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Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in

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the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please

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visit LibriVox dot org. The Odyssey by Homer, translated by

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Samuel Butler, book nineteen. Telemachus and Ulysses remove the armor.

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Ulysses interviews Penelope. Eurycleia, washes his feet and recognizes the

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scar on his leg. Penelope tells her dream to Ulysses.

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Ulysses was left in the cloister, pondering on the means whereby,

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with Minerva's help, he might be able to kill the suitors. Presently,

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he said to Telemachus. Telemachus, we must get the armor

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together and take it down inside. Make some excuse when

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the suitors ask you why you have removed it, Say

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that you have taken it to be out of the

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way of the smoke, inasmuch as it is no longer

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what it was when Ulysses went away, but has become

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soiled and begrimed with soot. Add to this more particular,

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that you are afraid Jove may set them on to

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quarrel over their wine, and that they may do each

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other some harm which may disgrace both the banquet, and

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the willing for the sight of arms sometimes tempts people

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to use them. Telemachus approved of what his father had said,

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so he called his nurse Euryclia, and said, Nurse, shut

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the women up in their room. Will I take the

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armor that my father left behind him down into the

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store room. No one looks after it now my father

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is gone, and it has got all smirched with soot

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during my own boyhood. I want to take it down

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where the smoke cannot reach it. I wish child, answered

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Euryclia that you would take the management of the house

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into your own hands altogether and look after all the

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property yourself. But who is to go with you and

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lete you to the store room? The maids would have

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done so, but you would not let them. The stranger,

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said Telemachus, shall show me a light. When people eat

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my bread, they must earn it, no matter where they

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come from. Euryclia did as she was told and bolted

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the women inside their room. Then Ulysses and his son

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made all haste to take the helmets, shields, and spears inside,

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and Minerva went before them with a golden lamp in

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her hand that shed a soft and brilliant radiance, whereon

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Telemachus said, father, my eyes behold a great marvel. The walls,

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with the rafters, cross beams and supports on which they rest,

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are all glowing as with a flaming fire. Surely there

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is some god here who has come down from heaven. Hush,

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answered Ulysses. Hold your peace and ask no questions, for

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this is the manner of the gods. Get you to

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your bed and leave me here to talk with your

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mother and the maids. Your mother and her grief, will

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ask me all sorts of questions. On this Telemachus went

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by torchlight to the other side of the inner court,

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to the room in which he always slept. There he

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lay in his bed till morning, while Ulysses was left

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in the cloister, pondering on the means whereby, with Minerva's help,

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he might be able to kill the suitors. Then Penelope

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came down from her room, looking like Venus or Diana,

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and they set her a seat inlaid with scrolls of

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silver and ivory, near the fire in her accustomed place.

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It had been made by Ecmaleus, and had a footstool

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all in one piece, with the seat itself and it

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was covered with a thick fleece. On this she now sat,

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and the maids came from the women's room to join her.

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They set about removing the tables at which the wicked

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suitors had been dining, and took away the bread that

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was left. With the cups from which they had drunk.

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They emptied the ambers, entered the braziers, and heaped much

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wood upon them to give them both light and heat.

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But Milantho began to rail at Ulysses a second time,

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and said, stranger, do you mean to plague us by

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hanging about the house all night and spying upon the women?

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Be off, you wretch outside and eat your supper there,

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or you shall be driven out with a firebrand. Ulysses

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scowled at her and answered, my good woman, why should

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you be so angry with me? Is it because I

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am not clean and my clothes are all in rags?

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And because I am obliged to go begging about after

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the manner of tramps and beggars. Generally, I too was

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a rich man once, and had a fine house of

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my own. In those days, I gave to many a

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tramp such as I am now, no matter who he

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might be, nor what he wanted. I had any number

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of servants and all the other things which people have

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who live well, and our accounted wealthy, but it pleased

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Jove to take all away from me. Therefore, woman, beware,

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lest you too come to lose that pride and place

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in which you now want. And above, your fellows, have

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a care lest you get out of favor with your mistress,

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and lest Ulysses should come home, for there is still

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a chance that he may do so. Moreover, though he

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be as dead as you think he is, yet by

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Apollo's will, he has left a son behind him. Tell Himachus,

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who will note anything done amiss by the maids in

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the house, for he is now no longer in his boyhood.

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Penelope heard what he was saying and scolded the maid

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impudent baggage. She said, I see how obominably you are behaving,

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and you shall smart, for you know perfectly well, For

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I told you myself that I was going to see

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the stranger and ask him about my husband, for whose

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sake I am in such continual sorrow. Then she said

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to her head, waiting woman Urinomee, bring a seat with

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fleece upon it, for the stranger to sit upon while

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he tells his story and listens to what I have

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to say. I wish to ask him some questions. Eurynome

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brought the seat at once and seid a fleece upon it.

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And as soon as Ulysses had sat down, Penelope began

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by saying, stranger, I shall first ask you who and

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whence you are? Tell me of your town and parents.

