Speaker 1: Book twenty one of the Odyssey by Homer, translated by
Speaker 1: Samuel Butler. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
Speaker 1: The Odyssey Book twenty one, the Trial of the Axes,
Speaker 1: during which Ulysses reveals himself to Eumaeus and Felicius. Minerva
Speaker 1: now put it in Penelope's mind to make the suitors
Speaker 1: try their skill with the bow and with the iron
Speaker 1: axes in contest among themselves, as a means of bringing
Speaker 1: about their destruction. She went upstairs and got the storeroom key,
Speaker 1: which was made of bronze and had a handle of ivory.
Speaker 1: She then went with her maidens into the store room
Speaker 1: at the end of the house, where her husband's treasures
Speaker 1: of gold, bronze and wrought iron were kept, and where
Speaker 1: was also his beau and the quiverful of deadly arrows
Speaker 1: that had been given him by a friend whom he
Speaker 1: had met in Lacedemon Ephatus, the son of Eurytus. The
Speaker 1: two fell in with one another in Messini at the
Speaker 1: house of Ortilicus, where Ulysses was still ying, in order
Speaker 1: to recover a debt that was owing from the whole people,
Speaker 1: for the Messenians had carried off three hundred sheep from Ithaca,
Speaker 1: and had sailed away with them and with their shepherds.
Speaker 1: In quest of these, Ulysses took a long journey while
Speaker 1: still quite young, for his father and the other chieftains
Speaker 1: sent him on a mission to recover them. Ephodus had
Speaker 1: gone there also to try and get back twelve brood
Speaker 1: mares that he had lost and the mule folds that
Speaker 1: were running with them. These mares were the death of
Speaker 1: him in the end, for when he went to the
Speaker 1: house of Jove's son Mighty Hercules, who performed such prodigies
Speaker 1: of valor, Hercules to shame him killed him, though he
Speaker 1: was his guest, for he feared not Heaven's vengeance, nor
Speaker 1: yet respected his own table, which he had set before Ephidus,
Speaker 1: but killed him in spite of everything, and kept the
Speaker 1: mares himself. It was when claiming these that Iphidus met
Speaker 1: Ulysses and gave him the beau which Mighty Eurytus had
Speaker 1: been used to carry, and which on his death had
Speaker 1: been left by him to his son. Ulysses gave him
Speaker 1: in return a sword and a spear, and this was
Speaker 1: the beginning of a fast friendship. Although they never visited
Speaker 1: at one another's houses for Jove's son, Hercules killed Iphidus
Speaker 1: ere they could do so. This bow, then given him
Speaker 1: by Ephodus, had not been taken with him by Ulysses
Speaker 1: when he sailed for Troy. He had used it so
Speaker 1: long as he had been at home, but had left
Speaker 1: it behind as having been a keepsake from a valued friend.
Speaker 1: Penelope presently reached the oak threshold of the store room.
Speaker 1: The carpenter had planed this duly and had drawn a
Speaker 1: line on it so as to get it quite straight.
Speaker 1: He had then set the door posts into it and
Speaker 1: hung the doors. She loosed the strap from the handle
Speaker 1: of the door, put in the key, and drove it
Speaker 1: straight home to shoot back the bolts that held the doors.
Speaker 1: These flew open with a noise like a bull bellowing
Speaker 1: in a meadow, and Penelope stepped upon the raised platform
Speaker 1: where the chest stood, in which the fair linen and
Speaker 1: clothes were laid by along the fragrance herbs. Reaching thence,
Speaker 1: she took down the bow with its bow case from
Speaker 1: a peg on which it hung. She sat down with
Speaker 1: it on her knees, weeping bitterly as she took the
Speaker 1: bow out of its case, and when the tears had
Speaker 1: relieved her. She went to the cloister where the suitors
Speaker 1: were carrying the bow and the quiver with the many
Speaker 1: deadly arrows that were inside it. Along with her came
Speaker 1: her maidens, bearing a chest that contained much iron and bronze,
Speaker 1: which her husband had won as prizes. When she reached
Speaker 1: the suitors, she stood by one of the bearing posts
Speaker 1: supporting the roof of the cloister, holding a veil before
Speaker 1: her face, and with a maid on either side of her.
