Latest / Adventure Books Library / 23 - The Odyssey - Homer

Transcript

23 - The Odyssey - Homer · Adventure Books Library

0:00
Book twenty three. Euryclea now went upstairs, laughing to tell her mistress that
0:08
her dear husband had come home. Her aged knees became young again, and
0:14
her feet were nimble for joy as she went up to her mistress and bent
0:20
over her head to speak with her. Wake up, Penelope, my dear
0:24
child, she exclaimed, and see with your own eyes something that you have
0:30
been wanting this long time. Past. Ulysses has at last indeed come home
0:37
again, and has killed the suitors who were giving so much trouble in his
0:43
house, eating up his estate, and ill treating his son. My good
0:49
nurse answered, Penelope, you must be mad. The gods sometimes send some
0:55
very sensible people out of their minds and make foolish people be come sensible.
1:00
This is what they must have been doing with you, for you always used
1:06
to be a reasonable person. Why should you thus mock me when I have
1:10
trouble enough already, talking such nonsense, and waking me up out of a
1:15
sweet sleep that had taken possession of my eyes and closed them. I have
1:22
never slept so soundly from the day my poor husband went to that city with
1:26
the ill omened name, go back again into the woman's room. If it
1:33
had been any one else who had woke me to bring such absurd news,
1:38
I should have sent her away with a severe scolding. As it is your
1:44
age shall protect you, my dear child, answered Eurycleia, I am not
1:49
mocking you. It is quite true as I tell you, that Ulysses is
1:55
come home again. He was the stranger whom they all kept entreating so badly
2:00
in the cloister Telemachus knew all the time that he has come back, but
2:07
kept his father's secret that he might have his revenge on all these wicked people.
2:15
Then Penelope sprang up from her couch, threw her arms round Euryclea,
2:20
and wept for joy. But my dear nurse said, she explain this to
2:25
me. If he has really come home as you say, how did he
2:30
manage to overcome the wicked suitors single handed, seeing what a number of them
2:36
there always were. I was not here, answered Euryclea, and do not
2:42
know. I only heard them groaning while they were being killed. We sat
2:47
huddled and crouching in a corner of the women's room with the doors closed,
2:53
till your son came to fetch me because his father sent him. Then I
2:59
found Ulysses standing over the corpses that were lying on the ground all round him,
3:05
one on top of the other. You would have enjoyed it if you
3:08
could have seen him standing there, all be spattered with blood and filth,
3:14
and looking just like a lion. But the corpses are now all piled up
3:20
in the gatehouse, that is in the outer court, and Ulysses has lit
3:23
a great fire to purify the house with sulfur. He has sent me to
3:30
call you, so come with me, that you may both be happy together
3:36
after all, For now, at last the desire of your heart has been
3:42
fulfilled. Your husband is come home to find both wife and son alive and
3:47
well, and to take his revenge in his own house on the suitors who
3:53
behaved so badly to him. My dear nurse, said Penelope, do not
4:00
exult too confidently over all this. You know how delighted every one would be
4:05
to see Ulysses come home, more particularly myself and the son who has been
4:13
born to both of us. But what you tell me cannot be really true.
4:17
It is some God who is angry with the suitors for their great wickedness,
4:23
and has made an end of them, for they respected no man in
4:27
the world, neither rich nor poor, who came near them, who came
4:31
near them, and they have come to a bad end in consequence of their
4:38
iniquity. Ulysses is dead, far away from the Yechean land, and he
4:46
will never return home again. Then, Nurse Euryclea said, my child,
4:53
what are you talking about? But you were all hard of belief and have
4:59
made up your mind that your husband is never coming, although he is in
5:03
the house and by his own fireside at this very moment. Besides, I
5:11
can give you another proof. When I was washing him, I perceived the
5:15
scar which the wild boar gave him, and I wanted to tell you about
5:20
it, but in his wisdom he would not let me and clapped his hands
5:27
over my mouth. So come with me, and I will make this bargain
5:31
with you. If I am deceiving you, you may have me killed by
5:36
the most cruel death you can think of. My dear nurse, said Penelope.
5:45
However wise you may be, you can hardly fathom the counsels of the
5:49
gods. Nevertheless, we will go in search of my son, that I
5:54
may see the corpses of the suitors and the man who has killed them.
6:00
On this she came down from her upper room, and while doing so,
6:04
she considered whether she should keep at a distance from her husband and question him,
6:11
or whether she should at once go up to him and embrace him.
