Latest / Classic Adventure Books - Daily / 13 - The Odyssey - Homer
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Book thirteen. Thus did he speak, and they all held
- 0:04Speaker 1: their peace throughout the covered cloister, enthralled by the charm
- 0:08Speaker 1: of his story, till presently Alcinous began to speak. Ulysses
- 0:15Speaker 1: said he, now that you have reached my house, I
- 0:18Speaker 1: doubt not you will get home without further misadventure, no
- 0:22Speaker 1: matter how much you have suffered in the path. To you. Others, however,
- 0:26Speaker 1: who come here night after night to drink my choicest
- 0:30Speaker 1: wine and listen to my bard, I would insist as follows.
- 0:35Speaker 1: Our guest has already backed up the clothes, wrought cold
- 0:39Speaker 1: and other valuables which you have brought for his acceptance.
- 0:42Speaker 1: Let us now therefore present him further, each one of
- 0:46Speaker 1: us with a large tripod and a cauldron. We will
- 0:50Speaker 1: recoup ourselves by the levy of a general rate, for
- 0:53Speaker 1: private individuals cannot be expected to bear the burden of
- 0:57Speaker 1: such a handsome present. Every one of approved of this,
- 1:01Speaker 1: and then they went home to bed, each in his
- 1:03Speaker 1: own abode. When the child of morning, rosy fingered dawn appeared,
- 1:09Speaker 1: they hurried down to the ship and brought their cauldrons
- 1:11Speaker 1: with them. Alcinous went on board and saw everything so
- 1:15Speaker 1: securely stowed under the ship's benches, that nothing could break
- 1:19Speaker 1: adrift and injure the rowers. Then they went to the
- 1:23Speaker 1: house of Alcaneus to get dinner, and he sacrificed a
- 1:26Speaker 1: bull for them in honor of Jove, who is the
- 1:29Speaker 1: lord of all. They set the stakes to grill and
- 1:32Speaker 1: made an excellent dinner, after which the inspired bard Demodocus,
- 1:37Speaker 1: who was a favorite with every one, sang to them.
- 1:40Speaker 1: But Ulysses kept on turning his eyes towards the sun,
- 1:44Speaker 1: as though to hasten his setting, for he was longing
- 1:47Speaker 1: to be on his way, as one who has been
- 1:50Speaker 1: all day plowing a fallow field with a couple of oxen,
- 1:54Speaker 1: keeps thinking about his supper, and is glad when night
- 1:57Speaker 1: comes that he may go and get it, for it
- 1:59Speaker 1: is all his legs can do to carry him. Even
- 2:02Speaker 1: so did Ulysses rejoice when the sun went down, and
- 2:06Speaker 1: he at once said to the Phaeacians, addressing himself more
- 2:10Speaker 1: particularly to King Alcinous, Sir, and all of you, farewell,
- 2:16Speaker 1: make your drink offerings, and send me on my way, rejoicing,
- 2:19Speaker 1: for you have fulfilled my art's desires by giving me
- 2:22Speaker 1: an escort and making me presents which Heaven grant that
- 2:26Speaker 1: I may turn to good account. May I find my
- 2:29Speaker 1: admirable wife living in peace among friends. And may you,
- 2:34Speaker 1: whom I leave behind me, give satisfaction to your wives
- 2:38Speaker 1: and children. May Heaven vouchsafe you every good grace, and
- 2:42Speaker 1: may no evil thing come among your people. Thus did
- 2:46Speaker 1: he speak his earrors. All of them approved his saying,
- 2:49Speaker 1: and agreed that he should have an escort, inasmuch as
- 2:52Speaker 1: he had spoken reasonably. Alcinous therefore said to his servant Pantanous,
- 2:59Speaker 1: mix some one and hand round to everybody, that we
- 3:02Speaker 1: may offer a prayer to Father Jove and speed our
- 3:05Speaker 1: guests upon his way. Pontinus mixed the wine and handed
- 3:09Speaker 1: it to every one in turn. The others, each from
- 3:12Speaker 1: his own seat, made a drink, offering to the blessed
- 3:15Speaker 1: gods that live in heaven. But Ulysses rose and placed
- 3:19Speaker 1: the double cup in the hands of Queen Aratae. Farewell, Queen,
- 3:23Speaker 1: said he, henceforward and forever till age and death, the
- 3:29Speaker 1: common lot of mankind lay their hands upon you. I
- 3:33Speaker 1: now take my leave. Be happy in the house with
- 3:36Speaker 1: your children, your people, and with King Alcanaeus. As he spoke,
- 3:42Speaker 1: he crossed the threshold, and Alcineus sent a man to
- 3:45Speaker 1: conduct him to his ship and to the sea shore.
