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v O X dot O r G. The Odyssey by Homer,
translated by Samuel Butler, book twenty three. Uriclea now went upstairs,
laughing to tell her mistress that her dear husband had
come home. Her aged knees became young again, and her
feet were nimble for joy as she went up to
her mistress and bent over her head to speak with her.
Wake up, Penelope, my dear child, she exclaimed, and see
with your own eyes something that you have been wanting
this long time past. Ulyss has at last indeed come
home again and has killed the suitors who were giving
so much trouble in his house, eating up his estate,
and ill treating his son. My good nurse answered Penelope,
you must be mad. The gods sometimes send some very
sensible people out of their minds and make foolish people
become sensible. This is what they must have been doing
with you, for you always used to be a reasonable person.
Why should you thus mock me when I have trouble
enough already talking such nonsense and waking me up out
of a sweet sleep that had taken possession of my
eyes and closed them. I have never slept so soundly
from the day my poor husband went to that city
with the ill omened name go back again into the
women's room. If it had been anyone else who had
woke me to bring such absurd news, I should have
sent her away with a severe scolding. As it is
your age shall protect you, my dear child, answered Euryclea,
I am not mocking you. It is quite true as
I tell you, that Ulysses is come home again. He
was the stranger whom they all kept on treating so badly.
In the cloister Telemachus knew all the time that he
has come back, but kept his father's secret that he
might have his revenge on all these wicked people. Then
Penelope sprang up from her couch, threw her arms round Euryclea,
and wept for joy. But my dear nurse said, she
explain this to me. If he has really come home
as you say, how did he manage to overcome the
wicked suitor's single hand? Seeing what a number of them
there always were. I was not here, answered Euryclea, And
do not know. I only heard them groaning while they
were being killed. We sat huddled and crouching in a
corner of the women's room, with the doors closed, till
your son came to fetch me, because his father sent him.
Then I found Ulysses standing over the corpses that were
lying on the ground all round him, one on top
of the other. You would have enjoyed it if you
could have seen him standing there, all be spattered with
blood and filth, and looking just like a lion. But
the corpses are now all piled up in the gatehouse,
that is in the outer court, and Ulysses has lit
a great fire to purify the house with sulfur. He
has sent me to call you, so come with me,
that you may both be happy together after all. For now,
at last the desire of your heart has been fulfilled.
Your husband is come home to find both wife and
son alive and well, and to take his revenge in
his own house on the suitors who behaved so badly
to him. My dear nurse said Penelope, do not exult
too confidently over all this. You know how delighted every
one would be to see Ulysses come home, more particularly
myself and the son who has been born to both
of us. But what you tell me cannot be really true.
It is some God who is angry with the suitors
for their great wickedness, and has made an end of them.
For they respected no man in the world, neither rich
nor poor, who came near them, who came near them,
and and they have come to a bad end in
consequence of their iniquity. Ulysses is dead, far away from
the Eechayan land, and he will never return home again. Then,
Nurse Eurycleia said, my child, what are you talking about?
But you were all hard of belief and have made
up your mind that your husband is never coming, although
he is in the house and by his own fireside
at this very moment. Besides, I can give you another proof.
When I was washing him, I perceived the scar which
the wild boar gave him, and I wanted to tell
you about it, But in his wisdom, he would not
let me and clapped his hands over my mouth. So
come with me, and I will make this bargain with you.
If I am deceiving you, you may have me killed
by the most cruel death you can think of, my
dear nurse, said Penelope. However wise you may be, you
can hardly fathom the counsels of the gods. Nevertheless, we
will go in search of my son, that I may
see the corpses of the suitors and the man who
has killed them. On this she came down from her
upper room, and while doing so, she considered whether she
should keep at a distance from her husband and question him,
or whether she should at once go up to him
and embrace him. When, however, she had crossed the stone
floor of the cloister, she sat down opposite Ulysses by
the fire, against the wall at right angles to that
by which she had entered, while Ulysses sat near one
of the bearing posts, looking upon the and waiting to
see what his wife would say to him. When she
saw him, for a long time, she sat silent and
as one lost in amazement. At one moment she looked
him full in the face, but then again directly she
was misled by his shabby clothes and failed to recognize him,
till Telemachus began to reproach her, and said, mother, but
you are so hard that I cannot call you by
such a name. Why do you keep away from my
father in this way? Why do you not sit by
his side and begin talking to him and asking him questions?
