Speaker 1: Book seventeen of the Odyssey by Homer, translated by Samuel Butler.
Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The Odyssey
Speaker 1: book seventeen Telemachus and his mother meet Ulysses and Eumaeus.
Speaker 1: Come down to the town, and Ulysses is insulted by Melanthius.
Speaker 1: He is recognized by the dog Argos. He is insulted
Speaker 1: and presently struck by Antonas with a stool. Penelope desires
Speaker 1: that he shall be sent to her. When the child
Speaker 1: of morning, rosy fingered Dawn appeared, Telemachus bound on his
Speaker 1: sandals and took a strong spear that suited his hands,
Speaker 1: for he wanted to go into the city. Old friend,
Speaker 1: said he to the swineherd. I will now go to
Speaker 1: the town and show myself to my mother, for she
Speaker 1: will never leave off grieving till she has seen me.
Speaker 1: As for this unfortunate stranger. Take him to the town
Speaker 1: and let him beg there of any one who will
Speaker 1: give him a drink and a piece of bread. I
Speaker 1: have troubled enough of my own and cannot be burdened
Speaker 1: with other people. If this makes him angry, so much
Speaker 1: the worse for him. But I like to say what
Speaker 1: I mean, then, Ulysses said, Sir, I do not want
Speaker 1: to stay here. A beggar can always do better in
Speaker 1: town than country, for any one who likes can give
Speaker 1: him something. I am too old to care about remaining
Speaker 1: here at the beck and call of a master. Therefore,
Speaker 1: let this man do as you have just told him,
Speaker 1: and take me to the town as soon as I
Speaker 1: have had a warm by the fire, and the day
Speaker 1: has got a little heat in it, like clothes are
Speaker 1: wretchedly thin, and this frosty morning I shall be perished
Speaker 1: with cold. For you say the city is some way off.
Speaker 1: On this Telemachus strode off through the yards, brooding his
Speaker 1: revenge upon the suitors. When he reached home, he stood
Speaker 1: his spear against a bearing post of the cloister, crossed
Speaker 1: the stone floor of the cloister itself, and went inside.
Speaker 1: Nurse Euyclia saw him long before any one else did.
Speaker 1: She was putting the fleeces on to the seats, and
Speaker 1: she burst out crying as she ran up to him.
Speaker 1: All the other maids came up too, and covered his
Speaker 1: head and shoulders with their kisses. Penelope came out of
Speaker 1: her room, looking like Diana or Venus and wept as
Speaker 1: she flung her arms about her son. She kissed his
Speaker 1: forehead and both his beautiful eyes. Light of my eyes,
Speaker 1: she cried as she spoke fondly to him. So you
Speaker 1: are come home again. I made sure I was never
Speaker 1: going to see you any more, to think of your
Speaker 1: having gone off to Pylos without saying anything about it
Speaker 1: or obtaining my consent. But come tell me what you saw.
Speaker 1: Do not scold me, mother, answered Telemachus, nor vex me,
Speaker 1: seeing what a narrow escape I have had. But wash
Speaker 1: your face, change your dress, go upstairs with your maids,
Speaker 1: and promise full and sufficient hecatombs to all the gods,
Speaker 1: if Jove will only grant us our revenge upon the suitors.
Speaker 1: I must now go to the place of assembly to
Speaker 1: invite a stranger who has come back with me from Pylos.
Speaker 1: I sent him on with my crew and told Pereeus
Speaker 1: to take him home and look after him till I
Speaker 1: could come for him myself. She heeded her son's words,
Speaker 1: washed her face, changed her dress, and vowed full and
Speaker 1: sufficient hecatombs to all the gods if they would only
Speaker 1: vouchsafe her revenge upon the suitors. Telemachus went through and
Speaker 1: out of the cloister's spear in hand, not alone, for
Speaker 1: as two fleet dogs went with him. Minerva endowed him
Speaker 1: with a presence of such divine comeliness that all marveled
Speaker 1: at him as he went by, and the suitors gathered
Speaker 1: round him with fair words in their mouths and malice
Speaker 1: in their hearts. But he avoided them and went to
Speaker 1: sit with mentor Antipas and Hellathurses, old friends of his
Speaker 1: father's house, and they made him tell them all that
Speaker 1: had happened to him. Then Pereus came up with Theoclimenus,
Speaker 1: whom he had escorted through the town to the place
Speaker 1: of assembly, whereon Telemachus had once joined them. Pereeus was
Speaker 1: first to speak. Telemachus said, he, I wish you would
Speaker 1: send some of your women to my house to take
Speaker 1: away the presents Menelaeus gave you. We do not know,
Speaker 1: Pereeus answered Telemachus, what may happen if the suitors kill
Speaker 1: me in my own house and divide my property among them?