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Madam answered Ulysses, who in the face of the whole

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earth can dare to chide with you? Your fame reaches the

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firmament of heaven itself. You are like some blameless king

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who upholds righteousness. As the monarch over a great and

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valiant nation. The earth yields it to beaten barley, the

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trees are loaded with fruit, the ewes bring forth lamb,

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and the sea abounds with fish. By reason of his virtues,

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and his people do good deeds under him. Nevertheless, as

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I sit here in your house, ask me some other question,

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and do not seek to know my race and family,

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or you will recall memories that will yet more increase

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my sorrow. I am full of heaviness, but I ought

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not to sit weeping and wailing in another person's house,

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nor is it well to be thus grieving continually? I

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shall have one of your servants, or even yourself, complaining

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of me and saying that my eyes swim with tears

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because I am heavy with wine. Then Penelope answered, stranger,

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Heaven robbed me of all my beauty, whether of face

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or figure. When the argued, set sail for Troy and

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my dear husband with them. If you were to return

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and look after my affairs, I should be both more respected,

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and I should show a better presence to the world.

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As it is, I am oppressed with care and with

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the afflictions which Heaven has seen fit to heap upon me.

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The chiefs from all our islands, Telychium, Samae, and zacythus,

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as also from Ithaca itself, are wooing me against my

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will and our wasting my estate. I can therefore show

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no attention to strangers, nor suppliants, nor to the people

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who say that they are skilled artisans, but am all

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the time broken hearted over ulysses. They want me to

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marry again at once, and I have invented stratagems in

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order to deceive them. In the first place, Heaven put

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it into my mind to set up a great tambour

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frame in my room, and to begin working upon an

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enormous piece of fine needlework. Then I said to them, sweethearts,

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Ulysses is indeed dead. Still, do not press me to

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marry again immediately, wait, for I would not have my

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skill and needlework parish unrecorded till I have finished making

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a pall for the hero Laerties to be ready against

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the time when death shall take him. He is very rich,

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and the women of the palace will talk if he

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is laid out without a pall. This was what I said,

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and they assented. Whereon I used to keep working at

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my great web all day long, but at night I

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would unpick the stitches again by torchlight. I fooled them

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in this way for three years without their finding out.

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But as time wore on, and I was now in

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my fourth year in the waning of the moons, and

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many days had been accomplished, those good for nothing hussies,

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my maids betrayed me to the suitors, who broke in

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upon me and caught me. They were very angry with me,

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so I was forced to finish my work, whether I

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would or no. And now I do not see how

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I can find any further shift for getting out of

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this marriage. My parents are putting great pressure upon me,

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and my son chafes at the ravages the suitors are

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making upon his estate, for he is now old enough

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to understand all about it, and is perfectly able to

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look after his own affairs, for Heaven has blessed him

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with an excellent disposition. Still, notwithstanding all this, tell me

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who you are and where you come from, for you

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must have had a father and mother of some sort.

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You cannot be the son of an oak or of

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a rock, then, Ulysses, answered Madam, wife of Ulysses. Since

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you persist in asking me about my family, I will answer,

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no matter what it costs me. People must expect to

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be pained when they have been exiles as long as

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I have, and suffered as much among as many peoples. Nevertheless,

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as regards your question, I will tell you all you ask.

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There is a fair and fruitful island in mid ocean

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called Crete. It is thickly peopled, and there are ninety

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cities in it. The people speak many different languages which

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overlap one another. For there are Achaeans, brave Etocretans, Dorians

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of threefold race, and noble Pelaski. There is a great

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town there, Nassus, where Minos reigned, who every nine years

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had a conference with Jove himself. Minos was father to Deucalion,

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whose son I am. For Deucalion had two sons, Idomeneus

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and myself. Idomeneus sailed for Troy, and I, who am

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the younger, am called Athon. My brother, however, was at

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once the older and the more valiant of the two.

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Hence it was in Crete that I saw Ulysses and

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showed him hospitality for the winds. Took him there as

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he was on his way to Troy, carrying him out

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of his course from Kate Molly, and leaving him an

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Omnissus off the cave of Alethua, where the harbors are

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difficult to enter, and he could hardly find shelter from

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the winds that were then raging. As soon as he

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got there, he went into town and asked for Adomanius,

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claiming to be his old and valued friend. But Idomeneus

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had already set sail for Troy, some ten or twelve

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days earlier. So I took him to my own house

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and showed him every kind of hospitality, for I had

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an abundance of everything. Moreover, I fed the men who

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were with him with barleymeal from the public store, and

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got subscriptions of wine and oxen for them to sacrifice

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to their heart's content. They stayed with me twelve days,

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for there was a gale blowing from the north, so

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strong that one could hardly keep one's feet on land.

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I suppose some unfriendly God had raised it for them.

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But on the thirteenth day the wind dropped and they

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got away. Many plausible tales did Ulysses further tell her,

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and Penelope wept as she listened, for her heart was

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melted as the snow wastes upon the mountain tops when

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the winds from the southeast and west have breathed upon it,

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and thought it till the rivers run bank full with water.

