Speaker 1: Book nineteen of the Odyssey by Homer, translated by Samuel Butler.
Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The Odyssey
Speaker 1: Book nineteen, Telemachus and Ulysses remove the armor. Ulysses interviews Penelope. Euryclia,
Speaker 1: washes his feet and recognizes the scar on his leg.
Speaker 1: Penelope tells her dream to Ulysses. Ulysses was left in
Speaker 1: the cloister, pondering on the means whereby, with Minerva's help,
Speaker 1: he might be able to kill the suitors. Presently, he
Speaker 1: said to Telemachus. Telemachus, we must get the armor together
Speaker 1: and take it down inside. Make some excuse when the
Speaker 1: suitors ask you why you have removed it, Say that
Speaker 1: you have taken it to be out of the way
Speaker 1: of the smoke, inasmuch as it is no longer what
Speaker 1: it was when Ulysses went away, but has become soiled
Speaker 1: and begrimed with soot. Add to this more particularly, that
Speaker 1: you are afraid Jove may set them on to quarrel
Speaker 1: over their wine, and that they may do each other
Speaker 1: some harm, which may disgrace both Banquet and Wooing. For
Speaker 1: this sight of arms sometimes tempts people to use them
Speaker 1: Telemachus approved of what his father had said, so he
Speaker 1: called nurse Euryclia and said, Nurse, shut the women up
Speaker 1: in their rooms, while I take the armor that my
Speaker 1: father left behind him down into the storeroom. No one
Speaker 1: looks after it. Now my father is gone, and it
Speaker 1: has got all smirched with soot during my own boyhood.
Speaker 1: I want to take it down where the smoke cannot
Speaker 1: reach it. I wish child, answered Eurycleia that you would
Speaker 1: take the management of the house into your own hands
Speaker 1: altogether and look after all the property yourself. But who
Speaker 1: is to go with you and light you to the storeroom?
Speaker 1: The maids would have done so, but you would not
Speaker 1: let them. The stranger said Telemachus, shall show me a light.
Speaker 1: When people eat my bread, they must earn it, no
Speaker 1: matter where they come from. Euryclia did as she was
Speaker 1: told and bolted the women inside their room. Then Ulysses
Speaker 1: and his son made all haste to take the helmets, shields,
Speaker 1: and spears inside, and Minerva went before them with a
Speaker 1: gold lamp in her hand that shed a soft and
Speaker 1: brilliant radiance, whereon Telemachus said, father, my eyes behold a
Speaker 1: great marvel. The walls, with the rafters, cross beams, and
Speaker 1: the supports on which they rest are all aglow as
Speaker 1: with a flaming fire. Surely there is some god here
Speaker 1: who has come down from heaven. Hush, answered Ulysses. Hold
Speaker 1: your peace and ask no questions, for this is the
Speaker 1: manner of the gods. Get you to your bed and
Speaker 1: leave me here to talk with your mother and the maids.
Speaker 1: Your mother, in her grief, will ask me all sorts
Speaker 1: of questions. On this Telemachus went by torchlight to the
Speaker 1: other side of the inner court, to the room in
Speaker 1: which he always slept. There he lay in his bed
Speaker 1: till morning, while Ulysses was left in the cloister, pondering
Speaker 1: on the means whereby, with Minerva's help, he might be
Speaker 1: able to kill the suitors. Then Penelope came down from
Speaker 1: her room, looking like Venus or Diana, and they set
Speaker 1: her a seat inlaid with scrolls of silver and ivory,
Speaker 1: near the fire in her accustomed place. It had been
Speaker 1: made by Ichmelius and had a footstool all in one
Speaker 1: piece with the seat itself, and it was covered with
Speaker 1: a thick fleece. On this she now sat, and the
Speaker 1: maids came from the women's room to join her. They
Speaker 1: set about removing the tables at which the wicked suitors
Speaker 1: had been dining, and took away the bread that was
Speaker 1: left with the cups from which they had drunk. They
Speaker 1: emptied the embers out of the braziers and heaped much
Speaker 1: wood upon them to give both light and heat. But
Speaker 1: Melantho began to rail at Ulysses a second time, and said, stranger,
Speaker 1: do you mean to plague us by hanging about the
Speaker 1: house all night and spying upon the women beyond? You
Speaker 1: wretch outside and eat your supper there, or you shall
Speaker 1: be driven out with a firebrand. Ulysses scowled at her
Speaker 1: and answered, my good woman, why should you be so
Speaker 1: angry with me? Is it because I am not clean
Speaker 1: and my clothes are all in rags? And because I
Speaker 1: am obliged to go begging about after the manner of
Speaker 1: tramps and beggars. Generally, I too was a rich man once,
Speaker 1: and had a fine house of my own. In those days,
Speaker 1: I gave to many a tramp such as I now am,
Speaker 1: no matter who he might be, nor what he wanted.
