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03 - The Odyssey - Homer · Classic Adventure Books - Daily

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Speaker 1: Book three. But as the sun was rising from the
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Speaker 1: fair sea into the firmament of heaven to shed light
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Speaker 1: on mortals and immortals, they reached Pylos, the city of Nelius.
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Speaker 1: Now the people of Pylos were gathered on the sea
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Speaker 1: shore to offer sacrifice of black bulls to Neptune, lord
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Speaker 1: of the earthquake. There were nine guilds with five hundred
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Speaker 1: men in each, and there were nine bulls to each guild.
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Speaker 1: As they were eating the inward meats and burning the
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Speaker 1: thigh bones on the embers in the name of Neptune.
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Speaker 1: Telemachus and his crew arrived, furled their sails, brought their
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Speaker 1: ship to anchor, and went ashore. Minerva led the way,
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Speaker 1: and Telemachus followed her. Presently, She said, Telemachus, you must
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Speaker 1: not be in the least shy or nervous. You have
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Speaker 1: taken this voyage to try and find out where your
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Speaker 1: father is buried and how he came by his end.
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Speaker 1: So go straight up to Nestor, that we may see
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Speaker 1: what he has got to tell us. Beg of him
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Speaker 1: to speak the truth, and he will tell no lies,
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Speaker 1: for he is an excellent person. But how Mentor replied
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Speaker 1: to Lemachus dare I go up to Nestor? And how
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Speaker 1: am I to address him? I have never yet been
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Speaker 1: used to holding long conversations with people, and am ashamed
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Speaker 1: to begin questioning one who is so much older than
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Speaker 1: myself some things, Telemachus answered, Minerva will be suggested to
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Speaker 1: you by your own instinct, and Heaven will prompt you further,
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Speaker 1: for I am assured that the gods have been with
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Speaker 1: you from the time of your birth until now. She
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Speaker 1: then went quickly on, and Telemachus followed in her steps
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Speaker 1: till they reached the place where the guilds of the
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Speaker 1: Pilian people were assembled. There they found Nestor sitting with
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Speaker 1: his sons, while his company round him were busy getting
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Speaker 1: dinner ready and putting pieces of meat onto the spits
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Speaker 1: while other pieces were cooking. When they saw the strangers,
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Speaker 1: they crowded round them, took them by the hand, and
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Speaker 1: bade them take their places. Nestor's son, Pisistretus at once
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Speaker 1: offered his hand to each of them and seated them
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Speaker 1: on some soft sheepskins that were lying on the sands
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Speaker 1: near his father and his brother Thricymides. Then he gave
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Speaker 1: them their portions of the inward meats and poured wine
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Speaker 1: for them into a golden cup, handing it to Minerva first,
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Speaker 1: and saluting her at the same time. Offer a prayer, sir,
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Speaker 1: said he to King Neptune. For it is his feast
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Speaker 1: that you are joining. When you have duly prayed and
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Speaker 1: made your drink offering, passed the cup to your friend,
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Speaker 1: that he may do so also. I doubt not that
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Speaker 1: he too lifts his hands in prayer, for man cannot
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Speaker 1: live without God in the world. Still, he is younger
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Speaker 1: than you are, and is much of an age with myself.
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Speaker 1: So I he handed, I will give you the precedence.
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Speaker 1: As he spoke, he handed her the cup. Minerva thought
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Speaker 1: it very right and proper of him to have given
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Speaker 1: it to herself first. She accordingly began praying heartily to Neptune,
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Speaker 1: O Thou, She cried, that in circles the earth vouchsafe
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Speaker 1: to grant the prayers of thy servants that call upon me.