Speaker 1: I would rather you had the presence than that of
Speaker 1: any of those people should get hold of them. If,
Speaker 1: on the other hand, I managed to kill them, I
Speaker 1: shall be much obliged, if you will kindly bring me
Speaker 1: my presence. With these words, he took the Acclemenus to
Speaker 1: his own house. When they got there, they laid their
Speaker 1: cloaks on the benches and seats, went into the baths
Speaker 1: and washed themselves. When the maids had washed and anointed them,
Speaker 1: and had given them cloaks and shirts, they took their
Speaker 1: seats at table. A maid servant then brought them water
Speaker 1: in a beautiful golden ewer and poured it into a
Speaker 1: silver basin for them to wash their hands, and she
Speaker 1: drew a clean table beside them. An upper servant brought
Speaker 1: them bread and offered them many good things of what
Speaker 1: there was in the house. Opposite them sat Penelope, reclining
Speaker 1: on a couch by one of the bearing posts of
Speaker 1: the cloister and spinning. Then they laid their hands on
Speaker 1: the good things that were before them, And as soon
Speaker 1: as they had had enough to eat and drink, Penelope said, Telemachus,
Speaker 1: I shall go upstairs and lie down on that sad
Speaker 1: couch which I have not seized to water with my tears.
Speaker 1: From the day Ulysses set out for Troy with the
Speaker 1: sons of Atreus, you failed, however, to make it clear
Speaker 1: to me before the suitors came back to the house,
Speaker 1: whether or no you had been able to hear anything
Speaker 1: about the return of your father. I will tell you then, truth,
Speaker 1: replied her son. We went to Pylos and saw Nestor,
Speaker 1: who took me to his house and treated me as
Speaker 1: hospitably as though I were a son of his own
Speaker 1: who had just returned after a long absence. So also
Speaker 1: did his sons. But he said he had not heard
Speaker 1: a word from any human being about Ulysses, whether he
Speaker 1: was alive or dead. He sent me, therefore, with a
Speaker 1: chariot and horses to Menelaeus. There I saw Helen, for
Speaker 1: whose sake so many both archives and Trojans, were in
Speaker 1: Heaven's wisdom doomed to suffer. Menilaus asked me what it
Speaker 1: was that had brought me to Lacedaemon, and I told
Speaker 1: him the whole truth. Whereon he said, so then these
Speaker 1: cowards would usurp a brave man's bed. A hind might
Speaker 1: as well lay her new born young in the lair
Speaker 1: of a lion and then go off to feed in
Speaker 1: the forest or in some grassy dell. The lion, when
Speaker 1: he comes back to his lair will make short work
Speaker 1: with the pair of them, and so will Ulysses with
Speaker 1: these suitors, by Father, Jove, Minerva and Apollo. If Ulysses
Speaker 1: is still the man that he was when he rustled
Speaker 1: with Philomladies and Lesbos and threw him so heavily that
Speaker 1: all the Greeks cheered him. If he is still such,
Speaker 1: and were to come near these suitors, they would have
Speaker 1: a short shrift and a sorry wedding. As regards your question, however,
Speaker 1: I will not prefarrogate nor deceive you. But what the
Speaker 1: old man of the sea told me so much, will
Speaker 1: I tell you in full. He said he could see
Speaker 1: Ulysses on an island, sorrowing bitterly in the house of
Speaker 1: the nymph Calypso, who was keeping him prisoner, And he
Speaker 1: could not reach his home, for he had no ships
Speaker 1: nor sailors to take him over the sea. This was
Speaker 1: what Menelaeus told me, And when I had heard his story,
Speaker 1: I came away. The gods then gave me a fair wind,
Speaker 1: and soon brought me safe home again. With these words,
Speaker 1: he moved the heart of Penelope. Then Theoclemenus said to her, Madam,
Speaker 1: wife of Ulysses, Telemachus does not understand these things. Listen
Speaker 1: therefore to me, for I can divine them surely, and
Speaker 1: will hide nothing from you. May Jove, the King of
Speaker 1: Heaven be my witness, and the rights of hospitality with
Speaker 1: that of Ulysses, to which I now come. That Ulysses
Speaker 1: himself is even now in Ithaca, and either going about
Speaker 1: the country or staying in one place, is inquiring into
Speaker 1: all these evil deeds and preparing a day of reckoning
Speaker 1: for the suitors. I saw an omen when I was
Speaker 1: on the ship which meant this, and I told Telemachus
Speaker 1: about it. May it be even so, answered Penelope. If
Speaker 1: your words come true, you shall have such gifts and
Speaker 1: such good will will come from me that all who
Speaker 1: see you shall congratulate you. Thus did they converse. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: the suitors were throwing discs or aiming with spears at
Speaker 1: a mark on the level ground in front of the house,
Speaker 1: and behaving with all their old insolence. But when it
Speaker 1: was now time for dinner, and the flock of sheep
Speaker 1: and goats had come into the town from all the
Speaker 1: country round with their shepherds as usual, then Medan, who
Speaker 1: was their favorite servant and who waited upon them at table,
Speaker 1: said now, then, my young masters, you have had enough,
Speaker 1: so come inside that we may get dinner ready. Dinner
Speaker 1: is not a bad thing. At dinner time, they left
Speaker 1: their sports as he told them, and when they were
Speaker 1: within the house, they laid their cloaks on the benches
Speaker 1: and seats inside, and then sacrifice some sheep, goats, pigs,
Speaker 1: and a heifer, all of them fat and well grown.