Speaker 1: Then she said, listen to me, you suitors, who persist
Speaker 1: in abusing the hospitality of this house because its owner
Speaker 1: has been long absent, and without other pretext than that
Speaker 1: you want to marry me. This, then, being the prize
Speaker 1: that you are contending for, I will bring out the
Speaker 1: mighty bow of Ulysses, and whomsoever you shall string it
Speaker 1: most easily, and send his arrow to each one of
Speaker 1: twelve axes him. Will I follow and quit this house
Speaker 1: of my lawful husband, so goodly and so abounding in wealth.
Speaker 1: But even so I doubt not that I shall remember
Speaker 1: it in my dreams. As she spoke, she told Eumaeus
Speaker 1: to set the bow and the pieces of iron before
Speaker 1: the suitors, and Eumaeus wept as he took them to
Speaker 1: do so, as she had bidden him. Hard By the
Speaker 1: stockman wept also when he saw his master's bow. But
Speaker 1: Antonas scolded them, you country louts, said he, silly simpletons,
Speaker 1: Why should you add to the sorrows of your mistress
Speaker 1: by crying in this way? She has enough to grieve
Speaker 1: her in the loss of her husband. Sit still, therefore,
Speaker 1: and eat your dinners in silence, or go outside if
Speaker 1: you want to cry, and leave the bow behind you. We, suitor,
Speaker 1: shall have to contend for it with might and main,
Speaker 1: for we shall find it no light matter to string
Speaker 1: such a bow as this is. There is not men
Speaker 1: of us all who is such another as Ulysses. For
Speaker 1: I have seen him and remember him, though I was
Speaker 1: then only a child. This was what he said. But
Speaker 1: all the time he was expecting to be able to
Speaker 1: string the bow and shoot through the iron, whereas in
Speaker 1: fact he was to be the first that should taste
Speaker 1: of the arrows from the hands of Ulysses, whom he
Speaker 1: was dishonoring in his own house, egging the others on
Speaker 1: to do so also. Then Telemachus spoke, great heavens, He exclaimed,
Speaker 1: Jove must have robbed me of my senses. Here is
Speaker 1: my dear and excellent mother saying she will quit this
Speaker 1: house and marry again. Yet I am laughing and enjoying myself,
Speaker 1: as though there were nothing happening but suitors. As the
Speaker 1: contest has been agreed upon, let it go forward. It
Speaker 1: is for a woman whose peer is not to be
Speaker 1: found in Pylos Argos, or Mycene, nor yet in Ithaca,
Speaker 1: nor on the mainland. You know this as well as
Speaker 1: I do. What need have I to speak in praise
Speaker 1: of my mother? Come on, there, make no excuses for delay.
Speaker 1: But let us see whether you can string the bow
Speaker 1: or no, I too will make trial of it. For
Speaker 1: if I can string it and shoot through the iron,
Speaker 1: I shall not suffer my mother to quit this house
Speaker 1: with a stranger, not if I can win the prizes
Speaker 1: which my father won before me. As he spoke, he
Speaker 1: sprang from his seat, threw his crimson cloak from him,
Speaker 1: and took his sword from his shoulder. First he set
Speaker 1: the axes in a row in a long groove which
Speaker 1: he had dug for them and had made straight by line.
Speaker 1: Then he stamped the earth tied around them, and every
Speaker 1: one was surprised when they saw him set them up
Speaker 1: so orderly, though he had never seen anything of the
Speaker 1: kind before this done, he went on to the pavement
Speaker 1: to make trial of the bow. Thrice did he tug
Speaker 1: at it, trying with all his might to draw the string,
Speaker 1: and thrice he had to leave off, though he had
Speaker 1: hoped to string the bow and shoot through the iron.
Speaker 1: He was trying for the fourth time and would have
Speaker 1: strung it had not Ulysses made a sign to check
Speaker 1: him in. In spite of all his eagerness, so he said, Alas,
Speaker 1: I shall either be always feeble and of no prowess,
Speaker 1: or I am too young and have not reached my
Speaker 1: full strength so as to be able to hold my
Speaker 1: own if any one attacks me. You others, therefore, who
Speaker 1: are stronger than I, make trial of the bow and
Speaker 1: get this contest settled. On this, he put the bow down,
Speaker 1: let it lean against the door that led into the house,
Speaker 1: with the arrow standing against the top of the bow.