Speaker 1: I had any number of servants, and all the other
Speaker 1: things which people have who live well and are accounted wealthy,
Speaker 1: but it pleased Jove to take all away from me. Therefore, woman,
Speaker 1: beware lest you too come to lose that pride and
Speaker 1: place in which you now want. And above your fellows,
Speaker 1: have a care lest you get out of favor with
Speaker 1: your mistress, and lest Ulysses should come home, for there
Speaker 1: is still a chance that he may do so. Moreover,
Speaker 1: though he may be dead, as you think he is,
Speaker 1: yet by Apollo's will, he has left a son behind him, Telemagus,
Speaker 1: who will note anything done amiss by the maids in
Speaker 1: the house, for he is now no longer in his boyhood.
Speaker 1: Penelope heard what he was saying and scolded the maid
Speaker 1: impudent Baggage, said she, I see how abominably you are behaving,
Speaker 1: and you shall smart for it. You knew perfectly well,
Speaker 1: for I told you myself that I was going to
Speaker 1: see the stranger and ask him about my husband, for
Speaker 1: whose sake I am in such continual sorrow. Then she
Speaker 1: said to her head, waiting, woman, your enemy, bring a
Speaker 1: seat with a fleece upon it for the stranger to
Speaker 1: sit upon while he tells his story, and listen to
Speaker 1: what I have to say. I wish to ask him
Speaker 1: some questions. Eurynymy brought the seat at once and set
Speaker 1: a fleece upon it, And as soon as Ulysses had
Speaker 1: sat down Penelope, he began by saying, stranger, I shall
Speaker 1: first ask you who and whence are you? Tell me
Speaker 1: of your town and parents. Madam answered Ulysses, who on
Speaker 1: the face of the whole earth can dare to chide
Speaker 1: with you? Your fame reaches the firmament of heaven itself. You
Speaker 1: are like some blameless king who upholds righteousness, as the
Speaker 1: monarch over a great and valiant nation. The earth yields
Speaker 1: its wheat and barley, the trees are loaded with fruit,
Speaker 1: the ewes bring forth lambs, and the sea abounds with fish.
Speaker 1: By reason of his virtues, and his people do good
Speaker 1: deeds under him. Nevertheless, as I sit here in your house,
Speaker 1: ask me some other question, and do not seek to
Speaker 1: know my race and family, or you will recall memories
Speaker 1: that will yet more increase my sorrow. I am full
Speaker 1: of heaviness. But I ought not to sit weeping and
Speaker 1: wailing in another person's house, Nor is it well to
Speaker 1: be thus grieving continually. I shall have one of the
Speaker 1: servants or even yourself, complaining of me and saying that
Speaker 1: my eyes swim with tears because I am heavy with wine.
Speaker 1: Then Penelope answered, stranger, Heaven robbed me of all beauty,
Speaker 1: whether of face or figure, when the argive set sail
Speaker 1: for Troy, and my dear husband with them. If he
Speaker 1: were to return and look after my affairs, I should
Speaker 1: be both more respected and should show a better presence
Speaker 1: to the world. As it is, I am oppressed with
Speaker 1: care and with the afflictions which Heaven has seen fit
Speaker 1: to keep upon me. The chiefs from all our islands,
Speaker 1: to Lycium, Sami, and Zycanthus, as also from Ithaca itself,
Speaker 1: are wooing me against my will, and are wasting my estate.
Speaker 1: I can therefore show no attention to strangers, nor suppliants,
Speaker 1: nor to people who say that they are skilled artisans,
Speaker 1: but am all the time broken hearted about ulysses. They
Speaker 1: want me to marry again at once, and I have
Speaker 1: to invent stratagems in order to deceive them. In the
Speaker 1: first place, Heaven put it in my mind to set
Speaker 1: up a great tamber frame in my room, and to
Speaker 1: begin working upon an enormous piece of fine needlework. Then
Speaker 1: I said to them, sweethearts, Ulysses is indeed dead. Still,
Speaker 1: do not press me to marry again immediately, wait, for
Speaker 1: I would not have my skill in Needlbork perish unrecorded
Speaker 1: till I have finished making a pall for the hero
Speaker 1: Laarites to be ready against the time when death shall
Speaker 1: take him. He is very rich, and the women of
Speaker 1: the place will talk if he is laid out without
Speaker 1: a pall. This was what I said, and they assented.