6:15
When, however, she had crossed the stone floor of the cloister, she
6:20
sat down opposite Ulysses by the fire, against the wall at right angles to
6:27
that by which she had entered, while Ulysses sat near one of the bearing
6:31
posts, looking upon the ground and waiting to see what his wife would say
6:36
to him. When she saw him, for a long time, she sat
6:42
silent and as one lost in amazement. At one moment she looked him full
6:48
in the face, but then again directly she was misled by his shabby clothes
6:56
and failed to recognize him till tell Lamachus began to reproach her, and said,
7:02
mother, but you are so hard that I cannot call you by such
7:06
a name. Why do you keep away from my father in this way?
7:12
Why do you not sit by his side and begin talking to him and asking
7:16
him questions? No other women could bear to keep away from her husband when
7:23
he had come back to her after twenty years of absence, and after having
7:29
gone through so much, but your heart was always as hard as a stone.
7:35
Penelope answered, my son, I am so lost in astonishment that I
7:42
can find no words in which either to ask questions or to answer them.
7:46
I cannot even look him straight in the face. Still, if he really
7:51
is Ulysses, come back to his own home again. We shall get to
7:57
understand one another better by and by, For there are tokens with which we
8:01
two are alone acquainted, and which are hidden from all others. Ulysses smiled
8:09
at this and said to Telemachus, let your mother put me to any proof
8:16
she likes. She will make up her mind about it. Presently she rejects
8:22
me for the moment, and believes me to be somebody else, because I
8:26
am covered with dirt and have such bad clothes on. Let us, however,
8:31
consider what we had better do next. When one man has killed another,
8:37
even though he was not one who would leave many friends to take up
8:41
his quarrel, the man who has killed him must still say good bye to
8:46
his friends and fly the country, whereas we have been killing the stay of
8:52
a whole town and all the picked youth of Ithaca. I would have you
8:58
consider matter, look to it yourself. Father answered Telemachus, For they say
9:05
you are the wisest counselor in the world, and that there is no other
9:11
mortal man who can compare with you. We will follow you with right good
9:16
will, nor shall you find us to fail you. In so far as
9:20
our strength holds out. I will say what I think will be best answered,
9:26
Ulysses. First, wash and put your shirts on. Tell the maids
9:31
also to go to their own room and dress. Femius shall then strike up
9:37
a dance tune on his lyre, so that if people outside here, or
9:43
any of the neighbors, or someone going along the street happens to notice it,
9:48
they may think there is a wedding in the house, and no rumors
9:52
about the death of the suitors will get about in the town before we can
9:58
escape to the woods upon my own land. Once there we will settle which
10:03
of the courses Heaven vouchsafes us shall seem wisest. Thus did he speak,
10:11
and they did even as he had said. First they washed and put their
10:16
shirts on, while the women got ready. Then Femius took his lyre and
10:20
set them all longing for sweet song and stately dance. The house re echoed
10:26
with the sound of men and women dancing, and the people outside said,
10:31
I suppose the queen has been getting married at last. She ought to be
10:37
ashamed of herself for not continuing to protect her husband's property until he comes home.
10:43
This was what they said, but they did not know what it was
10:48
that had been happening. The upper servant Urinomi washed and anointed Ulysses in his
10:56
own house, and gave him a shirt and cloak, while Minerva made him
11:01
look taller and stronger than before. She also made the hair grow thick on
11:07
the top of his head and flow down in curls like hyacinthe blossoms. She
11:13
glorified him about the head and shoulders, just as a skillful workman who has
11:18
studied art of all kinds under Vulcan or Minerva, and his work is full
11:24
of beauty. In enriches a piece of silver plate by gilding it. He
11:31
came from the bath, looking like one of the immortals, and sat down
11:35
opposite his wife on the seat he had left. My dear said he Heaven
11:41
has endowed you with a heart more unyielding than woman ever yet had no other
11:50
woman could bear to keep away from her husband. When he had come back
11:54
to her after twenty years of absence, and after having gone through so much.
12:00
But come, nurse, get a bed ready for me. I will
12:05
sleep alone, for this woman has a heart as hard as iron. My
12:11
dear, said Penelope. I have no wish to set myself up, nor
12:16
to depreciate you, but I am not struck by your appearance, for I
12:22
very well remember what kind of a man you were when you set sail from
12:28
Ithaca. Nevertheless, Euryclara, take his bed outside the bed chamber that he
12:35
himself built. Bring the bed outside this room, and put bedding upon it,
12:41
with fleeces, good coverlets and blankets. She said this to try him,
12:48
But Ulysses was very angry and said, wife, I am much displeased
12:54
at what you have just been saying. Who has been taking my bed from
12:58
the place in which I left it? He must have found it a hard
13:01
task, no matter how skilled a workman he was, unless some god came
13:07
and helped him to shift it. There is no man living, however strong
13:13
and in his prime, who could move it from its place. For it
13:18
is a marvelous curiosity which I made with my very own hands. There was
13:24
a young olive growing within the precincts of the house in full vigor, and
13:28
about as thick as a bearing post. I built my room round this with
13:33
strong walls of stone and a roof to cover them, and I made the
13:39
doors strong and well fitting. Then I cut off the top boughs of the
13:43
olive tree and left the stump standing. This I dressed roughly from the root
13:52
upwards, and then worked with carpenter's tools well and skillfully, straightening my work
13:58
by drawing a line in the world wood and making it into a bed prop.
