the
+hill side, find shelter in the woods, and sleep in some thicket, I may
+escape the cold and have a good night's rest, but some savage beast may
+take advantage of me and devour me."
+
+In the end he deemed it best to take to the woods, and he found one
+upon some high ground not far from the water. There he crept beneath
+two shoots of olive that grew from a single stock—the one an ungrafted
+sucker, while the other had been grafted. No wind, however squally,
+could break through the cover they afforded, nor could the sun's rays
+pierce them, nor the rain get through them, so closely did they grow
+into one another. Ulysses crept under these and began to make himself a
+bed to lie on, for there was a great litter of dead leaves lying
+about—enough to make a covering for two or three men even in hard
+winter weather. He was glad enough to see this, so he laid himself down
+and heaped the leaves all round him. Then, as one who lives alone in
+the country, far from any neighbor, hides a brand as fire-seed in the
+ashes to save himself from having to get a light elsewhere, even so did
+Ulysses cover himself up with leaves; and Minerva shed a sweet sleep
+upon his eyes, closed his eyelids, and made him lose all memories of
+his sorrows.
+
+So here Ulysses slept, overcome by sleep and toil; but Minerva went off
+to the country and city of the Phaeacians—a people who used to live in
+the fair town of Hypereia, near the lawless Cyclopes. Now the Cyclopes
+were stronger than they and plundered them, so their king Nausithous
+moved them thence and settled them in Scheria, far from all other
+people. He surrounded the city with a wall, built houses and temples,
+and divided the lands among his people; but he was dead and gone to the
+house of Hades, and King Alcinous, whose counsels were inspired of
+heaven, was now reigning. To his house, then, did Minerva hie in
+furtherance of the return of Ulysses.
+
+She went straight to the beautifully decorated bedroom in which there
+slept a girl who was as lovely as a goddess, Nausicaa, daughter to King
+Alcinous. Two maid servants were sleeping near her, both very pretty,
+one on either side of the doorway, which was closed with well made
+folding doors. Minerva took the form of the famous sea captain Dymas's
+daughter, who was a bosom friend of Nausicaa and just her own age;
+then, coming up to the girl's bedside like a breath of wind, she
+hovered over her head and said:
+
+"Nausicaa, what can your mother have been about, to have such a lazy
+daughter? Here are your clothes all lying in disorder, yet you are
+going to be married almost immediately, and should not only be well
+dressed yourself, but should find good clothes for those who attend
+you. This is the way to get yourself a good name, and to make your
+father and mother proud of you. Suppose, then, that we make tomorrow a
+washing day, and start at daybreak. I will come and help you so that
+you may have everything ready as soon as possible, for all the best
+young men among your own people are courting you, and you are not going
+to remain a maid much longer. Ask your father, therefore, to have a
+waggon and mules ready for us at daybreak, to take the rugs, robes, and
+girdles, and you can ride, too, which will be much pleasanter for you
+than walking, for the washing-cisterns are some way from the town."
+
+When she had said this Minerva went away to Olympus, which they say is
+the everlasting home of the gods. Here no wind beats roughly, and
+neither rain nor snow can fall; but it abides in everlasting sunshine
+and in a great peacefulness of light, wherein the blessed gods are
+illumined for ever and ever. This was the place to which the goddess
+went when she had given instructions to the girl.
+
+By and by morning came and woke Nausicaa, who began wondering about her
+dream; she therefore went to the other end of the house to tell her
+father and mother all about it, and found them in their own room. Her
+mother was sitting by the fireside spinning her purple yarn with her
+maids around her, and she happened to catch her father just as he was
+going out to attend a meeting of the town council, which the Phaeacian
+aldermen had convened. She stopped him and said:
+
+"Papa dear, could you manage to let me have a good big waggon? I want
+to take all our dirty clothes to the river and wash them. You are the
+chief man here, so it is only right that you should have a clean shirt
+when you attend meetings of the council. Moreover, you have five sons
+at home, two of them married, while the other three are good looking
+bachelors; you know they always like to have clean linen when they go
+to a dance, and I have been thinking about all this."
+
+She did not say a word about her own wedding, for she did not like to,
+but her father knew and said, "You shall have the mules, my love, and
+whatever else you have a mind for. Be off with you, and the men shall
+get you a good strong waggon with a body to it that will hold all your
+clothes."
+
+On this he gave his orders to the servants, who got the waggon out,
+harnessed the mules, and put them to, while the girl brought the
+clothes down from the linen room and placed them on the waggon. Her
+mother prepared her a basket of provisions with all sorts of good
+things, and a goat skin full of wine; the girl now got into the waggon,
+and her mother gave her also a golden cruse of oil, that she and her
+women might anoint themselves. Then she took the whip and reins and
+lashed the mules on, whereon they set off, and their hoofs clattered on
+the road. They pulled without flagging, and carried not only Nausicaa
+and her wash of clothes, but the maids also who were with her.
+
+When they reached the water side they went to the washing cisterns,
+through which there ran at all times enough pure water to wash any
+quantity of linen, no matter how dirty. Here they unharnessed the mules
+and turned them out to feed on the sweet juicy herbage that grew by the
+water side. They took the clothes out of the waggon, put them in the
+water, and vied with one another in treading them in the pits to get
+the dirt out. After they had washed them and got them quite clean, they
+laid them out by the sea side, where the waves had raised a high beach
+of shingle, and set about washing themselves and anointing themselves
+with olive oil. Then they got their dinner by the side of the stream,
+and waited for the sun to finish drying the clothes. When they had done
+dinner they threw off the veils that covered their heads and began to
+play at ball, while Nausicaa sang for them. As the huntress Diana goes
+forth upon the mountains of Taygetus or Erymanthus to hunt wild boars
+or deer, and the wood nymphs, daughters of Aegis-bearing Jove, take
+their sport along with her (then is Leto proud at seeing her daughter
+stand a full head taller than the others, and eclipse the loveliest
+amid a whole bevy of beauties), even so did the girl outshine her
+handmaids.
+
+When it was time for them to start home, and they were folding the
+clothes and putting them into the waggon, Minerva began to consider how
+Ulysses should wake up and see the handsome girl who was to conduct him
+to the city of the Phaeacians. The girl, therefore, threw a ball at one
+of the maids, which missed her and fell into deep water. On this they
+all shouted, and the noise they made woke Ulysses, who sat up in his
+bed of leaves and began to wonder what it might all be.
+
+"Alas," said he to himself, "what kind of people have I come amongst?
+Are they cruel, savage, and uncivilised, or hospitable and humane? I
+seem to hear the voices of young women, and they sound like those of
+the nymphs that haunt mountain tops, or springs of rivers and meadows
+of green grass. At any rate I am among a race of men and women. Let me
+try if I cannot manage to get a look at them."
+
+As he said this he crept from under his bush, and broke off a bough
+covered with thick leaves to hide his nakedness. He looked like some
+lion of the wilderness that stalks about exulting in his strength and
+defying both wind and rain; his eyes glare as he prowls in quest of
+oxen, sheep, or deer, for he is famished, and will dare break even into
+a well fenced homestead, trying to get at the sheep—even such did
+Ulysses seem to the young women, as he drew near to them all naked as
+he was, for he was in great want. On seeing one so unkempt and so
+begrimed with salt water, the others scampered off along the spits that
+jutted out into the sea, but the daughter of Alcinous stood firm, for
+Minerva put courage into her heart and took away all fear from her. She
+stood right in front of Ulysses, and he doubted whether he should go up
+to her, throw himself at her feet, and embrace her knees as a
+suppliant, or stay where he was and entreat her to give him some
+clothes and show him the way to the town. In the end he deemed it best
+to entreat her from a distance in case the girl should take offence at
+his coming near enough to clasp her knees, so he addressed her in
+honeyed and persuasive language.
+
+"O queen," he said, "I implore your aid—but tell me, are you a goddess
+or are you a mortal woman? If you are a goddess and dwell in heaven, I
+can only conjecture that you are Jove's daughter Diana, for your face
+and figure resemble none but hers; if on the other hand you are a
+mortal and live on earth, thrice happy are your father and
+mother—thrice happy, too, are your brothers and sisters; how proud and
+delighted they must feel when they see so fair a scion as yourself
+going out to a dance; most happy, however, of all will he be whose
+wedding gifts have been the richest, and who takes you to his own home.
+I never yet saw any one so beautiful, neither man nor woman, and am
+lost in admiration as I behold you. I can only compare you to a young
+palm tree which I saw when I was at Delos growing near the altar of
+Apollo—for I was there, too, with much people after me, when I was on
+that journey which has been the source of all my troubles. Never yet
+did such a young plant shoot out of the ground as that was, and I
+admired and wondered at it exactly as I now admire and wonder at
+yourself. I dare not clasp your knees, but I am in great distress;
+yesterday made the twentieth day that I had been tossing about upon the
+sea. The winds and waves have taken me all the way from the Ogygian
+island, and now fate has flung me upon this coast that I may endure
+still further suffering; for I do not think that I have yet come to the
+end of it, but rather that heaven has still much evil in store for me.
+
+"And now, O queen, have pity upon me, for you are the first person I
+have met, and I know no one else in this country. Show me the way to
+your town, and let me have anything that you may have brought hither to
+wrap your clothes in. May heaven grant you in all things your heart's
+desire—husband, house, and a happy, peaceful home; for there is nothing
+better in this world than that man and wife should be of one mind in a
+house. It discomfits their enemies, makes the hearts of their friends
+glad, and they themselves know more about it than any one."
+
+To this Nausicaa answered, "Stranger, you appear to be a sensible,
+well-disposed person. There is no accounting for luck; Jove gives
+prosperity to rich and poor just as he chooses, so you must take what
+he has seen fit to send you, and make the best of it. Now, however,
+that you have come to this our country, you shall not want for clothes
+nor for anything else that a foreigner in distress may reasonably look
+for. I will show you the way to the town, and will tell you the name of
+our people; we are called Phaeacians, and I am daughter to Alcinous, in
+whom the whole power of the state is vested."
+
+Then she called her maids and said, "Stay where you are, you girls. Can
+you not see a man without running away from him? Do you take him for a
+robber or a murderer? Neither he nor any one else can come here to do
+us Phaeacians any harm, for we are dear to the gods, and live apart on
+a land's end that juts into the sounding sea, and have nothing to do
+with any other people. This is only some poor man who has lost his way,
+and we must be kind to him, for strangers and foreigners in distress
+are under Jove's protection, and will take what they can get and be
+thankful; so, girls, give the poor fellow something to eat and drink,
+and wash him in the stream at some place that is sheltered from the
+wind."
+
+On this the maids left off running away and began calling one another
+back. They made Ulysses sit down in the shelter as Nausicaa had told
+them, and brought him a shirt and cloak. They also brought him the
+little golden cruse of oil, and told him to go and wash in the stream.
+But Ulysses said, "Young women, please to stand a little on one side
+that I may wash the brine from my shoulders and anoint myself with oil,
+for it is long enough since my skin has had a drop of oil upon it. I
+cannot wash as long as you all keep standing there. I am ashamed to
+strip before a number of good looking young women."
+
+Then they stood on one side and went to tell the girl, while Ulysses
+washed himself in the stream and scrubbed the brine from his back and
+from his broad shoulders. When he had thoroughly washed himself, and
+had got the brine out of his hair, he anointed himself with oil, and
+put on the clothes which the girl had given him; Minerva then made him
+look taller and stronger than before, she also made the hair grow thick
+on the top of his head, and flow down in curls like hyacinth blossoms;
+she glorified him about the head and shoulders as a skilful workman who
+has studied art of all kinds under Vulcan and Minerva enriches a piece
+of silver plate by gilding it—and his work is full of beauty. Then he
+went and sat down a little way off upon the beach, looking quite young
+and handsome, and the girl gazed on him with admiration; then she said
+to her maids:
+
+"Hush, my dears, for I want to say something. I believe the gods who
+live in heaven have sent this man to the Phaeacians. When I first saw
+him I thought him plain, but now his appearance is like that of the
+gods who dwell in heaven. I should like my future husband to be just
+such another as he is, if he would only stay here and not want to go
+away. However, give him something to eat and drink."
+
+They did as they were told, and set food before Ulysses, who ate and
+drank ravenously, for it was long since he had had food of any kind.
+Meanwhile, Nausicaa bethought her of another matter. She got the linen
+folded and placed in the waggon, she then yoked the mules, and, as she
+took her seat, she called Ulysses:
+
+"Stranger," said she, "rise and let us be going back to the town; I
+will introduce you at the house of my excellent father, where I can
+tell you that you will meet all the best people among the Phaeacians.
+But be sure and do as I bid you, for you seem to be a sensible person.
+As long as we are going past the fields and farm lands, follow briskly
+behind the waggon along with the maids and I will lead the way myself.
+Presently, however, we shall come to the town, where you will find a
+high wall running all round it, and a good harbour on either side with
+a narrow entrance into the city, and the ships will be drawn up by the
+road side, for every one has a place where his own ship can lie. You
+will see the market place with a temple of Neptune in the middle of it,
+and paved with large stones bedded in the earth. Here people deal in
+ship's gear of all kinds, such as cables and sails, and here, too, are
+the places where oars are made, for the Phaeacians are not a nation of
+archers; they know nothing about bows and arrows, but are a sea-faring
+folk, and pride themselves on their masts, oars, and ships, with which
+they travel far over the sea.
+
+"I am afraid of the gossip and scandal that may be set on foot against
+me later on; for the people here are very ill-natured, and some low
+fellow, if he met us, might say, 'Who is this fine-looking stranger
+that is going about with Nausicaa? Where did she find him? I suppose
+she is going to marry him. Perhaps he is a vagabond sailor whom she has
+taken from some foreign vessel, for we have no neighbours; or some god
+has at last come down from heaven in answer to her prayers, and she is
+going to live with him all the rest of her life. It would be a good
+thing if she would take herself off and find a husband somewhere else,
+for she will not look at one of the many excellent young Phaeacians who
+are in love with her.' This is the kind of disparaging remark that
+would be made about me, and I could not complain, for I should myself
+be scandalised at seeing any other girl do the like, and go about with
+men in spite of everybody, while her father and mother were still
+alive, and without having been married in the face of all the world.
+
+"If, therefore, you want my father to give you an escort and to help
+you home, do as I bid you; you will see a beautiful grove of poplars by
+the road side dedicated to Minerva; it has a well in it and a meadow
+all round it. Here my father has a field of rich garden ground, about
+as far from the town as a man's voice will carry. Sit down there and
+wait for a while till the rest of us can get into the town and reach my
+father's house. Then, when you think we must have done this, come into
+the town and ask the way to the house of my father Alcinous. You will
+have no difficulty in finding it; any child will point it out to you,
+for no one else in the whole town has anything like such a fine house
+as he has. When you have got past the gates and through the outer
+court, go right across the inner court till you come to my mother. You
+will find her sitting by the fire and spinning her purple wool by
+firelight. It is a fine sight to see her as she leans back against one
+of the bearing-posts with her maids all ranged behind her. Close to her
+seat stands that of my father, on which he sits and topes like an
+immortal god. Never mind him, but go up to my mother, and lay your
+hands upon her knees if you would get home quickly. If you can gain her
+over, you may hope to see your own country again, no matter how distant
+it may be."
+
+So saying she lashed the mules with her whip and they left the river.
+The mules drew well, and their hoofs went up and down upon the road.
+She was careful not to go too fast for Ulysses and the maids who were
+following on foot along with the waggon, so she plied her whip with
+judgement. As the sun was going down they came to the sacred grove of
+Minerva, and there Ulysses sat down and prayed to the mighty daughter
+of Jove.
+
+"Hear me," he cried, "daughter of Aegis-bearing Jove, unweariable, hear
+me now, for you gave no heed to my prayers when Neptune was wrecking
+me. Now, therefore, have pity upon me and grant that I may find friends
+and be hospitably received by the Phaeacians."
+
+Thus did he pray, and Minerva heard his prayer, but she would not show
+herself to him openly, for she was afraid of her uncle Neptune, who was
+still furious in his endeavors to prevent Ulysses from getting home.
+
+Thus, then, did Ulysses wait and pray; but the girl drove on to the
+town. When she reached her father's house she drew up at the gateway,
+and her brothers—comely as the gods—gathered round her, took the mules
+out of the waggon, and carried the clothes into the house, while she
+went to her own room, where an old servant, Eurymedusa of Apeira, lit
+the fire for her. This old woman had been brought by sea from Apeira,
+and had been chosen as a prize for Alcinous because he was king over
+the Phaeacians, and the people obeyed him as though he were a god.
+She had been nurse to Nausicaa, and had now lit the fire for her, and
+brought her supper for her into her own room.
+
+Presently Ulysses got up to go towards the town; and Minerva shed a
+thick mist all round him to hide him in case any of the proud
+Phaeacians who met him should be rude to him, or ask him who he was.
+Then, as he was just entering the town, she came towards him in the
+likeness of a little girl carrying a pitcher. She stood right in front
+of him, and Ulysses said:
+
+"My dear, will you be so kind as to show me the house of king Alcinous?
+I am an unfortunate foreigner in distress, and do not know one in your
+town and country."
+
+Then Minerva said, "Yes, father stranger, I will show you the house you
+want, for Alcinous lives quite close to my own father. I will go before
+you and show the way, but say not a word as you go, and do not look at
+any man, nor ask him questions; for the people here cannot abide
+strangers, and do not like men who come from some other place. They are
+a sea-faring folk, and sail the seas by the grace of Neptune in ships
+that glide along like thought, or as a bird in the air."
+
+On this she led the way, and Ulysses followed in her steps; but not one
+of the Phaeacians could see him as he passed through the city in the
+midst of them; for the great goddess Minerva in her good will towards
+him had hidden him in a thick cloud of darkness. He admired their
+harbours, ships, places of assembly, and the lofty walls of the city,
+which, with the palisade on top of them, were very striking, and when
+they reached the king's house Minerva said:
+
+"This is the house, father stranger, which you would have me show you.
+You will find a number of great people sitting at table, but do not be
+afraid; go straight in, for the bolder a man is the more likely he is
+to carry his point, even though he is a stranger. First find the queen.
+Her name is Arete, and she comes of the same family as her husband
+Alcinous. They both descend originally from Neptune, who was father to
+Nausithous by Periboea, a woman of great beauty. Periboea was the
+youngest daughter of Eurymedon, who at one time reigned over the
+giants, but he ruined his ill-fated people and lost his own life to
+boot.
+
+"Neptune, however, lay with his daughter, and she had a son by him, the
+great Nausithous, who reigned over the Phaeacians. Nausithous had two
+sons Rhexenor and Alcinous; Apollo killed the first of them while he
+was still a bridegroom and without male issue; but he left a daughter
+Arete, whom Alcinous married, and honours as no other woman is honoured
+of all those that keep house along with their husbands.
+
+"Thus she both was, and still is, respected beyond measure by her
+children, by Alcinous himself, and by the whole people, who look upon
+her as a goddess, and greet her whenever she goes about the city, for
+she is a thoroughly good woman both in head and heart, and when any
+women are friends of hers, she will help their husbands also to settle
+their disputes. If you can gain her good will, you may have every hope
+of seeing your friends again, and getting safely back to your home and
+country."
+
+Then Minerva left Scheria and went away over the sea. She went to
+Marathon and to the spacious streets of Athens, where she entered the
+abode of Erechtheus; but Ulysses went on to the house of Alcinous, and
+he pondered much as he paused a while before reaching the threshold of
+bronze, for the splendour of the palace was like that of the sun or
+moon. The walls on either side were of bronze from end to end, and the
+cornice was of blue enamel. The doors were gold, and hung on pillars of
+silver that rose from a floor of bronze, while the lintel was silver
+and the hook of the door was of gold.
+
+On either side there stood gold and silver mastiffs which Vulcan, with
+his consummate skill, had fashioned expressly to keep watch over the
+palace of king Alcinous; so they were immortal and could never grow
+old. Seats were ranged all along the wall, here and there from one end
+to the other, with coverings of fine woven work which the women of the
+house had made. Here the chief persons of the Phaeacians used to sit
+and eat and drink, for there was abundance at all seasons; and there
+were golden figures of young men with lighted torches in their hands,
+raised on pedestals, to give light by night to those who were at table.
+There are fifty maid servants in the house, some of whom are always
+grinding rich yellow grain at the mill, while others work at the loom,
+or sit and spin, and their shuttles go backwards and forwards like the
+fluttering of aspen leaves, while the linen is so closely woven that it
+will turn oil. As the Phaeacians are the best sailors in the world, so
+their women excel all others in weaving, for Minerva has taught them
+all manner of useful arts, and they are very intelligent.
+
+Outside the gate of the outer court there is a large garden of about
+four acres with a wall all round it. It is full of beautiful
+trees—pears, pomegranates, and the most delicious apples. There are
+luscious figs also, and olives in full growth. The fruits never rot nor
+fail all the year round, neither winter nor summer, for the air is so
+soft that a new crop ripens before the old has dropped. Pear grows on
+pear, apple on apple, and fig on fig, and so also with the grapes, for
+there is an excellent vineyard: on the level ground of a part of this,
+the grapes are being made into raisins; in another part they are being
+gathered; some are being trodden in the wine tubs, others further on
+have shed their blossom and are beginning to show fruit, others again
+are just changing colour. In the furthest part of the ground there are
+beautifully arranged beds of flowers that are in bloom all the year
+round. Two streams go through it, the one turned in ducts throughout
+the whole garden, while the other is carried under the ground of the
+outer court to the house itself, and the town's people draw water from
+it. Such, then, were the splendours with which the gods had endowed the
+house of king Alcinous.
+
+So here Ulysses stood for a while and looked about him, but when he had
+looked long enough he crossed the threshold and went within the
+precincts of the house. There he found all the chief people among the
+Phaeacians making their drink offerings to Mercury, which they always
+did the last thing before going away for the night. He went straight
+through the court, still hidden by the cloak of darkness in which
+Minerva had enveloped him, till he reached Arete and King Alcinous;
+then he laid his hands upon the knees of the queen, and at that moment
+the miraculous darkness fell away from him and he became visible. Every
+one was speechless with surprise at seeing a man there, but Ulysses
+began at once with his petition.
+
+"Queen Arete," he exclaimed, "daughter of great Rhexenor, in my
+distress I humbly pray you, as also your husband and these your guests
+(whom may heaven prosper with long life and happiness, and may they
+leave their possessions to their children, and all the honours
+conferred upon them by the state) to help me home to my own country as
+soon as possible; for I have been long in trouble and away from my
+friends."
+
+Then he sat down on the hearth among the ashes and they all held their
+peace, till presently the old hero Echeneus, who was an excellent
+speaker and an elder among the Phaeacians, plainly and in all honesty
+addressed them thus:
+
+"Alcinous," said he, "it is not creditable to you that a stranger
+should be seen sitting among the ashes of your hearth; every one is
+waiting to hear what you are about to say; tell him, then, to rise and
+take a seat on a stool inlaid with silver, and bid your servants mix
+some wine and water that we may make a drink offering to Jove the lord
+of thunder, who takes all well disposed suppliants under his
+protection; and let the housekeeper give him some supper, of whatever
+there may be in the house."
+
+When Alcinous heard this he took Ulysses by the hand, raised him from
+the hearth, and bade him take the seat of Laodamas, who had been
+sitting beside him, and was his favourite son. A maid servant then
+brought him water in a beautiful golden ewer and poured it into a
+silver basin for him to wash his hands, and she drew a clean table
+beside him; an upper servant brought him bread and offered him many
+good things of what there was in the house, and Ulysses ate and drank.
+Then Alcinous said to one of the servants, "Pontonous, mix a cup of
+wine and hand it round that we may make drink-offerings to Jove the
+lord of thunder, who is the protector of all well-disposed suppliants."
+
+Pontonous then mixed wine and water, and handed it round after giving
+every man his drink-offering. When they had made their offerings, and
+had drunk each as much as he was minded, Alcinous said:
+
+"Aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, hear my words. You
+have had your supper, so now go home to bed. To-morrow morning I shall
+invite a still larger number of aldermen, and will give a sacrificial
+banquet in honour of our guest; we can then discuss the question of his
+escort, and consider how we may at once send him back rejoicing to his
+own country without trouble or inconvenience to himself, no matter how
+distant it may be. We must see that he comes to no harm while on his
+homeward journey, but when he is once at home he will have to take the
+luck he was born with for better or worse like other people. It is
+possible, however, that the stranger is one of the immortals who has
+come down from heaven to visit us; but in this case the gods are
+departing from their usual practice, for hitherto they have made
+themselves perfectly clear to us when we have been offering them
+hecatombs. They come and sit at our feasts just like one of our selves,
+and if any solitary wayfarer happens to stumble upon some one or other
+of them, they affect no concealment, for we are as near of kin to the
+gods as the Cyclopes and the savage giants are."
+
+Then Ulysses said: "Pray, Alcinous, do not take any such notion into
+your head. I have nothing of the immortal about me, neither in body nor
+mind, and most resemble those among you who are the most afflicted.
+Indeed, were I to tell you all that heaven has seen fit to lay upon me,
+you would say that I was still worse off than they are. Nevertheless,
+let me sup in spite of sorrow, for an empty stomach is a very
+importunate thing, and thrusts itself on a man's notice no matter how
+dire is his distress. I am in great trouble, yet it insists that I
+shall eat and drink, bids me lay aside all memory of my sorrows and
+dwell only on the due replenishing of itself. As for yourselves, do as
+you propose, and at break of day set about helping me to get home. I
+shall be content to die if I may first once more behold my property, my
+bondsmen, and all the greatness of my house."
+
+Thus did he speak. Every one approved his saying, and agreed that he
+should have his escort inasmuch as he had spoken reasonably. Then when
+they had made their drink offerings, and had drunk each as much as he
+was minded they went home to bed every man in his own abode, leaving
+Ulysses in the cloister with Arete and Alcinous while the servants were
+taking the things away after supper. Arete was the first to speak, for
+she recognised the shirt, cloak, and good clothes that Ulysses was
+wearing, as the work of herself and of her maids; so she said,
+"Stranger, before we go any further, there is a question I should like
+to ask you. Who, and whence are you, and who gave you those clothes?
+Did you not say you had come here from beyond the sea?"
+
+And Ulysses answered, "It would be a long story Madam, were I to relate
+in full the tale of my misfortunes, for the hand of heaven has been
+laid heavy upon me; but as regards your question, there is an island
+far away in the sea which is called 'the Ogygian.' Here dwells the
+cunning and powerful goddess Calypso, daughter of Atlas. She lives by
+herself far from all neighbours human or divine. Fortune, however,
+brought me to her hearth all desolate and alone, for Jove struck my
+ship with his thunderbolts, and broke it up in mid-ocean. My brave
+comrades were drowned every man of them, but I stuck to the keel and
+was carried hither and thither for the space of nine days, till at last
+during the darkness of the tenth night the gods brought me to the
+Ogygian island where the great goddess Calypso lives. She took me in
+and treated me with the utmost kindness; indeed she wanted to make me
+immortal that I might never grow old, but she could not persuade me to
+let her do so.
+
+"I stayed with Calypso seven years straight on end, and watered the
+good clothes she gave me with my tears during the whole time; but at
+last when the eighth year came round she bade me depart of her own free
+will, either because Jove had told her she must, or because she had
+changed her mind. She sent me from her island on a raft, which she
+provisioned with abundance of bread and wine. Moreover she gave me good
+stout clothing, and sent me a wind that blew both warm and fair. Days
+seven and ten did I sail over the sea, and on the eighteenth I caught
+sight of the first outlines of the mountains upon your coast—and glad
+indeed was I to set eyes upon them. Nevertheless there was still much
+trouble in store for me, for at this point Neptune would let me go no
+further, and raised a great storm against me; the sea was so terribly
+high that I could no longer keep to my raft, which went to pieces under
+the fury of the gale, and I had to swim for it, till wind and current
+brought me to your shores.
+
+"There I tried to land, but could not, for it was a bad place and the
+waves dashed me against the rocks, so I again took to the sea and swam
+on till I came to a river that seemed the most likely landing place,
+for there were no rocks and it was sheltered from the wind. Here, then,
+I got out of the water and gathered my senses together again. Night was
+coming on, so I left the river, and went into a thicket, where I
+covered myself all over with leaves, and presently heaven sent me off
+into a very deep sleep. Sick and sorry as I was I slept among the
+leaves all night, and through the next day till afternoon, when I woke
+as the sun was westering, and saw your daughter's maid servants playing
+upon the beach, and your daughter among them looking like a goddess. I
+besought her aid, and she proved to be of an excellent disposition,
+much more so than could be expected from so young a person—for young
+people are apt to be thoughtless. She gave me plenty of bread and wine,
+and when she had had me washed in the river she also gave me the
+clothes in which you see me. Now, therefore, though it has pained me to
+do so, I have told you the whole truth."
+
+Then Alcinous said, "Stranger, it was very wrong of my daughter not to
+bring you on at once to my house along with the maids, seeing that she
+was the first person whose aid you asked."
+
+"Pray do not scold her," replied Ulysses; "she is not to blame. She did
+tell me to follow along with the maids, but I was ashamed and afraid,
+for I thought you might perhaps be displeased if you saw me. Every
+human being is sometimes a little suspicious and irritable."
+
+"Stranger," replied Alcinous, "I am not the kind of man to get angry
+about nothing; it is always better to be reasonable; but by Father
+Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, now that I see what kind of person you are,
+and how much you think as I do, I wish you would stay here, marry my
+daughter, and become my son-in-law. If you will stay I will give you a
+house and an estate, but no one (heaven forbid) shall keep you here
+against your own wish, and that you may be sure of this I will attend
+tomorrow to the matter of your escort. You can sleep during the whole
+voyage if you like, and the men shall sail you over smooth waters
+either to your own home, or wherever you please, even though it be a
+long way further off than Euboea, which those of my people who saw it
+when they took yellow-haired Rhadamanthus to see Tityus the son of
+Gaia, tell me is the furthest of any place—and yet they did the whole
+voyage in a single day without distressing themselves, and came back
+again afterwards. You will thus see how much my ships excel all others,
+and what magnificent oarsmen my sailors are."
+
+Then was Ulysses glad and prayed aloud saying, "Father Jove, grant that
+Alcinous may do all as he has said, for so he will win an imperishable
+name among mankind, and at the same time I shall return to my country."
+
+Thus did they converse. Then Arete told her maids to set a bed in the
+room that was in the gatehouse, and make it with good red rugs, and to
+spread coverlets on the top of them with woollen cloaks for Ulysses to
+wear. The maids thereon went out with torches in their hands, and when
+they had made the bed they came up to Ulysses and said, "Rise, sir
+stranger, and come with us for your bed is ready," and glad indeed was
+he to go to his rest.
+
+So Ulysses slept in a bed placed in a room over the echoing gateway;
+but Alcinous lay in the inner part of the house, with the queen his
+wife by his side.
+
+Now when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, Alcinous
+and Ulysses both rose, and Alcinous led the way to the Phaeacian place
+of assembly, which was near the ships. When they got there they sat
+down side by side on a seat of polished stone, while Minerva took the
+form of one of Alcinous' servants, and went round the town in order to
+help Ulysses to get home. She went up to the citizens, man by man, and
+said, "Aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, come to the
+assembly all of you and listen to the stranger who has just come off a
+long voyage to the house of King Alcinous; he looks like an immortal
+god."
+
+With these words she made them all want to come, and they flocked to
+the assembly till seats and standing room were alike crowded. Every one
+was struck with the appearance of Ulysses, for Minerva had beautified
+him about the head and shoulders, making him look taller and stouter
+than he really was, that he might impress the Phaeacians favourably as
+being a very remarkable man, and might come off well in the many trials
+of skill to which they would challenge him. Then, when they were got
+together, Alcinous spoke:
+
+"Hear me," said he, "aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians,
+that I may speak even as I am minded. This stranger, whoever he may be,
+has found his way to my house from somewhere or other either East or
+West. He wants an escort and wishes to have the matter settled. Let us
+then get one ready for him, as we have done for others before him;
+indeed, no one who ever yet came to my house has been able to complain
+of me for not speeding on his way soon enough. Let us draw a ship into
+the sea—one that has never yet made a voyage—and man her with two and
+fifty of our smartest young sailors. Then when you have made fast your
+oars each by his own seat, leave the ship and come to my house to
+prepare a feast. I will find you in everything. I am giving these
+instructions to the young men who will form the crew, for as regards
+you aldermen and town councillors, you will join me in entertaining our
+guest in the cloisters. I can take no excuses, and we will have
+Demodocus to sing to us; for there is no bard like him whatever he may
+choose to sing about."
+
+Alcinous then led the way, and the others followed after, while a
+servant went to fetch Demodocus. The fifty-two picked oarsmen went to
+the sea shore as they had been told, and when they got there they drew
+the ship into the water, got her mast and sails inside her, bound the
+oars to the thole-pins with twisted thongs of leather, all in due
+course, and spread the white sails aloft. They moored the vessel a
+little way out from land, and then came on shore and went to the house
+of King Alcinous. The out houses, yards, and all the precincts were
+filled with crowds of men in great multitudes both old and young; and
+Alcinous killed them a dozen sheep, eight full grown pigs, and two
+oxen. These they skinned and dressed so as to provide a magnificent
+banquet.
+
+A servant presently led in the famous bard Demodocus, whom the muse had
+dearly loved, but to whom she had given both good and evil, for though
+she had endowed him with a divine gift of song, she had robbed him of
+his eyesight. Pontonous set a seat for him among the guests, leaning it
+up against a bearing-post. He hung the lyre for him on a peg over his
+head, and showed him where he was to feel for it with his hands. He
+also set a fair table with a basket of victuals by his side, and a cup
+of wine from which he might drink whenever he was so disposed.
+
+The company then laid their hands upon the good things that were before
+them, but as soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, the muse
+inspired Demodocus to sing the feats of heroes, and more especially a
+matter that was then in the mouths of all men, to wit, the quarrel
+between Ulysses and Achilles, and the fierce words that they heaped on
+one another as they sat together at a banquet. But Agamemnon was glad
+when he heard his chieftains quarrelling with one another, for Apollo
+had foretold him this at Pytho when he crossed the stone floor to
+consult the oracle. Here was the beginning of the evil that by the will
+of Jove fell both upon Danaans and Trojans.
+
+Thus sang the bard, but Ulysses drew his purple mantle over his head
+and covered his face, for he was ashamed to let the Phaeacians see that
+he was weeping. When the bard left off singing he wiped the tears from
+his eyes, uncovered his face, and, taking his cup, made a
+drink-offering to the gods; but when the Phaeacians pressed Demodocus
+to sing further, for they delighted in his lays, then Ulysses again
+drew his mantle over his head and wept bitterly. No one noticed his
+distress except Alcinous, who was sitting near him, and heard the heavy
+sighs that he was heaving. So he at once said, "Aldermen and town
+councillors of the Phaeacians, we have had enough now, both of the
+feast, and of the minstrelsy that is its due accompaniment; let us
+proceed therefore to the athletic sports, so that our guest on his
+return home may be able to tell his friends how much we surpass all
+other nations as boxers, wrestlers, jumpers, and runners."
+
+With these words he led the way, and the others followed after. A
+servant hung Demodocus's lyre on its peg for him, led him out of the
+cloister, and set him on the same way as that along which all the chief
+men of the Phaeacians were going to see the sports; a crowd of several
+thousands of people followed them, and there were many excellent
+competitors for all the prizes. Acroneos, Ocyalus, Elatreus, Nauteus,
+Prymneus, Anchialus, Eretmeus, Ponteus, Proreus, Thoon, Anabesineus,
+and Amphialus son of Polyneus son of Tecton. There was also Euryalus
+son of Naubolus, who was like Mars himself, and was the best looking
+man among the Phaeacians except Laodamas. Three sons of Alcinous,
+Laodamas, Halios, and Clytoneus, competed also.
+
+The foot races came first. The course was set out for them from the
+starting post, and they raised a dust upon the plain as they all flew
+forward at the same moment. Clytoneus came in first by a long way; he
+left every one else behind him by the length of the furrow that a
+couple of mules can plough in a fallow field. They then turned to the
+painful art of wrestling, and here Euryalus proved to be the best man.
+Amphialus excelled all the others in jumping, while at throwing the
+disc there was no one who could approach Elatreus. Alcinous's son
+Laodamas was the best boxer, and he it was who presently said, when
+they had all been diverted with the games, "Let us ask the stranger
+whether he excels in any of these sports; he seems very powerfully
+built; his thighs, calves, hands, and neck are of prodigious strength,
+nor is he at all old, but he has suffered much lately, and there is
+nothing like the sea for making havoc with a man, no matter how strong
+he is."
+
+"You are quite right, Laodamas," replied Euryalus, "go up to your guest
+and speak to him about it yourself."
+
+When Laodamas heard this he made his way into the middle of the crowd
+and said to Ulysses, "I hope, Sir, that you will enter yourself for
+some one or other of our competitions if you are skilled in any of
+them—and you must have gone in for many a one before now. There is
+nothing that does any one so much credit all his life long as the
+showing himself a proper man with his hands and feet. Have a try
+therefore at something, and banish all sorrow from your mind. Your
+return home will not be long delayed, for the ship is already drawn
+into the water, and the crew is found."
+
+Ulysses answered, "Laodamas, why do you taunt me in this way? my mind
+is set rather on cares than contests; I have been through infinite
+trouble, and am come among you now as a suppliant, praying your king
+and people to further me on my return home."
+
+Then Euryalus reviled him outright and said, "I gather, then, that you
+are unskilled in any of the many sports that men generally delight in.
+I suppose you are one of those grasping traders that go about in ships
+as captains or merchants, and who think of nothing but of their outward
+freights and homeward cargoes. There does not seem to be much of the
+athlete about you."
+
+"For shame, Sir," answered Ulysses, fiercely, "you are an insolent
+fellow—so true is it that the gods do not grace all men alike in
+speech, person, and understanding. One man may be of weak presence, but
+heaven has adorned this with such a good conversation that he charms
+every one who sees him; his honeyed moderation carries his hearers with
+him so that he is leader in all assemblies of his fellows, and wherever
+he goes he is looked up to. Another may be as handsome as a god, but
+his good looks are not crowned with discretion. This is your case. No
+god could make a finer looking fellow than you are, but you are a fool.
+Your ill-judged remarks have made me exceedingly angry, and you are
+quite mistaken, for I excel in a great many athletic exercises; indeed,
+so long as I had youth and strength, I was among the first athletes of
+the age. Now, however, I am worn out by labour and sorrow, for I have
+gone through much both on the field of battle and by the waves of the
+weary sea; still, in spite of all this I will compete, for your taunts
+have stung me to the quick."
+
+So he hurried up without even taking his cloak off, and seized a disc,
+larger, more massive and much heavier than those used by the Phaeacians
+when disc-throwing among themselves. Then, swinging it back, he threw
+it from his brawny hand, and it made a humming sound in the air as he
+did so. The Phaeacians quailed beneath the rushing of its flight as it
+sped gracefully from his hand, and flew beyond any mark that had been
+made yet. Minerva, in the form of a man, came and marked the place
+where it had fallen. "A blind man, Sir," said she, "could easily tell
+your mark by groping for it—it is so far ahead of any other. You may
+make your mind easy about this contest, for no Phaeacian can come near
+to such a throw as yours."
+
+Ulysses was glad when he found he had a friend among the lookers-on, so
+he began to speak more pleasantly. "Young men," said he, "come up to
+that throw if you can, and I will throw another disc as heavy or even
+heavier. If anyone wants to have a bout with me let him come on, for I
+am exceedingly angry; I will box, wrestle, or run, I do not care what
+it is, with any man of you all except Laodamas, but not with him
+because I am his guest, and one cannot compete with one's own personal
+friend. At least I do not think it a prudent or a sensible thing for a
+guest to challenge his host's family at any game, especially when he is
+in a foreign country. He will cut the ground from under his own feet if
+he does; but I make no exception as regards any one else, for I want to
+have the matter out and know which is the best man. I am a good hand at
+every kind of athletic sport known among mankind. I am an excellent
+archer. In battle I am always the first to bring a man down with my
+arrow, no matter how many more are taking aim at him alongside of me.
+Philoctetes was the only man who could shoot better than I could when
+we Achaeans were before Troy and in practice. I far excel every one
+else in the whole world, of those who still eat bread upon the face of
+the earth, but I should not like to shoot against the mighty dead, such
+as Hercules, or Eurytus the Oechalian—men who could shoot against the
+gods themselves. This in fact was how Eurytus came prematurely by his
+end, for Apollo was angry with him and killed him because he challenged
+him as an archer. I can throw a dart farther than any one else can
+shoot an arrow. Running is the only point in respect of which I am
+afraid some of the Phaeacians might beat me, for I have been brought
+down very low at sea; my provisions ran short, and therefore I am still
+weak."
+
+They all held their peace except King Alcinous, who began, "Sir, we
+have had much pleasure in hearing all that you have told us, from which
+I understand that you are willing to show your prowess, as having been
+displeased with some insolent remarks that have been made to you by one
+of our athletes, and which could never have been uttered by any one who
+knows how to talk with propriety. I hope you will apprehend my meaning,
+and will explain to any one of your chief men who may be dining with
+yourself and your family when you get home, that we have an hereditary
+aptitude for accomplishments of all kinds. We are not particularly
+remarkable for our boxing, nor yet as wrestlers, but we are singularly
+fleet of foot and are excellent sailors. We are extremely fond of good
+dinners, music, and dancing; we also like frequent changes of linen,
+warm baths, and good beds, so now, please, some of you who are the best
+dancers set about dancing, that our guest on his return home may be
+able to tell his friends how much we surpass all other nations as
+sailors, runners, dancers, and minstrels. Demodocus has left his lyre
+at my house, so run some one or other of you and fetch it for him."
+
+On this a servant hurried off to bring the lyre from the king's house,
+and the nine men who had been chosen as stewards stood forward. It was
+their business to manage everything connected with the sports, so they
+made the ground smooth and marked a wide space for the dancers.
+Presently the servant came back with Demodocus's lyre, and he took his
+place in the midst of them, whereon the best young dancers in the town
+began to foot and trip it so nimbly that Ulysses was delighted with the
+merry twinkling of their feet.
+
+Meanwhile the bard began to sing the loves of Mars and Venus, and how
+they first began their intrigue in the house of Vulcan. Mars made Venus
+many presents, and defiled King Vulcan's marriage bed, so the sun, who
+saw what they were about, told Vulcan. Vulcan was very angry when he
+heard such dreadful news, so he went to his smithy brooding mischief,
+got his great anvil into its place, and began to forge some chains
+which none could either unloose or break, so that they might stay there
+in that place. When he had finished his snare he went into his
+bedroom and festooned the bed-posts all over with chains like cobwebs;
+he also let many hang down from the great beam of the ceiling. Not even
+a god could see them so fine and subtle were they. As soon as he had
+spread the chains all over the bed, he made as though he were setting
+out for the fair state of Lemnos, which of all places in the world was
+the one he was most fond of. But Mars kept no blind look out, and as
+soon as he saw him start, hurried off to his house, burning with love
+for Venus.
+
+Now Venus was just come in from a visit to her father Jove, and was
+about sitting down when Mars came inside the house, and said as he took
+her hand in his own, "Let us go to the couch of Vulcan: he is not at
+home, but is gone off to Lemnos among the Sintians, whose speech is
+barbarous."
+
+She was nothing loth, so they went to the couch to take their rest,
+whereon they were caught in the toils which cunning Vulcan had spread
+for them, and could neither get up nor stir hand or foot, but found too
+late that they were in a trap. Then Vulcan came up to them, for he had
+turned back before reaching Lemnos, when his scout the sun told him
+what was going on. He was in a furious passion, and stood in the
+vestibule making a dreadful noise as he shouted to all the gods.
+
+"Father Jove," he cried, "and all you other blessed gods who live for
+ever, come here and see the ridiculous and disgraceful sight that I
+will show you. Jove's daughter Venus is always dishonouring me because
+I am lame. She is in love with Mars, who is handsome and clean built,
+whereas I am a cripple—but my parents are to blame for that, not I;
+they ought never to have begotten me. Come and see the pair together
+asleep on my bed. It makes me furious to look at them. They are very
+fond of one another, but I do not think they will lie there longer than
+they can help, nor do I think that they will sleep much; there,
+however, they shall stay till her father has repaid me the sum I gave
+him for his baggage of a daughter, who is fair but not honest."
+
+On this the gods gathered to the house of Vulcan. Earth-encircling
+Neptune came, and Mercury the bringer of luck, and King Apollo, but the
+goddesses staid at home all of them for shame. Then the givers of all
+good things stood in the doorway, and the blessed gods roared with
+inextinguishable laughter, as they saw how cunning Vulcan had been,
+whereon one would turn towards his neighbour saying:
+
+"Ill deeds do not prosper, and the weak confound the strong. See how
+limping Vulcan, lame as he is, has caught Mars who is the fleetest god
+in heaven; and now Mars will be cast in heavy damages."
+
+Thus did they converse, but King Apollo said to Mercury, "Messenger
+Mercury, giver of good things, you would not care how strong the chains
+were, would you, if you could sleep with Venus?"
+
+"King Apollo," answered Mercury, "I only wish I might get the chance,
+though there were three times as many chains—and you might look on, all
+of you, gods and goddesses, but I would sleep with her if I could."
+
+The immortal gods burst out laughing as they heard him, but Neptune
+took it all seriously, and kept on imploring Vulcan to set Mars free
+again. "Let him go," he cried, "and I will undertake, as you require,
+that he shall pay you all the damages that are held reasonable among
+the immortal gods."
+
+"Do not," replied Vulcan, "ask me to do this; a bad man's bond is bad
+security; what remedy could I enforce against you if Mars should go
+away and leave his debts behind him along with his chains?"
+
+"Vulcan," said Neptune, "if Mars goes away without paying his damages,
+I will pay you myself." So Vulcan answered, "In this case I cannot and
+must not refuse you."
+
+Thereon he loosed the bonds that bound them, and as soon as they were
+free they scampered off, Mars to Thrace and laughter-loving Venus to
+Cyprus and to Paphos, where is her grove and her altar fragrant with
+burnt offerings. Here the Graces bathed her, and anointed her with oil
+of ambrosia such as the immortal gods make use of, and they clothed her
+in raiment of the most enchanting beauty.
+
+Thus sang the bard, and both Ulysses and the seafaring Phaeacians were
+charmed as they heard him.
+
+Then Alcinous told Laodamas and Halius to dance alone, for there was no
+one to compete with them. So they took a red ball which Polybus had
+made for them, and one of them bent himself backwards and threw it up
+towards the clouds, while the other jumped from off the ground and
+caught it with ease before it came down again. When they had done
+throwing the ball straight up into the air they began to dance, and at
+the same time kept on throwing it backwards and forwards to one
+another, while all the young men in the ring applauded and made a great
+stamping with their feet. Then Ulysses said:
+
+"King Alcinous, you said your people were the nimblest dancers in the
+world, and indeed they have proved themselves to be so. I was
+astonished as I saw them."
+
+The king was delighted at this, and exclaimed to the Phaeacians,
+"Aldermen and town councillors, our guest seems to be a person of
+singular judgement; let us give him such proof of our hospitality as he
+may reasonably expect. There are twelve chief men among you, and
+counting myself there are thirteen; contribute, each of you, a clean
+cloak, a shirt, and a talent of fine gold; let us give him all this in
+a lump down at once, so that when he gets his supper he may do so with
+a light heart. As for Euryalus he will have to make a formal apology
+and a present too, for he has been rude."
+
+Thus did he speak. The others all of them applauded his saying, and
+sent their servants to fetch the presents. Then Euryalus said, "King
+Alcinous, I will give the stranger all the satisfaction you require. He
+shall have my sword, which is of bronze, all but the hilt, which is of
+silver. I will also give him the scabbard of newly sawn ivory into
+which it fits. It will be worth a great deal to him."
+
+As he spoke he placed the sword in the hands of Ulysses and said, "Good
+luck to you, father stranger; if anything has been said amiss may the
+winds blow it away with them, and may heaven grant you a safe return,
+for I understand you have been long away from home, and have gone
+through much hardship."
+
+To which Ulysses answered, "Good luck to you too my friend, and may the
+gods grant you every happiness. I hope you will not miss the sword you
+have given me along with your apology."
+
+With these words he girded the sword about his shoulders and towards
+sundown the presents began to make their appearance, as the servants of
+the donors kept bringing them to the house of King Alcinous; here his
+sons received them, and placed them under their mother's charge. Then
+Alcinous led the way to the house and bade his guests take their seats.
+
+"Wife," said he, turning to Queen Arete, "Go, fetch the best chest we
+have, and put a clean cloak and shirt in it. Also, set a copper on the
+fire and heat some water; our guest will take a warm bath; see also to
+the careful packing of the presents that the noble Phaeacians have made
+him; he will thus better enjoy both his supper and the singing that
+will follow. I shall myself give him this golden goblet—which is of
+exquisite workmanship—that he may be reminded of me for the rest of his
+life whenever he makes a drink offering to Jove, or to any of the
+gods."
+
+Then Arete told her maids to set a large tripod upon the fire as fast
+as they could, whereon they set a tripod full of bath water on to a
+clear fire; they threw on sticks to make it blaze, and the water became
+hot as the flame played about the belly of the tripod. Meanwhile
+Arete brought a magnificent chest from her own room, and inside it she
+packed all the beautiful presents of gold and raiment which the
+Phaeacians had brought. Lastly she added a cloak and a good shirt from
+Alcinous, and said to Ulysses:
+
+"See to the lid yourself, and have the whole bound round at once, for
+fear any one should rob you by the way when you are asleep in your
+ship."
+
+When Ulysses heard this he put the lid on the chest and made it fast
+with a bond that Circe had taught him. He had done so before an upper
+servant told him to come to the bath and wash himself. He was very glad
+of a warm bath, for he had had no one to wait upon him ever since he
+left the house of Calypso, who as long as he remained with her had
+taken as good care of him as though he had been a god. When the
+servants had done washing and anointing him with oil, and had given him
+a clean cloak and shirt, he left the bath room and joined the guests
+who were sitting over their wine. Lovely Nausicaa stood by one of the
+bearing-posts supporting the roof of the cloister, and admired him as
+she saw him pass. "Farewell stranger," said she, "do not forget me when
+you are safe at home again, for it is to me first that you owe a ransom
+for having saved your life."
+
+And Ulysses said, "Nausicaa, daughter of great Alcinous, may Jove the
+mighty husband of Juno, grant that I may reach my home; so shall I
+bless you as my guardian angel all my days, for it was you who saved
+me."
