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Book twenty one. Minerva now put
it in Penelope's mind to make the suitors

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try their skill with the bow and
with the iron axes in contest among themselves,

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as a means of bringing about their
destruction. She went upstairs and got

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to the storeroom key, which was
made of bronze and had a handle of

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ivory. She then went with her
maidens into the store room at the end

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of the house, where her husband's
treasures of gold, bronze and wrought iron

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were kept, and where was also
his bow and the quiver full of deadly

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arrows that had been given him by
a friend whom he had met in Lazy

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Damon Iphithus, the son of Eurytis. The two fell in with one another

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in Messine at the house of Orticolus, where Ulysses was staying, in order

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to recover a debt that was owing
from the whole people, For the Messenians

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had carried off three hundred sheep from
Ithaca and had sailed away with them and

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with their shepherds in quest of these. Ulysses took a long journey while still

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quite young, for his father and
the other chieftains sent him on a mission

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to recover them. Iphithus had gone
there also to try to get back twelve

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brute mares that he had lost and
the mule foalds that were running with them.

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These mayors were the death of him
in the end, for when he

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went to the house of Jove's son
mighty Hercules, who performed such prodigies of

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valor, Hercules, to his shame, killed him, though he was his

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guest, for he feared not Heaven's
vengeance, nor yet respected his own table,

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which he had set before Iphithus,
but killed him in spite of everything,

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and kept the mayors himself. It
was when claiming these that Eupithus met

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Ulysses and gave him the bow which
Mighty Eurytus had been used to carry,

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and which on his death had been
left by him to his son. Ulysses

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gave him in return a sword and
a and this was the beginning of a

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fast friendship, although they never visited
at one another's houses, for Jove's son

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Hercules killed Iphius ere they could do
so. This bow, then given him

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by Iphithus, had not been taken
with him by Ulysses when he sailed for

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Troy. He had used it so
long as he had been at home,

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but had left it behind as having
been a keepsake from a valued friend.

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Penelope presently reached the oaked threshold of
the storeroom. The carpenter had planed this

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jewelie and had drawn a line on
it so as to get it quite straight.

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He had then set the doorposts into
it and hung the doors. She

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loosed the strap from the handle of
the door, put in the key,

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and drove it straight home to shoot
back the bolts that held the doors.

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These flew open with a noise like
a bull bellowing in a meadow, and

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Loppy stepped upon the raised platform where
the chests stood, in which the fair

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linen and clothes were laid by,
along with fragrant herbs. Reaching thence,

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she took down the bow with its
bow case from the peg on which it

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hung. She sat down with it
on her knees, weeping bitterly as she

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took the bow out of its case, And when her tears had relieved her,

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she went to the cloister where the
suitors were carrying the bow and a

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quiver with the many deadly arrows that
were inside it. Along with her came

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her maidens, bearing a chest that
contained much iron and bronze, which her

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husband had won as prices. When
she reached the suitors, she stood by

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one of the bearing posts supporting the
roof of the cloister, holding a wail

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before her face, and with a
mate on either side of her. Then

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she said, listen to me,
you suitors, who persist in using the

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hospitality of this house because its owner
has been long absent, and without other

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pretext than that you want to marry
me. This, then, being the

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prize that you are contending for,
I will bring out the mighty bow of

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Ulysses, and whomsoever of you shall
string it most easily and send his arrow

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through each one of twelve actes him
will I follow and quit this house of

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my lawful husband, so goodly and
so abounding in wealth. But even so

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I doubt not that I shall remember
it in my dreams. As she spoke,

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she told Eumineus to set the bow
and the pieces of iron before the

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suitors, and Eumaeus wept as he
took them to do as she had bidden

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him. Hard By the stockman wept
also when he saw his master's bow.

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But Antinuous scolded them, you country
a louts, said he silly impotence.