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Even so did her cheeks overflow with tears. For the husband,

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who was all the time sitting by her side. Ulysses

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felt for her and was sorry for her. But he

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kept his eyes as hard as horn or iron, without

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letting them so much as quiver. So cunningly did he

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restrain his tears. Then, when she had relieved herself by weeping,

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she turned to him and said, now, stranger, I shall

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put you to the test and see whether or no

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you really did entertain my husband and his men as

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you say you did. Tell me then how he was dressed,

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what kind of man he was to look at, and

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so also with his companions. Madam answered, Ulysses, it is

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such a long time ago that I can hardly say

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twenty years are come and gone since he left my

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home and went elsewhither. But I will tell you as

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well as I can recollect. Ulysses wore a mantle of

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purple wool, double lined, and it was fastened by a

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gold brooch with two catches for the pin. On the

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face of this there was a device that showed a

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dog holding a spotted fawn between his fore paws and

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watching as it lay panting upon the ground. Everyone marveled

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at the way in which these things had been done

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in gold, the dog looking at the fawn and strangling it,

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while the fawn was struggling convulsively to escape. As for

235
00:12:20,879 --> 00:12:23,399
the shirt that he wore next to his skin, it

236
00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:25,320
was so soft that it fitted him like the skin

237
00:12:25,399 --> 00:12:27,559
of an onion, and glistened in the sunlight to the

238
00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:31,399
admiration of all the women who beheld it. Furthermore, I say,

239
00:12:31,759 --> 00:12:34,200
and lay my saying to your heart, that I do

240
00:12:34,279 --> 00:12:37,200
not know whether Ulysses wore these clothes when he left home,

241
00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:39,559
or whether one of his companions had given them to

242
00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:42,600
him while he was on his voyage, or possibly someone

243
00:12:42,639 --> 00:12:44,799
at whose house he was staying made him a present

244
00:12:44,879 --> 00:12:47,240
of them, For he was a man of many friends

245
00:12:47,279 --> 00:12:51,000
and had few equals among the Achaeans. I myself gave

246
00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:53,600
him a sword of bronze and a beautiful purple mantle,

247
00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:56,200
double lined, with a shirt that went down to his feet,

248
00:12:56,399 --> 00:12:58,320
and I sent him on board his ship with every

249
00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:01,200
mark of honor. He had a servant with him, a

250
00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:03,559
little older than himself, and I can tell you what

251
00:13:03,639 --> 00:13:06,799
he was like. His shoulders were hunched, he was dark,

252
00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:10,600
and he had thick, curly hair. His name was Eurybites,

253
00:13:11,039 --> 00:13:14,039
and Ulysses treated him with greater familiarity than he did

254
00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:16,399
with any of the others, as being the most like

255
00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:20,200
minded with himself. Penelope was moved still more deeply as

256
00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:23,480
she heard the indisputable proofs that Ulysses had laid before her,

257
00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:27,159
And when she had again found relief in tears, she

258
00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:31,080
said to him, stranger I was already disposed to pity you,

259
00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:34,120
But henceforth you shall be honored and made welcome in

260
00:13:34,159 --> 00:13:37,879
my house. It was I who gave Ulysses these clothes

261
00:13:37,879 --> 00:13:40,559
you speak of. I took them out of the storeroom

262
00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:43,120
and folded them up myself, and I gave him also

263
00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,679
the gold brooch to wear hisn ornament alas I shall

264
00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:49,519
never welcome him home again. It was by an ill

265
00:13:49,519 --> 00:13:51,960
fate that he ever set out for that detested city

266
00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:55,399
whose very name I cannot bring myself to mansion. Then

267
00:13:55,559 --> 00:14:00,159
Ulysses answered, Madam, wife of Ulysses, do not disfigure yourself

268
00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:03,679
further by grieving thus bitterly for your loss, though I

269
00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:06,519
can hardly blame you for doing so. A woman who

270
00:14:06,519 --> 00:14:09,480
has loved her husband and borne him children would naturally

271
00:14:09,519 --> 00:14:11,840
be grieved at losing him, even though he were a

272
00:14:11,879 --> 00:14:16,039
worse man than Ulysses, who they say is like a god. Still,

273
00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:18,399
seize your tears and listen to what I can tell you.

274
00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:22,120
I will hide nothing from you, and can say with

275
00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:24,879
perfect truth that I have lately heard of Ulysses as

276
00:14:24,879 --> 00:14:27,639
being alive and on his way home. He is among

277
00:14:27,679 --> 00:14:31,440
the Thesperotians and is bringing back much valuable treasure that

278
00:14:31,519 --> 00:14:34,480
he has begged from one and another of them. But

279
00:14:34,639 --> 00:14:36,639
his ship and all his crew were lost as they

280
00:14:36,639 --> 00:14:39,799
were leaving the Thrnacian island, for Jove and the Sun

281
00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:42,279
God were angry with him because his men had slaughtered

282
00:14:42,279 --> 00:14:44,559
the Sun God's cattle, and they were all drowned to

283
00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:46,879
a man. But Ulysses stuck to the keel of his

284
00:14:46,919 --> 00:14:49,799
ship and was drifted on to the lands of the Phaeacians,