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Speaker 1: More especially, we pray thee send down thy grace on
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Speaker 1: Nestor and on his sons. Thereafter, also make the rest
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Speaker 1: of the Pylian people some handsome return for the goodly
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Speaker 1: HECATU mayre offering you. Lastly, grant Telemachus and myself a
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Speaker 1: happy issue in respect of the matter that has brought
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Speaker 1: us in our to Pylos. When she had thus made
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Speaker 1: an end of praying, she handed the cup to Telemachus,
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Speaker 1: and he prayed likewise, by and bye. When the outer
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Speaker 1: meats were roasted and had been taken off the spits,
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Speaker 1: the carvers gave every man his portion, and they all
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Speaker 1: made an excellent dinner. As soon as they had had
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Speaker 1: enough to eat and drink, Nesser knight of Gerene, began
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Speaker 1: to speak. Now, said he that our guests have done
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Speaker 1: their dinner, it will be best to ask them who
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Speaker 1: they are. Who, then, sir, strangers, are you and from
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Speaker 1: what port have you sailed? Are you traders? Or do
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Speaker 1: you sail the seas as rovers? With your hand against
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Speaker 1: every man and every man's hand against you? Telemachus answered boldly,
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Speaker 1: for Minerva had given him courage to ask about his
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Speaker 1: father and get himself a good name. Nestor, said he,
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Speaker 1: son of Nelius, honor to the Acaean name. You ask
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Speaker 1: whence we come, and I will tell you. We come
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Speaker 1: from Ithaca under Neretum. And the matter about which I
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Speaker 1: would speak is of private not public import I seek
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Speaker 1: news of my unhappy father Ulysses, who is said to
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Speaker 1: have sacked the town of Troy in company with yourself.
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Speaker 1: We know what fate befell each one of the other
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Speaker 1: heroes who fought at Troy. But as regards Ulysses, Heaven
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Speaker 1: has hidden from us the knowledge even that he is
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Speaker 1: dead at all, for no one can certify us in
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Speaker 1: what place he perished, nor say whether he fell in
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Speaker 1: battle on the mainland, or was lost at sea amid
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Speaker 1: the waves of Amphitrite. Therefore I am suppliant at your knees.
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Speaker 1: If haply you may be pleased to tell me of
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Speaker 1: his melancholy, and whether you saw it with your own
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Speaker 1: eyes or heard it from some other traveler, For he
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Speaker 1: was a man born to trouble. Do not soften things
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Speaker 1: out of any pity for me, but tell me, in
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Speaker 1: all plainness exactly what you saw. If my brave father
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Speaker 1: Ulysses ever did you loyal service, either by word or deed,
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Speaker 1: when you Achaeans were harassed among the Trojans, bear it
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Speaker 1: in mind now as in my favor, and tell me
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Speaker 1: truly all my friend answered Nestor you recall a time
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Speaker 1: of much sorrow to my mind for the brave Achaeans
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Speaker 1: suffered much, both at sea, while privateering under Achilles, and
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Speaker 1: when fighting before the great city of King Priam. Our
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Speaker 1: best men. All of them fell there, Ajax, Achilles, Patroclus,
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Speaker 1: peer of gods, in council, and my own dear son Antilochus,
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Speaker 1: a man singularly fleet of foot and in fight valiant.
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Speaker 1: But we suffered much more than this. What mortal tongue
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Speaker 1: could tell the whole story. Though you were to stay
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Speaker 1: here and question me for five years or even six,
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Speaker 1: I could not tell you all that the Achaeans suffered,
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Speaker 1: and you would turn homeward weary of my tale before
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Speaker 1: it ended. Nine long years did we try every kind
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Speaker 1: of stratagem, but the hand of Heaven was against us.
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Speaker 1: During all this time there was not one who could
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Speaker 1: compare with your father in subtlety. If indeed you are
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Speaker 1: his son, I can hardly believe my eyes, and you
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Speaker 1: talk just like him too. No one would say that
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Speaker 1: people of such different ages could speak so much alike.
