1
00:00:01,199 --> 00:00:05,200
Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in

2
00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:10,240
the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please

3
00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:14,759
visit LibriVox dot org. That's l I B r I

4
00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:21,559
v O X dot O r G. The Odyssey by Homer,

5
00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:31,679
translated by Samuel Butler, book twenty three. Uriclea now went upstairs,

6
00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:35,799
laughing to tell her mistress that her dear husband had

7
00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:40,640
come home. Her aged knees became young again, and her

8
00:00:40,679 --> 00:00:43,640
feet were nimble for joy as she went up to

9
00:00:43,759 --> 00:00:47,439
her mistress and bent over her head to speak with her.

10
00:00:48,359 --> 00:00:52,880
Wake up, Penelope, my dear child, she exclaimed, and see

11
00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:56,560
with your own eyes something that you have been wanting

12
00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:02,960
this long time past. Ulyss has at last indeed come

13
00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:07,319
home again and has killed the suitors who were giving

14
00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:11,000
so much trouble in his house, eating up his estate,

15
00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:16,640
and ill treating his son. My good nurse answered Penelope,

16
00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:21,599
you must be mad. The gods sometimes send some very

17
00:01:21,719 --> 00:01:25,439
sensible people out of their minds and make foolish people

18
00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,599
become sensible. This is what they must have been doing

19
00:01:29,719 --> 00:01:33,599
with you, for you always used to be a reasonable person.

20
00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,079
Why should you thus mock me when I have trouble

21
00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:42,079
enough already talking such nonsense and waking me up out

22
00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:45,400
of a sweet sleep that had taken possession of my

23
00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:50,040
eyes and closed them. I have never slept so soundly

24
00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:53,239
from the day my poor husband went to that city

25
00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:57,200
with the ill omened name go back again into the

26
00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:01,079
women's room. If it had been anyone else who had

27
00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:05,280
woke me to bring such absurd news, I should have

28
00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:09,319
sent her away with a severe scolding. As it is

29
00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:15,439
your age shall protect you, my dear child, answered Euryclea,

30
00:02:15,719 --> 00:02:19,120
I am not mocking you. It is quite true as

31
00:02:19,159 --> 00:02:23,199
I tell you, that Ulysses is come home again. He

32
00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:27,400
was the stranger whom they all kept on treating so badly.

33
00:02:27,439 --> 00:02:31,159
In the cloister Telemachus knew all the time that he

34
00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:35,319
has come back, but kept his father's secret that he

35
00:02:35,479 --> 00:02:41,000
might have his revenge on all these wicked people. Then

36
00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:46,400
Penelope sprang up from her couch, threw her arms round Euryclea,

37
00:02:46,439 --> 00:02:50,919
and wept for joy. But my dear nurse said, she

38
00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:54,919
explain this to me. If he has really come home

39
00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,039
as you say, how did he manage to overcome the

40
00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:02,560
wicked suitor's single hand? Seeing what a number of them

41
00:03:02,599 --> 00:03:07,919
there always were. I was not here, answered Euryclea, And

42
00:03:08,039 --> 00:03:11,680
do not know. I only heard them groaning while they

43
00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:15,439
were being killed. We sat huddled and crouching in a

44
00:03:15,479 --> 00:03:19,400
corner of the women's room, with the doors closed, till

45
00:03:19,439 --> 00:03:23,680
your son came to fetch me, because his father sent him.

46
00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:28,479
Then I found Ulysses standing over the corpses that were

47
00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,840
lying on the ground all round him, one on top

48
00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:35,400
of the other. You would have enjoyed it if you

49
00:03:35,479 --> 00:03:38,960
could have seen him standing there, all be spattered with

50
00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:43,800
blood and filth, and looking just like a lion. But

51
00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:46,680
the corpses are now all piled up in the gatehouse,

52
00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,479
that is in the outer court, and Ulysses has lit

53
00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:55,280
a great fire to purify the house with sulfur. He

54
00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:59,039
has sent me to call you, so come with me,

55
00:03:59,599 --> 00:04:04,280
that you may both be happy together after all. For now,

56
00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:08,360
at last the desire of your heart has been fulfilled.