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Why should you add to the sorrows
of your mistress by crying in this way,

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she has enough to grieve her in
the loss of her husband. Sit

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still, therefore, and eat your
dinners in silence, or go outside if

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you want to cry, and leave
the bow behind you. We suitors shall

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have to contend for it with might
and main, for we shall find it

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no light matter to string such a
bow as this is. There is not

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a man of us all who is
such another as Ulysses, for I have

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seen him and remember him, though
I was then only a child. This

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was all he said. But all
the time he was expecting to be able

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to string the bow and shoot through
the iron, whereas in fact he was

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to be the first that should taste
of the arrows from the hands of Ulysses,

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whom he was dishonoring in his own
house, aching the others on to

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do so also. Then Telemachus spoke
great heavens. He exclaimed, Jove must

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have robbed me of my senses.
Here is my dear and excellent mother,

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saying she will quit this house and
marry again. Yet I am laughing and

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enjoying myself, as though there were
nothing happening. But suitors, as the

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contest has been agreed upon, let
it go forward. It is for a

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woman whose peer is not to be
found in pylas Argos or my scene,

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nor yet in Ithaca, nor on
the mainland. You know this as well

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as I do. What need have
I to speak in praise of my mother?

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Come on, then, make no
excuses for delay. But let us

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see whether you can string the bow
or no, I too will make trial

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of it. For if I can
string it and shoot through the iron,

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I shall not suffer my mother to
quit this house with a stranger, not

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if I can win the prizes which
my father won before me. As he

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spoke, he sprang from his seat, threw his crimson cloak from him,

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and took his word from his shoulder. First he set the axes in a

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row, in a long groove,
which he had dug for them and had

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weighed straight by line. Then he
stamped the earth tight round them, and

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everyone was surprised when I saw him
set up so orderly, though he had

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never seen anything of the kind.
Before this done, he went on to

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the pavement to make trial of the
bow. Thrice did he tug at it,

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trying with all his might to draw
the string, and thrice he had

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to leave off. Though he had
hoped to string the bow and shoot through

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the iron. He was trying for
the fourth time and would have strung it

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had not Ulysses made a sign to
check him in spite of all his eagerness,

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So he said, alas, I
shall either be always feeble and of

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no prowess, or I am too
young and have not yet reached my full

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strength so as to be able to
hold my own if anyone attacks me.

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You others, therefore, who are
stronger than I, make trial of the

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bow and get this contest settled.
On this, he put the bow down,

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letting it lean against the door that
led into the house, with the

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arrow standing against the top of the
bow. Then he sat down on a

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seat from which he had risen,
and Antinouis said, come on, each

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of you, in his turn,
going towards, to ride from the place

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at which the cupbearer when he is
handing round the wine. The rest agreed,

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and Layodes, son of wien Ups, was the first to rise.

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He was sacrificial priest to the suitors
and sat in a corner near the mixing

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bowl. He was the only man
who hated their evil deeds and was indignant

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with the others. He was now
the first to take the bow an arrow.

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So he went on to the pavement
to make his trial. But he

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could not string the bow, for
his hands were weak and unused to hard

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work. They therefore soon grew tired, and he said to the suitors,

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my friends, I cannot string it. Let another have it. This bow

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shall take the life and soul out
of many a chief among us, for

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it is better to die than to
live, after having missed the prize that

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we have so long striven for,
and which has brought us so long together.

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Some one of us is even now
hoping and praying that he may marry

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Penelope. But when he has seen
this bow and tried it, let him

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woo and make bridal offerings to some
other woman, and let Penelope marry whoever

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makes her the best offer, and
whose lot it is to win her.

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On this he put the bow down, letting it lean aginst the door,

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with the arrow standing against the tip
of the bow. Then he took his

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seat again on the seat from which
he had risen, and Antinous rebuked him,

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saying, Laodes, what are you
talking about? Your words are monstrous

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and intolerable. It makes me angry
to listen to you. Shall, then

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this bow take the life of many
a chief among us, merely because you

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cannot bend it yourself. True,
you were not born to be an archer.