- 3:48Speaker 1: Aretae also sent some maid servants with him, one with
- 3:53Speaker 1: a clean shirt and cloak, another to carry his strong box,
- 3:57Speaker 1: and a third with corn and wine. When they got
- 4:00Speaker 1: the waterside, the crew took these things and put them
- 4:03Speaker 1: on board with all the meat and drink. But for
- 4:07Speaker 1: Ulysses they spread a rug and a linen sheet on deck,
- 4:11Speaker 1: that he might sleep soundly in the stern of the ship.
- 4:15Speaker 1: Then he too went on board and lay down without
- 4:17Speaker 1: a word. But the crew took every man his place,
- 4:21Speaker 1: and loosed the hawser from the pierced stone to which
- 4:23Speaker 1: it had been bound thereon. When they began rowing out
- 4:27Speaker 1: to sea, Ulysses fell into a deep, sweet, and almost
- 4:32Speaker 1: deathlike slumber. The ship bounded forward on her way as
- 4:36Speaker 1: a foreign hand chariot flies over the course. When the
- 4:39Speaker 1: horses filled the whip, her brow curveted as if it
- 4:43Speaker 1: were the neck of a stallion, and a great wave
- 4:46Speaker 1: of dark blue water seethed in her wake. She held
- 4:50Speaker 1: steadily on her course, and even a falcon's swiftest of
- 4:54Speaker 1: all birds, could not have kept pace with her. Thus
- 4:58Speaker 1: then she cut her way through the water, carrying one
- 5:01Speaker 1: who was as cunning as the gods. But it was
- 5:04Speaker 1: now sleeping peacefully, forgetful of all that he had suffered,
- 5:08Speaker 1: both on the field of battle and by the waves
- 5:11Speaker 1: of the weary sea. When the bright star that heralds
- 5:15Speaker 1: the approach of dawn began to show, the ship drew
- 5:19Speaker 1: near to land. Now there is in Ithaca a haven
- 5:23Speaker 1: of the old Merman forces, which lies between two points
- 5:27Speaker 1: that break the line of the sea and shut the harbor.
- 5:30Speaker 1: In these shelter it from the storms of wind and
- 5:33Speaker 1: sea that rage outside, so that when once within it,
- 5:38Speaker 1: a ship may lie without being even moored. At the
- 5:42Speaker 1: head of this harbor there is a large olive tree,
- 5:45Speaker 1: and at no distance a fine overarching cavern, sacred to
- 5:49Speaker 1: the nymphs, who are called nads. There are mixing bowls
- 5:53Speaker 1: within it, and wine jars of stone, and the bees
- 5:56Speaker 1: ive there. Moreover, there are great looms of stone on
- 6:00Speaker 1: which the nymphs weaved their robes of sea purple, very
- 6:04Speaker 1: curious to see, and at all times there is water
- 6:07Speaker 1: within it. It has two entrances, one facing north, by
- 6:11Speaker 1: which mortals can go down into the cave, while the
- 6:14Speaker 1: other comes from the south and is more mysterious. Portals
- 6:18Speaker 1: cannot possibly get in by it. It is the way
- 6:21Speaker 1: taken by the God into this harbor. Then they took
- 6:25Speaker 1: their ship, for they knew the place. She had so
- 6:28Speaker 1: much way upon her that she ran half her own
- 6:31Speaker 1: length on to the shore. When, however, they had landed,
- 6:34Speaker 1: the first thing they did was to lift Ulysses, with
- 6:37Speaker 1: his rug and linen sheet, out of the ship and
- 6:40Speaker 1: lay him down upon the sand, still fast to sleep.