57
00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,479
Your husband is come home to find both wife and

58
00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:17,279
son alive and well, and to take his revenge in

59
00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:21,079
his own house on the suitors who behaved so badly

60
00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:26,800
to him. My dear nurse said Penelope, do not exult

61
00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:31,399
too confidently over all this. You know how delighted every

62
00:04:31,399 --> 00:04:35,839
one would be to see Ulysses come home, more particularly

63
00:04:36,199 --> 00:04:39,639
myself and the son who has been born to both

64
00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:43,879
of us. But what you tell me cannot be really true.

65
00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:46,879
It is some God who is angry with the suitors

66
00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,319
for their great wickedness, and has made an end of them.

67
00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,759
For they respected no man in the world, neither rich

68
00:04:54,879 --> 00:04:59,000
nor poor, who came near them, who came near them,

69
00:04:59,759 --> 00:05:02,879
and and they have come to a bad end in

70
00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:09,480
consequence of their iniquity. Ulysses is dead, far away from

71
00:05:09,519 --> 00:05:16,360
the Eechayan land, and he will never return home again. Then,

72
00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:21,079
Nurse Eurycleia said, my child, what are you talking about?

73
00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:25,480
But you were all hard of belief and have made

74
00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,560
up your mind that your husband is never coming, although

75
00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:33,759
he is in the house and by his own fireside

76
00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:38,920
at this very moment. Besides, I can give you another proof.

77
00:05:39,519 --> 00:05:43,600
When I was washing him, I perceived the scar which

78
00:05:43,639 --> 00:05:46,920
the wild boar gave him, and I wanted to tell

79
00:05:46,959 --> 00:05:50,079
you about it, But in his wisdom, he would not

80
00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:54,759
let me and clapped his hands over my mouth. So

81
00:05:55,439 --> 00:05:58,079
come with me, and I will make this bargain with you.

82
00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:03,279
If I am deceiving you, you may have me killed

83
00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:07,920
by the most cruel death you can think of, my

84
00:06:08,079 --> 00:06:13,319
dear nurse, said Penelope. However wise you may be, you

85
00:06:13,439 --> 00:06:17,680
can hardly fathom the counsels of the gods. Nevertheless, we

86
00:06:17,759 --> 00:06:20,759
will go in search of my son, that I may

87
00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:23,759
see the corpses of the suitors and the man who

88
00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:27,920
has killed them. On this she came down from her

89
00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:32,560
upper room, and while doing so, she considered whether she

90
00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:36,399
should keep at a distance from her husband and question him,

91
00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:39,879
or whether she should at once go up to him

92
00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:45,560
and embrace him. When, however, she had crossed the stone

93
00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:49,680
floor of the cloister, she sat down opposite Ulysses by

94
00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,519
the fire, against the wall at right angles to that

95
00:06:53,639 --> 00:06:57,120
by which she had entered, while Ulysses sat near one

96
00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:01,879
of the bearing posts, looking upon the and waiting to

97
00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,240
see what his wife would say to him. When she

98
00:07:04,319 --> 00:07:09,399
saw him, for a long time, she sat silent and

99
00:07:09,879 --> 00:07:14,680
as one lost in amazement. At one moment she looked

100
00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:19,120
him full in the face, but then again directly she

101
00:07:19,279 --> 00:07:24,160
was misled by his shabby clothes and failed to recognize him,

102
00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:30,000
till Telemachus began to reproach her, and said, mother, but

103
00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:32,959
you are so hard that I cannot call you by

104
00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:36,199
such a name. Why do you keep away from my

105
00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:39,399
father in this way? Why do you not sit by

106
00:07:39,439 --> 00:07:44,519
his side and begin talking to him and asking him questions?

107
00:07:44,639 --> 00:07:48,439
No other women could bear to keep away from her

108
00:07:48,519 --> 00:07:51,879
husband when he had come back to her after twenty

109
00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:56,879
years of absence, and after having gone through so much.