285
00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:52,080
who are nearer of kin to the immortals, and who

286
00:14:52,159 --> 00:14:54,600
treated him as though he had been a god, giving

287
00:14:54,639 --> 00:14:57,279
him many presents and wishing to escort him home safe

288
00:14:57,279 --> 00:15:00,600
and sound. In fact, Ulysses would have been here long

289
00:15:00,639 --> 00:15:03,279
ago had he not thought better to go from land

290
00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:06,480
to land gathering wealth. For there is no man living

291
00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:09,240
who is so wily as he is. There is no

292
00:15:09,279 --> 00:15:12,600
one who can compare with him. Phiedon, and king of

293
00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:15,639
the Thesperoteans, told me all this, and he swore to me,

294
00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:18,159
making drink offerings in his house as he did. So

295
00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:20,799
that the ship was by the water side, and the

296
00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:23,399
crew found who would take Ulysses to his own country.

297
00:15:24,399 --> 00:15:26,759
He sent me off first, for there happened to be

298
00:15:26,799 --> 00:15:30,200
a Thesperoteian ship sailing for the wheat growing island of Dolechium.

299
00:15:30,919 --> 00:15:33,519
But he showed me all the treasure Ulysses had got together,

300
00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:35,919
and he had enough lying in the house of King

301
00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:39,639
Phaedon to keep his family for ten generations. But the

302
00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:42,399
king said, Ulysses had gone to Dodona that he might

303
00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:45,960
learn Jove's mind from the high oak tree and know whether,

304
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:48,559
after so long an absence, he should return to Ithaca

305
00:15:48,639 --> 00:15:51,720
openly or in secret, so you may know that he

306
00:15:51,759 --> 00:15:54,519
is safe and will be here shortly. He is close

307
00:15:54,559 --> 00:15:57,879
at hand and cannot remain away from home much longer. Nevertheless,

308
00:15:57,919 --> 00:16:00,720
I will confirm my words with an oath and call Jove,

309
00:16:00,799 --> 00:16:03,320
who is the first and mightiest of the gods, to witness,

310
00:16:03,559 --> 00:16:05,840
as also that hearth of Ulysses to which I have

311
00:16:05,919 --> 00:16:08,960
now come, that all I have spoken shall surely come

312
00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:12,720
to pass. Ulysses will return in this self same year,

313
00:16:12,919 --> 00:16:14,799
with the end of this moon, in the beginning of

314
00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:18,159
the next, he will be here. May it be even so,

315
00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:21,279
answered Penelope, if your words come true, you shall have

316
00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:23,720
such gifts and such good will for me that all

317
00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:27,279
who see you shall congratulate you. But I know very well,

318
00:16:27,279 --> 00:16:30,559
how it will be, Ulysses will not return, neither will

319
00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:33,720
you get your escort hens. For so surely as that

320
00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:37,200
Ulysses ever was, there are no longer any such masters

321
00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:40,799
in this house as he was to receive honorable strangers,

322
00:16:40,879 --> 00:16:44,000
or to further them on their way home. And now

323
00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,080
you maids, wash his feet for him, and make him

324
00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:49,840
bed on a couch with rugs and blankets, that he

325
00:16:49,879 --> 00:16:53,320
may be warm and quiet till morning. Then at daybreak

326
00:16:53,759 --> 00:16:56,159
wash him and anoint him again, that he may sit

327
00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:59,320
in the cloister and take his meals with Telemachus. It

328
00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:01,320
shall be the word for any one of these hateful

329
00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:04,480
people who is uncivil to him. Like it or not,

330
00:17:04,839 --> 00:17:06,799
he shall have no more to do in this house.

331
00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:10,160
For how sir, shall you be able to learn whether

332
00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:12,799
or not I am superior to all others of my sex,

333
00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:15,880
both in goodness of heart and understanding, if I let

334
00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:19,880
you dine in my cloisters. Squalid and ill clad men

335
00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:22,640
live but for a little season. If they are hard

336
00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:25,119
and deal hardly. People wish them ill so long as

337
00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:27,720
they are alive, and speak contemptuously of them when they

338
00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:31,039
are dead. But he that is righteous and deals righteously

339
00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:33,880
the people tell of his praises among all the lands,

340
00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:39,119
and many shall call him blessed. Ulysses answered Madam, I

341
00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:41,359
have forced worn rugs and blankets from the day I

342
00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:44,000
left the snowy ranges of crete to go on shipboard.

343
00:17:44,559 --> 00:17:46,440
I will lie as I have lain on many a

344
00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:49,640
sleepless night hitherto night after night have I passed in

345
00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:53,559
any rough sleeping place and waited for morning? Nor again

346
00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:56,079
do I like having my feet washed. I shall not

347
00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:58,480
let any of the young hussies about your house touch

348
00:17:58,519 --> 00:18:02,200
my feet. But if you have an old and respectable

349
00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:04,920
woman who has gone through as much trouble as I have,

350
00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:09,079
I will allow her to wash them. To this, Penelope,

351
00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:12,200
said my dear sir. Of all the guests who ever

352
00:18:12,319 --> 00:18:14,799
yet came to my house, there never was one who

353
00:18:14,839 --> 00:18:18,160
spoke in all things with such admirable propriety as you do.