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Speaker 1: He and I never had any kind of difference from
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Speaker 1: first to last, neither in camp nor council. But in
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Speaker 1: singleness of heart and purpose we advised the archives. How
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Speaker 1: all might be ordered for the best. When, however, we
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Speaker 1: had sacked the city of Priam and were setting sail
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Speaker 1: in our ships as Heaven had dispersed us. Then Jove
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Speaker 1: saw fit to vex the archives on their homeward voyage,
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Speaker 1: for they had not all been either wise or understanding,
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Speaker 1: and hence many came to a bad end through the
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Speaker 1: displeasure of Jove's daughter, Minerva, who brought about a quarrel
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Speaker 1: between the two sons of Atreus. The sons of Atreus
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Speaker 1: called a meeting, which was not as it should be,
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Speaker 1: for it was sunset, and the Achaeans were heavy with wine.
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Speaker 1: When they explained why they had the people together, it
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Speaker 1: seemed that Menelaus was for sailing homeward at once, and
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Speaker 1: this displeased Agamemnon, who thought that we should wait until
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Speaker 1: we had offered hecatombs to appease the anger of Minerva.
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Speaker 1: Fool that he was, he might have known that he
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Speaker 1: would not prevail with her, for when the gods have
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Speaker 1: made up their minds, they do not change them lightly.
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Speaker 1: So the two stood bandying hard words, whereon the Achaeans
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Speaker 1: sprang to their feet with a cry that rent the air,
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Speaker 1: and were of two minds as to what they should do.
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Speaker 1: That night, we rested and nursed our anger, for Jove
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Speaker 1: was hatching mischief against us. But in the morning some
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Speaker 1: of us drew our ships into the water and put
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Speaker 1: our goods with our women on board, while the rest,
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Speaker 1: about half in number, stayed behind with Agamemnon. We the
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Speaker 1: other half embarked and sailed, and the ships went well,
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Speaker 1: for Heaven had smoothed the sea. When we reached Tenedos,
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Speaker 1: we offered sacrifices to the gods, for we were longing
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Speaker 1: to get home. Cruel Jove, however, did not yet mean
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Speaker 1: that we should do so, and raised a second quarrel,
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Speaker 1: in the course of which some among us turned their
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Speaker 1: ships back again and sailed away under ulysses to make
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Speaker 1: their peace with Agamemnon. But I and all the ships
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Speaker 1: that were with me pressed forward, for I saw that
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Speaker 1: mischief was brewing. The son of Taideus went on also
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Speaker 1: with me, and his crews with him. Later on, Menelaeus
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Speaker 1: joined us at Lesbos and found us making up our
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Speaker 1: minds about our course, for we did not know whether
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Speaker 1: to go outside Chios by the island of Syra, keeping
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Speaker 1: this to our left, or inside Chios over against the
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Speaker 1: stormy headland of Mimas. So we asked Heaven for a sign,
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Speaker 1: and were shown one to the effect that we should
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Speaker 1: be soonest out of danger if we headed our ships
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Speaker 1: across the open sea to Eubia. This we therefore did,
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Speaker 1: and a fair wind sprang up, which gave us a
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Speaker 1: quick passage during the night to Geraistus, where we offered
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Speaker 1: many sacrifices to Neptune for having helped us so far
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Speaker 1: on our way. Four days later, Diomede and his men
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Speaker 1: stationed their ships in Argos, but I held on for Pylos,
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Speaker 1: and the wind never fell light from the day when
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Speaker 1: Heaven first made it fair for me. Therefore, my dear
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Speaker 1: young friend, I returned without hearing anything about the others.
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Speaker 1: I know neither who got home safely nor who were lost.