14:03
I then bored a hole down the middle and made it the sector post
14:07
of my bed, at which I worked till I had finished it in laying
14:13
it with gold and silver. After this I stretched a hide of crimson leather
14:18
from one side of it to the other. So you shall see I know
14:22
all about it, and I desire to learn whether it is still there,
14:28
or whether anyone has been removing it by cutting down the olive tree at its
14:33
roots. When she heard the sure proofs Ulysses now gave her, she fairly
14:39
broke down. She flew weeping to his side, flung her arms about his
14:46
neck, and kissed him. Do not be angry with me Ulysses, she
14:50
cried, you, who are the wisest of mankind. We have suffered both
14:58
of us. Heaven has denied us the happiness of spending our youth and of
15:03
growing old together. Do not then be aggrieved or take it amiss that I
15:09
did not embrace you. Thus as soon as I saw you, I have
15:15
been shuddering all the time through fear that someone might come here and deceive me
15:20
with a lying story. For there are many very wicked people going about.
15:26
Jove's daughter Helen would never have yielded herself to a man from a foreign country
15:33
if she had known that the sons of a Chean's would come after her and
15:39
bring her back. Heaven put it in her heart to do wrong, and
15:45
she gave no thought to that sin which has been the source of all our
15:50
sorrows. Now, however, that you have convinced me by showing that you
15:56
know all about our bed, which no human being has ever seen but you
16:00
and I and this single maid servant, the daughter of Actor, who was
16:04
given me by my father on my marriage, and who keeps the doors of
16:11
our room. Hard of belief. Though I have been, I can mistrust
16:17
no longer. Then, Ulysses, in his turn, melted and wept as
16:22
he clasped his dear and faithful wife to his bosom. As the sight of
16:29
land is welcome to men who are swimming towards the shore. When Neptune has
16:34
wrecked their ship with the fury of his winds and waves. A few alone
16:40
reach the land, and these covered with brine are thankful when they find themselves
16:45
on firm ground and out of danger. Even so was her husband welcome to
16:53
her as she looked upon him, and she could not tear her too fair
17:00
arms from about his neck. Indeed, they would have gone on indulging their
17:06
sorrow till rosy fingered morn appeared. Had not Minerva determined otherwise, and held
17:14
night back in the far west, while she would not suffer dawn to leave
17:18
Osianus, nor to yoke the two steeds, Lampis and Phaeton, that bear
17:25
her onward to break the day upon mankind. At last, However, Ulysses
17:32
said, wife, we have not yet reached the end of our troubles.
17:37
I have an unknown amount of toil still to undergo. It is long and
17:42
difficult, but I must go through with it. For thus the shade of
17:48
Tyrasaeus prophesied concerning me on the day when I went down into Hades to ask
17:53
about my return and that of my companions. But now let us go to
18:00
bed, that we may lie down and enjoyed the blessed boon of sleep.
18:07
You shall go to bed as soon as you please, replied Penelope, now
18:11
that the gods have sent you home to your own good house and to your
18:15
country. But as Heaven has put it in your mind to speak of it,
18:21
tell me about the task that lies before you. I shall have to
18:25
hear about it later, So it is better I should be told at once,
18:30
my dear, answered Ulysses, Why should you press me to tell you?
18:36
Still? I will not conceal it from you. Though you will not
18:40
like it, I do not like it myself. For Tyresayus bade me travel
18:45
far and wide, carrying and ore, till I came to a country where
18:52
the people have never heard of the sea, and do not even mix salt
18:56
with their food. They know nothing about ships, nor oars that are as
19:02
the wings of a ship. He gave me this certain token, which I
19:07
will not hide from you. He said that a wayfarer should meet me and
19:11
ask me whether it was a winnowing shovel that I had on my shoulder.
19:18
On this I was to fix my oar in the ground and sacrifice a ram,
19:23
a bull, and a boar to Neptune, after which I was to
19:27
go home and offer hecatombs to all the gods in heaven, one after the
19:33
other. As for myself, he said that death should come to me from
19:40
the sea, and that my life should ebb away very gently when I was
19:45
full of years and peace of mind, and my people should bless me.