110
00:07:57,439 --> 00:08:02,000
But your heart was always as hard as a stone,

111
00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:07,879
Penelope answered, my son, I am so lost in astonishment

112
00:08:07,879 --> 00:08:10,079
that I can find no words in which either to

113
00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:14,399
ask questions or to answer them. I cannot even look

114
00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:19,439
him straight in the face. Still, if he really is Ulysses,

115
00:08:19,519 --> 00:08:22,519
come back to his own home again, we shall get

116
00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:26,759
to understand one another better by and by, For there

117
00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:31,040
are tokens with which we two are alone acquainted, and

118
00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:37,039
which are hidden from all others. Ulysses smiled at this

119
00:08:37,799 --> 00:08:41,720
and said to Telemachus, let your mother put me to

120
00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:45,279
any proof she likes. She will make up her mind

121
00:08:45,279 --> 00:08:49,320
about it. Presently she rejects me for the moment, and

122
00:08:49,399 --> 00:08:53,480
believes me to be somebody else because I am covered

123
00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:58,080
with dirt and have such bad clothes on. Let us, however,

124
00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:02,440
consider what we had better do next. When one man

125
00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:06,000
has killed another, even though he was not one who

126
00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,519
would leave many friends to take up his quarrel. The

127
00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:13,000
man who has killed him must still say good bye

128
00:09:13,039 --> 00:09:17,639
to his friends and fly the country, whereas we have

129
00:09:17,759 --> 00:09:21,039
been killing the stay of a whole town and all

130
00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:25,320
the picked youth of Ithaca. I would have you consider

131
00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:31,879
this matter. Look to it yourself, father, answered Telemachus. For

132
00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:34,840
they say you are the wisest counselor in the world,

133
00:09:35,519 --> 00:09:38,240
and that there is no other mortal man who can

134
00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:42,519
compare with you. We will follow you with right good will,

135
00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:45,879
nor shall you find us to fail you. In so

136
00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:50,679
far as our strength holds out. I will say what

137
00:09:50,759 --> 00:09:55,440
I think will be best, answered, Ulysses, first, wash and

138
00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:58,840
put your shirts on. Tell the maids also to go

139
00:09:58,919 --> 00:10:03,480
to their own room and dress. Femeus shall then strike

140
00:10:03,559 --> 00:10:07,320
up a dance tune on his lyre, so that if

141
00:10:07,399 --> 00:10:11,519
people outside here, or any of the neighbors, or some

142
00:10:11,639 --> 00:10:15,080
one going along the street happens to notice it, they

143
00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,440
may think there is a wedding in the house, and

144
00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:21,519
no rumors about the death of the suitors will get

145
00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:24,679
about in the town before we can escape to the

146
00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:29,559
woods upon my own land. Once there we will settle

147
00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:34,159
which of the courses Heaven vouchsafes us shall seem wisest.

148
00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:38,639
Thus did he speak, and they did even as he

149
00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:42,480
had said. First they washed and put their shirts on,

150
00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:46,720
while the women got ready. Then Femeus took his lyre

151
00:10:46,799 --> 00:10:50,919
and set them all longing for sweet song and stately dance.

152
00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:54,720
The house re echoed with the sound of men and

153
00:10:54,879 --> 00:10:59,279
women dancing, and the people outside said, I suppose the

154
00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:03,000
queen has been getting married at last. She ought to

155
00:11:03,039 --> 00:11:06,200
be ashamed of herself for not continuing to protect her

156
00:11:06,279 --> 00:11:11,759
husband's property until he comes home. This was what they said,

157
00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:15,320
but they did not know what it was that had

158
00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:21,519
been happening. The upper servant Uranomi washed and anointed Ulysses

159
00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:24,919
in his own house and gave him a shirt and cloak,

160
00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:29,720
while Minerva made him look taller and stronger than before.

161
00:11:30,799 --> 00:11:33,360
She also made the hair grow thick on the top

162
00:11:33,399 --> 00:11:37,919
of his head and flow down in curls like hyacinth blossoms.

163
00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:42,879
She glorified him about the head and shoulders, just as

164
00:11:42,919 --> 00:11:46,399
a skillful workman who has studied art of all kinds

165
00:11:46,559 --> 00:11:51,679
under Vulcan or Minerva, and his work is full of beauty.