No other women could bear to keep away from her
husband when he had come back to her after twenty
years of absence, and after having gone through so much.
But your heart was always as hard as a stone,
Penelope answered, my son, I am so lost in astonishment
that I can find no words in which either to
ask questions or to answer them. I cannot even look
him straight in the face. Still, if he really is Ulysses,
come back to his own home again, we shall get
to understand one another better by and by, For there
are tokens with which we two are alone acquainted, and
which are hidden from all others. Ulysses smiled at this
and said to Telemachus, let your mother put me to
any proof she likes. She will make up her mind
about it. Presently she rejects me for the moment, and
believes me to be somebody else because I am covered
with dirt and have such bad clothes on. Let us, however,
consider what we had better do next. When one man
has killed another, even though he was not one who
would leave many friends to take up his quarrel. The
man who has killed him must still say good bye
to his friends and fly the country, whereas we have
been killing the stay of a whole town and all
the picked youth of Ithaca. I would have you consider
this matter. Look to it yourself, father, answered Telemachus. For
they say you are the wisest counselor in the world,
and that there is no other mortal man who can
compare with you. We will follow you with right good will,
nor shall you find us to fail you. In so
far as our strength holds out. I will say what
I think will be best, answered, Ulysses, first, wash and
put your shirts on. Tell the maids also to go
to their own room and dress. Femeus shall then strike
up a dance tune on his lyre, so that if
people outside here, or any of the neighbors, or some
one going along the street happens to notice it, they
may think there is a wedding in the house, and
no rumors about the death of the suitors will get
about in the town before we can escape to the
woods upon my own land. Once there we will settle
which of the courses Heaven vouchsafes us shall seem wisest.
Thus did he speak, and they did even as he
had said. First they washed and put their shirts on,
while the women got ready. Then Femeus took his lyre
and set them all longing for sweet song and stately dance.
The house re echoed with the sound of men and
women dancing, and the people outside said, I suppose the
queen has been getting married at last. She ought to
be ashamed of herself for not continuing to protect her
husband's property until he comes home. This was what they said,
but they did not know what it was that had
been happening. The upper servant Uranomi washed and anointed Ulysses
in his own house and gave him a shirt and cloak,
while Minerva made him look taller and stronger than before.
She also made the hair grow thick on the top
of his head and flow down in curls like hyacinth blossoms.
She glorified him about the head and shoulders, just as
a skillful workman who has studied art of all kinds
under Vulcan or Minerva, and his work is full of beauty.
In riches a piece of silver plate by gilding it.
He came from the bath, looking like one of the immortals,
and sat down opposite his wife on the seat he
had left. My dear said he, Heaven has endowed you
with a heart more unyielding than woman ever yet had
no other woman could bear to keep away from her
husband when he had come back to her after twenty
years of absence, and after having gone through so much.
But come, nurse, get a bed ready for me. I
will sleep alone, for this woman has a heart as
hard as iron. My dear said Penelope. I have no
wish to set myself up, nor to depreciate you, but
I am not struck by your appearance, for I very
well remember what kind of a man you were when
you set sail from Ithaca. Nevertheless, you, Reclara, take his
bed outside the bed chain that he himself built. Bring
the bed outside this room, and put betting upon it
with fleeces, good coverlets and blankets. She said this to
try him, but Ulysses was very angry and said, wife,
I am much displeased at what you have just been saying.
Who has been taking my bed from the place in
which I left it? He must have found it a
hard task, no matter how skilled a workman he was,
unless some god came and helped him to shift it.
There is no man living, however strong and in his prime,
who could move it from its place. For it is
a marvelous curiosity which I made with my very own hands.