Speaker 1: Whereon I used to keep working at my great web
Speaker 1: all day long, but at night I would unpick the
Speaker 1: stitches again by torchlight. I fooled them in this way
Speaker 1: for three years without their finding it out. But as
Speaker 1: time and I was now in my fourth year in
Speaker 1: the waning of moons, and many days had been accomplished,
Speaker 1: those good for nothing hussies my maids betrayed me to
Speaker 1: the suitors, who broke in upon me and caught me.
Speaker 1: They were very angry with me, so I was forced
Speaker 1: to finish my work, whether I would or no. And
Speaker 1: now I do not see how I can find another
Speaker 1: further shift for getting out of this marriage. My parents
Speaker 1: are putting great pressure upon me and my son Chafs
Speaker 1: at the ravages the suitors are making upon his estate,
Speaker 1: for he is now old enough to understand all about it,
Speaker 1: and is perfectly able to look after his own affairs,
Speaker 1: for Heaven has blessed him with an excellent disposition. Still,
Speaker 1: notwithstanding all this, tell me who you are and where
Speaker 1: you come from. For you must have had father and
Speaker 1: mother of some sort. You cannot be the son of
Speaker 1: an oak or of a rock, then, Ulysses, answered Madam,
Speaker 1: wife of Ulysses. Since you persist in asking me about
Speaker 1: my family, I will answer, no matter what it costs me.
Speaker 1: People must expect to be pained when they have been
Speaker 1: exiled as long as I have, and suffered as much
Speaker 1: among as many peoples. Nevertheless, as regards your question, I
Speaker 1: will tell you all you ask. There is a fair
Speaker 1: and fruitful island in mid ocean called Crete. It is
Speaker 1: thickly peopled, and there are ninety cities in it. The
Speaker 1: people speak many different languages which overlap one another. For
Speaker 1: there are Achaeans, brave et Eucretans, Dorians of threefold race,
Speaker 1: and noble Pulaski. There is a great town there, Gnosus,
Speaker 1: where Minus reigned, who every nine years had a conference
Speaker 1: with Jove himself. Minus was father to Ducalian, whose son
Speaker 1: I am for. Ducalian had two sons, I Dominaeus and myself.
Speaker 1: I Dominaeus sailed for Troy, and I, who am the younger,
Speaker 1: am called Athon. My brother, however, was at once the
Speaker 1: older and the more valiant of the two. Hence it
Speaker 1: was in Crete that I saw Ulysses and showed him hospitality,
Speaker 1: for the winds. Took him there as he was on
Speaker 1: his way to Troy, carrying him out of his course
Speaker 1: from kate Malia and leaving him an Amnisis off the
Speaker 1: cave of Ilithoia, where the harbors are difficult to enter,
Speaker 1: and he could hardly find shelter from the winds that
Speaker 1: were then raging. As soon as he got there, he
Speaker 1: went into the town and asked for I Domineus, claiming
Speaker 1: to be his old and valued friend. But I Domineus
Speaker 1: had already set sail for Troy, some ten or twelve
Speaker 1: days earlier. So I took him to my own house
Speaker 1: and showed him every kind of hospitality, for I had
Speaker 1: abundance of everything. Moreover, I fed the men who were
Speaker 1: with him with barleymeal from the public store, and got
Speaker 1: subscriptions of wine and oxen for them to sacrifice to
Speaker 1: their heart's content. They stayed with me twelve days, for
Speaker 1: there was a gale blowing from the north, so strong
Speaker 1: that one could hardly keep one's feet on land. I
Speaker 1: suppose some unfriendly God had raised it for them. But
Speaker 1: on the thirteenth day the wind dropped and they got away.
Speaker 1: Many a plausible tale did Ulysses further tell her, And
Speaker 1: Penelope wept as she listened, for her heart was melted
Speaker 1: as the snow wastes upon the mountain tops when the
Speaker 1: winds from southeast and west have breathed upon it, and
Speaker 1: thought it till the rivers run blank full with water.
Speaker 1: Even so did her cheeks overflow with tears. For the husband,
Speaker 1: who was all the time sitting by her side. Ulysses
Speaker 1: felt for her and was sorry for her, But he
Speaker 1: kept his eyes as hard as horn or iron, without
Speaker 1: letting them so much as quiver. So cunningly did he
Speaker 1: restrain his tears. Then, when she had relieved herself by weeping,
Speaker 1: she turned to him again and said, now, stranger, I
Speaker 1: shall put you to the test and see whether or
Speaker 1: no you really did entertain my husband and his men
Speaker 1: as you say you did tell me then how he
Speaker 1: was dressed, what kind of a man he was to
Speaker 1: look at, and so also with his companions. Madam answered, Ulysses,
Speaker 1: it is such a long time ago that I can
Speaker 1: hardly say twenty years are come and gone since he
Speaker 1: left my home and went elsewhether, but I will tell
Speaker 1: you as well as I can recollect. Ulysses wore a
Speaker 1: mantle of purple wool, double lined, and it was fastened
Speaker 1: by a gold brooch with two catches for the pin.
