ULYSSES CANNOT SLEEP—PENELOPE’S PRAYER TO DIANA—THE TWO SIGNS FROM HEAVEN—EUMAEUS AND PHILOETIUS ARRIVE—THE SUITORS DINE—CTESIPPUS THROWS AN OX’S FOOT AT ULYSSES—THEOCLYMENUS FORETELLS DISASTER AND LEAVES THE HOUSE.
Ulysses slept in the upon an bullock’s hide, on the top of which he skins of the sheep the had eaten, and Eurynome156 a over him after he had himself down. There, then, Ulysses upon the way in which he should kill the suitors; and by and by, the who had been in the of themselves with them, left the house and laughing with one another. This Ulysses very angry, and he to up and kill every single one of them then and there, or to let them sleep one more and last time with the suitors. His him, and as a with and her teeth when she sees a stranger, so did his with anger at the that were being done: but he his and said, “Heart, be still, you had than this to on the day when the terrible Cyclops ate your companions; yet you it in till your got you safe out of the cave, though you sure of being killed.”
Thus he with his heart, and it into endurance, but he about as one who a full of blood and in of a fire, doing it on one and then on the other, that he may it as soon as possible, so did he turn himself about from to side, all the time how, single as he was, he should to kill so large a of men as the suitors. But by and by Minerva came from in the of a woman, and over his saying, “My man, why do you in this way? This is your house: your wife is safe it, and so is your son who is just such a man as any father may be proud of.”
“Goddess,” answered Ulysses, “all that you have said is true, but I am in some as to how I shall be able to kill these single handed, what a number of them there always are. And there is this difficulty, which is still more considerable. Supposing that with Jove’s and your I succeed in killing them, I must ask you to where I am to to from their when it is all over.”
“For shame,” Minerva, “why, any one else would trust a than myself, though that were only a and less wise than I am. Am I not a goddess, and have I not protected you in all your troubles? I tell you that though there were fifty of men us and to kill us, you should take all their sheep and cattle, and drive them away with you. But go to sleep; it is a very thing to all night, and you shall be out of your long.”
As she spoke she sleep over his eyes, and then to Olympus.
While Ulysses was thus himself to a very that the of his sorrows, his wife awoke, and up in her to cry. When she had herself by she prayed to Diana saying, “Great Goddess Diana, of Jove, drive an into my and me; or let some me up and me through paths of till it me into the mouths of over-flowing Oceanus, as it did the of Pandareus. The of Pandareus their father and mother, for the gods killed them, so they were left orphans. But Venus took of them, and them on cheese, honey, and sweet wine. Juno them to all in of and understanding; Diana gave them an presence, and Minerva them with every of accomplishment; but one day when Venus had gone up to Olympus to see Jove about them married (for well he know what shall and what not to every one) the came and them away to to the Erinyes. Even so I wish that the gods who live in would me from sight, or that Diana might me, for I would go the sad earth if I might do so still looking Ulysses only, and without having to myself to a man than he was. Besides, no how much people may by day, they can put up with it so long as they can sleep at night, for when the are closed in people good and alike; my me in my dreams. This very night there was one by my who was like Ulysses as he was when he away with his host, and I rejoiced, for I that it was no dream, but the very truth itself.”
On this the day broke, but Ulysses the of her weeping, and it puzzled him, for it as though she already him and was by his side. Then he up the and the on which he had lain, and set them on a seat in the cloister, but he took the bullock’s out into the open. He up his hands to heaven, and prayed, saying “Father Jove, since you have fit to me over land and sea to my own home after all the you have upon me, give me a out of the mouth of some one or other of those who are now the house, and let me have another of some from outside.”
Thus did he pray. Jove his prayer and high up among the clouds from the of Olympus, and Ulysses was when he it. At the same time the house, a miller-woman from hard by in the room up her voice and gave him another sign. There were twelve miller-women it was to and which are the staff of life. The others had ground their and had gone to take their rest, but this one had not yet finished, for she was not so as they were, and when she the she stopped and gave the to her master. “Father Jove,” said she, “you, who over and earth, you have from a clear sky without so much as a cloud in it, and this means something for somebody; the prayer, then, of me your who calls upon you, and let this be the very last day that the in the house of Ulysses. They have me out with of for them, and I they may have another dinner at all.”
Ulysses was when he the to him by the woman’s speech, and by the thunder, for he they meant that he should himself on the suitors.