Speaker 1: Then he sat down on the seat from which he
Speaker 1: had risen, and Antonas said, come on, each of you,
Speaker 1: in his turn, going towards the right from the place
Speaker 1: at which the cup air begins. When he is handing
Speaker 1: round the wine. The rest agreed, and Leotes's, son of Enops,
Speaker 1: was the first to rise. He was sacrificial priest to
Speaker 1: the suitors and sat in the corner near the mixing bow.
Speaker 1: He was the only man who hated their evil deeds
Speaker 1: and was indignant with the others. He was now the
Speaker 1: first to take the bow and arrow, so he went
Speaker 1: on to the pavement to make his trial. But he
Speaker 1: could not string the bow, for his hands were weak
Speaker 1: and unused to hard work. They therefore soon grew tired,
Speaker 1: and he said to the suitors, my friends, I cannot
Speaker 1: string it. Let another have it. This bow shall take
Speaker 1: the life and soul out of many a chief among us,
Speaker 1: for it is better to die than to live, after
Speaker 1: having missed the prize that we have so long striven for,
Speaker 1: and which has brought us so long together. Some one
Speaker 1: of us is even now hoping and praying that he
Speaker 1: may marry Penelope. But when he has seen this bow
Speaker 1: and tried it, let him move and make bridal offerings
Speaker 1: to some other woman, and let Penelope marry whoever makes
Speaker 1: her the best offer, and whose lot it is to
Speaker 1: win her. On this he put the bow down letting
Speaker 1: it mean against the door, with the arrow standing against
Speaker 1: the top of the bow. Then he took his seat
Speaker 1: again on the seat from which he had risen, and
Speaker 1: Antonus rebuked him, saying, Liodes, what are you talking about?
Speaker 1: Your words are monstrous and intolerable. It makes me angry
Speaker 1: to listen to you. Shall then this bow take the
Speaker 1: life of many a chief among us, merely because you
Speaker 1: cannot bend it yourself. True, you were not born to
Speaker 1: be an archer. But there are others who will soon
Speaker 1: string it. Then he said to Malanthius the goatherd look sharp,
Speaker 1: Light a fire in the court, and set a seat
Speaker 1: hard by with a sheepskin on it. Bring us also
Speaker 1: a large ball of lard from what they have in
Speaker 1: the house. Let us warm the bow and grease it.
Speaker 1: We will then make trial of it again and bring
Speaker 1: the contest to an end. Melanthius lit the fire and
Speaker 1: set a seat covered with sheepskins beside it. He also
Speaker 1: brought a great ball of lard from what they had
Speaker 1: in the house, and the suitors warmed the bow and
Speaker 1: again made trial of it. But they were none of
Speaker 1: them nearly strong enough to string it. Nevertheless, there still
Speaker 1: remained Antinas and Eurymicus, who were the ringleaders among the suitors,
Speaker 1: and much the foremost among them. All. Then the swineherd
Speaker 1: and the stockman left the cloisters together, and Ulysses followed them.
Speaker 1: When the god outside the gates and the outer yard,
Speaker 1: Ulysses said to them quietly, stockman and you swineherd, I
Speaker 1: have something in my mind which I am in doubt
Speaker 1: whether to say or know, But I think I will
Speaker 1: say it. What manner of men would you be to
Speaker 1: stand by Ulysses if some God should bring him back here?
Speaker 1: All of a sudden, say which of you are disposed
Speaker 1: to do to side with the suitors or with Ulysses.
Speaker 1: Father Jove answered the stockman would indeed that you might
Speaker 1: so ordain it. If some god were but to bring
Speaker 1: Ulysses back, you should see with what might and main
Speaker 1: I would fight for him. In like words, eu maayus
Speaker 1: pray to all the gods that Ulysses might return. When
Speaker 1: therefore he saw for certain what mind they were of,
Speaker 1: Ulysses said, it is I Ulysses who am here. I
Speaker 1: have suffered much, but at last, in the twentieth year,
Speaker 1: I am come back to my own country. I find
Speaker 1: that you two alone of all my servants, are glad
Speaker 1: that I should do so, for I have not heard
Speaker 1: any of the others praying for my return to you too.
Speaker 1: Therefore I will unfold the truth as it shall be.