354
00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:21,519
There happens to be in the house a most respectable woman,

355
00:18:22,119 --> 00:18:24,480
the same who received my poor dear husband in her

356
00:18:24,599 --> 00:18:27,559
arms the knight he was born, and nursed him in infancy.

357
00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:31,279
She is very feeble now, but she shall wash your feet.

358
00:18:31,839 --> 00:18:36,680
Come here, said she, Euychlia, and wash your master's age. Mate,

359
00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:39,480
I suppose Ulysses hands and feet are very much the

360
00:18:39,519 --> 00:18:42,279
same now as his are. For trouble ages all of

361
00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:45,920
us dreadfully fast on these words. The old woman covered

362
00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:48,759
her face with her hands. She began to weep and

363
00:18:48,799 --> 00:18:52,559
made lamentations, saying, my dear child, I cannot think whatever

364
00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:55,519
I am to do with you. I am certain no

365
00:18:55,599 --> 00:18:58,200
one was ever more God fearing than yourself, and yet

366
00:18:58,279 --> 00:19:00,920
Jove hates you. No one in the whole world ever

367
00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:04,519
burned him more thigh bones, nor gave him finer hecatomes.

368
00:19:04,559 --> 00:19:06,519
When you prayed you might come to a green old

369
00:19:06,559 --> 00:19:09,240
age yourself and see your son grow up to take

370
00:19:09,279 --> 00:19:12,359
after you. Yet see how you have prevented you alone

371
00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,039
from ever getting back to your own home. I have

372
00:19:15,119 --> 00:19:17,759
no doubt the women in some foreign place which Ulysses

373
00:19:17,799 --> 00:19:19,920
have got to, are giving at him, as all these

374
00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,960
sluts here have been giving at you. I do not

375
00:19:23,039 --> 00:19:25,119
wonder at your not choosing to let them wash you

376
00:19:25,279 --> 00:19:28,680
after the manner in which they have insulted you. I

377
00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:31,559
will wash your feet gladly enough, as Penelope has said

378
00:19:31,599 --> 00:19:34,200
I am to do so. I shall wash them both

379
00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:36,960
for Penelope's sake and for your own, For you have

380
00:19:37,039 --> 00:19:39,759
raised the most lively feelings of compassion in my mind.

381
00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:42,720
And let me say this moreover, which pray attend to.

382
00:19:43,319 --> 00:19:45,720
We have had all kinds of strangers in distress come

383
00:19:45,759 --> 00:19:49,079
here before now, But I make bold to say that

384
00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:51,599
no one ever yet came who was so like Ulysses

385
00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:55,000
in figure, voice, and feet as you are. Those who

386
00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:57,920
have seen us both answered, Ulysses have always said that

387
00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:01,079
we were wonderfully like each other. Now you have noticed

388
00:20:01,079 --> 00:20:03,960
it too. Then the old woman took the cauldron in

389
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,079
which she was going to wash his feet, and poured

390
00:20:06,079 --> 00:20:08,839
plenty of cold water into it, adding hot till the

391
00:20:08,839 --> 00:20:12,160
bath was warm enough. Ulysses sat by the fire, but

392
00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:14,240
ere long he turned away from the light, for it

393
00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:16,279
occurred to him that when the old woman had hold

394
00:20:16,319 --> 00:20:18,759
of his legs, she would recognize a certain scar which

395
00:20:18,799 --> 00:20:22,759
it bore, whereon the whole truth would come out. And indeed,

396
00:20:22,799 --> 00:20:25,440
as soon as she began washing her master, she at

397
00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:27,640
once knew the scar as one that had been given

398
00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:29,640
him by a wild boar when he was hunting on

399
00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:33,599
Mount Parnassus with his excellent grandfather Attolychus, who was the

400
00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:36,720
most accomplished thief and perjurer in the whole world, and

401
00:20:36,799 --> 00:20:40,759
with the sons of Autolychus. Mercury himself had endowed him

402
00:20:40,759 --> 00:20:42,880
with this gift, for he used to burn the thigh

403
00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,319
bones of goats and kids to him, so he took

404
00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:49,039
pleasure in his companionship. It happened once that Autolycus had

405
00:20:49,079 --> 00:20:51,480
gone to Ithaca and had found the child of his

406
00:20:51,599 --> 00:20:54,720
daughter just born. As soon as he had done his supper,

407
00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,680
Euryclia had set the infant upon his knee and said, Autolycus,

408
00:20:59,079 --> 00:21:01,799
you must find a name for your grandson. You greatly

409
00:21:01,839 --> 00:21:04,960
wished that you might have one son in law and daughter.