Speaker 1: Thus they made ready for their meal. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: Ulysses and the swineherd were about starting for the town,
Speaker 1: and the swineherd said, stranger, I suppose you still want
Speaker 1: to go to the town to day, as my master
Speaker 1: said you were to do for my own part, I
Speaker 1: should have liked you to stay here as a station hand.
Speaker 1: But I must do as my master tells me, or
Speaker 1: he will scold me later on, and a scolding from
Speaker 1: one's master is a very serious thing. Let us then
Speaker 1: be off, for it is now broad day. It will
Speaker 1: be night again directly, and then you will find it colder.
Speaker 1: I know and understand you, replied Ulysses. You need say
Speaker 1: no more. Let us be going. But if you have
Speaker 1: a stick ready cut, let me have it to walk
Speaker 1: with for you say, the road is a very rough one.
Speaker 1: As he spoke, he threw his shabby, old tattered wallet
Speaker 1: over his shoulders by the cord from which it hung,
Speaker 1: and Eumaeus gave him a stick to his liking. The
Speaker 1: two then started leaving the station, in charge of the
Speaker 1: dogs and herdsmen, who remained behind. The swineherd led the way,
Speaker 1: and his master followed after, looking like some broken down
Speaker 1: old trap as he leaned upon his staff, and his
Speaker 1: clothes were all in rags. When they had got over
Speaker 1: the rough steep ground and were nearing the city, they
Speaker 1: reached the fountain from which the citizens drew their water.
Speaker 1: This had been made by Ithacus, Neratus and Polyctor. There
Speaker 1: was a grove of water loving poplars planted in a
Speaker 1: circle all round it, and the clear, cold water came
Speaker 1: down to it from a rock high up. While the
Speaker 1: above fountain there was an altar to the nymphs at
Speaker 1: which all wayfarers used to sacrifice. Here, Melanthius, son of Dolius,
Speaker 1: overtook them as he was driving down some goats, the
Speaker 1: best in his flock, for the suitor's dinner, and there
Speaker 1: were two shepherds with him. When he saw Eumaeus and Ulysses.
Speaker 1: He reviled them with outrageous and unseemly language, which made
Speaker 1: Ulysses very angry. There you go, cried he and a
Speaker 1: precious pair. You are see how heaven brings birds of
Speaker 1: the same feather to one another. Where pray, master, swineherd,
Speaker 1: are you taking this poor, miserable object. It would make
Speaker 1: any one sick to see such a creature at table.
Speaker 1: A fellow like this never won a prize for anything
Speaker 1: in his life. But we'll go about rubbing his shoulders
Speaker 1: against every man's doorpost, and begging not for swords and
Speaker 1: cauldrons like a man, but only for a few scraps
Speaker 1: not worth begging for. If you would give him to
Speaker 1: me for a hand on my station, he might do
Speaker 1: to clean out the folds, or bring a bit of
Speaker 1: sweet feed to the kids. That he could fatten his
Speaker 1: thighs as much as he pleased on whey. But he
Speaker 1: has taken to bad ways and will not go about
Speaker 1: any kind of work. He will do nothing but beg
Speaker 1: victuals all the town over to feed his insatiable belly.