Speaker 1: On the face of this there was a device that
Speaker 1: showed a dog holding a spotted fawn between his fore
Speaker 1: paws and watching it as it lay panting upon the ground.
Speaker 1: Everyone marveled at the way in which these things had
Speaker 1: been done in gold, the dog looking at the fawn
Speaker 1: and strangling it, while the fawn was struggling convulsively to escape.
Speaker 1: As for the shirt that he wore next his skin,
Speaker 1: it was so soft that it fitted him like the
Speaker 1: skin of an onion, and glistened in the sunlight, to
Speaker 1: the admiration of all the women who beheld it. Furthermore,
Speaker 1: I say, and laying my saying to your heart, that
Speaker 1: I do not know whether Ulysses wore these clothes when
Speaker 1: he left home, or whether one of his companions had
Speaker 1: given them to him while he was on his voyage,
Speaker 1: or possibly some one at whose house he was staying
Speaker 1: made him a present of them, for he was a
Speaker 1: man of many friends, and had few equals among the Achaeans.
Speaker 1: I myself gave him a sword of bronze and a
Speaker 1: beautiful purple mantle, double lined, with a shirt that went
Speaker 1: down to his feet, and I sent him on board
Speaker 1: his ship with every mark of honor. He had a
Speaker 1: servant with him a little older than himself, and I
Speaker 1: can tell you what he was like. His shoulders were hunched,
Speaker 1: he was dark, and he had thick, curly hair. His
Speaker 1: name was Eurybatees. And Ulysses treated him with greater familiarity
Speaker 1: than he did any of the others, as being the
Speaker 1: most like minded with himself. Penelope was moved still more
Speaker 1: deeply as she heard the indisputable proofs that Ulysses laid
Speaker 1: before her, And when she had again found relief in tears,
Speaker 1: she said to him, stranger, I was already disposed to
Speaker 1: pity you, but henceforth you shall be honored and made
Speaker 1: welcome in my house. It was I who gave Ulysses
Speaker 1: the clothes you speak of. I took them out of
Speaker 1: the storeroom and folded them up myself, and gave him
Speaker 1: also the gold brooch to wear as an ornament alas
Speaker 1: I shall never welcome him home again. It was by
Speaker 1: an ill fate that he ever set out for that
Speaker 1: detested city, whose very name I cannot bring myself even
Speaker 1: to mention. Then Ulysses answered, Madame, wife of Ulysses, do
Speaker 1: not disfigure yourself further by grieving thus bitterly for your loss,
Speaker 1: though I can hardly blame you for doing so. A
Speaker 1: woman who has loved her husband and borne him children
Speaker 1: would naturally be grieved at losing him, even though he
Speaker 1: were a worse man than Ulysses, who they say was
Speaker 1: like a god. Still, seize your tears and listen to
Speaker 1: what I can tell you. I will hide nothing from you,
Speaker 1: and can say with perfect truth that I have lately
Speaker 1: heard of Ulysses as being alive and on his way home.
Speaker 1: He is among the Thesperocians, and is bringing back much
Speaker 1: valuable treasure that he has begged from one and another
Speaker 1: of them. But his ship and all his crew were lost,
Speaker 1: as they were leaving the the nation island, for Jove
Speaker 1: and the Sun God were angry with him because his
Speaker 1: men had slaughtered the Sun God's cattle, and they were
Speaker 1: all drowned to a man. But Ulysses stuck to the
Speaker 1: keel of the ship and was drifted on to the
Speaker 1: land of the Phaeacians, who were near of kin to
Speaker 1: the immortals, and who treated him as though he had
Speaker 1: been a god, giving him many presents and wishing to
Speaker 1: escort him home safe and sound. In fact, Ulysses would
Speaker 1: have been here long ago had he not thought better
Speaker 1: to go from land to land gathering wealth. For there
Speaker 1: is no man living who is so wily as he is.
Speaker 1: There is no one who can compare with him. Phadan,
Speaker 1: king of the Thesprosians, told me all this, and he
Speaker 1: swore to me, making drink offerings in his house as
Speaker 1: he did. So that the ship was by the water side,
Speaker 1: and the crew found who could take Ulysses to his
Speaker 1: own country. He sent me off first, for there happened
Speaker 1: to be a Thesperocian ship sailing for the wheat growing
Speaker 1: island of Delythium. But he showed me all the treasure
Speaker 1: Ulysses had got together, and he had enough lying in
Speaker 1: the house of King Phaedan to keep his family for
Speaker 1: ten generations. But the king said Ulysses had gone to Dodona,
Speaker 1: that he might learn Jove's mind from the high oak
Speaker 1: tree and know whether, after so long an absence, he
Speaker 1: should return to Ithaca openly or in secret, so you
Speaker 1: may know he is safe and will be here shortly.