- 6:44Speaker 1: Then they took out the presence which Minerva had persuaded
- 6:47Speaker 1: the Phaeacians to give him when he was setting out
- 6:49Speaker 1: on his voyage homewards. They put these all together by
- 6:53Speaker 1: the root of the olive tree, away from the road,
- 6:56Speaker 1: for fear some passive eye might come and steal them
- 6:59Speaker 1: before you lies awoke. And then they made the best
- 7:02Speaker 1: of their way home again. But Neptune did not forget
- 7:06Speaker 1: the threats with which he had already threatened Ulysses. So
- 7:10Speaker 1: he took counsel with Jove. Father Jove said he, I
- 7:15Speaker 1: shall no longer be held in any sort of respect
- 7:17Speaker 1: among you gods, if mortals like the Phaeacians, who are
- 7:21Speaker 1: my own flesh and blood showed such small regard for me,
- 7:26Speaker 1: I said, I would Ulysses get home when he had
- 7:30Speaker 1: suffered sufficiently. I did not say that he should never
- 7:34Speaker 1: get home at all, for I knew you had already
- 7:37Speaker 1: nodded your head about it, and promised that he should
- 7:40Speaker 1: do so. But now they have brought him in a
- 7:43Speaker 1: ship fast asleep, and have landed him in Ithaca, after
- 7:46Speaker 1: loading him with more magnificent presents of bronze, gold and
- 7:50Speaker 1: raiment than he would ever have brought back from Troy
- 7:53Speaker 1: if he had had his share of the spoil and
- 7:56Speaker 1: got home without misadventure. And Jove answered, what, O, lord
- 8:01Speaker 1: of the earthquake, are you talking about? The gods are
- 8:04Speaker 1: by no means wanting in respect for you. It would
- 8:07Speaker 1: be monstrous were they to insult one so old and
- 8:10Speaker 1: honored as you are as regards mortals. However, if any
- 8:14Speaker 1: of them is indulging in insolence in treating you disrespectfully,
- 8:19Speaker 1: it will always rest with yourself to deal with him
- 8:21Speaker 1: as you may think proper. So do just as you please.
- 8:26Speaker 1: I should have done so at once, replied Neptune, if
- 8:29Speaker 1: I were not anxious to avoid anything that might displease you, now. Therefore,
- 8:34Speaker 1: I should like to wreck the Phaeacian ship as it
- 8:37Speaker 1: is returning from its escort. This will stop them from
- 8:40Speaker 1: escorting people in future. And I should also like to
- 8:43Speaker 1: bury their city under a huge mountain. My good friend
- 8:47Speaker 1: answered Jove, I should recommend you, at the very moment,
- 8:50Speaker 1: when the people from the city are watching the ship
- 8:53Speaker 1: on her way, to turn it into a rock near
- 8:56Speaker 1: the land and looking like a ship. This will astonish everybody,
- 9:00Speaker 1: and you can then bury their city under the mountain.