Speaker 1: I say therefore, and it shall surely be if he
Speaker 1: goes near Ulysses house, he will get his head broken
Speaker 1: by the stools they fling at him till they turn
Speaker 1: him out on this. As he passed, he gave Ulysses
Speaker 1: a kick on the hip out of pure wantonness. But
Speaker 1: Ulysses stood firm and did not budge from the path.
Speaker 1: For a moment, he doubted whether or no to fly
Speaker 1: at Melanthius and kill him with his staff, or fling
Speaker 1: him to the ground and beat his brains out. He resolved, however,
Speaker 1: to endure it and keep himself in check. But the
Speaker 1: swineherd looked straight at Melanthius and rebuked him, lifting up
Speaker 1: his hands and praying to Heaven. As he did so,
Speaker 1: fountain nymphs. He cried, Children of Jove, if ever Ulysses
Speaker 1: burned you thigh bones covered with fat, whether of lambs
Speaker 1: or kids, grant my prayer that Heaven may send him home.
Speaker 1: He would soon put an end to the swaggering threats
Speaker 1: with which such men as you go about insulting people,
Speaker 1: gadding all over the town, while your flocks are going
Speaker 1: to ruin through bad shepherding. Then Melanthius the goatherd answered, you,
Speaker 1: ill conditioned cur what are you talking about? Some day
Speaker 1: or other. I will put you on board ship and
Speaker 1: take you to a foreign country, where I can sell
Speaker 1: you and pocket the money you will fetch. I wish
Speaker 1: I were as sure that Apolla would strike Telemachus dead
Speaker 1: this very day, or that the suitors would kill him,
Speaker 1: as I am, that Ulysses will never come home again.
Speaker 1: With this, he left them to come on at their
Speaker 1: leisure while he went quickly forward and soon reached the
Speaker 1: house of his master. When he got there, he went
Speaker 1: in and took his seat among the suitors, opposite Eurymicus,
Speaker 1: who liked him better than any of the others. The
Speaker 1: servants brought him a portion of meat, and an upper
Speaker 1: woman servant set bread before him that he might eat. Presently,
Speaker 1: Ulysses and the swineherd came up to the house and
Speaker 1: stood by it amid a sound of music, for Femius
Speaker 1: was just beginning to sing to the suitors. Then Ulysses
Speaker 1: took hold of the swineherd's hand and said, Eumaeus, this
Speaker 1: house of Ulysses is a very fine place. No matter
Speaker 1: how far you go, you will find few like it.
Speaker 1: One building keeps following on after another. The outer court
Speaker 1: has a wall with battlements, all round it. The doors
Speaker 1: are double folding, and of good workmanship. It would be
Speaker 1: a hard matter to take it by force of arms.
Speaker 1: I perceive too that there are many people banqueting within it,
Speaker 1: for there's a smell of roast meat, and I hear
Speaker 1: a sound of music, which the gods have made to
Speaker 1: go along with feasting. Then, Eumaeus said, you have perceived aright,
Speaker 1: as indeed you generally do. But let us think what
Speaker 1: will be our best course. Will you go inside first
Speaker 1: and join the suitors, leaving me here behind you, or
Speaker 1: will you wait here and let me go in first,
Speaker 1: but do not wait long, or some one may see
Speaker 1: you loitering about outside and throw something at you. Consider
Speaker 1: this matter, I pray you, And Ulysses answered, I understand
Speaker 1: and heed. Go in first, and leave me here where
Speaker 1: I am. I am quite used to being beaten and
Speaker 1: having things thrown at me. I have been so much
Speaker 1: buffeted about in war and by sea that I am
Speaker 1: case hardened. And this too may go with the rest.
Speaker 1: But a man cannot hide away the cravings of a
Speaker 1: hungry belly. This is an enemy which gives much trouble
Speaker 1: to all men. It is because of this that ships
Speaker 1: are fitted out to sail the seas and to make
Speaker 1: war upon other people. As they were thus talking, a
Speaker 1: dog that had been lying asleep raised his head and
Speaker 1: pricked up his ears. This was Argos, whom Ulysses had
Speaker 1: bred before setting out for Troy, but he had never
Speaker 1: had any work out of him. In the old days,
Speaker 1: he used to be taken out by the young men
Speaker 1: when they went hunting wild goats or deer or hares.
Speaker 1: But now that his master was gone, he was lying
Speaker 1: neglected on the heaps of mule and cow dung that
Speaker 1: lay in front of the stable doors, till the men
Speaker 1: should come and draw it away to manure the great clothes.