Speaker 1: He is close at hand and cannot remain away from
Speaker 1: home much longer. Nevertheless, I will confirm my words with
Speaker 1: an other, and call Jove, who is the first and
Speaker 1: mightiest of all gods, to witness, as also that hearth
Speaker 1: of Ulysses, to which I have now come, that all
Speaker 1: I have spoken shall surely come to pass. Ulysses will
Speaker 1: return in this self same year, with the end of
Speaker 1: this moon and the beginning of the next, he will
Speaker 1: be here. May it be even so, answered Penelope, if
Speaker 1: your words come true, you shall have such gifts and
Speaker 1: such good will from me that all who see you
Speaker 1: shall congratulate you. But I know very well how it
Speaker 1: will be. Ulysses will not return, neither will you get
Speaker 1: your escort. Hence, for so surely as that Ulysses ever was,
Speaker 1: there are now no longer any such masters in the house,
Speaker 1: as he was to receive honorable strangers, or to further
Speaker 1: them on their way home. And now you maids, wash
Speaker 1: his feet for him, and make him a bed on
Speaker 1: a couch with rugs and blankets, that he may be
Speaker 1: warm and quiet till more. Then at daybreak, wash him
Speaker 1: and anoint him again, that he may sit in the
Speaker 1: cloister and take his meals with Telemachus. It shall be
Speaker 1: the worse for any one of these hateful people who
Speaker 1: is uncivil to him, Like it or not, he shall
Speaker 1: have no more to do in this house. For how sir,
Speaker 1: shall you be able to learn whether or no I
Speaker 1: am superior to others of my sex, both in goodness
Speaker 1: of heart and understanding, if I let you dine in
Speaker 1: my cloister. Squalid and ill clad men live but for
Speaker 1: a little season. If they are hard and deal hardly,
Speaker 1: people wish them ill so long as they are alive,
Speaker 1: as speak contemptuously of them when they are dead. But
Speaker 1: he that is righteous and deals righteously, the people tell
Speaker 1: of his praise among all lands, and many shall call
Speaker 1: him blessed. Ulysses answered, Madam, I have forsworn rugs and
Speaker 1: blankets from the day that I left the snowy ranges
Speaker 1: of crete to go on shipboard. I will lie as
Speaker 1: I have lain on many a sleepless night hitherto night
Speaker 1: after night have I passed in any rough sleeping place
Speaker 1: and waited for morning? Nor again do I like having
Speaker 1: my feet washed. I shall not let any of the
Speaker 1: young hussies about your house touch my feet. But if
Speaker 1: you have any old and respectable woman who has gone
Speaker 1: through as much trouble as I have, I will allow
Speaker 1: her to wash them. To this Penelope, said my dear sir.
Speaker 1: Of all the guests who have ever yet come to
Speaker 1: my house, there never was one who spoke in all
Speaker 1: things with such admirable propriety as you do. There happens
Speaker 1: to be in the house a most respectable old woman,
Speaker 1: the same who received my poor dear husband in her
Speaker 1: arms the night he was born, and nursed him in infancy.
Speaker 1: She is very feeble now, but she shall wash your feet.
Speaker 1: Come here, said she, Euryclia, and wash your master's age. Mate.
Speaker 1: I suppose Ulysses hands and feet are very much the
Speaker 1: same now as his are. For trouble ages, all of
Speaker 1: us dreadfully fast on these words The old woman covered
Speaker 1: her face with her hands. She began to weep and
Speaker 1: made lamentation, saying, my dear child, I cannot think whatever
Speaker 1: I am to do with you. I am certain no
Speaker 1: one was ever more god fearing than yourself, and yet
Speaker 1: Jove hates you. No one in the whole world ever
Speaker 1: burned him more thigh bones, nor gave him finer hecatombs.