- 9:03Speaker 1: When Earth encircling Neptune heard this, he went to Scherio,
- 9:07Speaker 1: where the Phaeacians live, and stayed there till the ship,
- 9:11Speaker 1: which was making rapid way, had got close in. Then
- 9:15Speaker 1: he went up to it, turned it into stone, and
- 9:18Speaker 1: drove it down with the flat of his hands so
- 9:21Speaker 1: as to root it in the ground. After this he
- 9:24Speaker 1: went away. The Phaeacians then began talking among themselves, and
- 9:28Speaker 1: one would turn towards his neighbor, saying, bless my heart,
- 9:32Speaker 1: who is it that can have rooted the ship in
- 9:34Speaker 1: the sea. Just as she was getting into port, we
- 9:38Speaker 1: could see the whole of her only moment ago. This
- 9:41Speaker 1: is how they talked, but they knew nothing about it,
- 9:44Speaker 1: and Alcinous said, I remember now the old prophecy of
- 9:47Speaker 1: my father. He said that Neptune would be angry with
- 9:50Speaker 1: us for taking everyone so safely over the sea, and
- 9:54Speaker 1: would one day wreck a Phaeacian ship if it was
- 9:58Speaker 1: returning from an escort, and bury our city under high mountain.
- 10:03Speaker 1: This is what my old father used to say, and
- 10:05Speaker 1: now it is all coming true. Now, therefore, let us
- 10:09Speaker 1: all do as I say. In the first place, we
- 10:12Speaker 1: must leave off giving people escorts when they come here,
- 10:16Speaker 1: and in the next let us sacrifice twelve picked bulls
- 10:20Speaker 1: to Neptune that he may have mercy upon us and
- 10:23Speaker 1: not bury our city under the high mountain. When the
- 10:26Speaker 1: people heard this, they were afraid and got ready the bulls.
- 10:30Speaker 1: Thus did the chiefs and rulers of the Phaeacians to
- 10:33Speaker 1: King Neptune, standing round his altar. And at the same
- 10:37Speaker 1: time Ulysses woke up once more upon his own soil.
- 10:42Speaker 1: He had been so long away that he did not
- 10:44Speaker 1: know it again. Moreover, Jove's daughter Minerva had made it
- 10:48Speaker 1: a foggy day so that people might not know of
- 10:51Speaker 1: his having come, and that she might tell him everything
- 10:55Speaker 1: without either his wife or his fellow's citizens and friends
- 10:59Speaker 1: recognizing him. Until he had taken his revenge upon the
- 11:03Speaker 1: wicked suitors. Everything therefore seemed quite different to him. The long,
- 11:08Speaker 1: straight tracks, the habbers, the precipices, and the goodly trees
- 11:12Speaker 1: appeared all changed as he started up and looked upon
- 11:15Speaker 1: his native land. So he smote his thighs with the
- 11:19Speaker 1: flat of his hands and cried aloud, despairingly, alas he exclaimed,
- 11:25Speaker 1: among what manner of people am I fallen? Are they
- 11:28Speaker 1: savage and uncivilized? Or hospitable and humane? Where shall I
- 11:33Speaker 1: put all this treasure? And which way shall I go?
- 11:36Speaker 1: I wish I had stayed over there with the Phaeacians,
- 11:39Speaker 1: or I could have gone to some other great chief
- 11:42Speaker 1: who would have been good to me and given me
- 11:43Speaker 1: an escort. As it is, I do not know where
- 11:46Speaker 1: to put my treasure, and I cannot leave it here
- 11:48Speaker 1: for fear somebody else should get hold of it. In
- 11:51Speaker 1: good truth, the chiefs and rulers of the Peacians have
- 11:55Speaker 1: not been dealing fairly by me and have left me
- 11:58Speaker 1: in the wrong country. They said they would take me
- 12:00Speaker 1: back to Ithaca, and they have not done. So. May
- 12:04Speaker 1: Jove the protector of Supplians chastised them, for he watches
- 12:08Speaker 1: over everybody and punishes those who do wrong. Still, I
- 12:13Speaker 1: suppose I must count my goods and see if the
- 12:16Speaker 1: crew have gone off with any of them. He counted
- 12:18Speaker 1: his goodly coppers and cauldrons, his gold in all his clothes,
- 12:23Speaker 1: but there was nothing missing. Still, he kept grieving about
- 12:26Speaker 1: not being in his own country, and wandered up and
- 12:29Speaker 1: down by the shore of the Sounding Sea, bewailing his
- 12:33Speaker 1: hard fate. Then Minerva came up to him, disguised as
- 12:38Speaker 1: a young shepherd of delicate and princely Mian, with a
- 12:41Speaker 1: good cloak folded double about her shoulders. She had sandals
- 12:45Speaker 1: on her comely feet and held a javelin in her hand.