410
00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:09,599
Replied Autolycus, call the child. Thus, I am highly displeased

411
00:21:09,599 --> 00:21:12,160
with a large number of people in one place and another,

412
00:21:12,799 --> 00:21:16,200
both men and women. So named the child Ulysses or

413
00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:19,039
the child of Anger. When he grows up and comes

414
00:21:19,079 --> 00:21:22,000
to visit his mother's family on Mount Parnassus, where my

415
00:21:22,039 --> 00:21:24,799
possessions lie, I will make him a present and will

416
00:21:24,799 --> 00:21:28,039
send him on his way. Rejoicing, Ulysses therefore went to

417
00:21:28,079 --> 00:21:31,359
Parnassus to get the presents from Autolychus, who with his

418
00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:34,480
sons shook hands with him and gave him welcome. His

419
00:21:34,559 --> 00:21:37,920
grandmother Amphthia threw her arms around him and kissed his

420
00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:41,519
head and both his beautiful eyes. While Autolychus desired his

421
00:21:41,599 --> 00:21:44,000
sons to get dinner ready, and they did as he

422
00:21:44,079 --> 00:21:46,839
told them. They brought in a five year old bull,

423
00:21:47,079 --> 00:21:49,759
flayed it, and made it ready to divide into joints.

424
00:21:50,799 --> 00:21:53,759
These they cut carefully into smaller pieces and spitted them.

425
00:21:54,079 --> 00:21:57,640
They roasted them sufficiently and served the portions round. Thus,

426
00:21:57,720 --> 00:21:59,680
through the livelong day to the going down of the

427
00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:02,440
sun they feasted, and every man had his full share,

428
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:05,200
so they were all satisfied. But when the sun set

429
00:22:05,279 --> 00:22:07,599
and it came on dark, they went to bed and

430
00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:10,440
enjoyed the boon of sleep. When the child of morning,

431
00:22:10,759 --> 00:22:14,079
rosy fingered dawn appeared, the sons of Autolychus went out

432
00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:17,759
with their hounds hunting, and Ulysses went too. They klind

433
00:22:17,799 --> 00:22:21,000
the wooded slopes of Pharnassus and soon reached its breezy

434
00:22:21,079 --> 00:22:23,799
upland valleys. But as the sun was beginning to beat

435
00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:26,920
upon the fields fresh risen from the slow still currents

436
00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:30,599
of Oceanus, they came to a mountain dell. The dogs

437
00:22:30,599 --> 00:22:32,640
were in front, searching for the tracks of the beast

438
00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:35,000
they were chasing and after them came the sons of

439
00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:38,880
auto Lachus, among whom was Ulysses, close behind the dogs,

440
00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:41,519
and had a long spear in his hand. Here was

441
00:22:41,559 --> 00:22:44,200
the layer of a huge boar among some thick brushwood,

442
00:22:45,039 --> 00:22:47,000
so dense that the wind and rain could not get

443
00:22:47,039 --> 00:22:49,680
through it, nor could the sun's rays pierce it, and

444
00:22:49,759 --> 00:22:53,279
the ground underneath lay thick with fallen leaves. The boar

445
00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:55,559
heard the noise of the men's feet and the hounds

446
00:22:55,559 --> 00:22:58,079
banging on every side as the huntsmen came up to him,

447
00:22:58,279 --> 00:23:00,559
so he rushed from his lair, raised the bristles on

448
00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:03,119
his neck, and stood at bay with fire flashing from

449
00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:06,079
his eyes. Ulysses was the first to raise his spear

450
00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:08,279
and tried to drive it into the brute, but the

451
00:23:08,279 --> 00:23:10,839
boar was too quick for him and charged him sideways,

452
00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:13,720
ripping him above the knee with a gash that tore deep,

453
00:23:13,759 --> 00:23:16,440
though it did not reach the bone. As for the boar,

454
00:23:16,759 --> 00:23:19,119
Ulysses hid him in the right shoulder, and the point

455
00:23:19,119 --> 00:23:21,000
of the spear went right through him, so that he

456
00:23:21,039 --> 00:23:23,200
fell groaning in the dust until the life went out

457
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:26,799
of him. The sons of Autolychus busied themselves with the

458
00:23:26,839 --> 00:23:30,920
carcass of the boar and bound Ulysses wound. Then, after

459
00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:33,559
saying a spell to stop the bleeding, they went home

460
00:23:33,599 --> 00:23:36,960
as fast as they could. But when Autolychus and his

461
00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:40,400
sons had thoroughly healed Ulysses, they made him some splendid

462
00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:43,119
presents and sent him back to Ithaca with much mutual

463
00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:46,519
good will. When he got back, his father and mother

464
00:23:46,559 --> 00:23:48,799
were rejoiced to see him and asked him all about

465
00:23:48,839 --> 00:23:50,839
it and how he had hurt himself to get the

466
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,400
scar So he told them how the boar had ripped

467
00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:55,680
him when he was out hunting with Autolychus and his

468
00:23:55,759 --> 00:23:59,240
sons on Mount Parnassus. As soon as Euryclia had got

469
00:23:59,279 --> 00:24:01,799
the scarred limbin her hands and had well hold of it,

470
00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:05,240
she recognized it and dropped the foot at once. The

471
00:24:05,319 --> 00:24:08,559
leg fell into the bath, which rang out and was overturned,