166
00:11:52,799 --> 00:11:55,679
In riches a piece of silver plate by gilding it.

167
00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:00,679
He came from the bath, looking like one of the immortals,

168
00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:03,960
and sat down opposite his wife on the seat he

169
00:12:04,039 --> 00:12:09,480
had left. My dear said he, Heaven has endowed you

170
00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:13,960
with a heart more unyielding than woman ever yet had

171
00:12:15,279 --> 00:12:17,879
no other woman could bear to keep away from her

172
00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:21,000
husband when he had come back to her after twenty

173
00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:25,519
years of absence, and after having gone through so much.

174
00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:30,440
But come, nurse, get a bed ready for me. I

175
00:12:30,519 --> 00:12:34,840
will sleep alone, for this woman has a heart as

176
00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:40,360
hard as iron. My dear said Penelope. I have no

177
00:12:40,519 --> 00:12:45,080
wish to set myself up, nor to depreciate you, but

178
00:12:45,799 --> 00:12:49,360
I am not struck by your appearance, for I very

179
00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:52,759
well remember what kind of a man you were when

180
00:12:52,799 --> 00:12:58,519
you set sail from Ithaca. Nevertheless, you, Reclara, take his

181
00:12:58,639 --> 00:13:03,240
bed outside the bed chain that he himself built. Bring

182
00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:07,039
the bed outside this room, and put betting upon it

183
00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:12,679
with fleeces, good coverlets and blankets. She said this to

184
00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:18,000
try him, but Ulysses was very angry and said, wife,

185
00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:21,919
I am much displeased at what you have just been saying.

186
00:13:22,919 --> 00:13:25,360
Who has been taking my bed from the place in

187
00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:28,240
which I left it? He must have found it a

188
00:13:28,279 --> 00:13:32,039
hard task, no matter how skilled a workman he was,

189
00:13:32,919 --> 00:13:35,519
unless some god came and helped him to shift it.

190
00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:40,679
There is no man living, however strong and in his prime,

191
00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:44,679
who could move it from its place. For it is

192
00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:48,840
a marvelous curiosity which I made with my very own hands.

193
00:13:49,799 --> 00:13:52,840
There was a young olive growing within the precincts of

194
00:13:52,879 --> 00:13:56,559
the house, in full vigor, and about as thick as

195
00:13:56,559 --> 00:14:00,360
a bearing post. I built my room round them with

196
00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:04,320
strong walls of stone and a roof to cover them,

197
00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:08,639
and I made the doors strong and well fitting. Then

198
00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:11,360
I cut off the top boughs of the olive tree

199
00:14:11,919 --> 00:14:17,320
and left the stump standing. This I dressed roughly from

200
00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:21,519
the root upwards, and then worked with carpenters tools well

201
00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:25,600
and skillfully, straightening my work by drawing a line in

202
00:14:25,639 --> 00:14:29,879
the wood and making it into a bed prop. I

203
00:14:29,919 --> 00:14:32,879
then bored a hole down the middle and made it

204
00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:36,360
the center post of my bed, at which I worked

205
00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:40,840
till I had finished it inlaying it with gold and silver.

206
00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:44,600
After this I stretched a hide of crimson leather from

207
00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:47,759
one side of it to the other. So you shall

208
00:14:47,799 --> 00:14:51,320
see I know all about it, and I desire to

209
00:14:51,399 --> 00:14:55,399
learn whether it is still there, or whether anyone has

210
00:14:55,559 --> 00:14:59,279
been removing it. By cutting down the olive tree at

211
00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:04,559
its roots. When she heard the sure proofs Ulysses now

212
00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:09,600
gave her, she fairly broke down. She flew, weeping to

213
00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:14,080
his side, flung her arms about his neck, and kissed him.