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Speaker 1: But as in duty bound, I will give you without reserve,
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Speaker 1: the reports that have reached me since I have been
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Speaker 1: here in my own house. They say the Mirmadons returned
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Speaker 1: home safely under Achilles son Neoptolemus. So also did the
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Speaker 1: valiant son of Poeus Phylactides. Idominius again lost no men
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Speaker 1: at sea, and all his followers who escaped death in
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Speaker 1: the field got home safe with him to crete. No
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Speaker 1: matter how far out of the world you live, you
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Speaker 1: will have heard of Agamemnon and the bad end he
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Speaker 1: came to at the hands of Agisthus, and a fearful
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Speaker 1: reckoning did Agisthus presently pay. See what a good thing
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Speaker 1: it is for a man to leave a son behind him,
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Speaker 1: to do as Orestes did, who killed false Agisthus, the
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Speaker 1: murderer of his noble father. You too, then, for you
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Speaker 1: are a tall, smart looking fellow, Show your metal and
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Speaker 1: make yourself a name. In story, Nestor, son of Nelius,
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Speaker 1: answered to Lemachus, honor to the Achaean name. The Achaeans
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Speaker 1: applaud Orestes, and his name will live through all time,
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Speaker 1: for he has avenged his father. Nobly would that Heaven
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Speaker 1: might grant me to do like vengeance on the insolence
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Speaker 1: of the wicked suitors who are ill treating me and
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Speaker 1: plotting my ruin. But the gods have no such happiness
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Speaker 1: in store for me and my father, so we must
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Speaker 1: bear it as best we may. My friend, said Nestor,
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Speaker 1: now that you remind me, I remember to have heard
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Speaker 1: that your mother has many suitors who are ill disposed
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Speaker 1: towards you, and are making havoc of your estate. Did
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Speaker 1: you submit to this tamely or our public feeling in
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Speaker 1: the voice of Heaven against you? Who knows but what
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Speaker 1: Ulysses may come back after all and pay these scoundrels
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Speaker 1: in full, either single handed or with a force of
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Speaker 1: Achaeans behind him, if Minerva were to take as great
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Speaker 1: a liking to you as she did to Ulysses when
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Speaker 1: we were fighting before Troy. For I never yet saw
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Speaker 1: the gods so openly fond of any one as Minerva
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Speaker 1: then was of your father. If she would take as
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Speaker 1: good care of you as she did of him, these
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Speaker 1: wooers would soon some of them forget their wooing. Telemachus answered,
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Speaker 1: I can expect nothing of the kind. It would be
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Speaker 1: far too much to hope, for I dare not let
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Speaker 1: myself think of it, even though the gods themselves willed it.
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Speaker 1: No such good fortune could befall me on this, Minerva,
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Speaker 1: said Telemachus, what are you talking about. Heaven has a
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Speaker 1: long arm if it is minded to save a man,
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Speaker 1: and if it were me, I should not care how
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Speaker 1: much I suffered before getting home, provided I could be
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Speaker 1: safe when I was once there. I would rather this
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Speaker 1: than get home quickly and then be killed in my
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Speaker 1: own house, as Agamemnon was by the treachery of Agisthus
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Speaker 1: and his wife. Still death is certain, and when a
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Speaker 1: man's hour is come, not even the gods can save him,
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Speaker 1: no matter how fond they are of him. Mentor, answered Telemachus.
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Speaker 1: Do not let us talk about it any more. There
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Speaker 1: is no chance of my father's ever coming back. The
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Speaker 1: gods have long since counseled his destruction. There is something else, however,
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Speaker 1: about which I should like to ask Nestor, for he
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Speaker 1: knows much more than any one else does. They say
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Speaker 1: he has reigned for three generations, so that it is
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Speaker 1: like talking to an immortal. Tell me, therefore, Nestor, and
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Speaker 1: tell me true, how did Agamemnon come to die in
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Speaker 1: that way? What was Menilaeus doing? And how came false
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Speaker 1: Egistus to kill so far a better man than himself
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Speaker 1: was Menilaeus away from Machay and Argos voyaging elsewhither among
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Speaker 1: mankind that Egisthus took heart and killed Agamemnon. I will
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Speaker 1: tell you, truly, answered Nestor, And indeed you have divined
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Speaker 1: yourself how it all happened. If Menelaeus, when he got
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Speaker 1: back from Troy, had found Agistus still alive in his house,
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Speaker 1: there would have been no barrow heaped up for him,
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Speaker 1: not even when he was dead. But he would have
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Speaker 1: been thrown outside the city to dogs and vultures, and
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Speaker 1: not a woman would have mourned him, for he had
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Speaker 1: done indeed of great wickedness. But we were over there
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Speaker 1: fighting hard at Troy, and Egisthus, who was taking his
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Speaker 1: ease quiet in the heart of Argos, cajoled Agamemnon's wife,
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Speaker 1: Clytemnestra with incessant flattery. At first, she would have nothing
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Speaker 1: to do with his wicked scheme, for she was of
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Speaker 1: a good natural disposition. Moreover, there was a bard with her,
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Speaker 1: to whom Agamemnon had given strict orders on setting out
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Speaker 1: for Troy, that he was to keep guard over his wife.