472
00:24:08,799 --> 00:24:12,079
so that all the water spilt on the ground. Euryclea's eyes,

473
00:24:12,279 --> 00:24:15,119
between her joy and her grief, filled with tears. She

474
00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:18,400
could not speak, but she caught Ulysses by the beard

475
00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:21,480
and said, my dear child, I am sure you must

476
00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:24,200
be Ulysses himself. Only I did not know you till

477
00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,519
I had actually touched and handled you. As she spoke,

478
00:24:27,599 --> 00:24:30,319
she looked towards Penelope as though wanting to tell her

479
00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:33,119
that her dear husband was in the house. But Penelope

480
00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:35,559
was unable to look in that direction and observe what

481
00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:39,079
was going on, for Minerva had diverted her attention. So

482
00:24:39,279 --> 00:24:42,000
Ulysses caught Eurycleia by the throat with his right hand,

483
00:24:42,039 --> 00:24:45,160
and with his left drew her close to him and said, nurse,

484
00:24:45,519 --> 00:24:47,640
do you wish to be the ruin of me? You

485
00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,680
who nursed me at your breast, Now that after twenty

486
00:24:50,759 --> 00:24:52,720
years of wandering, I am at last come to my

487
00:24:52,759 --> 00:24:56,279
own house again, since it has been borne in upon

488
00:24:56,319 --> 00:24:59,079
you by Heaven to recognize me. Hold your tongue and

489
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:00,759
do not say a word about it to any one

490
00:25:00,759 --> 00:25:03,240
else in the house, for if you do, I tell you,

491
00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:06,000
and it shall surely be true, that if Heaven grants

492
00:25:06,079 --> 00:25:08,119
me to take the lives of these suitors, I shall

493
00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:10,640
not spare you, though you are my own nurse, when

494
00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:14,680
I am killing the other women. My child answered, Yueclia,

495
00:25:15,079 --> 00:25:17,720
what are you talking about? You know very well that

496
00:25:17,799 --> 00:25:20,279
nothing can either bend or break me. I will hold

497
00:25:20,279 --> 00:25:23,200
my tongue like a stone or a piece of iron. Furthermore,

498
00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:26,400
let me say and lay my saying to your heart.

499
00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:29,680
When Heaven has delivered the suitors into your hand, I

500
00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:31,400
will give you a list of women in the house

501
00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:33,960
who have been ill behaved, and of those who are guiltless.

502
00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:38,359
And Ulysses answered, Nurse, you ought not to speak in

503
00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:40,519
that way. I am well able to form my own

504
00:25:40,519 --> 00:25:43,599
opinion about one and all of them. Hold your tongue

505
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:47,359
and leave everything to Heaven. As he said this, Euryclia

506
00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:49,759
left the cloister to fetch the more water, for the

507
00:25:49,799 --> 00:25:52,240
first had been all spilt. And when she had washed

508
00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:55,000
his feet and anointed him with oil, Ulysses drew his

509
00:25:55,039 --> 00:25:57,519
seat nearer to the fire to warm himself, and hid

510
00:25:57,519 --> 00:26:00,960
his scar under his rags. Then Peno Helpie began talking

511
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:04,160
to him and said, stranger, I should like to speak

512
00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:07,240
with you briefly about another matter. It is indeed nearly

513
00:26:07,279 --> 00:26:10,079
bedtime for those at least who can sleep in spite

514
00:26:10,079 --> 00:26:13,279
of sorrow. As for myself, Heaven has given me a

515
00:26:13,319 --> 00:26:16,359
life of such unmeasurable woe that even by day, when

516
00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:19,240
I am attending to my duties and looking after the servants,

517
00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:22,440
I am still weeping and lamenting during the whole time.

518
00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:26,240
Then when night comes and we all of us go

519
00:26:26,319 --> 00:26:29,160
to bed, I lie awake, thinking, and my heart becomes

520
00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:32,599
prey to the most incessant and cruel tortures. As the

521
00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:36,319
dune Nightingale, daughter of Pandarius, sings in the early spring

522
00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:39,079
from her seat in the shadiest covered head, and with

523
00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:41,720
many a paintive trill, pours out the tale of how

524
00:26:41,759 --> 00:26:44,799
by mishap she killed her own child to Tylus, son

525
00:26:44,839 --> 00:26:48,079
of King Zphis. Even so does my mind toss and

526
00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:50,799
turn in its uncertainty, whether I ought to stay with

527
00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:54,359
my son here and safeguard my substance, my bondsmen, and

528
00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:56,720
the greatness of my house out of regard for public

529
00:26:56,759 --> 00:26:59,799
opinion and the memory of my late husband, or whether

530
00:26:59,839 --> 00:27:01,440
it is now time for me to go with the

531
00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:03,720
best of these suitors who are wooing me and making

532
00:27:03,759 --> 00:27:07,599
me such magnificent presents. As long as my son was

533
00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:10,640
still young and unable to understand, he would not hear

534
00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:13,000
of my leaving my husband's house. But now that he

535
00:27:13,079 --> 00:27:15,359
is full grown, he begs and prays me to do so,

536
00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:17,799
being incensed at the way in which the suitors are

537
00:27:17,799 --> 00:27:20,839
eating up his property. Listen then to a dream I

538
00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:22,920
have had, and interpret it for me, if you can.