Then the other in the house rose and the fire on the hearth; Telemachus also rose and put on his clothes. He his about his shoulder, his sandals on to his feet, and took a with a point of bronze; then he to the of the and said to Euryclea, “Nurse, did you make the as and board, or did you let him shift for himself?—for my mother, good woman though she is, has a way of paying great attention to second-rate people, and of others who are in much men.”
“Do not fault child,” said Euryclea, “when there is no one to fault with. The sat and his as long as he liked: your mother did ask him if he would take any more and he said he would not. When he wanted to go to she told the to make one for him, but he said he was such a that he would not sleep on a and under blankets; he on having an bullock’s and some put for him in the and I a over him myself.”157
Then Telemachus out of the to the place where the Achaeans were meeting in assembly; he had his in his hand, and he was not alone, for his two dogs with him. But Euryclea called the and said, “Come, wake up; set about the and them with water to the dust; put the on the seats; the tables, some of you, with a wet sponge; clean out the mixing-jugs and the cups, and go for water from the at once; the will be here directly; they will be here early, for it is a day.”
Thus did she speak, and they did as she had said: twenty of them to the for water, and the others set themselves to work about the house. The men who were in on the also came up and firewood. By and by the returned from the fountain, and the came after them with the three best pigs he out. These he let about the premises, and then he said good-humouredly to Ulysses, “Stranger, are the you any now, or are they as as ever?”
“May heaven,” answered Ulysses, “requite to them the with which they high-handedly in another man’s house without any of shame.”
Thus did they converse; meanwhile Melanthius the came up, for he too was in his best for the suitors’ dinner; and he had two with him. They the up under the gatehouse, and then Melanthius at Ulysses. “Are you still here, stranger,” said he, “to people by about the house? Why can you not go elsewhere? You and I shall not come to an we have each other a taste of our fists. You without any of decency: are there not among the Achaeans, as well as here?”
Ulysses no answer, but his and brooded. Then a third man, Philoetius, joined them, who was in a and some goats. These were over by the who are there to take people over when any one comes to them. So Philoetius his and his secure under the gatehouse, and then up to the swineherd. “Who, Swineherd,” said he, “is this that is come here? Is he one of your men? What is his family? Where he come from? Poor fellow, he looks as if he had been some great man, but the gods give to they will—even to kings if it so them.”
As he spoke he up to Ulysses and him with his right hand; “Good day to you, father stranger,” said he, “you to be very off now, but I you will have times by and by. Father Jove, of all gods you are the most malicious. We are your own children, yet you us no in all our and afflictions. A came over me when I saw this man, and my with tears, for he me of Ulysses, who I is going about in just such as this man’s are, if he is still among the living. If he is already and in the house of Hades, then, alas! for my good master, who me his when I was among the Cephallenians, and now his are countless; no one have done with them than I have, for they have like ears of corn; I have to keep them in for others to eat, who take no to his son though he is in the house, and not the of heaven, but are already to Ulysses’ property among them he has been away so long. I have often thought—only it would not be right while his son is living—of going off with the to some country; as this would be, it is still to here and be ill-treated about other people’s herds. My position is intolerable, and I should long since have away and put myself under the protection of some other chief, only that I my master will yet return, and send all these out of the house.”
“Stockman,” answered Ulysses, “you to be a very well-disposed person, and I can see that you are a man of sense. Therefore I will tell you, and will my with an oath. By Jove, the of all gods, and by that of Ulysses to which I am now come, Ulysses shall return you this place, and if you are so you shall see him killing the who are now masters here.”
“If Jove were to this to pass,” the stockman, “you should see how I would do my very to help him.”
And in like manner Eumaeus prayed that Ulysses might return home.
Thus did they converse. Meanwhile the were a plot to Telemachus: but a bird near them on their left hand—an with a in its talons. On this Amphinomus said, “My friends, this plot of ours to Telemachus will not succeed; let us go to dinner instead.”
The others assented, so they and their on the benches and seats. They the sheep, goats, pigs, and the heifer, and when the meats were they them round. They mixed the in the mixing-bowls, and the gave every man his cup, while Philoetius the in the baskets, and Melanthius them out their wine. Then they their hands upon the good that were them.