+
+When he had said this, he seated himself beside Alcinous. Supper was
+then served, and the wine was mixed for drinking. A servant led in the
+favourite bard Demodocus, and set him in the midst of the company, near
+one of the bearing-posts supporting the cloister, that he might lean
+against it. Then Ulysses cut off a piece of roast pork with plenty of
+fat (for there was abundance left on the joint) and said to a servant,
+"Take this piece of pork over to Demodocus and tell him to eat it; for
+all the pain his lays may cause me I will salute him none the less;
+bards are honoured and respected throughout the world, for the muse
+teaches them their songs and loves them."
+
+The servant carried the pork in his fingers over to Demodocus, who took
+it and was very much pleased. They then laid their hands on the good
+things that were before them, and as soon as they had had to eat and
+drink, Ulysses said to Demodocus, "Demodocus, there is no one in the
+world whom I admire more than I do you. You must have studied under the
+Muse, Jove's daughter, and under Apollo, so accurately do you sing the
+return of the Achaeans with all their sufferings and adventures. If you
+were not there yourself, you must have heard it all from some one who
+was. Now, however, change your song and tell us of the wooden horse
+which Epeus made with the assistance of Minerva, and which Ulysses got
+by stratagem into the fort of Troy after freighting it with the men who
+afterwards sacked the city. If you will sing this tale aright I will
+tell all the world how magnificently heaven has endowed you."
+
+The bard inspired of heaven took up the story at the point where some
+of the Argives set fire to their tents and sailed away while others,
+hidden within the horse, were waiting with Ulysses in the Trojan
+place of assembly. For the Trojans themselves had drawn the horse into
+their fortress, and it stood there while they sat in council round it,
+and were in three minds as to what they should do. Some were for
+breaking it up then and there; others would have it dragged to the top
+of the rock on which the fortress stood, and then thrown down the
+precipice; while yet others were for letting it remain as an offering
+and propitiation for the gods. And this was how they settled it in the
+end, for the city was doomed when it took in that horse, within which
+were all the bravest of the Argives waiting to bring death and
+destruction on the Trojans. Anon he sang how the sons of the Achaeans
+issued from the horse, and sacked the town, breaking out from their
+ambuscade. He sang how they overran the city hither and thither and
+ravaged it, and how Ulysses went raging like Mars along with Menelaus
+to the house of Deiphobus. It was there that the fight raged most
+furiously, nevertheless by Minerva's help he was victorious.
+
+All this he told, but Ulysses was overcome as he heard him, and his
+cheeks were wet with tears. He wept as a woman weeps when she throws
+herself on the body of her husband who has fallen before his own city
+and people, fighting bravely in defence of his home and children. She
+screams aloud and flings her arms about him as he lies gasping for
+breath and dying, but her enemies beat her from behind about the back
+and shoulders, and carry her off into slavery, to a life of labour and
+sorrow, and the beauty fades from her cheeks—even so piteously did
+Ulysses weep, but none of those present perceived his tears except
+Alcinous, who was sitting near him, and could hear the sobs and sighs
+that he was heaving. The king, therefore, at once rose and said:
+
+"Aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, let Demodocus cease
+his song, for there are those present who do not seem to like it. From
+the moment that we had done supper and Demodocus began to sing, our
+guest has been all the time groaning and lamenting. He is evidently in
+great trouble, so let the bard leave off, that we may all enjoy
+ourselves, hosts and guest alike. This will be much more as it should
+be, for all these festivities, with the escort and the presents that we
+are making with so much good will are wholly in his honour, and any one
+with even a moderate amount of right feeling knows that he ought to
+treat a guest and a suppliant as though he were his own brother.
+
+"Therefore, Sir, do you on your part affect no more concealment nor
+reserve in the matter about which I shall ask you; it will be more
+polite in you to give me a plain answer; tell me the name by which your
+father and mother over yonder used to call you, and by which you were
+known among your neighbours and fellow-citizens. There is no one,
+neither rich nor poor, who is absolutely without any name whatever, for
+people's fathers and mothers give them names as soon as they are born.
+Tell me also your country, nation, and city, that our ships may shape
+their purpose accordingly and take you there. For the Phaeacians have
+no pilots; their vessels have no rudders as those of other nations
+have, but the ships themselves understand what it is that we are
+thinking about and want; they know all the cities and countries in the
+whole world, and can traverse the sea just as well even when it is
+covered with mist and cloud, so that there is no danger of being
+wrecked or coming to any harm. Still I do remember hearing my father
+say that Neptune was angry with us for being too easy-going in the
+matter of giving people escorts. He said that one of these days he
+should wreck a ship of ours as it was returning from having escorted
+some one, and bury our city under a high mountain. This is what my
+father used to say, but whether the god will carry out his threat or no
+is a matter which he will decide for himself.
+
+"And now, tell me and tell me true. Where have you been wandering, and
+in what countries have you travelled? Tell us of the peoples
+themselves, and of their cities—who were hostile, savage and
+uncivilised, and who, on the other hand, hospitable and humane. Tell us
+also why you are made so unhappy on hearing about the return of the
+Argive Danaans from Troy. The gods arranged all this, and sent them
+their misfortunes in order that future generations might have something
+to sing about. Did you lose some brave kinsman of your wife's when you
+were before Troy? a son-in-law or father-in-law—which are the nearest
+relations a man has outside his own flesh and blood? or was it some
+brave and kindly-natured comrade—for a good friend is as dear to a man
+as his own brother?"
+
+And Ulysses answered, "King Alcinous, it is a good thing to hear a bard
+with such a divine voice as this man has. There is nothing better or
+more delightful than when a whole people make merry together, with the
+guests sitting orderly to listen, while the table is loaded with bread
+and meats, and the cup-bearer draws wine and fills his cup for every
+man. This is indeed as fair a sight as a man can see. Now, however,
+since you are inclined to ask the story of my sorrows, and rekindle my
+own sad memories in respect of them, I do not know how to begin, nor
+yet how to continue and conclude my tale, for the hand of heaven has
+been laid heavily upon me.
+
+"Firstly, then, I will tell you my name that you too may know it, and
+one day, if I outlive this time of sorrow, may become my guests though
+I live so far away from all of you. I am Ulysses son of Laertes,
+renowned among mankind for all manner of subtlety, so that my fame
+ascends to heaven. I live in Ithaca, where there is a high mountain
+called Neritum, covered with forests; and not far from it there is a
+group of islands very near to one another—Dulichium, Same, and the
+wooded island of Zacynthus. It lies squat on the horizon, all highest
+up in the sea towards the sunset, while the others lie away from it
+towards dawn. It is a rugged island, but it breeds brave men, and my
+eyes know none that they better love to look upon. The goddess Calypso
+kept me with her in her cave, and wanted me to marry her, as did also
+the cunning Aeaean goddess Circe; but they could neither of them
+persuade me, for there is nothing dearer to a man than his own country
+and his parents, and however splendid a home he may have in a foreign
+country, if it be far from father or mother, he does not care about it.
+Now, however, I will tell you of the many hazardous adventures which by
+Jove's will I met with on my return from Troy.
+
+"When I had set sail thence the wind took me first to Ismarus, which is
+the city of the Cicons. There I sacked the town and put the people to
+the sword. We took their wives and also much booty, which we divided
+equitably amongst us, so that none might have reason to complain. I
+then said that we had better make off at once, but my men very
+foolishly would not obey me, so they staid there drinking much wine and
+killing great numbers of sheep and oxen on the sea shore. Meanwhile the
+Cicons cried out for help to other Cicons who lived inland. These were
+more in number, and stronger, and they were more skilled in the art of
+war, for they could fight, either from chariots or on foot as the
+occasion served; in the morning, therefore, they came as thick as
+leaves and bloom in summer, and the hand of heaven was against us, so
+that we were hard pressed. They set the battle in array near the ships,
+and the hosts aimed their bronze-shod spears at one another. So long
+as the day waxed and it was still morning, we held our own against
+them, though they were more in number than we; but as the sun went
+down, towards the time when men loose their oxen, the Cicons got the
+better of us, and we lost half a dozen men from every ship we had; so
+we got away with those that were left.
+
+"Thence we sailed onward with sorrow in our hearts, but glad to have
+escaped death though we had lost our comrades, nor did we leave till we
+had thrice invoked each one of the poor fellows who had perished by the
+hands of the Cicons. Then Jove raised the North wind against us till it
+blew a hurricane, so that land and sky were hidden in thick clouds, and
+night sprang forth out of the heavens. We let the ships run before the
+gale, but the force of the wind tore our sails to tatters, so we took
+them down for fear of shipwreck, and rowed our hardest towards the
+land. There we lay two days and two nights suffering much alike from
+toil and distress of mind, but on the morning of the third day we again
+raised our masts, set sail, and took our places, letting the wind and
+steersmen direct our ship. I should have got home at that time unharmed
+had not the North wind and the currents been against me as I was
+doubling Cape Malea, and set me off my course hard by the island of
+Cythera.
+
+"I was driven thence by foul winds for a space of nine days upon the
+sea, but on the tenth day we reached the land of the Lotus-eaters, who
+live on a food that comes from a kind of flower. Here we landed to take
+in fresh water, and our crews got their mid-day meal on the shore near
+the ships. When they had eaten and drunk I sent two of my company to
+see what manner of men the people of the place might be, and they had a
+third man under them. They started at once, and went about among the
+Lotus-eaters, who did them no hurt, but gave them to eat of the lotus,
+which was so delicious that those who ate of it left off caring about
+home, and did not even want to go back and say what had happened to
+them, but were for staying and munching lotus with the Lotus-eaters
+without thinking further of their return; nevertheless, though they
+wept bitterly I forced them back to the ships and made them fast under
+the benches. Then I told the rest to go on board at once, lest any of
+them should taste of the lotus and leave off wanting to get home, so
+they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars.
+
+"We sailed hence, always in much distress, till we came to the land of
+the lawless and inhuman Cyclopes. Now the Cyclopes neither plant nor
+plough, but trust in providence, and live on such wheat, barley, and
+grapes as grow wild without any kind of tillage, and their wild grapes
+yield them wine as the sun and the rain may grow them. They have no
+laws nor assemblies of the people, but live in caves on the tops of
+high mountains; each is lord and master in his family, and they take no
+account of their neighbours.
+
+"Now off their harbour there lies a wooded and fertile island not quite
+close to the land of the Cyclopes, but still not far. It is over-run
+with wild goats, that breed there in great numbers and are never
+disturbed by foot of man; for sportsmen—who as a rule will suffer so
+much hardship in forest or among mountain precipices—do not go there,
+nor yet again is it ever ploughed or fed down, but it lies a wilderness
+untilled and unsown from year to year, and has no living thing upon it
+but only goats. For the Cyclopes have no ships, nor yet shipwrights who
+could make ships for them; they cannot therefore go from city to city,
+or sail over the sea to one another's country as people who have ships
+can do; if they had had these they would have colonised the island,
+for it is a very good one, and would yield everything in due season.
+There are meadows that in some places come right down to the sea shore,
+well watered and full of luscious grass; grapes would do there
+excellently; there is level land for ploughing, and it would always
+yield heavily at harvest time, for the soil is deep. There is a good
+harbour where no cables are wanted, nor yet anchors, nor need a ship be
+moored, but all one has to do is to beach one's vessel and stay there
+till the wind becomes fair for putting out to sea again. At the head of
+the harbour there is a spring of clear water coming out of a cave, and
+there are poplars growing all round it.
+
+"Here we entered, but so dark was the night that some god must have
+brought us in, for there was nothing whatever to be seen. A thick mist
+hung all round our ships; the moon was hidden behind a mass of clouds
+so that no one could have seen the island if he had looked for it, nor
+were there any breakers to tell us we were close in shore before we
+found ourselves upon the land itself; when, however, we had beached the
+ships, we took down the sails, went ashore and camped upon the beach
+till daybreak.
+
+"When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, we admired the
+island and wandered all over it, while the nymphs Jove's daughters
+roused the wild goats that we might get some meat for our dinner. On
+this we fetched our spears and bows and arrows from the ships, and
+dividing ourselves into three bands began to shoot the goats. Heaven
+sent us excellent sport; I had twelve ships with me, and each ship got
+nine goats, while my own ship had ten; thus through the livelong day to
+the going down of the sun we ate and drank our fill, and we had plenty
+of wine left, for each one of us had taken many jars full when we
+sacked the city of the Cicons, and this had not yet run out. While we
+were feasting we kept turning our eyes towards the land of the
+Cyclopes, which was hard by, and saw the smoke of their stubble fires.
+We could almost fancy we heard their voices and the bleating of their
+sheep and goats, but when the sun went down and it came on dark, we
+camped down upon the beach, and next morning I called a council.
+
+"'Stay here, my brave fellows,' said I, 'all the rest of you, while I
+go with my ship and exploit these people myself: I want to see if they
+are uncivilised savages, or a hospitable and humane race.'
+
+"I went on board, bidding my men to do so also and loose the hawsers;
+so they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars. When
+we got to the land, which was not far, there, on the face of a cliff
+near the sea, we saw a great cave overhung with laurels. It was a
+station for a great many sheep and goats, and outside there was a large
+yard, with a high wall round it made of stones built into the ground
+and of trees both pine and oak. This was the abode of a huge monster
+who was then away from home shepherding his flocks. He would have
+nothing to do with other people, but led the life of an outlaw. He was
+a horrid creature, not like a human being at all, but resembling rather
+some crag that stands out boldly against the sky on the top of a high
+mountain.
+
+"I told my men to draw the ship ashore, and stay where they were, all
+but the twelve best among them, who were to go along with myself. I
+also took a goatskin of sweet black wine which had been given me by
+Maron, son of Euanthes, who was priest of Apollo the patron god of
+Ismarus, and lived within the wooded precincts of the temple. When we
+were sacking the city we respected him, and spared his life, as also
+his wife and child; so he made me some presents of great value—seven
+talents of fine gold, and a bowl of silver, with twelve jars of sweet
+wine, unblended, and of the most exquisite flavour. Not a man nor maid
+in the house knew about it, but only himself, his wife, and one
+housekeeper: when he drank it he mixed twenty parts of water to one of
+wine, and yet the fragrance from the mixing-bowl was so exquisite that
+it was impossible to refrain from drinking. I filled a large skin with
+this wine, and took a wallet full of provisions with me, for my mind
+misgave me that I might have to deal with some savage who would be of
+great strength, and would respect neither right nor law.
+
+"We soon reached his cave, but he was out shepherding, so we went
+inside and took stock of all that we could see. His cheese-racks were
+loaded with cheeses, and he had more lambs and kids than his pens could
+hold. They were kept in separate flocks; first there were the hoggets,
+then the oldest of the younger lambs and lastly the very young ones
+all kept apart from one another; as for his dairy, all the vessels,
+bowls, and milk pails into which he milked, were swimming with whey.
+When they saw all this, my men begged me to let them first steal some
+cheeses, and make off with them to the ship; they would then return,
+drive down the lambs and kids, put them on board and sail away with
+them. It would have been indeed better if we had done so but I would
+not listen to them, for I wanted to see the owner himself, in the hope
+that he might give me a present. When, however, we saw him my poor men
+found him ill to deal with.
+
+"We lit a fire, offered some of the cheeses in sacrifice, ate others of
+them, and then sat waiting till the Cyclops should come in with his
+sheep. When he came, he brought in with him a huge load of dry firewood
+to light the fire for his supper, and this he flung with such a noise
+on to the floor of his cave that we hid ourselves for fear at the far
+end of the cavern. Meanwhile he drove all the ewes inside, as well as
+the she-goats that he was going to milk, leaving the males, both rams
+and he-goats, outside in the yards. Then he rolled a huge stone to the
+mouth of the cave—so huge that two and twenty strong four-wheeled
+waggons would not be enough to draw it from its place against the
+doorway. When he had so done he sat down and milked his ewes and goats,
+all in due course, and then let each of them have her own young. He
+curdled half the milk and set it aside in wicker strainers, but the
+other half he poured into bowls that he might drink it for his supper.
+When he had got through with all his work, he lit the fire, and then
+caught sight of us, whereon he said:
+
+"'Strangers, who are you? Where do sail from? Are you traders, or do
+you sail the sea as rovers, with your hands against every man, and
+every man's hand against you?'
+
+"We were frightened out of our senses by his loud voice and monstrous
+form, but I managed to say, 'We are Achaeans on our way home from Troy,
+but by the will of Jove, and stress of weather, we have been driven far
+out of our course. We are the people of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, who
+has won infinite renown throughout the whole world, by sacking so great
+a city and killing so many people. We therefore humbly pray you to show
+us some hospitality, and otherwise make us such presents as visitors
+may reasonably expect. May your excellency fear the wrath of heaven,
+for we are your suppliants, and Jove takes all respectable travellers
+under his protection, for he is the avenger of all suppliants and
+foreigners in distress.'
+
+"To this he gave me but a pitiless answer, 'Stranger,' said he, 'you
+are a fool, or else you know nothing of this country. Talk to me,
+indeed, about fearing the gods or shunning their anger? We Cyclopes do
+not care about Jove or any of your blessed gods, for we are ever so
+much stronger than they. I shall not spare either yourself or your
+companions out of any regard for Jove, unless I am in the humour for
+doing so. And now tell me where you made your ship fast when you came
+on shore. Was it round the point, or is she lying straight off the
+land?'
+
+"He said this to draw me out, but I was too cunning to be caught in
+that way, so I answered with a lie; 'Neptune,' said I, 'sent my ship on
+to the rocks at the far end of your country, and wrecked it. We were
+driven on to them from the open sea, but I and those who are with me
+escaped the jaws of death.'
+
+"The cruel wretch vouchsafed me not one word of answer, but with a
+sudden clutch he gripped up two of my men at once and dashed them down
+upon the ground as though they had been puppies. Their brains were shed
+upon the ground, and the earth was wet with their blood. Then he tore
+them limb from limb and supped upon them. He gobbled them up like a
+lion in the wilderness, flesh, bones, marrow, and entrails, without
+leaving anything uneaten. As for us, we wept and lifted up our hands to
+heaven on seeing such a horrid sight, for we did not know what else to
+do; but when the Cyclops had filled his huge paunch, and had washed
+down his meal of human flesh with a drink of neat milk, he stretched
+himself full length upon the ground among his sheep, and went to sleep.
+I was at first inclined to seize my sword, draw it, and drive it into
+his vitals, but I reflected that if I did we should all certainly be
+lost, for we should never be able to shift the stone which the monster
+had put in front of the door. So we stayed sobbing and sighing where we
+were till morning came.
+
+"When the child of morning, rosy-fingered dawn, appeared, he again lit
+his fire, milked his goats and ewes, all quite rightly, and then let
+each have her own young one; as soon as he had got through with all his
+work, he clutched up two more of my men, and began eating them for his
+morning's meal. Presently, with the utmost ease, he rolled the stone
+away from the door and drove out his sheep, but he at once put it back
+again—as easily as though he were merely clapping the lid on to a
+quiver full of arrows. As soon as he had done so he shouted, and cried
+'Shoo, shoo,' after his sheep to drive them on to the mountain; so I
+was left to scheme some way of taking my revenge and covering myself
+with glory.
+
+"In the end I deemed it would be the best plan to do as follows: The
+Cyclops had a great club which was lying near one of the sheep pens; it
+was of green olive wood, and he had cut it intending to use it for a
+staff as soon as it should be dry. It was so huge that we could only
+compare it to the mast of a twenty-oared merchant vessel of large
+burden, and able to venture out into open sea. I went up to this club
+and cut off about six feet of it; I then gave this piece to the men and
+told them to fine it evenly off at one end, which they proceeded to do,
+and lastly I brought it to a point myself, charring the end in the fire
+to make it harder. When I had done this I hid it under dung, which was
+lying about all over the cave, and told the men to cast lots which of
+them should venture along with myself to lift it and bore it into the
+monster's eye while he was asleep. The lot fell upon the very four whom
+I should have chosen, and I myself made five. In the evening the wretch
+came back from shepherding, and drove his flocks into the cave—this
+time driving them all inside, and not leaving any in the yards; I
+suppose some fancy must have taken him, or a god must have prompted him
+to do so. As soon as he had put the stone back to its place against the
+door, he sat down, milked his ewes and his goats all quite rightly, and
+then let each have her own young one; when he had got through with all
+this work, he gripped up two more of my men, and made his supper off
+them. So I went up to him with an ivy-wood bowl of black wine in my
+hands:
+
+"'Look here, Cyclops,' said I, you have been eating a great deal of
+man's flesh, so take this and drink some wine, that you may see what
+kind of liquor we had on board my ship. I was bringing it to you as a
+drink-offering, in the hope that you would take compassion upon me and
+further me on my way home, whereas all you do is to go on ramping and
+raving most intolerably. You ought to be ashamed of yourself; how can
+you expect people to come see you any more if you treat them in this
+way?'
+
+"He then took the cup and drank. He was so delighted with the taste of
+the wine that he begged me for another bowl full. 'Be so kind,' he
+said, 'as to give me some more, and tell me your name at once. I want
+to make you a present that you will be glad to have. We have wine even
+in this country, for our soil grows grapes and the sun ripens them, but
+this drinks like Nectar and Ambrosia all in one.'
+
+"I then gave him some more; three times did I fill the bowl for him,
+and three times did he drain it without thought or heed; then, when I
+saw that the wine had got into his head, I said to him as plausibly as
+I could: 'Cyclops, you ask my name and I will tell it you; give me,
+therefore, the present you promised me; my name is Noman; this is what
+my father and mother and my friends have always called me.'
+
+"But the cruel wretch said, 'Then I will eat all Noman's comrades
+before Noman himself, and will keep Noman for the last. This is the
+present that I will make him.'
+
+"As he spoke he reeled, and fell sprawling face upwards on the ground.
+His great neck hung heavily backwards and a deep sleep took hold upon
+him. Presently he turned sick, and threw up both wine and the gobbets
+of human flesh on which he had been gorging, for he was very drunk.
+Then I thrust the beam of wood far into the embers to heat it, and
+encouraged my men lest any of them should turn faint-hearted. When the
+wood, green though it was, was about to blaze, I drew it out of the
+fire glowing with heat, and my men gathered round me, for heaven had
+filled their hearts with courage. We drove the sharp end of the beam
+into the monster's eye, and bearing upon it with all my weight I kept
+turning it round and round as though I were boring a hole in a ship's
+plank with an auger, which two men with a wheel and strap can keep on
+turning as long as they choose. Even thus did we bore the red hot beam
+into his eye, till the boiling blood bubbled all over it as we worked
+it round and round, so that the steam from the burning eyeball scalded
+his eyelids and eyebrows, and the roots of the eye sputtered in the
+fire. As a blacksmith plunges an axe or hatchet into cold water to
+temper it—for it is this that gives strength to the iron—and it makes a
+great hiss as he does so, even thus did the Cyclops' eye hiss round the
+beam of olive wood, and his hideous yells made the cave ring again. We
+ran away in a fright, but he plucked the beam all besmirched with gore
+from his eye, and hurled it from him in a frenzy of rage and pain,
+shouting as he did so to the other Cyclopes who lived on the bleak
+headlands near him; so they gathered from all quarters round his cave
+when they heard him crying, and asked what was the matter with him.
+
+"'What ails you, Polyphemus,' said they, 'that you make such a noise,
+breaking the stillness of the night, and preventing us from being able
+to sleep? Surely no man is carrying off your sheep? Surely no man is
+trying to kill you either by fraud or by force?'
+
+"But Polyphemus shouted to them from inside the cave, 'Noman is killing
+me by fraud; no man is killing me by force.'
+
+"'Then,' said they, 'if no man is attacking you, you must be ill; when
+Jove makes people ill, there is no help for it, and you had better pray
+to your father Neptune.'
+
+"Then they went away, and I laughed inwardly at the success of my
+clever stratagem, but the Cyclops, groaning and in an agony of pain,
+felt about with his hands till he found the stone and took it from the
+door; then he sat in the doorway and stretched his hands in front of it
+to catch anyone going out with the sheep, for he thought I might be
+foolish enough to attempt this.
+
+"As for myself I kept on puzzling to think how I could best save my own
+life and those of my companions; I schemed and schemed, as one who
+knows that his life depends upon it, for the danger was very great. In
+the end I deemed that this plan would be the best; the male sheep were
+well grown, and carried a heavy black fleece, so I bound them
+noiselessly in threes together, with some of the withies on which the
+wicked monster used to sleep. There was to be a man under the middle
+sheep, and the two on either side were to cover him, so that there were
+three sheep to each man. As for myself there was a ram finer than any
+of the others, so I caught hold of him by the back, esconced myself in
+the thick wool under his belly, and hung on patiently to his fleece,
+face upwards, keeping a firm hold on it all the time.
+
+"Thus, then, did we wait in great fear of mind till morning came, but
+when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, the male sheep
+hurried out to feed, while the ewes remained bleating about the pens
+waiting to be milked, for their udders were full to bursting; but their
+master in spite of all his pain felt the backs of all the sheep as they
+stood upright, without being sharp enough to find out that the men were
+underneath their bellies. As the ram was going out, last of all, heavy
+with its fleece and with the weight of my crafty self, Polyphemus laid
+hold of it and said:
+
+"'My good ram, what is it that makes you the last to leave my cave this
+morning? You are not wont to let the ewes go before you, but lead the
+mob with a run whether to flowery mead or bubbling fountain, and are
+the first to come home again at night; but now you lag last of all. Is
+it because you know your master has lost his eye, and are sorry because
+that wicked Noman and his horrid crew has got him down in his drink and
+blinded him? But I will have his life yet. If you could understand and
+talk, you would tell me where the wretch is hiding, and I would dash
+his brains upon the ground till they flew all over the cave. I should
+thus have some satisfaction for the harm this no-good Noman has done
+me.'
+
+"As he spoke he drove the ram outside, but when we were a little way
+out from the cave and yards, I first got from under the ram's belly,
+and then freed my comrades; as for the sheep, which were very fat, by
+constantly heading them in the right direction we managed to drive them
+down to the ship. The crew rejoiced greatly at seeing those of us who
+had escaped death, but wept for the others whom the Cyclops had killed.
+However, I made signs to them by nodding and frowning that they were to
+hush their crying, and told them to get all the sheep on board at once
+and put out to sea; so they went aboard, took their places, and smote
+the grey sea with their oars. Then, when I had got as far out as my
+voice would reach, I began to jeer at the Cyclops.
+
+"'Cyclops,' said I, 'you should have taken better measure of your man
+before eating up his comrades in your cave. You wretch, eat up your
+visitors in your own house? You might have known that your sin would
+find you out, and now Jove and the other gods have punished you.'
+
+"He got more and more furious as he heard me, so he tore the top from
+off a high mountain, and flung it just in front of my ship so that it
+was within a little of hitting the end of the rudder. The sea quaked
+as the rock fell into it, and the wash of the wave it raised carried us
+back towards the mainland, and forced us towards the shore. But I
+snatched up a long pole and kept the ship off, making signs to my men
+by nodding my head, that they must row for their lives, whereon they
+laid out with a will. When we had got twice as far as we were before, I
+was for jeering at the Cyclops again, but the men begged and prayed of
+me to hold my tongue.
+
+"'Do not,' they exclaimed, 'be mad enough to provoke this savage
+creature further; he has thrown one rock at us already which drove us
+back again to the mainland, and we made sure it had been the death of
+us; if he had then heard any further sound of voices he would have
+pounded our heads and our ship's timbers into a jelly with the rugged
+rocks he would have heaved at us, for he can throw them a long way.'
+
+"But I would not listen to them, and shouted out to him in my rage,
+'Cyclops, if any one asks you who it was that put your eye out and
+spoiled your beauty, say it was the valiant warrior Ulysses, son of
+Laertes, who lives in Ithaca.'
+
+"On this he groaned, and cried out, 'Alas, alas, then the old prophecy
+about me is coming true. There was a prophet here, at one time, a man
+both brave and of great stature, Telemus son of Eurymus, who was an
+excellent seer, and did all the prophesying for the Cyclopes till he
+grew old; he told me that all this would happen to me some day, and
+said I should lose my sight by the hand of Ulysses. I have been all
+along expecting some one of imposing presence and superhuman strength,
+whereas he turns out to be a little insignificant weakling, who has
+managed to blind my eye by taking advantage of me in my drink; come
+here, then, Ulysses, that I may make you presents to show my
+hospitality, and urge Neptune to help you forward on your journey—for
+Neptune and I are father and son. He, if he so will, shall heal me,
+which no one else neither god nor man can do.'
+
+"Then I said, 'I wish I could be as sure of killing you outright and
+sending you down to the house of Hades, as I am that it will take more
+than Neptune to cure that eye of yours.'
+
+"On this he lifted up his hands to the firmament of heaven and prayed,
+saying, 'Hear me, great Neptune; if I am indeed your own true begotten
+son, grant that Ulysses may never reach his home alive; or if he must
+get back to his friends at last, let him do so late and in sore plight
+after losing all his men [let him reach his home in another man's ship
+and find trouble in his house.'
+
+"Thus did he pray, and Neptune heard his prayer. Then he picked up a
+rock much larger than the first, swung it aloft and hurled it with
+prodigious force. It fell just short of the ship, but was within a
+little of hitting the end of the rudder. The sea quaked as the rock
+fell into it, and the wash of the wave it raised drove us onwards on
+our way towards the shore of the island.
+
+"When at last we got to the island where we had left the rest of our
+ships, we found our comrades lamenting us, and anxiously awaiting our
+return. We ran our vessel upon the sands and got out of her on to the
+sea shore; we also landed the Cyclops' sheep, and divided them
+equitably amongst us so that none might have reason to complain. As for
+the ram, my companions agreed that I should have it as an extra share;
+so I sacrificed it on the sea shore, and burned its thigh bones to
+Jove, who is the lord of all. But he heeded not my sacrifice, and only
+thought how he might destroy both my ships and my comrades.
+
+"Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we feasted
+our fill on meat and drink, but when the sun went down and it came on
+dark, we camped upon the beach. When the child of morning rosy-fingered
+Dawn appeared, I bade my men on board and loose the hawsers. Then they
+took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars; so we sailed
+on with sorrow in our hearts, but glad to have escaped death though we
+had lost our comrades.
+
+"Thence we went on to the Aeolian island where lives Aeolus son of
+Hippotas, dear to the immortal gods. It is an island that floats (as it
+were) upon the sea, iron bound with a wall that girds it. Now, Aeolus
+has six daughters and six lusty sons, so he made the sons marry the
+daughters, and they all live with their dear father and mother,
+feasting and enjoying every conceivable kind of luxury. All day long
+the atmosphere of the house is loaded with the savour of roasting meats
+till it groans again, yard and all; but by night they sleep on their
+well made bedsteads, each with his own wife between the blankets. These
+were the people among whom we had now come.
+
+"Aeolus entertained me for a whole month asking me questions all the
+time about Troy, the Argive fleet, and the return of the Achaeans. I
+told him exactly how everything had happened, and when I said I must
+go, and asked him to further me on my way, he made no sort of
+difficulty, but set about doing so at once. Moreover, he flayed me a
+prime ox-hide to hold the ways of the roaring winds, which he shut up
+in the hide as in a sack—for Jove had made him captain over the winds,
+and he could stir or still each one of them according to his own
+pleasure. He put the sack in the ship and bound the mouth so tightly
+with a silver thread that not even a breath of a side-wind could blow
+from any quarter. The West wind which was fair for us did he alone let
+blow as it chose; but it all came to nothing, for we were lost through
+our own folly.
+
+"Nine days and nine nights did we sail, and on the tenth day our native
+land showed on the horizon. We got so close in that we could see the
+stubble fires burning, and I, being then dead beat, fell into a light
+sleep, for I had never let the rudder out of my own hands, that we
+might get home the faster. On this the men fell to talking among
+themselves, and said I was bringing back gold and silver in the sack
+that Aeolus had given me. 'Bless my heart,' would one turn to his
+neighbour, saying, 'how this man gets honoured and makes friends to
+whatever city or country he may go. See what fine prizes he is taking
+home from Troy, while we, who have travelled just as far as he has,
+come back with hands as empty as we set out with—and now Aeolus has
+given him ever so much more. Quick—let us see what it all is, and how
+much gold and silver there is in the sack he gave him.'
+
+"Thus they talked and evil counsels prevailed. They loosed the sack,
+whereupon the wind flew howling forth and raised a storm that carried
+us weeping out to sea and away from our own country. Then I awoke, and
+knew not whether to throw myself into the sea or to live on and make
+the best of it; but I bore it, covered myself up, and lay down in the
+ship, while the men lamented bitterly as the fierce winds bore our
+fleet back to the Aeolian island.
+
+"When we reached it we went ashore to take in water, and dined hard by
+the ships. Immediately after dinner I took a herald and one of my men
+and went straight to the house of Aeolus, where I found him feasting
+with his wife and family; so we sat down as suppliants on the
+threshold. They were astounded when they saw us and said, 'Ulysses,
+what brings you here? What god has been ill-treating you? We took great
+pains to further you on your way home to Ithaca, or wherever it was
+that you wanted to go to.'
+
+"Thus did they speak, but I answered sorrowfully, 'My men have undone
+me; they, and cruel sleep, have ruined me. My friends, mend me this
+mischief, for you can if you will.'
+
+"I spoke as movingly as I could, but they said nothing, till their
+father answered, 'Vilest of mankind, get you gone at once out of the
+island; him whom heaven hates will I in no wise help. Be off, for you
+come here as one abhorred of heaven.' And with these words he sent me
+sorrowing from his door.
+
+"Thence we sailed sadly on till the men were worn out with long and
+fruitless rowing, for there was no longer any wind to help them. Six
+days, night and day did we toil, and on the seventh day we reached the
+rocky stronghold of Lamus—Telepylus, the city of the Laestrygonians,
+where the shepherd who is driving in his sheep and goats [to be milked
+salutes him who is driving out his flock [to feed and this last
+answers the salute. In that country a man who could do without sleep
+might earn double wages, one as a herdsman of cattle, and another as a
+shepherd, for they work much the same by night as they do by day.
+
+"When we reached the harbour we found it land-locked under steep
+cliffs, with a narrow entrance between two headlands. My captains took
+all their ships inside, and made them fast close to one another, for
+there was never so much as a breath of wind inside, but it was always
+dead calm. I kept my own ship outside, and moored it to a rock at the
+very end of the point; then I climbed a high rock to reconnoitre, but
+could see no sign neither of man nor cattle, only some smoke rising
+from the ground. So I sent two of my company with an attendant to find
+out what sort of people the inhabitants were.
+
+"The men when they got on shore followed a level road by which the
+people draw their firewood from the mountains into the town, till
+presently they met a young woman who had come outside to fetch water,
+and who was daughter to a Laestrygonian named Antiphates. She was going
+to the fountain Artacia from which the people bring in their water, and
+when my men had come close up to her, they asked her who the king of
+that country might be, and over what kind of people he ruled; so she
+directed them to her father's house, but when they got there they found
+his wife to be a giantess as huge as a mountain, and they were
+horrified at the sight of her.
+
+"She at once called her husband Antiphates from the place of assembly,
+and forthwith he set about killing my men. He snatched up one of them,
+and began to make his dinner off him then and there, whereon the other
+two ran back to the ships as fast as ever they could. But Antiphates
+raised a hue-and-cry after them, and thousands of sturdy Laestrygonians
+sprang up from every quarter—ogres, not men. They threw vast rocks at
+us from the cliffs as though they had been mere stones, and I heard the
+horrid sound of the ships crunching up against one another, and the
+death cries of my men, as the Laestrygonians speared them like fishes
+and took them home to eat them. While they were thus killing my men
+within the harbour I drew my sword, cut the cable of my own ship, and
+told my men to row with all their might if they too would not fare like
+the rest; so they laid out for their lives, and we were thankful enough
+when we got into open water out of reach of the rocks they hurled at
+us. As for the others there was not one of them left.
+
+"Thence we sailed sadly on, glad to have escaped death, though we had
+lost our comrades, and came to the Aeaean island, where Circe lives—a
+great and cunning goddess who is own sister to the magician Aeetes—for
+they are both children of the sun by Perse, who is daughter to Oceanus.
+We brought our ship into a safe harbour without a word, for some god
+guided us thither, and having landed we lay there for two days and two
+nights, worn out in body and mind. When the morning of the third day
+came I took my spear and my sword, and went away from the ship to
+reconnoitre, and see if I could discover signs of human handiwork, or
+hear the sound of voices. Climbing to the top of a high look-out I
+espied the smoke of Circe's house rising upwards amid a dense forest of
+trees, and when I saw this I doubted whether, having seen the smoke, I
+would not go on at once and find out more, but in the end I deemed it
+best to go back to the ship, give the men their dinners, and send some
+of them instead of going myself.
+
+"When I had nearly got back to the ship some god took pity upon my
+solitude, and sent a fine antlered stag right into the middle of my
+path. He was coming down his pasture in the forest to drink of the
+river, for the heat of the sun drove him, and as he passed I struck him
+in the middle of the back; the bronze point of the spear went clean
+through him, and he lay groaning in the dust until the life went out of
+him. Then I set my foot upon him, drew my spear from the wound, and
+laid it down; I also gathered rough grass and rushes and twisted them
+into a fathom or so of good stout rope, with which I bound the four
+feet of the noble creature together; having so done I hung him round my
+neck and walked back to the ship leaning upon my spear, for the stag
+was much too big for me to be able to carry him on my shoulder,
+steadying him with one hand. As I threw him down in front of the ship,
+I called the men and spoke cheeringly man by man to each of them. 'Look
+here my friends,' said I, 'we are not going to die so much before our
+time after all, and at any rate we will not starve so long as we have
+got something to eat and drink on board.' On this they uncovered their
+heads upon the sea shore and admired the stag, for he was indeed a
+splendid fellow. Then, when they had feasted their eyes upon him
+sufficiently, they washed their hands and began to cook him for dinner.
+
+"Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we stayed
+there eating and drinking our fill, but when the sun went down and it
+came on dark, we camped upon the sea shore. When the child of morning,
+rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, I called a council and said, 'My friends,
+we are in very great difficulties; listen therefore to me. We have no
+idea where the sun either sets or rises, so that we do not even know
+East from West. I see no way out of it; nevertheless, we must try and
+find one. We are certainly on an island, for I went as high as I could
+this morning, and saw the sea reaching all round it to the horizon; it
+lies low, but towards the middle I saw smoke rising from out of a thick
+forest of trees.'
+
+"Their hearts sank as they heard me, for they remembered how they had
+been treated by the Laestrygonian Antiphates, and by the savage ogre
+Polyphemus. They wept bitterly in their dismay, but there was nothing
+to be got by crying, so I divided them into two companies and set a
+captain over each; I gave one company to Eurylochus, while I took
+command of the other myself. Then we cast lots in a helmet, and the lot
+fell upon Eurylochus; so he set out with his twenty-two men, and they
+wept, as also did we who were left behind.
+
+"When they reached Circe's house they found it built of cut stones, on
+a site that could be seen from far, in the middle of the forest. There
+were wild mountain wolves and lions prowling all round it—poor
+bewitched creatures whom she had tamed by her enchantments and drugged
+into subjection. They did not attack my men, but wagged their great
+tails, fawned upon them, and rubbed their noses lovingly against
+them. As hounds crowd round their master when they see him coming
+from dinner—for they know he will bring them something—even so did
+these wolves and lions with their great claws fawn upon my men, but the
+men were terribly frightened at seeing such strange creatures.
+Presently they reached the gates of the goddess's house, and as they
+stood there they could hear Circe within, singing most beautifully as
+she worked at her loom, making a web so fine, so soft, and of such
+dazzling colours as no one but a goddess could weave. On this Polites,
+whom I valued and trusted more than any other of my men, said, 'There
+is some one inside working at a loom and singing most beautifully; the
+whole place resounds with it, let us call her and see whether she is
+woman or goddess.'
+
+"They called her and she came down, unfastened the door, and bade them
+enter. They, thinking no evil, followed her, all except Eurylochus, who
+suspected mischief and staid outside. When she had got them into her
+house, she set them upon benches and seats and mixed them a mess with
+cheese, honey, meal, and Pramnian wine, but she drugged it with wicked
+poisons to make them forget their homes, and when they had drunk she
+turned them into pigs by a stroke of her wand, and shut them up in her
+pig-styes. They were like pigs—head, hair, and all, and they grunted
+just as pigs do; but their senses were the same as before, and they
+remembered everything.
+
+"Thus then were they shut up squealing, and Circe threw them some
+acorns and beech masts such as pigs eat, but Eurylochus hurried back to
+tell me about the sad fate of our comrades. He was so overcome with
+dismay that though he tried to speak he could find no words to do so;
+his eyes filled with tears and he could only sob and sigh, till at last
+we forced his story out of him, and he told us what had happened to the
+others.
+
+"'We went,' said he, 'as you told us, through the forest, and in the
+middle of it there was a fine house built with cut stones in a place
+that could be seen from far. There we found a woman, or else she was a
+goddess, working at her loom and singing sweetly; so the men shouted to
+her and called her, whereon she at once came down, opened the door, and
+invited us in. The others did not suspect any mischief so they followed
+her into the house, but I staid where I was, for I thought there might
+be some treachery. From that moment I saw them no more, for not one of
+them ever came out, though I sat a long time watching for them.'
+
+"Then I took my sword of bronze and slung it over my shoulders; I also
+took my bow, and told Eurylochus to come back with me and shew me the
+way. But he laid hold of me with both his hands and spoke piteously,
+saying, 'Sir, do not force me to go with you, but let me stay here, for
+I know you will not bring one of them back with you, nor even return
+alive yourself; let us rather see if we cannot escape at any rate with
+the few that are left us, for we may still save our lives.'
+
+"'Stay where you are, then,' answered I, 'eating and drinking at the
+ship, but I must go, for I am most urgently bound to do so.'
+
+"With this I left the ship and went up inland. When I got through the
+charmed grove, and was near the great house of the enchantress Circe, I
+met Mercury with his golden wand, disguised as a young man in the
+hey-day of his youth and beauty with the down just coming upon his
+face. He came up to me and took my hand within his own, saying, 'My
+poor unhappy man, whither are you going over this mountain top, alone
+and without knowing the way? Your men are shut up in Circe's pigstyes,
+like so many wild boars in their lairs. You surely do not fancy that
+you can set them free? I can tell you that you will never get back and
+will have to stay there with the rest of them. But never mind, I will
+protect you and get you out of your difficulty. Take this herb, which
+is one of great virtue, and keep it about you when you go to Circe's
+house, it will be a talisman to you against every kind of mischief.
+
+"'And I will tell you of all the wicked witchcraft that Circe will try
+to practice upon you. She will mix a mess for you to drink, and she
+will drug the meal with which she makes it, but she will not be able to
+charm you, for the virtue of the herb that I shall give you will
+prevent her spells from working. I will tell you all about it. When
+Circe strikes you with her wand, draw your sword and spring upon her as
+though you were going to kill her. She will then be frightened, and
+will desire you to go to bed with her; on this you must not point blank
+refuse her, for you want her to set your companions free, and to take
+good care also of yourself, but you must make her swear solemnly by all
+the blessed gods that she will plot no further mischief against you, or
+else when she has got you naked she will unman you and make you fit for
+nothing.'
+
+"As he spoke he pulled the herb out of the ground and shewed me what it
+was like. The root was black, while the flower was as white as milk;
+the gods call it Moly, and mortal men cannot uproot it, but the gods
+can do whatever they like.
+
+"Then Mercury went back to high Olympus passing over the wooded island;
+but I fared onward to the house of Circe, and my heart was clouded with
+care as I walked along. When I got to the gates I stood there and
+called the goddess, and as soon as she heard me she came down, opened
+the door, and asked me to come in; so I followed her—much troubled in
+my mind. She set me on a richly decorated seat inlaid with silver,
+there was a footstool also under my feet, and she mixed a mess in a
+golden goblet for me to drink; but she drugged it, for she meant me
+mischief. When she had given it me, and I had drunk it without its
+charming me, she struck me with her wand. 'There now,' she cried, 'be
+off to the pigstye, and make your lair with the rest of them.'
+
+"But I rushed at her with my sword drawn as though I would kill her,
+whereon she fell with a loud scream, clasped my knees, and spoke
+piteously, saying, 'Who and whence are you? from what place and people
+have you come? How can it be that my drugs have no power to charm you?
+Never yet was any man able to stand so much as a taste of the herb I
+gave you; you must be spell-proof; surely you can be none other than
+the bold hero Ulysses, who Mercury always said would come here some day
+with his ship while on his way home from Troy; so be it then; sheathe
+your sword and let us go to bed, that we may make friends and learn to
+trust each other.'
+
+"And I answered, 'Circe, how can you expect me to be friendly with you
+when you have just been turning all my men into pigs? And now that you
+have got me here myself, you mean me mischief when you ask me to go to
+bed with you, and will unman me and make me fit for nothing. I shall
+certainly not consent to go to bed with you unless you will first take
+your solemn oath to plot no further harm against me.'
+
+"So she swore at once as I had told her, and when she had completed her
+oath then I went to bed with her.
+
+"Meanwhile her four servants, who are her housemaids, set about their
+work. They are the children of the groves and fountains, and of the
+holy waters that run down into the sea. One of them spread a fair
+purple cloth over a seat, and laid a carpet underneath it. Another
+brought tables of silver up to the seats, and set them with baskets of
+gold. A third mixed some sweet wine with water in a silver bowl and put
+golden cups upon the tables, while the fourth brought in water and set
+it to boil in a large cauldron over a good fire which she had lighted.
+When the water in the cauldron was boiling, she poured cold into it
+till it was just as I liked it, and then she set me in a bath and began
+washing me from the cauldron about the head and shoulders, to take the
+tire and stiffness out of my limbs. As soon as she had done washing me
+and anointing me with oil, she arrayed me in a good cloak and shirt and
+led me to a richly decorated seat inlaid with silver; there was a
+footstool also under my feet. A maid servant then brought me water in a
+beautiful golden ewer and poured it into a silver basin for me to wash
+my hands, and she drew a clean table beside me; an upper servant
+brought me bread and offered me many things of what there was in the
+house, and then Circe bade me eat, but I would not, and sat without
+heeding what was before me, still moody and suspicious.
+
+"When Circe saw me sitting there without eating, and in great grief,
+she came to me and said, 'Ulysses, why do you sit like that as though
+you were dumb, gnawing at your own heart, and refusing both meat and
+drink? Is it that you are still suspicious? You ought not to be, for I
+have already sworn solemnly that I will not hurt you.'
+
+"And I said, 'Circe, no man with any sense of what is right can think
+of either eating or drinking in your house until you have set his
+friends free and let him see them. If you want me to eat and drink, you
+must free my men and bring them to me that I may see them with my own
+eyes.'
+
+"When I had said this she went straight through the court with her wand
+in her hand and opened the pigstye doors. My men came out like so many
+prime hogs and stood looking at her, but she went about among them and
+anointed each with a second drug, whereon the bristles that the bad
+drug had given them fell off, and they became men again, younger than
+they were before, and much taller and better looking. They knew me at
+once, seized me each of them by the hand, and wept for joy till the
+whole house was filled with the sound of their halloa-ballooing, and
+Circe herself was so sorry for them that she came up to me and said,
+'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, go back at once to the sea where you
+have left your ship, and first draw it on to the land. Then, hide all
+your ship's gear and property in some cave, and come back here with
+your men.'
+
+"I agreed to this, so I went back to the sea shore, and found the men
+at the ship weeping and wailing most piteously. When they saw me the
+silly blubbering fellows began frisking round me as calves break out
+and gambol round their mothers, when they see them coming home to be
+milked after they have been feeding all day, and the homestead resounds
+with their lowing. They seemed as glad to see me as though they had got
+back to their own rugged Ithaca, where they had been born and bred.
+'Sir,' said the affectionate creatures, 'we are as glad to see you back
+as though we had got safe home to Ithaca; but tell us all about the
+fate of our comrades.'
+
+"I spoke comfortingly to them and said, 'We must draw our ship on to
+the land, and hide the ship's gear with all our property in some cave;
+then come with me all of you as fast as you can to Circe's house, where
+you will find your comrades eating and drinking in the midst of great
+abundance.'
+
+"On this the men would have come with me at once, but Eurylochus tried
+to hold them back and said, 'Alas, poor wretches that we are, what will
+become of us? Rush not on your ruin by going to the house of Circe, who
+will turn us all into pigs or wolves or lions, and we shall have to
+keep guard over her house. Remember how the Cyclops treated us when our
+comrades went inside his cave, and Ulysses with them. It was all
+through his sheer folly that those men lost their lives.'
+
+"When I heard him I was in two minds whether or no to draw the keen
+blade that hung by my sturdy thigh and cut his head off in spite of his
+being a near relation of my own; but the men interceded for him and
+said, 'Sir, if it may so be, let this fellow stay here and mind the
+ship, but take the rest of us with you to Circe's house.'
+
+"On this we all went inland, and Eurylochus was not left behind after
+all, but came on too, for he was frightened by the severe reprimand
+that I had given him.
+
+"Meanwhile Circe had been seeing that the men who had been left behind
+were washed and anointed with olive oil; she had also given them
+woollen cloaks and shirts, and when we came we found them all
+comfortably at dinner in her house. As soon as the men saw each other
+face to face and knew one another, they wept for joy and cried aloud
+till the whole palace rang again. Thereon Circe came up to me and said,
+'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, tell your men to leave off crying; I
+know how much you have all of you suffered at sea, and how ill you have
+fared among cruel savages on the mainland, but that is over now, so
+stay here, and eat and drink till you are once more as strong and
+hearty as you were when you left Ithaca; for at present you are
+weakened both in body and mind; you keep all the time thinking of the
+hardships you have suffered during your travels, so that you have no
+more cheerfulness left in you.'
+
+"Thus did she speak and we assented. We stayed with Circe for a whole
+twelvemonth feasting upon an untold quantity both of meat and wine. But
+when the year had passed in the waning of moons and the long days had
+come round, my men called me apart and said, 'Sir, it is time you began
+to think about going home, if so be you are to be spared to see your
+house and native country at all.'
+
+"Thus did they speak and I assented. Thereon through the livelong day
+to the going down of the sun we feasted our fill on meat and wine, but
+when the sun went down and it came on dark the men laid themselves down
+to sleep in the covered cloisters. I, however, after I had got into bed
+with Circe, besought her by her knees, and the goddess listened to what
+I had got to say. 'Circe,' said I, 'please to keep the promise you made
+me about furthering me on my homeward voyage. I want to get back and so
+do my men, they are always pestering me with their complaints as soon
+as ever your back is turned.'
+
+"And the goddess answered, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, you shall
+none of you stay here any longer if you do not want to, but there is
+another journey which you have got to take before you can sail
+homewards. You must go to the house of Hades and of dread Proserpine to
+consult the ghost of the blind Theban prophet Teiresias, whose reason
+is still unshaken. To him alone has Proserpine left his understanding
+even in death, but the other ghosts flit about aimlessly.'