539
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:26,440
I have twenty yeese about the house that eat mash

540
00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:29,039
out of a trough, and which I am exceedingly fond of.

541
00:27:29,519 --> 00:27:31,759
I dreamed that a great eagle came swooping down from

542
00:27:31,759 --> 00:27:34,279
a mountain and dug his curved beak into the neck

543
00:27:34,319 --> 00:27:37,400
of each of them, till he had killed them all. Presently,

544
00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:39,880
he soared off into the sky and left them dead

545
00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:42,759
about the yard, whereon I wept in my dream, till

546
00:27:42,759 --> 00:27:45,400
all my maids gathered round me. So piteously was I

547
00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:49,279
grieving because the eagle had killed my geese. Then he

548
00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:52,039
came back to me again, and, perching on a projecting rafter,

549
00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:54,400
spoke to me with a human voice and told me

550
00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:57,440
to leave off crying. Be of good courage. She said,

551
00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:01,720
Daughter of Vicarius, this is no dream, but a vision

552
00:28:01,759 --> 00:28:04,680
of good omen that shall surely come to pass. The

553
00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:07,440
geese are the suitors, and I am no longer an eagle,

554
00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:09,519
but your own husband, who am come back to you,

555
00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:12,079
and who will bring these suitors to a disgraceful end.

556
00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:15,319
On this I awoke, and when I looked out I

557
00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:17,519
saw my geese at the trough, eating their mash as

558
00:28:17,599 --> 00:28:23,279
usual this dream, Madam replied, Ulysses can admit but one interpretation,

559
00:28:24,039 --> 00:28:26,400
for had not Ulysses himself told you how it should

560
00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:30,160
be fulfilled. The death of the suitors is portended, and

561
00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:35,440
not one single one of them will escape. And Penelope answered, stranger.

562
00:28:35,759 --> 00:28:39,119
Dreams are very curious and unaccountable things, and they do not,

563
00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:42,319
by any means invariably come true. There are two gates

564
00:28:42,359 --> 00:28:46,279
through which these unsubstantial fancies proceed. The one is of Horn,

565
00:28:46,759 --> 00:28:49,400
the other Ivory. Those that come through the gate of

566
00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:52,400
Ivory are fatuous, but those from the gate of Horn

567
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,640
mean something to those who see them. I do not think, however,

568
00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:58,039
that my own dreams come through the gate of Horn,

569
00:28:58,599 --> 00:29:00,599
though I and my son should be most thankful if

570
00:29:00,599 --> 00:29:03,920
it proves to have done so. Furthermore, I say, and

571
00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:06,680
lay my saying to your heart, the coming dawn will

572
00:29:06,759 --> 00:29:08,799
usher in the ill omened day, that is to sever

573
00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:11,400
me from the house of Ulysses. For I am about

574
00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:14,319
to hold a tournament of axes. My husband used to

575
00:29:14,359 --> 00:29:16,880
set up twelve axes in the court, one in front

576
00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:18,839
of the other, that like the stays upon which a

577
00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:21,319
ship is built, he would then go back from them

578
00:29:21,359 --> 00:29:23,799
and shoot an arrow through the whole twelve. I shall

579
00:29:23,799 --> 00:29:25,920
make the suitors try to do the same thing, And

580
00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:28,160
whichever of them can string the bow the most easily

581
00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:31,160
and send his arrow through all twelve axes him, will

582
00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:33,559
I follow and quit the house of my lawful husband,

583
00:29:34,079 --> 00:29:37,319
so goodly and so abounding in wealth. But even so

584
00:29:37,519 --> 00:29:42,920
I doubt not that I shall remember it in my dreams. Then, Ulysses, answered, Madam,

585
00:29:43,079 --> 00:29:46,200
wife of Ulysses, you need not defer your tournament, for

586
00:29:46,359 --> 00:29:48,880
Ulysses will return ere ever they can string the bow,

587
00:29:49,279 --> 00:29:51,599
handle it how they will, and send their arrows through

588
00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:55,319
the iron. To this, Penelope said, as long sir, as

589
00:29:55,319 --> 00:29:57,160
you sit here and talk to me, I can have

590
00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:00,160
no desire to go to bed. Still, people cannot do

591
00:30:00,279 --> 00:30:03,440
permanently without sleep, and Heaven has appointed us dwellers on

592
00:30:03,519 --> 00:30:06,599
earth a time for all things. I will therefore go

593
00:30:06,759 --> 00:30:09,400
upstairs and recline upon that couch which I have never

594
00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:12,000
ceased to flood with my tears from the day Ulysses

595
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:14,880
set out for the city with a hateful name. She

596
00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:17,839
then went upstairs to her own room, not alone, but

597
00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:20,839
attended by her maids, and when there She lamented her

598
00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:26,160
dear husband till Minerva shed sweet sleep over her eyelids.

599
00:30:28,039 --> 00:30:29,359
End of book, nineteen