Speaker 1: If Heaven shall deliver the suitors into my hands, I
Speaker 1: will find wives for both of you, will give you
Speaker 1: house and holding close to my own, and you shall
Speaker 1: be to me as though you were brothers and friends
Speaker 1: of Telemachus. I will now give you convincing proofs that
Speaker 1: you may know me and be assured. See here is
Speaker 1: the scar from the boar's tooth that ripped me when
Speaker 1: I was out hunting on Mount Parnassus with the sons
Speaker 1: of Attilicus. As he spoke, he drew his rags aside
Speaker 1: from the great scar, And when they had examined it thoroughly,
Speaker 1: they both of them wept about. Ulysses threw their arms
Speaker 1: round him and kissed his head and shoulders, while Ulysses
Speaker 1: kissed their hands and faces in return. The son would
Speaker 1: have gone down upon their mourning if Ulysses had not
Speaker 1: checked them and said, seize your weeping, lest someone should
Speaker 1: come outside and see us and tell those who are within.
Speaker 1: When you go in, do so separately, not both together.
Speaker 1: I will go first, and do you follow afterwards. Let
Speaker 1: this moreover be the token between us the suitors. Will
Speaker 1: all of them try to prevent me from getting hold
Speaker 1: of the bow and quiver. Do you, therefore, Eumaeus, place
Speaker 1: it in my hands when you are carrying it about,
Speaker 1: And tell the women to close the doors of their apartment.
Speaker 1: If they hear any groaning or uproar as the men
Speaker 1: fighting about the house, they must not come out. They
Speaker 1: must keep quiet and stay where they are at their work.
Speaker 1: And I charge you, Felicius, to make fast the doors
Speaker 1: of the outer court, and to bind them securely at once.
Speaker 1: When he had thus spoken, he went back to the
Speaker 1: house and took the seat that he had left presently.
Speaker 1: His two servants followed him inside. At this moment, the
Speaker 1: bow was in the hands of Eurymicus, who was warming
Speaker 1: it by the fire. But even so he could not
Speaker 1: string it, and he was greatly greened. He heaved a
Speaker 1: deep sigh and said, I grieve for myself and for
Speaker 1: us all. I grieve that I shall have to forego
Speaker 1: the marriage. But I do not care nearly so much
Speaker 1: about this, for there are plenty of other women in
Speaker 1: Ithaca and elsewhere. What I feel most is the fact
Speaker 1: of our being so inferior to Ulysses in strength that
Speaker 1: we cannot string his bow. This will disgrace us in
Speaker 1: the eyes of those who are yet unborn. It shall
Speaker 1: not be so, Euymicus, said Antonas, and you know it yourself.
Speaker 1: To day is the feast of Apollo throughout all the land.
Speaker 1: Who can string a bow on such a day as
Speaker 1: this put it on one side. As for the axes,
Speaker 1: they can stay where they are, for no one is
Speaker 1: likely to come to the house and take them away.
Speaker 1: Let the cup bearer go round with his cups, that
Speaker 1: we may make our drink offerings, and drop this matter
Speaker 1: of the bow. We will tell Melanthius to bring us
Speaker 1: in some goats tomorrow the best he has. We can
Speaker 1: then offer thibon to Apollo the mighty archer, and again
Speaker 1: make trial of the beau, so as to bring the
Speaker 1: contest to an end. The rest approved his words, and
Speaker 1: thereon menservants poured water over the hands of the guests,
Speaker 1: while pages filled the mixing bowls with wine and water
Speaker 1: and handed it round after giving every man his drink offering. Then,
Speaker 1: when they had made their offerings and had drunk eat
Speaker 1: as much as he desired. Ulysses craftily said, suitors of
Speaker 1: the illustrious Queen, listen, that I may speak, even as
Speaker 1: I am minded. I appeal more especially to Eurymicus and
Speaker 1: to Antonus has just spoken with so much reason. Cease
Speaker 1: shooting for the present, and leave the matter to the gods.
Speaker 1: But in the morning, let Heaven give victory to whom
Speaker 1: it will. For the moment, however, give me the beau,
Speaker 1: that I may prove the power of my hands among
Speaker 1: you all, and see whether I still have as much
Speaker 1: strength as I used to have, or whether travel and
Speaker 1: neglect have made an end of it. This made them
Speaker 1: all all very angry, for they feared he might string
Speaker 1: the bow. Antonus therefore rebuked him fiercely, saying, wretched creature,
Speaker 1: you have not so much as a grain of sense
Speaker 1: in your whole body. You ought to think yourself lucky
Speaker 1: in being allowed to dine unharmed among your betters, without
Speaker 1: having any smaller portion served you than we others have had,
Speaker 1: and in being allowed to hear our conversation. No other
Speaker 1: beggar or stranger has been allowed to hear what we
Speaker 1: say among ourselves, the wine must have been doing you
Speaker 1: a mischief, as it does with all those who drink immoderately.