- 12:49Speaker 1: Ulysses was glad when he saw her and went straight
- 12:52Speaker 1: up to her. My friend said he, you are the
- 12:55Speaker 1: first person whom I have met with in this country.
- 12:59Speaker 1: I salute you therefore, and begged you to be will
- 13:02Speaker 1: disposed toward me. Protect these my goods, and myself too,
- 13:07Speaker 1: For I embrace your knees and pray to you as
- 13:09Speaker 1: though you were a god. Tell me, then, and tell
- 13:12Speaker 1: me truly, what land and country is this? Who are
- 13:16Speaker 1: its inhabitants. Am I on an island? Or is this
- 13:19Speaker 1: the sea board of some continent? I never answered, stranger,
- 13:24Speaker 1: you must be very simple, or must have come from
- 13:26Speaker 1: somewhere a long way off, not to know what country
- 13:29Speaker 1: this is. It is a very celebrated place, and everybody
- 13:33Speaker 1: knows it east and west. It is rugged and not
- 13:36Speaker 1: a good driving country. But it is by no means
- 13:39Speaker 1: a big island. For what there is of it, it
- 13:41Speaker 1: grows any quantity of corn and also wine, for it
- 13:45Speaker 1: is watered both by rain and dew. It breeds cattle,
- 13:49Speaker 1: also in goats. All kinds of timber grow here, and
- 13:53Speaker 1: there are watering places where the water never runs dry. So, sir,
- 13:57Speaker 1: the name of Ithaca has known even as as far
- 14:00Speaker 1: as Troy, which I understand to be a long way
- 14:03Speaker 1: off from this Achian country. Ulysses was glad at finding himself,
- 14:08Speaker 1: as Minerva told him, in his own country, and he
- 14:11Speaker 1: began to answer, but he did not speak the truth,
- 14:14Speaker 1: and made up a lying story in the instinctive wiliness
- 14:17Speaker 1: of his heart. I heard of Ithaca, said he, when
- 14:20Speaker 1: I was in creep beyond the seas, And now it
- 14:23Speaker 1: seems I have reached it with all these treasures I
- 14:26Speaker 1: have left as much more behind me for my children.
- 14:29Speaker 1: But am flying because I killed Orsilochus, son of Indominius,
- 14:34Speaker 1: the fleetest runner in Greete. I killed him because he
- 14:38Speaker 1: wanted to rob me of the spoils I had gotten
- 14:40Speaker 1: from Troy, with so much trouble and danger, both on
- 14:44Speaker 1: the field of battle and by the waves of the
- 14:47Speaker 1: weary sea. He said, I had not served his father
- 14:51Speaker 1: loyally at Troy, his vassal, but had set myself up
- 14:54Speaker 1: as an independent ruler. So I lay in wait for him,
- 14:58Speaker 1: and with one of my followers by the roadside, and
- 15:01Speaker 1: speared him as he was coming into town from the
- 15:03Speaker 1: country my It was a very dark night, and nobody
- 15:07Speaker 1: saw us. It was not known therefore that I had
- 15:10Speaker 1: killed him. And as soon as I had done so,
- 15:13Speaker 1: I went to the ship and besought the owners, who
- 15:15Speaker 1: were Phoenicians, to take me on board and set me
- 15:18Speaker 1: in Pilos or in Ellis, were the Epian's rule, giving
- 15:22Speaker 1: them as much spoil as satisfied them. They meant no guile,
- 15:27Speaker 1: but the wind drove them off their course, and we
- 15:29Speaker 1: sailed on till we came hither by night. It was
- 15:32Speaker 1: all we could do to get inside the arbor, and
- 15:35Speaker 1: none of us said a word about supper, though we
- 15:37Speaker 1: wanted it badly. But we all went on shore and
- 15:41Speaker 1: lay down just as we were. I was very tired
- 15:44Speaker 1: and fell asleep directly. So they took my goods out
- 15:47Speaker 1: of the ship and placed them beside me where I
- 15:50Speaker 1: was lying on the sand. Then they sailed away to Sodonia,
- 15:54Speaker 1: and I was left here in great distress of mind.