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But there are others who will soon
string it. Then he said to

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Melanthius, the goatherd, look sharp, Light a fire in the court,

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and set a seat hard by with
a sheepskin on it. Bring us also

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a large ball of lard from what
they have in a house. Let us

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warm the bough and grease it.
We will then make trial of it again

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and bring the contest to an end. Melanthius lit the fire and set a

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seat covered with sheepskins beside it.
He also brought a great ball of lard

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from what they had in the house, and the suitors warmed the bow and

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again made trial of it. But
they were none of them nearly strong enough

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to string it. Nevertheless, there
still remained Antinuous and Eurymachus, who were

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the ringleaders among the suitors, and
much the foremost among them all. Then,

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the swineherd and the stockman left the
cloisters together, and Ulysses followed them.

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When they had cut outside the gates
and yard yard. Ulysses said to

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them quietly, Stockman, and you
swineherd, I have something in my mind

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which I am in doubt whether to
say or no, But I think I

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will say it. What manner of
men would you be to stand by Ulysses

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if some God should bring him back
here? All of a sudden, say

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which you are disposed to do,
to side with the suitors or with Ulysses.

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Father Jove answered the stockman would indeed
that you might so obtain in it.

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If some God were but to bring
Ulysses back, you should see with

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what might and main I would fight
for him. In like words, Eumaeus

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prayed to all the gods that Ulysses
might return. When therefore he saw for

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certain what mind they were of Ulysses
said, it is I Ulysses who am

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here. I have suffered much,
but at last, in the twentieth year,

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I am come back to my own
country. I find that you two,

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alone of all my servants, are
glad that I should do so,

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for I have not heard any of
the others praying for my return to you

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two. Therefore will I unfold the
truth as it shall be if heaven shall

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deliver the suitors into my hands.
I will find wives for both of you,

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will give you house and holding close
to my own, and you shall

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be to me as though you were
brothers and friends of Telemachus. I will

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now give you convincing proofs that you
may know me and be assured. See

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here is the scar from the boar's
tooth that ripped me when I was out

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hunting on Mount Parnassus with the sons
of Odolysis. As he spoke, he

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drew his rags aside from a great
scar. And when they had examined it

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thoroughly, they both of them wept
about. Ulysses threw their arms around him

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and kissed his head and shoulders,
while Ulysses kissed their hands and faces in

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return. The sun would have gone
down upon their mourning if Ulysses had not

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checked them and said, seize your
weeping, lest someone should come outside and

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see us, and tell those who
are within. When you go in,

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do so separately, not both together. I will go first, and do

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you follow afterwards. Let this moreover
be the token between us. The suitors.

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Will all of them try to prevent
me from getting hold of the bow

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and quiver. Do you therefore humaneus
place it in my hands when you are

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carrying it about, and tell the
women to close the doors of their apartment.

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If they hear any groaning or uproar
as of men fighting about the house,

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they must not come out. They
must keep quiet and stay where they

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are at their work. And I
charge you, Philoetius, to make fast

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the doors of the outer court,
and to bind them securely at once.

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When he had thus spoken, he
went back to the house and took the

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seat that he had left presently.
His two servants followed him inside. At

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this moment, the bow was in
the hands of Eurymachus, who was warming

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it by the fire. But even
so he could not string it, and

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he was greatly grieved. He heaved
a deep sigh and said, I grieve

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for myself and for us all.
I grieve that I shall have to forego

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the marriage. But I do not
care nearly so much about this, for

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there are plenty of other women in
Ithaca and elsewhere. What I feel most

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is the fact of our being so
inferior to Ulysses in strength that we cannot

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string his bow. This will disgrace
us in the eyes of those who are

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yet unborne. It shall not be
so, Eurymachus said, Antinous, and

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you know it yourself. Today is
the feast of Apollo throughout all the land.

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Who can string a bow on such
a day as this put it on

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one side. As for the axes, they can stay where they are,

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for no one is likely to come
to the house and take them away.