+
+"I was dismayed when I heard this. I sat up in bed and wept, and would
+gladly have lived no longer to see the light of the sun, but presently
+when I was tired of weeping and tossing myself about, I said, 'And who
+shall guide me upon this voyage—for the house of Hades is a port that
+no ship can reach.'
+
+"'You will want no guide,' she answered; 'raise your mast, set your
+white sails, sit quite still, and the North Wind will blow you there of
+itself. When your ship has traversed the waters of Oceanus, you will
+reach the fertile shore of Proserpine's country with its groves of tall
+poplars and willows that shed their fruit untimely; here beach your
+ship upon the shore of Oceanus, and go straight on to the dark abode of
+Hades. You will find it near the place where the rivers Pyriphlegethon
+and Cocytus (which is a branch of the river Styx) flow into Acheron,
+and you will see a rock near it, just where the two roaring rivers run
+into one another.
+
+"'When you have reached this spot, as I now tell you, dig a trench a
+cubit or so in length, breadth, and depth, and pour into it as a
+drink-offering to all the dead, first, honey mixed with milk, then
+wine, and in the third place water—sprinkling white barley meal over
+the whole. Moreover you must offer many prayers to the poor feeble
+ghosts, and promise them that when you get back to Ithaca you will
+sacrifice a barren heifer to them, the best you have, and will load the
+pyre with good things. More particularly you must promise that
+Teiresias shall have a black sheep all to himself, the finest in all
+your flocks.
+
+"'When you shall have thus besought the ghosts with your prayers, offer
+them a ram and a black ewe, bending their heads towards Erebus; but
+yourself turn away from them as though you would make towards the
+river. On this, many dead men's ghosts will come to you, and you must
+tell your men to skin the two sheep that you have just killed, and
+offer them as a burnt sacrifice with prayers to Hades and to
+Proserpine. Then draw your sword and sit there, so as to prevent any
+other poor ghost from coming near the spilt blood before Teiresias
+shall have answered your questions. The seer will presently come to
+you, and will tell you about your voyage—what stages you are to make,
+and how you are to sail the sea so as to reach your home.'
+
+"It was day-break by the time she had done speaking, so she dressed me
+in my shirt and cloak. As for herself she threw a beautiful light
+gossamer fabric over her shoulders, fastening it with a golden girdle
+round her waist, and she covered her head with a mantle. Then I went
+about among the men everywhere all over the house, and spoke kindly to
+each of them man by man: 'You must not lie sleeping here any longer,'
+said I to them, 'we must be going, for Circe has told me all about it.'
+And on this they did as I bade them.
+
+"Even so, however, I did not get them away without misadventure. We had
+with us a certain youth named Elpenor, not very remarkable for sense or
+courage, who had got drunk and was lying on the house-top away from the
+rest of the men, to sleep off his liquor in the cool. When he heard the
+noise of the men bustling about, he jumped up on a sudden and forgot
+all about coming down by the main staircase, so he tumbled right off
+the roof and broke his neck, and his soul went down to the house of
+Hades.
+
+"When I had got the men together I said to them, 'You think you are
+about to start home again, but Circe has explained to me that instead
+of this, we have got to go to the house of Hades and Proserpine to
+consult the ghost of the Theban prophet Teiresias.'
+
+"The men were broken-hearted as they heard me, and threw themselves on
+the ground groaning and tearing their hair, but they did not mend
+matters by crying. When we reached the sea shore, weeping and lamenting
+our fate, Circe brought the ram and the ewe, and we made them fast hard
+by the ship. She passed through the midst of us without our knowing it,
+for who can see the comings and goings of a god, if the god does not
+wish to be seen?
+
+"Then, when we had got down to the sea shore we drew our ship into the
+water and got her mast and sails into her; we also put the sheep on
+board and took our places, weeping and in great distress of mind.
+Circe, that great and cunning goddess, sent us a fair wind that blew
+dead aft and staid steadily with us keeping our sails all the time well
+filled; so we did whatever wanted doing to the ship's gear and let her
+go as the wind and helmsman headed her. All day long her sails were
+full as she held her course over the sea, but when the sun went down
+and darkness was over all the earth, we got into the deep waters of the
+river Oceanus, where lie the land and city of the Cimmerians who live
+enshrouded in mist and darkness which the rays of the sun never pierce
+neither at his rising nor as he goes down again out of the heavens, but
+the poor wretches live in one long melancholy night. When we got there
+we beached the ship, took the sheep out of her, and went along by the
+waters of Oceanus till we came to the place of which Circe had told us.
+
+"Here Perimedes and Eurylochus held the victims, while I drew my sword
+and dug the trench a cubit each way. I made a drink-offering to all the
+dead, first with honey and milk, then with wine, and thirdly with
+water, and I sprinkled white barley meal over the whole, praying
+earnestly to the poor feckless ghosts, and promising them that when I
+got back to Ithaca I would sacrifice a barren heifer for them, the best
+I had, and would load the pyre with good things. I also particularly
+promised that Teiresias should have a black sheep to himself, the best
+in all my flocks. When I had prayed sufficiently to the dead, I cut the
+throats of the two sheep and let the blood run into the trench, whereon
+the ghosts came trooping up from Erebus—brides, young bachelors, old
+men worn out with toil, maids who had been crossed in love, and brave
+men who had been killed in battle, with their armour still smirched
+with blood; they came from every quarter and flitted round the trench
+with a strange kind of screaming sound that made me turn pale with
+fear. When I saw them coming I told the men to be quick and flay the
+carcasses of the two dead sheep and make burnt offerings of them, and
+at the same time to repeat prayers to Hades and to Proserpine; but I
+sat where I was with my sword drawn and would not let the poor feckless
+ghosts come near the blood till Teiresias should have answered my
+questions.
+
+"The first ghost that came was that of my comrade Elpenor, for he had
+not yet been laid beneath the earth. We had left his body unwaked and
+unburied in Circe's house, for we had had too much else to do. I was
+very sorry for him, and cried when I saw him: 'Elpenor,' said I, 'how
+did you come down here into this gloom and darkness? You have got here
+on foot quicker than I have with my ship.'
+
+"'Sir,' he answered with a groan, 'it was all bad luck, and my own
+unspeakable drunkenness. I was lying asleep on the top of Circe's
+house, and never thought of coming down again by the great staircase
+but fell right off the roof and broke my neck, so my soul came down to
+the house of Hades. And now I beseech you by all those whom you have
+left behind you, though they are not here, by your wife, by the father
+who brought you up when you were a child, and by Telemachus who is the
+one hope of your house, do what I shall now ask you. I know that when
+you leave this limbo you will again hold your ship for the Aeaean
+island. Do not go thence leaving me unwaked and unburied behind you, or
+I may bring heaven's anger upon you; but burn me with whatever armour I
+have, build a barrow for me on the sea shore, that may tell people in
+days to come what a poor unlucky fellow I was, and plant over my grave
+the oar I used to row with when I was yet alive and with my messmates.'
+And I said, 'My poor fellow, I will do all that you have asked of me.'
+
+"Thus, then, did we sit and hold sad talk with one another, I on the
+one side of the trench with my sword held over the blood, and the ghost
+of my comrade saying all this to me from the other side. Then came the
+ghost of my dead mother Anticlea, daughter to Autolycus. I had left her
+alive when I set out for Troy and was moved to tears when I saw her,
+but even so, for all my sorrow I would not let her come near the blood
+till I had asked my questions of Teiresias.
+
+"Then came also the ghost of Theban Teiresias, with his golden sceptre
+in his hand. He knew me and said, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, why,
+poor man, have you left the light of day and come down to visit the
+dead in this sad place? Stand back from the trench and withdraw your
+sword that I may drink of the blood and answer your questions truly.'
+
+"So I drew back, and sheathed my sword, whereon when he had drank of
+the blood he began with his prophecy.
+
+"'You want to know,' said he, 'about your return home, but heaven will
+make this hard for you. I do not think that you will escape the eye of
+Neptune, who still nurses his bitter grudge against you for having
+blinded his son. Still, after much suffering you may get home if you
+can restrain yourself and your companions when your ship reaches the
+Thrinacian island, where you will find the sheep and cattle belonging
+to the sun, who sees and gives ear to everything. If you leave these
+flocks unharmed and think of nothing but of getting home, you may yet
+after much hardship reach Ithaca; but if you harm them, then I forewarn
+you of the destruction both of your ship and of your men. Even though
+you may yourself escape, you will return in bad plight after losing all
+your men, [in another man's ship, and you will find trouble in your
+house, which will be overrun by high-handed people, who are devouring
+your substance under the pretext of paying court and making presents to
+your wife.
+
+"'When you get home you will take your revenge on these suitors; and
+after you have killed them by force or fraud in your own house, you
+must take a well made oar and carry it on and on, till you come to a
+country where the people have never heard of the sea and do not even
+mix salt with their food, nor do they know anything about ships, and
+oars that are as the wings of a ship. I will give you this certain
+token which cannot escape your notice. A wayfarer will meet you and
+will say it must be a winnowing shovel that you have got upon your
+shoulder; on this you must fix the oar in the ground and sacrifice a
+ram, a bull, and a boar to Neptune. Then go home and offer hecatombs
+to all the gods in heaven one after the other. As for yourself, death
+shall come to you from the sea, and your life shall ebb away very
+gently when you are full of years and peace of mind, and your people
+shall bless you. All that I have said will come true.'
+
+"'This,' I answered, 'must be as it may please heaven, but tell me and
+tell me and tell me true, I see my poor mother's ghost close by us; she
+is sitting by the blood without saying a word, and though I am her own
+son she does not remember me and speak to me; tell me, Sir, how I can
+make her know me.'
+
+"'That,' said he, 'I can soon do. Any ghost that you let taste of the
+blood will talk with you like a reasonable being, but if you do not let
+them have any blood they will go away again.'
+
+"On this the ghost of Teiresias went back to the house of Hades, for
+his prophecyings had now been spoken, but I sat still where I was until
+my mother came up and tasted the blood. Then she knew me at once and
+spoke fondly to me, saying, 'My son, how did you come down to this
+abode of darkness while you are still alive? It is a hard thing for the
+living to see these places, for between us and them there are great and
+terrible waters, and there is Oceanus, which no man can cross on foot,
+but he must have a good ship to take him. Are you all this time trying
+to find your way home from Troy, and have you never yet got back to
+Ithaca nor seen your wife in your own house?'
+
+"'Mother,' said I, 'I was forced to come here to consult the ghost of
+the Theban prophet Teiresias. I have never yet been near the Achaean
+land nor set foot on my native country, and I have had nothing but one
+long series of misfortunes from the very first day that I set out with
+Agamemnon for Ilius, the land of noble steeds, to fight the Trojans.
+But tell me, and tell me true, in what way did you die? Did you have a
+long illness, or did heaven vouchsafe you a gentle easy passage to
+eternity? Tell me also about my father, and the son whom I left behind
+me, is my property still in their hands, or has some one else got hold
+of it, who thinks that I shall not return to claim it? Tell me again
+what my wife intends doing, and in what mind she is; does she live with
+my son and guard my estate securely, or has she made the best match she
+could and married again?'
+
+"My mother answered, 'Your wife still remains in your house, but she is
+in great distress of mind and spends her whole time in tears both night
+and day. No one as yet has got possession of your fine property, and
+Telemachus still holds your lands undisturbed. He has to entertain
+largely, as of course he must, considering his position as a
+magistrate, and how every one invites him; your father remains at his
+old place in the country and never goes near the town. He has no
+comfortable bed nor bedding; in the winter he sleeps on the floor in
+front of the fire with the men and goes about all in rags, but in
+summer, when the warm weather comes on again, he lies out in the
+vineyard on a bed of vine leaves thrown any how upon the ground. He
+grieves continually about your never having come home, and suffers more
+and more as he grows older. As for my own end it was in this wise:
+heaven did not take me swiftly and painlessly in my own house, nor was
+I attacked by any illness such as those that generally wear people out
+and kill them, but my longing to know what you were doing and the force
+of my affection for you—this it was that was the death of me.'
+
+"Then I tried to find some way of embracing my poor mother's ghost.
+Thrice I sprang towards her and tried to clasp her in my arms, but each
+time she flitted from my embrace as it were a dream or phantom, and
+being touched to the quick I said to her, 'Mother, why do you not stay
+still when I would embrace you? If we could throw our arms around one
+another we might find sad comfort in the sharing of our sorrows even in
+the house of Hades; does Proserpine want to lay a still further load of
+grief upon me by mocking me with a phantom only?'
+
+"'My son,' she answered, 'most ill-fated of all mankind, it is not
+Proserpine that is beguiling you, but all people are like this when
+they are dead. The sinews no longer hold the flesh and bones together;
+these perish in the fierceness of consuming fire as soon as life has
+left the body, and the soul flits away as though it were a dream. Now,
+however, go back to the light of day as soon as you can, and note all
+these things that you may tell them to your wife hereafter.'
+
+"Thus did we converse, and anon Proserpine sent up the ghosts of the
+wives and daughters of all the most famous men. They gathered in crowds
+about the blood, and I considered how I might question them severally.
+In the end I deemed that it would be best to draw the keen blade that
+hung by my sturdy thigh, and keep them from all drinking the blood at
+once. So they came up one after the other, and each one as I questioned
+her told me her race and lineage.
+
+"The first I saw was Tyro. She was daughter of Salmoneus and wife of
+Cretheus the son of Aeolus. She fell in love with the river Enipeus
+who is much the most beautiful river in the whole world. Once when she
+was taking a walk by his side as usual, Neptune, disguised as her
+lover, lay with her at the mouth of the river, and a huge blue wave
+arched itself like a mountain over them to hide both woman and god,
+whereon he loosed her virgin girdle and laid her in a deep slumber.
+When the god had accomplished the deed of love, he took her hand in his
+own and said, 'Tyro, rejoice in all good will; the embraces of the gods
+are not fruitless, and you will have fine twins about this time twelve
+months. Take great care of them. I am Neptune, so now go home, but hold
+your tongue and do not tell any one.'
+
+"Then he dived under the sea, and she in due course bore Pelias and
+Neleus, who both of them served Jove with all their might. Pelias was a
+great breeder of sheep and lived in Iolcus, but the other lived in
+Pylos. The rest of her children were by Cretheus, namely, Aeson,
+Pheres, and Amythaon, who was a mighty warrior and charioteer.
+
+"Next to her I saw Antiope, daughter to Asopus, who could boast of
+having slept in the arms of even Jove himself, and who bore him two
+sons Amphion and Zethus. These founded Thebes with its seven gates, and
+built a wall all round it; for strong though they were they could not
+hold Thebes till they had walled it.
+
+"Then I saw Alcmena, the wife of Amphitryon, who also bore to Jove
+indomitable Hercules; and Megara who was daughter to great King Creon,
+and married the redoubtable son of Amphitryon.
+
+"I also saw fair Epicaste mother of king Oedipodes whose awful lot it
+was to marry her own son without suspecting it. He married her after
+having killed his father, but the gods proclaimed the whole story to
+the world; whereon he remained king of Thebes, in great grief for the
+spite the gods had borne him; but Epicaste went to the house of the
+mighty jailor Hades, having hanged herself for grief, and the avenging
+spirits haunted him as for an outraged mother—to his ruing bitterly
+thereafter.
+
+"Then I saw Chloris, whom Neleus married for her beauty, having given
+priceless presents for her. She was youngest daughter to Amphion son of
+Iasus and king of Minyan Orchomenus, and was Queen in Pylos. She bore
+Nestor, Chromius, and Periclymenus, and she also bore that marvellously
+lovely woman Pero, who was wooed by all the country round; but Neleus
+would only give her to him who should raid the cattle of Iphicles from
+the grazing grounds of Phylace, and this was a hard task. The only man
+who would undertake to raid them was a certain excellent seer, but
+the will of heaven was against him, for the rangers of the cattle
+caught him and put him in prison; nevertheless when a full year had
+passed and the same season came round again, Iphicles set him at
+liberty, after he had expounded all the oracles of heaven. Thus, then,
+was the will of Jove accomplished.
+
+"And I saw Leda the wife of Tyndarus, who bore him two famous sons,
+Castor breaker of horses, and Pollux the mighty boxer. Both these
+heroes are lying under the earth, though they are still alive, for by a
+special dispensation of Jove, they die and come to life again, each one
+of them every other day throughout all time, and they have the rank of
+gods.
+
+"After her I saw Iphimedeia wife of Aloeus who boasted the embrace of
+Neptune. She bore two sons Otus and Ephialtes, but both were short
+lived. They were the finest children that were ever born in this world,
+and the best looking, Orion only excepted; for at nine years old they
+were nine fathoms high, and measured nine cubits round the chest. They
+threatened to make war with the gods in Olympus, and tried to set Mount
+Ossa on the top of Mount Olympus, and Mount Pelion on the top of Ossa,
+that they might scale heaven itself, and they would have done it too if
+they had been grown up, but Apollo, son of Leto, killed both of them,
+before they had got so much as a sign of hair upon their cheeks or
+chin.
+
+"Then I saw Phaedra, and Procris, and fair Ariadne daughter of the
+magician Minos, whom Theseus was carrying off from Crete to Athens, but
+he did not enjoy her, for before he could do so Diana killed her in the
+island of Dia on account of what Bacchus had said against her.
+
+"I also saw Maera and Clymene and hateful Eriphyle, who sold her own
+husband for gold. But it would take me all night if I were to name
+every single one of the wives and daughters of heroes whom I saw, and
+it is time for me to go to bed, either on board ship with my crew, or
+here. As for my escort, heaven and yourselves will see to it."
+
+Here he ended, and the guests sat all of them enthralled and speechless
+throughout the covered cloister. Then Arete said to them:—
+
+"What do you think of this man, O Phaeacians? Is he not tall and good
+looking, and is he not clever? True, he is my own guest, but all of you
+share in the distinction. Do not be in a hurry to send him away, nor
+niggardly in the presents you make to one who is in such great need,
+for heaven has blessed all of you with great abundance."
+
+Then spoke the aged hero Echeneus who was one of the oldest men among
+them, "My friends," said he, "what our august queen has just said to us
+is both reasonable and to the purpose, therefore be persuaded by it;
+but the decision whether in word or deed rests ultimately with King
+Alcinous."
+
+"The thing shall be done," exclaimed Alcinous, "as surely as I still
+live and reign over the Phaeacians. Our guest is indeed very anxious to
+get home, still we must persuade him to remain with us until to-morrow,
+by which time I shall be able to get together the whole sum that I mean
+to give him. As regards his escort it will be a matter for you all, and
+mine above all others as the chief person among you."
+
+And Ulysses answered, "King Alcinous, if you were to bid me to stay
+here for a whole twelve months, and then speed me on my way, loaded
+with your noble gifts, I should obey you gladly and it would redound
+greatly to my advantage, for I should return fuller-handed to my own
+people, and should thus be more respected and beloved by all who see me
+when I get back to Ithaca."
+
+"Ulysses," replied Alcinous, "not one of us who sees you has any idea
+that you are a charlatan or a swindler. I know there are many people
+going about who tell such plausible stories that it is very hard to see
+through them, but there is a style about your language which assures me
+of your good disposition. Moreover you have told the story of your own
+misfortunes, and those of the Argives, as though you were a practiced
+bard; but tell me, and tell me true, whether you saw any of the mighty
+heroes who went to Troy at the same time with yourself, and perished
+there. The evenings are still at their longest, and it is not yet bed
+time—go on, therefore, with your divine story, for I could stay here
+listening till tomorrow morning, so long as you will continue to tell
+us of your adventures."
+
+"Alcinous," answered Ulysses, "there is a time for making speeches, and
+a time for going to bed; nevertheless, since you so desire, I will not
+refrain from telling you the still sadder tale of those of my comrades
+who did not fall fighting with the Trojans, but perished on their
+return, through the treachery of a wicked woman.
+
+"When Proserpine had dismissed the female ghosts in all directions, the
+ghost of Agamemnon son of Atreus came sadly up to me, surrounded by
+those who had perished with him in the house of Aegisthus. As soon as
+he had tasted the blood, he knew me, and weeping bitterly stretched out
+his arms towards me to embrace me; but he had no strength nor substance
+any more, and I too wept and pitied him as I beheld him. 'How did you
+come by your death,' said I, 'King Agamemnon? Did Neptune raise his
+winds and waves against you when you were at sea, or did your enemies
+make an end of you on the main land when you were cattle-lifting or
+sheep-stealing, or while they were fighting in defence of their wives
+and city?'
+
+"'Ulysses,' he answered, 'noble son of Laertes, I was not lost at sea
+in any storm of Neptune's raising, nor did my foes despatch me upon the
+mainland, but Aegisthus and my wicked wife were the death of me between
+them. He asked me to his house, feasted me, and then butchered me most
+miserably as though I were a fat beast in a slaughter house, while all
+around me my comrades were slain like sheep or pigs for the wedding
+breakfast, or picnic, or gorgeous banquet of some great nobleman. You
+must have seen numbers of men killed either in a general engagement, or
+in single combat, but you never saw anything so truly pitiable as the
+way in which we fell in that cloister, with the mixing bowl and the
+loaded tables lying all about, and the ground reeking with our blood. I
+heard Priam's daughter Cassandra scream as Clytemnestra killed her
+close beside me. I lay dying upon the earth with the sword in my body,
+and raised my hands to kill the slut of a murderess, but she slipped
+away from me; she would not even close my lips nor my eyes when I was
+dying, for there is nothing in this world so cruel and so shameless as
+a woman when she has fallen into such guilt as hers was. Fancy
+murdering her own husband! I thought I was going to be welcomed home by
+my children and my servants, but her abominable crime has brought
+disgrace on herself and all women who shall come after—even on the good
+ones.'
+
+"And I said, 'In truth Jove has hated the house of Atreus from first to
+last in the matter of their women's counsels. See how many of us fell
+for Helen's sake, and now it seems that Clytemnestra hatched mischief
+against you too during your absence.'
+
+"'Be sure, therefore,' continued Agamemnon, 'and not be too friendly
+even with your own wife. Do not tell her all that you know perfectly
+well yourself. Tell her a part only, and keep your own counsel about
+the rest. Not that your wife, Ulysses, is likely to murder you, for
+Penelope is a very admirable woman, and has an excellent nature. We
+left her a young bride with an infant at her breast when we set out for
+Troy. This child no doubt is now grown up happily to man's estate,
+and he and his father will have a joyful meeting and embrace one
+another as it is right they should do, whereas my wicked wife did not
+even allow me the happiness of looking upon my son, but killed me ere I
+could do so. Furthermore I say—and lay my saying to your heart—do not
+tell people when you are bringing your ship to Ithaca, but steal a
+march upon them, for after all this there is no trusting women. But now
+tell me, and tell me true, can you give me any news of my son Orestes?
+Is he in Orchomenus, or at Pylos, or is he at Sparta with Menelaus—for
+I presume that he is still living.'
+
+"And I said, 'Agamemnon, why do you ask me? I do not know whether your
+son is alive or dead, and it is not right to talk when one does not
+know.'
+
+"As we two sat weeping and talking thus sadly with one another the
+ghost of Achilles came up to us with Patroclus, Antilochus, and Ajax
+who was the finest and goodliest man of all the Danaans after the son
+of Peleus. The fleet descendant of Aeacus knew me and spoke piteously,
+saying, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, what deed of daring will you
+undertake next, that you venture down to the house of Hades among us
+silly dead, who are but the ghosts of them that can labour no more?'
+
+"And I said, 'Achilles, son of Peleus, foremost champion of the
+Achaeans, I came to consult Teiresias, and see if he could advise me
+about my return home to Ithaca, for I have never yet been able to get
+near the Achaean land, nor to set foot in my own country, but have been
+in trouble all the time. As for you, Achilles, no one was ever yet so
+fortunate as you have been, nor ever will be, for you were adored by
+all us Argives as long as you were alive, and now that you are here you
+are a great prince among the dead. Do not, therefore, take it so much
+to heart even if you are dead.'
+
+"'Say not a word,' he answered, 'in death's favour; I would rather be a
+paid servant in a poor man's house and be above ground than king of
+kings among the dead. But give me news about my son; is he gone to the
+wars and will he be a great soldier, or is this not so? Tell me also if
+you have heard anything about my father Peleus—does he still rule among
+the Myrmidons, or do they show him no respect throughout Hellas and
+Phthia now that he is old and his limbs fail him? Could I but stand by
+his side, in the light of day, with the same strength that I had when I
+killed the bravest of our foes upon the plain of Troy—could I but be as
+I then was and go even for a short time to my father's house, any one
+who tried to do him violence or supersede him would soon rue it.'
+
+"'I have heard nothing,' I answered, 'of Peleus, but I can tell you all
+about your son Neoptolemus, for I took him in my own ship from Scyros
+with the Achaeans. In our councils of war before Troy he was always
+first to speak, and his judgement was unerring. Nestor and I were the
+only two who could surpass him; and when it came to fighting on the
+plain of Troy, he would never remain with the body of his men, but
+would dash on far in front, foremost of them all in valour. Many a man
+did he kill in battle—I cannot name every single one of those whom he
+slew while fighting on the side of the Argives, but will only say how
+he killed that valiant hero Eurypylus son of Telephus, who was the
+handsomest man I ever saw except Memnon; many others also of the
+Ceteians fell around him by reason of a woman's bribes. Moreover, when
+all the bravest of the Argives went inside the horse that Epeus had
+made, and it was left to me to settle when we should either open the
+door of our ambuscade, or close it, though all the other leaders and
+chief men among the Danaans were drying their eyes and quaking in every
+limb, I never once saw him turn pale nor wipe a tear from his cheek; he
+was all the time urging me to break out from the horse—grasping the
+handle of his sword and his bronze-shod spear, and breathing fury
+against the foe. Yet when we had sacked the city of Priam he got his
+handsome share of the prize money and went on board (such is the
+fortune of war) without a wound upon him, neither from a thrown spear
+nor in close combat, for the rage of Mars is a matter of great chance.'
+
+"When I had told him this, the ghost of Achilles strode off across a
+meadow full of asphodel, exulting over what I had said concerning the
+prowess of his son.
+
+"The ghosts of other dead men stood near me and told me each his own
+melancholy tale; but that of Ajax son of Telamon alone held aloof—still
+angry with me for having won the cause in our dispute about the armour
+of Achilles. Thetis had offered it as a prize, but the Trojan prisoners
+and Minerva were the judges. Would that I had never gained the day in
+such a contest, for it cost the life of Ajax, who was foremost of all
+the Danaans after the son of Peleus, alike in stature and prowess.
+
+"When I saw him I tried to pacify him and said, 'Ajax, will you not
+forget and forgive even in death, but must the judgement about that
+hateful armour still rankle with you? It cost us Argives dear enough to
+lose such a tower of strength as you were to us. We mourned you as much
+as we mourned Achilles son of Peleus himself, nor can the blame be laid
+on anything but on the spite which Jove bore against the Danaans, for
+it was this that made him counsel your destruction—come hither,
+therefore, bring your proud spirit into subjection, and hear what I can
+tell you.'
+
+"He would not answer, but turned away to Erebus and to the other
+ghosts; nevertheless, I should have made him talk to me in spite of his
+being so angry, or I should have gone on talking to him, only that
+there were still others among the dead whom I desired to see.
+
+"Then I saw Minos son of Jove with his golden sceptre in his hand
+sitting in judgement on the dead, and the ghosts were gathered sitting
+and standing round him in the spacious house of Hades, to learn his
+sentences upon them.
+
+"After him I saw huge Orion in a meadow full of asphodel driving the
+ghosts of the wild beasts that he had killed upon the mountains, and he
+had a great bronze club in his hand, unbreakable for ever and ever.
+
+"And I saw Tityus son of Gaia stretched upon the plain and covering
+some nine acres of ground. Two vultures on either side of him were
+digging their beaks into his liver, and he kept on trying to beat them
+off with his hands, but could not; for he had violated Jove's mistress
+Leto as she was going through Panopeus on her way to Pytho.
+
+"I saw also the dreadful fate of Tantalus, who stood in a lake that
+reached his chin; he was dying to quench his thirst, but could never
+reach the water, for whenever the poor creature stooped to drink, it
+dried up and vanished, so that there was nothing but dry ground—parched
+by the spite of heaven. There were tall trees, moreover, that shed
+their fruit over his head—pears, pomegranates, apples, sweet figs and
+juicy olives, but whenever the poor creature stretched out his hand to
+take some, the wind tossed the branches back again to the clouds.
+
+"And I saw Sisyphus at his endless task raising his prodigious stone
+with both his hands. With hands and feet he tried to roll it up to the
+top of the hill, but always, just before he could roll it over on to
+the other side, its weight would be too much for him, and the pitiless
+stone would come thundering down again on to the plain. Then he would
+begin trying to push it up hill again, and the sweat ran off him and
+the steam rose after him.
+
+"After him I saw mighty Hercules, but it was his phantom only, for he
+is feasting ever with the immortal gods, and has lovely Hebe to wife,
+who is daughter of Jove and Juno. The ghosts were screaming round him
+like scared birds flying all whithers. He looked black as night with
+his bare bow in his hands and his arrow on the string, glaring around
+as though ever on the point of taking aim. About his breast there was a
+wondrous golden belt adorned in the most marvellous fashion with bears,
+wild boars, and lions with gleaming eyes; there was also war, battle,
+and death. The man who made that belt, do what he might, would never be
+able to make another like it. Hercules knew me at once when he saw me,
+and spoke piteously, saying, 'My poor Ulysses, noble son of Laertes,
+are you too leading the same sorry kind of life that I did when I was
+above ground? I was son of Jove, but I went through an infinity of
+suffering, for I became bondsman to one who was far beneath me—a low
+fellow who set me all manner of labours. He once sent me here to fetch
+the hell-hound—for he did not think he could find anything harder for
+me than this, but I got the hound out of Hades and brought him to him,
+for Mercury and Minerva helped me.'
+
+"On this Hercules went down again into the house of Hades, but I stayed
+where I was in case some other of the mighty dead should come to me.
+And I should have seen still other of them that are gone before, whom I
+would fain have seen—Theseus and Pirithous—glorious children of the
+gods, but so many thousands of ghosts came round me and uttered such
+appalling cries, that I was panic stricken lest Proserpine should send
+up from the house of Hades the head of that awful monster Gorgon. On
+this I hastened back to my ship and ordered my men to go on board at
+once and loose the hawsers; so they embarked and took their places,
+whereon the ship went down the stream of the river Oceanus. We had to
+row at first, but presently a fair wind sprang up.
+
+"After we were clear of the river Oceanus, and had got out into the
+open sea, we went on till we reached the Aeaean island where there is
+dawn and sun-rise as in other places. We then drew our ship on to the
+sands and got out of her on to the shore, where we went to sleep and
+waited till day should break.
+
+"Then, when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, I sent
+some men to Circe's house to fetch the body of Elpenor. We cut firewood
+from a wood where the headland jutted out into the sea, and after we
+had wept over him and lamented him we performed his funeral rites. When
+his body and armour had been burned to ashes, we raised a cairn, set a
+stone over it, and at the top of the cairn we fixed the oar that he had
+been used to row with.
+
+"While we were doing all this, Circe, who knew that we had got back
+from the house of Hades, dressed herself and came to us as fast as she
+could; and her maid servants came with her bringing us bread, meat, and
+wine. Then she stood in the midst of us and said, 'You have done a bold
+thing in going down alive to the house of Hades, and you will have died
+twice, to other people's once; now, then, stay here for the rest of the
+day, feast your fill, and go on with your voyage at daybreak tomorrow
+morning. In the meantime I will tell Ulysses about your course, and
+will explain everything to him so as to prevent your suffering from
+misadventure either by land or sea.'
+
+"We agreed to do as she had said, and feasted through the livelong day
+to the going down of the sun, but when the sun had set and it came on
+dark, the men laid themselves down to sleep by the stern cables of the
+ship. Then Circe took me by the hand and bade me be seated away from
+the others, while she reclined by my side and asked me all about our
+adventures.
+
+"'So far so good,' said she, when I had ended my story, 'and now pay
+attention to what I am about to tell you—heaven itself, indeed, will
+recall it to your recollection. First you will come to the Sirens who
+enchant all who come near them. If any one unwarily draws in too close
+and hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and children will never
+welcome him home again, for they sit in a green field and warble him to
+death with the sweetness of their song. There is a great heap of dead
+men's bones lying all around, with the flesh still rotting off them.
+Therefore pass these Sirens by, and stop your men's ears with wax that
+none of them may hear; but if you like you can listen yourself, for you
+may get the men to bind you as you stand upright on a cross piece half
+way up the mast, and they must lash the rope's ends to the mast
+itself, that you may have the pleasure of listening. If you beg and
+pray the men to unloose you, then they must bind you faster.
+
+"'When your crew have taken you past these Sirens, I cannot give you
+coherent directions as to which of two courses you are to take; I
+will lay the two alternatives before you, and you must consider them
+for yourself. On the one hand there are some overhanging rocks against
+which the deep blue waves of Amphitrite beat with terrific fury; the
+blessed gods call these rocks the Wanderers. Here not even a bird may
+pass, no, not even the timid doves that bring ambrosia to Father Jove,
+but the sheer rock always carries off one of them, and Father Jove has
+to send another to make up their number; no ship that ever yet came to
+these rocks has got away again, but the waves and whirlwinds of fire
+are freighted with wreckage and with the bodies of dead men. The only
+vessel that ever sailed and got through, was the famous Argo on her way
+from the house of Aetes, and she too would have gone against these
+great rocks, only that Juno piloted her past them for the love she bore
+to Jason.
+
+"'Of these two rocks the one reaches heaven and its peak is lost in a
+dark cloud. This never leaves it, so that the top is never clear not
+even in summer and early autumn. No man though he had twenty hands and
+twenty feet could get a foothold on it and climb it, for it runs sheer
+up, as smooth as though it had been polished. In the middle of it there
+is a large cavern, looking West and turned towards Erebus; you must
+take your ship this way, but the cave is so high up that not even the
+stoutest archer could send an arrow into it. Inside it Scylla sits and
+yelps with a voice that you might take to be that of a young hound, but
+in truth she is a dreadful monster and no one—not even a god—could face
+her without being terror-struck. She has twelve mis-shapen feet, and
+six necks of the most prodigious length; and at the end of each neck
+she has a frightful head with three rows of teeth in each, all set very
+close together, so that they would crunch any one to death in a moment,
+and she sits deep within her shady cell thrusting out her heads and
+peering all round the rock, fishing for dolphins or dogfish or any
+larger monster that she can catch, of the thousands with which
+Amphitrite teems. No ship ever yet got past her without losing some
+men, for she shoots out all her heads at once, and carries off a man in
+each mouth.
+
+"'You will find the other rock lie lower, but they are so close
+together that there is not more than a bow-shot between them. [A large
+fig tree in full leaf grows upon it, and under it lies the sucking
+whirlpool of Charybdis. Three times in the day does she vomit forth her
+waters, and three times she sucks them down again; see that you be not
+there when she is sucking, for if you are, Neptune himself could not
+save you; you must hug the Scylla side and drive ship by as fast as you
+can, for you had better lose six men than your whole crew.'
+
+"'Is there no way,' said I, 'of escaping Charybdis, and at the same
+time keeping Scylla off when she is trying to harm my men?'
+
+"'You dare devil,' replied the goddess, 'you are always wanting to
+fight somebody or something; you will not let yourself be beaten even
+by the immortals. For Scylla is not mortal; moreover she is savage,
+extreme, rude, cruel and invincible. There is no help for it; your best
+chance will be to get by her as fast as ever you can, for if you dawdle
+about her rock while you are putting on your armour, she may catch you
+with a second cast of her six heads, and snap up another half dozen of
+your men; so drive your ship past her at full speed, and roar out
+lustily to Crataiis who is Scylla's dam, bad luck to her; she will then
+stop her from making a second raid upon you.'
+
+"'You will now come to the Thrinacian island, and here you will see
+many herds of cattle and flocks of sheep belonging to the sun-god—seven
+herds of cattle and seven flocks of sheep, with fifty head in each
+flock. They do not breed, nor do they become fewer in number, and they
+are tended by the goddesses Phaethusa and Lampetie, who are children of
+the sun-god Hyperion by Neaera. Their mother when she had borne them
+and had done suckling them sent them to the Thrinacian island, which
+was a long way off, to live there and look after their father's flocks
+and herds. If you leave these flocks unharmed, and think of nothing but
+getting home, you may yet after much hardship reach Ithaca; but if you
+harm them, then I forewarn you of the destruction both of your ship and
+of your comrades; and even though you may yourself escape, you will
+return late, in bad plight, after losing all your men.'
+
+"Here she ended, and dawn enthroned in gold began to show in heaven,
+whereon she returned inland. I then went on board and told my men to
+loose the ship from her moorings; so they at once got into her, took
+their places, and began to smite the grey sea with their oars.
+Presently the great and cunning goddess Circe befriended us with a fair
+wind that blew dead aft, and staid steadily with us, keeping our sails
+well filled, so we did whatever wanted doing to the ship's gear, and
+let her go as wind and helmsman headed her.
+
+"Then, being much troubled in mind, I said to my men, 'My friends, it
+is not right that one or two of us alone should know the prophecies
+that Circe has made me, I will therefore tell you about them, so that
+whether we live or die we may do so with our eyes open. First she said
+we were to keep clear of the Sirens, who sit and sing most beautifully
+in a field of flowers; but she said I might hear them myself so long as
+no one else did. Therefore, take me and bind me to the crosspiece half
+way up the mast; bind me as I stand upright, with a bond so fast that I
+cannot possibly break away, and lash the rope's ends to the mast
+itself. If I beg and pray you to set me free, then bind me more tightly
+still.'
+
+"I had hardly finished telling everything to the men before we reached
+the island of the two Sirens, for the wind had been very favourable.
+Then all of a sudden it fell dead calm; there was not a breath of wind
+nor a ripple upon the water, so the men furled the sails and stowed
+them; then taking to their oars they whitened the water with the foam
+they raised in rowing. Meanwhile I look a large wheel of wax and cut it
+up small with my sword. Then I kneaded the wax in my strong hands till
+it became soft, which it soon did between the kneading and the rays of
+the sun-god son of Hyperion. Then I stopped the ears of all my men, and
+they bound me hands and feet to the mast as I stood upright on the
+cross piece; but they went on rowing themselves. When we had got within
+earshot of the land, and the ship was going at a good rate, the Sirens
+saw that we were getting in shore and began with their singing.
+
+"'Come here,' they sang, 'renowned Ulysses, honour to the Achaean name,
+and listen to our two voices. No one ever sailed past us without
+staying to hear the enchanting sweetness of our song—and he who listens
+will go on his way not only charmed, but wiser, for we know all the
+ills that the gods laid upon the Argives and Trojans before Troy, and
+can tell you everything that is going to happen over the whole world.'
+
+"They sang these words most musically, and as I longed to hear them
+further I made signs by frowning to my men that they should set me
+free; but they quickened their stroke, and Eurylochus and Perimedes
+bound me with still stronger bonds till we had got out of hearing of
+the Sirens' voices. Then my men took the wax from their ears and
+unbound me.
+
+"Immediately after we had got past the island I saw a great wave from
+which spray was rising, and I heard a loud roaring sound. The men were
+so frightened that they loosed hold of their oars, for the whole sea
+resounded with the rushing of the waters, but the ship stayed where
+it was, for the men had left off rowing. I went round, therefore, and
+exhorted them man by man not to lose heart.
+
+"'My friends,' said I, 'this is not the first time that we have been in
+danger, and we are in nothing like so bad a case as when the Cyclops
+shut us up in his cave; nevertheless, my courage and wise counsel saved
+us then, and we shall live to look back on all this as well. Now,
+therefore, let us all do as I say, trust in Jove and row on with might
+and main. As for you, coxswain, these are your orders; attend to them,
+for the ship is in your hands; turn her head away from these steaming
+rapids and hug the rock, or she will give you the slip and be over
+yonder before you know where you are, and you will be the death of us.'
+
+"So they did as I told them; but I said nothing about the awful monster
+Scylla, for I knew the men would not go on rowing if I did, but would
+huddle together in the hold. In one thing only did I disobey Circe's
+strict instructions—I put on my armour. Then seizing two strong spears
+I took my stand on the ship's bows, for it was there that I expected
+first to see the monster of the rock, who was to do my men so much
+harm; but I could not make her out anywhere, though I strained my eyes
+with looking the gloomy rock all over and over.
+
+"Then we entered the Straits in great fear of mind, for on the one hand
+was Scylla, and on the other dread Charybdis kept sucking up the salt
+water. As she vomited it up, it was like the water in a cauldron when
+it is boiling over upon a great fire, and the spray reached the top of
+the rocks on either side. When she began to suck again, we could see
+the water all inside whirling round and round, and it made a deafening
+sound as it broke against the rocks. We could see the bottom of the
+whirlpool all black with sand and mud, and the men were at their wits
+ends for fear. While we were taken up with this, and were expecting
+each moment to be our last, Scylla pounced down suddenly upon us and
+snatched up my six best men. I was looking at once after both ship and
+men, and in a moment I saw their hands and feet ever so high above me,
+struggling in the air as Scylla was carrying them off, and I heard them
+call out my name in one last despairing cry. As a fisherman, seated,
+spear in hand, upon some jutting rock throws bait into the water to
+deceive the poor little fishes, and spears them with the ox's horn with
+which his spear is shod, throwing them gasping on to the land as he
+catches them one by one—even so did Scylla land these panting creatures
+on her rock and munch them up at the mouth of her den, while they
+screamed and stretched out their hands to me in their mortal agony.
+This was the most sickening sight that I saw throughout all my voyages.
+
+"When we had passed the [Wandering rocks, with Scylla and terrible
+Charybdis, we reached the noble island of the sun-god, where were the
+goodly cattle and sheep belonging to the sun Hyperion. While still at
+sea in my ship I could bear the cattle lowing as they came home to the
+yards, and the sheep bleating. Then I remembered what the blind Theban
+prophet Teiresias had told me, and how carefully Aeaean Circe had
+warned me to shun the island of the blessed sun-god. So being much
+troubled I said to the men, 'My men, I know you are hard pressed, but
+listen while I tell you the prophecy that Teiresias made me, and how
+carefully Aeaean Circe warned me to shun the island of the blessed
+sun-god, for it was here, she said, that our worst danger would lie.
+Head the ship, therefore, away from the island.'
+
+"The men were in despair at this, and Eurylochus at once gave me an
+insolent answer. 'Ulysses,' said he, 'you are cruel; you are very
+strong yourself and never get worn out; you seem to be made of iron,
+and now, though your men are exhausted with toil and want of sleep, you
+will not let them land and cook themselves a good supper upon this
+island, but bid them put out to sea and go faring fruitlessly on
+through the watches of the flying night. It is by night that the winds
+blow hardest and do so much damage; how can we escape should one of
+those sudden squalls spring up from South West or West, which so often
+wreck a vessel when our lords the gods are unpropitious? Now,
+therefore, let us obey the behests of night and prepare our supper here
+hard by the ship; to-morrow morning we will go on board again and put
+out to sea.'
+
+"Thus spoke Eurylochus, and the men approved his words. I saw that
+heaven meant us a mischief and said, 'You force me to yield, for you
+are many against one, but at any rate each one of you must take his
+solemn oath that if he meet with a herd of cattle or a large flock of
+sheep, he will not be so mad as to kill a single head of either, but
+will be satisfied with the food that Circe has given us.'
+
+"They all swore as I bade them, and when they had completed their oath
+we made the ship fast in a harbour that was near a stream of fresh
+water, and the men went ashore and cooked their suppers. As soon as
+they had had enough to eat and drink, they began talking about their
+poor comrades whom Scylla had snatched up and eaten; this set them
+weeping and they went on crying till they fell off into a sound sleep.
+
+"In the third watch of the night when the stars had shifted their
+places, Jove raised a great gale of wind that flew a hurricane so that
+land and sea were covered with thick clouds, and night sprang forth out
+of the heavens. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn,
+appeared, we brought the ship to land and drew her into a cave wherein
+the sea-nymphs hold their courts and dances, and I called the men
+together in council.
+
+"'My friends,' said I, 'we have meat and drink in the ship, let us
+mind, therefore, and not touch the cattle, or we shall suffer for it;
+for these cattle and sheep belong to the mighty sun, who sees and gives
+ear to everything.' And again they promised that they would obey.
+
+"For a whole month the wind blew steadily from the South, and there was
+no other wind, but only South and East. As long as corn and wine
+held out the men did not touch the cattle when they were hungry; when,
+however, they had eaten all there was in the ship, they were forced to
+go further afield, with hook and line, catching birds, and taking
+whatever they could lay their hands on; for they were starving. One
+day, therefore, I went up inland that I might pray heaven to show me
+some means of getting away. When I had gone far enough to be clear of
+all my men, and had found a place that was well sheltered from the
+wind, I washed my hands and prayed to all the gods in Olympus till by
+and by they sent me off into a sweet sleep.
+
+"Meanwhile Eurylochus had been giving evil counsel to the men, 'Listen
+to me,' said he, 'my poor comrades. All deaths are bad enough but there
+is none so bad as famine. Why should not we drive in the best of these
+cows and offer them in sacrifice to the immortal gods? If we ever get
+back to Ithaca, we can build a fine temple to the sun-god and enrich it
+with every kind of ornament; if, however, he is determined to sink our
+ship out of revenge for these horned cattle, and the other gods are of
+the same mind, I for one would rather drink salt water once for all and
+have done with it, than be starved to death by inches in such a desert
+island as this is.'
+
+"Thus spoke Eurylochus, and the men approved his words. Now the cattle,
+so fair and goodly, were feeding not far from the ship; the men,
+therefore, drove in the best of them, and they all stood round them
+saying their prayers, and using young oak-shoots instead of
+barley-meal, for there was no barley left. When they had done praying
+they killed the cows and dressed their carcasses; they cut out the
+thigh bones, wrapped them round in two layers of fat, and set some
+pieces of raw meat on top of them. They had no wine with which to make
+drink-offerings over the sacrifice while it was cooking, so they kept
+pouring on a little water from time to time while the inward meats were
+being grilled; then, when the thigh bones were burned and they had
+tasted the inward meats, they cut the rest up small and put the pieces
+upon the spits.
+
+"By this time my deep sleep had left me, and I turned back to the ship
+and to the sea shore. As I drew near I began to smell hot roast meat,
+so I groaned out a prayer to the immortal gods. 'Father Jove,' I
+exclaimed, 'and all you other gods who live in everlasting bliss, you
+have done me a cruel mischief by the sleep into which you have sent me;
+see what fine work these men of mine have been making in my absence.'
+
+"Meanwhile Lampetie went straight off to the sun and told him we had
+been killing his cows, whereon he flew into a great rage, and said to
+the immortals, 'Father Jove, and all you other gods who live in
+everlasting bliss, I must have vengeance on the crew of Ulysses' ship:
+they have had the insolence to kill my cows, which were the one thing I
+loved to look upon, whether I was going up heaven or down again. If
+they do not square accounts with me about my cows, I will go down to
+Hades and shine there among the dead.'
+
+"'Sun,' said Jove, 'go on shining upon us gods and upon mankind over
+the fruitful earth. I will shiver their ship into little pieces with a
+bolt of white lightning as soon as they get out to sea.'
+
+"I was told all this by Calypso, who said she had heard it from the
+mouth of Mercury.
+
+"As soon as I got down to my ship and to the sea shore I rebuked each
+one of the men separately, but we could see no way out of it, for the
+cows were dead already. And indeed the gods began at once to show signs
+and wonders among us, for the hides of the cattle crawled about, and
+the joints upon the spits began to low like cows, and the meat, whether
+cooked or raw, kept on making a noise just as cows do.
+
+"For six days my men kept driving in the best cows and feasting upon
+them, but when Jove the son of Saturn had added a seventh day, the fury
+of the gale abated; we therefore went on board, raised our masts,
+spread sail, and put out to sea. As soon as we were well away from the
+island, and could see nothing but sky and sea, the son of Saturn raised
+a black cloud over our ship, and the sea grew dark beneath it. We did
+not get on much further, for in another moment we were caught by a
+terrific squall from the West that snapped the forestays of the mast so
+that it fell aft, while all the ship's gear tumbled about at the bottom
+of the vessel. The mast fell upon the head of the helmsman in the
+ship's stern, so that the bones of his head were crushed to pieces, and
+he fell overboard as though he were diving, with no more life left in
+him.
+
+"Then Jove let fly with his thunderbolts, and the ship went round and
+round, and was filled with fire and brimstone as the lightning struck
+it. The men all fell into the sea; they were carried about in the water
+round the ship, looking like so many sea-gulls, but the god presently
+deprived them of all chance of getting home again.
+
+"I stuck to the ship till the sea knocked her sides from her keel
+(which drifted about by itself) and struck the mast out of her in the
+direction of the keel; but there was a backstay of stout ox-thong still
+hanging about it, and with this I lashed the mast and keel together,
+and getting astride of them was carried wherever the winds chose to
+take me.
+
+"[The gale from the West had now spent its force, and the wind got into
+the South again, which frightened me lest I should be taken back to the
+terrible whirlpool of Charybdis. This indeed was what actually
+happened, for I was borne along by the waves all night, and by sunrise
+had reached the rock of Scylla, and the whirlpool. She was then sucking
+down the salt sea water, but I was carried aloft toward the fig
+tree, which I caught hold of and clung on to like a bat. I could not
+plant my feet anywhere so as to stand securely, for the roots were a
+long way off and the boughs that overshadowed the whole pool were too
+high, too vast, and too far apart for me to reach them; so I hung
+patiently on, waiting till the pool should discharge my mast and raft
+again—and a very long while it seemed. A jury-man is not more glad to
+get home to supper, after having been long detained in court by
+troublesome cases, than I was to see my raft beginning to work its way
+out of the whirlpool again. At last I let go with my hands and feet,
+and fell heavily into the sea, hard by my raft on to which I then got,
+and began to row with my hands. As for Scylla, the father of gods and
+men would not let her get further sight of me—otherwise I should have
+certainly been lost.
+
+"Hence I was carried along for nine days till on the tenth night the
+gods stranded me on the Ogygian island, where dwells the great and
+powerful goddess Calypso. She took me in and was kind to me, but I need
+say no more about this, for I told you and your noble wife all about it
+yesterday, and I hate saying the same thing over and over again."
+
+Thus did he speak, and they all held their peace throughout the covered
+cloister, enthralled by the charm of his story, till presently Alcinous
+began to speak.