There was a young olive growing within the precincts of
the house, in full vigor, and about as thick as
a bearing post. I built my room round them with
strong walls of stone and a roof to cover them,
and I made the doors strong and well fitting. Then
I cut off the top boughs of the olive tree
and left the stump standing. This I dressed roughly from
the root upwards, and then worked with carpenters tools well
and skillfully, straightening my work by drawing a line in
the wood and making it into a bed prop. I
then bored a hole down the middle and made it
the center post of my bed, at which I worked
till I had finished it inlaying it with gold and silver.
After this I stretched a hide of crimson leather from
one side of it to the other. So you shall
see I know all about it, and I desire to
learn whether it is still there, or whether anyone has
been removing it. By cutting down the olive tree at
its roots. When she heard the sure proofs Ulysses now
gave her, she fairly broke down. She flew, weeping to
his side, flung her arms about his neck, and kissed him.
Do not be angry with me, Ulysses, she cried, you,
who are the wisest of mankind, we have suffered, both
of us. Heaven has denied us the happiness of spending
our youth and of growing old together. Do not then
be aggrieved or take it amiss that I did not
embrace you. Thus as soon as I saw you, I
have been shuddering all the time through fear that some
one might come here and deceive me with a lying story.
For there are many very wicked people going about. Jove's
daughter Helen would never have yielded herself to a man
from a foreign country if she had known that the
sons of a cheans would come after her and bring
her back. Heaven put it in her heart to do wrong,
and she gave no thought to that sin, which has
been the source of all our sorrows. Now, however, that
you have convinced me by showing that you know all
about our bed, which no human being has ever seen
but you and I and this single maid servant, the
daughter of Actor, who was given me by my father
on my marriage, and who keeps the doors of our
room hard of belief. Though I have been, I can
mistrust no longer. Then Ulysses, in his turn, melted and
wept as he clasped his dear and faithful wife to
his bosom. As the sight of land is welcome to
men who are swimming towards the shore when Neptune has
wrecked their ship with the fury of his winds and waves.
A few alone reached the land, and these covered with
brine are thankful when they find themselves on firm ground
and out of danger. Even so was her husband welcome
to her as she looked upon him, and she could
not tear her two fair arms from about his neck. Indeed,
they would have gone on indulging their sorrow till rosy
fingered morn appeared, had not Minerva determined otherwise, and held
night back in the far west, while she would not
suffer dawn to leave Osians, nor to yoke the two steeds,
Lampus and Phaeton, that bear her onward to break the
day upon mankind. At last, However, Ulysses said, wife, we
have not yet reached the end of our troubles. I
have an unknown amount of toil still to undergo. It
is long and difficult, but I must go through with it.
For thus the shade of Tyrasaeus prophesied concerning me on
the day when I went down into Hades to ask
about my return and that of my companions. But now
let us go to bed, that we may lie down
and enjoyed the blessed boon of sleep. You shall go
to bed as soon as you please, replied Penelope, now
that the gods have sent you home to your own
good house and to your country. But as Heaven has
put it in your mind to speak of it, tell
me about the task that lies before you. I shall
have to hear about it later, So it is better
I should be told at once, my dear, answered Ulysses.
Why sho should you press me to tell you? Still?
I will not conceal it from you. Though you will
not like it, I do not like it myself. For
Tyrsaeus bade me travel far and wide carrying an oar,
till I came to a country where the people have
never heard of the sea, and do not even mix
salt with their food. They know nothing about ships, nor
oars that are as the wings of a ship. He
gave me this certain token, which I will not hide
from you. He said that a wayfarer should meet me
and ask me whether it was a winnowing shovel that
I had on my shoulder. On this I was to
fix my oar in the ground and sacrifice a ram,
a bull, and a boar to Neptune, after which I
was to go home and offer hecatombs to all the
gods in heaven, one after the other. As for myself,
he said that death should come to me from the sea,
and that my life should ebb away very gently when
I was full of years and peace of mind, and
my people should bless me. All this, he said, should
surely come to pass. And Penelope said, if the gods
are going to vouchsafe you a happier time in your
old age, you may hope then to have some respite
from misfortune. Thus did they converse. Meanwhile, Urinemey and the
nurse took torches and made the bed ready with soft coverlets.