19:52
All this, he said, should surely come to pass. And Penelope said,
19:57
if the gods are going to vouchsafe you a happier time in your old
20:03
age, you may hope then to have some respite from misfortune. Thus did
20:11
they converse. Meanwhile, Uryinem and the nurse took torches and made the bed
20:17
ready with soft coverlets. As soon as they had laid them, the nurse
20:22
went back into the house to go to her rest, leaving the bedchamber woman
20:26
Uryinymee to show Ulysses and Penelope to bed by torchlight. When she had conducted
20:33
them to their room, she went back, and they then came joyfully to
20:38
the rights of their own old bed. Telemachus, Philotius and the swineherd now
20:47
left off dancing, and made the women leave off also. They then laid
20:52
themselves down to sleep in the cloisters. When Ulysses and Penelope had had their
21:00
fill of love, they fell talking with one another. She told him how
21:06
much she had had to bear in seeing the house filled with a crowd of
21:11
wicked suitors, who had killed so many sheep and oxen on her account,
21:15
and had drunk so many casts of wine. Ulysses, in his turn,
21:22
told her what he had suffered and how much trouble he had given to other
21:27
people. He told her everything, and she was so delighted to listen that
21:33
she never went to sleep till he had ended his whole story. He began
21:40
with the victory over Sichons, and how he thence reached the fertile land of
21:45
the lotus eaters. He told her all about the Cyclops and how he had
21:51
punished him for having so ruthlessly eaten his brave comrades. How he then went
21:56
on to Aeolus, who received him hospitably and furthered him on his way,
22:03
And even so he was not to reach home, for to his grief a
22:08
hurricane carried him out to sea again. How he went to the Lastragonian city,
22:14
Telepylus, where the people destroyed all his ships with their crews, save
22:19
himself and his own ship. Only then he told of cunning Circe and her
22:26
craft, And how he sailed to the chill house of Hades to consult the
22:32
ghost of the theban prophet Teresaeus. And how he saw his old comrade in
22:37
arms, and his mother, who bore him and brought him up when he
22:41
was a child. How he then heard the wondrous singing of the sirens,
22:48
and went on to the wandering rocks and terrible Charybdis, and to Scilla,
22:55
whom no man had ever yet passed in safety. How his men then ate
23:00
the cattle of the sun God, And how Jove therefore struck the ship with
23:07
his thunderbolts, so that all his men perished together, himself alone being left
23:14
alive. How at last he reached the Ogigean island and the nymph Calypso,
23:21
who kept him there in a cave and fed him and wanted him to marry
23:26
her, in which case she had tended making him immortal, so that he
23:30
should never grow old. But she could not persuade him to let her do
23:36
so. And how after much suffering, he had found his way to the
23:41
Facians, who had treated him as though he had been a god, and
23:47
sent him back in a ship to his own country, after having given him
23:51
gold, bronze, and raiment in great abundance. This was the last thing
23:57
about which he told her, or hear a deep sleep took hold upon him
24:03
and eased the burden of his sorrows. Then Minerva bethought her of another matter.
24:11
When she deemed that Ulysses had had both of his wife and of repose,
24:18
she bade gold and thrown dawn rise out of oceanus, that she might
24:23
shed light upon mankind. On this Ulysses rose from his comfortable bed and said
24:32
to Penelope, wife, we have both of us had our full share of
24:37
troubles. You hear in lamenting my absence, and I in being prevented from
24:45
getting home, though I was longing all the time to do so. Now,
24:51
however, that we have at last come together, take care of the
24:56
property that is in this house. As for the sheep and goats which the
25:00
wicked suitors have eaten, I will take many myself by force from other people,
25:07
and will compel thee chains to make good the rest till they shall have
25:12
filled all my yards. I am now going to the wooded lands out in
25:18
the country to see my father, who has so long been grieved on my
25:22
account. And to yourself. I will give these instructions, though you have
25:26
little need of them. At sunrise, it will at once get abroad that
25:33
I have been killing the suitors. Go upstairs, therefore, and stay there
25:37
with your women. See nobody, and ask no questions. As he spoke,
25:45
he girded on his armor. Then he roused Telemachus, Phelotius, and
25:52
Eumaeus, and told them all to put on their armor as well. This
25:56
they did, and armed themselves. When they had done so, they opened
26:03
the gates and sallied forth, Ulysses leading the way. It was now daylight,
26:08
but Minerva nevertheless concealed them in darkness and led them quickly out of the
26:17
town. End of Book twenty three.