Telemachus Ulysses in the part of the that was with stone;158 he gave him a looking seat at a little table to himself, and had his of the meats to him, with his in a gold cup. “Sit there,” said he, “and drink your among the great people. I will put a stop to the and of the suitors, for this is no public house, but to Ulysses, and has passed from him to me. Therefore, suitors, keep your hands and your to yourselves, or there will be mischief.”
The their lips, and at the of his speech; then Antinous said, “We do not like such language but we will put up with it, for Telemachus is us in good earnest. If Jove had let us we should have put a stop to his talk now.”
Thus spoke Antinous, but Telemachus him not. Meanwhile the were the through the city, and the Achaeans under the of Apollo.
Then they the meat, it off the spits, gave every man his portion, and to their heart’s content; those who waited at table gave Ulysses the same as the others had, for Telemachus had told them to do so.
But Minerva would not let the for one moment their insolence, for she wanted Ulysses to still more against them. Now there to be among them a fellow, name was Ctesippus, and who came from Same. This man, in his great wealth, was paying to the wife of Ulysses, and said to the suitors, “Hear what I have to say. The has already had as large a as any one else; this is well, for it is not right to ill-treat any guest of Telemachus who comes here. I will, however, make him a present on my own account, that he may have something to give to the bath-woman, or to some other of Ulysses’ servants.”
As he spoke he up a heifer’s from the meat-basket in which it lay, and it at Ulysses, but Ulysses his a little aside, and it, Sardinian fashion159 as he did so, and it the wall, not him. On this Telemachus spoke to Ctesippus, “It is a good thing for you,” said he, “that the his so that you missed him. If you had him I should have you through with my spear, and your father would have had to see about you than married in this house. So let me have no more from any of you, for I am up now to the knowledge of good and and what is going on, of being the child that I have been heretofore. I have long you killing my sheep and making free with my and wine: I have put up with this, for one man is no match for many, but do me no violence. Still, if you wish to kill me, kill me; I would die than see such day after day—guests insulted, and men the about the house in an way.”
They all their peace till at last Agelaus son of Damastor said, “No one should take at what has just been said, it, for it is reasonable. Leave off, therefore, ill-treating the stranger, or any one else of the who are about the house; I would say, however, a word to Telemachus and his mother, which I trust may itself to both. ‘As long,’ I would say, ‘as you had ground for that Ulysses would one day come home, no one complain of your waiting and suffering160 the to be in your house. It would have been that he should have returned, but it is now clear that he will do so; therefore talk all this over with your mother, and tell her to the best man, and the one who makes her the most offer. Thus you will be able to manage your own inheritance, and to eat and drink in peace, while your mother will look after some other man’s house, not yours.’”
To this Telemachus answered, “By Jove, Agelaus, and by the of my father, who has either from Ithaca, or is in some land, I no in the way of my mother’s marriage; on the I her to choose she will, and I will give her gifts into the bargain, but I not point blank that she shall the house against her own wishes. Heaven that I should do this.”
Minerva now the to laughing immoderately, and set their wandering; but they were laughing with a laughter. Their meat with blood; their with tears, and their were with forebodings. Theoclymenus saw this and said, “Unhappy men, what is it that you? There is a of over you from to foot, your are wet with tears; the air is alive with voices; the and roof-beams blood; the gate of the and the them are full of into the night of hell; the sun is out of heaven, and a is over all the land.”
Thus did he speak, and they all of them laughed heartily. Eurymachus then said, “This who has come here has his senses. Servants, turn him out into the streets, since he it so dark here.”
But Theoclymenus said, “Eurymachus, you need not send any one with me. I have eyes, ears, and a pair of of my own, to say nothing of an mind. I will take these out of the house with me, for I see you, from which not one of you men who are people and in the house of Ulysses will be able to escape.”
He left the house as he spoke, and to Piraeus who gave him welcome, but the looking at one another and Telemachus by laughing at the strangers. One said to him, “Telemachus, you are not happy in your guests; you have this tramp, who comes and and has no skill for work or for hard fighting, but is perfectly useless, and now here is another who is setting himself up as a prophet. Let me you, for it will be much to put them on ship and send them off to the Sicels to sell for what they will bring.”
Telemachus gave him no heed, but his father, every moment that he would his attack upon the suitors.
Meanwhile the of Icarius, wise Penelope, had had a rich seat for her the and cloisters, so that she what every one was saying. The dinner had been prepared much merriment; it had been good and abundant, for they had many victims; but the supper was yet to come, and nothing can be more than the which a and a man were soon to them—for they had their upon themselves.
