Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Moira Fogerty. The Odyssey
by Homer, translated by Samuel Butler, book seventeen. 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.
Speaker 2: As for this.
Speaker 1: 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 beckoned
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 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 Eurycliu 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. Oh,
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.
Speaker 2: But come tell me what you saw.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 2: With me from Pylos.
Speaker 1: I sent him on with my crew and told Pereeus
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 hecatomes 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 Theoclemenus,
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 presence Menelaus gave you.
Speaker 2: We do not know.
Speaker 1: Pereus 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 thia Clemenus to his own house.
When they got there, they laid their cloaks on the
benches and seats, went into the baths.
Speaker 2: And washed themselves.
Speaker 1: 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 barings 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.
Speaker 2: He was alive or dead.
Speaker 1: He sent me therefore, with the 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 Theoclemenus 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 converse. 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 Meadon, 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 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 masters 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.
Speaker 2: I know and.
Speaker 1: Understand, you, replied, Ulysses.
Speaker 2: You need say no more. Let us be going.
Speaker 1: 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 Dlius, 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 unst
seemly 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 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 Malanthius 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 Femeus 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 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 you may
have said you have perceived aright.
Speaker 2: As indeed you generally do.
Speaker 1: 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 Eumaeas 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 recognized his master.
Telemachus saw Eumaeus long before any one else did, and
beckoned him.
Speaker 2: To come and sit beside him.
Speaker 1: 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 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 shame faced. 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 shame faced. 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, 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 Antonus began to
abuse the swineherd, You precious idiot, he cried, what have
you brought this man to town?
Speaker 2: For have we not.
Speaker 1: Tramps and beggars enough already to pester us as we
set 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 mayus, 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 or a bard.
Speaker 2: Who can charm us with his songs.
Speaker 1: 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. Antonus has the bitterest tongue of all
the suitors, and he makes the others worse. Then, turning
to Antonas, 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 the 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
Antonas 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 Cypress Dmitor 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 Cypress 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 who righteously, thus said the suitors, but
Antonus paid.
Speaker 2: Them no heed.
Speaker 1: 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 in cloister, she said, before her maids would
that Apollo would so strike you Antonus, and her waiting
woman Eurynymy 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 Antony
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 Antonas 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.
Speaker 2: I want to see him and ask him some questions.
He seems to have.
Speaker 1: 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 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 thrust potians, 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 Eumayas 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.
Speaker 2: Just now.
Speaker 1: 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 someone
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.
Speaker 2: Before they do us a mischief.
Speaker 1: 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, read by Moira Fogerty in Toronto, Ontario, October
two thousand and six.