Speaker 1: And he was full of fleas. As soon as he
Speaker 1: saw Ulysses standing there, he dropped his ears and wagged
Speaker 1: his tail, but he could not get close up to
Speaker 1: his master. When Ulysses saw the dog on the other
Speaker 1: side of the yard, he dashed a tear from his
Speaker 1: eyes without Eumaas seeing it, and said, Eumaeus, what a
Speaker 1: noble hound that is over yonder on the manure heap.
Speaker 1: His bild is splendid. Is he as fine a fellow
Speaker 1: as he looks? Or is he only one of those
Speaker 1: dogs that come begging about a table and are kept
Speaker 1: merely for show. This hound answered, Eumaeus belonged to him
Speaker 1: who has died in a far country. If he were
Speaker 1: what he was when Ulysses left for Troy, he would
Speaker 1: soon show you what he could do. There was not
Speaker 1: a wild beast in the forest that could get away
Speaker 1: from him when he was once on its tracks. But
Speaker 1: now he has fallen on evil times, for his master
Speaker 1: is dead and gone, and the women take no care
Speaker 1: of him. Servants never do their work when their master's
Speaker 1: hand is no longer over them, For Jove takes half
Speaker 1: the goodness out of a man when he makes a
Speaker 1: slave of him. As he spoke, he went inside the
Speaker 1: buildings to the cloister where the suitors were, But Argos
Speaker 1: died as soon as he had recognized his master. Telemachus
Speaker 1: saw Eumaeus long before any one else did, and beckoned
Speaker 1: him to come and sit beside him. So he looked
Speaker 1: about and saw a seat lying near where the carver
Speaker 1: sat serving out their portions to the suitors. He picked
Speaker 1: it up, brought it to Telemachus's table, and sat down
Speaker 1: opposite him. Then the servant brought him in portion and
Speaker 1: gave him bread from the bread basket. Immediately afterwards, Ulysses
Speaker 1: came inside, looking like a poor, miserable old beggar, leaning
Speaker 1: on his staff and with his clothes all in rags.
Speaker 1: He sat down upon the threshold of ashwood, just inside
Speaker 1: the doors leading from the outer to the inner court,
Speaker 1: and against a bearing post of cypress wood, which the
Speaker 1: carpenter had skillfully plained and had made to join truly
Speaker 1: with rule and line. Telemachus took a whole loaf from
Speaker 1: the bread basket, with as much meat as he could
Speaker 1: hold in his two hands, and said to Eumaeus, take
Speaker 1: this to the stranger, and tell him to go the
Speaker 1: round of the suitors and beg from them. A beggar
Speaker 1: must not be shamefaced. So Eumaeus went up to him
Speaker 1: and said, stranger, Telemachus sends you this and says you
Speaker 1: are to go the round of the suitors begging for
Speaker 1: beggars must not be shamefaced. Ulysses answered, may King Jove,
Speaker 1: grant all happiness to Telemachus and fulfill the desire of
Speaker 1: his heart. Then with both hands he took what Telemachus
Speaker 1: had sent him and laid it on the dirty old
Speaker 1: wallet at his feet. He went on eating it while
Speaker 1: the bard was singing, and had just finished his dinner.
Speaker 1: As he left off, the suitors applauded the bard. Whereon
Speaker 1: Minerva went up to Ulysses and prompted him to beg
Speaker 1: pieces of bread from each one of the suitors, that
Speaker 1: he might see what kind of people they were and
Speaker 1: tell the good from the bad. But come what might,
Speaker 1: she was not going to save a single one of them.
Speaker 1: Ulysses therefore went on his round, going from left to right,
Speaker 1: and stretched out his hands to beg, as though he
Speaker 1: were a real beggar. Some of them pitied him and
Speaker 1: were curious about him, asking one another who he was
Speaker 1: and where he came from? Whereon the goatherd, Melanthius said,
Speaker 1: suitors of my noble mistress, I can tell you something
Speaker 1: about him, for I have seen him before the swineherd
Speaker 1: brought him here, But I know nothing about the man
Speaker 1: himself nor where he comes from. On this Antonus began
Speaker 1: to abuse the swineherd, You precious idiot, he cried, what
Speaker 1: have you brought this man to town? For have we
Speaker 1: not tramps and beggars enough already to pestre us? As
Speaker 1: we sit at meat to think it a small thing
Speaker 1: that such people gather here to waste your master's property,
Speaker 1: And must you needs bring this man as well? And
Speaker 1: Eumaeus answered Antonus, your birth is good, but your words evil.