+
+"Ulysses," said he, "now that you have reached my house I doubt not you
+will get home without further misadventure no matter how much you have
+suffered in the past. To you others, however, who come here night after
+night to drink my choicest wine and listen to my bard, I would insist
+as follows. Our guest has already packed up the clothes, wrought
+gold, and other valuables which you have brought for his acceptance;
+let us now, therefore, present him further, each one of us, with a
+large tripod and a cauldron. We will recoup ourselves by the levy of a
+general rate; for private individuals cannot be expected to bear the
+burden of such a handsome present."
+
+Every one approved of this, and then they went home to bed each in his
+own abode. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared they
+hurried down to the ship and brought their cauldrons with them.
+Alcinous went on board and saw everything so securely stowed under the
+ship's benches that nothing could break adrift and injure the rowers.
+Then they went to the house of Alcinous to get dinner, and he
+sacrificed a bull for them in honour of Jove who is the lord of all.
+They set the steaks to grill and made an excellent dinner, after which
+the inspired bard, Demodocus, who was a favourite with every one, sang
+to them; but Ulysses kept on turning his eyes towards the sun, as
+though to hasten his setting, for he was longing to be on his way. As
+one who has been all day ploughing a fallow field with a couple of oxen
+keeps thinking about his supper and is glad when night comes that he
+may go and get it, for it is all his legs can do to carry him, even so
+did Ulysses rejoice when the sun went down, and he at once said to the
+Phaeacians, addressing himself more particularly to King Alcinous:
+
+"Sir, and all of you, farewell. Make your drink-offerings and send me
+on my way rejoicing, for you have fulfilled my heart's desire by giving
+me an escort, and making me presents, which heaven grant that I may
+turn to good account; may I find my admirable wife living in peace
+among friends, and may you whom I leave behind me give satisfaction
+to your wives and children; may heaven vouchsafe you every good
+grace, and may no evil thing come among your people."
+
+Thus did he speak. His hearers all of them approved his saying and
+agreed that he should have his escort inasmuch as he had spoken
+reasonably. Alcinous therefore said to his servant, "Pontonous, mix
+some wine and hand it round to everybody, that we may offer a prayer to
+father Jove, and speed our guest upon his way."
+
+Pontonous mixed the wine and handed it to every one in turn; the others
+each from his own seat made a drink-offering to the blessed gods that
+live in heaven, but Ulysses rose and placed the double cup in the hands
+of queen Arete.
+
+"Farewell, queen," said he, "henceforward and for ever, till age and
+death, the common lot of mankind, lay their hands upon you. I now take
+my leave; be happy in this house with your children, your people, and
+with king Alcinous."
+
+As he spoke he crossed the threshold, and Alcinous sent a man to
+conduct him to his ship and to the sea shore. Arete also sent some
+maidservants with him—one with a clean shirt and cloak, another to
+carry his strong box, and a third with corn and wine. When they got to
+the water side the crew took these things and put them on board, with
+all the meat and drink; but for Ulysses they spread a rug and a linen
+sheet on deck that he might sleep soundly in the stern of the ship.
+Then he too went on board and lay down without a word, but the crew
+took every man his place and loosed the hawser from the pierced stone
+to which it had been bound. Thereon, when they began rowing out to sea,
+Ulysses fell into a deep, sweet, and almost deathlike slumber.
+
+The ship bounded forward on her way as a four in hand chariot flies
+over the course when the horses feel the whip. Her prow curvetted as it
+were the neck of a stallion, and a great wave of dark blue water
+seethed in her wake. She held steadily on her course, and even a
+falcon, swiftest of all birds, could not have kept pace with her. Thus,
+then, she cut her way through the water, carrying one who was as
+cunning as the gods, but who was now sleeping peacefully, forgetful of
+all that he had suffered both on the field of battle and by the waves
+of the weary sea.
+
+When the bright star that heralds the approach of dawn began to show,
+the ship drew near to land. Now there is in Ithaca a haven of the
+old merman Phorcys, which lies between two points that break the line
+of the sea and shut the harbour in. These shelter it from the storms of
+wind and sea that rage outside, so that, when once within it, a ship
+may lie without being even moored. At the head of this harbour there is
+a large olive tree, and at no great distance a fine overarching cavern
+sacred to the nymphs who are called Naiads. There are mixing bowls
+within it and wine-jars of stone, and the bees hive there. Moreover,
+there are great looms of stone on which the nymphs weave their robes of
+sea purple—very curious to see—and at all times there is water within
+it. It has two entrances, one facing North by which mortals can go down
+into the cave, while the other comes from the South and is more
+mysterious; mortals cannot possibly get in by it, it is the way taken
+by the gods.
+
+Into this harbour, then, they took their ship, for they knew the
+place. She had so much way upon her that she ran half her own length
+on to the shore; when, however, they had landed, the first thing
+they did was to lift Ulysses with his rug and linen sheet out of the
+ship, and lay him down upon the sand still fast asleep. Then they took
+out the presents which Minerva had persuaded the Phaeacians to give him
+when he was setting out on his voyage homewards. They put these all
+together by the root of the olive tree, away from the road, for fear
+some passer by might come and steal them before Ulysses awoke; and
+then they made the best of their way home again.
+
+But Neptune did not forget the threats with which he had already
+threatened Ulysses, so he took counsel with Jove. "Father Jove," said
+he, "I shall no longer be held in any sort of respect among you gods,
+if mortals like the Phaeacians, who are my own flesh and blood, show
+such small regard for me. I said I would let Ulysses get home when he
+had suffered sufficiently. I did not say that he should never get home
+at all, for I knew you had already nodded your head about it, and
+promised that he should do so; but now they have brought him in a ship
+fast asleep and have landed him in Ithaca after loading him with more
+magnificent presents of bronze, gold, and raiment than he would ever
+have brought back from Troy, if he had had his share of the spoil and
+got home without misadventure."
+
+And Jove answered, "What, O Lord of the Earthquake, are you talking
+about? The gods are by no means wanting in respect for you. It would be
+monstrous were they to insult one so old and honoured as you are. As
+regards mortals, however, if any of them is indulging in insolence and
+treating you disrespectfully, it will always rest with yourself to deal
+with him as you may think proper, so do just as you please."
+
+"I should have done so at once," replied Neptune, "if I were not
+anxious to avoid anything that might displease you; now, therefore, I
+should like to wreck the Phaeacian ship as it is returning from its
+escort. This will stop them from escorting people in future; and I
+should also like to bury their city under a huge mountain."
+
+"My good friend," answered Jove, "I should recommend you at the very
+moment when the people from the city are watching the ship on her way,
+to turn it into a rock near the land and looking like a ship. This will
+astonish everybody, and you can then bury their city under the
+mountain."
+
+When earth-encircling Neptune heard this he went to Scheria where the
+Phaeacians live, and stayed there till the ship, which was making rapid
+way, had got close in. Then he went up to it, turned it into stone, and
+drove it down with the flat of his hand so as to root it in the ground.
+After this he went away.
+
+The Phaeacians then began talking among themselves, and one would turn
+towards his neighbour, saying, "Bless my heart, who is it that can have
+rooted the ship in the sea just as she was getting into port? We could
+see the whole of her only a moment ago."
+
+This was how they talked, but they knew nothing about it; and Alcinous
+said, "I remember now the old prophecy of my father. He said that
+Neptune would be angry with us for taking every one so safely over the
+sea, and would one day wreck a Phaeacian ship as it was returning from
+an escort, and bury our city under a high mountain. This was what my
+old father used to say, and now it is all coming true. Now therefore
+let us all do as I say; in the first place we must leave off giving
+people escorts when they come here, and in the next let us sacrifice
+twelve picked bulls to Neptune that he may have mercy upon us, and not
+bury our city under the high mountain." When the people heard this they
+were afraid and got ready the bulls.
+
+Thus did the chiefs and rulers of the Phaeacians pray to king Neptune,
+standing round his altar; and at the same time Ulysses woke up once
+more upon his own soil. He had been so long away that he did not know
+it again; moreover, Jove's daughter Minerva had made it a foggy day, so
+that people might not know of his having come, and that she might tell
+him everything without either his wife or his fellow citizens and
+friends recognising him until he had taken his revenge upon the
+wicked suitors. Everything, therefore, seemed quite different to
+him—the long straight tracks, the harbours, the precipices, and the
+goodly trees, appeared all changed as he started up and looked upon his
+native land. So he smote his thighs with the flat of his hands and
+cried aloud despairingly.
+
+"Alas," he exclaimed, "among what manner of people am I fallen? Are
+they savage and uncivilised or hospitable and humane? Where shall I put
+all this treasure, and which way shall I go? I wish I had staid over
+there with the Phaeacians; or I could have gone to some other great
+chief who would have been good to me and given me an escort. As it is I
+do not know where to put my treasure, and I cannot leave it here for
+fear somebody else should get hold of it. In good truth the chiefs and
+rulers of the Phaeacians have not been dealing fairly by me, and have
+left me in the wrong country; they said they would take me back to
+Ithaca and they have not done so: may Jove the protector of suppliants
+chastise them, for he watches over everybody and punishes those who do
+wrong. Still, I suppose I must count my goods and see if the crew have
+gone off with any of them."
+
+He counted his goodly coppers and cauldrons, his gold and all his
+clothes, but there was nothing missing; still he kept grieving about
+not being in his own country, and wandered up and down by the shore of
+the sounding sea bewailing his hard fate. Then Minerva came up to him
+disguised as a young shepherd of delicate and princely mien, with a
+good cloak folded double about her shoulders; she had sandals on her
+comely feet and held a javelin in her hand. Ulysses was glad when he
+saw her, and went straight up to her.
+
+"My friend," said he, "you are the first person whom I have met with in
+this country; I salute you, therefore, and beg you to be well disposed
+towards me. Protect these my goods, and myself too, for I embrace your
+knees and pray to you as though you were a god. Tell me, then, and tell
+me truly, what land and country is this? Who are its inhabitants? Am I
+on an island, or is this the sea board of some continent?"
+
+Minerva answered, "Stranger, you must be very simple, or must have come
+from somewhere a long way off, not to know what country this is. It is
+a very celebrated place, and everybody knows it East and West. It is
+rugged and not a good driving country, but it is by no means a bad
+island for what there is of it. It grows any quantity of corn and also
+wine, for it is watered both by rain and dew; it breeds cattle also and
+goats; all kinds of timber grow here, and there are watering places
+where the water never runs dry; so, sir, the name of Ithaca is known
+even as far as Troy, which I understand to be a long way off from this
+Achaean country."
+
+Ulysses was glad at finding himself, as Minerva told him, in his own
+country, and he began to answer, but he did not speak the truth, and
+made up a lying story in the instinctive wiliness of his heart.
+
+"I heard of Ithaca," said he, "when I was in Crete beyond the seas, and
+now it seems I have reached it with all these treasures. I have left as
+much more behind me for my children, but am flying because I killed
+Orsilochus son of Idomeneus, the fleetest runner in Crete. I killed him
+because he wanted to rob me of the spoils I had got from Troy with so
+much trouble and danger both on the field of battle and by the waves of
+the weary sea; he said I had not served his father loyally at Troy as
+vassal, but had set myself up as an independent ruler, so I lay in wait
+for him with one of my followers by the road side, and speared him as
+he was coming into town from the country. It was a very dark night and
+nobody saw us; it was not known, therefore, that I had killed him, but
+as soon as I had done so I went to a ship and besought the owners, who
+were Phoenicians, to take me on board and set me in Pylos or in Elis
+where the Epeans rule, giving them as much spoil as satisfied them.
+They meant no guile, but the wind drove them off their course, and we
+sailed on till we came hither by night. It was all we could do to get
+inside the harbour, and none of us said a word about supper though we
+wanted it badly, but we all went on shore and lay down just as we were.
+I was very tired and fell asleep directly, so they took my goods out of
+the ship, and placed them beside me where I was lying upon the sand.
+Then they sailed away to Sidonia, and I was left here in great distress
+of mind."
+
+Such was his story, but Minerva smiled and caressed him with her hand.
+Then she took the form of a woman, fair, stately, and wise, "He must be
+indeed a shifty lying fellow," said she, "who could surpass you in all
+manner of craft even though you had a god for your antagonist. Dare
+devil that you are, full of guile, unwearying in deceit, can you not
+drop your tricks and your instinctive falsehood, even now that you are
+in your own country again? We will say no more, however, about this,
+for we can both of us deceive upon occasion—you are the most
+accomplished counsellor and orator among all mankind, while I for
+diplomacy and subtlety have no equal among the gods. Did you not know
+Jove's daughter Minerva—me, who have been ever with you, who kept watch
+over you in all your troubles, and who made the Phaeacians take so
+great a liking to you? And now, again, I am come here to talk things
+over with you, and help you to hide the treasure I made the Phaeacians
+give you; I want to tell you about the troubles that await you in your
+own house; you have got to face them, but tell no one, neither man nor
+woman, that you have come home again. Bear everything, and put up with
+every man's insolence, without a word."
+
+And Ulysses answered, "A man, goddess, may know a great deal, but you
+are so constantly changing your appearance that when he meets you it is
+a hard matter for him to know whether it is you or not. This much,
+however, I know exceedingly well; you were very kind to me as long as
+we Achaeans were fighting before Troy, but from the day on which we
+went on board ship after having sacked the city of Priam, and heaven
+dispersed us—from that day, Minerva, I saw no more of you, and cannot
+ever remember your coming to my ship to help me in a difficulty; I had
+to wander on sick and sorry till the gods delivered me from evil and I
+reached the city of the Phaeacians, where you encouraged me and took me
+into the town. And now, I beseech you in your father's name, tell me
+the truth, for I do not believe I am really back in Ithaca. I am in
+some other country and you are mocking me and deceiving me in all you
+have been saying. Tell me then truly, have I really got back to my own
+country?"
+
+"You are always taking something of that sort in your head," replied
+Minerva, "and that is why I cannot desert you in your afflictions; you
+are so plausible, shrewd and shifty. Any one but yourself on returning
+from so long a voyage would at once have gone home to see his wife and
+children, but you do not seem to care about asking after them or
+hearing any news about them till you have exploited your wife, who
+remains at home vainly grieving for you, and having no peace night or
+day for the tears she sheds on your behalf. As for my not coming near
+you, I was never uneasy about you, for I was certain you would get back
+safely though you would lose all your men, and I did not wish to
+quarrel with my uncle Neptune, who never forgave you for having blinded
+his son. I will now, however, point out to you the lie of the land,
+and you will then perhaps believe me. This is the haven of the old
+merman Phorcys, and here is the olive tree that grows at the head of
+it; [near it is the cave sacred to the Naiads; here too is the
+overarching cavern in which you have offered many an acceptable
+hecatomb to the nymphs, and this is the wooded mountain Neritum."
+
+As she spoke the goddess dispersed the mist and the land appeared. Then
+Ulysses rejoiced at finding himself again in his own land, and kissed
+the bounteous soil; he lifted up his hands and prayed to the nymphs,
+saying, "Naiad nymphs, daughters of Jove, I made sure that I was never
+again to see you, now therefore I greet you with all loving
+salutations, and I will bring you offerings as in the old days, if
+Jove's redoubtable daughter will grant me life, and bring my son to
+manhood."
+
+"Take heart, and do not trouble yourself about that," rejoined Minerva,
+"let us rather set about stowing your things at once in the cave, where
+they will be quite safe. Let us see how we can best manage it all."
+
+Therewith she went down into the cave to look for the safest hiding
+places, while Ulysses brought up all the treasure of gold, bronze, and
+good clothing which the Phaeacians had given him. They stowed
+everything carefully away, and Minerva set a stone against the door of
+the cave. Then the two sat down by the root of the great olive, and
+consulted how to compass the destruction of the wicked suitors.
+
+"Ulysses," said Minerva, "noble son of Laertes, think how you can lay
+hands on these disreputable people who have been lording it in your
+house these three years, courting your wife and making wedding presents
+to her, while she does nothing but lament your absence, giving hope and
+sending encouraging messages to every one of them, but meaning the
+very opposite of all she says."
+
+And Ulysses answered, "In good truth, goddess, it seems I should have
+come to much the same bad end in my own house as Agamemnon did, if you
+had not given me such timely information. Advise me how I shall best
+avenge myself. Stand by my side and put your courage into my heart as
+on the day when we loosed Troy's fair diadem from her brow. Help me now
+as you did then, and I will fight three hundred men, if you, goddess,
+will be with me."
+
+"Trust me for that," said she, "I will not lose sight of you when once
+we set about it, and I imagine that some of those who are devouring
+your substance will then bespatter the pavement with their blood and
+brains. I will begin by disguising you so that no human being shall
+know you; I will cover your body with wrinkles; you shall lose all your
+yellow hair; I will clothe you in a garment that shall fill all who see
+it with loathing; I will blear your fine eyes for you, and make you an
+unseemly object in the sight of the suitors, of your wife, and of the
+son whom you left behind you. Then go at once to the swineherd who is
+in charge of your pigs; he has been always well affected towards you,
+and is devoted to Penelope and your son; you will find him feeding his
+pigs near the rock that is called Raven by the fountain Arethusa,
+where they are fattening on beechmast and spring water after their
+manner. Stay with him and find out how things are going, while I
+proceed to Sparta and see your son, who is with Menelaus at Lacedaemon,
+where he has gone to try and find out whether you are still alive."
+
+"But why," said Ulysses, "did you not tell him, for you knew all about
+it? Did you want him too to go sailing about amid all kinds of hardship
+while others are eating up his estate?"
+
+Minerva answered, "Never mind about him, I sent him that he might be
+well spoken of for having gone. He is in no sort of difficulty, but is
+staying quite comfortably with Menelaus, and is surrounded with
+abundance of every kind. The suitors have put out to sea and are lying
+in wait for him, for they mean to kill him before he can get home. I do
+not much think they will succeed, but rather that some of those who are
+now eating up your estate will first find a grave themselves."
+
+As she spoke Minerva touched him with her wand and covered him with
+wrinkles, took away all his yellow hair, and withered the flesh over
+his whole body; she bleared his eyes, which were naturally very fine
+ones; she changed his clothes and threw an old rag of a wrap about him,
+and a tunic, tattered, filthy, and begrimed with smoke; she also gave
+him an undressed deer skin as an outer garment, and furnished him with
+a staff and a wallet all in holes, with a twisted thong for him to
+sling it over his shoulder.
+
+When the pair had thus laid their plans they parted, and the goddess
+went straight to Lacedaemon to fetch Telemachus.
+
+Ulysses now left the haven, and took the rough track up through the
+wooded country and over the crest of the mountain till he reached the
+place where Minerva had said that he would find the swineherd, who was
+the most thrifty servant he had. He found him sitting in front of his
+hut, which was by the yards that he had built on a site which could be
+seen from far. He had made them spacious and fair to see, with a
+free run for the pigs all round them; he had built them during his
+master's absence, of stones which he had gathered out of the ground,
+without saying anything to Penelope or Laertes, and he had fenced them
+on top with thorn bushes. Outside the yard he had run a strong fence of
+oaken posts, split, and set pretty close together, while inside he had
+built twelve styes near one another for the sows to lie in. There were
+fifty pigs wallowing in each stye, all of them breeding sows; but the
+boars slept outside and were much fewer in number, for the suitors kept
+on eating them, and the swineherd had to send them the best he had
+continually. There were three hundred and sixty boar pigs, and the
+herdsman's four hounds, which were as fierce as wolves, slept always
+with them. The swineherd was at that moment cutting out a pair of
+sandals from a good stout ox hide. Three of his men were out herding
+the pigs in one place or another, and he had sent the fourth to town
+with a boar that he had been forced to send the suitors that they might
+sacrifice it and have their fill of meat.
+
+When the hounds saw Ulysses they set up a furious barking and flew at
+him, but Ulysses was cunning enough to sit down and loose his hold of
+the stick that he had in his hand: still, he would have been torn by
+them in his own homestead had not the swineherd dropped his ox hide,
+rushed full speed through the gate of the yard and driven the dogs off
+by shouting and throwing stones at them. Then he said to Ulysses, "Old
+man, the dogs were likely to have made short work of you, and then you
+would have got me into trouble. The gods have given me quite enough
+worries without that, for I have lost the best of masters, and am in
+continual grief on his account. I have to attend swine for other people
+to eat, while he, if he yet lives to see the light of day, is starving
+in some distant land. But come inside, and when you have had your fill
+of bread and wine, tell me where you come from, and all about your
+misfortunes."
+
+On this the swineherd led the way into the hut and bade him sit down.
+He strewed a good thick bed of rushes upon the floor, and on the top of
+this he threw the shaggy chamois skin—a great thick one—on which he
+used to sleep by night. Ulysses was pleased at being made thus welcome,
+and said "May Jove, sir, and the rest of the gods grant you your
+heart's desire in return for the kind way in which you have received
+me."
+
+To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "Stranger, though a still
+poorer man should come here, it would not be right for me to insult
+him, for all strangers and beggars are from Jove. You must take what
+you can get and be thankful, for servants live in fear when they have
+young lords for their masters; and this is my misfortune now, for
+heaven has hindered the return of him who would have been always good
+to me and given me something of my own—a house, a piece of land, a good
+looking wife, and all else that a liberal master allows a servant who
+has worked hard for him, and whose labour the gods have prospered as
+they have mine in the situation which I hold. If my master had grown
+old here he would have done great things by me, but he is gone, and I
+wish that Helen's whole race were utterly destroyed, for she has been
+the death of many a good man. It was this matter that took my master to
+Ilius, the land of noble steeds, to fight the Trojans in the cause of
+king Agamemnon."
+
+As he spoke he bound his girdle round him and went to the styes where
+the young sucking pigs were penned. He picked out two which he brought
+back with him and sacrificed. He singed them, cut them up, and spitted
+them; when the meat was cooked he brought it all in and set it before
+Ulysses, hot and still on the spit, whereon Ulysses sprinkled it over
+with white barley meal. The swineherd then mixed wine in a bowl of
+ivy-wood, and taking a seat opposite Ulysses told him to begin.
+
+"Fall to, stranger," said he, "on a dish of servant's pork. The fat
+pigs have to go to the suitors, who eat them up without shame or
+scruple; but the blessed gods love not such shameful doings, and
+respect those who do what is lawful and right. Even the fierce
+freebooters who go raiding on other people's land, and Jove gives them
+their spoil—even they, when they have filled their ships and got home
+again live conscience-stricken, and look fearfully for judgement; but
+some god seems to have told these people that Ulysses is dead and gone;
+they will not, therefore, go back to their own homes and make their
+offers of marriage in the usual way, but waste his estate by force,
+without fear or stint. Not a day or night comes out of heaven, but they
+sacrifice not one victim nor two only, and they take the run of his
+wine, for he was exceedingly rich. No other great man either in Ithaca
+or on the mainland is as rich as he was; he had as much as twenty men
+put together. I will tell you what he had. There are twelve herds of
+cattle upon the main land, and as many flocks of sheep, there are also
+twelve droves of pigs, while his own men and hired strangers feed him
+twelve widely spreading herds of goats. Here in Ithaca he runs even
+large flocks of goats on the far end of the island, and they are in the
+charge of excellent goat herds. Each one of these sends the suitors the
+best goat in the flock every day. As for myself, I am in charge of the
+pigs that you see here, and I have to keep picking out the best I have
+and sending it to them."
+
+This was his story, but Ulysses went on eating and drinking ravenously
+without a word, brooding his revenge. When he had eaten enough and was
+satisfied, the swineherd took the bowl from which he usually drank,
+filled it with wine, and gave it to Ulysses, who was pleased, and said
+as he took it in his hands, "My friend, who was this master of yours
+that bought you and paid for you, so rich and so powerful as you tell
+me? You say he perished in the cause of King Agamemnon; tell me who he
+was, in case I may have met with such a person. Jove and the other gods
+know, but I may be able to give you news of him, for I have travelled
+much."
+
+Eumaeus answered, "Old man, no traveller who comes here with news will
+get Ulysses' wife and son to believe his story. Nevertheless, tramps in
+want of a lodging keep coming with their mouths full of lies, and not a
+word of truth; every one who finds his way to Ithaca goes to my
+mistress and tells her falsehoods, whereon she takes them in, makes
+much of them, and asks them all manner of questions, crying all the
+time as women will when they have lost their husbands. And you too, old
+man, for a shirt and a cloak would doubtless make up a very pretty
+story. But the wolves and birds of prey have long since torn Ulysses to
+pieces, or the fishes of the sea have eaten him, and his bones are
+lying buried deep in sand upon some foreign shore; he is dead and gone,
+and a bad business it is for all his friends—for me especially; go
+where I may I shall never find so good a master, not even if I were to
+go home to my mother and father where I was bred and born. I do not so
+much care, however, about my parents now, though I should dearly like
+to see them again in my own country; it is the loss of Ulysses that
+grieves me most; I cannot speak of him without reverence though he is
+here no longer, for he was very fond of me, and took such care of me
+that wherever he may be I shall always honour his memory."
+
+"My friend," replied Ulysses, "you are very positive, and very hard of
+belief about your master's coming home again, nevertheless I will not
+merely say, but will swear, that he is coming. Do not give me anything
+for my news till he has actually come, you may then give me a shirt and
+cloak of good wear if you will. I am in great want, but I will not take
+anything at all till then, for I hate a man, even as I hate hell fire,
+who lets his poverty tempt him into lying. I swear by king Jove, by the
+rites of hospitality, and by that hearth of Ulysses to which I have now
+come, that all will surely happen as I have said it will. Ulysses will
+return in this self same year; with the end of this moon and the
+beginning of the next he will be here to do vengeance on all those who
+are ill treating his wife and son."
+
+To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "Old man, you will neither
+get paid for bringing good news, nor will Ulysses ever come home; drink
+your wine in peace, and let us talk about something else. Do not keep
+on reminding me of all this; it always pains me when any one speaks
+about my honoured master. As for your oath we will let it alone, but I
+only wish he may come, as do Penelope, his old father Laertes, and his
+son Telemachus. I am terribly unhappy too about this same boy of his;
+he was running up fast into manhood, and bade fare to be no worse man,
+face and figure, than his father, but some one, either god or man, has
+been unsettling his mind, so he has gone off to Pylos to try and get
+news of his father, and the suitors are lying in wait for him as he is
+coming home, in the hope of leaving the house of Arceisius without a
+name in Ithaca. But let us say no more about him, and leave him to be
+taken, or else to escape if the son of Saturn holds his hand over him
+to protect him. And now, old man, tell me your own story; tell me also,
+for I want to know, who you are and where you come from. Tell me of
+your town and parents, what manner of ship you came in, how crew
+brought you to Ithaca, and from what country they professed to come—for
+you cannot have come by land."
+
+And Ulysses answered, "I will tell you all about it. If there were meat
+and wine enough, and we could stay here in the hut with nothing to do
+but to eat and drink while the others go to their work, I could easily
+talk on for a whole twelve months without ever finishing the story of
+the sorrows with which it has pleased heaven to visit me.
+
+"I am by birth a Cretan; my father was a well to do man, who had many
+sons born in marriage, whereas I was the son of a slave whom he had
+purchased for a concubine; nevertheless, my father Castor son of Hylax
+(whose lineage I claim, and who was held in the highest honour among
+the Cretans for his wealth, prosperity, and the valour of his sons) put
+me on the same level with my brothers who had been born in wedlock.
+When, however, death took him to the house of Hades, his sons divided
+his estate and cast lots for their shares, but to me they gave a
+holding and little else; nevertheless, my valour enabled me to marry
+into a rich family, for I was not given to bragging, or shirking on the
+field of battle. It is all over now; still, if you look at the straw
+you can see what the ear was, for I have had trouble enough and to
+spare. Mars and Minerva made me doughty in war; when I had picked my
+men to surprise the enemy with an ambuscade I never gave death so much
+as a thought, but was the first to leap forward and spear all whom I
+could overtake. Such was I in battle, but I did not care about farm
+work, nor the frugal home life of those who would bring up children. My
+delight was in ships, fighting, javelins, and arrows—things that most
+men shudder to think of; but one man likes one thing and another
+another, and this was what I was most naturally inclined to. Before the
+Achaeans went to Troy, nine times was I in command of men and ships on
+foreign service, and I amassed much wealth. I had my pick of the spoil
+in the first instance, and much more was allotted to me later on.
+
+"My house grew apace and I became a great man among the Cretans, but
+when Jove counselled that terrible expedition, in which so many
+perished, the people required me and Idomeneus to lead their ships to
+Troy, and there was no way out of it, for they insisted on our doing
+so. There we fought for nine whole years, but in the tenth we sacked
+the city of Priam and sailed home again as heaven dispersed us. Then it
+was that Jove devised evil against me. I spent but one month happily
+with my children, wife, and property, and then I conceived the idea of
+making a descent on Egypt, so I fitted out a fine fleet and manned it.
+I had nine ships, and the people flocked to fill them. For six days I
+and my men made feast, and I found them many victims both for sacrifice
+to the gods and for themselves, but on the seventh day we went on board
+and set sail from Crete with a fair North wind behind us though we were
+going down a river. Nothing went ill with any of our ships, and we had
+no sickness on board, but sat where we were and let the ships go as the
+wind and steersmen took them. On the fifth day we reached the river
+Aegyptus; there I stationed my ships in the river, bidding my men stay
+by them and keep guard over them while I sent out scouts to reconnoitre
+from every point of vantage.
+
+"But the men disobeyed my orders, took to their own devices, and
+ravaged the land of the Egyptians, killing the men, and taking their
+wives and children captive. The alarm was soon carried to the city, and
+when they heard the war cry, the people came out at daybreak till the
+plain was filled with horsemen and foot soldiers and with the gleam of
+armour. Then Jove spread panic among my men, and they would no longer
+face the enemy, for they found themselves surrounded. The Egyptians
+killed many of us, and took the rest alive to do forced labour for
+them. Jove, however, put it in my mind to do thus—and I wish I had died
+then and there in Egypt instead, for there was much sorrow in store for
+me—I took off my helmet and shield and dropped my spear from my hand;
+then I went straight up to the king's chariot, clasped his knees and
+kissed them, whereon he spared my life, bade me get into his chariot,
+and took me weeping to his own home. Many made at me with their ashen
+spears and tried to kill me in their fury, but the king protected me,
+for he feared the wrath of Jove the protector of strangers, who
+punishes those who do evil.
+
+"I stayed there for seven years and got together much money among the
+Egyptians, for they all gave me something; but when it was now going on
+for eight years there came a certain Phoenician, a cunning rascal, who
+had already committed all sorts of villainy, and this man talked me
+over into going with him to Phoenicia, where his house and his
+possessions lay. I stayed there for a whole twelve months, but at the
+end of that time when months and days had gone by till the same season
+had come round again, he set me on board a ship bound for Libya, on a
+pretence that I was to take a cargo along with him to that place, but
+really that he might sell me as a slave and take the money I fetched. I
+suspected his intention, but went on board with him, for I could not
+help it.
+
+"The ship ran before a fresh North wind till we had reached the sea
+that lies between Crete and Libya; there, however, Jove counselled
+their destruction, for as soon as we were well out from Crete and could
+see nothing but sea and sky, he raised a black cloud over our ship and
+the sea grew dark beneath it. Then Jove let fly with his thunderbolts
+and the ship went round and round and was filled with fire and
+brimstone as the lightning struck it. The men fell all into the sea;
+they were carried about in the water round the ship looking like so
+many sea-gulls, but the god presently deprived them of all chance of
+getting home again. I was all dismayed. Jove, however, sent the ship's
+mast within my reach, which saved my life, for I clung to it, and
+drifted before the fury of the gale. Nine days did I drift but in the
+darkness of the tenth night a great wave bore me on to the Thesprotian
+coast. There Pheidon king of the Thesprotians entertained me hospitably
+without charging me anything at all—for his son found me when I was
+nearly dead with cold and fatigue, whereon he raised me by the hand,
+took me to his father's house and gave me clothes to wear.
+
+"There it was that I heard news of Ulysses, for the king told me he had
+entertained him, and shown him much hospitality while he was on his
+homeward journey. He showed me also the treasure of gold, and wrought
+iron that Ulysses had got together. There was enough to keep his family
+for ten generations, so much had he left in the house of king Pheidon.
+But the king said Ulysses had gone to Dodona that he might learn Jove's
+mind from the god's high oak tree, and know whether after so long an
+absence he should return to Ithaca openly, or in secret. Moreover the
+king swore in my presence, making drink-offerings in his own house as
+he did so, that the ship was by the water side, and the crew found,
+that should take him to his own country. He sent me off however before
+Ulysses returned, for there happened to be a Thesprotian ship sailing
+for the wheat-growing island of Dulichium, and he told those in charge
+of her to be sure and take me safely to King Acastus.
+
+"These men hatched a plot against me that would have reduced me to the
+very extreme of misery, for when the ship had got some way out from
+land they resolved on selling me as a slave. They stripped me of the
+shirt and cloak that I was wearing, and gave me instead the tattered
+old clouts in which you now see me; then, towards nightfall, they
+reached the tilled lands of Ithaca, and there they bound me with a
+strong rope fast in the ship, while they went on shore to get supper by
+the sea side. But the gods soon undid my bonds for me, and having drawn
+my rags over my head I slid down the rudder into the sea, where I
+struck out and swam till I was well clear of them, and came ashore near
+a thick wood in which I lay concealed. They were very angry at my
+having escaped and went searching about for me, till at last they
+thought it was no further use and went back to their ship. The gods,
+having hidden me thus easily, then took me to a good man's door—for it
+seems that I am not to die yet awhile."
+
+To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "Poor unhappy stranger, I
+have found the story of your misfortunes extremely interesting, but
+that part about Ulysses is not right; and you will never get me to
+believe it. Why should a man like you go about telling lies in this
+way? I know all about the return of my master. The gods one and all of
+them detest him, or they would have taken him before Troy, or let him
+die with friends around him when the days of his fighting were done;
+for then the Achaeans would have built a mound over his ashes and his
+son would have been heir to his renown, but now the storm winds have
+spirited him away we know not whither.
+
+"As for me I live out of the way here with the pigs, and never go to
+the town unless when Penelope sends for me on the arrival of some news
+about Ulysses. Then they all sit round and ask questions, both those
+who grieve over the king's absence, and those who rejoice at it because
+they can eat up his property without paying for it. For my own part I
+have never cared about asking anyone else since the time when I was
+taken in by an Aetolian, who had killed a man and come a long way till
+at last he reached my station, and I was very kind to him. He said he
+had seen Ulysses with Idomeneus among the Cretans, refitting his ships
+which had been damaged in a gale. He said Ulysses would return in the
+following summer or autumn with his men, and that he would bring back
+much wealth. And now you, you unfortunate old man, since fate has
+brought you to my door, do not try to flatter me in this way with vain
+hopes. It is not for any such reason that I shall treat you kindly, but
+only out of respect for Jove the god of hospitality, as fearing him and
+pitying you."
+
+Ulysses answered, "I see that you are of an unbelieving mind; I have
+given you my oath, and yet you will not credit me; let us then make a
+bargain, and call all the gods in heaven to witness it. If your master
+comes home, give me a cloak and shirt of good wear, and send me to
+Dulichium where I want to go; but if he does not come as I say he will,
+set your men on to me, and tell them to throw me from yonder precipice,
+as a warning to tramps not to go about the country telling lies."
+
+"And a pretty figure I should cut then," replied Eumaeus, "both now and
+hereafter, if I were to kill you after receiving you into my hut and
+showing you hospitality. I should have to say my prayers in good
+earnest if I did; but it is just supper time and I hope my men will
+come in directly, that we may cook something savoury for supper."
+
+Thus did they converse, and presently the swineherds came up with the
+pigs, which were then shut up for the night in their styes, and a
+tremendous squealing they made as they were being driven into them. But
+Eumaeus called to his men and said, "Bring in the best pig you have,
+that I may sacrifice him for this stranger, and we will take toll of
+him ourselves. We have had trouble enough this long time feeding pigs,
+while others reap the fruit of our labour."
+
+On this he began chopping firewood, while the others brought in a fine
+fat five year old boar pig, and set it at the altar. Eumaeus did not
+forget the gods, for he was a man of good principles, so the first
+thing he did was to cut bristles from the pig's face and throw them
+into the fire, praying to all the gods as he did so that Ulysses might
+return home again. Then he clubbed the pig with a billet of oak which
+he had kept back when he was chopping the firewood, and stunned it,
+while the others slaughtered and singed it. Then they cut it up, and
+Eumaeus began by putting raw pieces from each joint on to some of the
+fat; these he sprinkled with barley meal, and laid upon the embers;
+they cut the rest of the meat up small, put the pieces upon the spits
+and roasted them till they were done; when they had taken them off the
+spits they threw them on to the dresser in a heap. The swineherd, who
+was a most equitable man, then stood up to give every one his share. He
+made seven portions; one of these he set apart for Mercury the son of
+Maia and the nymphs, praying to them as he did so; the others he dealt
+out to the men man by man. He gave Ulysses some slices cut lengthways
+down the loin as a mark of especial honour, and Ulysses was much
+pleased. "I hope, Eumaeus," said he, "that Jove will be as well
+disposed towards you as I am, for the respect you are showing to an
+outcast like myself."
+
+To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "Eat, my good fellow, and
+enjoy your supper, such as it is. God grants this, and withholds that,
+just as he thinks right, for he can do whatever he chooses."
+
+As he spoke he cut off the first piece and offered it as a burnt
+sacrifice to the immortal gods; then he made them a drink-offering, put
+the cup in the hands of Ulysses, and sat down to his own portion.
+Mesaulius brought them their bread; the swineherd had brought this man
+on his own account from among the Taphians during his master's absence,
+and had paid for him with his own money without saying anything either
+to his mistress or Laertes. They then laid their hands upon the good
+things that were before them, and when they had had enough to eat and
+drink, Mesaulius took away what was left of the bread, and they all
+went to bed after having made a hearty supper.
+
+Now the night came on stormy and very dark, for there was no moon. It
+poured without ceasing, and the wind blew strong from the West, which
+is a wet quarter, so Ulysses thought he would see whether Eumaeus, in
+the excellent care he took of him, would take off his own cloak and
+give it him, or make one of his men give him one. "Listen to me," said
+he, "Eumaeus and the rest of you; when I have said a prayer I will tell
+you something. It is the wine that makes me talk in this way; wine will
+make even a wise man fall to singing; it will make him chuckle and
+dance and say many a word that he had better leave unspoken; still, as
+I have begun, I will go on. Would that I were still young and strong as
+when we got up an ambuscade before Troy. Menelaus and Ulysses were the
+leaders, but I was in command also, for the other two would have it so.
+When we had come up to the wall of the city we crouched down beneath
+our armour and lay there under cover of the reeds and thick brushwood
+that grew about the swamp. It came on to freeze with a North wind
+blowing; the snow fell small and fine like hoar frost, and our shields
+were coated thick with rime. The others had all got cloaks and shirts,
+and slept comfortably enough with their shields about their shoulders,
+but I had carelessly left my cloak behind me, not thinking that I
+should be too cold, and had gone off in nothing but my shirt and
+shield. When the night was two-thirds through and the stars had shifted
+their places, I nudged Ulysses who was close to me with my elbow, and
+he at once gave me his ear.
+
+"'Ulysses,' said I, 'this cold will be the death of me, for I have no
+cloak; some god fooled me into setting off with nothing on but my
+shirt, and I do not know what to do.'
+
+"Ulysses, who was as crafty as he was valiant, hit upon the following
+plan:
+
+"'Keep still,' said he in a low voice, 'or the others will hear you.'
+Then he raised his head on his elbow.
+
+"'My friends,' said he, 'I have had a dream from heaven in my sleep. We
+are a long way from the ships; I wish some one would go down and tell
+Agamemnon to send us up more men at once.'
+
+"On this Thoas son of Andraemon threw off his cloak and set out running
+to the ships, whereon I took the cloak and lay in it comfortably enough
+till morning. Would that I were still young and strong as I was in
+those days, for then some one of you swineherds would give me a cloak
+both out of good will and for the respect due to a brave soldier; but
+now people look down upon me because my clothes are shabby."
+
+And Eumaeus answered, "Old man, you have told us an excellent story,
+and have said nothing so far but what is quite satisfactory; for the
+present, therefore, you shall want neither clothing nor anything else
+that a stranger in distress may reasonably expect, but to-morrow
+morning you have to shake your own old rags about your body again, for
+we have not many spare cloaks nor shirts up here, but every man has
+only one. When Ulysses' son comes home again he will give you both
+cloak and shirt, and send you wherever you may want to go."
+
+With this he got up and made a bed for Ulysses by throwing some
+goatskins and sheepskins on the ground in front of the fire. Here
+Ulysses lay down, and Eumaeus covered him over with a great heavy cloak
+that he kept for a change in case of extraordinarily bad weather.
+
+Thus did Ulysses sleep, and the young men slept beside him. But the
+swineherd did not like sleeping away from his pigs, so he got ready to
+go outside, and Ulysses was glad to see that he looked after his
+property during his master's absence. First he slung his sword over his
+brawny shoulders and put on a thick cloak to keep out the wind. He also
+took the skin of a large and well fed goat, and a javelin in case of
+attack from men or dogs. Thus equipped he went to his rest where the
+pigs were camping under an overhanging rock that gave them shelter from
+the North wind.
+
+But Minerva went to the fair city of Lacedaemon to tell Ulysses' son
+that he was to return at once. She found him and Pisistratus sleeping
+in the forecourt of Menelaus's house; Pisistratus was fast asleep, but
+Telemachus could get no rest all night for thinking of his unhappy
+father, so Minerva went close up to him and said:
+
+"Telemachus, you should not remain so far away from home any longer,
+nor leave your property with such dangerous people in your house; they
+will eat up everything you have among them, and you will have been on a
+fool's errand. Ask Menelaus to send you home at once if you wish to
+find your excellent mother still there when you get back. Her father
+and brothers are already urging her to marry Eurymachus, who has given
+her more than any of the others, and has been greatly increasing his
+wedding presents. I hope nothing valuable may have been taken from the
+house in spite of you, but you know what women are—they always want to
+do the best they can for the man who marries them, and never give
+another thought to the children of their first husband, nor to their
+father either when he is dead and done with. Go home, therefore, and
+put everything in charge of the most respectable woman servant that you
+have, until it shall please heaven to send you a wife of your own. Let
+me tell you also of another matter which you had better attend to. The
+chief men among the suitors are lying in wait for you in the Strait
+between Ithaca and Samos, and they mean to kill you before you can
+reach home. I do not much think they will succeed; it is more likely
+that some of those who are now eating up your property will find a
+grave themselves. Sail night and day, and keep your ship well away from
+the islands; the god who watches over you and protects you will send
+you a fair wind. As soon as you get to Ithaca send your ship and men on
+to the town, but yourself go straight to the swineherd who has charge
+of your pigs; he is well disposed towards you, stay with him,
+therefore, for the night, and then send him to Penelope to tell her
+that you have got back safe from Pylos."
+
+Then she went back to Olympus; but Telemachus stirred Pisistratus with
+his heel to rouse him, and said, "Wake up Pisistratus, and yoke the
+horses to the chariot, for we must set off home."
+
+But Pisistratus said, "No matter what hurry we are in we cannot drive
+in the dark. It will be morning soon; wait till Menelaus has brought
+his presents and put them in the chariot for us; and let him say good
+bye to us in the usual way. So long as he lives a guest should never
+forget a host who has shown him kindness."
+
+As he spoke day began to break, and Menelaus, who had already risen,
+leaving Helen in bed, came towards them. When Telemachus saw him he put
+on his shirt as fast as he could, threw a great cloak over his
+shoulders, and went out to meet him. "Menelaus," said he, "let me go
+back now to my own country, for I want to get home."
+
+And Menelaus answered, "Telemachus, if you insist on going I will not
+detain you. I do not like to see a host either too fond of his guest or
+too rude to him. Moderation is best in all things, and not letting a
+man go when he wants to do so is as bad as telling him to go if he
+would like to stay. One should treat a guest well as long as he is in
+the house and speed him when he wants to leave it. Wait, then, till I
+can get your beautiful presents into your chariot, and till you have
+yourself seen them. I will tell the women to prepare a sufficient
+dinner for you of what there may be in the house; it will be at once
+more proper and cheaper for you to get your dinner before setting out
+on such a long journey. If, moreover, you have a fancy for making a
+tour in Hellas or in the Peloponnese, I will yoke my horses, and will
+conduct you myself through all our principal cities. No one will send
+us away empty handed; every one will give us something—a bronze tripod,
+a couple of mules, or a gold cup."
+
+"Menelaus," replied Telemachus, "I want to go home at once, for when I
+came away I left my property without protection, and fear that while
+looking for my father I shall come to ruin myself, or find that
+something valuable has been stolen during my absence."
+
+When Menelaus heard this he immediately told his wife and servants to
+prepare a sufficient dinner from what there might be in the house. At
+this moment Eteoneus joined him, for he lived close by and had just got
+up; so Menelaus told him to light the fire and cook some meat, which he
+at once did. Then Menelaus went down into his fragrant store room,
+not alone, but Helen went too, with Megapenthes. When he reached the
+place where the treasures of his house were kept, he selected a double
+cup, and told his son Megapenthes to bring also a silver mixing bowl.
+Meanwhile Helen went to the chest where she kept the lovely dresses
+which she had made with her own hands, and took out one that was
+largest and most beautifully enriched with embroidery; it glittered
+like a star, and lay at the very bottom of the chest.  Then they all
+came back through the house again till they got to Telemachus, and
+Menelaus said, "Telemachus, may Jove, the mighty husband of Juno, bring
+you safely home according to your desire. I will now present you with
+the finest and most precious piece of plate in all my house. It is a
+mixing bowl of pure silver, except the rim, which is inlaid with gold,
+and it is the work of Vulcan. Phaedimus king of the Sidonians made me a
+present of it in the course of a visit that I paid him while I was on
+my return home. I should like to give it to you."
+
+With these words he placed the double cup in the hands of Telemachus,
+while Megapenthes brought the beautiful mixing bowl and set it before
+him. Hard by stood lovely Helen with the robe ready in her hand.
+
+"I too, my son," said she, "have something for you as a keepsake from
+the hand of Helen; it is for your bride to wear upon her wedding day.
+Till then, get your dear mother to keep it for you; thus may you go
+back rejoicing to your own country and to your home."
+
+So saying she gave the robe over to him and he received it gladly. Then
+Pisistratus put the presents into the chariot, and admired them all as
+he did so. Presently Menelaus took Telemachus and Pisistratus into the
+house, and they both of them sat down to table. A maid servant brought
+them water in a beautiful golden ewer, and poured it into a silver
+basin for them to wash their hands, and she drew a clean table beside
+them; an upper servant brought them bread and offered them many good
+things of what there was in the house. Eteoneus carved the meat and
+gave them each their portions, while Megapenthes poured out the wine.
+Then they laid their hands upon the good things that were before them,
+but as soon as they had had enough to eat and drink Telemachus and
+Pisistratus yoked the horses, and took their places in the chariot.
+They drove out through the inner gateway and under the echoing
+gatehouse of the outer court, and Menelaus came after them with a
+golden goblet of wine in his right hand that they might make a
+drink-offering before they set out. He stood in front of the horses and
+pledged them, saying, "Farewell to both of you; see that you tell
+Nestor how I have treated you, for he was as kind to me as any father
+could be while we Achaeans were fighting before Troy."
+
+"We will be sure, sir," answered Telemachus, "to tell him everything as
+soon as we see him. I wish I were as certain of finding Ulysses
+returned when I get back to Ithaca, that I might tell him of the very
+great kindness you have shown me and of the many beautiful presents I
+am taking with me."
+
+As he was thus speaking a bird flew on his right hand—an eagle with a
+great white goose in its talons which it had carried off from the farm
+yard—and all the men and women were running after it and shouting. It
+came quite close up to them and flew away on their right hands in front
+of the horses. When they saw it they were glad, and their hearts took
+comfort within them, whereon Pisistratus said, "Tell me, Menelaus, has
+heaven sent this omen for us or for you?"
+
+Menelaus was thinking what would be the most proper answer for him to
+make, but Helen was too quick for him and said, "I will read this
+matter as heaven has put it in my heart, and as I doubt not that it
+will come to pass. The eagle came from the mountain where it was bred
+and has its nest, and in like manner Ulysses, after having travelled
+far and suffered much, will return to take his revenge—if indeed he is
+not back already and hatching mischief for the suitors."
+
+"May Jove so grant it," replied Telemachus, "if it should prove to be
+so, I will make vows to you as though you were a god, even when I am at
+home."
+
+As he spoke he lashed his horses and they started off at full speed
+through the town towards the open country. They swayed the yoke upon
+their necks and travelled the whole day long till the sun set and
+darkness was over all the land. Then they reached Pherae, where Diocles
+lived who was son of Ortilochus, the son of Alpheus. There they passed
+the night and were treated hospitably. When the child of morning,
+rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, they again yoked their horses and their
+places in the chariot. They drove out through the inner gateway and
+under the echoing gatehouse of the outer court. Then Pisistratus lashed
+his horses on and they flew forward nothing loath; ere long they came
+to Pylos, and then Telemachus said:
+
+"Pisistratus, I hope you will promise to do what I am going to ask you.
+You know our fathers were old friends before us; moreover, we are both
+of an age, and this journey has brought us together still more closely;
+do not, therefore, take me past my ship, but leave me there, for if I
+go to your father's house he will try to keep me in the warmth of his
+good will towards me, and I must go home at once."
+
+Pisistratus thought how he should do as he was asked, and in the end he
+deemed it best to turn his horses towards the ship, and put Menelaus's
+beautiful presents of gold and raiment in the stern of the vessel. Then
+he said, "Go on board at once and tell your men to do so also before I
+can reach home to tell my father. I know how obstinate he is, and am
+sure he will not let you go; he will come down here to fetch you, and
+he will not go back without you. But he will be very angry."
+
+With this he drove his goodly steeds back to the city of the Pylians
+and soon reached his home, but Telemachus called the men together and
+gave his orders. "Now, my men," said he, "get everything in order on
+board the ship, and let us set out home."
+
+Thus did he speak, and they went on board even as he had said. But as
+Telemachus was thus busied, praying also and sacrificing to Minerva in
+the ship's stern, there came to him a man from a distant country, a
+seer, who was flying from Argos because he had killed a man. He was
+descended from Melampus, who used to live in Pylos, the land of sheep;
+he was rich and owned a great house, but he was driven into exile by
+the great and powerful king Neleus. Neleus seized his goods and held
+them for a whole year, during which he was a close prisoner in the
+house of king Phylacus, and in much distress of mind both on account of
+the daughter of Neleus and because he was haunted by a great sorrow
+that dread Erinys had laid upon him. In the end, however, he escaped
+with his life, drove the cattle from Phylace to Pylos, avenged the
+wrong that had been done him, and gave the daughter of Neleus to his
+brother. Then he left the country and went to Argos, where it was
+ordained that he should reign over much people. There he married,
+established himself, and had two famous sons Antiphates and Mantius.