Speaker 1: When you prayed you might come to a green old
Speaker 1: age yourself and see your son grow up to take
Speaker 1: after you. Yet see how he has prevented you alone
Speaker 1: from ever getting back to your own home. I have
Speaker 1: no doubt the women in some foreign place which Ulysses
Speaker 1: has got to are gibing at him, as all these
Speaker 1: sluts here have been gibing at you. I do not
Speaker 1: wonder at your not choosing to let them wash you
Speaker 1: after the manner in which they have insulted you. I
Speaker 1: will wash your feet myself gladly enough, as Penelope has
Speaker 1: said that I am to do so. I will wash
Speaker 1: them both for Penelope's sake and for your own. For
Speaker 1: you have raised the most lively feelings of compassion in
Speaker 1: my mind. And let me say this moreover, which pray
Speaker 1: attend to we have had all kinds of strangers in
Speaker 1: distress come here before now, But I make bold to
Speaker 1: say that no one ever yet came who is so
Speaker 1: like Ulysses in figure, voice and feet as you are.
Speaker 1: Those who have seen us both answered, Ulysses have always
Speaker 1: said we were wonderfully like each other, and now you
Speaker 1: have noticed it too. Then the old woman took the
Speaker 1: cauldron in which she was going to wash his feet,
Speaker 1: and poured plenty of cold water into it, adding hot
Speaker 1: till the bath was warm enough. Ulysses sat by the fire,
Speaker 1: but ere long he turned away from the light, for
Speaker 1: it occurred to him that when the old woman had
Speaker 1: hold of his leg, she would recognize a certain scar
Speaker 1: which had whereon the whole truth would come out. And indeed,
Speaker 1: as soon as she began washing her master, she at
Speaker 1: once knew the scar as one that had been given
Speaker 1: him by a wild boar when he was hunting on
Speaker 1: Mount Parnassus with his excellent grandfather, Aetolicus, who was the
Speaker 1: most accomplished thief and perjurer in the whole world, and
Speaker 1: with the sons of Aetolicus. Mercury himself had endowed him
Speaker 1: with this gift, for he used to burn the thigh
Speaker 1: bones of goats and kids to him, so he took
Speaker 1: pleasure in his companionship. It happened once that Aetolicus had
Speaker 1: gone to Ithaca and had found the child of his
Speaker 1: daughter just born. As soon as he had done supper,
Speaker 1: Euryclius set the infant upon his knees and said, Aetolicus,
Speaker 1: you must find a name for your grandson. You greatly
Speaker 1: wish that you might have one son in law and daughter.
Speaker 1: Replied Aetolicus called the child. Thus, I am highly displeased
Speaker 1: with a large number of people in one place and another,
Speaker 1: both men and women. So name the child Ulysses, or
Speaker 1: the child of Anger. When he grows up and comes
Speaker 1: to visit his mother's family on Mount Parnassus, where my
Speaker 1: possessions lie, I will make him a present and will
Speaker 1: send him on his way. Rejoicing, Ulysses therefore went to
Speaker 1: Parnassus to get the presents from Aetolicus, who, with his sons,
Speaker 1: shook hands with him and gave him welcome. His grandmother
Speaker 1: and Phithia threw her arms about him and kissed his
Speaker 1: head and both his beautiful eyes. While Aetolicus desired his
Speaker 1: sons to get dinner ready, and they did as he
Speaker 1: told them. They brought in a five year old bull,
Speaker 1: flayed it, made it ready, and divided it into joints.
Speaker 1: These they then cut carefully up into smaller pieces and
Speaker 1: spitted them. They roasted them sufficiently and served the portions round. Thus,
Speaker 1: through the livelong day to the going down of the sun,
Speaker 1: they feasted, and every man had his full share, so
Speaker 1: that all were satisfied. But when the sun set and
Speaker 1: it came on dark, they went to bed and enjoyed
Speaker 1: the boon of sleep. When the child of morning, rosy
Speaker 1: fingered dawn appeared, the suns of Aetolicus went out with
Speaker 1: their hounds hunting, and Ulysses went too. They climbed the
Speaker 1: wooded slopes of Parnassus and soon reached its breezy upland valleys.
Speaker 1: But as the sun was beginning to beat upon the fields,
Speaker 1: fresh risen from the slow, still currents of Oceanus, they
Speaker 1: came to a mountain dell. The dogs were in front,
Speaker 1: searching for the tracks of the beasts they were chasing,
Speaker 1: and after them came the sons of Aetolicus, among whom
Speaker 1: was Ulysses close behind the dogs, and he had a
Speaker 1: long spear in his hand. Here was the lair of
Speaker 1: a huge boar among some thick brushwood, so dense that
Speaker 1: the wind and rain could not get through it, nor
Speaker 1: could the sun's rays pierce it, and the ground underneath
Speaker 1: lay thick with fallen leaves. The boar heard the noise
Speaker 1: of the men's feet and the hounds baying on every
Speaker 1: as the huntsmen came up to him, so he rushed
Speaker 1: from his lair, raised the bristles on his neck, and
Speaker 1: stood at bay with fire flashing from his eyes. Ulysses
Speaker 1: was the first to raise his spear and tried to
Speaker 1: drive it into the brute, but the boar was too
Speaker 1: quick for him and charged him sideways, ripping him above
Speaker 1: the knee with a gash that tore deep, though it
Speaker 1: did not reach the bone. As for the boar, Ulysses
Speaker 1: hit him on the right shoulder, and the point of
Speaker 1: the spear went right through him, so that he fell
Speaker 1: groaning in the dust until the life went out of him.