Speaker 1: It was no doing of mind that he came here.
Speaker 1: Who is likely to invite a stranger from a foreign
Speaker 1: country unless it be one of those who can do
Speaker 1: public service as a seer, a healer of hertz, a carpenter,
Speaker 1: or a bard who can charm us with his singing.
Speaker 1: Such men are welcome all the world over, but no
Speaker 1: one is likely to ask a beggar who will only
Speaker 1: worry him. You are always harder on Ulysses servants than
Speaker 1: any of the other suitors are, and above all on me.
Speaker 1: But I do not care so long as Telemachus and
Speaker 1: Penelope are alive and hear. But Telemachus said, hush, do
Speaker 1: not answer him. Antonus has the bitterest tongue of all
Speaker 1: the suitors, and he makes the others worse. Then, turning
Speaker 1: to Antonus, he said, Antonus, you take as much care
Speaker 1: of my interests as though I were your son. Why
Speaker 1: should you want to see this stranger turned out of
Speaker 1: the house? Heaven forbid? Take something and give it him yourself.
Speaker 1: I do not grudge it. I bid you take it,
Speaker 1: never mind my mother nor any of the other servants
Speaker 1: in the house. But I know you will not do
Speaker 1: what I say, for you are more fond of eating
Speaker 1: things yourself than of giving them to other people. What
Speaker 1: do you mean, Telemachus replied Antonus by this swaggering talk,
Speaker 1: if all the suitors were to give him as much
Speaker 1: as I will, he would not come here again for
Speaker 1: another three months. As he spoke, he drew the stool
Speaker 1: on which he rested his dainty feet from under the table,
Speaker 1: and made as though he would at ulysses. But the
Speaker 1: other suitors all gave him something and filled his wallet
Speaker 1: with bread and meat. He was about, therefore to go
Speaker 1: back to the threshold and eat what the suitors had
Speaker 1: given him, but he first went up to Antonas and said, sir,
Speaker 1: give me something. You are not surely the poorest man here.
Speaker 1: You seem to be a chief foremost among them all.
Speaker 1: Therefore you should be the better giver, and I will
Speaker 1: tell far and wide of your bounty. I too was
Speaker 1: a rich man once, and had a fine house of
Speaker 1: my own. In those days, I gave to many a
Speaker 1: tramp such as I am now, No matter who he
Speaker 1: might be, nor what he wanted. I had any number
Speaker 1: of servants and all the other things which people have
Speaker 1: who live well and are accounted wealthy. But it pleased
Speaker 1: Jove to take all away from me. He sent me
Speaker 1: with a band of roving robbers to Egypt. It was
Speaker 1: a long voyage, and I was undone by it. I
Speaker 1: stationed my ships in the river Egyptus and bade my
Speaker 1: men stay by them and keep guard over them, while
Speaker 1: I sent out scouts to reconnoiter from every point of vantage.
Speaker 1: But the men disobeyed my orders, took to their own
Speaker 1: devices and ravaged the land of the Egyptians, killing the
Speaker 1: men and taking their wives and children captives. The alarm
Speaker 1: was soon carried to the city, and when they heard
Speaker 1: the war cry, the people came out at daybreak, till
Speaker 1: the plain was filled with soldiers horse and foot, and
Speaker 1: with the gleam of armor. Then job spread panic among
Speaker 1: my men, and they would no longer face the enemy,
Speaker 1: for they found themselves surrounded. The Egyptians killed many of
Speaker 1: us and took the rest alive to do forced labor
Speaker 1: for them. As for myself, they gave me to a
Speaker 1: friend who met them, to take to Cypress, to meet
Speaker 1: her by name, son of Jesus, who was a great
Speaker 1: man in Cyprus. Thence I am come hither in a
Speaker 1: state of great misery. Then Antonas said, what God can
Speaker 1: have sent such a pestilence to plague us during our dinner?
Speaker 1: Get out into the open part of the court, or
Speaker 1: I will give you Egypt and Cypress over again for
Speaker 1: your insolence and importunity. You have begged of all the others,
Speaker 1: and they have given you lavishly, for they have abundance
Speaker 1: round them, and it is easy to be free with
Speaker 1: other people's property when there is plenty of it. On
Speaker 1: this Ulysses began to move off and said, your looks,
Speaker 1: my fine sir, are better than your breeding. If you
Speaker 1: were in your own house, you would not spare a
Speaker 1: poor man so much as a pinch of salt. For
Speaker 1: though you are in another man's and surrounded with abundance,
Speaker 1: you cannot find it in you to give him even
Speaker 1: a piece of bread. This made Antonus very angry, and
Speaker 1: he scowled at him, saying, you shall pay for this
Speaker 1: before you get clear of the court. With these words,
Speaker 1: he threw a footstool at him and hid him on
Speaker 1: the right shoulder blade near the top of his back.