- 15:59Speaker 1: Such was his talk. But Minerva smiled and caressed him
- 16:02Speaker 1: with her hand. Then she took the form of a woman,
- 16:05Speaker 1: fair stately and wise. He must be, indeed a shifty,
- 16:09Speaker 1: lying fellow, said she, who could surpass you in all
- 16:13Speaker 1: manner of craft, even though you had a guard for
- 16:16Speaker 1: your antagonist. Dare devil that you are full of guile,
- 16:20Speaker 1: unworrying in deceit. Can you not drop your tricks and
- 16:24Speaker 1: your instinctive falsehood, even now that you are in your
- 16:28Speaker 1: own country again. We will say no more, however, about this,
- 16:33Speaker 1: for we can both of us deceive upon occasion. You
- 16:36Speaker 1: are the most accomplished counselor and orator among all mankind,
- 16:40Speaker 1: while I, for diplomacy and subtlety, have no equal among
- 16:44Speaker 1: the gods. Did you not know Joe's daughter, Minerva me,
- 16:48Speaker 1: who have been ever with you, who kept watch over
- 16:51Speaker 1: you and all your troubles, and who made the Phaeacians
- 16:54Speaker 1: take so great a liking to you. And now again
- 16:58Speaker 1: I am come here to talk things over with you
- 17:00Speaker 1: and help you tide the treasure I made the Phaeacians
- 17:03Speaker 1: give you. I want to tell you about the troubles
- 17:06Speaker 1: that await you in your own house. You have got
- 17:08Speaker 1: to face them. But tell no one, neither man nor woman,
- 17:12Speaker 1: that you have come home again, bear everything and put
- 17:15Speaker 1: up with every man's insolence without a word. And Ulysses answered.
- 17:21Speaker 1: A man goddess may know a great deal, but you
- 17:24Speaker 1: are so constantly changing your appearance that when he meets
- 17:27Speaker 1: you it is a hard matter for him to know
- 17:29Speaker 1: whether it is you or not. This much, however, I
- 17:34Speaker 1: know exceedingly well you are very kind to me as
- 17:37Speaker 1: long as we Achians were fighting before Troy. But from
- 17:41Speaker 1: the day on which we went on board ship after
- 17:43Speaker 1: having sacked the city of Raham, and Heaven disposed us.
- 17:47Speaker 1: From that day, Minerva, I saw no more of you,
- 17:50Speaker 1: and cannot ever remember your coming to my ship to
- 17:53Speaker 1: help me in a difficulty I had to wander on,
- 17:56Speaker 1: sick and sorry, till the gods delivered me from evil,
- 18:00Speaker 1: and I reached the city of the Phaeacians, where you
- 18:02Speaker 1: encouraged me and took me into the town. And now
- 18:06Speaker 1: I beseech you, in your father's name, tell me the truth,
- 18:11Speaker 1: for I do not believe I am really back in Ithaca.
- 18:14Speaker 1: I am in some other country, and you are mocking
- 18:16Speaker 1: me and deceiving me in all you have been saying.