+Antiphates became father of Oicleus, and Oicleus of Amphiaraus, who was
+dearly loved both by Jove and by Apollo, but he did not live to old
+age, for he was killed in Thebes by reason of a woman's gifts. His sons
+were Alcmaeon and Amphilochus. Mantius, the other son of Melampus, was
+father to Polypheides and Cleitus. Aurora, throned in gold, carried off
+Cleitus for his beauty's sake, that he might dwell among the immortals,
+but Apollo made Polypheides the greatest seer in the whole world now
+that Amphiaraus was dead. He quarrelled with his father and went to
+live in Hyperesia, where he remained and prophesied for all men.
+
+His son, Theoclymenus, it was who now came up to Telemachus as he was
+making drink-offerings and praying in his ship. "Friend," said he, "now
+that I find you sacrificing in this place, I beseech you by your
+sacrifices themselves, and by the god to whom you make them, I pray you
+also by your own head and by those of your followers tell me the truth
+and nothing but the truth. Who and whence are you? Tell me also of your
+town and parents."
+
+Telemachus said, "I will answer you quite truly. I am from Ithaca, and
+my father is Ulysses, as surely as that he ever lived. But he has come
+to some miserable end. Therefore I have taken this ship and got my crew
+together to see if I can hear any news of him, for he has been away a
+long time."
+
+"I too," answered Theoclymenus, "am an exile, for I have killed a man
+of my own race. He has many brothers and kinsmen in Argos, and they
+have great power among the Argives. I am flying to escape death at
+their hands, and am thus doomed to be a wanderer on the face of the
+earth. I am your suppliant; take me, therefore, on board your ship that
+they may not kill me, for I know they are in pursuit."
+
+"I will not refuse you," replied Telemachus, "if you wish to join us.
+Come, therefore, and in Ithaca we will treat you hospitably according
+to what we have."
+
+On this he received Theoclymenus' spear and laid it down on the deck of
+the ship. He went on board and sat in the stern, bidding Theoclymenus
+sit beside him; then the men let go the hawsers. Telemachus told them
+to catch hold of the ropes, and they made all haste to do so. They set
+the mast in its socket in the cross plank, raised it and made it fast
+with the forestays, and they hoisted their white sails with sheets of
+twisted ox hide. Minerva sent them a fair wind that blew fresh and
+strong to take the ship on her course as fast as possible. Thus then
+they passed by Crouni and Chalcis.
+
+Presently the sun set and darkness was over all the land. The vessel
+made a quick passage to Pheae and thence on to Elis, where the Epeans
+rule. Telemachus then headed her for the flying islands, wondering
+within himself whether he should escape death or should be taken
+prisoner.
+
+Meanwhile Ulysses and the swineherd were eating their supper in the
+hut, and the men supped with them. As soon as they had had to eat and
+drink, Ulysses began trying to prove the swineherd and see whether he
+would continue to treat him kindly, and ask him to stay on at the
+station or pack him off to the city; so he said:
+
+"Eumaeus, and all of you, to-morrow I want to go away and begin begging
+about the town, so as to be no more trouble to you or to your men. Give
+me your advice therefore, and let me have a good guide to go with me
+and show me the way. I will go the round of the city begging as I needs
+must, to see if any one will give me a drink and a piece of bread. I
+should like also to go to the house of Ulysses and bring news of her
+husband to Queen Penelope. I could then go about among the suitors and
+see if out of all their abundance they will give me a dinner. I should
+soon make them an excellent servant in all sorts of ways. Listen and
+believe when I tell you that by the blessing of Mercury who gives grace
+and good name to the works of all men, there is no one living who would
+make a more handy servant than I should—to put fresh wood on the fire,
+chop fuel, carve, cook, pour out wine, and do all those services that
+poor men have to do for their betters."
+
+The swineherd was very much disturbed when he heard this. "Heaven help
+me," he exclaimed, "what ever can have put such a notion as that into
+your head? If you go near the suitors you will be undone to a
+certainty, for their pride and insolence reach the very heavens. They
+would never think of taking a man like you for a servant. Their
+servants are all young men, well dressed, wearing good cloaks and
+shirts, with well looking faces and their hair always tidy, the tables
+are kept quite clean and are loaded with bread, meat, and wine. Stay
+where you are, then; you are not in anybody's way; I do not mind your
+being here, no more do any of the others, and when Telemachus comes
+home he will give you a shirt and cloak and will send you wherever you
+want to go."
+
+Ulysses answered, "I hope you may be as dear to the gods as you are to
+me, for having saved me from going about and getting into trouble;
+there is nothing worse than being always on the tramp; still, when men
+have once got low down in the world they will go through a great deal
+on behalf of their miserable bellies. Since, however, you press me to
+stay here and await the return of Telemachus, tell me about Ulysses'
+mother, and his father whom he left on the threshold of old age when he
+set out for Troy. Are they still living or are they already dead and in
+the house of Hades?"
+
+"I will tell you all about them," replied Eumaeus, "Laertes is still
+living and prays heaven to let him depart peacefully in his own house,
+for he is terribly distressed about the absence of his son, and also
+about the death of his wife, which grieved him greatly and aged him
+more than anything else did. She came to an unhappy end through
+sorrow for her son: may no friend or neighbour who has dealt kindly by
+me come to such an end as she did. As long as she was still living,
+though she was always grieving, I used to like seeing her and asking
+her how she did, for she brought me up along with her daughter Ctimene,
+the youngest of her children; we were boy and girl together, and she
+made little difference between us. When, however, we both grew up, they
+sent Ctimene to Same and received a splendid dowry for her. As for me,
+my mistress gave me a good shirt and cloak with a pair of sandals for
+my feet, and sent me off into the country, but she was just as fond of
+me as ever. This is all over now. Still it has pleased heaven to
+prosper my work in the situation which I now hold. I have enough to eat
+and drink, and can find something for any respectable stranger who
+comes here; but there is no getting a kind word or deed out of my
+mistress, for the house has fallen into the hands of wicked people.
+Servants want sometimes to see their mistress and have a talk with her;
+they like to have something to eat and drink at the house, and
+something too to take back with them into the country. This is what
+will keep servants in a good humour."
+
+Ulysses answered, "Then you must have been a very little fellow,
+Eumaeus, when you were taken so far away from your home and parents.
+Tell me, and tell me true, was the city in which your father and mother
+lived sacked and pillaged, or did some enemies carry you off when you
+were alone tending sheep or cattle, ship you off here, and sell you for
+whatever your master gave them?"
+
+"Stranger," replied Eumaeus, "as regards your question: sit still, make
+yourself comfortable, drink your wine, and listen to me. The nights are
+now at their longest; there is plenty of time both for sleeping and
+sitting up talking together; you ought not to go to bed till bed time,
+too much sleep is as bad as too little; if any one of the others wishes
+to go to bed let him leave us and do so; he can then take my master's
+pigs out when he has done breakfast in the morning. We too will sit
+here eating and drinking in the hut, and telling one another stories
+about our misfortunes; for when a man has suffered much, and been
+buffeted about in the world, he takes pleasure in recalling the memory
+of sorrows that have long gone by. As regards your question, then, my
+tale is as follows:
+
+"You may have heard of an island called Syra that lies over above
+Ortygia, where the land begins to turn round and look in another
+direction. It is not very thickly peopled, but the soil is good,
+with much pasture fit for cattle and sheep, and it abounds with wine
+and wheat. Dearth never comes there, nor are the people plagued by any
+sickness, but when they grow old Apollo comes with Diana and kills them
+with his painless shafts. It contains two communities, and the whole
+country is divided between these two. My father Ctesius son of Ormenus,
+a man comparable to the gods, reigned over both.
+
+"Now to this place there came some cunning traders from Phoenicia (for
+the Phoenicians are great mariners) in a ship which they had freighted
+with gewgaws of all kinds. There happened to be a Phoenician woman in
+my father's house, very tall and comely, and an excellent servant;
+these scoundrels got hold of her one day when she was washing near
+their ship, seduced her, and cajoled her in ways that no woman can
+resist, no matter how good she may be by nature. The man who had
+seduced her asked her who she was and where she came from, and on this
+she told him her father's name. 'I come from Sidon,' said she, 'and am
+daughter to Arybas, a man rolling in wealth. One day as I was coming
+into the town from the country, some Taphian pirates seized me and took
+me here over the sea, where they sold me to the man who owns this
+house, and he gave them their price for me.'
+
+"The man who had seduced her then said, 'Would you like to come along
+with us to see the house of your parents and your parents themselves?
+They are both alive and are said to be well off.'
+
+"'I will do so gladly,' answered she, 'if you men will first swear me a
+solemn oath that you will do me no harm by the way.'
+
+"They all swore as she told them, and when they had completed their
+oath the woman said, 'Hush; and if any of your men meets me in the
+street or at the well, do not let him speak to me, for fear some one
+should go and tell my master, in which case he would suspect something.
+He would put me in prison, and would have all of you murdered; keep
+your own counsel therefore; buy your merchandise as fast as you can,
+and send me word when you have done loading. I will bring as much gold
+as I can lay my hands on, and there is something else also that I can
+do towards paying my fare. I am nurse to the son of the good man of the
+house, a funny little fellow just able to run about. I will carry him
+off in your ship, and you will get a great deal of money for him if you
+take him and sell him in foreign parts.'
+
+"On this she went back to the house. The Phoenicians stayed a whole
+year till they had loaded their ship with much precious merchandise,
+and then, when they had got freight enough, they sent to tell the
+woman. Their messenger, a very cunning fellow, came to my father's
+house bringing a necklace of gold with amber beads strung among it; and
+while my mother and the servants had it in their hands admiring it and
+bargaining about it, he made a sign quietly to the woman and then went
+back to the ship, whereon she took me by the hand and led me out of the
+house. In the fore part of the house she saw the tables set with the
+cups of guests who had been feasting with my father, as being in
+attendance on him; these were now all gone to a meeting of the public
+assembly, so she snatched up three cups and carried them off in the
+bosom of her dress, while I followed her, for I knew no better. The sun
+was now set, and darkness was over all the land, so we hurried on as
+fast as we could till we reached the harbour, where the Phoenician ship
+was lying. When they had got on board they sailed their ways over the
+sea, taking us with them, and Jove sent then a fair wind; six days did
+we sail both night and day, but on the seventh day Diana struck the
+woman and she fell heavily down into the ship's hold as though she were
+a sea gull alighting on the water; so they threw her overboard to the
+seals and fishes, and I was left all sorrowful and alone. Presently the
+winds and waves took the ship to Ithaca, where Laertes gave sundry of
+his chattels for me, and thus it was that ever I came to set eyes upon
+this country."
+
+Ulysses answered, "Eumaeus, I have heard the story of your misfortunes
+with the most lively interest and pity, but Jove has given you good as
+well as evil, for in spite of everything you have a good master, who
+sees that you always have enough to eat and drink; and you lead a good
+life, whereas I am still going about begging my way from city to city."
+
+Thus did they converse, and they had only a very little time left for
+sleep, for it was soon daybreak. In the mean time Telemachus and his
+crew were nearing land, so they loosed the sails, took down the mast,
+and rowed the ship into the harbour. They cast out their mooring
+stones and made fast the hawsers; they then got out upon the sea shore,
+mixed their wine, and got dinner ready. As soon as they had had enough
+to eat and drink Telemachus said, "Take the ship on to the town, but
+leave me here, for I want to look after the herdsmen on one of my
+farms. In the evening, when I have seen all I want, I will come down to
+the city, and to-morrow morning in return for your trouble I will give
+you all a good dinner with meat and wine." 
+
+Then Theoclymenus said, "And what, my dear young friend, is to become
+of me? To whose house, among all your chief men, am I to repair? or
+shall I go straight to your own house and to your mother?"
+
+"At any other time," replied Telemachus, "I should have bidden you go
+to my own house, for you would find no want of hospitality; at the
+present moment, however, you would not be comfortable there, for I
+shall be away, and my mother will not see you; she does not often show
+herself even to the suitors, but sits at her loom weaving in an upper
+chamber, out of their way; but I can tell you a man whose house you can
+go to—I mean Eurymachus the son of Polybus, who is held in the highest
+estimation by every one in Ithaca. He is much the best man and the most
+persistent wooer, of all those who are paying court to my mother and
+trying to take Ulysses' place. Jove, however, in heaven alone knows
+whether or no they will come to a bad end before the marriage takes
+place."
+
+As he was speaking a bird flew by upon his right hand—a hawk, Apollo's
+messenger. It held a dove in its talons, and the feathers, as it tore
+them off, fell to the ground midway between Telemachus and the ship.
+On this Theoclymenus called him apart and caught him by the hand.
+"Telemachus," said he, "that bird did not fly on your right hand
+without having been sent there by some god. As soon as I saw it I knew
+it was an omen; it means that you will remain powerful and that there
+will be no house in Ithaca more royal than your own."
+
+"I wish it may prove so," answered Telemachus. "If it does, I will show
+you so much good will and give you so many presents that all who meet
+you will congratulate you."
+
+Then he said to his friend Piraeus, "Piraeus, son of Clytius, you have
+throughout shown yourself the most willing to serve me of all those who
+have accompanied me to Pylos; I wish you would take this stranger to
+your own house and entertain him hospitably till I can come for him."
+
+And Piraeus answered, "Telemachus, you may stay away as long as you
+please, but I will look after him for you, and he shall find no lack of
+hospitality."
+
+As he spoke he went on board, and bade the others do so also and loose
+the hawsers, so they took their places in the ship. But Telemachus
+bound on his sandals, and took a long and doughty spear with a head of
+sharpened bronze from the deck of the ship. Then they loosed the
+hawsers, thrust the ship off from land, and made on towards the city as
+they had been told to do, while Telemachus strode on as fast as he
+could, till he reached the homestead where his countless herds of swine
+were feeding, and where dwelt the excellent swineherd, who was so
+devoted a servant to his master.
+
+Meanwhile Ulysses and the swineherd had lit a fire in the hut and were
+were getting breakfast ready at daybreak, for they had sent the men out
+with the pigs. When Telemachus came up, the dogs did not bark but
+fawned upon him, so Ulysses, hearing the sound of feet and noticing
+that the dogs did not bark, said to Eumaeus:
+
+"Eumaeus, I hear footsteps; I suppose one of your men or some one of
+your acquaintance is coming here, for the dogs are fawning upon him and
+not barking."
+
+The words were hardly out of his mouth before his son stood at the
+door. Eumaeus sprang to his feet, and the bowls in which he was mixing
+wine fell from his hands, as he made towards his master. He kissed his
+head and both his beautiful eyes, and wept for joy. A father could not
+be more delighted at the return of an only son, the child of his old
+age, after ten years' absence in a foreign country and after having
+gone through much hardship. He embraced him, kissed him all over as
+though he had come back from the dead, and spoke fondly to him saying:
+
+"So you are come, Telemachus, light of my eyes that you are. When I
+heard you had gone to Pylos I made sure I was never going to see you
+any more. Come in, my dear child, and sit down, that I may have a good
+look at you now you are home again; it is not very often you come into
+the country to see us herdsmen; you stick pretty close to the town
+generally. I suppose you think it better to keep an eye on what the
+suitors are doing."
+
+"So be it, old friend," answered Telemachus, "but I am come now because
+I want to see you, and to learn whether my mother is still at her old
+home or whether some one else has married her, so that the bed of
+Ulysses is without bedding and covered with cobwebs."
+
+"She is still at the house," replied Eumaeus, "grieving and breaking
+her heart, and doing nothing but weep, both night and day continually."
+
+As he spoke he took Telemachus' spear, whereon he crossed the stone
+threshold and came inside. Ulysses rose from his seat to give him place
+as he entered, but Telemachus checked him; "Sit down, stranger," said
+he, "I can easily find another seat, and there is one here who will lay
+it for me."
+
+Ulysses went back to his own place, and Eumaeus strewed some green
+brushwood on the floor and threw a sheepskin on top of it for
+Telemachus to sit upon. Then the swineherd brought them platters of
+cold meat, the remains from what they had eaten the day before, and he
+filled the bread baskets with bread as fast as he could. He mixed wine
+also in bowls of ivy-wood, and took his seat facing Ulysses. Then they
+laid their hands on the good things that were before them, and as soon
+as they had had enough to eat and drink Telemachus said to Eumaeus,
+"Old friend, where does this stranger come from? How did his crew bring
+him to Ithaca, and who were they?—for assuredly he did not come here by
+land."
+
+To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "My son, I will tell you the
+real truth. He says he is a Cretan, and that he has been a great
+traveller. At this moment he is running away from a Thesprotian ship,
+and has taken refuge at my station, so I will put him into your hands.
+Do whatever you like with him, only remember that he is your
+suppliant."
+
+"I am very much distressed," said Telemachus, "by what you have just
+told me. How can I take this stranger into my house? I am as yet young,
+and am not strong enough to hold my own if any man attacks me. My
+mother cannot make up her mind whether to stay where she is and look
+after the house out of respect for public opinion and the memory of her
+husband, or whether the time is now come for her to take the best man
+of those who are wooing her, and the one who will make her the most
+advantageous offer; still, as the stranger has come to your station I
+will find him a cloak and shirt of good wear, with a sword and sandals,
+and will send him wherever he wants to go. Or if you like you can keep
+him here at the station, and I will send him clothes and food that he
+may be no burden on you and on your men; but I will not have him go
+near the suitors, for they are very insolent, and are sure to ill treat
+him in a way that would greatly grieve me; no matter how valiant a man
+may be he can do nothing against numbers, for they will be too strong
+for him."
+
+Then Ulysses said, "Sir, it is right that I should say something
+myself. I am much shocked about what you have said about the insolent
+way in which the suitors are behaving in despite of such a man as you
+are. Tell me, do you submit to such treatment tamely, or has some god
+set your people against you? May you not complain of your brothers—for
+it is to these that a man may look for support, however great his
+quarrel may be? I wish I were as young as you are and in my present
+mind; if I were son to Ulysses, or, indeed, Ulysses himself, I would
+rather some one came and cut my head off, but I would go to the house
+and be the bane of every one of these men. If they were too many for
+me—I being single-handed—I would rather die fighting in my own house
+than see such disgraceful sights day after day, strangers grossly
+maltreated, and men dragging the women servants about the house in an
+unseemly way, wine drawn recklessly, and bread wasted all to no purpose
+for an end that shall never be accomplished."
+
+And Telemachus answered, "I will tell you truly everything. There is no
+enmity between me and my people, nor can I complain of brothers, to
+whom a man may look for support however great his quarrel may be. Jove
+has made us a race of only sons. Laertes was the only son of Arceisius,
+and Ulysses only son of Laertes. I am myself the only son of Ulysses
+who left me behind him when he went away, so that I have never been of
+any use to him. Hence it comes that my house is in the hands of
+numberless marauders; for the chiefs from all the neighbouring islands,
+Dulichium, Same, Zacynthus, as also all the principal men of Ithaca
+itself, are eating up my house under the pretext of paying court to my
+mother, who will neither say point blank that she will not marry, nor
+yet bring matters to an end, so they are making havoc of my estate, and
+before long will do so with myself into the bargain. The issue,
+however, rests with heaven. But do you, old friend Eumaeus, go at once
+and tell Penelope that I am safe and have returned from Pylos. Tell it
+to herself alone, and then come back here without letting any one else
+know, for there are many who are plotting mischief against me."
+
+"I understand and heed you," replied Eumaeus; "you need instruct me no
+further, only as I am going that way say whether I had not better let
+poor Laertes know that you are returned. He used to superintend the
+work on his farm in spite of his bitter sorrow about Ulysses, and he
+would eat and drink at will along with his servants; but they tell me
+that from the day on which you set out for Pylos he has neither eaten
+nor drunk as he ought to do, nor does he look after his farm, but sits
+weeping and wasting the flesh from off his bones."
+
+"More's the pity," answered Telemachus, "I am sorry for him, but we
+must leave him to himself just now. If people could have everything
+their own way, the first thing I should choose would be the return of
+my father; but go, and give your message; then make haste back again,
+and do not turn out of your way to tell Laertes. Tell my mother to send
+one of her women secretly with the news at once, and let him hear it
+from her."
+
+Thus did he urge the swineherd; Eumaeus, therefore, took his sandals,
+bound them to his feet, and started for the town. Minerva watched him
+well off the station, and then came up to it in the form of a
+woman—fair, stately, and wise. She stood against the side of the entry,
+and revealed herself to Ulysses, but Telemachus could not see her, and
+knew not that she was there, for the gods do not let themselves be seen
+by everybody. Ulysses saw her, and so did the dogs, for they did not
+bark, but went scared and whining off to the other side of the yards.
+She nodded her head and motioned to Ulysses with her eyebrows; whereon
+he left the hut and stood before her outside the main wall of the
+yards. Then she said to him:
+
+"Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, it is now time for you to tell your
+son: do not keep him in the dark any longer, but lay your plans for the
+destruction of the suitors, and then make for the town. I will not be
+long in joining you, for I too am eager for the fray."
+
+As she spoke she touched him with her golden wand. First she threw a
+fair clean shirt and cloak about his shoulders; then she made him
+younger and of more imposing presence; she gave him back his colour,
+filled out his cheeks, and let his beard become dark again. Then she
+went away and Ulysses came back inside the hut. His son was astounded
+when he saw him, and turned his eyes away for fear he might be looking
+upon a god.
+
+"Stranger," said he, "how suddenly you have changed from what you were
+a moment or two ago. You are dressed differently and your colour is not
+the same. Are you some one or other of the gods that live in heaven? If
+so, be propitious to me till I can make you due sacrifice and offerings
+of wrought gold. Have mercy upon me."
+
+And Ulysses said, "I am no god, why should you take me for one? I am
+your father, on whose account you grieve and suffer so much at the
+hands of lawless men."
+
+As he spoke he kissed his son, and a tear fell from his cheek on to the
+ground, for he had restrained all tears till now. But Telemachus could
+not yet believe that it was his father, and said:
+
+"You are not my father, but some god is flattering me with vain hopes
+that I may grieve the more hereafter; no mortal man could of himself
+contrive to do as you have been doing, and make yourself old and young
+at a moment's notice, unless a god were with him. A second ago you were
+old and all in rags, and now you are like some god come down from
+heaven."
+
+Ulysses answered, "Telemachus, you ought not to be so immeasurably
+astonished at my being really here. There is no other Ulysses who will
+come hereafter. Such as I am, it is I, who after long wandering and
+much hardship have got home in the twentieth year to my own country.
+What you wonder at is the work of the redoubtable goddess Minerva, who
+does with me whatever she will, for she can do what she pleases. At one
+moment she makes me like a beggar, and the next I am a young man with
+good clothes on my back; it is an easy matter for the gods who live in
+heaven to make any man look either rich or poor."
+
+As he spoke he sat down, and Telemachus threw his arms about his father
+and wept. They were both so much moved that they cried aloud like
+eagles or vultures with crooked talons that have been robbed of their
+half fledged young by peasants. Thus piteously did they weep, and the
+sun would have gone down upon their mourning if Telemachus had not
+suddenly said, "In what ship, my dear father, did your crew bring you
+to Ithaca? Of what nation did they declare themselves to be—for you
+cannot have come by land?"
+
+"I will tell you the truth, my son," replied Ulysses. "It was the
+Phaeacians who brought me here. They are great sailors, and are in the
+habit of giving escorts to any one who reaches their coasts. They took
+me over the sea while I was fast asleep, and landed me in Ithaca, after
+giving me many presents in bronze, gold, and raiment. These things by
+heaven's mercy are lying concealed in a cave, and I am now come here on
+the suggestion of Minerva that we may consult about killing our
+enemies. First, therefore, give me a list of the suitors, with their
+number, that I may learn who, and how many, they are. I can then turn
+the matter over in my mind, and see whether we two can fight the whole
+body of them ourselves, or whether we must find others to help us."
+
+To this Telemachus answered, "Father, I have always heard of your
+renown both in the field and in council, but the task you talk of is a
+very great one: I am awed at the mere thought of it; two men cannot
+stand against many and brave ones. There are not ten suitors only, nor
+twice ten, but ten many times over; you shall learn their number at
+once. There are fifty-two chosen youths from Dulichium, and they have
+six servants; from Same there are twenty-four; twenty young Achaeans
+from Zacynthus, and twelve from Ithaca itself, all of them well born.
+They have with them a servant Medon, a bard, and two men who can carve
+at table. If we face such numbers as this, you may have bitter cause to
+rue your coming, and your revenge. See whether you cannot think of some
+one who would be willing to come and help us."
+
+"Listen to me," replied Ulysses, "and think whether Minerva and her
+father Jove may seem sufficient, or whether I am to try and find some
+one else as well."
+
+"Those whom you have named," answered Telemachus, "are a couple of good
+allies, for though they dwell high up among the clouds they have power
+over both gods and men."
+
+"These two," continued Ulysses, "will not keep long out of the fray,
+when the suitors and we join fight in my house. Now, therefore, return
+home early to-morrow morning, and go about among the suitors as before.
+Later on the swineherd will bring me to the city disguised as a
+miserable old beggar. If you see them ill treating me, steel your heart
+against my sufferings; even though they drag me feet foremost out of
+the house, or throw things at me, look on and do nothing beyond gently
+trying to make them behave more reasonably; but they will not listen to
+you, for the day of their reckoning is at hand. Furthermore I say, and
+lay my saying to your heart; when Minerva shall put it in my mind, I
+will nod my head to you, and on seeing me do this you must collect all
+the armour that is in the house and hide it in the strong store room.
+Make some excuse when the suitors ask you why you are removing it; say
+that you have taken it to be out of the way of the smoke, inasmuch as
+it is no longer what it was when Ulysses went away, but has become
+soiled and begrimed with soot. Add to this more particularly that you
+are afraid Jove may set them on to quarrel over their wine, and that
+they may do each other some harm which may disgrace both banquet and
+wooing, for the sight of arms sometimes tempts people to use them. But
+leave a sword and a spear apiece for yourself and me, and a couple of
+oxhide shields so that we can snatch them up at any moment; Jove and
+Minerva will then soon quiet these people. There is also another
+matter; if you are indeed my son and my blood runs in your veins, let
+no one know that Ulysses is within the house—neither Laertes, nor yet
+the swineherd, nor any of the servants, nor even Penelope herself. Let
+you and me exploit the women alone, and let us also make trial of some
+other of the men servants, to see who is on our side and whose hand is
+against us."
+
+"Father," replied Telemachus, "you will come to know me by and by, and
+when you do you will find that I can keep your counsel. I do not think,
+however, the plan you propose will turn out well for either of us.
+Think it over. It will take us a long time to go the round of the farms
+and exploit the men, and all the time the suitors will be wasting your
+estate with impunity and without compunction. Prove the women by all
+means, to see who are disloyal and who guiltless, but I am not in
+favour of going round and trying the men. We can attend to that later
+on, if you really have some sign from Jove that he will support you."
+
+Thus did they converse, and meanwhile the ship which had brought
+Telemachus and his crew from Pylos had reached the town of Ithaca. When
+they had come inside the harbour they drew the ship on to the land;
+their servants came and took their armour from them, and they left all
+the presents at the house of Clytius. Then they sent a servant to tell
+Penelope that Telemachus had gone into the country, but had sent the
+ship to the town to prevent her from being alarmed and made unhappy.
+This servant and Eumaeus happened to meet when they were both on the
+same errand of going to tell Penelope. When they reached the House, the
+servant stood up and said to the queen in the presence of the waiting
+women, "Your son, Madam, is now returned from Pylos"; but Eumaeus went
+close up to Penelope, and said privately all that her son had bidden
+him tell her. When he had given his message he left the house with its
+outbuildings and went back to his pigs again.
+
+The suitors were surprised and angry at what had happened, so they went
+outside the great wall that ran round the outer court, and held a
+council near the main entrance. Eurymachus, son of Polybus, was the
+first to speak.
+
+"My friends," said he, "this voyage of Telemachus's is a very serious
+matter; we had made sure that it would come to nothing. Now, however,
+let us draw a ship into the water, and get a crew together to send
+after the others and tell them to come back as fast as they can."
+
+He had hardly done speaking when Amphinomus turned in his place and saw
+the ship inside the harbour, with the crew lowering her sails, and
+putting by their oars; so he laughed, and said to the others, "We need
+not send them any message, for they are here. Some god must have told
+them, or else they saw the ship go by, and could not overtake her."
+
+On this they rose and went to the water side. The crew then drew the
+ship on shore; their servants took their armour from them, and they
+went up in a body to the place of assembly, but they would not let any
+one old or young sit along with them, and Antinous, son of Eupeithes,
+spoke first.
+
+"Good heavens," said he, "see how the gods have saved this man from
+destruction. We kept a succession of scouts upon the headlands all day
+long, and when the sun was down we never went on shore to sleep, but
+waited in the ship all night till morning in the hope of capturing and
+killing him; but some god has conveyed him home in spite of us. Let us
+consider how we can make an end of him. He must not escape us; our
+affair is never likely to come off while he is alive, for he is very
+shrewd, and public feeling is by no means all on our side. We must make
+haste before he can call the Achaeans in assembly; he will lose no time
+in doing so, for he will be furious with us, and will tell all the
+world how we plotted to kill him, but failed to take him. The people
+will not like this when they come to know of it; we must see that they
+do us no hurt, nor drive us from our own country into exile. Let us try
+and lay hold of him either on his farm away from the town, or on the
+road hither. Then we can divide up his property amongst us, and let his
+mother and the man who marries her have the house. If this does not
+please you, and you wish Telemachus to live on and hold his father's
+property, then we must not gather here and eat up his goods in this
+way, but must make our offers to Penelope each from his own house, and
+she can marry the man who will give the most for her, and whose lot it
+is to win her."
+
+They all held their peace until Amphinomus rose to speak. He was the
+son of Nisus, who was son to king Aretias, and he was foremost among
+all the suitors from the wheat-growing and well grassed island of
+Dulichium; his conversation, moreover, was more agreeable to Penelope
+than that of any of the other suitors, for he was a man of good natural
+disposition. "My friends," said he, speaking to them plainly and in all
+honestly, "I am not in favour of killing Telemachus. It is a heinous
+thing to kill one who is of noble blood. Let us first take counsel of
+the gods, and if the oracles of Jove advise it, I will both help to
+kill him myself, and will urge everyone else to do so; but if they
+dissuade us, I would have you hold your hands."
+
+Thus did he speak, and his words pleased them well, so they rose
+forthwith and went to the house of Ulysses, where they took their
+accustomed seats.
+
+Then Penelope resolved that she would show herself to the suitors. She
+knew of the plot against Telemachus, for the servant Medon had
+overheard their counsels and had told her; she went down therefore to
+the court attended by her maidens, and when she reached the suitors she
+stood by one of the bearing-posts supporting the roof of the cloister
+holding a veil before her face, and rebuked Antinous saying:
+
+"Antinous, insolent and wicked schemer, they say you are the best
+speaker and counsellor of any man your own age in Ithaca, but you are
+nothing of the kind. Madman, why should you try to compass the death of
+Telemachus, and take no heed of suppliants, whose witness is Jove
+himself? It is not right for you to plot thus against one another. Do
+you not remember how your father fled to this house in fear of the
+people, who were enraged against him for having gone with some Taphian
+pirates and plundered the Thesprotians who were at peace with us? They
+wanted to tear him in pieces and eat up everything he had, but Ulysses
+stayed their hands although they were infuriated, and now you devour
+his property without paying for it, and break my heart by wooing his
+wife and trying to kill his son. Leave off doing so, and stop the
+others also."
+
+To this Eurymachus son of Polybus answered, "Take heart, Queen Penelope
+daughter of Icarius, and do not trouble yourself about these matters.
+The man is not yet born, nor never will be, who shall lay hands upon
+your son Telemachus, while I yet live to look upon the face of the
+earth. I say—and it shall surely be—that my spear shall be reddened
+with his blood; for many a time has Ulysses taken me on his knees, held
+wine up to my lips to drink, and put pieces of meat into my hands.
+Therefore Telemachus is much the dearest friend I have, and has nothing
+to fear from the hands of us suitors. Of course, if death comes to him
+from the gods, he cannot escape it." He said this to quiet her, but in
+reality he was plotting against Telemachus.
+
+Then Penelope went upstairs again and mourned her husband till Minerva
+shed sleep over her eyes. In the evening Eumaeus got back to Ulysses
+and his son, who had just sacrificed a young pig of a year old and were
+helping one another to get supper ready; Minerva therefore came up to
+Ulysses, turned him into an old man with a stroke of her wand, and clad
+him in his old clothes again, for fear that the swineherd might
+recognise him and not keep the secret, but go and tell Penelope.
+
+Telemachus was the first to speak. "So you have got back, Eumaeus,"
+said he. "What is the news of the town? Have the suitors returned, or
+are they still waiting over yonder, to take me on my way home?"
+
+"I did not think of asking about that," replied Eumaeus, "when I was in
+the town. I thought I would give my message and come back as soon as I
+could. I met a man sent by those who had gone with you to Pylos, and he
+was the first to tell the news to your mother, but I can say what I saw
+with my own eyes; I had just got on to the crest of the hill of Mercury
+above the town when I saw a ship coming into harbour with a number of
+men in her. They had many shields and spears, and I thought it was the
+suitors, but I cannot be sure."
+
+On hearing this Telemachus smiled to his father, but so that Eumaeus
+could not see him.
+
+Then, when they had finished their work and the meal was ready, they
+ate it, and every man had his full share so that all were satisfied. As
+soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, they laid down to rest
+and enjoyed the boon of sleep.
+
+When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, Telemachus
+bound on his sandals and took a strong spear that suited his hands, for
+he wanted to go into the city. "Old friend," said he to the swineherd,
+"I will now go to the town and show myself to my mother, for she will
+never leave off grieving till she has seen me. As for this unfortunate
+stranger, take him to the town and let him beg there of any one who
+will give him a drink and a piece of bread. I have trouble enough of my
+own, and cannot be burdened with other people. If this makes him angry
+so much the worse for him, but I like to say what I mean."
+
+Then Ulysses said, "Sir, I do not want to stay here; a beggar can
+always do better in town than country, for any one who likes can give
+him something. I am too old to care about remaining here at the beck
+and call of a master. Therefore let this man do as you have just told
+him, and take me to the town as soon as I have had a warm by the fire,
+and the day has got a little heat in it. My clothes are wretchedly
+thin, and this frosty morning I shall be perished with cold, for you
+say the city is some way off."
+
+On this Telemachus strode off through the yards, brooding his revenge
+upon the suitors. When he reached home he stood his spear against a
+bearing-post of the cloister, crossed the stone floor of the cloister
+itself, and went inside.
+
+Nurse Euryclea saw him long before any one else did. She was putting
+the fleeces on to the seats, and she burst out crying as she ran up to
+him; all the other maids came up too, and covered his head and
+shoulders with their kisses. Penelope came out of her room looking like
+Diana or Venus, and wept as she flung her arms about her son. She
+kissed his forehead and both his beautiful eyes, "Light of my eyes,"
+she cried as she spoke fondly to him, "so you are come home again; I
+made sure I was never going to see you any more. To think of your
+having gone off to Pylos without saying anything about it or obtaining
+my consent. But come, tell me what you saw."
+
+"Do not scold me, mother," answered Telemachus, "nor vex me, seeing
+what a narrow escape I have had, but wash your face, change your dress,
+go upstairs with your maids, and promise full and sufficient hecatombs
+to all the gods if Jove will only grant us our revenge upon the
+suitors. I must now go to the place of assembly to invite a stranger
+who has come back with me from Pylos. I sent him on with my crew, and
+told Piraeus to take him home and look after him till I could come for
+him myself."
+
+She heeded her son's words, washed her face, changed her dress, and
+vowed full and sufficient hecatombs to all the gods if they would only
+vouchsafe her revenge upon the suitors.
+
+Telemachus went through, and out of, the cloisters spear in hand—not
+alone, for his two fleet dogs went with him. Minerva endowed him with a
+presence of such divine comeliness that all marvelled at him as he went
+by, and the suitors gathered round him with fair words in their mouths
+and malice in their hearts; but he avoided them, and went to sit with
+Mentor, Antiphus, and Halitherses, old friends of his father's house,
+and they made him tell them all that had happened to him. Then Piraeus
+came up with Theoclymenus, whom he had escorted through the town to the
+place of assembly, whereon Telemachus at once joined them. Piraeus was
+first to speak: "Telemachus," said he, "I wish you would send some of
+your women to my house to take away the presents Menelaus gave you."
+
+"We do not know, Piraeus," answered Telemachus, "what may happen. If
+the suitors kill me in my own house and divide my property among them,
+I would rather you had the presents than that any of those people
+should get hold of them. If on the other hand I managed to kill them, I
+shall be much obliged if you will kindly bring me my presents."
+
+With these words he took Theoclymenus to his own house. When they got
+there they laid their cloaks on the benches and seats, went into the
+baths, and washed themselves. When the maids had washed and anointed
+them, and had given them cloaks and shirts, they took their seats at
+table. A maid servant then brought them water in a beautiful golden
+ewer, and poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their hands;
+and she drew a clean table beside them. An upper servant brought them
+bread and offered them many good things of what there was in the house.
+Opposite them sat Penelope, reclining on a couch by one of the
+bearing-posts of the cloister, and spinning. Then they laid their hands
+on the good things that were before them, and as soon as they had had
+enough to eat and drink Penelope said:
+
+"Telemachus, I shall go upstairs and lie down on that sad couch, which
+I have not ceased to water with my tears, from the day Ulysses set out
+for Troy with the sons of Atreus. You failed, however, to make it clear
+to me before the suitors came back to the house, whether or no you had
+been able to hear anything about the return of your father."
+
+"I will tell you then truth," replied her son. "We went to Pylos and
+saw Nestor, who took me to his house and treated me as hospitably as
+though I were a son of his own who had just returned after a long
+absence; so also did his sons; but he said he had not heard a word from
+any human being about Ulysses, whether he was alive or dead. He sent
+me, therefore, with a chariot and horses to Menelaus. There I saw
+Helen, for whose sake so many, both Argives and Trojans, were in
+heaven's wisdom doomed to suffer. Menelaus asked me what it was that
+had brought me to Lacedaemon, and I told him the whole truth, whereon
+he said, 'So, then, these cowards would usurp a brave man's bed? A hind
+might as well lay her new-born young in the lair of a lion, and then go
+off to feed in the forest or in some grassy dell. The lion, when he
+comes back to his lair, will make short work with the pair of them, and
+so will Ulysses with these suitors. By father Jove, Minerva, and
+Apollo, if Ulysses is still the man that he was when he wrestled with
+Philomeleides in Lesbos, and threw him so heavily that all the Greeks
+cheered him—if he is still such, and were to come near these suitors,
+they would have a short shrift and a sorry wedding. As regards your
+question, however, I will not prevaricate nor deceive you, but what the
+old man of the sea told me, so much will I tell you in full. He said he
+could see Ulysses on an island sorrowing bitterly in the house of the
+nymph Calypso, who was keeping him prisoner, and he could not reach his
+home, for he had no ships nor sailors to take him over the sea.' This
+was what Menelaus told me, and when I had heard his story I came away;
+the gods then gave me a fair wind and soon brought me safe home again."
+
+With these words he moved the heart of Penelope. Then Theoclymenus said
+to her:
+
+"Madam, wife of Ulysses, Telemachus does not understand these things;
+listen therefore to me, for I can divine them surely, and will hide
+nothing from you. May Jove the king of heaven be my witness, and the
+rites of hospitality, with that hearth of Ulysses to which I now come,
+that Ulysses himself is even now in Ithaca, and, either going about the
+country or staying in one place, is enquiring into all these evil deeds
+and preparing a day of reckoning for the suitors. I saw an omen when I
+was on the ship which meant this, and I told Telemachus about it."
+
+"May it be even so," answered Penelope; "if your words come true, you
+shall have such gifts and such good will from me that all who see you
+shall congratulate you."
+
+Thus did they converse. Meanwhile the suitors were throwing discs, or
+aiming with spears at a mark on the levelled ground in front of the
+house, and behaving with all their old insolence. But when it was now
+time for dinner, and the flock of sheep and goats had come into the
+town from all the country round, with their shepherds as usual,
+then Medon, who was their favourite servant, and who waited upon them
+at table, said, "Now then, my young masters, you have had enough sport,
+so come inside that we may get dinner ready. Dinner is not a bad thing,
+at dinner time."
+
+They left their sports as he told them, and when they were within the
+house, they laid their cloaks on the benches and seats inside, and then
+sacrificed some sheep, goats, pigs, and a heifer, all of them fat and
+well grown. Thus they made ready for their meal. In the meantime
+Ulysses and the swineherd were about starting for the town, and the
+swineherd said, "Stranger, I suppose you still want to go to town
+to-day, as my master said you were to do; for my own part I should have
+liked you to stay here as a station hand, but I must do as my master
+tells me, or he will scold me later on, and a scolding from one's
+master is a very serious thing. Let us then be off, for it is now broad
+day; it will be night again directly and then you will find it
+colder."
+
+"I know, and understand you," replied Ulysses; "you need say no more.
+Let us be going, but if you have a stick ready cut, let me have it to
+walk with, for you say the road is a very rough one."
+
+As he spoke he threw his shabby old tattered wallet over his shoulders,
+by the cord from which it hung, and Eumaeus gave him a stick to his
+liking. The two then started, leaving the station in charge of the dogs
+and herdsmen who remained behind; the swineherd led the way and his
+master followed after, looking like some broken down old tramp as he
+leaned upon his staff, and his clothes were all in rags. When they had
+got over the rough steep ground and were nearing the city, they reached
+the fountain from which the citizens drew their water. This had been
+made by Ithacus, Neritus, and Polyctor. There was a grove of
+water-loving poplars planted in a circle all round it, and the clear
+cold water came down to it from a rock high up, while above the
+fountain there was an altar to the nymphs, at which all wayfarers used
+to sacrifice. Here Melanthius son of Dolius overtook them as he was
+driving down some goats, the best in his flock, for the suitors'
+dinner, and there were two shepherds with him. When he saw Eumaeus and
+Ulysses he reviled them with outrageous and unseemly language, which
+made Ulysses very angry.
+
+"There you go," cried he, "and a precious pair you are. See how heaven
+brings birds of the same feather to one another. Where, pray, master
+swineherd, are you taking this poor miserable object? It would make any
+one sick to see such a creature at table. A fellow like this never won
+a prize for anything in his life, but will go about rubbing his
+shoulders against every man's door post, and begging, not for swords
+and cauldrons like a man, but only for a few scraps not worth
+begging for. If you would give him to me for a hand on my station, he
+might do to clean out the folds, or bring a bit of sweet feed to the
+kids, and he could fatten his thighs as much as he pleased on whey; but
+he has taken to bad ways and will not go about any kind of work; he
+will do nothing but beg victuals all the town over, to feed his
+insatiable belly. I say, therefore—and it shall surely be—if he goes
+near Ulysses' house he will get his head broken by the stools they will
+fling at him, till they turn him out."
+
+On this, as he passed, he gave Ulysses a kick on the hip out of pure
+wantonness, but Ulysses stood firm, and did not budge from the path.
+For a moment he doubted whether or no to fly at Melanthius and kill him
+with his staff, or fling him to the ground and beat his brains out; he
+resolved, however, to endure it and keep himself in check, but the
+swineherd looked straight at Melanthius and rebuked him, lifting up his
+hands and praying to heaven as he did so.
+
+"Fountain nymphs," he cried, "children of Jove, if ever Ulysses burned
+you thigh bones covered with fat whether of lambs or kids, grant my
+prayer that heaven may send him home. He would soon put an end to the
+swaggering threats with which such men as you go about insulting
+people—gadding all over the town while your flocks are going to ruin
+through bad shepherding."
+
+Then Melanthius the goatherd answered, "You ill conditioned cur, what
+are you talking about? Some day or other I will put you on board ship
+and take you to a foreign country, where I can sell you and pocket the
+money you will fetch. I wish I were as sure that Apollo would strike
+Telemachus dead this very day, or that the suitors would kill him, as I
+am that Ulysses will never come home again."
+
+With this he left them to come on at their leisure, while he went
+quickly forward and soon reached the house of his master. When he got
+there he went in and took his seat among the suitors opposite
+Eurymachus, who liked him better than any of the others. The servants
+brought him a portion of meat, and an upper woman servant set bread
+before him that he might eat. Presently Ulysses and the swineherd came
+up to the house and stood by it, amid a sound of music, for Phemius was
+just beginning to sing to the suitors. Then Ulysses took hold of the
+swineherd's hand, and said:
+
+"Eumaeus, this house of Ulysses is a very fine place. No matter how far
+you go, you will find few like it. One building keeps following on
+after another. The outer court has a wall with battlements all round
+it; the doors are double folding, and of good workmanship; it would be
+a hard matter to take it by force of arms. I perceive, too, that there
+are many people banqueting within it, for there is a smell of roast
+meat, and I hear a sound of music, which the gods have made to go along
+with feasting."
+
+Then Eumaeus said, "You have perceived aright, as indeed you generally
+do; but let us think what will be our best course. Will you go inside
+first and join the suitors, leaving me here behind you, or will you
+wait here and let me go in first? But do not wait long, or some one may
+see you loitering about outside, and throw something at you. Consider
+this matter I pray you."
+
+And Ulysses answered, "I understand and heed. Go in first and leave me
+here where I am. I am quite used to being beaten and having things
+thrown at me. I have been so much buffeted about in war and by sea that
+I am case-hardened, and this too may go with the rest. But a man cannot
+hide away the cravings of a hungry belly; this is an enemy which gives
+much trouble to all men; it is because of this that ships are fitted
+out to sail the seas, and to make war upon other people."
+
+As they were thus talking, a dog that had been lying asleep raised his
+head and pricked up his ears. This was Argos, whom Ulysses had bred
+before setting out for Troy, but he had never had any work out of him.
+In the old days he used to be taken out by the young men when they went
+hunting wild goats, or deer, or hares, but now that his master was gone
+he was lying neglected on the heaps of mule and cow dung that lay in
+front of the stable doors till the men should come and draw it away to
+manure the great close; and he was full of fleas. As soon as he saw
+Ulysses standing there, he dropped his ears and wagged his tail, but he
+could not get close up to his master. When Ulysses saw the dog on the
+other side of the yard, he dashed a tear from his eyes without Eumaeus
+seeing it, and said:
+
+"Eumaeus, what a noble hound that is over yonder on the manure heap:
+his build is splendid; is he as fine a fellow as he looks, or is he
+only one of those dogs that come begging about a table, and are kept
+merely for show?"
+
+"This hound," answered Eumaeus, "belonged to him who has died in a far
+country. If he were what he was when Ulysses left for Troy, he would
+soon show you what he could do. There was not a wild beast in the
+forest that could get away from him when he was once on its tracks. But
+now he has fallen on evil times, for his master is dead and gone, and
+the women take no care of him. Servants never do their work when their
+master's hand is no longer over them, for Jove takes half the goodness
+out of a man when he makes a slave of him."
+
+As he spoke he went inside the buildings to the cloister where the
+suitors were, but Argos died as soon as he had recognised his master.
+
+Telemachus saw Eumaeus long before any one else did, and beckoned him
+to come and sit beside him; so he looked about and saw a seat lying
+near where the carver sat serving out their portions to the suitors; he
+picked it up, brought it to Telemachus's table, and sat down opposite
+him. Then the servant brought him his portion, and gave him bread from
+the bread-basket.
+
+Immediately afterwards Ulysses came inside, looking like a poor
+miserable old beggar, leaning on his staff and with his clothes all in
+rags. He sat down upon the threshold of ash-wood just inside the doors
+leading from the outer to the inner court, and against a bearing-post
+of cypress-wood which the carpenter had skilfully planed, and had made
+to join truly with rule and line. Telemachus took a whole loaf from the
+bread-basket, with as much meat as he could hold in his two hands, and
+said to Eumaeus, "Take this to the stranger, and tell him to go the
+round of the suitors, and beg from them; a beggar must not be
+shamefaced."
+
+So Eumaeus went up to him and said, "Stranger, Telemachus sends you
+this, and says you are to go the round of the suitors begging, for
+beggars must not be shamefaced."
+
+Ulysses answered, "May King Jove grant all happiness to Telemachus, and
+fulfil the desire of his heart."
+
+Then with both hands he took what Telemachus had sent him, and laid it
+on the dirty old wallet at his feet. He went on eating it while the
+bard was singing, and had just finished his dinner as he left off. The
+suitors applauded the bard, whereon Minerva went up to Ulysses and
+prompted him to beg pieces of bread from each one of the suitors, that
+he might see what kind of people they were, and tell the good from the
+bad; but come what might she was not going to save a single one of
+them. Ulysses, therefore, went on his round, going from left to right,
+and stretched out his hands to beg as though he were a real beggar.
+Some of them pitied him, and were curious about him, asking one another
+who he was and where he came from; whereon the goatherd Melanthius
+said, "Suitors of my noble mistress, I can tell you something about
+him, for I have seen him before. The swineherd brought him here, but I
+know nothing about the man himself, nor where he comes from."
+
+On this Antinous began to abuse the swineherd. "You precious idiot," he
+cried, "what have you brought this man to town for? Have we not tramps
+and beggars enough already to pester us as we sit at meat? Do you think
+it a small thing that such people gather here to waste your master's
+property—and must you needs bring this man as well?"
+
+And Eumaeus answered, "Antinous, your birth is good but your words
+evil. It was no doing of mine that he came here. Who is likely to
+invite a stranger from a foreign country, unless it be one of those who
+can do public service as a seer, a healer of hurts, a carpenter, or a
+bard who can charm us with his singing? Such men are welcome all the
+world over, but no one is likely to ask a beggar who will only worry
+him. You are always harder on Ulysses' servants than any of the other
+suitors are, and above all on me, but I do not care so long as
+Telemachus and Penelope are alive and here."
+
+But Telemachus said, "Hush, do not answer him; Antinous has the
+bitterest tongue of all the suitors, and he makes the others worse."
+
+Then turning to Antinous he said, "Antinous, you take as much care of
+my interests as though I were your son. Why should you want to see this
+stranger turned out of the house? Heaven forbid; take something and
+give it him yourself; I do not grudge it; I bid you take it. Never mind
+my mother, nor any of the other servants in the house; but I know you
+will not do what I say, for you are more fond of eating things yourself
+than of giving them to other people."
+
+"What do you mean, Telemachus," replied Antinous, "by this swaggering
+talk? If all the suitors were to give him as much as I will, he would
+not come here again for another three months."