214
00:15:14,759 --> 00:15:18,639
Do not be angry with me, Ulysses, she cried, you,

215
00:15:19,159 --> 00:15:24,159
who are the wisest of mankind, we have suffered, both

216
00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:28,679
of us. Heaven has denied us the happiness of spending

217
00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:33,679
our youth and of growing old together. Do not then

218
00:15:33,759 --> 00:15:37,039
be aggrieved or take it amiss that I did not

219
00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:40,720
embrace you. Thus as soon as I saw you, I

220
00:15:40,919 --> 00:15:44,639
have been shuddering all the time through fear that some

221
00:15:44,679 --> 00:15:48,600
one might come here and deceive me with a lying story.

222
00:15:49,399 --> 00:15:54,080
For there are many very wicked people going about. Jove's

223
00:15:54,159 --> 00:15:58,360
daughter Helen would never have yielded herself to a man

224
00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:01,559
from a foreign country if she had known that the

225
00:16:01,639 --> 00:16:05,639
sons of a cheans would come after her and bring

226
00:16:05,679 --> 00:16:09,840
her back. Heaven put it in her heart to do wrong,

227
00:16:10,559 --> 00:16:13,919
and she gave no thought to that sin, which has

228
00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:19,120
been the source of all our sorrows. Now, however, that

229
00:16:19,159 --> 00:16:22,360
you have convinced me by showing that you know all

230
00:16:22,399 --> 00:16:25,919
about our bed, which no human being has ever seen

231
00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,480
but you and I and this single maid servant, the

232
00:16:29,559 --> 00:16:33,000
daughter of Actor, who was given me by my father

233
00:16:33,519 --> 00:16:36,960
on my marriage, and who keeps the doors of our

234
00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:41,720
room hard of belief. Though I have been, I can

235
00:16:41,759 --> 00:16:48,799
mistrust no longer. Then Ulysses, in his turn, melted and

236
00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:52,919
wept as he clasped his dear and faithful wife to

237
00:16:53,039 --> 00:16:57,320
his bosom. As the sight of land is welcome to

238
00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:01,039
men who are swimming towards the shore when Neptune has

239
00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:04,880
wrecked their ship with the fury of his winds and waves.

240
00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:09,440
A few alone reached the land, and these covered with

241
00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:13,880
brine are thankful when they find themselves on firm ground

242
00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:19,759
and out of danger. Even so was her husband welcome

243
00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:24,119
to her as she looked upon him, and she could

244
00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:29,359
not tear her two fair arms from about his neck. Indeed,

245
00:17:30,039 --> 00:17:34,359
they would have gone on indulging their sorrow till rosy

246
00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:39,880
fingered morn appeared, had not Minerva determined otherwise, and held

247
00:17:40,039 --> 00:17:43,640
night back in the far west, while she would not

248
00:17:43,759 --> 00:17:48,680
suffer dawn to leave Osians, nor to yoke the two steeds,

249
00:17:48,799 --> 00:17:53,400
Lampus and Phaeton, that bear her onward to break the

250
00:17:53,519 --> 00:18:00,200
day upon mankind. At last, However, Ulysses said, wife, we

251
00:18:00,319 --> 00:18:03,920
have not yet reached the end of our troubles. I

252
00:18:04,039 --> 00:18:08,599
have an unknown amount of toil still to undergo. It

253
00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:12,440
is long and difficult, but I must go through with it.

254
00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:18,000
For thus the shade of Tyrasaeus prophesied concerning me on

255
00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:20,680
the day when I went down into Hades to ask

256
00:18:20,759 --> 00:18:25,279
about my return and that of my companions. But now

257
00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:28,440
let us go to bed, that we may lie down

258
00:18:28,559 --> 00:18:33,920
and enjoyed the blessed boon of sleep. You shall go

259
00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:37,640
to bed as soon as you please, replied Penelope, now

260
00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:40,279
that the gods have sent you home to your own

261
00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:44,319
good house and to your country. But as Heaven has

262
00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:47,200
put it in your mind to speak of it, tell

263
00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:50,720
me about the task that lies before you. I shall

264
00:18:50,759 --> 00:18:53,359
have to hear about it later, So it is better

265
00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:58,759
I should be told at once, my dear, answered Ulysses.

266
00:18:59,599 --> 00:19:02,720
Why sho should you press me to tell you? Still?