- 18:20Speaker 1: Tell me, then, truly, have I really got back to
- 18:23Speaker 1: my own country. You are always taking something of that
- 18:27Speaker 1: sort into your head, replied Minerva. And that is why
- 18:31Speaker 1: I cannot desert you in your afflictions. You are so plausible,
- 18:35Speaker 1: shrewd and shifty. Any one but yourself, on returning from
- 18:39Speaker 1: so long a voyage, would at once have gone home
- 18:42Speaker 1: to see his wife and children. But you do not
- 18:45Speaker 1: seem to care about asking after them or hearing any
- 18:48Speaker 1: news about them, till you have exploited your wife, who
- 18:52Speaker 1: remains at home vainly grieving for you, and having no
- 18:56Speaker 1: peace night or day for the tears she sheds on you.
- 19:00Speaker 1: Be aff as for my not coming near you, I
- 19:03Speaker 1: was never uneasy about you, for I was certain you
- 19:05Speaker 1: would get back safely, though you would lose all your men,
- 19:09Speaker 1: and I did not wish to quarrel with my uncle Neptune,
- 19:11Speaker 1: who never forgave you for having blinded his son. I will, now, however,
- 19:16Speaker 1: point out to you the lie of the land, and
- 19:18Speaker 1: you will then perhaps believe me. This is the avon
- 19:21Speaker 1: of the old mermured forces, and here is the olive
- 19:24Speaker 1: tree that grows at the head of it. Here it
- 19:27Speaker 1: is the cave sacred to the nive. Here too is
- 19:30Speaker 1: the overarching cavern in which you have offered many an
- 19:33Speaker 1: acceptable echotomb to the nymphs. And this is the wooded
- 19:36Speaker 1: mountain Neretum. As she spoke, the goddess dispersed the mist,
- 19:41Speaker 1: and the land appeared. Then Ulysses rejoiced at finding himself
- 19:45Speaker 1: again in his own land, and kissed the bounteous soil.
- 19:49Speaker 1: He lifted up his hands and prayed to the nymphs, saying,
- 19:53Speaker 1: near Nymphs, daughters of Jove, I made sure that I
- 19:57Speaker 1: was never again to see you. Now therefore I greet
- 20:00Speaker 1: you with all loving salutations, and I will bring you
- 20:04Speaker 1: offerings as in the old days. If Jove's redoubtable daughter
- 20:08Speaker 1: will grab me life and bring my son to manhood.
- 20:12Speaker 1: Take heart, and do not trouble yourself about that. Rejoined Minerva,
- 20:16Speaker 1: let us rather set about stowing your things at once
- 20:19Speaker 1: in the cave, where they will be quite safe. Let
- 20:22Speaker 1: us see how we can best manage it all therewith,
- 20:25Speaker 1: she went down into the cave to look for the
- 20:27Speaker 1: safest hiding places, while Ulysses brought up all the treasure
- 20:31Speaker 1: of gold, bronze, and good clothing which the Theaeacians had
- 20:34Speaker 1: given him. They stowed everything carefully away, and Minerva set
- 20:38Speaker 1: a stone against the door of the cave. Then the
- 20:41Speaker 1: two sat down by the root of the great olive
- 20:44Speaker 1: and consulted at a compass the destruction of the wicked suitors.
- 20:50Speaker 1: Ulysses said, Minerva, noble son of ladies, think how you
- 20:55Speaker 1: can lay hands on these disreputable people who have been
- 20:58Speaker 1: lording it in your house, these three courting your wife
- 21:01Speaker 1: and making wedding presents to her, while she does nothing
- 21:05Speaker 1: but lament your absence, giving hope, and sending your encouraging
- 21:09Speaker 1: messages to every one of them. But meaning the very
- 21:12Speaker 1: opposite of all she says, And Ulysses answered, in good truth, Goddess,
- 21:18Speaker 1: it seems I should have come to much the same
- 21:21Speaker 1: bad end in my own house as Agamannon did if
- 21:25Speaker 1: you had not given me such timely information. Advise me
- 21:28Speaker 1: how I shall best avenge myself. Stand by my side,
- 21:33Speaker 1: and put your courage into my heart, as on the
- 21:35Speaker 1: day when we loose Troy's fair dietem from her brow.