+
+As he spoke he drew the stool on which he rested his dainty feet from
+under the table, and made as though he would throw it at Ulysses, but
+the other suitors all gave him something, and filled his wallet with
+bread and meat; he was about, therefore, to go back to the threshold
+and eat what the suitors had given him, but he first went up to
+Antinous and said:
+
+"Sir, give me something; you are not, surely, the poorest man here; you
+seem to be a chief, foremost among them all; therefore you should be
+the better giver, and I will tell far and wide of your bounty. I too
+was a rich man once, and had a fine house of my own; in those days I
+gave to many a tramp such as I now am, no matter who he might be nor
+what he wanted. I had any number of servants, and all the other things
+which people have who live well and are accounted wealthy, but it
+pleased Jove to take all away from me. He sent me with a band of roving
+robbers to Egypt; it was a long voyage and I was undone by it. I
+stationed my ships in the river Aegyptus, and bade my men stay by them
+and keep guard over them, while I sent out scouts to reconnoitre from
+every point of vantage.
+
+"But the men disobeyed my orders, took to their own devices, and
+ravaged the land of the Egyptians, killing the men, and taking their
+wives and children captives. The alarm was soon carried to the city,
+and when they heard the war-cry, the people came out at daybreak till
+the plain was filled with soldiers horse and foot, and with the gleam
+of armour. Then Jove spread panic among my men, and they would no
+longer face the enemy, for they found themselves surrounded. The
+Egyptians killed many of us, and took the rest alive to do forced
+labour for them; as for myself, they gave me to a friend who met them,
+to take to Cyprus, Dmetor by name, son of Iasus, who was a great man in
+Cyprus. Thence I am come hither in a state of great misery."
+
+Then Antinous said, "What god can have sent such a pestilence to plague
+us during our dinner? Get out, into the open part of the court, or I
+will give you Egypt and Cyprus over again for your insolence and
+importunity; you have begged of all the others, and they have given you
+lavishly, for they have abundance round them, and it is easy to be free
+with other people's property when there is plenty of it."
+
+On this Ulysses began to move off, and said, "Your looks, my fine sir,
+are better than your breeding; if you were in your own house you would
+not spare a poor man so much as a pinch of salt, for though you are in
+another man's, and surrounded with abundance, you cannot find it in you
+to give him even a piece of bread."
+
+This made Antinous very angry, and he scowled at him saying, "You shall
+pay for this before you get clear of the court." With these words he
+threw a footstool at him, and hit him on the right shoulder blade near
+the top of his back. Ulysses stood firm as a rock and the blow did not
+even stagger him, but he shook his head in silence as he brooded on his
+revenge. Then he went back to the threshold and sat down there, laying
+his well filled wallet at his feet.
+
+"Listen to me," he cried, "you suitors of Queen Penelope, that I may
+speak even as I am minded. A man knows neither ache nor pain if he gets
+hit while fighting for his money, or for his sheep or his cattle; and
+even so Antinous has hit me while in the service of my miserable belly,
+which is always getting people into trouble. Still, if the poor have
+gods and avenging deities at all, I pray them that Antinous may come to
+a bad end before his marriage."
+
+"Sit where you are, and eat your victuals in silence, or be off
+elsewhere," shouted Antinous. "If you say more I will have you dragged
+hand and foot through the courts, and the servants shall flay you
+alive."
+
+The other suitors were much displeased at this, and one of the young
+men said, "Antinous, you did ill in striking that poor wretch of a
+tramp: it will be worse for you if he should turn out to be some
+god—and we know the gods go about disguised in all sorts of ways as
+people from foreign countries, and travel about the world to see who do
+amiss and who righteously."
+
+Thus said the suitors, but Antinous paid them no heed. Meanwhile
+Telemachus was furious about the blow that had been given to his
+father, and though no tear fell from him, he shook his head in silence
+and brooded on his revenge.
+
+Now when Penelope heard that the beggar had been struck in the
+banqueting-cloister, she said before her maids, "Would that Apollo
+would so strike you, Antinous," and her waiting woman Eurynome
+answered, "If our prayers were answered not one of the suitors would
+ever again see the sun rise." Then Penelope said, "Nurse, I hate
+every single one of them, for they mean nothing but mischief, but I
+hate Antinous like the darkness of death itself. A poor unfortunate
+tramp has come begging about the house for sheer want. Every one else
+has given him something to put in his wallet, but Antinous has hit him
+on the right shoulder-blade with a footstool."
+
+Thus did she talk with her maids as she sat in her own room, and in the
+meantime Ulysses was getting his dinner. Then she called for the
+swineherd and said, "Eumaeus, go and tell the stranger to come here, I
+want to see him and ask him some questions. He seems to have travelled
+much, and he may have seen or heard something of my unhappy husband."
+
+To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "If these Achaeans, Madam,
+would only keep quiet, you would be charmed with the history of his
+adventures. I had him three days and three nights with me in my hut,
+which was the first place he reached after running away from his ship,
+and he has not yet completed the story of his misfortunes. If he had
+been the most heaven-taught minstrel in the whole world, on whose lips
+all hearers hang entranced, I could not have been more charmed as I sat
+in my hut and listened to him. He says there is an old friendship
+between his house and that of Ulysses, and that he comes from Crete
+where the descendants of Minos live, after having been driven hither
+and thither by every kind of misfortune; he also declares that he has
+heard of Ulysses as being alive and near at hand among the
+Thesprotians, and that he is bringing great wealth home with him."
+
+"Call him here, then," said Penelope, "that I too may hear his story.
+As for the suitors, let them take their pleasure indoors or out as they
+will, for they have nothing to fret about. Their corn and wine remain
+unwasted in their houses with none but servants to consume them, while
+they keep hanging about our house day after day sacrificing our oxen,
+sheep, and fat goats for their banquets, and never giving so much as a
+thought to the quantity of wine they drink. No estate can stand such
+recklessness, for we have now no Ulysses to protect us. If he were to
+come again, he and his son would soon have their revenge."
+
+As she spoke Telemachus sneezed so loudly that the whole house
+resounded with it. Penelope laughed when she heard this, and said to
+Eumaeus, "Go and call the stranger; did you not hear how my son sneezed
+just as I was speaking? This can only mean that all the suitors are
+going to be killed, and that not one of them shall escape. Furthermore
+I say, and lay my saying to your heart: if I am satisfied that the
+stranger is speaking the truth I shall give him a shirt and cloak of
+good wear."
+
+When Eumaeus heard this he went straight to Ulysses and said, "Father
+stranger, my mistress Penelope, mother of Telemachus, has sent for you;
+she is in great grief, but she wishes to hear anything you can tell her
+about her husband, and if she is satisfied that you are speaking the
+truth, she will give you a shirt and cloak, which are the very things
+that you are most in want of. As for bread, you can get enough of that
+to fill your belly, by begging about the town, and letting those give
+that will."
+
+"I will tell Penelope," answered Ulysses, "nothing but what is strictly
+true. I know all about her husband, and have been partner with him in
+affliction, but I am afraid of passing through this crowd of cruel
+suitors, for their pride and insolence reach heaven. Just now,
+moreover, as I was going about the house without doing any harm, a man
+gave me a blow that hurt me very much, but neither Telemachus nor any
+one else defended me. Tell Penelope, therefore, to be patient and wait
+till sundown. Let her give me a seat close up to the fire, for my
+clothes are worn very thin—you know they are, for you have seen them
+ever since I first asked you to help me—she can then ask me about the
+return of her husband."
+
+The swineherd went back when he heard this, and Penelope said as she
+saw him cross the threshold, "Why do you not bring him here, Eumaeus?
+Is he afraid that some one will ill-treat him, or is he shy of coming
+inside the house at all? Beggars should not be shamefaced."
+
+To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "The stranger is quite
+reasonable. He is avoiding the suitors, and is only doing what any one
+else would do. He asks you to wait till sundown, and it will be much
+better, madam, that you should have him all to yourself, when you can
+hear him and talk to him as you will."
+
+"The man is no fool," answered Penelope, "it would very likely be as he
+says, for there are no such abominable people in the whole world as
+these men are."
+
+When she had done speaking Eumaeus went back to the suitors, for he had
+explained everything. Then he went up to Telemachus and said in his ear
+so that none could overhear him, "My dear sir, I will now go back to
+the pigs, to see after your property and my own business. You will look
+to what is going on here, but above all be careful to keep out of
+danger, for there are many who bear you ill will. May Jove bring them
+to a bad end before they do us a mischief."
+
+"Very well," replied Telemachus, "go home when you have had your
+dinner, and in the morning come here with the victims we are to
+sacrifice for the day. Leave the rest to heaven and me."
+
+On this Eumaeus took his seat again, and when he had finished his
+dinner he left the courts and the cloister with the men at table, and
+went back to his pigs. As for the suitors, they presently began to
+amuse themselves with singing and dancing, for it was now getting on
+towards evening.
+
+Now there came a certain common tramp who used to go begging all over
+the city of Ithaca, and was notorious as an incorrigible glutton and
+drunkard. This man had no strength nor stay in him, but he was a great
+hulking fellow to look at; his real name, the one his mother gave him,
+was Arnaeus, but the young men of the place called him Irus, because
+he used to run errands for any one who would send him. As soon as he
+came he began to insult Ulysses, and to try and drive him out of his
+own house.
+
+"Be off, old man," he cried, "from the doorway, or you shall be dragged
+out neck and heels. Do you not see that they are all giving me the
+wink, and wanting me to turn you out by force, only I do not like to do
+so? Get up then, and go of yourself, or we shall come to blows."
+
+Ulysses frowned on him and said, "My friend, I do you no manner of
+harm; people give you a great deal, but I am not jealous. There is room
+enough in this doorway for the pair of us, and you need not grudge me
+things that are not yours to give. You seem to be just such another
+tramp as myself, but perhaps the gods will give us better luck by and
+by. Do not, however, talk too much about fighting or you will incense
+me, and old though I am, I shall cover your mouth and chest with blood.
+I shall have more peace tomorrow if I do, for you will not come to the
+house of Ulysses any more."
+
+Irus was very angry and answered, "You filthy glutton, you run on
+trippingly like an old fish-fag. I have a good mind to lay both hands
+about you, and knock your teeth out of your head like so many boar's
+tusks. Get ready, therefore, and let these people here stand by and
+look on. You will never be able to fight one who is so much younger
+than yourself."
+
+Thus roundly did they rate one another on the smooth pavement in front
+of the doorway, and when Antinous saw what was going on he laughed
+heartily and said to the others, "This is the finest sport that you
+ever saw; heaven never yet sent anything like it into this house. The
+stranger and Irus have quarreled and are going to fight, let us set
+them on to do so at once."
+
+The suitors all came up laughing, and gathered round the two ragged
+tramps. "Listen to me," said Antinous, "there are some goats' paunches
+down at the fire, which we have filled with blood and fat, and set
+aside for supper; he who is victorious and proves himself to be the
+better man shall have his pick of the lot; he shall be free of our
+table and we will not allow any other beggar about the house at all."
+
+The others all agreed, but Ulysses, to throw them off the scent, said,
+"Sirs, an old man like myself, worn out with suffering, cannot hold his
+own against a young one; but my irrepressible belly urges me on, though
+I know it can only end in my getting a drubbing. You must swear,
+however that none of you will give me a foul blow to favour Irus and
+secure him the victory."
+
+They swore as he told them, and when they had completed their oath
+Telemachus put in a word and said, "Stranger, if you have a mind to
+settle with this fellow, you need not be afraid of any one here.
+Whoever strikes you will have to fight more than one. I am host, and
+the other chiefs, Antinous and Eurymachus, both of them men of
+understanding, are of the same mind as I am."
+
+Every one assented, and Ulysses girded his old rags about his loins,
+thus baring his stalwart thighs, his broad chest and shoulders, and his
+mighty arms; but Minerva came up to him and made his limbs even
+stronger still. The suitors were beyond measure astonished, and one
+would turn towards his neighbour saying, "The stranger has brought such
+a thigh out of his old rags that there will soon be nothing left of
+Irus."
+
+Irus began to be very uneasy as he heard them, but the servants girded
+him by force, and brought him [into the open part of the court in such
+a fright that his limbs were all of a tremble. Antinous scolded him and
+said, "You swaggering bully, you ought never to have been born at all
+if you are afraid of such an old broken down creature as this tramp is.
+I say, therefore—and it shall surely be—if he beats you and proves
+himself the better man, I shall pack you off on board ship to the
+mainland and send you to king Echetus, who kills every one that comes
+near him. He will cut off your nose and ears, and draw out your
+entrails for the dogs to eat."
+
+This frightened Irus still more, but they brought him into the middle
+of the court, and the two men raised their hands to fight. Then Ulysses
+considered whether he should let drive so hard at him as to make an end
+of him then and there, or whether he should give him a lighter blow
+that should only knock him down; in the end he deemed it best to give
+the lighter blow for fear the Achaeans should begin to suspect who he
+was. Then they began to fight, and Irus hit Ulysses on the right
+shoulder; but Ulysses gave Irus a blow on the neck under the ear that
+broke in the bones of his skull, and the blood came gushing out of his
+mouth; he fell groaning in the dust, gnashing his teeth and kicking on
+the ground, but the suitors threw up their hands and nearly died of
+laughter, as Ulysses caught hold of him by the foot and dragged him
+into the outer court as far as the gate-house. There he propped him up
+against the wall and put his staff in his hands. "Sit here," said he,
+"and keep the dogs and pigs off; you are a pitiful creature, and if you
+try to make yourself king of the beggars any more you shall fare still
+worse."
+
+Then he threw his dirty old wallet, all tattered and torn over his
+shoulder with the cord by which it hung, and went back to sit down upon
+the threshold; but the suitors went within the cloisters, laughing and
+saluting him, "May Jove, and all the other gods," said they, "grant you
+whatever you want for having put an end to the importunity of this
+insatiable tramp. We will take him over to the mainland presently, to
+king Echetus, who kills every one that comes near him."
+
+Ulysses hailed this as of good omen, and Antinous set a great goat's
+paunch before him filled with blood and fat. Amphinomus took two loaves
+out of the bread-basket and brought them to him, pledging him as he did
+so in a golden goblet of wine. "Good luck to you," he said, "father
+stranger, you are very badly off at present, but I hope you will have
+better times by and by."
+
+To this Ulysses answered, "Amphinomus, you seem to be a man of good
+understanding, as indeed you may well be, seeing whose son you are. I
+have heard your father well spoken of; he is Nisus of Dulichium, a man
+both brave and wealthy. They tell me you are his son, and you appear to
+be a considerable person; listen, therefore, and take heed to what I am
+saying. Man is the vainest of all creatures that have their being upon
+earth. As long as heaven vouchsafes him health and strength, he thinks
+that he shall come to no harm hereafter, and even when the blessed gods
+bring sorrow upon him, he bears it as he needs must, and makes the best
+of it; for God almighty gives men their daily minds day by day. I know
+all about it, for I was a rich man once, and did much wrong in the
+stubbornness of my pride, and in the confidence that my father and my
+brothers would support me; therefore let a man fear God in all things
+always, and take the good that heaven may see fit to send him without
+vain glory. Consider the infamy of what these suitors are doing; see
+how they are wasting the estate, and doing dishonour to the wife, of
+one who is certain to return some day, and that, too, not long hence.
+Nay, he will be here soon; may heaven send you home quietly first that
+you may not meet with him in the day of his coming, for once he is here
+the suitors and he will not part bloodlessly."
+
+With these words he made a drink-offering, and when he had drunk he put
+the gold cup again into the hands of Amphinomus, who walked away
+serious and bowing his head, for he foreboded evil. But even so he did
+not escape destruction, for Minerva had doomed him to fall by the hand
+of Telemachus. So he took his seat again at the place from which he had
+come.
+
+Then Minerva put it into the mind of Penelope to show herself to the
+suitors, that she might make them still more enamoured of her, and win
+still further honour from her son and husband. So she feigned a mocking
+laugh and said, "Eurynome, I have changed my mind, and have a fancy to
+show myself to the suitors although I detest them. I should like also
+to give my son a hint that he had better not have anything more to do
+with them. They speak fairly enough but they mean mischief."
+
+"My dear child," answered Eurynome, "all that you have said is true, go
+and tell your son about it, but first wash yourself and anoint your
+face. Do not go about with your cheeks all covered with tears; it is
+not right that you should grieve so incessantly; for Telemachus, whom
+you always prayed that you might live to see with a beard, is already
+grown up."
+
+"I know, Eurynome," replied Penelope, "that you mean well, but do not
+try and persuade me to wash and to anoint myself, for heaven robbed me
+of all my beauty on the day my husband sailed; nevertheless, tell
+Autonoe and Hippodamia that I want them. They must be with me when I am
+in the cloister; I am not going among the men alone; it would not be
+proper for me to do so."
+
+On this the old woman went out of the room to bid the maids go to
+their mistress. In the meantime Minerva bethought her of another
+matter, and sent Penelope off into a sweet slumber; so she lay down on
+her couch and her limbs became heavy with sleep. Then the goddess shed
+grace and beauty over her that all the Achaeans might admire her. She
+washed her face with the ambrosial loveliness that Venus wears when she
+goes dancing with the Graces; she made her taller and of a more
+commanding figure, while as for her complexion it was whiter than sawn
+ivory. When Minerva had done all this she went away, whereon the maids
+came in from the women's room and woke Penelope with the sound of their
+talking.
+
+"What an exquisitely delicious sleep I have been having," said she, as
+she passed her hands over her face, "in spite of all my misery. I wish
+Diana would let me die so sweetly now at this very moment, that I might
+no longer waste in despair for the loss of my dear husband, who
+possessed every kind of good quality and was the most distinguished man
+among the Achaeans."
+
+With these words she came down from her upper room, not alone but
+attended by two of her maidens, and when she reached the suitors she
+stood by one of the bearing-posts supporting the roof of the cloister,
+holding a veil before her face, and with a staid maid servant on either
+side of her. As they beheld her the suitors were so overpowered and
+became so desperately enamoured of her, that each one prayed he might
+win her for his own bed fellow.
+
+"Telemachus," said she, addressing her son, "I fear you are no longer
+so discreet and well conducted as you used to be. When you were younger
+you had a greater sense of propriety; now, however, that you are grown
+up, though a stranger to look at you would take you for the son of a
+well to do father as far as size and good looks go, your conduct is by
+no means what it should be. What is all this disturbance that has been
+going on, and how came you to allow a stranger to be so disgracefully
+ill-treated? What would have happened if he had suffered serious injury
+while a suppliant in our house? Surely this would have been very
+discreditable to you."
+
+"I am not surprised, my dear mother, at your displeasure," replied
+Telemachus, "I understand all about it and know when things are not as
+they should be, which I could not do when I was younger; I cannot,
+however, behave with perfect propriety at all times. First one and then
+another of these wicked people here keeps driving me out of my mind,
+and I have no one to stand by me. After all, however, this fight
+between Irus and the stranger did not turn out as the suitors meant it
+to do, for the stranger got the best of it. I wish Father Jove,
+Minerva, and Apollo would break the neck of every one of these wooers
+of yours, some inside the house and some out; and I wish they might all
+be as limp as Irus is over yonder in the gate of the outer court. See
+how he nods his head like a drunken man; he has had such a thrashing
+that he cannot stand on his feet nor get back to his home, wherever
+that may be, for he has no strength left in him."
+
+Thus did they converse. Eurymachus then came up and said, "Queen
+Penelope, daughter of Icarius, if all the Achaeans in Iasian Argos
+could see you at this moment, you would have still more suitors in your
+house by tomorrow morning, for you are the most admirable woman in the
+whole world both as regards personal beauty and strength of
+understanding."
+
+To this Penelope replied, "Eurymachus, heaven robbed me of all my
+beauty whether of face or figure when the Argives set sail for Troy and
+my dear husband with them. If he were to return and look after my
+affairs, I should both be more respected and show a better presence to
+the world. As it is, I am oppressed with care, and with the afflictions
+which heaven has seen fit to heap upon me. My husband foresaw it all,
+and when he was leaving home he took my right wrist in his hand—'Wife,'
+he said, 'we shall not all of us come safe home from Troy, for the
+Trojans fight well both with bow and spear. They are excellent also at
+fighting from chariots, and nothing decides the issue of a fight sooner
+than this. I know not, therefore, whether heaven will send me back to
+you, or whether I may not fall over there at Troy. In the meantime do
+you look after things here. Take care of my father and mother as at
+present, and even more so during my absence, but when you see our son
+growing a beard, then marry whom you will, and leave this your present
+home.' This is what he said and now it is all coming true. A night will
+come when I shall have to yield myself to a marriage which I detest,
+for Jove has taken from me all hope of happiness. This further grief,
+moreover, cuts me to the very heart. You suitors are not wooing me
+after the custom of my country. When men are courting a woman who they
+think will be a good wife to them and who is of noble birth, and when
+they are each trying to win her for himself, they usually bring oxen
+and sheep to feast the friends of the lady, and they make her
+magnificent presents, instead of eating up other people's property
+without paying for it."
+
+This was what she said, and Ulysses was glad when he heard her trying
+to get presents out of the suitors, and flattering them with fair words
+which he knew she did not mean.
+
+Then Antinous said, "Queen Penelope, daughter of Icarius, take as many
+presents as you please from any one who will give them to you; it is
+not well to refuse a present; but we will not go about our business nor
+stir from where we are, till you have married the best man among us
+whoever he may be."
+
+The others applauded what Antinous had said, and each one sent his
+servant to bring his present. Antinous's man returned with a large and
+lovely dress most exquisitely embroidered. It had twelve beautifully
+made brooch pins of pure gold with which to fasten it. Eurymachus
+immediately brought her a magnificent chain of gold and amber beads
+that gleamed like sunlight. Eurydamas's two men returned with some
+earrings fashioned into three brilliant pendants which glistened most
+beautifully; while king Pisander son of Polyctor gave her a necklace of
+the rarest workmanship, and every one else brought her a beautiful
+present of some kind.
+
+Then the queen went back to her room upstairs, and her maids brought
+the presents after her. Meanwhile the suitors took to singing and
+dancing, and stayed till evening came. They danced and sang till it
+grew dark; they then brought in three braziers to give light, and
+piled them up with chopped firewood very old and dry, and they lit
+torches from them, which the maids held up turn and turn about. Then
+Ulysses said:
+
+"Maids, servants of Ulysses who has so long been absent, go to the
+queen inside the house; sit with her and amuse her, or spin, and pick
+wool. I will hold the light for all these people. They may stay till
+morning, but shall not beat me, for I can stand a great deal."
+
+The maids looked at one another and laughed, while pretty Melantho
+began to gibe at him contemptuously. She was daughter to Dolius, but
+had been brought up by Penelope, who used to give her toys to play
+with, and looked after her when she was a child; but in spite of all
+this she showed no consideration for the sorrows of her mistress, and
+used to misconduct herself with Eurymachus, with whom she was in love.
+
+"Poor wretch," said she, "are you gone clean out of your mind? Go and
+sleep in some smithy, or place of public gossips, instead of chattering
+here. Are you not ashamed of opening your mouth before your betters—so
+many of them too? Has the wine been getting into your head, or do you
+always babble in this way? You seem to have lost your wits because you
+beat the tramp Irus; take care that a better man than he does not come
+and cudgel you about the head till he pack you bleeding out of the
+house."
+
+"Vixen," replied Ulysses, scowling at her, "I will go and tell
+Telemachus what you have been saying, and he will have you torn limb
+from limb."
+
+With these words he scared the women, and they went off into the body
+of the house. They trembled all over, for they thought he would do as
+he said. But Ulysses took his stand near the burning braziers, holding
+up torches and looking at the people—brooding the while on things that
+should surely come to pass.
+
+But Minerva would not let the suitors for one moment cease their
+insolence, for she wanted Ulysses to become even more bitter against
+them; she therefore set Eurymachus son of Polybus on to gibe at him,
+which made the others laugh. "Listen to me," said he, "you suitors of
+Queen Penelope, that I may speak even as I am minded. It is not for
+nothing that this man has come to the house of Ulysses; I believe the
+light has not been coming from the torches, but from his own head—for
+his hair is all gone, every bit of it."
+
+Then turning to Ulysses he said, "Stranger, will you work as a servant,
+if I send you to the wolds and see that you are well paid? Can you
+build a stone fence, or plant trees? I will have you fed all the year
+round, and will find you in shoes and clothing. Will you go, then? Not
+you; for you have got into bad ways, and do not want to work; you had
+rather fill your belly by going round the country begging."
+
+"Eurymachus," answered Ulysses, "if you and I were to work one against
+the other in early summer when the days are at their longest—give me a
+good scythe, and take another yourself, and let us see which will last
+the longer or mow the stronger, from dawn till dark when the mowing
+grass is about. Or if you will plough against me, let us each take a
+yoke of tawny oxen, well-mated and of great strength and endurance:
+turn me into a four acre field, and see whether you or I can drive the
+straighter furrow. If, again, war were to break out this day, give me a
+shield, a couple of spears and a helmet fitting well upon my
+temples—you would find me foremost in the fray, and would cease your
+gibes about my belly. You are insolent and cruel, and think yourself a
+great man because you live in a little world, and that a bad one. If
+Ulysses comes to his own again, the doors of his house are wide, but
+you will find them narrow when you try to fly through them."
+
+Eurymachus was furious at all this. He scowled at him and cried, "You
+wretch, I will soon pay you out for daring to say such things to me,
+and in public too. Has the wine been getting into your head or do you
+always babble in this way? You seem to have lost your wits because you
+beat the tramp Irus." With this he caught hold of a footstool, but
+Ulysses sought protection at the knees of Amphinomus of Dulichium, for
+he was afraid. The stool hit the cupbearer on his right hand and
+knocked him down: the man fell with a cry flat on his back, and his
+wine-jug fell ringing to the ground. The suitors in the covered
+cloister were now in an uproar, and one would turn towards his
+neighbour, saying, "I wish the stranger had gone somewhere else, bad
+luck to him, for all the trouble he gives us. We cannot permit such
+disturbance about a beggar; if such ill counsels are to prevail we
+shall have no more pleasure at our banquet."
+
+On this Telemachus came forward and said, "Sirs, are you mad? Can you
+not carry your meat and your liquor decently? Some evil spirit has
+possessed you. I do not wish to drive any of you away, but you have had
+your suppers, and the sooner you all go home to bed the better."
+
+The suitors bit their lips and marvelled at the boldness of his speech;
+but Amphinomus the son of Nisus, who was son to Aretias, said, "Do not
+let us take offence; it is reasonable, so let us make no answer.
+Neither let us do violence to the stranger nor to any of Ulysses'
+servants. Let the cupbearer go round with the drink-offerings, that we
+may make them and go home to our rest. As for the stranger, let us
+leave Telemachus to deal with him, for it is to his house that he has
+come."
+
+Thus did he speak, and his saying pleased them well, so Mulius of
+Dulichium, servant to Amphinomus, mixed them a bowl of wine and water
+and handed it round to each of them man by man, whereon they made their
+drink-offerings to the blessed gods: Then, when they had made their
+drink-offerings and had drunk each one as he was minded, they took
+their several ways each of them to his own abode.
+
+Ulysses was left in the cloister, pondering on the means whereby with
+Minerva's help he might be able to kill the suitors. Presently he said
+to Telemachus, "Telemachus, we must get the armour together and take it
+down inside. Make some excuse when the suitors ask you why you have
+removed it. Say that you have taken it to be out of the way of the
+smoke, inasmuch as it is no longer what it was when Ulysses went away,
+but has become soiled and begrimed with soot. Add to this more
+particularly that you are afraid Jove may set them on to quarrel over
+their wine, and that they may do each other some harm which may
+disgrace both banquet and wooing, for the sight of arms sometimes
+tempts people to use them."
+
+Telemachus approved of what his father had said, so he called nurse
+Euryclea and said, "Nurse, shut the women up in their room, while I
+take the armour that my father left behind him down into the store
+room. No one looks after it now my father is gone, and it has got all
+smirched with soot during my own boyhood. I want to take it down where
+the smoke cannot reach it."
+
+"I wish, child," answered Euryclea, "that you would take the management
+of the house into your own hands altogether, and look after all the
+property yourself. But who is to go with you and light you to the
+store-room? The maids would have done so, but you would not let them."
+
+"The stranger," said Telemachus, "shall show me a light; when people
+eat my bread they must earn it, no matter where they come from."
+
+Euryclea did as she was told, and bolted the women inside their room.
+Then Ulysses and his son made all haste to take the helmets, shields,
+and spears inside; and Minerva went before them with a gold lamp in her
+hand that shed a soft and brilliant radiance, whereon Telemachus said,
+"Father, my eyes behold a great marvel: the walls, with the rafters,
+crossbeams, and the supports on which they rest are all aglow as with a
+flaming fire. Surely there is some god here who has come down from
+heaven."
+
+"Hush," answered Ulysses, "hold your peace and ask no questions, for
+this is the manner of the gods. Get you to your bed, and leave me here
+to talk with your mother and the maids. Your mother in her grief will
+ask me all sorts of questions."
+
+On this Telemachus went by torch-light to the other side of the inner
+court, to the room in which he always slept. There he lay in his bed
+till morning, while Ulysses was left in the cloister pondering on the
+means whereby with Minerva's help he might be able to kill the suitors.
+
+Then Penelope came down from her room looking like Venus or Diana, and
+they set her a seat inlaid with scrolls of silver and ivory near the
+fire in her accustomed place. It had been made by Icmalius and had a
+footstool all in one piece with the seat itself; and it was covered
+with a thick fleece: on this she now sat, and the maids came from the
+women's room to join her. They set about removing the tables at which
+the wicked suitors had been dining, and took away the bread that was
+left, with the cups from which they had drunk. They emptied the embers
+out of the braziers, and heaped much wood upon them to give both light
+and heat; but Melantho began to rail at Ulysses a second time and said,
+"Stranger, do you mean to plague us by hanging about the house all
+night and spying upon the women? Be off, you wretch, outside, and eat
+your supper there, or you shall be driven out with a firebrand."
+
+Ulysses scowled at her and answered, "My good woman, why should you be
+so angry with me? Is it because I am not clean, and my clothes are all
+in rags, and because I am obliged to go begging about after the manner
+of tramps and beggars generally? I too was a rich man once, and had a
+fine house of my own; in those days I gave to many a tramp such as I
+now am, no matter who he might be nor what he wanted. I had any number
+of servants, and all the other things which people have who live well
+and are accounted wealthy, but it pleased Jove to take all away from
+me; therefore, woman, beware lest you too come to lose that pride and
+place in which you now wanton above your fellows; have a care lest you
+get out of favour with your mistress, and lest Ulysses should come
+home, for there is still a chance that he may do so. Moreover, though
+he be dead as you think he is, yet by Apollo's will he has left a son
+behind him, Telemachus, who will note anything done amiss by the maids
+in the house, for he is now no longer in his boyhood."
+
+Penelope heard what he was saying and scolded the maid, "Impudent
+baggage," said she, "I see how abominably you are behaving, and you
+shall smart for it. You knew perfectly well, for I told you myself,
+that I was going to see the stranger and ask him about my husband, for
+whose sake I am in such continual sorrow."
+
+Then she said to her head waiting woman Eurynome, "Bring a seat with a
+fleece upon it, for the stranger to sit upon while he tells his story,
+and listens to what I have to say. I wish to ask him some questions."
+
+Eurynome brought the seat at once and set a fleece upon it, and as soon
+as Ulysses had sat down Penelope began by saying, "Stranger, I shall
+first ask you who and whence are you? Tell me of your town and
+parents."
+
+"Madam," answered Ulysses, "who on the face of the whole earth can dare
+to chide with you? Your fame reaches the firmament of heaven itself;
+you are like some blameless king, who upholds righteousness, as the
+monarch over a great and valiant nation: the earth yields its wheat and
+barley, the trees are loaded with fruit, the ewes bring forth lambs,
+and the sea abounds with fish by reason of his virtues, and his people
+do good deeds under him. Nevertheless, as I sit here in your house, ask
+me some other question and do not seek to know my race and family, or
+you will recall memories that will yet more increase my sorrow. I am
+full of heaviness, but I ought not to sit weeping and wailing in
+another person's house, nor is it well to be thus grieving continually.
+I shall have one of the servants or even yourself complaining of me,
+and saying that my eyes swim with tears because I am heavy with wine."
+
+Then Penelope answered, "Stranger, heaven robbed me of all beauty,
+whether of face or figure, when the Argives set sail for Troy and my
+dear husband with them. If he were to return and look after my affairs
+I should be both more respected and should show a better presence to
+the world. As it is, I am oppressed with care, and with the afflictions
+which heaven has seen fit to heap upon me. The chiefs from all our
+islands—Dulichium, Same, and Zacynthus, as also from Ithaca itself, are
+wooing me against my will and are wasting my estate. I can therefore
+show no attention to strangers, nor suppliants, nor to people who say
+that they are skilled artisans, but am all the time broken-hearted
+about Ulysses. They want me to marry again at once, and I have to
+invent stratagems in order to deceive them. In the first place heaven
+put it in my mind to set up a great tambour-frame in my room, and to
+begin working upon an enormous piece of fine needlework. Then I said to
+them, 'Sweethearts, Ulysses is indeed dead, still, do not press me to
+marry again immediately; wait—for I would not have my skill in
+needlework perish unrecorded—till I have finished making a pall for the
+hero Laertes, to be ready against the time when death shall take him.
+He is very rich, and the women of the place will talk if he is laid out
+without a pall.' This was what I said, and they assented; whereon I
+used to keep working at my great web all day long, but at night I would
+unpick the stitches again by torch light. I fooled them in this way for
+three years without their finding it out, but as time wore on and I was
+now in my fourth year, in the waning of moons, and many days had been
+accomplished, those good for nothing hussies my maids betrayed me to
+the suitors, who broke in upon me and caught me; they were very angry
+with me, so I was forced to finish my work whether I would or no. And
+now I do not see how I can find any further shift for getting out of
+this marriage. My parents are putting great pressure upon me, and my
+son chafes at the ravages the suitors are making upon his estate, for
+he is now old enough to understand all about it and is perfectly able
+to look after his own affairs, for heaven has blessed him with an
+excellent disposition. Still, notwithstanding all this, tell me who you
+are and where you come from—for you must have had father and mother of
+some sort; you cannot be the son of an oak or of a rock."
+
+Then Ulysses answered, "Madam, wife of Ulysses, since you persist in
+asking me about my family, I will answer, no matter what it costs me:
+people must expect to be pained when they have been exiles as long as I
+have, and suffered as much among as many peoples. Nevertheless, as
+regards your question I will tell you all you ask. There is a fair and
+fruitful island in mid-ocean called Crete; it is thickly peopled and
+there are ninety cities in it: the people speak many different
+languages which overlap one another, for there are Achaeans, brave
+Eteocretans, Dorians of three-fold race, and noble Pelasgi. There is a
+great town there, Cnossus, where Minos reigned who every nine years had
+a conference with Jove himself. Minos was father to Deucalion, whose
+son I am, for Deucalion had two sons Idomeneus and myself. Idomeneus
+sailed for Troy, and I, who am the younger, am called Aethon; my
+brother, however, was at once the older and the more valiant of the
+two; hence it was in Crete that I saw Ulysses and showed him
+hospitality, for the winds took him there as he was on his way to Troy,
+carrying him out of his course from cape Malea and leaving him in
+Amnisus off the cave of Ilithuia, where the harbours are difficult to
+enter and he could hardly find shelter from the winds that were then
+raging. As soon as he got there he went into the town and asked for
+Idomeneus, claiming to be his old and valued friend, but Idomeneus had
+already set sail for Troy some ten or twelve days earlier, so I took
+him to my own house and showed him every kind of hospitality, for I had
+abundance of everything. Moreover, I fed the men who were with him with
+barley meal from the public store, and got subscriptions of wine and
+oxen for them to sacrifice to their heart's content. They stayed with
+me twelve days, for there was a gale blowing from the North so strong
+that one could hardly keep one's feet on land. I suppose some
+unfriendly god had raised it for them, but on the thirteenth day the
+wind dropped, and they got away."
+
+Many a plausible tale did Ulysses further tell her, and Penelope wept
+as she listened, for her heart was melted. As the snow wastes upon the
+mountain tops when the winds from South East and West have breathed
+upon it and thawed it till the rivers run bank full with water, even so
+did her cheeks overflow with tears for the husband who was all the time
+sitting by her side. Ulysses felt for her and was sorry for her, but he
+kept his eyes as hard as horn or iron without letting them so much as
+quiver, so cunningly did he restrain his tears. Then, when she had
+relieved herself by weeping, she turned to him again and said: "Now,
+stranger, I shall put you to the test and see whether or no you really
+did entertain my husband and his men, as you say you did. Tell me,
+then, how he was dressed, what kind of a man he was to look at, and so
+also with his companions."
+
+"Madam," answered Ulysses, "it is such a long time ago that I can
+hardly say. Twenty years are come and gone since he left my home, and
+went elsewhither; but I will tell you as well as I can recollect.
+Ulysses wore a mantle of purple wool, double lined, and it was fastened
+by a gold brooch with two catches for the pin. On the face of this
+there was a device that shewed a dog holding a spotted fawn between his
+fore paws, and watching it as it lay panting upon the ground. Every one
+marvelled at the way in which these things had been done in gold, the
+dog looking at the fawn, and strangling it, while the fawn was
+struggling convulsively to escape. As for the shirt that he wore
+next his skin, it was so soft that it fitted him like the skin of an
+onion, and glistened in the sunlight to the admiration of all the women
+who beheld it. Furthermore I say, and lay my saying to your heart, that
+I do not know whether Ulysses wore these clothes when he left home, or
+whether one of his companions had given them to him while he was on his
+voyage; or possibly some one at whose house he was staying made him a
+present of them, for he was a man of many friends and had few equals
+among the Achaeans. I myself gave him a sword of bronze and a beautiful
+purple mantle, double lined, with a shirt that went down to his feet,
+and I sent him on board his ship with every mark of honour. He had a
+servant with him, a little older than himself, and I can tell you what
+he was like; his shoulders were hunched, he was dark, and he had
+thick curly hair. His name was Eurybates, and Ulysses treated him with
+greater familiarity than he did any of the others, as being the most
+like-minded with himself."
+
+Penelope was moved still more deeply as she heard the indisputable
+proofs that Ulysses laid before her; and when she had again found
+relief in tears she said to him, "Stranger, I was already disposed to
+pity you, but henceforth you shall be honoured and made welcome in my
+house. It was I who gave Ulysses the clothes you speak of. I took them
+out of the store room and folded them up myself, and I gave him also
+the gold brooch to wear as an ornament. Alas! I shall never welcome him
+home again. It was by an ill fate that he ever set out for that
+detested city whose very name I cannot bring myself even to mention."
+
+Then Ulysses answered, "Madam, wife of Ulysses, do not disfigure
+yourself further by grieving thus bitterly for your loss, though I can
+hardly blame you for doing so. A woman who has loved her husband and
+borne him children, would naturally be grieved at losing him, even
+though he were a worse man than Ulysses, who they say was like a god.
+Still, cease your tears and listen to what I can tell you. I will hide
+nothing from you, and can say with perfect truth that I have lately
+heard of Ulysses as being alive and on his way home; he is among the
+Thesprotians, and is bringing back much valuable treasure that he has
+begged from one and another of them; but his ship and all his crew were
+lost as they were leaving the Thrinacian island, for Jove and the
+sun-god were angry with him because his men had slaughtered the
+sun-god's cattle, and they were all drowned to a man. But Ulysses stuck
+to the keel of the ship and was drifted on to the land of the
+Phaeacians, who are near of kin to the immortals, and who treated him
+as though he had been a god, giving him many presents, and wishing to
+escort him home safe and sound. In fact Ulysses would have been here
+long ago, had he not thought better to go from land to land gathering
+wealth; for there is no man living who is so wily as he is; there is no
+one can compare with him. Pheidon king of the Thesprotians told me all
+this, and he swore to me—making drink-offerings in his house as he did
+so—that the ship was by the water side and the crew found who would
+take Ulysses to his own country. He sent me off first, for there
+happened to be a Thesprotian ship sailing for the wheat-growing island
+of Dulichium, but he showed me all the treasure Ulysses had got
+together, and he had enough lying in the house of king Pheidon to keep
+his family for ten generations; but the king said Ulysses had gone to
+Dodona that he might learn Jove's mind from the high oak tree, and know
+whether after so long an absence he should return to Ithaca openly or
+in secret. So you may know he is safe and will be here shortly; he is
+close at hand and cannot remain away from home much longer;
+nevertheless I will confirm my words with an oath, and call Jove who is
+the first and mightiest of all gods to witness, as also that hearth of
+Ulysses to which I have now come, that all I have spoken shall surely
+come to pass. Ulysses will return in this self same year; with the end
+of this moon and the beginning of the next he will be here."
+
+"May it be even so," answered Penelope; "if your words come true you
+shall have such gifts and such good will from me that all who see you
+shall congratulate you; but I know very well how it will be. Ulysses
+will not return, neither will you get your escort hence, for so surely
+as that Ulysses ever was, there are now no longer any such masters in
+the house as he was, to receive honourable strangers or to further them
+on their way home. And now, you maids, wash his feet for him, and make
+him a bed on a couch with rugs and blankets, that he may be warm and
+quiet till morning. Then, at day break wash him and anoint him again,
+that he may sit in the cloister and take his meals with Telemachus. It
+shall be the worse for any one of these hateful people who is uncivil
+to him; like it or not, he shall have no more to do in this house. For
+how, sir, shall you be able to learn whether or no I am superior to
+others of my sex both in goodness of heart and understanding, if I let
+you dine in my cloisters squalid and ill clad? Men live but for a
+little season; if they are hard, and deal hardly, people wish them ill
+so long as they are alive, and speak contemptuously of them when they
+are dead, but he that is righteous and deals righteously, the people
+tell of his praise among all lands, and many shall call him blessed."
+
+Ulysses answered, "Madam, I have foresworn rugs and blankets from the
+day that I left the snowy ranges of Crete to go on shipboard. I will
+lie as I have lain on many a sleepless night hitherto. Night after
+night have I passed in any rough sleeping place, and waited for
+morning. Nor, again, do I like having my feet washed; I shall not let
+any of the young hussies about your house touch my feet; but, if you
+have any old and respectable woman who has gone through as much trouble
+as I have, I will allow her to wash them."
+
+To this Penelope said, "My dear sir, of all the guests who ever yet
+came to my house there never was one who spoke in all things with such
+admirable propriety as you do. There happens to be in the house a most
+respectable old woman—the same who received my poor dear husband in her
+arms the night he was born, and nursed him in infancy. She is very
+feeble now, but she shall wash your feet." "Come here," said she,
+"Euryclea, and wash your master's age-mate; I suppose Ulysses' hands
+and feet are very much the same now as his are, for trouble ages all of
+us dreadfully fast."
+
+On these words the old woman covered her face with her hands; she began
+to weep and made lamentation saying, "My dear child, I cannot think
+whatever I am to do with you. I am certain no one was ever more
+god-fearing than yourself, and yet Jove hates you. No one in the whole
+world ever burned him more thigh bones, nor gave him finer hecatombs
+when you prayed you might come to a green old age yourself and see your
+son grow up to take after you: yet see how he has prevented you alone
+from ever getting back to your own home. I have no doubt the women in
+some foreign palace which Ulysses has got to are gibing at him as all
+these sluts here have been gibing at you. I do not wonder at your not
+choosing to let them wash you after the manner in which they have
+insulted you; I will wash your feet myself gladly enough, as Penelope
+has said that I am to do so; I will wash them both for Penelope's sake
+and for your own, for you have raised the most lively feelings of
+compassion in my mind; and let me say this moreover, which pray attend
+to; we have had all kinds of strangers in distress come here before
+now, but I make bold to say that no one ever yet came who was so like
+Ulysses in figure, voice, and feet as you are."
+
+"Those who have seen us both," answered Ulysses, "have always said we
+were wonderfully like each other, and now you have noticed it too."
+
+Then the old woman took the cauldron in which she was going to wash his
+feet, and poured plenty of cold water into it, adding hot till the bath
+was warm enough. Ulysses sat by the fire, but ere long he turned away
+from the light, for it occurred to him that when the old woman had hold
+of his leg she would recognise a certain scar which it bore, whereon
+the whole truth would come out. And indeed as soon as she began washing
+her master, she at once knew the scar as one that had been given him by
+a wild boar when he was hunting on Mt. Parnassus with his excellent
+grandfather Autolycus—who was the most accomplished thief and perjurer
+in the whole world—and with the sons of Autolycus. Mercury himself had
+endowed him with this gift, for he used to burn the thigh bones of
+goats and kids to him, so he took pleasure in his companionship. It
+happened once that Autolycus had gone to Ithaca and had found the child
+of his daughter just born. As soon as he had done supper Euryclea set
+the infant upon his knees and said, "Autolycus, you must find a name
+for your grandson; you greatly wished that you might have one."
+
+"Son-in-law and daughter," replied Autolycus, "call the child thus: I
+am highly displeased with a large number of people in one place and
+another, both men and women; so name the child 'Ulysses,' or the child
+of anger. When he grows up and comes to visit his mother's family on
+Mt. Parnassus, where my possessions lie, I will make him a present and
+will send him on his way rejoicing."
+
+Ulysses, therefore, went to Parnassus to get the presents from
+Autolycus, who with his sons shook hands with him and gave him welcome.
+His grandmother Amphithea threw her arms about him, and kissed his
+head, and both his beautiful eyes, while Autolycus desired his sons to
+get dinner ready, and they did as he told them. They brought in a five
+year old bull, flayed it, made it ready and divided it into joints;
+these they then cut carefully up into smaller pieces and spitted them;
+they roasted them sufficiently and served the portions round. Thus
+through the livelong day to the going down of the sun they feasted, and
+every man had his full share so that all were satisfied; but when the
+sun set and it came on dark, they went to bed and enjoyed the boon of
+sleep.
+
+When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, the sons of
+Autolycus went out with their hounds hunting, and Ulysses went too.
+They climbed the wooded slopes of Parnassus and soon reached its breezy
+upland valleys; but as the sun was beginning to beat upon the fields,
+fresh-risen from the slow still currents of Oceanus, they came to a
+mountain dell. The dogs were in front searching for the tracks of the
+beast they were chasing, and after them came the sons of Autolycus,
+among whom was Ulysses, close behind the dogs, and he had a long spear
+in his hand. Here was the lair of a huge boar among some thick
+brushwood, so dense that the wind and rain could not get through it,
+nor could the sun's rays pierce it, and the ground underneath lay thick
+with fallen leaves. The boar heard the noise of the men's feet, and the
+hounds baying on every side as the huntsmen came up to him, so he
+rushed from his lair, raised the bristles on his neck, and stood at bay
+with fire flashing from his eyes. Ulysses was the first to raise his
+spear and try to drive it into the brute, but the boar was too quick
+for him, and charged him sideways, ripping him above the knee with a
+gash that tore deep though it did not reach the bone. As for the boar,
+Ulysses hit him on the right shoulder, and the point of the spear went
+right through him, so that he fell groaning in the dust until the life
+went out of him. The sons of Autolycus busied themselves with the
+carcass of the boar, and bound Ulysses' wound; then, after saying a
+spell to stop the bleeding, they went home as fast as they could. But
+when Autolycus and his sons had thoroughly healed Ulysses, they made
+him some splendid presents, and sent him back to Ithaca with much
+mutual good will. When he got back, his father and mother were rejoiced
+to see him, and asked him all about it, and how he had hurt himself to
+get the scar; so he told them how the boar had ripped him when he was
+out hunting with Autolycus and his sons on Mt. Parnassus.
+
+As soon as Euryclea had got the scarred limb in her hands and had well
+hold of it, she recognised it and dropped the foot at once. The leg
+fell into the bath, which rang out and was overturned, so that all the
+water was spilt on the ground; Euryclea's eyes between her joy and her
+grief filled with tears, and she could not speak, but she caught
+Ulysses by the beard and said, "My dear child, I am sure you must be
+Ulysses himself, only I did not know you till I had actually touched
+and handled you."
+
+As she spoke she looked towards Penelope, as though wanting to tell her
+that her dear husband was in the house, but Penelope was unable to look
+in that direction and observe what was going on, for Minerva had
+diverted her attention; so Ulysses caught Euryclea by the throat with
+his right hand and with his left drew her close to him, and said,
+"Nurse, do you wish to be the ruin of me, you who nursed me at your own
+breast, now that after twenty years of wandering I am at last come to
+my own home again? Since it has been borne in upon you by heaven to
+recognise me, hold your tongue, and do not say a word about it to any
+one else in the house, for if you do I tell you—and it shall surely
+be—that if heaven grants me to take the lives of these suitors, I will
+not spare you, though you are my own nurse, when I am killing the other
+women."
+
+"My child," answered Euryclea, "what are you talking about? You know
+very well that nothing can either bend or break me. I will hold my
+tongue like a stone or a piece of iron; furthermore let me say, and lay
+my saying to your heart, when heaven has delivered the suitors into
+your hand, I will give you a list of the women in the house who have
+been ill-behaved, and of those who are guiltless."
+
+And Ulysses answered, "Nurse, you ought not to speak in that way; I am
+well able to form my own opinion about one and all of them; hold your
+tongue and leave everything to heaven."
+
+As he said this Euryclea left the cloister to fetch some more water,
+for the first had been all spilt; and when she had washed him and
+anointed him with oil, Ulysses drew his seat nearer to the fire to warm
+himself, and hid the scar under his rags. Then Penelope began talking
+to him and said:
+
+"Stranger, I should like to speak with you briefly about another
+matter. It is indeed nearly bed time—for those, at least, who can sleep
+in spite of sorrow. As for myself, heaven has given me a life of such
+unmeasurable woe, that even by day when I am attending to my duties and
+looking after the servants, I am still weeping and lamenting during the
+whole time; then, when night comes, and we all of us go to bed, I lie
+awake thinking, and my heart becomes a prey to the most incessant and
+cruel tortures. As the dun nightingale, daughter of Pandareus, sings in
+the early spring from her seat in shadiest covert hid, and with many a
+plaintive trill pours out the tale how by mishap she killed her own
+child Itylus, son of king Zethus, even so does my mind toss and turn in
+its uncertainty whether I ought to stay with my son here, and safeguard
+my substance, my bondsmen, and the greatness of my house, out of regard
+to public opinion and the memory of my late husband, or whether it is
+not now time for me to go with the best of these suitors who are wooing
+me and making me such magnificent presents. As long as my son was still
+young, and unable to understand, he would not hear of my leaving my
+husband's house, but now that he is full grown he begs and prays me to
+do so, being incensed at the way in which the suitors are eating up his
+property. Listen, then, to a dream that I have had and interpret it for
+me if you can. I have twenty geese about the house that eat mash out of
+a trough, and of which I am exceedingly fond. I dreamed that a great
+eagle came swooping down from a mountain, and dug his curved beak into
+the neck of each of them till he had killed them all. Presently he
+soared off into the sky, and left them lying dead about the yard;
+whereon I wept in my dream till all my maids gathered round me, so
+piteously was I grieving because the eagle had killed my geese. Then he
+came back again, and perching on a projecting rafter spoke to me with
+human voice, and told me to leave off crying. 'Be of good courage,' he
+said, 'daughter of Icarius; this is no dream, but a vision of good omen
+that shall surely come to pass. The geese are the suitors, and I am no
+longer an eagle, but your own husband, who am come back to you, and who
+will bring these suitors to a disgraceful end.' On this I woke, and
+when I looked out I saw my geese at the trough eating their mash as
+usual."