Speaker 1: The sons of Aetolicus busied themselves with the carcass of
Speaker 1: the boar and bound Ulysses wound. Then, after saying a
Speaker 1: spell to stop the bleeding. They went home as fast
Speaker 1: as they could, But when Aetolicus and his sons had
Speaker 1: thoroughly healed Ulysses, they made him some splendid presents and
Speaker 1: sent him back to Ithaca with much mutual good will.
Speaker 1: When he got back, his father and mother were rejoiced
Speaker 1: to see him and asked him all about it and
Speaker 1: how he had hurt himself to get the scar So
Speaker 1: he told them how the boar had ripped him when
Speaker 1: he was out hunting with Aetolicus and his sons on
Speaker 1: Mount Parnassus. As soon as Eurycleia had got the scarred
Speaker 1: limb in her hands and had well hold of it,
Speaker 1: she recognized it and dropped the foot at once. The
Speaker 1: leg fell into the bath, which rang out and was overturned,
Speaker 1: so that all the water was spilt on the ground.
Speaker 1: Euryclea's eyes, between her joy and her grief, filled with tears,
Speaker 1: and she could not speak. But she caught Ulysses by
Speaker 1: the beard and said, my dear child, I am sure
Speaker 1: you must be Ulysses himself. Only I did not know
Speaker 1: you till I had actually touched and handled you. As
Speaker 1: she spoke, she looked towards Penelope, as though wanting to
Speaker 1: tell her that her dear husband was in the house.
Speaker 1: But Penelope was unable to look in that direction and
Speaker 1: observe what was going on, for Minerva had diverted her attention.
Speaker 1: So Ulysses caught you, Euryclia, by the throat with his
Speaker 1: right hand, and with his left drew her close to him,
Speaker 1: and said, nurse, do you wish to be the ruin
Speaker 1: of me? You who nursed me at your own breast?
Speaker 1: Now that after twenty years of wandering, I am at
Speaker 1: last come to my own home again, since it has
Speaker 1: been borne in upon you by Heaven who recognize me.
Speaker 1: Hold your tongue and do not say a word about
Speaker 1: it to any one else in the house, for if
Speaker 1: you do, I tell you, and it shall surely be
Speaker 1: that if Heaven grants me to take the lives of
Speaker 1: these suitors, I will not spare you, though you are
Speaker 1: my own nurse, when I am killing the other women.
Speaker 1: My child answered, Euryclia, what are you talking about? You
Speaker 1: know very well that nothing can either bend or break me.
Speaker 1: I will hold my tongue like a stone or a
Speaker 1: piece of iron. Furthermore, let me say and lay my
Speaker 1: saying to your heart, when Heaven has delivered the suitors
Speaker 1: into your hand, I will give you a list of
Speaker 1: all the women in the house who have been ill behaved,
Speaker 1: and of those who are guiltless. And Ulysses answered, Nurse,
Speaker 1: you ought not to speak in that way. I am
Speaker 1: well able to form my own opinion about one and
Speaker 1: all of them. Hold your tongue and leave everything to Heaven.
Speaker 1: As he said this, Euryclia left the cloister to fetch
Speaker 1: some more water, for the first have been all spilt.
Speaker 1: And when she had watched him and anointed him with oil,
Speaker 1: Ulysses drew his seat nearer to the fire to warm himself,
Speaker 1: and hid the scar under his rags. Then Penelope began
Speaker 1: talking to him and said, stranger, I should like to
Speaker 1: speak with you briefly about another matter. It is indeed
Speaker 1: nearly bedtime for those at least who can sleep in
Speaker 1: spite of sorrow. As for myself, Heaven has given me
Speaker 1: a life of such unmeasurable woe that even by day,
Speaker 1: when I am attending to my duties and looking after
Speaker 1: the servants, I am still weeping and lamenting during the
Speaker 1: whole time. Then when night comes and we all of
Speaker 1: us go to bed. I lie awake thinking, and my
Speaker 1: heart becomes a prey to the most incessant and cruel tortures.