267
00:19:03,359 --> 00:19:06,119
I will not conceal it from you. Though you will

268
00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:10,079
not like it, I do not like it myself. For

269
00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:15,519
Tyrsaeus bade me travel far and wide carrying an oar,

270
00:19:16,319 --> 00:19:18,480
till I came to a country where the people have

271
00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:21,680
never heard of the sea, and do not even mix

272
00:19:21,759 --> 00:19:26,279
salt with their food. They know nothing about ships, nor

273
00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:31,039
oars that are as the wings of a ship. He

274
00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:34,079
gave me this certain token, which I will not hide

275
00:19:34,079 --> 00:19:37,920
from you. He said that a wayfarer should meet me

276
00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:41,599
and ask me whether it was a winnowing shovel that

277
00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:45,400
I had on my shoulder. On this I was to

278
00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:49,079
fix my oar in the ground and sacrifice a ram,

279
00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:54,319
a bull, and a boar to Neptune, after which I

280
00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:57,839
was to go home and offer hecatombs to all the

281
00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:02,920
gods in heaven, one after the other. As for myself,

282
00:20:03,319 --> 00:20:07,240
he said that death should come to me from the sea,

283
00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:11,200
and that my life should ebb away very gently when

284
00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:14,799
I was full of years and peace of mind, and

285
00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:20,000
my people should bless me. All this, he said, should

286
00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:25,480
surely come to pass. And Penelope said, if the gods

287
00:20:25,519 --> 00:20:29,319
are going to vouchsafe you a happier time in your

288
00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:33,839
old age, you may hope then to have some respite

289
00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:40,799
from misfortune. Thus did they converse. Meanwhile, Urinemey and the

290
00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:45,039
nurse took torches and made the bed ready with soft coverlets.

291
00:20:45,519 --> 00:20:48,039
As soon as they had laid them, the nurse went

292
00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:51,400
back into the house to go to her rest. Leaving

293
00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:56,240
the bed chamber, woman uryinyme to show Ulysses and Penelope

294
00:20:56,759 --> 00:21:01,440
to bed by torchlight. When she conducted them to their room,

295
00:21:01,559 --> 00:21:05,240
she went back, and they then came joyfully to the

296
00:21:05,319 --> 00:21:11,519
rights of their own old bed. Telemachus, Philotius and the

297
00:21:11,599 --> 00:21:15,920
swineherd now left off dancing, and made the women leave

298
00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:20,359
off also. They then laid themselves down to sleep in

299
00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:26,519
the cloisters. When Ulysses and Penelope had had their fill

300
00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:31,319
of love, they fell talking with one another. She told

301
00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:34,839
him how much she had had to bear in seeing

302
00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:38,640
the house filled with a crowd of wicked suitors who

303
00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:42,200
had killed so many sheep and oxen on her account,

304
00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:47,720
and had drunk so many casts of wine. Ulysses, in

305
00:21:47,799 --> 00:21:52,359
his turn, told her what he had suffered and how

306
00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:55,799
much trouble he had given to other people. He told

307
00:21:55,839 --> 00:21:59,720
her everything, and she was so delighted to listen that

308
00:21:59,799 --> 00:22:03,079
she never went to sleep till he had ended his

309
00:22:03,279 --> 00:22:09,240
whole story. He began with the victory over Sichons and

310
00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:12,680
how he thence reached the fertile land of the lotus eaters.

311
00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:16,559
He told her all about the Cyclops and how he

312
00:22:16,599 --> 00:22:20,960
had punished him for having so ruthlessly eaten his brave comrades.