Speaker 1: Ulysses stood as a rock, and the blow did not
Speaker 1: even stagger him, but he shook his head in silence
Speaker 1: as he brooded on his revenge. Then he went back
Speaker 1: through the threshold and sat down there, laying his well
Speaker 1: filled wallet at his feet. Listen to me, he cried, you,
Speaker 1: suitors of Queen Penelope, that I may speak even as
Speaker 1: I am minded. A man knows neither ache nor pain
Speaker 1: if he gets hit while fighting for his money, or
Speaker 1: for his sheep or his cattle. And even so Antinus
Speaker 1: has hit me while in the service of my miserable belly,
Speaker 1: which is always getting peopled into trouble. Still, if the
Speaker 1: poor have gods and avenging deities at all, I pray
Speaker 1: them that Antonus may come to a bad end before
Speaker 1: his marriage. Sit where you are and eat your victuals
Speaker 1: in silence, or be off elsewhere, shouted Antonus. If you
Speaker 1: say more, I will have you dragged handed foot through
Speaker 1: the courts, and the servant shall flay you alive. The
Speaker 1: other suitors were much displeased at this, and one of
Speaker 1: the young men said, Antonus, you did iel in striking
Speaker 1: that poor wretch of a tramp. It will be worse
Speaker 1: for you if he should turn out to be some god.
Speaker 1: And we know that gods go about disguised in all
Speaker 1: sorts of ways as people from foreign countries, and travel
Speaker 1: about the world to see who do amiss and who righteously,
Speaker 1: Thus said the suitors, but Antonus paid them no heed. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: Telemachus was furious about the blow that had been given
Speaker 1: to his father, and though no tear fell from him,
Speaker 1: he shook his head in silence and brooded on his revenge. Now,
Speaker 1: when Penelope heard that the beggar had been struck in
Speaker 1: the banqueting cloister, she said, before her maids would that
Speaker 1: Apollo would so strike you Antonus and her waiting woman,
Speaker 1: your enemy answered, if our prayers were answered, not one
Speaker 1: of the suitors would ever again see the sun rise.
Speaker 1: Then Penelope said, Nurse, I hate every single one of them,
Speaker 1: for they mean nothing but mischief. I hate Antones like
Speaker 1: the darkness of death itself. A poor unfortunate tramp has
Speaker 1: come begging about the house for sheer want. Everyone else
Speaker 1: has given him something to put in his wallet, but
Speaker 1: Antins has hit him on the right shoulder blade with
Speaker 1: a footstool. Thus did she talk with her maids as
Speaker 1: she sat in her own room, and in the meantime
Speaker 1: Ulysses was getting his dinner. Then she called for the swineherd,
Speaker 1: and said, Eumaeus, go and tell the stranger to come here.
Speaker 1: I want to see him and ask him some questions.
Speaker 1: He seems to have traveled much, and he may have
Speaker 1: seen or heard something of my unhappy husband. To this,
Speaker 1: you answered, o Swineherd, Eumaeus. If these Achaeans, Madam, would
Speaker 1: only keep quiet, you would be charmed with the history
Speaker 1: of his adventures. I had him three days and three
Speaker 1: nights with me in my hut, which was the first
Speaker 1: place he reached after running away from his ship, and
Speaker 1: he has not yet completed the story of his misfortunes.
Speaker 1: If he had been the mother most heaven taught minstrel
Speaker 1: in the whole world, on whose lips all hearers hang entranced,
Speaker 1: I could not have been more charmed as I sat
Speaker 1: in my hut and listened to him. He says there
Speaker 1: is an old friendship between his house and that of Ulysses,
Speaker 1: and that he comes from Crete, where the descendants of
Speaker 1: Minos live. After having been driven hither and thither by
Speaker 1: every kind of misfortune. He also declares that he has
Speaker 1: heard of Ulysses as being alive and near at hand
Speaker 1: among the Thasprosians, and that he is bringing great wealth
Speaker 1: home with him. Call him here, then, said Penelope, that
Speaker 1: I too may hear his story. As for the suitors,
Speaker 1: let them take their pleasure indoors or out as they will,
Speaker 1: for they have nothing to fret about. Their corn and
Speaker 1: wine remain unwasted in their houses, with none but servants
Speaker 1: to consume them. While they keep hanging about our house
Speaker 1: day after day, sacrificing our oxen sheep and fat goats
Speaker 1: for their banquets, and never giving so much as a
Speaker 1: thought to the quantity of wine they drink. No estate
Speaker 1: can stand such recklessness, for we have now no Ulysses
Speaker 1: to protect us. If he were to come again, he
Speaker 1: and his son would soon have their revenge. As she spoke,
Speaker 1: Telemachus sneezed so loudly that the whole house resounded with it.