Speaker 1: As the dun Nightingale, daughter of Pandarius, sings in the
Speaker 1: early spring from her seat and shadiest covert hid, and
Speaker 1: with many a plaintive trill, pours out the tale how
Speaker 1: by mishap she killed her own child, Ittallus, son of
Speaker 1: King Zithus. Even so does my mind toss and turn
Speaker 1: in its uncertainty, whether I ought to stay with my
Speaker 1: son here and safeguard my substance, my bondsman, and the
Speaker 1: greatness of my house out of regard to public opinion
Speaker 1: and the memory of my late husband, or whether it
Speaker 1: is not now time for me to go with the
Speaker 1: best of these suitors who are wooing me and make
Speaker 1: me some magnificent presents. As long as my son was
Speaker 1: still young and unable to understand, he would not hear
Speaker 1: of my leaving my husband's house. But now that he
Speaker 1: is full grown, he begs and praised me to do so,
Speaker 1: being incensed at the way in which the suitors are
Speaker 1: eating up his property. Listen then to a dream that
Speaker 1: I have had and interpret it for me, if you can.
Speaker 1: I have twenty geese about the house that eat mash
Speaker 1: out of a trough, and of which I am exceedingly fond.
Speaker 1: I dreamed that a great eagle came swooping down from
Speaker 1: a mountain and dug his curved beak into the neck
Speaker 1: of each of them, till he had killed them all. Presently,
Speaker 1: he soared off into the sky and left them lying
Speaker 1: dead about the yard, whereon I wept in my dream,
Speaker 1: till all my maids gathered round me. So piteously was
Speaker 1: I grieving because the eagle had killed my geese. Then
Speaker 1: he came back again, and, perching on a projecting rafter,
Speaker 1: spoke to me with human voice and told me to
Speaker 1: leave off crying. Be of good courage. He said, Daughter
Speaker 1: of Vicarius, this is no dream, but a vision of
Speaker 1: good omen that shall surely come to pass. The geese
Speaker 1: are the suitors, and I am no longer an ego,
Speaker 1: but your own husband, who am come back to you,
Speaker 1: and who will bring these suitors to a disgraceful end.
Speaker 1: On this I woke, and when I looked out, I
Speaker 1: saw my geese at the trough eating their mash. As usual,
Speaker 1: this dream Madam replied, Ulysses can admit but of one interpretation,
Speaker 1: For had not Ulysses himself told you how it shall
Speaker 1: be fulfilled. The death of the suitors is portended, and
Speaker 1: not one single one of them will escape. And Penelope answered, stranger.
Speaker 1: Dreams are very curious and unaccountable things, and they do not,
Speaker 1: by any means invariably come true. There are two gaits
Speaker 1: through which these unsubstantial fancies proceed. The one is of Horn,
Speaker 1: and the other Ivory. Those that come through the gate
Speaker 1: of Ivory are fatuous, but those from the gate of
Speaker 1: Horn means something to those that see them. I do
Speaker 1: not think, however, that my own dream came through the
Speaker 1: gate of Horn, though I and my son should be
Speaker 1: most thankful if it proves to have done so. Furthermore,
Speaker 1: I say, and lay my saying to your heart, the
Speaker 1: coming dawn will usher in the ill omened day, that
Speaker 1: is to sever me from the house of Ulysses. For
Speaker 1: I am about to hold a tournament of axes. My
Speaker 1: husband used to set up twelve axes in the court,
Speaker 1: one in front of the other, like the stays upon
Speaker 1: which a ship is built. He would then go back
Speaker 1: from them and shoot an arrow through the whole twelve.
Speaker 1: I shall make the suitors try to do the same thing.
Speaker 1: And whichever of them can string the bow most easily
Speaker 1: and send his arrow through all the twelve axes him,
Speaker 1: will I follow and quit this house of my lawful husband,
Speaker 1: so goodly and so abounding in wealth. But even so
Speaker 1: I doubt not that I shall remember it in my dreams. Then,
Speaker 1: Ulysses answered Adam, wife of Ulysses, you need not defer
Speaker 1: your tournament, for Ulysses will return ere ever they can
Speaker 1: string the bow, handle it how they will, and send
Speaker 1: their arrows through the iron. To this, Penelope said, as
Speaker 1: long sir, as you will sit here and talk to me,
Speaker 1: I can have no desire to go to bed. Still.
Speaker 1: People cannot do permanently without sleep, and Heaven has appointed
Speaker 1: us dwellers on earth a time for all things. I
Speaker 1: will therefore go upstairs and recline upon that couch which
Speaker 1: I have never ceased to flood with my tears from
Speaker 1: the day Ulysses set out for the city with a
Speaker 1: hateful name. She then went upstairs to her own room,
Speaker 1: not alone, but attended by her maidens, And when there
Speaker 1: she lamented her dear husband till Minerva sheds sweet sleep
Speaker 1: over her eyelids. End of book nineteen