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Speaker 1: But when Heaven had counseled her destruction, Egisthus thus this
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Speaker 1: barred off to a desert island and left him there
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Speaker 1: for crows and sigulls to batten upon, after which she
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Speaker 1: went willingly enough to the house of Egisthus. Then he
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Speaker 1: offered many burnt sacrifices to the gods and decorated many
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Speaker 1: temples with tapestries and gilding, for he had succeeded far
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Speaker 1: beyond his expectations. Meanwhile, Menelaeus and I were on our
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Speaker 1: way home from Troy, on good terms with one another.
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Speaker 1: When we got to Sunium, which is the point of Athens, Apollo,
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Speaker 1: with his painless shafts, killed Phrontis, the steersman of menelaeus ship,
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Speaker 1: And never man knew better how to handle a vessel
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Speaker 1: in rough weather, so that he died then and there
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Speaker 1: with the helm in his hand. And Menelaeus, though very
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Speaker 1: anxious to press forward, had to wait in order to
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Speaker 1: bury his comrade and give him his due funeral. Rites. Presently,
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Speaker 1: when he too could put to sea again, and had
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Speaker 1: sailed on as far as the Malayan heads, Jove counseled
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Speaker 1: evil against him and made it blow hard till the
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Speaker 1: waves ran mountains high. Here he divided his fleet and
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Speaker 1: took the one half towards Crete, where the Sidonians dwell
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Speaker 1: round the waters of the river Yardanus. There is a
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Speaker 1: high headland hereabouts, stretching out into the sea from a
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Speaker 1: place called Gorton, and all along this part of the
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Speaker 1: coast as far as Fastus, the sea runs high when
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Speaker 1: there is a south wind blowing, but after Paestus the
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Speaker 1: coast is more protected, for a small headland can make
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Speaker 1: a great shelter. Here. This part of the fleet was
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Speaker 1: driven on to the rocks and wrecked, but the crews
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Speaker 1: just managed to save themselves. As for the other five ships,
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Speaker 1: they were taken by wind and seas to Egypt, where
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Speaker 1: Menelaeus gathered much gold and substance among people of an
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Speaker 1: alien speech. Meanwhile, Aegithus here at home, plotted his evil deed.
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Speaker 1: For seven years. After he had killed Agamemnon, he ruled
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Speaker 1: in Mycene, and the people were obedient under him. But
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Speaker 1: in the eighth year, Orestes came back from Athens to
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Speaker 1: be his bane and killed the murderer of his father.
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Speaker 1: Then he celebrated the funeral rites of his mother and
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Speaker 1: of false Agisthus by a banquet to the people of Argos.
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Speaker 1: And on that very day Menelaeus came home with as
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Speaker 1: much treasure as his ships could carry. And do not
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Speaker 1: go traveling about for long so far from home, nor
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Speaker 1: leave your property with such dangerous people in your house.