+
+"This dream, Madam," replied Ulysses, "can admit but of one
+interpretation, for had not Ulysses himself told you how it shall be
+fulfilled? The death of the suitors is portended, and not one single
+one of them will escape."
+
+And Penelope answered, "Stranger, dreams are very curious and
+unaccountable things, and they do not by any means invariably come
+true. There are two gates through which these unsubstantial fancies
+proceed; the one is of horn, and the other ivory. Those that come
+through the gate of ivory are fatuous, but those from the gate of horn
+mean something to those that see them. I do not think, however, that my
+own dream came through the gate of horn, though I and my son should be
+most thankful if it proves to have done so. Furthermore I say—and lay
+my saying to your heart—the coming dawn will usher in the ill-omened
+day that is to sever me from the house of Ulysses, for I am about to
+hold a tournament of axes. My husband used to set up twelve axes in the
+court, one in front of the other, like the stays upon which a ship is
+built; he would then go back from them and shoot an arrow through the
+whole twelve. I shall make the suitors try to do the same thing, and
+whichever of them can string the bow most easily, and send his arrow
+through all the twelve axes, him will I follow, and quit this house of
+my lawful husband, so goodly and so abounding in wealth. But even so, I
+doubt not that I shall remember it in my dreams."
+
+Then Ulysses answered, "Madam, wife of Ulysses, you need not defer your
+tournament, for Ulysses will return ere ever they can string the bow,
+handle it how they will, and send their arrows through the iron."
+
+To this Penelope said, "As long, sir, as you will sit here and talk to
+me, I can have no desire to go to bed. Still, people cannot do
+permanently without sleep, and heaven has appointed us dwellers on
+earth a time for all things. I will therefore go upstairs and recline
+upon that couch which I have never ceased to flood with my tears from
+the day Ulysses set out for the city with a hateful name."
+
+She then went upstairs to her own room, not alone, but attended by her
+maidens, and when there, she lamented her dear husband till Minerva
+shed sweet sleep over her eyelids.
+
+Ulysses slept in the cloister upon an undressed bullock's hide, on the
+top of which he threw several skins of the sheep the suitors had eaten,
+and Eurynome threw a cloak over him after he had laid himself down.
+There, then, Ulysses lay wakefully brooding upon the way in which he
+should kill the suitors; and by and by, the women who had been in the
+habit of misconducting themselves with them, left the house giggling
+and laughing with one another. This made Ulysses very angry, and he
+doubted whether to get up and kill every single one of them then and
+there, or to let them sleep one more and last time with the suitors.
+His heart growled within him, and as a bitch with puppies growls and
+shows her teeth when she sees a stranger, so did his heart growl with
+anger at the evil deeds that were being done: but he beat his breast
+and said, "Heart, be still, you had worse than this to bear on the day
+when the terrible Cyclops ate your brave companions; yet you bore it in
+silence till your cunning got you safe out of the cave, though you made
+sure of being killed."
+
+Thus he chided with his heart, and checked it into endurance, but he
+tossed about as one who turns a paunch full of blood and fat in front
+of a hot fire, doing it first on one side and then on the other, that
+he may get it cooked as soon as possible, even so did he turn himself
+about from side to side, thinking all the time how, single handed as he
+was, he should contrive to kill so large a body of men as the wicked
+suitors. But by and by Minerva came down from heaven in the likeness of
+a woman, and hovered over his head saying, "My poor unhappy man, why do
+you lie awake in this way? This is your house: your wife is safe inside
+it, and so is your son who is just such a young man as any father may
+be proud of."
+
+"Goddess," answered Ulysses, "all that you have said is true, but I am
+in some doubt as to how I shall be able to kill these wicked suitors
+single handed, seeing what a number of them there always are. And there
+is this further difficulty, which is still more considerable. Supposing
+that with Jove's and your assistance I succeed in killing them, I must
+ask you to consider where I am to escape to from their avengers when it
+is all over."
+
+"For shame," replied Minerva, "why, any one else would trust a worse
+ally than myself, even though that ally were only a mortal and less
+wise than I am. Am I not a goddess, and have I not protected you
+throughout in all your troubles? I tell you plainly that even though
+there were fifty bands of men surrounding us and eager to kill us, you
+should take all their sheep and cattle, and drive them away with you.
+But go to sleep; it is a very bad thing to lie awake all night, and you
+shall be out of your troubles before long."
+
+As she spoke she shed sleep over his eyes, and then went back to
+Olympus.
+
+While Ulysses was thus yielding himself to a very deep slumber that
+eased the burden of his sorrows, his admirable wife awoke, and sitting
+up in her bed began to cry. When she had relieved herself by weeping
+she prayed to Diana saying, "Great Goddess Diana, daughter of Jove,
+drive an arrow into my heart and slay me; or let some whirlwind snatch
+me up and bear me through paths of darkness till it drop me into the
+mouths of over-flowing Oceanus, as it did the daughters of Pandareus.
+The daughters of Pandareus lost their father and mother, for the gods
+killed them, so they were left orphans. But Venus took care of them,
+and fed them on cheese, honey, and sweet wine. Juno taught them to
+excel all women in beauty of form and understanding; Diana gave them an
+imposing presence, and Minerva endowed them with every kind of
+accomplishment; but one day when Venus had gone up to Olympus to see
+Jove about getting them married (for well does he know both what shall
+happen and what not happen to every one) the storm winds came and
+spirited them away to become handmaids to the dread Erinyes. Even so I
+wish that the gods who live in heaven would hide me from mortal sight,
+or that fair Diana might strike me, for I would fain go even beneath
+the sad earth if I might do so still looking towards Ulysses only, and
+without having to yield myself to a worse man than he was. Besides, no
+matter how much people may grieve by day, they can put up with it so
+long as they can sleep at night, for when the eyes are closed in
+slumber people forget good and ill alike; whereas my misery haunts me
+even in my dreams. This very night methought there was one lying by my
+side who was like Ulysses as he was when he went away with his host,
+and I rejoiced, for I believed that it was no dream, but the very truth
+itself."
+
+On this the day broke, but Ulysses heard the sound of her weeping, and
+it puzzled him, for it seemed as though she already knew him and was by
+his side. Then he gathered up the cloak and the fleeces on which he had
+lain, and set them on a seat in the cloister, but he took the bullock's
+hide out into the open. He lifted up his hands to heaven, and prayed,
+saying "Father Jove, since you have seen fit to bring me over land and
+sea to my own home after all the afflictions you have laid upon me,
+give me a sign out of the mouth of some one or other of those who are
+now waking within the house, and let me have another sign of some kind
+from outside."
+
+Thus did he pray. Jove heard his prayer and forthwith thundered high up
+among the clouds from the splendour of Olympus, and Ulysses was glad
+when he heard it. At the same time within the house, a miller-woman
+from hard by in the mill room lifted up her voice and gave him another
+sign. There were twelve miller-women whose business it was to grind
+wheat and barley which are the staff of life. The others had ground
+their task and had gone to take their rest, but this one had not yet
+finished, for she was not so strong as they were, and when she heard
+the thunder she stopped grinding and gave the sign to her master.
+"Father Jove," said she, "you, who rule over heaven and earth, you have
+thundered from a clear sky without so much as a cloud in it, and this
+means something for somebody; grant the prayer, then, of me your poor
+servant who calls upon you, and let this be the very last day that the
+suitors dine in the house of Ulysses. They have worn me out with labour
+of grinding meal for them, and I hope they may never have another
+dinner anywhere at all."
+
+Ulysses was glad when he heard the omens conveyed to him by the woman's
+speech, and by the thunder, for he knew they meant that he should
+avenge himself on the suitors.
+
+Then the other maids in the house rose and lit the fire on the hearth;
+Telemachus also rose and put on his clothes. He girded his sword about
+his shoulder, bound his sandals on to his comely feet, and took a
+doughty spear with a point of sharpened bronze; then he went to the
+threshold of the cloister and said to Euryclea, "Nurse, did you make
+the stranger comfortable both as regards bed and board, or did you let
+him shift for himself?—for my mother, good woman though she is, has a
+way of paying great attention to second-rate people, and of neglecting
+others who are in reality much better men."
+
+"Do not find fault child," said Euryclea, "when there is no one to find
+fault with. The stranger sat and drank his wine as long as he liked:
+your mother did ask him if he would take any more bread and he said he
+would not. When he wanted to go to bed she told the servants to make
+one for him, but he said he was such a wretched outcast that he would
+not sleep on a bed and under blankets; he insisted on having an
+undressed bullock's hide and some sheepskins put for him in the
+cloister and I threw a cloak over him myself."
+
+Then Telemachus went out of the court to the place where the Achaeans
+were meeting in assembly; he had his spear in his hand, and he was not
+alone, for his two dogs went with him. But Euryclea called the maids
+and said, "Come, wake up; set about sweeping the cloisters and
+sprinkling them with water to lay the dust; put the covers on the
+seats; wipe down the tables, some of you, with a wet sponge; clean out
+the mixing-jugs and the cups, and go for water from the fountain at
+once; the suitors will be here directly; they will be here early, for
+it is a feast day."
+
+Thus did she speak, and they did even as she had said: twenty of them
+went to the fountain for water, and the others set themselves busily to
+work about the house. The men who were in attendance on the suitors
+also came up and began chopping firewood. By and by the women returned
+from the fountain, and the swineherd came after them with the three
+best pigs he could pick out. These he let feed about the premises, and
+then he said good-humouredly to Ulysses, "Stranger, are the suitors
+treating you any better now, or are they as insolent as ever?"
+
+"May heaven," answered Ulysses, "requite to them the wickedness with
+which they deal high-handedly in another man's house without any sense
+of shame."
+
+Thus did they converse; meanwhile Melanthius the goatherd came up, for
+he too was bringing in his best goats for the suitors' dinner; and he
+had two shepherds with him. They tied the goats up under the gatehouse,
+and then Melanthius began gibing at Ulysses. "Are you still here,
+stranger," said he, "to pester people by begging about the house? Why
+can you not go elsewhere? You and I shall not come to an understanding
+before we have given each other a taste of our fists. You beg without
+any sense of decency: are there not feasts elsewhere among the
+Achaeans, as well as here?"
+
+Ulysses made no answer, but bowed his head and brooded. Then a third
+man, Philoetius, joined them, who was bringing in a barren heifer and
+some goats. These were brought over by the boatmen who are there to
+take people over when any one comes to them. So Philoetius made his
+heifer and his goats secure under the gatehouse, and then went up to
+the swineherd. "Who, Swineherd," said he, "is this stranger that is
+lately come here? Is he one of your men? What is his family? Where does
+he come from? Poor fellow, he looks as if he had been some great man,
+but the gods give sorrow to whom they will—even to kings if it so
+pleases them."
+
+As he spoke he went up to Ulysses and saluted him with his right hand;
+"Good day to you, father stranger," said he, "you seem to be very
+poorly off now, but I hope you will have better times by and by. Father
+Jove, of all gods you are the most malicious. We are your own children,
+yet you show us no mercy in all our misery and afflictions. A sweat
+came over me when I saw this man, and my eyes filled with tears, for he
+reminds me of Ulysses, who I fear is going about in just such rags as
+this man's are, if indeed he is still among the living. If he is
+already dead and in the house of Hades, then, alas! for my good master,
+who made me his stockman when I was quite young among the
+Cephallenians, and now his cattle are countless; no one could have done
+better with them than I have, for they have bred like ears of corn;
+nevertheless I have to keep bringing them in for others to eat, who
+take no heed to his son though he is in the house, and fear not the
+wrath of heaven, but are already eager to divide Ulysses' property
+among them because he has been away so long. I have often thought—only
+it would not be right while his son is living—of going off with the
+cattle to some foreign country; bad as this would be, it is still
+harder to stay here and be ill-treated about other people's herds. My
+position is intolerable, and I should long since have run away and put
+myself under the protection of some other chief, only that I believe my
+poor master will yet return, and send all these suitors flying out of
+the house."
+
+"Stockman," answered Ulysses, "you seem to be a very well-disposed
+person, and I can see that you are a man of sense. Therefore I will
+tell you, and will confirm my words with an oath. By Jove, the chief of
+all gods, and by that hearth of Ulysses to which I am now come, Ulysses
+shall return before you leave this place, and if you are so minded you
+shall see him killing the suitors who are now masters here."
+
+"If Jove were to bring this to pass," replied the stockman, "you should
+see how I would do my very utmost to help him."
+
+And in like manner Eumaeus prayed that Ulysses might return home.
+
+Thus did they converse. Meanwhile the suitors were hatching a plot to
+murder Telemachus: but a bird flew near them on their left hand—an
+eagle with a dove in its talons. On this Amphinomus said, "My friends,
+this plot of ours to murder Telemachus will not succeed; let us go to
+dinner instead."
+
+The others assented, so they went inside and laid their cloaks on the
+benches and seats. They sacrificed the sheep, goats, pigs, and the
+heifer, and when the inward meats were cooked they served them round.
+They mixed the wine in the mixing-bowls, and the swineherd gave every
+man his cup, while Philoetius handed round the bread in the bread
+baskets, and Melanthius poured them out their wine. Then they laid
+their hands upon the good things that were before them.
+
+Telemachus purposely made Ulysses sit in the part of the cloister that
+was paved with stone; he gave him a shabby looking seat at a little
+table to himself, and had his portion of the inward meats brought to
+him, with his wine in a gold cup. "Sit there," said he, "and drink your
+wine among the great people. I will put a stop to the gibes and blows
+of the suitors, for this is no public house, but belongs to Ulysses,
+and has passed from him to me. Therefore, suitors, keep your hands and
+your tongues to yourselves, or there will be mischief."
+
+The suitors bit their lips, and marvelled at the boldness of his
+speech; then Antinous said, "We do not like such language but we will
+put up with it, for Telemachus is threatening us in good earnest. If
+Jove had let us we should have put a stop to his brave talk ere now."
+
+Thus spoke Antinous, but Telemachus heeded him not. Meanwhile the
+heralds were bringing the holy hecatomb through the city, and the
+Achaeans gathered under the shady grove of Apollo.
+
+Then they roasted the outer meat, drew it off the spits, gave every man
+his portion, and feasted to their heart's content; those who waited at
+table gave Ulysses exactly the same portion as the others had, for
+Telemachus had told them to do so.
+
+But Minerva would not let the suitors for one moment drop their
+insolence, for she wanted Ulysses to become still more bitter against
+them. Now there happened to be among them a ribald fellow, whose name
+was Ctesippus, and who came from Same. This man, confident in his great
+wealth, was paying court to the wife of Ulysses, and said to the
+suitors, "Hear what I have to say. The stranger has already had as
+large a portion as any one else; this is well, for it is not right nor
+reasonable to ill-treat any guest of Telemachus who comes here. I will,
+however, make him a present on my own account, that he may have
+something to give to the bath-woman, or to some other of Ulysses'
+servants."
+
+As he spoke he picked up a heifer's foot from the meat-basket in which
+it lay, and threw it at Ulysses, but Ulysses turned his head a little
+aside, and avoided it, smiling grimly Sardinian fashion as he did
+so, and it hit the wall, not him. On this Telemachus spoke fiercely to
+Ctesippus, "It is a good thing for you," said he, "that the stranger
+turned his head so that you missed him. If you had hit him I should
+have run you through with my spear, and your father would have had to
+see about getting you buried rather than married in this house. So let
+me have no more unseemly behaviour from any of you, for I am grown up
+now to the knowledge of good and evil and understand what is going on,
+instead of being the child that I have been heretofore. I have long
+seen you killing my sheep and making free with my corn and wine: I have
+put up with this, for one man is no match for many, but do me no
+further violence. Still, if you wish to kill me, kill me; I would far
+rather die than see such disgraceful scenes day after day—guests
+insulted, and men dragging the women servants about the house in an
+unseemly way."
+
+They all held their peace till at last Agelaus son of Damastor said,
+"No one should take offence at what has just been said, nor gainsay it,
+for it is quite reasonable. Leave off, therefore, ill-treating the
+stranger, or any one else of the servants who are about the house; I
+would say, however, a friendly word to Telemachus and his mother, which
+I trust may commend itself to both. 'As long,' I would say, 'as you had
+ground for hoping that Ulysses would one day come home, no one could
+complain of your waiting and suffering the suitors to be in your
+house. It would have been better that he should have returned, but it
+is now sufficiently clear that he will never do so; therefore talk all
+this quietly over with your mother, and tell her to marry the best man,
+and the one who makes her the most advantageous offer. Thus you will
+yourself be able to manage your own inheritance, and to eat and drink
+in peace, while your mother will look after some other man's house, not
+yours.'"
+
+To this Telemachus answered, "By Jove, Agelaus, and by the sorrows of
+my unhappy father, who has either perished far from Ithaca, or is
+wandering in some distant land, I throw no obstacles in the way of my
+mother's marriage; on the contrary I urge her to choose whomsoever she
+will, and I will give her numberless gifts into the bargain, but I dare
+not insist point blank that she shall leave the house against her own
+wishes. Heaven forbid that I should do this."
+
+Minerva now made the suitors fall to laughing immoderately, and set
+their wits wandering; but they were laughing with a forced laughter.
+Their meat became smeared with blood; their eyes filled with tears, and
+their hearts were heavy with forebodings. Theoclymenus saw this and
+said, "Unhappy men, what is it that ails you? There is a shroud of
+darkness drawn over you from head to foot, your cheeks are wet with
+tears; the air is alive with wailing voices; the walls and roof-beams
+drip blood; the gate of the cloisters and the court beyond them are
+full of ghosts trooping down into the night of hell; the sun is blotted
+out of heaven, and a blighting gloom is over all the land."
+
+Thus did he speak, and they all of them laughed heartily. Eurymachus
+then said, "This stranger who has lately come here has lost his senses.
+Servants, turn him out into the streets, since he finds it so dark
+here."
+
+But Theoclymenus said, "Eurymachus, you need not send any one with me.
+I have eyes, ears, and a pair of feet of my own, to say nothing of an
+understanding mind. I will take these out of the house with me, for I
+see mischief overhanging you, from which not one of you men who are
+insulting people and plotting ill deeds in the house of Ulysses will be
+able to escape."
+
+He left the house as he spoke, and went back to Piraeus who gave him
+welcome, but the suitors kept looking at one another and provoking
+Telemachus by laughing at the strangers. One insolent fellow said to
+him, "Telemachus, you are not happy in your guests; first you have this
+importunate tramp, who comes begging bread and wine and has no skill
+for work or for hard fighting, but is perfectly useless, and now here
+is another fellow who is setting himself up as a prophet. Let me
+persuade you, for it will be much better to put them on board ship and
+send them off to the Sicels to sell for what they will bring."
+
+Telemachus gave him no heed, but sat silently watching his father,
+expecting every moment that he would begin his attack upon the suitors.
+
+Meanwhile the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, had had a rich seat
+placed for her facing the court and cloisters, so that she could hear
+what every one was saying. The dinner indeed had been prepared amid
+much merriment; it had been both good and abundant, for they had
+sacrificed many victims; but the supper was yet to come, and nothing
+can be conceived more gruesome than the meal which a goddess and a
+brave man were soon to lay before them—for they had brought their doom
+upon themselves.
+
+Minerva now put it in Penelope's mind to make the suitors try their
+skill with the bow and with the iron axes, in contest among themselves,
+as a means of bringing about their destruction. She went upstairs and
+got the store-room key, which was made of bronze and had a handle of
+ivory; she then went with her maidens into the store-room at the end of
+the house, where her husband's treasures of gold, bronze, and wrought
+iron were kept, and where was also his bow, and the quiver full of
+deadly arrows that had been given him by a friend whom he had met in
+Lacedaemon—Iphitus the son of Eurytus. The two fell in with one another
+in Messene at the house of Ortilochus, where Ulysses was staying in
+order to recover a debt that was owing from the whole people; for the
+Messenians had carried off three hundred sheep from Ithaca, and had
+sailed away with them and with their shepherds. In quest of these
+Ulysses took a long journey while still quite young, for his father and
+the other chieftains sent him on a mission to recover them. Iphitus had
+gone there also to try and get back twelve brood mares that he had
+lost, and the mule foals that were running with them. These mares were
+the death of him in the end, for when he went to the house of Jove's
+son, mighty Hercules, who performed such prodigies of valour, Hercules
+to his shame killed him, though he was his guest, for he feared not
+heaven's vengeance, nor yet respected his own table which he had set
+before Iphitus, but killed him in spite of everything, and kept the
+mares himself. It was when claiming these that Iphitus met Ulysses, and
+gave him the bow which mighty Eurytus had been used to carry, and which
+on his death had been left by him to his son. Ulysses gave him in
+return a sword and a spear, and this was the beginning of a fast
+friendship, although they never visited at one another's houses, for
+Jove's son Hercules killed Iphitus ere they could do so. This bow,
+then, given him by Iphitus, had not been taken with him by Ulysses when
+he sailed for Troy; he had used it so long as he had been at home, but
+had left it behind as having been a keepsake from a valued friend.
+
+Penelope presently reached the oak threshold of the store-room; the
+carpenter had planed this duly, and had drawn a line on it so as to get
+it quite straight; he had then set the door posts into it and hung the
+doors. She loosed the strap from the handle of the door, put in the
+key, and drove it straight home to shoot back the bolts that held the
+doors; these flew open with a noise like a bull bellowing in a
+meadow, and Penelope stepped upon the raised platform, where the chests
+stood in which the fair linen and clothes were laid by along with
+fragrant herbs: reaching thence, she took down the bow with its bow
+case from the peg on which it hung. She sat down with it on her knees,
+weeping bitterly as she took the bow out of its case, and when her
+tears had relieved her, she went to the cloister where the suitors
+were, carrying the bow and the quiver, with the many deadly arrows that
+were inside it. Along with her came her maidens, bearing a chest that
+contained much iron and bronze which her husband had won as prizes.
+When she reached the suitors, she stood by one of the bearing-posts
+supporting the roof of the cloister, holding a veil before her face,
+and with a maid on either side of her. Then she said:
+
+"Listen to me you suitors, who persist in abusing the hospitality of
+this house because its owner has been long absent, and without other
+pretext than that you want to marry me; this, then, being the prize
+that you are contending for, I will bring out the mighty bow of
+Ulysses, and whomsoever of you shall string it most easily and send his
+arrow through each one of twelve axes, him will I follow and quit this
+house of my lawful husband, so goodly, and so abounding in wealth. But
+even so I doubt not that I shall remember it in my dreams."
+
+As she spoke, she told Eumaeus to set the bow and the pieces of iron
+before the suitors, and Eumaeus wept as he took them to do as she had
+bidden him. Hard by, the stockman wept also when he saw his master's
+bow, but Antinous scolded them. "You country louts," said he, "silly
+simpletons; why should you add to the sorrows of your mistress by
+crying in this way? She has enough to grieve her in the loss of her
+husband; sit still, therefore, and eat your dinners in silence, or go
+outside if you want to cry, and leave the bow behind you. We suitors
+shall have to contend for it with might and main, for we shall find it
+no light matter to string such a bow as this is. There is not a man of
+us all who is such another as Ulysses; for I have seen him and remember
+him, though I was then only a child."
+
+This was what he said, but all the time he was expecting to be able to
+string the bow and shoot through the iron, whereas in fact he was to be
+the first that should taste of the arrows from the hands of Ulysses,
+whom he was dishonouring in his own house—egging the others on to do so
+also.
+
+Then Telemachus spoke. "Great heavens!" he exclaimed, "Jove must have
+robbed me of my senses. Here is my dear and excellent mother saying she
+will quit this house and marry again, yet I am laughing and enjoying
+myself as though there were nothing happening. But, suitors, as the
+contest has been agreed upon, let it go forward. It is for a woman
+whose peer is not to be found in Pylos, Argos, or Mycene, nor yet in
+Ithaca nor on the mainland. You know this as well as I do; what need
+have I to speak in praise of my mother? Come on, then, make no excuses
+for delay, but let us see whether you can string the bow or no. I too
+will make trial of it, for if I can string it and shoot through the
+iron, I shall not suffer my mother to quit this house with a stranger,
+not if I can win the prizes which my father won before me."
+
+As he spoke he sprang from his seat, threw his crimson cloak from him,
+and took his sword from his shoulder. First he set the axes in a row,
+in a long groove which he had dug for them, and had made straight by
+line. Then he stamped the earth tight round them, and everyone was
+surprised when they saw him set them up so orderly, though he had never
+seen anything of the kind before. This done, he went on to the pavement
+to make trial of the bow; thrice did he tug at it, trying with all his
+might to draw the string, and thrice he had to leave off, though he had
+hoped to string the bow and shoot through the iron. He was trying for
+the fourth time, and would have strung it had not Ulysses made a sign
+to check him in spite of all his eagerness. So he said:
+
+"Alas! I shall either be always feeble and of no prowess, or I am too
+young, and have not yet reached my full strength so as to be able to
+hold my own if any one attacks me. You others, therefore, who are
+stronger than I, make trial of the bow and get this contest settled."
+
+On this he put the bow down, letting it lean against the door [that led
+into the house with the arrow standing against the top of the bow.
+Then he sat down on the seat from which he had risen, and Antinous
+said:
+
+"Come on each of you in his turn, going towards the right from the
+place at which the cupbearer begins when he is handing round the wine."
+
+The rest agreed, and Leiodes son of Oenops was the first to rise. He
+was sacrificial priest to the suitors, and sat in the corner near the
+mixing-bowl.  He was the only man who hated their evil deeds and was
+indignant with the others. He was now the first to take the bow and
+arrow, so he went on to the pavement to make his trial, but he could
+not string the bow, for his hands were weak and unused to hard work,
+they therefore soon grew tired, and he said to the suitors, "My
+friends, I cannot string it; let another have it, this bow shall take
+the life and soul out of many a chief among us, for it is better to die
+than to live after having missed the prize that we have so long striven
+for, and which has brought us so long together. Some one of us is even
+now hoping and praying that he may marry Penelope, but when he has seen
+this bow and tried it, let him woo and make bridal offerings to some
+other woman, and let Penelope marry whoever makes her the best offer
+and whose lot it is to win her."
+
+On this he put the bow down, letting it lean against the door, with
+the arrow standing against the tip of the bow. Then he took his seat
+again on the seat from which he had risen; and Antinous rebuked him
+saying:
+
+"Leiodes, what are you talking about? Your words are monstrous and
+intolerable; it makes me angry to listen to you. Shall, then, this bow
+take the life of many a chief among us, merely because you cannot bend
+it yourself? True, you were not born to be an archer, but there are
+others who will soon string it."
+
+Then he said to Melanthius the goatherd, "Look sharp, light a fire in
+the court, and set a seat hard by with a sheep skin on it; bring us
+also a large ball of lard, from what they have in the house. Let us
+warm the bow and grease it—we will then make trial of it again, and
+bring the contest to an end."
+
+Melanthius lit the fire, and set a seat covered with sheep skins beside
+it. He also brought a great ball of lard from what they had in the
+house, and the suitors warmed the bow and again made trial of it, but
+they were none of them nearly strong enough to string it. Nevertheless
+there still remained Antinous and Eurymachus, who were the ringleaders
+among the suitors and much the foremost among them all.
+
+Then the swineherd and the stockman left the cloisters together, and
+Ulysses followed them. When they had got outside the gates and the
+outer yard, Ulysses said to them quietly:
+
+"Stockman, and you swineherd, I have something in my mind which I am in
+doubt whether to say or no; but I think I will say it. What manner of
+men would you be to stand by Ulysses, if some god should bring him back
+here all of a sudden? Say which you are disposed to do—to side with the
+suitors, or with Ulysses?"
+
+"Father Jove," answered the stockman, "would indeed that you might so
+ordain it. If some god were but to bring Ulysses back, you should see
+with what might and main I would fight for him."
+
+In like words Eumaeus prayed to all the gods that Ulysses might return;
+when, therefore, he saw for certain what mind they were of, Ulysses
+said, "It is I, Ulysses, who am here. I have suffered much, but at
+last, in the twentieth year, I am come back to my own country. I find
+that you two alone of all my servants are glad that I should do so, for
+I have not heard any of the others praying for my return. To you two,
+therefore, will I unfold the truth as it shall be. If heaven shall
+deliver the suitors into my hands, I will find wives for both of you,
+will give you house and holding close to my own, and you shall be to me
+as though you were brothers and friends of Telemachus. I will now give
+you convincing proofs that you may know me and be assured. See, here is
+the scar from the boar's tooth that ripped me when I was out hunting on
+Mt. Parnassus with the sons of Autolycus."
+
+As he spoke he drew his rags aside from the great scar, and when they
+had examined it thoroughly, they both of them wept about Ulysses, threw
+their arms round him, and kissed his head and shoulders, while Ulysses
+kissed their hands and faces in return. The sun would have gone down
+upon their mourning if Ulysses had not checked them and said:
+
+"Cease your weeping, lest some one should come outside and see us, and
+tell those who are within. When you go in, do so separately, not both
+together; I will go first, and do you follow afterwards; let this
+moreover be the token between us; the suitors will all of them try to
+prevent me from getting hold of the bow and quiver; do you, therefore,
+Eumaeus, place it in my hands when you are carrying it about, and tell
+the women to close the doors of their apartment. If they hear any
+groaning or uproar as of men fighting about the house, they must not
+come out; they must keep quiet, and stay where they are at their work.
+And I charge you, Philoetius, to make fast the doors of the outer
+court, and to bind them securely at once."
+
+When he had thus spoken, he went back to the house and took the seat
+that he had left. Presently, his two servants followed him inside.
+
+At this moment the bow was in the hands of Eurymachus, who was warming
+it by the fire, but even so he could not string it, and he was greatly
+grieved. He heaved a deep sigh and said, "I grieve for myself and for
+us all; I grieve that I shall have to forgo the marriage, but I do not
+care nearly so much about this, for there are plenty of other women in
+Ithaca and elsewhere; what I feel most is the fact of our being so
+inferior to Ulysses in strength that we cannot string his bow. This
+will disgrace us in the eyes of those who are yet unborn."
+
+"It shall not be so, Eurymachus," said Antinous, "and you know it
+yourself. Today is the feast of Apollo throughout all the land; who can
+string a bow on such a day as this? Put it on one side—as for the axes
+they can stay where they are, for no one is likely to come to the house
+and take them away: let the cupbearer go round with his cups, that we
+may make our drink-offerings and drop this matter of the bow; we will
+tell Melanthius to bring us in some goats tomorrow—the best he has; we
+can then offer thigh bones to Apollo the mighty archer, and again make
+trial of the bow, so as to bring the contest to an end."
+
+The rest approved his words, and thereon men servants poured water over
+the hands of the guests, while pages filled the mixing-bowls with wine
+and water and handed it round after giving every man his
+drink-offering. Then, when they had made their offerings and had drunk
+each as much as he desired, Ulysses craftily said:—
+
+"Suitors of the illustrious queen, listen that I may speak even as I am
+minded. I appeal more especially to Eurymachus, and to Antinous who has
+just spoken with so much reason. Cease shooting for the present and
+leave the matter to the gods, but in the morning let heaven give
+victory to whom it will. For the moment, however, give me the bow that
+I may prove the power of my hands among you all, and see whether I
+still have as much strength as I used to have, or whether travel and
+neglect have made an end of it."
+
+This made them all very angry, for they feared he might string the bow,
+Antinous therefore rebuked him fiercely saying, "Wretched creature, you
+have not so much as a grain of sense in your whole body; you ought to
+think yourself lucky in being allowed to dine unharmed among your
+betters, without having any smaller portion served you than we others
+have had, and in being allowed to hear our conversation. No other
+beggar or stranger has been allowed to hear what we say among
+ourselves; the wine must have been doing you a mischief, as it does
+with all those who drink immoderately. It was wine that inflamed the
+Centaur Eurytion when he was staying with Peirithous among the
+Lapithae. When the wine had got into his head, he went mad and did ill
+deeds about the house of Peirithous; this angered the heroes who were
+there assembled, so they rushed at him and cut off his ears and
+nostrils; then they dragged him through the doorway out of the house,
+so he went away crazed, and bore the burden of his crime, bereft of
+understanding. Henceforth, therefore, there was war between mankind and
+the centaurs, but he brought it upon himself through his own
+drunkenness. In like manner I can tell you that it will go hardly with
+you if you string the bow: you will find no mercy from any one here,
+for we shall at once ship you off to king Echetus, who kills every one
+that comes near him: you will never get away alive, so drink and keep
+quiet without getting into a quarrel with men younger than yourself."
+
+Penelope then spoke to him. "Antinous," said she, "it is not right that
+you should ill-treat any guest of Telemachus who comes to this house.
+If the stranger should prove strong enough to string the mighty bow of
+Ulysses, can you suppose that he would take me home with him and make
+me his wife? Even the man himself can have no such idea in his mind:
+none of you need let that disturb his feasting; it would be out of all
+reason."
+
+"Queen Penelope," answered Eurymachus, "we do not suppose that this man
+will take you away with him; it is impossible; but we are afraid lest
+some of the baser sort, men or women among the Achaeans, should go
+gossiping about and say, 'These suitors are a feeble folk; they are
+paying court to the wife of a brave man whose bow not one of them was
+able to string, and yet a beggarly tramp who came to the house strung
+it at once and sent an arrow through the iron.' This is what will be
+said, and it will be a scandal against us."
+
+"Eurymachus," Penelope answered, "people who persist in eating up the
+estate of a great chieftain and dishonouring his house must not expect
+others to think well of them. Why then should you mind if men talk as
+you think they will? This stranger is strong and well-built, he says
+moreover that he is of noble birth. Give him the bow, and let us see
+whether he can string it or no. I say—and it shall surely be—that if
+Apollo vouchsafes him the glory of stringing it, I will give him a
+cloak and shirt of good wear, with a javelin to keep off dogs and
+robbers, and a sharp sword. I will also give him sandals, and will see
+him sent safely wherever he wants to go."
+
+Then Telemachus said, "Mother, I am the only man either in Ithaca or in
+the islands that are over against Elis who has the right to let any one
+have the bow or to refuse it. No one shall force me one way or the
+other, not even though I choose to make the stranger a present of the
+bow outright, and let him take it away with him. Go, then, within the
+house and busy yourself with your daily duties, your loom, your
+distaff, and the ordering of your servants. This bow is a man's matter,
+and mine above all others, for it is I who am master here."
+
+She went wondering back into the house, and laid her son's saying in
+her heart. Then going upstairs with her handmaids into her room, she
+mourned her dear husband till Minerva sent sweet sleep over her
+eyelids.
+
+The swineherd now took up the bow and was for taking it to Ulysses, but
+the suitors clamoured at him from all parts of the cloisters, and one
+of them said, "You idiot, where are you taking the bow to? Are you out
+of your wits? If Apollo and the other gods will grant our prayer, your
+own boarhounds shall get you into some quiet little place, and worry
+you to death."
+
+Eumaeus was frightened at the outcry they all raised, so he put the bow
+down then and there, but Telemachus shouted out at him from the other
+side of the cloisters, and threatened him saying, "Father Eumaeus,
+bring the bow on in spite of them, or young as I am I will pelt you
+with stones back to the country, for I am the better man of the two. I
+wish I was as much stronger than all the other suitors in the house as
+I am than you, I would soon send some of them off sick and sorry, for
+they mean mischief."
+
+Thus did he speak, and they all of them laughed heartily, which put
+them in a better humour with Telemachus; so Eumaeus brought the bow on
+and placed it in the hands of Ulysses. When he had done this, he called
+Euryclea apart and said to her, "Euryclea, Telemachus says you are to
+close the doors of the women's apartments. If they hear any groaning or
+uproar as of men fighting about the house, they are not to come out,
+but are to keep quiet and stay where they are at their work."
+
+Euryclea did as she was told and closed the doors of the women's
+apartments.
+
+Meanwhile Philoetius slipped quietly out and made fast the gates of the
+outer court. There was a ship's cable of byblus fibre lying in the
+gatehouse, so he made the gates fast with it and then came in again,
+resuming the seat that he had left, and keeping an eye on Ulysses, who
+had now got the bow in his hands, and was turning it every way about,
+and proving it all over to see whether the worms had been eating into
+its two horns during his absence. Then would one turn towards his
+neighbour saying, "This is some tricky old bow-fancier; either he has
+got one like it at home, or he wants to make one, in such workmanlike
+style does the old vagabond handle it."
+
+Another said, "I hope he may be no more successful in other things than
+he is likely to be in stringing this bow."
+
+But Ulysses, when he had taken it up and examined it all over, strung
+it as easily as a skilled bard strings a new peg of his lyre and makes
+the twisted gut fast at both ends. Then he took it in his right hand to
+prove the string, and it sang sweetly under his touch like the
+twittering of a swallow. The suitors were dismayed, and turned colour
+as they heard it; at that moment, moreover, Jove thundered loudly as a
+sign, and the heart of Ulysses rejoiced as he heard the omen that the
+son of scheming Saturn had sent him.
+
+He took an arrow that was lying upon the table—for those which the
+Achaeans were so shortly about to taste were all inside the quiver—he
+laid it on the centre-piece of the bow, and drew the notch of the arrow
+and the string toward him, still seated on his seat. When he had taken
+aim he let fly, and his arrow pierced every one of the handle-holes of
+the axes from the first onwards till it had gone right through them,
+and into the outer courtyard. Then he said to Telemachus:
+
+"Your guest has not disgraced you, Telemachus. I did not miss what I
+aimed at, and I was not long in stringing my bow. I am still strong,
+and not as the suitors twit me with being. Now, however, it is time for
+the Achaeans to prepare supper while there is still daylight, and then
+otherwise to disport themselves with song and dance which are the
+crowning ornaments of a banquet."
+
+As he spoke he made a sign with his eyebrows, and Telemachus girded on
+his sword, grasped his spear, and stood armed beside his father's seat.
+
+Then Ulysses tore off his rags, and sprang on to the broad pavement
+with his bow and his quiver full of arrows. He shed the arrows on to
+the ground at his feet and said, "The mighty contest is at an end. I
+will now see whether Apollo will vouchsafe it to me to hit another mark
+which no man has yet hit."
+
+On this he aimed a deadly arrow at Antinous, who was about to take up a
+two-handled gold cup to drink his wine and already had it in his hands.
+He had no thought of death—who amongst all the revellers would think
+that one man, however brave, would stand alone among so many and kill
+him? The arrow struck Antinous in the throat, and the point went clean
+through his neck, so that he fell over and the cup dropped from his
+hand, while a thick stream of blood gushed from his nostrils. He kicked
+the table from him and upset the things on it, so that the bread and
+roasted meats were all soiled as they fell over on to the ground.
+The suitors were in an uproar when they saw that a man had been hit;
+they sprang in dismay one and all of them from their seats and looked
+everywhere towards the walls, but there was neither shield nor spear,
+and they rebuked Ulysses very angrily. "Stranger," said they, "you
+shall pay for shooting people in this way: you shall see no other
+contest; you are a doomed man; he whom you have slain was the foremost
+youth in Ithaca, and the vultures shall devour you for having killed
+him."
+
+Thus they spoke, for they thought that he had killed Antinous by
+mistake, and did not perceive that death was hanging over the head of
+every one of them. But Ulysses glared at them and said:
+
+"Dogs, did you think that I should not come back from Troy? You have
+wasted my substance, have forced my women servants to lie with you,
+and have wooed my wife while I was still living. You have feared
+neither God nor man, and now you shall die."
+
+They turned pale with fear as he spoke, and every man looked round
+about to see whither he might fly for safety, but Eurymachus alone
+spoke.
+
+"If you are Ulysses," said he, "then what you have said is just. We
+have done much wrong on your lands and in your house. But Antinous who
+was the head and front of the offending lies low already. It was all
+his doing. It was not that he wanted to marry Penelope; he did not so
+much care about that; what he wanted was something quite different, and
+Jove has not vouchsafed it to him; he wanted to kill your son and to be
+chief man in Ithaca. Now, therefore, that he has met the death which
+was his due, spare the lives of your people. We will make everything
+good among ourselves, and pay you in full for all that we have eaten
+and drunk. Each one of us shall pay you a fine worth twenty oxen, and
+we will keep on giving you gold and bronze till your heart is softened.
+Until we have done this no one can complain of your being enraged
+against us."
+
+Ulysses again glared at him and said, "Though you should give me all
+that you have in the world both now and all that you ever shall have, I
+will not stay my hand till I have paid all of you in full. You must
+fight, or fly for your lives; and fly, not a man of you shall."
+
+Their hearts sank as they heard him, but Eurymachus again spoke saying:
+
+"My friends, this man will give us no quarter. He will stand where he
+is and shoot us down till he has killed every man among us. Let us then
+show fight; draw your swords, and hold up the tables to shield you from
+his arrows. Let us have at him with a rush, to drive him from the
+pavement and doorway: we can then get through into the town, and raise
+such an alarm as shall soon stay his shooting."
+
+As he spoke he drew his keen blade of bronze, sharpened on both sides,
+and with a loud cry sprang towards Ulysses, but Ulysses instantly shot
+an arrow into his breast that caught him by the nipple and fixed itself
+in his liver. He dropped his sword and fell doubled up over his table.
+The cup and all the meats went over on to the ground as he smote the
+earth with his forehead in the agonies of death, and he kicked the
+stool with his feet until his eyes were closed in darkness.
+
+Then Amphinomus drew his sword and made straight at Ulysses to try and
+get him away from the door; but Telemachus was too quick for him, and
+struck him from behind; the spear caught him between the shoulders and
+went right through his chest, so that he fell heavily to the ground and
+struck the earth with his forehead. Then Telemachus sprang away from
+him, leaving his spear still in the body, for he feared that if he
+stayed to draw it out, some one of the Achaeans might come up and hack
+at him with his sword, or knock him down, so he set off at a run, and
+immediately was at his father's side. Then he said:
+
+"Father, let me bring you a shield, two spears, and a brass helmet for
+your temples. I will arm myself as well, and will bring other armour
+for the swineherd and the stockman, for we had better be armed."
+
+"Run and fetch them," answered Ulysses, "while my arrows hold out, or
+when I am alone they may get me away from the door."
+
+Telemachus did as his father said, and went off to the store room where
+the armour was kept. He chose four shields, eight spears, and four
+brass helmets with horse-hair plumes. He brought them with all speed to
+his father, and armed himself first, while the stockman and the
+swineherd also put on their armour, and took their places near Ulysses.
+Meanwhile Ulysses, as long as his arrows lasted, had been shooting the
+suitors one by one, and they fell thick on one another: when his arrows
+gave out, he set the bow to stand against the end wall of the house by
+the door post, and hung a shield four hides thick about his shoulders;
+on his comely head he set his helmet, well wrought with a crest of
+horse-hair that nodded menacingly above it, and he grasped two
+redoubtable bronze-shod spears.
+
+Now there was a trap door on the wall, while at one end of the
+pavement there was an exit leading to a narrow passage, and this
+exit was closed by a well-made door. Ulysses told Philoetius to stand
+by this door and guard it, for only one person could attack it at a
+time. But Agelaus shouted out, "Cannot some one go up to the trap door
+and tell the people what is going on? Help would come at once, and we
+should soon make an end of this man and his shooting."
+
+"This may not be, Agelaus," answered Melanthius, "the mouth of the
+narrow passage is dangerously near the entrance to the outer court. One
+brave man could prevent any number from getting in. But I know what I
+will do, I will bring you arms from the store-room, for I am sure it is
+there that Ulysses and his son have put them."
+
+On this the goatherd Melanthius went by back passages to the store-room
+of Ulysses' house. There he chose twelve shields, with as many helmets
+and spears, and brought them back as fast as he could to give them to
+the suitors. Ulysses' heart began to fail him when he saw the
+suitors putting on their armour and brandishing their spears. He saw
+the greatness of the danger, and said to Telemachus, "Some one of the
+women inside is helping the suitors against us, or it may be
+Melanthius."
+
+Telemachus answered, "The fault, father, is mine, and mine only; I left
+the store room door open, and they have kept a sharper look out than I
+have. Go, Eumaeus, put the door to, and see whether it is one of the
+women who is doing this, or whether, as I suspect, it is Melanthius the
+son of Dolius."
+
+Thus did they converse. Meanwhile Melanthius was again going to the
+store room to fetch more armour, but the swineherd saw him and said to
+Ulysses who was beside him, "Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, it is that
+scoundrel Melanthius, just as we suspected, who is going to the store
+room. Say, shall I kill him, if I can get the better of him, or shall I
+bring him here that you may take your own revenge for all the many
+wrongs that he has done in your house?"
+
+Ulysses answered, "Telemachus and I will hold these suitors in check,
+no matter what they do; go back both of you and bind Melanthius' hands
+and feet behind him. Throw him into the store room and make the door
+fast behind you; then fasten a noose about his body, and string him
+close up to the rafters from a high bearing-post, that he may linger
+on in an agony."
+
+Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said; they went to the
+store room, which they entered before Melanthius saw them, for he was
+busy searching for arms in the innermost part of the room, so the two
+took their stand on either side of the door and waited. By and by
+Melanthius came out with a helmet in one hand, and an old dry-rotted
+shield in the other, which had been borne by Laertes when he was young,
+but which had been long since thrown aside, and the straps had become
+unsewn; on this the two seized him, dragged him back by the hair, and
+threw him struggling to the ground. They bent his hands and feet well
+behind his back, and bound them tight with a painful bond as Ulysses
+had told them; then they fastened a noose about his body and strung him
+up from a high pillar till he was close up to the rafters, and over him
+did you then vaunt, O swineherd Eumaeus saying, "Melanthius, you will
+pass the night on a soft bed as you deserve. You will know very well
+when morning comes from the streams of Oceanus, and it is time for you
+to be driving in your goats for the suitors to feast on."
+
+There, then, they left him in very cruel bondage, and having put on
+their armour they closed the door behind them and went back to take
+their places by the side of Ulysses; whereon the four men stood in the
+cloister, fierce and full of fury; nevertheless, those who were in the
+body of the court were still both brave and many. Then Jove's daughter
+Minerva came up to them, having assumed the voice and form of Mentor.
+Ulysses was glad when he saw her and said, "Mentor, lend me your help,
+and forget not your old comrade, nor the many good turns he has done
+you. Besides, you are my age-mate."
+
+But all the time he felt sure it was Minerva, and the suitors from the
+other side raised an uproar when they saw her. Agelaus was the first to
+reproach her. "Mentor," he cried, "do not let Ulysses beguile you into
+siding with him and fighting the suitors. This is what we will do: when
+we have killed these people, father and son, we will kill you too. You
+shall pay for it with your head, and when we have killed you, we will
+take all you have, in doors or out, and bring it into hotch-pot with
+Ulysses' property; we will not let your sons live in your house, nor
+your daughters, nor shall your widow continue to live in the city of
+Ithaca."
+
+This made Minerva still more furious, so she scolded Ulysses very
+angrily. "Ulysses," said she, "your strength and prowess are no
+longer what they were when you fought for nine long years among the
+Trojans about the noble lady Helen. You killed many a man in those
+days, and it was through your stratagem that Priam's city was taken.
+How comes it that you are so lamentably less valiant now that you are
+on your own ground, face to face with the suitors in your own house?
+Come on, my good fellow, stand by my side and see how Mentor, son of
+Alcimus shall fight your foes and requite your kindnesses conferred
+upon him."
+
+But she would not give him full victory as yet, for she wished still
+further to prove his own prowess and that of his brave son, so she flew
+up to one of the rafters in the roof of the cloister and sat upon it in
+the form of a swallow.
+
+Meanwhile Agelaus son of Damastor, Eurynomus, Amphimedon, Demoptolemus,
+Pisander, and Polybus son of Polyctor bore the brunt of the fight upon
+the suitors' side; of all those who were still fighting for their lives
+they were by far the most valiant, for the others had already fallen
+under the arrows of Ulysses. Agelaus shouted to them and said, "My
+friends, he will soon have to leave off, for Mentor has gone away after
+having done nothing for him but brag. They are standing at the doors
+unsupported. Do not aim at him all at once, but six of you throw your
+spears first, and see if you cannot cover yourselves with glory by
+killing him. When he has fallen we need not be uneasy about the
+others."
+
+They threw their spears as he bade them, but Minerva made them all of
+no effect. One hit the door post; another went against the door; the
+pointed shaft of another struck the wall; and as soon as they had
+avoided all the spears of the suitors Ulysses said to his own men, "My
+friends, I should say we too had better let drive into the middle of
+them, or they will crown all the harm they have done us by killing us
+outright."
+
+They therefore aimed straight in front of them and threw their spears.
+Ulysses killed Demoptolemus, Telemachus Euryades, Eumaeus Elatus, while
+the stockman killed Pisander. These all bit the dust, and as the others
+drew back into a corner Ulysses and his men rushed forward and regained
+their spears by drawing them from the bodies of the dead.
+
+The suitors now aimed a second time, but again Minerva made their
+weapons for the most part without effect. One hit a bearing-post of the
+cloister; another went against the door; while the pointed shaft of
+another struck the wall. Still, Amphimedon just took a piece of the top
+skin from off Telemachus's wrist, and Ctesippus managed to graze
+Eumaeus's shoulder above his shield; but the spear went on and fell to
+the ground. Then Ulysses and his men let drive into the crowd of
+suitors. Ulysses hit Eurydamas, Telemachus Amphimedon, and Eumaeus
+Polybus. After this the stockman hit Ctesippus in the breast, and
+taunted him saying, "Foul-mouthed son of Polytherses, do not be so
+foolish as to talk wickedly another time, but let heaven direct your
+speech, for the gods are far stronger than men. I make you a present of
+this advice to repay you for the foot which you gave Ulysses when he
+was begging about in his own house."
+
+Thus spoke the stockman, and Ulysses struck the son of Damastor with a
+spear in close fight, while Telemachus hit Leocritus son of Evenor in
+the belly, and the dart went clean through him, so that he fell forward
+full on his face upon the ground. Then Minerva from her seat on the
+rafter held up her deadly aegis, and the hearts of the suitors quailed.