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Let the cup bear go round with
his cups, that we may make our

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drink offerings, and drop this matter
of the bow. We will tell Melanthius

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to bring us some goats tomorrow,
the best he has. We can then

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offer thigh bones to Apollo the mighty
archer, and again make trial of the

196
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bow, as to bring the contest
to an end. The rest approved his

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words, and thereon menservants poured water
over the hands of the guests, while

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pages filled the mixing bowls with wine
and water and handed it round, after

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giving every man his drink offering.
Then, when they had made their offerings

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and had drunk each as much as
he desired, Ulysses craftily said, suitors

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of the illustrious queen, listen,
that I may speak, even as I

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am minded. I appeal more especially
to Eurymachus and to Antonius, who has

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just spoken with so much reason.
Cease shooting for the present, and leave

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the matter to the gods. But
in the morning, let Heaven give victory

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to whom it will. For the
moment, however, give me the bow,

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that I may prove the power of
my hands among you all, and

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see whether I still have as much
strength as I used to have, or

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whether travel and neglect have made an
end of it. This made them all

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very angry, for they feared he
might string the bow. An Tenuous therefore

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rebuked him fiercely, saying, wretched
creature, you have not so much as

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a grain of sense in your whole
body. You ought to think yourself lucky

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in being allowed to dine unharmed among
your betters, without having any smaller portion

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served you than we others have had, and in being allowed to hear our

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conversation. No other beggar or stranger
has been allowed to hear what we have

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said among ourselves. The wine must
have been doing you a mischief, as

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it does with all those drinking immoderately. It was wine that inflamed the censure

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Eurytian when he was staying with Perithus
among the Lappy, when the wine had

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got into his head. He went
mad and did ill deeds about the house

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of Peritheus. This angered the heroes
who were there assembled, so they rushed

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at him and cut off his ears
and nostrils. Then they dragged him through

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the doorway out of the house.
So he went away grazed and bore the

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burden of his crime, bereft of
understanding. Henceforth, therefore there was war

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between mankind and the centaurs. But
he brought it upon himself through his own

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drunkenness. In like manner. I
can tell you that it will go hardly

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with you. If you string the
bow, you will find no mercy from

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anyone here, for we shall at
once ship you off to King Akeithus,

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who kills every one that comes near
him. You will never get away alive.

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So drink and keep quiet, without
getting into a quarrel with men and

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younger than yourself. Penelope then spoke
to him, and Tenuous said she,

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it is not right that you should
ill treat any guest of Telemachus who comes

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to this house. If the stranger
should prove strong enough to string the mighty

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bow of Ulysses, can you suppose
that he would take me home with him

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and make him his wife. Even
the man himself can have no such idea

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in his mind. None of you
need let that disturb his feasting. It

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would be out of all reason.
Queen Penelope answered, Eurymachus, we do

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not suppose that this man will take
you away with him. It is impossible.

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But we are afraid lest some of
the baser sort men or women among

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the Achaeans should go gossiping about and
say these suitors are a feeble folk.

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They are paying court to the wife
of a brave man, whose bow not

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one of them was will to string, And yet a beggarly tramp who came

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to the house strung it at once
and sent an arrow through the iron.

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This is what will be said,
and it will be a scandal against us.

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Eurymachus Penelope answered, people who persist
in eating up the estate of a

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great chieftain and dishonoring his house must
not expect others to think well of them.

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Why then, should you mind if
men talk as you think they will.

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This stranger is strong and well built. He says moreover that he is

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of noble birth. Give him the
bow, and let us see whether he

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can string it. Or no,
I say, and it shall surely be

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that if Apollo vouchsafe us him the
glory of stringing it, I will give

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him a cloak and a shirt of
good wear, with a javelin to keep

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up dogs and robbers, and a
sharp sword. I will also give him

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sandals, and we'll see him sent
safely wherever he wants to go. Then,

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Telemachus said, mother, I am
the only man, either in Ithaca

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or in the islands that are over
against Elis, who has the right to

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let anyone have the bow or to
refuse it. No one shall force me

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one way or the other, not
even though I choose to make the stranger

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a present of the bow outright and
let him take it away with him.