313
00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:25,599
How he then went on to Aeolus, who received him

314
00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:30,519
hospitably and furthered him on his way. And even so

315
00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:34,400
he was not to reach home, for to his grief,

316
00:22:34,599 --> 00:22:38,240
a hurricane carried him out to sea again. How he

317
00:22:38,319 --> 00:22:43,000
went to the Lastregonian city, Telepylus, where the people destroyed

318
00:22:43,119 --> 00:22:47,559
all his ships with their crews, save himself and his

319
00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:52,319
own ship. Only then he told of cunning Circe and

320
00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:56,279
her craft, And how he sailed to the chill house

321
00:22:56,319 --> 00:23:01,039
of Hades to consult the ghost of the theban prophet Teresaeus,

322
00:23:01,319 --> 00:23:05,279
And how he saw his old comrade in arms, and

323
00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:08,519
his mother, who bore him and brought him up when

324
00:23:08,519 --> 00:23:12,440
he was a child. How he then heard the wondrous

325
00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:16,839
singing of the sirens, and went on to the wandering

326
00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:22,519
rocks and terrible Charybdis, and to Scilla, whom no man

327
00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:27,000
had ever yet passed in safety. How his men then

328
00:23:27,279 --> 00:23:30,440
ate the cattle of the sun God, And how Jove

329
00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:35,319
therefore struck the ship with his thunderbolts, so that all

330
00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:41,319
his men perish'd together, himself alone being left alive. How

331
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:46,599
at last he reached the Ogygean island and the nymph Calypso,

332
00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:49,920
who kept him there in a cave and fed him

333
00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:54,039
and wanted him to marry her, in which case she

334
00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:57,640
had tended making him immortal, so that he should never

335
00:23:57,839 --> 00:24:01,759
grow old, But she could not persuade him to let

336
00:24:01,839 --> 00:24:06,599
her do so. And how after much suffering, he had

337
00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,839
found his way to the Phacians, who had treated him

338
00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:13,319
as though he had been a god, and sent him

339
00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:16,759
back in a ship to his own country, after having

340
00:24:16,839 --> 00:24:22,839
given him gold, bronze, and raiment in great abundance. This

341
00:24:23,039 --> 00:24:25,880
was the last thing about which he told her, for

342
00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:31,119
here a deep sleep took hold upon him and eased

343
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:36,960
the burden of his sorrows. Then Minerva bethought her of

344
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:41,480
another matter. When she deemed that Ulysses had had both

345
00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:46,279
of his wife and of repose, she bade gold enthrone

346
00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:51,039
dawn rise out of Oceanus, that she might shed light

347
00:24:51,279 --> 00:24:56,839
upon mankind. On this. Ulysses rose from his comfortable bed

348
00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:02,119
and said to Penelope, why we have both of us

349
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:07,440
had our full share of troubles, you here in lamenting

350
00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:11,880
my absence, and I in being prevented from getting home.

351
00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:17,480
Though I was longing all the time to do so. Now, however,

352
00:25:18,039 --> 00:25:21,720
that we have at last come together, take care of

353
00:25:21,759 --> 00:25:25,240
the property that is in this house. As for the

354
00:25:25,279 --> 00:25:29,160
sheep and goats which the wicked suitors have eaten, I

355
00:25:29,279 --> 00:25:33,160
will take many myself by force from other people, and

356
00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:37,839
will compel thee chains to make good the rest, till

357
00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:41,880
they shall have filled all my yards. I am now

358
00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:44,440
going to the wooded lands out in the country to

359
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:48,079
see my father, who has so long been grieved on

360
00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:52,440
my account. And to yourself. I will give these instructions,

361
00:25:53,039 --> 00:25:56,839
though you have little need of them. At sunrise, it

362
00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:00,000
will at once get abroad that I have been killed.

363
00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:05,039
The suitors. Go upstairs, therefore, and stay there with your women.

364
00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:12,000
See nobody, and ask no questions. As he spoke, he

365
00:26:12,079 --> 00:26:17,680
girded on his armor. Then he roused Telemachus, Philotius, and

366
00:26:17,799 --> 00:26:21,640
Eumaeus and told them all to put on their armor

367
00:26:21,759 --> 00:26:27,279
as well. This they did, and armed themselves. When they

368
00:26:27,279 --> 00:26:30,519
had done so, they opened the gates and sallied forth

369
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:37,079
Ulysses leading the way. It was now daylight, but Minerva

370
00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:42,480
nevertheless concealed them in darkness and led them quickly out

371
00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:50,599
of the town. End of book twenty three read by

372
00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:56,400
Dennis Sayers in Modesto, California for LibriVox Fall twenty o

373
00:26:56,599 --> 00:26:56,880
six