Speaker 1: It was wine that inflamed the centaur urition when he
Speaker 1: was staying with Parithas among the Lepathy. When the wine
Speaker 1: had got into his head, he went mad and did
Speaker 1: ill deeds about the house of Parithas. This angered the
Speaker 1: heroes who were there assembled, so they rushed at him
Speaker 1: and cut off his ears and nostrils. Then they dragged
Speaker 1: him through the doorway out of the house. So he
Speaker 1: went away crazed and bore the burden of his crime,
Speaker 1: bereft of understanding. Henceforth, therefore there was war between mankind
Speaker 1: and the Centaurs. But he brought it upon himself to
Speaker 1: his own drunkenness in like manner. I can tell you
Speaker 1: that it will go hardly with you. If you string
Speaker 1: the bow, you will find no mercy from any one here,
Speaker 1: for we shall at once ship you off to King Ecatus,
Speaker 1: who kills every one that comes near him. You will
Speaker 1: never get away alive. So drink and keep quiet without
Speaker 1: getting into a quarrel with men younger than yourself. Penelope
Speaker 1: then spoke to him. Antonus said she it is not
Speaker 1: right that you should ill treat any guest of Telemachus
Speaker 1: who comes to this house. If the stranger should prove
Speaker 1: strong enough to string the mighty bow of Ulysses, Can
Speaker 1: you suppose that he would take me home with him
Speaker 1: and make me his wife. Even the man himself can
Speaker 1: have no such idea in his mind. None of you
Speaker 1: need let that disturb his feasting. It would be out
Speaker 1: of all reason. Queen Penelope answered Eurymicus, we do not
Speaker 1: suppose that this man will take you away with him.
Speaker 1: It is impossible. But we are afraid lest some of
Speaker 1: the baser sort men or women among the Achaeans should
Speaker 1: go gossiping about and say these suitors are a feeble folk.
Speaker 1: They are paying court to the wife of a brave man,
Speaker 1: whose bow not one of them was able to string,
Speaker 1: and yet a beggarly tramp who came to the house
Speaker 1: strung at once and sent an arrow through the iron.
Speaker 1: This is what will be said, and it will be
Speaker 1: a scandal against us, Eurymicus. Penelope answered, people who persist
Speaker 1: in eating up the estate of a great chieftain and
Speaker 1: dishonoring his house must not expect others to think well
Speaker 1: of them. Why then, should you mind if men talk
Speaker 1: as you think they will. This stranger is strong and
Speaker 1: well built, he says, moreover that he is of noble birth.
Speaker 1: Give him the bow, and let us see whether he
Speaker 1: can string it or no, I say, and it shall
Speaker 1: surely be that if Apollo vouchsafes him the glory of
Speaker 1: stringing it, I will give him a cloak and a
Speaker 1: shirt of good wear, with a javelin to keep off
Speaker 1: dogs and robbers, and a sharp sword. I will also
Speaker 1: give him sandals, and will see him set safely wherever
Speaker 1: he wants to go. Then, Telemachus said mother, I am
Speaker 1: the only man, either in Ithaca or in the islands
Speaker 1: that are over against Elis, who has the right to
Speaker 1: let anyone have the bow or to refuse it. No
Speaker 1: one shall force me one way or the other, not
Speaker 1: even though I choose to make the stranger a present
Speaker 1: of the bow outright, and let him take it away
Speaker 1: with him. Go then within the house, and busy yourself
Speaker 1: with your daily duties, your loom, your distaff, and the
Speaker 1: ordering of your servants. This bau is a man's matter,
Speaker 1: and mine above all others, for it is I who
Speaker 1: am master. Here. She went wandering back into the house
Speaker 1: and laid her son, saying in her heart. Then going
Speaker 1: upstairs with her handmaids into her room, she mourned her
Speaker 1: dear husband till Minerva sent sweet sleep over her eyelids.