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Speaker 1: They will eat up everything you have among them, and
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Speaker 1: you will have been on a fool's Errand still I
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Speaker 1: should advise you by all means, to go and visit Menelaeus,
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Speaker 1: who has lately come off a voyage among such distant
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Speaker 1: peoples as no man could ever hope to get back from,
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Speaker 1: when the winds had once carried him so far out
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Speaker 1: of his reckoning. Even birds cannot fly the distance in
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Speaker 1: a twelve months, so vast and terrible are the seas
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Speaker 1: that they must cross. Go to him, therefore, by sea,
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Speaker 1: and take your own men with you, Or if you
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Speaker 1: would rather travel by land, you can have a chariot,
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Speaker 1: you can have horses. And here are my sons who
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Speaker 1: can escort you to Lacedaemon, where Menelaeus lives. Beg of
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Speaker 1: him to speak the truth, and he will tell you
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Speaker 1: no lies, for he is an excellent person. As he spoke,
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Speaker 1: the sun set and it came on dark whereon Minerva said, sir,
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Speaker 1: all that you have said is well. Now, however, order
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Speaker 1: the tongues of the victims to be cut and mix wine,
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Speaker 1: that we may make drink offerings to Neptune and the
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Speaker 1: other immortals, and then go to bed, For it is bedtime.
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Speaker 1: People should go away early, and not keep late hours
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Speaker 1: at a religious festival. Thus spoke the daughter of Jove,
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Speaker 1: and they obeyed her, saying, men servants poured water over
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Speaker 1: the hands of the guests, while pages filled the mixing
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Speaker 1: bowls with wine and water and handed it round. After
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Speaker 1: giving every man his drink offering, then they threw the
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Speaker 1: tongue of the victims into the fire and stood up
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Speaker 1: to make their drink offerings. When they had made their
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Speaker 1: offerings and had drunk each as much as he was minded,
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Speaker 1: Minerva and Telemachus were foregoing on board their ship, but
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Speaker 1: Nestor caught them up at once and stayed them heaven
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Speaker 1: and the immortal gods. He exclaimed, forbid that you should
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Speaker 1: leave my house to go on board of a ship.
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Speaker 1: Do you think I am so poor and short of clothes,
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Speaker 1: or that I have so few cloaks and as to
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Speaker 1: be unable to find comfortable beds, both for myself and
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Speaker 1: for my guests. Let me tell you I have store
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Speaker 1: both of rugs and cloaks, and shall not permit the
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Speaker 1: son of my old friend Ulysses to camp down on
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Speaker 1: the deck of a ship, not while I live, nor
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Speaker 1: yet will my sons after me, But they will keep
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Speaker 1: open house as I have done. Then, Minerva answered, sir,
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Speaker 1: you have spoken well, and it will be much better
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Speaker 1: that Telemachus should do as you have said. He therefore
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Speaker 1: shall return with you and sleep at your house. But
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Speaker 1: I must go back to give orders to my crew
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Speaker 1: and keep them in good heart. I am the only
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Speaker 1: older person among them. The rest are all young men
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Speaker 1: of Telemachus's own age, who have taken this voyage out
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Speaker 1: of friendship. So I must return to the ship and
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Speaker 1: sleep there. Moreover, tomorrow I must go to the Calconians,
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Speaker 1: where I have a large sum of money long owing
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Speaker 1: to me. As for Telemachus, now that he is your guest,
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Speaker 1: send him to Lacedaemon in a chariot, and let one
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Speaker 1: of your sons go with him. Be pleased also to
18:25
Speaker 1: provide him with your best and fleetest horses. When she
18:29
Speaker 1: had thus spoken, she flew away in the form of
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Speaker 1: an eagle, and all marveled as they beheld it. Nestor
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Speaker 1: was astonished and took Telemachus by the hand. My friend said, he,
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Speaker 1: I see that you are going to be a great
18:41
Speaker 1: hero some day, since the gods wait upon you. Thus,
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Speaker 1: while you are still so young, this can have been
18:47
Speaker 1: none other of those who dwell in heaven than Jove's
18:49
Speaker 1: redoubtable daughter, the Triton born, who showed such favor towards
18:53
Speaker 1: your brave father among the argives, Holy Queen, He continued,
18:57
Speaker 1: vouchsafe to send down thy grace upon my myself, my
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Speaker 1: good wife, and my children. In return, I will offer
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Speaker 1: you in sacrifice a broad browed heifer of a year old,
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Speaker 1: unbroken and never yet brought by man under the yoke.