Speaker 1: Penelope laughed when she heard this, and said to Eumaeus,
Speaker 1: go and call the stranger. Did you not hear how
Speaker 1: my son sneezed just as I was speaking, this can
Speaker 1: only mean that all the suitors are going to be killed,
Speaker 1: and that not one of them shall escape. Furthermore, I say,
Speaker 1: and lay my saying to your heart. If I am
Speaker 1: satisfied that the stranger is speaking the truth, I shall
Speaker 1: give him a shirt and cloak of good wear. When
Speaker 1: Eumaeus heard this, he went straight to Ulysses and said, father, stranger,
Speaker 1: my mistress Penelope, mother of Telemachus, has sent for you.
Speaker 1: She is in great grief, but she wishes to hear
Speaker 1: anything you can tell her about her husband. And if
Speaker 1: she is satisfied that you are speaking the truth, she
Speaker 1: you will give you a shirt and cloak, which are
Speaker 1: the very things that you are most in want of.
Speaker 1: As for bread, you can get enough of that to
Speaker 1: fill your belly by begging about the town and letting
Speaker 1: those give that will I will tell Penelope, answered Ulysses,
Speaker 1: nothing but what is strictly true. I know all about
Speaker 1: her husband, and have been partner with him in affliction.
Speaker 1: But I am afraid of passing through this crowd of
Speaker 1: cruel suitors, for their pride and insolence reach heaven. Just now. Moreover,
Speaker 1: as I was going about the house without doing any harm,
Speaker 1: a man gave me a blow that hurt me very much,
Speaker 1: but neither Telemachus nor any one else defended me. Tell Penelope, therefore,
Speaker 1: to be patient and wait till sundown. Let her give
Speaker 1: me a seat close up to the fire, for my
Speaker 1: clothes are worn very thin. You know they are, for
Speaker 1: you have seen them ever since I first asked you
Speaker 1: to help me. She can then ask me about the
Speaker 1: return of her husband. The Swineherd went back when he
Speaker 1: heard this, and Penelope said, as she saw him cross
Speaker 1: the threshold, why do you not bring him here? Eumaeus?
Speaker 1: Is he afraid that some one will ill treat him?
Speaker 1: Or is he shy if coming inside the house at all?
Speaker 1: Beggar should not be shamefaced to this, you answered, o Swineherd. Eumaeus.
Speaker 1: The stranger is quite reasonable. He is avoiding the suitors
Speaker 1: and is only doing what any one else would do.
Speaker 1: He asks you to wait till sundown, and it will
Speaker 1: be much better, madam, that you should have him all
Speaker 1: to yourself, when you can hear him and talk to
Speaker 1: him as you will. The man is no fool, answered Penelope.
Speaker 1: It would very likely be as he says, for there
Speaker 1: are no such abominable people in the whole world, as
Speaker 1: these men are. When she had done speaking, Eumaeus went
Speaker 1: back to the suitors, for he had explained everything. Then
Speaker 1: he went up to Telemachus and said in his ear,
Speaker 1: so that none could overhear him. My dear sir, I
Speaker 1: will now go back to the pigs to see after
Speaker 1: your property and my own business. You will look to
Speaker 1: what is going on here, But above all be careful
Speaker 1: to keep out of danger, for there are many who
Speaker 1: bear you ill. Will may Jove bring them to a
Speaker 1: bad end before they do us a mischief. Very well,
Speaker 1: replied Telemachus. Go home when you have had your dinner,
Speaker 1: and in the morning come here with the victims we
Speaker 1: are to sacrifice for the day. Leave the rest to
Speaker 1: heaven and me On this Eumaeus took his seat again,
Speaker 1: and when he had finished his dinner, he left the
Speaker 1: courts and the cloister with the men at table, and
Speaker 1: went back to his pigs. As for the suitors, they
Speaker 1: presently began to amuse themselves with singing and dancing, for
Speaker 1: it was now getting on towards evening. End of book
Speaker 1: seventeen