- 21:39Speaker 1: Help me now as you did then, and I will
- 21:42Speaker 1: fight three hundred men. If you, Goddess, will be with me,
- 21:46Speaker 1: trust me for that said she. I will not lose
- 21:49Speaker 1: sight of you when once we set about it, and
- 21:51Speaker 1: I would imagine that some of those who are devouring
- 21:54Speaker 1: your substance will then bespatter the pavement with their blood
- 21:57Speaker 1: and brains. I will begin by disguise you so that
- 22:01Speaker 1: no human being shall know you. I will cover your
- 22:03Speaker 1: body with wrinkles. You shall lose all your yellow air.
- 22:07Speaker 1: I will clothe you in a cormet that shall fill
- 22:10Speaker 1: all who see it with loathing. I will blear your
- 22:14Speaker 1: fine eyes for you, and make you an unseemly object
- 22:17Speaker 1: in the sight of the suitors of your wife and
- 22:19Speaker 1: of the sun, whom you left behind. You then go
- 22:23Speaker 1: at once to the swineherd, who is in charge of
- 22:25Speaker 1: your pigs, he has been always well affected towards you,
- 22:29Speaker 1: and is devoted to Penelope and your son. You will
- 22:32Speaker 1: find him feeding his pigs near the rock that is
- 22:35Speaker 1: called Raven by the fountain Arethusa, where they are fattening
- 22:39Speaker 1: on beech mast and spring water after their manner. Stay
- 22:44Speaker 1: with him and find out how things are going, while
- 22:47Speaker 1: I proceed to Sparta and see your son, who is
- 22:51Speaker 1: with Menelaeus at Lacedaeum, where he is gone to try
- 22:55Speaker 1: and find out whether you are still alive. But why,
- 23:00Speaker 1: said Ulysses, Did you not tell him, for you knew
- 23:03Speaker 1: all about it? Did you want him to to go
- 23:06Speaker 1: sailing about amid all kinds of oddship while others are
- 23:10Speaker 1: eating up his estate? Minerva answered, never mind about him.
- 23:15Speaker 1: I sent him that he might be well spoken of,
- 23:18Speaker 1: for having gone, he is in no sort of difficulty,
- 23:21Speaker 1: but his tank quite comfortably with Menelaus, and is surrounded
- 23:25Speaker 1: with abundance of every kind. The suitors have put out
- 23:29Speaker 1: to sea and are lying in wait for him, for
- 23:31Speaker 1: they mean to kill him before he can get home.
- 23:34Speaker 1: I do not much think they will succeed, but rather
- 23:37Speaker 1: that some of those who are now eating up your
- 23:40Speaker 1: estate will thus fine to grave themselves. As she spoke,
- 23:44Speaker 1: Minerva touched him with her wand and covered him with wrinkles,
- 23:48Speaker 1: took away all his yellow hair, and withered the flesh
- 23:51Speaker 1: over his whole body. She bleared his eyes, which were
- 23:55Speaker 1: naturally very fine ones. She changed his clothes and threw
- 23:58Speaker 1: an old rag of a rap about him, and a
- 24:01Speaker 1: tunic tattered, filthy, and begrimed with smoke. She also gave
- 24:06Speaker 1: him an undressed deer skin as an outer garment, and
- 24:09Speaker 1: furnished him with a staff and a wallet, all in holes,
- 24:13Speaker 1: with a twisted thong for him to sling it over
- 24:17Speaker 1: his shoulder. When the pair had thus laid their plans,
- 24:20Speaker 1: they parted, and the goddess went straight to Lacedaemon to
- 24:24Speaker 1: fetch Telemachus. End of Book thirteen