As soon as they had laid them, the nurse went
back into the house to go to her rest. Leaving
the bed chamber, woman uryinyme to show Ulysses and Penelope
to bed by torchlight. When she conducted them to their room,
she went back, and they then came joyfully to the
rights of their own old bed. Telemachus, Philotius and the
swineherd now left off dancing, and made the women leave
off also. They then laid themselves down to sleep in
the cloisters. When Ulysses and Penelope had had their fill
of love, they fell talking with one another. She told
him how much she had had to bear in seeing
the house filled with a crowd of wicked suitors who
had killed so many sheep and oxen on her account,
and had drunk so many casts of wine. Ulysses, in
his turn, told her what he had suffered and how
much trouble he had given to other people. He told
her everything, and she was so delighted to listen that
she never went to sleep till he had ended his
whole story. He began with the victory over Sichons and
how he thence reached the fertile land of the lotus eaters.
He told her all about the Cyclops and how he
had punished him for having so ruthlessly eaten his brave comrades.
How he then went on to Aeolus, who received him
hospitably and furthered him on his way. And even so
he was not to reach home, for to his grief,
a hurricane carried him out to sea again. How he
went to the Lastregonian city, Telepylus, where the people destroyed
all his ships with their crews, save himself and his
own ship. Only then he told of cunning Circe and
her craft, And how he sailed to the chill house
of Hades to consult the ghost of the theban prophet Teresaeus,
And how he saw his old comrade in arms, and
his mother, who bore him and brought him up when
he was a child. How he then heard the wondrous
singing of the sirens, and went on to the wandering
rocks and terrible Charybdis, and to Scilla, whom no man
had ever yet passed in safety. How his men then
ate the cattle of the sun God, And how Jove
therefore struck the ship with his thunderbolts, so that all
his men perish'd together, himself alone being left alive. How
at last he reached the Ogygean island and the nymph Calypso,
who kept him there in a cave and fed him
and wanted him to marry her, in which case she
had tended making him immortal, so that he should never
grow old, But she could not persuade him to let
her do so. And how after much suffering, he had
found his way to the Phacians, who had treated him
as though he had been a god, and sent him
back in a ship to his own country, after having
given him gold, bronze, and raiment in great abundance. This
was the last thing about which he told her, for
here a deep sleep took hold upon him and eased
the burden of his sorrows. Then Minerva bethought her of
another matter. When she deemed that Ulysses had had both
of his wife and of repose, she bade gold enthrone
dawn rise out of Oceanus, that she might shed light
upon mankind. On this. Ulysses rose from his comfortable bed
and said to Penelope, why we have both of us
had our full share of troubles, you here in lamenting
my absence, and I in being prevented from getting home.
Though I was longing all the time to do so. Now, however,
that we have at last come together, take care of
the property that is in this house. As for the
sheep and goats which the wicked suitors have eaten, I
will take many myself by force from other people, and
will compel thee chains to make good the rest, till
they shall have filled all my yards. I am now
going to the wooded lands out in the country to
see my father, who has so long been grieved on
my account. And to yourself. I will give these instructions,
though you have little need of them. At sunrise, it
will at once get abroad that I have been killed.
The suitors. Go upstairs, therefore, and stay there with your women.
See nobody, and ask no questions. As he spoke, he
girded on his armor. Then he roused Telemachus, Philotius, and
Eumaeus and told them all to put on their armor
as well. This they did, and armed themselves. When they
had done so, they opened the gates and sallied forth
Ulysses leading the way. It was now daylight, but Minerva
nevertheless concealed them in darkness and led them quickly out
of the town. End of book twenty three read by
Dennis Sayers in Modesto, California for LibriVox Fall twenty o
six