+They fled to the other end of the court like a herd of cattle maddened
+by the gadfly in early summer when the days are at their longest. As
+eagle-beaked, crook-taloned vultures from the mountains swoop down on
+the smaller birds that cower in flocks upon the ground, and kill them,
+for they cannot either fight or fly, and lookers on enjoy the
+sport—even so did Ulysses and his men fall upon the suitors and smite
+them on every side. They made a horrible groaning as their brains were
+being battered in, and the ground seethed with their blood.
+
+Leiodes then caught the knees of Ulysses and said, "Ulysses I beseech
+you have mercy upon me and spare me. I never wronged any of the women
+in your house either in word or deed, and I tried to stop the others. I
+saw them, but they would not listen, and now they are paying for their
+folly. I was their sacrificing priest; if you kill me, I shall die
+without having done anything to deserve it, and shall have got no
+thanks for all the good that I did."
+
+Ulysses looked sternly at him and answered, "If you were their
+sacrificing priest, you must have prayed many a time that it might be
+long before I got home again, and that you might marry my wife and have
+children by her. Therefore you shall die."
+
+With these words he picked up the sword that Agelaus had dropped when
+he was being killed, and which was lying upon the ground. Then he
+struck Leiodes on the back of his neck, so that his head fell rolling
+in the dust while he was yet speaking.
+
+The minstrel Phemius son of Terpes—he who had been forced by the
+suitors to sing to them—now tried to save his life. He was standing
+near towards the trap door, and held his lyre in his hand. He did
+not know whether to fly out of the cloister and sit down by the altar
+of Jove that was in the outer court, and on which both Laertes and
+Ulysses had offered up the thigh bones of many an ox, or whether to go
+straight up to Ulysses and embrace his knees, but in the end he deemed
+it best to embrace Ulysses' knees. So he laid his lyre on the ground
+between the mixing bowl  and the silver-studded seat; then going up
+to Ulysses he caught hold of his knees and said, "Ulysses, I beseech
+you have mercy on me and spare me. You will be sorry for it afterwards
+if you kill a bard who can sing both for gods and men as I can. I make
+all my lays myself, and heaven visits me with every kind of
+inspiration. I would sing to you as though you were a god, do not
+therefore be in such a hurry to cut my head off. Your own son
+Telemachus will tell you that I did not want to frequent your house and
+sing to the suitors after their meals, but they were too many and too
+strong for me, so they made me."
+
+Telemachus heard him, and at once went up to his father. "Hold!" he
+cried, "the man is guiltless, do him no hurt; and we will spare Medon
+too, who was always good to me when I was a boy, unless Philoetius or
+Eumaeus has already killed him, or he has fallen in your way when you
+were raging about the court."
+
+Medon caught these words of Telemachus, for he was crouching under a
+seat beneath which he had hidden by covering himself up with a freshly
+flayed heifer's hide, so he threw off the hide, went up to Telemachus,
+and laid hold of his knees.
+
+"Here I am, my dear sir," said he, "stay your hand therefore, and tell
+your father, or he will kill me in his rage against the suitors for
+having wasted his substance and been so foolishly disrespectful to
+yourself."
+
+Ulysses smiled at him and answered, "Fear not; Telemachus has saved
+your life, that you may know in future, and tell other people, how
+greatly better good deeds prosper than evil ones. Go, therefore,
+outside the cloisters into the outer court, and be out of the way of
+the slaughter—you and the bard—while I finish my work here inside."
+
+The pair went into the outer court as fast as they could, and sat down
+by Jove's great altar, looking fearfully round, and still expecting
+that they would be killed. Then Ulysses searched the whole court
+carefully over, to see if anyone had managed to hide himself and was
+still living, but he found them all lying in the dust and weltering in
+their blood. They were like fishes which fishermen have netted out of
+the sea, and thrown upon the beach to lie gasping for water till the
+heat of the sun makes an end of them. Even so were the suitors lying
+all huddled up one against the other.
+
+Then Ulysses said to Telemachus, "Call nurse Euryclea; I have something
+to say to her."
+
+Telemachus went and knocked at the door of the women's room. "Make
+haste," said he, "you old woman who have been set over all the other
+women in the house. Come outside; my father wishes to speak to you."
+
+When Euryclea heard this she unfastened the door of the women's room
+and came out, following Telemachus. She found Ulysses among the corpses
+bespattered with blood and filth like a lion that has just been
+devouring an ox, and his breast and both his cheeks are all bloody, so
+that he is a fearful sight; even so was Ulysses besmirched from head to
+foot with gore. When she saw all the corpses and such a quantity of
+blood, she was beginning to cry out for joy, for she saw that a great
+deed had been done; but Ulysses checked her, "Old woman," said he,
+"rejoice in silence; restrain yourself, and do not make any noise about
+it; it is an unholy thing to vaunt over dead men. Heaven's doom and
+their own evil deeds have brought these men to destruction, for they
+respected no man in the whole world, neither rich nor poor, who came
+near them, and they have come to a bad end as a punishment for their
+wickedness and folly. Now, however, tell me which of the women in the
+house have misconducted themselves, and who are innocent."
+
+"I will tell you the truth, my son," answered Euryclea. "There are
+fifty women in the house whom we teach to do things, such as carding
+wool, and all kinds of household work. Of these, twelve in all have
+misbehaved, and have been wanting in respect to me, and also to
+Penelope. They showed no disrespect to Telemachus, for he has only
+lately grown and his mother never permitted him to give orders to the
+female servants; but let me go upstairs and tell your wife all that has
+happened, for some god has been sending her to sleep."
+
+"Do not wake her yet," answered Ulysses, "but tell the women who have
+misconducted themselves to come to me."
+
+Euryclea left the cloister to tell the women, and make them come to
+Ulysses; in the meantime he called Telemachus, the stockman, and the
+swineherd. "Begin," said he, "to remove the dead, and make the women
+help you. Then, get sponges and clean water to swill down the tables
+and seats. When you have thoroughly cleansed the whole cloisters, take
+the women into the space between the domed room and the wall of the
+outer court, and run them through with your swords till they are quite
+dead, and have forgotten all about love and the way in which they used
+to lie in secret with the suitors."
+
+On this the women came down in a body, weeping and wailing bitterly.
+First they carried the dead bodies out, and propped them up against one
+another in the gatehouse. Ulysses ordered them about and made them do
+their work quickly, so they had to carry the bodies out. When they had
+done this, they cleaned all the tables and seats with sponges and
+water, while Telemachus and the two others shovelled up the blood and
+dirt from the ground, and the women carried it all away and put it out
+of doors. Then when they had made the whole place quite clean and
+orderly, they took the women out and hemmed them in the narrow space
+between the wall of the domed room and that of the yard, so that they
+could not get away: and Telemachus said to the other two, "I shall not
+let these women die a clean death, for they were insolent to me and my
+mother, and used to sleep with the suitors."
+
+So saying he made a ship's cable fast to one of the bearing-posts that
+supported the roof of the domed room, and secured it all around the
+building, at a good height, lest any of the women's feet should touch
+the ground; and as thrushes or doves beat against a net that has been
+set for them in a thicket just as they were getting to their nest, and
+a terrible fate awaits them, even so did the women have to put their
+heads in nooses one after the other and die most miserably. Their
+feet moved convulsively for a while, but not for very long.
+
+As for Melanthius, they took him through the cloister into the inner
+court. There they cut off his nose and his ears; they drew out his
+vitals and gave them to the dogs raw, and then in their fury they cut
+off his hands and his feet.
+
+When they had done this they washed their hands and feet and went back
+into the house, for all was now over; and Ulysses said to the dear old
+nurse Euryclea, "Bring me sulphur, which cleanses all pollution, and
+fetch fire also that I may burn it, and purify the cloisters. Go,
+moreover, and tell Penelope to come here with her attendants, and also
+all the maidservants that are in the house."
+
+"All that you have said is true," answered Euryclea, "but let me bring
+you some clean clothes—a shirt and cloak. Do not keep these rags on
+your back any longer. It is not right."
+
+"First light me a fire," replied Ulysses.
+
+She brought the fire and sulphur, as he had bidden her, and Ulysses
+thoroughly purified the cloisters and both the inner and outer courts.
+Then she went inside to call the women and tell them what had happened;
+whereon they came from their apartment with torches in their hands, and
+pressed round Ulysses to embrace him, kissing his head and shoulders
+and taking hold of his hands. It made him feel as if he should like to
+weep, for he remembered every one of them.
+
+Euryclea now went upstairs laughing to tell her mistress that her dear
+husband had come home. Her aged knees became young again and her feet
+were nimble for joy as she went up to her mistress and bent over her
+head to speak to her. "Wake up Penelope, my dear child," she exclaimed,
+"and see with your own eyes something that you have been wanting this
+long time past. Ulysses has at last indeed come home again, and has
+killed the suitors who were giving so much trouble in his house, eating
+up his estate and ill treating his son."
+
+"My good nurse," answered Penelope, "you must be mad. The gods
+sometimes send some very sensible people out of their minds, and make
+foolish people become sensible. This is what they must have been doing
+to you; for you always used to be a reasonable person. Why should you
+thus mock me when I have trouble enough already—talking such nonsense,
+and waking me up out of a sweet sleep that had taken possession of my
+eyes and closed them? I have never slept so soundly from the day my
+poor husband went to that city with the ill-omened name. Go back again
+into the women's room; if it had been any one else who had woke me up
+to bring me such absurd news I should have sent her away with a severe
+scolding. As it is your age shall protect you."
+
+"My dear child," answered Euryclea, "I am not mocking you. It is quite
+true as I tell you that Ulysses is come home again. He was the stranger
+whom they all kept on treating so badly in the cloister. Telemachus
+knew all the time that he was come back, but kept his father's secret
+that he might have his revenge on all these wicked people."
+
+Then Penelope sprang up from her couch, threw her arms round Euryclea,
+and wept for joy. "But my dear nurse," said she, "explain this to me;
+if he has really come home as you say, how did he manage to overcome
+the wicked suitors single handed, seeing what a number of them there
+always were?"
+
+"I was not there," answered Euryclea, "and do not know; I only heard
+them groaning while they were being killed. We sat crouching and
+huddled up in a corner of the women's room with the doors closed, till
+your son came to fetch me because his father sent him. Then I found
+Ulysses standing over the corpses that were lying on the ground all
+round him, one on top of the other. You would have enjoyed it if you
+could have seen him standing there all bespattered with blood and
+filth, and looking just like a lion. But the corpses are now all piled
+up in the gatehouse that is in the outer court, and Ulysses has lit a
+great fire to purify the house with sulphur. He has sent me to call
+you, so come with me that you may both be happy together after all; for
+now at last the desire of your heart has been fulfilled; your husband
+is come home to find both wife and son alive and well, and to take his
+revenge in his own house on the suitors who behaved so badly to him."
+
+"My dear nurse," said Penelope, "do not exult too confidently over all
+this. You know how delighted every one would be to see Ulysses come
+home—more particularly myself, and the son who has been born to both of
+us; but what you tell me cannot be really true. It is some god who is
+angry with the suitors for their great wickedness, and has made an end
+of them; for they respected no man in the whole world, neither rich nor
+poor, who came near them, and they have come to a bad end in
+consequence of their iniquity; Ulysses is dead far away from the
+Achaean land; he will never return home again."
+
+Then nurse Euryclea said, "My child, what are you talking about? but
+you were all hard of belief and have made up your mind that your
+husband is never coming, although he is in the house and by his own
+fire side at this very moment. Besides I can give you another proof;
+when I was washing him I perceived the scar which the wild boar gave
+him, and I wanted to tell you about it, but in his wisdom he would not
+let me, and clapped his hands over my mouth; so come with me and I will
+make this bargain with you—if I am deceiving you, you may have me
+killed by the most cruel death you can think of."
+
+"My dear nurse," said Penelope, "however wise you may be you can hardly
+fathom the counsels of the gods. Nevertheless, we will go in search of
+my son, that I may see the corpses of the suitors, and the man who has
+killed them."
+
+On this she came down from her upper room, and while doing so she
+considered whether she should keep at a distance from her husband and
+question him, or whether she should at once go up to him and embrace
+him. When, however, she had crossed the stone floor of the cloister,
+she sat down opposite Ulysses by the fire, against the wall at right
+angles [to that by which she had entered, while Ulysses sat near
+one of the bearing-posts, looking upon the ground, and waiting to see
+what his brave wife would say to him when she saw him. For a long time
+she sat silent and as one lost in amazement. At one moment she looked
+him full in the face, but then again directly, she was misled by his
+shabby clothes and failed to recognise him, till Telemachus began to
+reproach her and said:
+
+"Mother—but you are so hard that I cannot call you by such a name—why
+do you keep away from my father in this way? Why do you not sit by his
+side and begin talking to him and asking him questions? No other woman
+could bear to keep away from her husband when he had come back to her
+after twenty years of absence, and after having gone through so much;
+but your heart always was as hard as a stone."
+
+Penelope answered, "My son, I am so lost in astonishment that I can
+find no words in which either to ask questions or to answer them. I
+cannot even look him straight in the face. Still, if he really is
+Ulysses come back to his own home again, we shall get to understand one
+another better by and by, for there are tokens with which we two are
+alone acquainted, and which are hidden from all others."
+
+Ulysses smiled at this, and said to Telemachus, "Let your mother put me
+to any proof she likes; she will make up her mind about it presently.
+She rejects me for the moment and believes me to be somebody else,
+because I am covered with dirt and have such bad clothes on; let us,
+however, consider what we had better do next. When one man has killed
+another—even though he was not one who would leave many friends to take
+up his quarrel—the man who has killed him must still say good bye to
+his friends and fly the country; whereas we have been killing the stay
+of a whole town, and all the picked youth of Ithaca. I would have you
+consider this matter."
+
+"Look to it yourself, father," answered Telemachus, "for they say you
+are the wisest counsellor in the world, and that there is no other
+mortal man who can compare with you. We will follow you with right good
+will, nor shall you find us fail you in so far as our strength holds
+out."
+
+"I will say what I think will be best," answered Ulysses. "First wash
+and put your shirts on; tell the maids also to go to their own room and
+dress; Phemius shall then strike up a dance tune on his lyre, so that
+if people outside hear, or any of the neighbours, or some one going
+along the street happens to notice it, they may think there is a
+wedding in the house, and no rumours about the death of the suitors
+will get about in the town, before we can escape to the woods upon my
+own land. Once there, we will settle which of the courses heaven
+vouchsafes us shall seem wisest."
+
+Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said. First they washed
+and put their shirts on, while the women got ready. Then Phemius took
+his lyre and set them all longing for sweet song and stately dance. The
+house re-echoed with the sound of men and women dancing, and the people
+outside said, "I suppose the queen has been getting married at last.
+She ought to be ashamed of herself for not continuing to protect her
+husband's property until he comes home."
+
+This was what they said, but they did not know what it was that had
+been happening. The upper servant Eurynome washed and anointed Ulysses
+in his own house and gave him a shirt and cloak, while Minerva made him
+look taller and stronger than before; she also made the hair grow thick
+on the top of his head, and flow down in curls like hyacinth blossoms;
+she glorified him about the head and shoulders just as a skilful
+workman who has studied art of all kinds under Vulcan or Minerva—and
+his work is full of beauty—enriches a piece of silver plate by gilding
+it. He came from the bath looking like one of the immortals, and sat
+down opposite his wife on the seat he had left. "My dear," said he,
+"heaven has endowed you with a heart more unyielding than woman ever
+yet had. No other woman could bear to keep away from her husband when
+he had come back to her after twenty years of absence, and after having
+gone through so much. But come, nurse, get a bed ready for me; I will
+sleep alone, for this woman has a heart as hard as iron."
+
+"My dear," answered Penelope, "I have no wish to set myself up, nor to
+depreciate you; but I am not struck by your appearance, for I very well
+remember what kind of a man you were when you set sail from Ithaca.
+Nevertheless, Euryclea, take his bed outside the bed chamber that he
+himself built. Bring the bed outside this room, and put bedding upon it
+with fleeces, good coverlets, and blankets."
+
+She said this to try him, but Ulysses was very angry and said, "Wife, I
+am much displeased at what you have just been saying. Who has been
+taking my bed from the place in which I left it? He must have found it
+a hard task, no matter how skilled a workman he was, unless some god
+came and helped him to shift it. There is no man living, however strong
+and in his prime, who could move it from its place, for it is a
+marvellous curiosity which I made with my very own hands. There was a
+young olive growing within the precincts of the house, in full vigour,
+and about as thick as a bearing-post. I built my room round this with
+strong walls of stone and a roof to cover them, and I made the doors
+strong and well-fitting. Then I cut off the top boughs of the olive
+tree and left the stump standing. This I dressed roughly from the root
+upwards and then worked with carpenter's tools well and skilfully,
+straightening my work by drawing a line on the wood, and making it into
+a bed-prop. I then bored a hole down the middle, and made it the
+centre-post of my bed, at which I worked till I had finished it,
+inlaying it with gold and silver; after this I stretched a hide of
+crimson leather from one side of it to the other. So you see I know all
+about it, and I desire to learn whether it is still there, or whether
+any one has been removing it by cutting down the olive tree at its
+roots."
+
+When she heard the sure proofs Ulysses now gave her, she fairly broke
+down. She flew weeping to his side, flung her arms about his neck, and
+kissed him. "Do not be angry with me Ulysses," she cried, "you, who are
+the wisest of mankind. We have suffered, both of us. Heaven has denied
+us the happiness of spending our youth, and of growing old, together;
+do not then be aggrieved or take it amiss that I did not embrace you
+thus as soon as I saw you. I have been shuddering all the time through
+fear that someone might come here and deceive me with a lying story;
+for there are many very wicked people going about. Jove's daughter
+Helen would never have yielded herself to a man from a foreign country,
+if she had known that the sons of Achaeans would come after her and
+bring her back. Heaven put it in her heart to do wrong, and she gave no
+thought to that sin, which has been the source of all our sorrows. Now,
+however, that you have convinced me by showing that you know all about
+our bed (which no human being has ever seen but you and I and a single
+maidservant, the daughter of Actor, who was given me by my father on my
+marriage, and who keeps the doors of our room) hard of belief though I
+have been I can mistrust no longer."
+
+Then Ulysses in his turn melted, and wept as he clasped his dear and
+faithful wife to his bosom. As the sight of land is welcome to men who
+are swimming towards the shore, when Neptune has wrecked their ship
+with the fury of his winds and waves; a few alone reach the land, and
+these, covered with brine, are thankful when they find themselves on
+firm ground and out of danger—even so was her husband welcome to her as
+she looked upon him, and she could not tear her two fair arms from
+about his neck. Indeed they would have gone on indulging their sorrow
+till rosy-fingered morn appeared, had not Minerva determined otherwise,
+and held night back in the far west, while she would not suffer Dawn to
+leave Oceanus, nor to yoke the two steeds Lampus and Phaethon that bear
+her onward to break the day upon mankind.
+
+At last, however, Ulysses said, "Wife, we have not yet reached the end
+of our troubles. I have an unknown amount of toil still to undergo. It
+is long and difficult, but I must go through with it, for thus the
+shade of Teiresias prophesied concerning me, on the day when I went
+down into Hades to ask about my return and that of my companions. But
+now let us go to bed, that we may lie down and enjoy the blessed boon
+of sleep."
+
+"You shall go to bed as soon as you please," replied Penelope, "now
+that the gods have sent you home to your own good house and to your
+country. But as heaven has put it in your mind to speak of it, tell me
+about the task that lies before you. I shall have to hear about it
+later, so it is better that I should be told at once."
+
+"My dear," answered Ulysses, "why should you press me to tell you?
+Still, I will not conceal it from you, though you will not like it. I
+do not like it myself, for Teiresias bade me travel far and wide,
+carrying an oar, till I came to a country where the people have never
+heard of the sea, and do not even mix salt with their food. They know
+nothing about ships, nor oars that are as the wings of a ship. He gave
+me this certain token which I will not hide from you. He said that a
+wayfarer should meet me and ask me whether it was a winnowing shovel
+that I had on my shoulder. On this, I was to fix my oar in the ground
+and sacrifice a ram, a bull, and a boar to Neptune; after which I was
+to go home and offer hecatombs to all the gods in heaven, one after the
+other. As for myself, he said that death should come to me from the
+sea, and that my life should ebb away very gently when I was full of
+years and peace of mind, and my people should bless me. All this, he
+said, should surely come to pass."
+
+And Penelope said, "If the gods are going to vouchsafe you a happier
+time in your old age, you may hope then to have some respite from
+misfortune."
+
+Thus did they converse. Meanwhile Eurynome and the nurse took torches
+and made the bed ready with soft coverlets; as soon as they had laid
+them, the nurse went back into the house to go to her rest, leaving the
+bed chamber woman Eurynome to show Ulysses and Penelope to bed by
+torch light. When she had conducted them to their room she went back,
+and they then came joyfully to the rites of their own old bed.
+Telemachus, Philoetius, and the swineherd now left off dancing, and
+made the women leave off also. They then laid themselves down to sleep
+in the cloisters.
+
+When Ulysses and Penelope had had their fill of love they fell talking
+with one another. She told him how much she had had to bear in seeing
+the house filled with a crowd of wicked suitors who had killed so many
+sheep and oxen on her account, and had drunk so many casks of wine.
+Ulysses in his turn told her what he had suffered, and how much trouble
+he had himself given to other people. He told her everything, and she
+was so delighted to listen that she never went to sleep till he had
+ended his whole story.
+
+He began with his victory over the Cicons, and how he thence reached
+the fertile land of the Lotus-eaters. He told her all about the Cyclops
+and how he had punished him for having so ruthlessly eaten his brave
+comrades; how he then went on to Aeolus, who received him hospitably
+and furthered him on his way, but even so he was not to reach home, for
+to his great grief a hurricane carried him out to sea again; how he
+went on to the Laestrygonian city Telepylos, where the people destroyed
+all his ships with their crews, save himself and his own ship only.
+Then he told of cunning Circe and her craft, and how he sailed to the
+chill house of Hades, to consult the ghost of the Theban prophet
+Teiresias, and how he saw his old comrades in arms, and his mother who
+bore him and brought him up when he was a child; how he then heard the
+wondrous singing of the Sirens, and went on to the wandering rocks and
+terrible Charybdis and to Scylla, whom no man had ever yet passed in
+safety; how his men then ate the cattle of the sun-god, and how Jove
+therefore struck the ship with his thunderbolts, so that all his men
+perished together, himself alone being left alive; how at last he
+reached the Ogygian island and the nymph Calypso, who kept him there in
+a cave, and fed him, and wanted him to marry her, in which case she
+intended making him immortal so that he should never grow old, but she
+could not persuade him to let her do so; and how after much suffering
+he had found his way to the Phaeacians, who had treated him as though
+he had been a god, and sent him back in a ship to his own country after
+having given him gold, bronze, and raiment in great abundance. This was
+the last thing about which he told her, for here a deep sleep took hold
+upon him and eased the burden of his sorrows.
+
+Then Minerva bethought her of another matter. When she deemed that
+Ulysses had had both of his wife and of repose, she bade gold-enthroned
+Dawn rise out of Oceanus that she might shed light upon mankind. On
+this, Ulysses rose from his comfortable bed and said to Penelope,
+"Wife, we have both of us had our full share of troubles, you, here, in
+lamenting my absence, and I in being prevented from getting home though
+I was longing all the time to do so. Now, however, that we have at last
+come together, take care of the property that is in the house. As for
+the sheep and goats which the wicked suitors have eaten, I will take
+many myself by force from other people, and will compel the Achaeans to
+make good the rest till they shall have filled all my yards. I am now
+going to the wooded lands out in the country to see my father who has
+so long been grieved on my account, and to yourself I will give these
+instructions, though you have little need of them. At sunrise it will
+at once get abroad that I have been killing the suitors; go upstairs,
+therefore, and stay there with your women. See nobody and ask no
+questions."
+
+As he spoke he girded on his armour. Then he roused Telemachus,
+Philoetius, and Eumaeus, and told them all to put on their armour also.
+This they did, and armed themselves. When they had done so, they opened
+the gates and sallied forth, Ulysses leading the way. It was now
+daylight, but Minerva nevertheless concealed them in darkness and led
+them quickly out of the town.
+
+Then Mercury of Cyllene summoned the ghosts of the suitors, and in his
+hand he held the fair golden wand with which he seals men's eyes in
+sleep or wakes them just as he pleases; with this he roused the ghosts
+and led them, while they followed whining and gibbering behind him. As
+bats fly squealing in the hollow of some great cave, when one of them
+has fallen out of the cluster in which they hang, even so did the
+ghosts whine and squeal as Mercury the healer of sorrow led them down
+into the dark abode of death. When they had passed the waters of
+Oceanus and the rock Leucas, they came to the gates of the sun and the
+land of dreams, whereon they reached the meadow of asphodel where dwell
+the souls and shadows of them that can labour no more.
+
+Here they found the ghost of Achilles son of Peleus, with those of
+Patroclus, Antilochus, and Ajax, who was the finest and handsomest man
+of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus himself.
+
+They gathered round the ghost of the son of Peleus, and the ghost of
+Agamemnon joined them, sorrowing bitterly. Round him were gathered also
+the ghosts of those who had perished with him in the house of
+Aegisthus; and the ghost of Achilles spoke first.
+
+"Son of Atreus," it said, "we used to say that Jove had loved you
+better from first to last than any other hero, for you were captain
+over many and brave men, when we were all fighting together before
+Troy; yet the hand of death, which no mortal can escape, was laid upon
+you all too early. Better for you had you fallen at Troy in the hey-day
+of your renown, for the Achaeans would have built a mound over your
+ashes, and your son would have been heir to your good name, whereas it
+has now been your lot to come to a most miserable end."
+
+"Happy son of Peleus," answered the ghost of Agamemnon, "for having
+died at Troy far from Argos, while the bravest of the Trojans and the
+Achaeans fell round you fighting for your body. There you lay in the
+whirling clouds of dust, all huge and hugely, heedless now of your
+chivalry. We fought the whole of the livelong day, nor should we ever
+have left off if Jove had not sent a hurricane to stay us. Then, when
+we had borne you to the ships out of the fray, we laid you on your bed
+and cleansed your fair skin with warm water and with ointments. The
+Danaans tore their hair and wept bitterly round about you. Your mother,
+when she heard, came with her immortal nymphs from out of the sea, and
+the sound of a great wailing went forth over the waters so that the
+Achaeans quaked for fear. They would have fled panic-stricken to their
+ships had not wise old Nestor whose counsel was ever truest checked
+them saying, 'Hold, Argives, fly not sons of the Achaeans, this is his
+mother coming from the sea with her immortal nymphs to view the body of
+her son.'
+
+"Thus he spoke, and the Achaeans feared no more. The daughters of the
+old man of the sea stood round you weeping bitterly, and clothed you in
+immortal raiment. The nine muses also came and lifted up their sweet
+voices in lament—calling and answering one another; there was not an
+Argive but wept for pity of the dirge they chaunted. Days and nights
+seven and ten we mourned you, mortals and immortals, but on the
+eighteenth day we gave you to the flames, and many a fat sheep with
+many an ox did we slay in sacrifice around you. You were burnt in
+raiment of the gods, with rich resins and with honey, while heroes,
+horse and foot, clashed their armour round the pile as you were
+burning, with the tramp as of a great multitude. But when the flames of
+heaven had done their work, we gathered your white bones at daybreak
+and laid them in ointments and in pure wine. Your mother brought us a
+golden vase to hold them—gift of Bacchus, and work of Vulcan himself;
+in this we mingled your bleached bones with those of Patroclus who had
+gone before you, and separate we enclosed also those of Antilochus, who
+had been closer to you than any other of your comrades now that
+Patroclus was no more.
+
+"Over these the host of the Argives built a noble tomb, on a point
+jutting out over the open Hellespont, that it might be seen from far
+out upon the sea by those now living and by them that shall be born
+hereafter. Your mother begged prizes from the gods, and offered them to
+be contended for by the noblest of the Achaeans. You must have been
+present at the funeral of many a hero, when the young men gird
+themselves and make ready to contend for prizes on the death of some
+great chieftain, but you never saw such prizes as silver-footed Thetis
+offered in your honour; for the gods loved you well. Thus even in death
+your fame, Achilles, has not been lost, and your name lives evermore
+among all mankind. But as for me, what solace had I when the days of my
+fighting were done? For Jove willed my destruction on my return, by the
+hands of Aegisthus and those of my wicked wife."
+
+Thus did they converse, and presently Mercury came up to them with the
+ghosts of the suitors who had been killed by Ulysses. The ghosts of
+Agamemnon and Achilles were astonished at seeing them, and went up to
+them at once. The ghost of Agamemnon recognised Amphimedon son of
+Melaneus, who lived in Ithaca and had been his host, so it began to
+talk to him.
+
+"Amphimedon," it said, "what has happened to all you fine young men—all
+of an age too—that you are come down here under the ground? One could
+pick no finer body of men from any city. Did Neptune raise his winds
+and waves against you when you were at sea, or did your enemies make an
+end of you on the mainland when you were cattle-lifting or
+sheep-stealing, or while fighting in defence of their wives and city?
+Answer my question, for I have been your guest. Do you not remember how
+I came to your house with Menelaus, to persuade Ulysses to join us with
+his ships against Troy? It was a whole month ere we could resume our
+voyage, for we had hard work to persuade Ulysses to come with us."
+
+And the ghost of Amphimedon answered, "Agamemnon, son of Atreus, king
+of men, I remember everything that you have said, and will tell you
+fully and accurately about the way in which our end was brought about.
+Ulysses had been long gone, and we were courting his wife, who did not
+say point blank that she would not marry, nor yet bring matters to an
+end, for she meant to compass our destruction: this, then, was the
+trick she played us. She set up a great tambour frame in her room and
+began to work on an enormous piece of fine needlework. 'Sweethearts,'
+said she, 'Ulysses is indeed dead, still, do not press me to marry
+again immediately; wait—for I would not have my skill in needlework
+perish unrecorded—till I have completed a pall for the hero Laertes,
+against the time when death shall take him. He is very rich, and the
+women of the place will talk if he is laid out without a pall.' This is
+what she said, and we assented; whereupon we could see her working upon
+her great web all day long, but at night she would unpick the stitches
+again by torchlight. She fooled us in this way for three years without
+our finding it out, but as time wore on and she was now in her fourth
+year, in the waning of moons and many days had been accomplished, one
+of her maids who knew what she was doing told us, and we caught her in
+the act of undoing her work, so she had to finish it whether she would
+or no; and when she showed us the robe she had made, after she had had
+it washed, its splendour was as that of the sun or moon.
+
+"Then some malicious god conveyed Ulysses to the upland farm where his
+swineherd lives. Thither presently came also his son, returning from a
+voyage to Pylos, and the two came to the town when they had hatched
+their plot for our destruction. Telemachus came first, and then after
+him, accompanied by the swineherd, came Ulysses, clad in rags and
+leaning on a staff as though he were some miserable old beggar. He came
+so unexpectedly that none of us knew him, not even the older ones among
+us, and we reviled him and threw things at him. He endured both being
+struck and insulted without a word, though he was in his own house; but
+when the will of Aegis-bearing Jove inspired him, he and Telemachus
+took the armour and hid it in an inner chamber, bolting the doors
+behind them. Then he cunningly made his wife offer his bow and a
+quantity of iron to be contended for by us ill-fated suitors; and this
+was the beginning of our end, for not one of us could string the
+bow—nor nearly do so. When it was about to reach the hands of Ulysses,
+we all of us shouted out that it should not be given him, no matter
+what he might say, but Telemachus insisted on his having it. When he
+had got it in his hands he strung it with ease and sent his arrow
+through the iron. Then he stood on the floor of the cloister and poured
+his arrows on the ground, glaring fiercely about him. First he killed
+Antinous, and then, aiming straight before him, he let fly his deadly
+darts and they fell thick on one another. It was plain that some one of
+the gods was helping them, for they fell upon us with might and main
+throughout the cloisters, and there was a hideous sound of groaning as
+our brains were being battered in, and the ground seethed with our
+blood. This, Agamemnon, is how we came by our end, and our bodies are
+lying still uncared for in the house of Ulysses, for our friends at
+home do not yet know what has happened, so that they cannot lay us out
+and wash the black blood from our wounds, making moan over us according
+to the offices due to the departed."
+
+"Happy Ulysses, son of Laertes," replied the ghost of Agamemnon, "you
+are indeed blessed in the possession of a wife endowed with such rare
+excellence of understanding, and so faithful to her wedded lord as
+Penelope the daughter of Icarius. The fame, therefore, of her virtue
+shall never die, and the immortals shall compose a song that shall be
+welcome to all mankind in honour of the constancy of Penelope. How far
+otherwise was the wickedness of the daughter of Tyndareus who killed
+her lawful husband; her song shall be hateful among men, for she has
+brought disgrace on all womankind even on the good ones."
+
+Thus did they converse in the house of Hades deep down within the
+bowels of the earth. Meanwhile Ulysses and the others passed out of the
+town and soon reached the fair and well-tilled farm of Laertes, which
+he had reclaimed with infinite labour. Here was his house, with a
+lean-to running all round it, where the slaves who worked for him slept
+and sat and ate, while inside the house there was an old Sicel woman,
+who looked after him in this his country-farm. When Ulysses got there,
+he said to his son and to the other two:
+
+"Go to the house, and kill the best pig that you can find for dinner.
+Meanwhile I want to see whether my father will know me, or fail to
+recognise me after so long an absence."
+
+He then took off his armour and gave it to Eumaeus and Philoetius, who
+went straight on to the house, while he turned off into the vineyard to
+make trial of his father. As he went down into the great orchard, he
+did not see Dolius, nor any of his sons nor of the other bondsmen, for
+they were all gathering thorns to make a fence for the vineyard, at the
+place where the old man had told them; he therefore found his father
+alone, hoeing a vine. He had on a dirty old shirt, patched and very
+shabby; his legs were bound round with thongs of oxhide to save him
+from the brambles, and he also wore sleeves of leather; he had a goat
+skin cap on his head, and was looking very woe-begone. When Ulysses saw
+him so worn, so old and full of sorrow, he stood still under a tall
+pear tree and began to weep. He doubted whether to embrace him, kiss
+him, and tell him all about his having come home, or whether he should
+first question him and see what he would say. In the end he deemed it
+best to be crafty with him, so in this mind he went up to his father,
+who was bending down and digging about a plant.
+
+"I see, sir," said Ulysses, "that you are an excellent gardener—what
+pains you take with it, to be sure. There is not a single plant, not a
+fig tree, vine, olive, pear, nor flower bed, but bears the trace of
+your attention. I trust, however, that you will not be offended if I
+say that you take better care of your garden than of yourself. You are
+old, unsavoury, and very meanly clad. It cannot be because you are idle
+that your master takes such poor care of you, indeed your face and
+figure have nothing of the slave about them, and proclaim you of noble
+birth. I should have said that you were one of those who should wash
+well, eat well, and lie soft at night as old men have a right to do;
+but tell me, and tell me true, whose bondman are you, and in whose
+garden are you working? Tell me also about another matter. Is this
+place that I have come to really Ithaca? I met a man just now who said
+so, but he was a dull fellow, and had not the patience to hear my story
+out when I was asking him about an old friend of mine, whether he was
+still living, or was already dead and in the house of Hades. Believe me
+when I tell you that this man came to my house once when I was in my
+own country and never yet did any stranger come to me whom I liked
+better. He said that his family came from Ithaca and that his father
+was Laertes, son of Arceisius. I received him hospitably, making him
+welcome to all the abundance of my house, and when he went away I gave
+him all customary presents. I gave him seven talents of fine gold, and
+a cup of solid silver with flowers chased upon it. I gave him twelve
+light cloaks, and as many pieces of tapestry; I also gave him twelve
+cloaks of single fold, twelve rugs, twelve fair mantles, and an equal
+number of shirts. To all this I added four good looking women skilled
+in all useful arts, and I let him take his choice."
+
+His father shed tears and answered, "Sir, you have indeed come to the
+country that you have named, but it is fallen into the hands of wicked
+people. All this wealth of presents has been given to no purpose. If
+you could have found your friend here alive in Ithaca, he would have
+entertained you hospitably and would have requited your presents amply
+when you left him—as would have been only right considering what you
+had already given him. But tell me, and tell me true, how many years is
+it since you entertained this guest—my unhappy son, as ever was? Alas!
+He has perished far from his own country; the fishes of the sea have
+eaten him, or he has fallen a prey to the birds and wild beasts of some
+continent. Neither his mother, nor I his father, who were his parents,
+could throw our arms about him and wrap him in his shroud, nor could
+his excellent and richly dowered wife Penelope bewail her husband as
+was natural upon his death bed, and close his eyes according to the
+offices due to the departed. But now, tell me truly for I want to know.
+Who and whence are you—tell me of your town and parents? Where is the
+ship lying that has brought you and your men to Ithaca? Or were you a
+passenger on some other man's ship, and those who brought you here have
+gone on their way and left you?"
+
+"I will tell you everything," answered Ulysses, "quite truly. I come
+from Alybas, where I have a fine house. I am son of king Apheidas, who
+is the son of Polypemon. My own name is Eperitus; heaven drove me off
+my course as I was leaving Sicania, and I have been carried here
+against my will. As for my ship it is lying over yonder, off the open
+country outside the town, and this is the fifth year since Ulysses left
+my country. Poor fellow, yet the omens were good for him when he left
+me. The birds all flew on our right hands, and both he and I rejoiced
+to see them as we parted, for we had every hope that we should have
+another friendly meeting and exchange presents."
+
+A dark cloud of sorrow fell upon Laertes as he listened. He filled both
+hands with the dust from off the ground and poured it over his grey
+head, groaning heavily as he did so. The heart of Ulysses was touched,
+and his nostrils quivered as he looked upon his father; then he sprang
+towards him, flung his arms about him and kissed him, saying, "I am he,
+father, about whom you are asking—I have returned after having been
+away for twenty years. But cease your sighing and lamentation—we have
+no time to lose, for I should tell you that I have been killing the
+suitors in my house, to punish them for their insolence and crimes."
+
+"If you really are my son Ulysses," replied Laertes, "and have come
+back again, you must give me such manifest proof of your identity as
+shall convince me."
+
+"First observe this scar," answered Ulysses, "which I got from a boar's
+tusk when I was hunting on Mt. Parnassus. You and my mother had sent me
+to Autolycus, my mother's father, to receive the presents which when he
+was over here he had promised to give me. Furthermore I will point out
+to you the trees in the vineyard which you gave me, and I asked you all
+about them as I followed you round the garden. We went over them all,
+and you told me their names and what they all were. You gave me
+thirteen pear trees, ten apple trees, and forty fig trees; you also
+said you would give me fifty rows of vines; there was corn planted
+between each row, and they yield grapes of every kind when the heat of
+heaven has been laid heavy upon them."
+
+Laertes' strength failed him when he heard the convincing proofs which
+his son had given him. He threw his arms about him, and Ulysses had to
+support him, or he would have gone off into a swoon; but as soon as he
+came to, and was beginning to recover his senses, he said, "O father
+Jove, then you gods are still in Olympus after all, if the suitors have
+really been punished for their insolence and folly. Nevertheless, I am
+much afraid that I shall have all the townspeople of Ithaca up here
+directly, and they will be sending messengers everywhere throughout the
+cities of the Cephallenians."
+
+Ulysses answered, "Take heart and do not trouble yourself about that,
+but let us go into the house hard by your garden. I have already told
+Telemachus, Philoetius, and Eumaeus to go on there and get dinner ready
+as soon as possible."
+
+Thus conversing the two made their way towards the house. When they got
+there they found Telemachus with the stockman and the swineherd cutting
+up meat and mixing wine with water. Then the old Sicel woman took
+Laertes inside and washed him and anointed him with oil. She put him on
+a good cloak, and Minerva came up to him and gave him a more imposing
+presence, making him taller and stouter than before. When he came back
+his son was surprised to see him looking so like an immortal, and said
+to him, "My dear father, some one of the gods has been making you much
+taller and better-looking."
+
+Laertes answered, "Would, by Father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, that I
+were the man I was when I ruled among the Cephallenians, and took
+Nericum, that strong fortress on the foreland. If I were still what I
+then was and had been in our house yesterday with my armour on, I
+should have been able to stand by you and help you against the suitors.
+I should have killed a great many of them, and you would have rejoiced
+to see it."
+
+Thus did they converse; but the others, when they had finished their
+work and the feast was ready, left off working, and took each his
+proper place on the benches and seats. Then they began eating; by and
+by old Dolius and his sons left their work and came up, for their
+mother, the Sicel woman who looked after Laertes now that he was
+growing old, had been to fetch them. When they saw Ulysses and were
+certain it was he, they stood there lost in astonishment; but Ulysses
+scolded them good naturedly and said, "Sit down to your dinner, old
+man, and never mind about your surprise; we have been wanting to begin
+for some time and have been waiting for you."
+
+Then Dolius put out both his hands and went up to Ulysses. "Sir," said
+he, seizing his master's hand and kissing it at the wrist, "we have
+long been wishing you home: and now heaven has restored you to us after
+we had given up hoping. All hail, therefore, and may the gods prosper
+you. But tell me, does Penelope already know of your return, or
+shall we send some one to tell her?"
+
+"Old man," answered Ulysses, "she knows already, so you need not
+trouble about that." On this he took his seat, and the sons of Dolius
+gathered round Ulysses to give him greeting and embrace him one after
+the other; then they took their seats in due order near Dolius their
+father.
+
+While they were thus busy getting their dinner ready, Rumour went round
+the town, and noised abroad the terrible fate that had befallen the
+suitors; as soon, therefore, as the people heard of it they gathered
+from every quarter, groaning and hooting before the house of Ulysses.
+They took the dead away, buried every man his own, and put the bodies
+of those who came from elsewhere on board the fishing vessels, for the
+fishermen to take each of them to his own place. They then met angrily
+in the place of assembly, and when they were got together Eupeithes
+rose to speak. He was overwhelmed with grief for the death of his son
+Antinous, who had been the first man killed by Ulysses, so he said,
+weeping bitterly, "My friends, this man has done the Achaeans great
+wrong. He took many of our best men away with him in his fleet, and he
+has lost both ships and men; now, moreover, on his return he has been
+killing all the foremost men among the Cephallenians. Let us be up and
+doing before he can get away to Pylos or to Elis where the Epeans rule,
+or we shall be ashamed of ourselves for ever afterwards. It will be an
+everlasting disgrace to us if we do not avenge the murder of our sons
+and brothers. For my own part I should have no more pleasure in life,
+but had rather die at once. Let us be up, then, and after them, before
+they can cross over to the main land."
+
+He wept as he spoke and every one pitied him. But Medon and the bard
+Phemius had now woke up, and came to them from the house of Ulysses.
+Every one was astonished at seeing them, but they stood in the middle
+of the assembly, and Medon said, "Hear me, men of Ithaca. Ulysses did
+not do these things against the will of heaven. I myself saw an
+immortal god take the form of Mentor and stand beside him. This god
+appeared, now in front of him encouraging him, and now going furiously
+about the court and attacking the suitors whereon they fell thick on
+one another."
+
+On this pale fear laid hold of them, and old Halitherses, son of
+Mastor, rose to speak, for he was the only man among them who knew both
+past and future; so he spoke to them plainly and in all honesty,
+saying,
+
+"Men of Ithaca, it is all your own fault that things have turned out as
+they have; you would not listen to me, nor yet to Mentor, when we bade
+you check the folly of your sons who were doing much wrong in the
+wantonness of their hearts—wasting the substance and dishonouring the
+wife of a chieftain who they thought would not return. Now, however,
+let it be as I say, and do as I tell you. Do not go out against
+Ulysses, or you may find that you have been drawing down evil on your
+own heads."
+
+This was what he said, and more than half raised a loud shout, and at
+once left the assembly. But the rest stayed where they were, for the
+speech of Halitherses displeased them, and they sided with Eupeithes;
+they therefore hurried off for their armour, and when they had armed
+themselves, they met together in front of the city, and Eupeithes led
+them on in their folly. He thought he was going to avenge the murder of
+his son, whereas in truth he was never to return, but was himself to
+perish in his attempt.
+
+Then Minerva said to Jove, "Father, son of Saturn, king of kings,
+answer me this question—What do you propose to do? Will you set them
+fighting still further, or will you make peace between them?"
+
+And Jove answered, "My child, why should you ask me? Was it not by your
+own arrangement that Ulysses came home and took his revenge upon the
+suitors? Do whatever you like, but I will tell you what I think will be
+most reasonable arrangement. Now that Ulysses is revenged, let them
+swear to a solemn covenant, in virtue of which he shall continue to
+rule, while we cause the others to forgive and forget the massacre of
+their sons and brothers. Let them then all become friends as
+heretofore, and let peace and plenty reign."
+
+This was what Minerva was already eager to bring about, so down she
+darted from off the topmost summits of Olympus.
+
+Now when Laertes and the others had done dinner, Ulysses began by
+saying, "Some of you go out and see if they are not getting close up to
+us." So one of Dolius's sons went as he was bid. Standing on the
+threshold he could see them all quite near, and said to Ulysses, "Here
+they are, let us put on our armour at once."
+
+They put on their armour as fast as they could—that is to say Ulysses,
+his three men, and the six sons of Dolius. Laertes also and Dolius did
+the same—warriors by necessity in spite of their grey hair. When they
+had all put on their armour, they opened the gate and sallied forth,
+Ulysses leading the way.
+
+Then Jove's daughter Minerva came up to them, having assumed the form
+and voice of Mentor. Ulysses was glad when he saw her, and said to his
+son Telemachus, "Telemachus, now that you are about to fight in an
+engagement, which will show every man's mettle, be sure not to disgrace
+your ancestors, who were eminent for their strength and courage all the
+world over."
+
+"You say truly, my dear father," answered Telemachus, "and you shall
+see, if you will, that I am in no mind to disgrace your family."
+
+Laertes was delighted when he heard this. "Good heavens," he exclaimed,
+"what a day I am enjoying: I do indeed rejoice at it. My son and
+grandson are vying with one another in the matter of valour."
+
+On this Minerva came close up to him and said, "Son of Arceisius—-best
+friend I have in the world—pray to the blue-eyed damsel, and to Jove
+her father; then poise your spear and hurl it."
+
+As she spoke she infused fresh vigour into him, and when he had prayed
+to her he poised his spear and hurled it. He hit Eupeithes' helmet, and
+the spear went right through it, for the helmet stayed it not, and his
+armour rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground.
+Meantime Ulysses and his son fell upon the front line of the foe and
+smote them with their swords and spears; indeed, they would have killed
+every one of them, and prevented them from ever getting home again,
+only Minerva raised her voice aloud, and made every one pause. "Men of
+Ithaca," she cried, "cease this dreadful war, and settle the matter at
+once without further bloodshed."
+
+On this pale fear seized every one; they were so frightened that their
+arms dropped from their hands and fell upon the ground at the sound of
+the goddess' voice, and they fled back to the city for their lives. But
+Ulysses gave a great cry, and gathering himself together swooped down
+like a soaring eagle. Then the son of Saturn sent a thunderbolt of fire
+that fell just in front of Minerva, so she said to Ulysses, "Ulysses,
+noble son of Laertes, stop this warful strife, or Jove will be angry
+with you."
+
+Thus spoke Minerva, and Ulysses obeyed her gladly. Then Minerva assumed
+the form and voice of Mentor, and presently made a covenant of peace
+between the two contending parties.

Modified file: src/main.rs+3 additions−3 deletions@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 mod text_combine;
-use text_combine::TextCombine;
+use text_combine::{TextCombine, Mode};
 
 mod timer;
 use timer::Timer;
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ use ratatui::{
     DefaultTerminal, 
     Frame, 
     buffer::Buffer, 
-    layout::{Constraint, Direction, Rect, Layout, Alignment}, 
+    layout::{Constraint, Direction, Rect, Layout}, 
     style::{Modifier, Stylize}, 
     symbols::border, 
     text::{Line, Text}, 
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ impl Default for TypingTest {
         Self {
             status: Running,
             errors: 0,
-            typing: TextCombine::new(),
+            typing: TextCombine::new(30 * 2, Mode::Excerpt),
             timer: Timer::new(Duration::from_secs(30))
         }
     }

Modified file: src/text_combine.rs+48 additions−15 deletions@@ -1,7 +1,15 @@
 use rand::prelude::*;
 
+#[derive(Debug, PartialEq)]
+pub enum Mode {
+    Random,
+    Excerpt
+}
+
+
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub struct TextCombine {
+    mode: Mode,
     text: String,
     len: usize,
     pos: usize,
@@ -10,28 +18,53 @@ pub struct TextCombine {
 }
 
 impl TextCombine {
-    pub fn new() -> Self {
-        let words: Vec<&str> = include_str!("../assets/wordlist.txt")
-            .lines()
-            .collect();
+    pub fn new(ammount: usize, mode: Mode) -> Self {
+        
+        let text = match mode {
+            Mode::Random => {
+                let words: Vec<&str> = include_str!("../assets/wordlist.txt")
+                    .lines()
+                    .collect();
+
+
+                let mut rng = rand::rng();
+
+                (0..ammount)
+                    .filter_map(|_| words.choose(&mut rng))
+                    .copied()
+                    .collect::<Vec<&str>>()
+                    .join(" ")
+
+            },
+            Mode::Excerpt => {
+
+                let len = ammount * 8;
+
+                let text: Vec<_> = include_str!("../assets/oddyssey.txt")
+                    .split("\n\n")
+                    .map(|s| s.replace('\n', " "))
+                    .collect();
 
+                let mut pos = rand::rng().random_range(0..text.len());
 
-        /*let text = words
-                    .choose_multiple(&mut rand::rng(), 10)
-                    .cloned()
-                    .collect::<Vec<_>>()
-                    .join(" ");*/
-        let mut rng = rand::rng();
+                let mut par = text[pos].clone();
 
-        let text = (0..60)
-            .filter_map(|_| words.choose(&mut rng))
-            .copied()
-            .collect::<Vec<&str>>()
-            .join(" ");
+                while par.len() < len {
+                    pos = (pos + 1) % text.len();
+                    par.push_str(&text[pos]);
+                }
 
+                if let Some(end) = par[len..].find(' ') {
+                    par.truncate(len + end);
+                }
+                par
+            },
+        };
+ 
         let len = text.chars().count();
 
         Self {
+            mode,
             text,
             len,
             pos: 0,

show truncated diff

typing_rust

Commit af535d1377e3

Commit `af535d1377e3`