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Speaker 1: I will gild her horns and will offer her up
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Speaker 1: to you in sacrifice. Thus did he pray, and Minerva
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Speaker 1: heard his prayer. He then led the way to his
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Speaker 1: own house, followed by his sons and sons in law.
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Speaker 1: When they had got there and had taken their places
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Speaker 1: on the benches and seats, he mixed them a bowl
19:29
Speaker 1: of sweet wine that was eleven years old. When the
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Speaker 1: housekeeper took the lid off the jar that held it.
19:35
Speaker 1: As he mixed the wine, he prayed much and made
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Speaker 1: drink offerings to Minerva, daughter of aegis bearing Jove. Then,
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Speaker 1: when they had made their drink offerings and had drunk
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Speaker 1: each as much as he was minded, the others went
19:47
Speaker 1: home to bed, each in his own abode. But Nestor
19:50
Speaker 1: put to Lemachus to sleep in the room that was
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Speaker 1: over the gateway, along with Pisistratus, who was the only
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Speaker 1: unmarried son. Now left him as for himself, he slept
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Speaker 1: in an inner room of the house, with the queen
20:02
Speaker 1: his wife by his side. Now, when the child of morning,
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Speaker 1: rosy fingered dawn, appeared, Nestor left his couch and took
20:11
Speaker 1: his seat on the benches of white and polished marble
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Speaker 1: that stood in front of his house. Here aforetime sat Nelaeus,
20:17
Speaker 1: peer of gods in council, but he was now dead
20:21
Speaker 1: and had gone to the House of Hades. So Nestor
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Speaker 1: sat in his seat, scepter in hand, as guardian of
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Speaker 1: the public. Well. His sons, as they left their rooms,
20:30
Speaker 1: gathered round him etchephron Stratius, Perseus, Aretas, and Thrysymides. The
20:36
Speaker 1: sixth son was Pisistratus, and when Telemachus joined them, they
20:40
Speaker 1: made him sit with them. Nestor then addressed them, my sons, said,
20:44
Speaker 1: he make haste to do as I shall bid you.
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Speaker 1: I wish first and foremost to propitiate the great goddess Minerva,
20:51
Speaker 1: who manifested herself visibly to me during yesterday's festivities. Go, then,
20:56
Speaker 1: one or the other of you to the plain. Tell
20:58
Speaker 1: the stockman to look me out a heifer and come
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Speaker 1: on here with it. At once. Another must go to
21:04
Speaker 1: Telemachus's ship and invite all the crew, leaving two men
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Speaker 1: only in charge of the vessel. Some one else will
21:10
Speaker 1: run and fetch Lercius, the goldsmith to gild the horns
21:14
Speaker 1: of the heifer. The rest stay all of you where
21:17
Speaker 1: you are. Tell the maids in the house to prepare
21:19
Speaker 1: an excellent dinner, and to fetch seats and logs of
21:22
Speaker 1: wood for a burnt offering. Tell them also to bring
21:25
Speaker 1: me some clear spring water. On this they hurried off
21:29
Speaker 1: on their several errands. The heifer was brought in from
21:32
Speaker 1: the plain, and Telemachus's crew came in from the ship.
21:36
Speaker 1: The goldsmith brought the anvil, hammer and tongs with which
21:39
Speaker 1: he worked his gold, and Minerva herself came to the sacrifice.
21:43
Speaker 1: Nestor gave out the gold, and the smith gilded the
21:46
Speaker 1: horns of the heifer, that the goddess might have pleasure
21:48
Speaker 1: in their beauty. Then Stratius and a Cheffrin brought her
21:52
Speaker 1: in by the horns. Aretas fetched water from the house
21:55
Speaker 1: in a ewer that had a flower pattern on it,
21:58
Speaker 1: and in his other hand he held a basket of barleymeal. Sturdy.