Speaker 1: The swineherd now took up the bow and was for
Speaker 1: taking it to Ulysses. But the suitors clamored at him
Speaker 1: from all parts of the cloisters, and one of them said,
Speaker 1: you idiot, where are you taking the bow to? Are
Speaker 1: you out of your wits? If Apollo and the other
Speaker 1: gods will grant our prayer, your own boarhound shall get
Speaker 1: you into some quiet little place and worry you to death.
Speaker 1: Eumaeus was frightened at the outcry they all raised, so
Speaker 1: he put the bow down then and there. But Telemachus
Speaker 1: shouted at him from the other side of the cloisters
Speaker 1: and threatened him, saying, father, Eumaeus, bring the bow on
Speaker 1: in spite of them, or young as I am, I
Speaker 1: will pelt you with stones back to the country. For
Speaker 1: I am the better man of the two. I wish
Speaker 1: I was as much stronger than all the other suitors
Speaker 1: in the house as I am than you, I would
Speaker 1: soon send some of them off sick and sorry, for
Speaker 1: they mean mischief. Thus did he speak, and they all
Speaker 1: of them laughed heartily, which put them in a better
Speaker 1: humor with Telemachus. So Eumaeus brought the bow and placed
Speaker 1: it in the hands of Ulysses. When he had done this,
Speaker 1: he called Euryclea apart and said to her, Eurycleia, Telemachu says,
Speaker 1: you are to close the doors of the women's apartments.
Speaker 1: If they hear any groaning or uproar as of men
Speaker 1: fighting about the house, they are not to come out,
Speaker 1: but are to keep quiet and stay where they are
Speaker 1: at their work. Eurycleia did as she was told and
Speaker 1: closed the doors of the women's apartments. Meanwhile, Felicius slipped
Speaker 1: quietly out and made fast the gates of the outer court.
Speaker 1: There was a ship's cable of bibliss fiber lying in
Speaker 1: the gatehouse, so he made the gates fast with it,
Speaker 1: and then came in again, resuming the seat that he
Speaker 1: had left, and keeping an eye on Ulysses, who had
Speaker 1: now got the bow in his hands, and was turning
Speaker 1: it every way about and proving it all over to
Speaker 1: see whether the worms have been eating into its two horns.
Speaker 1: During his absence. Then would one turn towards his neighbor, saying,
Speaker 1: this is some tricky old beau fancier. Either he has
Speaker 1: got one like it at home, or he wants to
Speaker 1: make one in such workmanlike style. Does the old vagabond
Speaker 1: handle it? Another said, I hope he may be no
Speaker 1: more successful in other things than he is likely to
Speaker 1: be in stringing this bow. But Ulysses, when he had
Speaker 1: taken it up and examined it all over, strung it
Speaker 1: as easily as a skilled bart strings a new peg
Speaker 1: of his lyre, and makes the twisted gut fast at
Speaker 1: both ends. Then he took it in his right hand
Speaker 1: to prove the string, and it sang sweetly under his touch,
Speaker 1: like the twittering of a swallow. The suitors were dismayed
Speaker 1: and turned color as they heard it at that moment. Moreover,
Speaker 1: Jove thundered loudly as a sign, and the heart of
Speaker 1: Ulysses rejoiced as he heard the omen that the son
Speaker 1: of scheming Saturn had sent him. He took an arrow
Speaker 1: that was lying upon the table, for those which the
Speaker 1: Achaeans were so shortly about to taste, were all inside
Speaker 1: the quiver. He laid it on the centerpiece of the bow,
Speaker 1: and drew the notch of the arrow and the string
Speaker 1: toward him, still seated on his seat. When he had
Speaker 1: taken aim, he let fly, and his arrow pierced every
Speaker 1: one of the handle holes of the axes from the
Speaker 1: first onwards till it had gone right through them and
Speaker 1: into the outer courtyard. Then he said to Telemachus, your
Speaker 1: guest has not disgraced you. Telemachus, I did not miss
Speaker 1: what I aimed at, and I was not long in
Speaker 1: stringing my bow. I am still strong, and not as
Speaker 1: the suitors twit me with being. Now, however, it is
Speaker 1: time for the Achaeans to prepare supper while there is
Speaker 1: still daylight, and then otherwise to disport themselves with song
Speaker 1: and dance, which are the crowning ornaments of a banquet.
Speaker 1: As he spoke, he made a sign with his eyebrows,
Speaker 1: and Telemachus girded on his sword, grasped his spear, and
Speaker 1: stood armed beside his father's seat. End of Book twenty one.