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Go then within the house, and
busy yourself with your daily duties, your

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loom, your distaff, and the
ordering of your servants. This bow is

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a man's matter, and mine above
all others, for it is I who

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am master. Here. She went, wandering back into the house and laid

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her sons, saying in her heart. Then going upstairs with her handmaids into

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her room, she mourned her dear
husband till Minerva sent sweet sleep over her

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eyelids the swineherds. Now took up
the bow and was for taking it to

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Ulysses. But the suitors clamored at
him from all parts of the cloisters,

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and one of them said, you
idiot, where are you taking the bow

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to? Are you out of your
wits? If Apollo and the other gods

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will grant our prayer, your own
borehounds shall get you into some quiet little

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place and worry you to death.
Eumaeus was frightened at the outcry they all

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raised, so he put the bow
down then and there. But Telemachus shouted

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out at him from the other side
of the cloisters and threatened him, saying,

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father, Eumaeus, bring the bow
on in spite of them, or

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young as I am, I will
pelt you with stones back to the country.

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For I am the better man of
the two. I wish I was

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as much stronger than all the other
suitors in a house as I am than

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you, I would soon send some
of them off, sick and sorry for

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their mean mischief. Thus did he
speak, and they all of them laughed

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heartily, which put them in a
better humor with Telemachus. So Eumaeus brought

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the bow on and placed it in
the hands of Ulysses. When he had

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done this, he called Eurycleia apart
and said to her, Euryclea, Telemachus

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says, you are to close the
doors of the women's apartments. If they

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hear any groaning or uproar as of
men fighting about the house, they are

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not to come out, but are
to keep quiet and stay where they are

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at their work. Euryclea did as
she was told and closed the doors of

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the women's apartments. Meanwhile, Philoetius
slipped quietly on and made fast the gates

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of the outer court. There was
a ship's cable of Biblus fiber lying in

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the gatehouse, so he made the
gates fast with it, and then came

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in again, resuming the seat that
he had left, and keeping an eye

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on Ulysses, who had now got
the bow in his hands and was turning

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it every way about and proving it
all over to see whether the worms had

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been eating into its two horns during
his absence. Then would one turn towards

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his neighbor, saying, this is
some tricky old bow fancier. Either he

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has got one legged at home,
or he wants to make one in such

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workman light style, does the old
vagabond handle it? Another said, I

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hope he may be no more successful
in other things than he is likely to

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be in stringing this bow. But
Ulysses, when he had taken it up

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and examined it all over, strung
it as easily as a skilled bart strings

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a new peg of his lyre,
and makes the twisted gut fast at both

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ends. Then he took it in
his right hand to prove the string,

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and it sang sweetly under his touch, like the twittering of a swallow.

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The suitors were dismayed and turned color
as they heard it at that moment.

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Moreover, job thundered loudly as a
sign, and the heart of Ulysses rejoiced

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as he heard the omen that the
son of scheming Saturn had sent him.

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He took an arrow that was lying
upon the table, for those which the

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Achaeans were so shortly about to taste, were all inside the quiver. He

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laid it on the centerpiece of the
bow, and drew the notch of the

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arrow and a string toward him,
still seated on his seat. When he

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had taken aim, he let fly, and his arrow pierced every one of

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the handle holes of the axes,
from the first onwards till it had gone

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right through them and into the outer
courtyard. Then he said to Telemachus,

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your guest has not disgraced you.
Lemachus, I did not miss what I

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aimed at, and I was not
long in stringing my bow. I am

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still strong, and not as the
suitors twit me with being. Now,

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however, it is time for the
Achaeans to prepare supper while there is still

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daylight, and then otherwise to disport
themselves with song and dance, which are

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the crowning ornaments of a banquet.
As he spoke, he made a sign

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with his eyebows, and Telemachus girded
on his word, grasped his spear,

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and stood on beside his father's seat. And of Book twenty one