22:01
Speaker 1: Thrisimites stood by with a sharp axe, ready to strike
22:04
Speaker 1: the heifer, while Perseus held a bucket, then netting his
22:08
Speaker 1: hands and sprinkling the barley meal, and he offered many
22:11
Speaker 1: a prayer to Minerva as he threw a lock from
22:13
Speaker 1: the heifer's head upon the fire. When they had done
22:18
Speaker 1: praying and sprinkling the barleymeal, Thrisymides dealt his blow and
22:22
Speaker 1: brought the heifer down with a stroke that cut through
22:24
Speaker 1: the tendons at the base of her neck, whereon the
22:26
Speaker 1: daughters and daughters in law of Nestor and his venerable
22:29
Speaker 1: wife Eurydice, she was eldest daughter to Clemenus, screamed with delight.
22:35
Speaker 1: Then they lifted the heifer's head from off the ground,
22:37
Speaker 1: and Pisistratus cut her throat. When she had done bleeding
22:40
Speaker 1: and was quite dead, they cut her up. They cut
22:43
Speaker 1: out the thigh bones all in due course, wrapped them
22:45
Speaker 1: round in two layers of fat, and set some pieces
22:48
Speaker 1: of raw meat on the top of them. Then Nestor
22:51
Speaker 1: laid them upon the wood fire and poured wine over them,
22:54
Speaker 1: while the young men stood near him with five pronged
22:56
Speaker 1: spits in their hands. When the thighs were burned and
22:59
Speaker 1: they had tasted the inward meats, they cut the rest
23:02
Speaker 1: of the meat up small, put the pieces on the spits,
23:05
Speaker 1: and toasted them over the fire. Meanwhile, lovely polycasste Nestor's
23:11
Speaker 1: youngest daughter, washed Telemachus. When she had washed him and
23:15
Speaker 1: anointed him with oil, she brought him a fair mantle
23:18
Speaker 1: and shirt, and he looked like a god as he
23:20
Speaker 1: came from the bath and took his seat by the
23:22
Speaker 1: side of Nestor. When the outer meats were done, they
23:25
Speaker 1: drew them off the spits and sat down to dinner,
23:28
Speaker 1: where they were waited upon by some worthy henchmen, who
23:31
Speaker 1: kept pouring them out their wine in cups of gold.
23:34
Speaker 1: As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink,
23:36
Speaker 1: Nestor said, sons, put te Lemachus's horses to the chariot,
23:40
Speaker 1: that he may start at once. Thus did he speak,
23:44
Speaker 1: and they did even as he had said, and yoked
23:46
Speaker 1: the fleet horses to the chariot. The housekeeper packed them
23:50
Speaker 1: up a provision of bread, wine, and sweetmeats fit for
23:52
Speaker 1: the sons of princes. Then Telemachus got into the chariot,
23:56
Speaker 1: while Pisistratus gathered up the reins and took his seat
23:59
Speaker 1: beside him. He lashed the horses on, and they flew forward,
24:02
Speaker 1: nothing loathe, into the open country, leaving the high citadel
24:05
Speaker 1: of Pylos behind them. All that day did they travel
24:09
Speaker 1: swaying the yoke upon their necks, till the sun went
24:12
Speaker 1: down and darkness was over all the land. Then they
24:15
Speaker 1: reached Ferrey, where Diocles lived, who was son to Ortilochus
24:18
Speaker 1: and grandson to Alpheus. Here they passed the night, and
24:22
Speaker 1: Diocles entertained them hospitably. When the child of morning, rosy
24:26
Speaker 1: fingered dawn appeared, they again yoked their horses and drove
24:30
Speaker 1: out through the gateway under the echoing gatehouse. Pisistratus lashed
24:33
Speaker 1: the horses on, and they flew forward, nothing loath. Presently
24:37
Speaker 1: they came to the corn lands of the open country,
24:39
Speaker 1: and in the course of time completed their journey. So
24:42
Speaker 1: well did their steeds take them. Now, when the sun
24:46
Speaker 1: had set and darkness was over the land continued in
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Speaker 1: book four. End of book three