Book seventeen, when the child of mourning 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 Eurycleia 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 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. Ah, 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 Pireus 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
hecatoms 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 marveled 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 Pireus came up with theo Clemenus,
whom he had escorted through the town to the place of assembly, whereon
Telemachus at once joined them. Pireus was the 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. Pireus
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 presence 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 Thioclemenis
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
Philomelides 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 theo Clemenus 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 rights 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
inquiring 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 verse. Meanwhile, the suitors were throwing discs or aiming with spears at
a mark on the leveled 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 favorite 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 today, 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's 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 you may us 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, Neretus 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
suitor's 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 doorpost, 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 way. 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 not 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 Apalla 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 perceived 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 you may have said you have perceived a 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 cowdung 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,
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 bild 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 recognized his master. Telemachus saw Eumaeus long before anyone 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 in side, 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 ashwood, just
inside the doors leading from the outer to the inner court, and against a
bearing post of cypress wood, which the carpenter had skillfully 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 fulfill 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 Melantheus, 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 Antinus 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 up? 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 you may us? Answered Antinus, 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 songs. 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 allow live and hear. But Telemachus said, hush, do not
answer him. Antonus has the bitterest tongue of all the suitors, and he
makes the others worse. Then, turning to Antonus, he said, Antonus,
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 Antonus, 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 Antonus 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 and the river Egyptus, and bade my men stay by them
and keep guard over them, while we sent out scouts to reconnoiter 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 a gleam of
armor. 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 labor for them. As for
myself, they gave me to a friend who met them, to take to
Cyprus, Dumitr by name, son of Yasus, who was a great man
in Cyprus. Thence I am come hither in a state of great misery.
Then Antonus 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 Antonus 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 Antonus
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 Antonus may come to a bad end before
his marriage. Sit where you are and eat your victuals in silence, or
be off elsewhere, shouted Antonus. 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, Antonus, 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 righteously, Thus said the suitors, but Antonus 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 banquet and cloister, she said, before
her maids would that Apollo would so strike you Antonus, And her waiting woman
Uriname 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 Antonus like the darkness of death itself. A poor, unfortunate tramp has
come begging about the house for sheer want. Everyone else has given him something
to put in his wallet, but Antonus 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 traveled 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 and 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 Thrustpotians, 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 unwated 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. Do you not hear how
my son sneeze 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 you may has 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, Eumayus. 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, oh swineherd, Eumaeus,
the stranger is quite reasonable. He is avoiding the suitors and is only doing
what anyone 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, Eumayus 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. In
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. End of book seventeen.