Latest / Classic Adventure Books - Daily / 06 - The Odyssey - Homer

Transcript

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

0:00
Speaker 1: Book six, the meeting between Narsicae and Ulysses. So here
0:07
Speaker 1: Ulysses slept, overcome by sleep and toil, but Minerva went
0:13
Speaker 1: off to the country and city of the Phaeacians, a
0:16
Speaker 1: people who used to live in the fair town of Hyperia,
0:20
Speaker 1: near the lawless Cyclopes. Now the Cyclopes were stronger than
0:25
Speaker 1: they and plundered them. So their king Nucithus, moved them
0:30
Speaker 1: thence and settled them in Scaria, far from all other people.
0:36
Speaker 1: He surrounded the city with a wall, built houses and temples,
0:40
Speaker 1: and divided the lands among his people. But he was
0:44
Speaker 1: dead and gone to the house of Hades, and King Alcinus,
0:48
Speaker 1: whose councils were inspired of Heaven, was now reigning to
0:53
Speaker 1: his house. Then did Minerva high in furtherance of the
0:57
Speaker 1: return of Ulysses. She went straight to the beautifully decorated
1:03
Speaker 1: bedroom in which there slept a girl who was as
1:06
Speaker 1: lovely as a goddess, Naskaia, daughter to King Alsinas. Two
1:13
Speaker 1: maid servants were sleeping near her, both very pretty, one
1:17
Speaker 1: on either side of the doorway, which was closed with
1:21
Speaker 1: well made folding doors. Minerva took the form of the
1:25
Speaker 1: famous sea captain Daimus's daughter who was a bosom friend
1:30
Speaker 1: of Nasikaia and just her own age. Then, coming up
1:34
Speaker 1: to the girl's bedside like a breath of wind, she
1:38
Speaker 1: hovered over her head and said, Nowsikaya, what can your
1:44
Speaker 1: mother have been about to have such a lazy daughter.
1:48
Speaker 1: Here are your clothes all lying in disorder. Yet you
1:52
Speaker 1: are going to be married almost immediately, and should not
1:55
Speaker 1: only be well dressed yourself, but should find good clothes
1:59
Speaker 1: for those who had tend you. This is the way
2:02
Speaker 1: to get yourself a good name, and to make your
2:05
Speaker 1: father and mother proud of you. Suppose then that we
2:08
Speaker 1: make to morrow a washing day and start at daybreak.
2:13
Speaker 1: I will come and help you so that you may
2:15
Speaker 1: have everything ready as soon as possible. For all the
2:19
Speaker 1: best young men among your own people are courting you,
2:22
Speaker 1: and you are not going to remain a maid much longer.
2:26
Speaker 1: Ask your father, therefore, to have a wagon and meals
2:30
Speaker 1: ready for us at daybreak. To have the rugs, robes
2:33
Speaker 1: and girdles, and you can ride too, which will be
2:37
Speaker 1: much pleasanter for you than walking. For the washing cisterns
2:41
Speaker 1: are some way from the town. When she had said this,
2:46
Speaker 1: Minerva went away to Olympus which they say is the
2:50
Speaker 1: everlasting home of the gods. Here no wind beats roughly,
2:55
Speaker 1: and neither rain nor snow can fall, but it abides
2:59
Speaker 1: in everlasting sunshine and in a great peacefulness of light,
3:04
Speaker 1: wherein the blessed gods are illumined for ever and ever.
3:08
Speaker 1: This was the place to which the goddess went when
3:11
Speaker 1: she had given instruction to the girl. By and by
3:17
Speaker 1: morning came and woke Narzykay, who began wandering about her dream.
3:22
Speaker 1: She therefore went to the other end of the house
3:25
Speaker 1: to tell her father and mother all about it, and
3:28
Speaker 1: found them in their own room. Her mother was sitting
3:32
Speaker 1: by the fireside spinning her purple yarn with her maids
3:36
Speaker 1: around her, and she happened to catch her father just
3:39
Speaker 1: as he was going out to attend a meeting of
3:42
Speaker 1: the town council which the Phaeacian aldermen had convened. She
3:48
Speaker 1: stopped him and said, Papa, dear, could you manage to
3:53
Speaker 1: let me have a good big wagon? I want to
3:56
Speaker 1: take all our dirty clothes to the river and wash them.
4:00
Speaker 1: You are the chief man here, so tis only right
4:03
Speaker 1: that you should have a clean shirt when you attend
4:05
Speaker 1: meetings of the council. Moreover, you have five sons at home,
4:11
Speaker 1: two of them married, while the other three are good
4:14
Speaker 1: looking bachelors. You know, they always like to have clean
4:18
Speaker 1: linen when they go to a dance. And I have
4:20
Speaker 1: been thinking about all this. She did not say a
4:24
Speaker 1: word about her own wedding, for she did not like to.
4:28
Speaker 1: But her father knew, and said, you shall have the mules,
4:31
Speaker 1: my love, and whatever else you have a mind for,
4:34
Speaker 1: be off with you, and the men shall get you
4:37
Speaker 1: a good, strong wagon with a body to it that
4:39
Speaker 1: will hold all your clothes. On this he gave his
4:45
Speaker 1: orders to the servants, who got the wagon out, harnessed
4:48
Speaker 1: the mules, and put them too, while the girl brought
4:52
Speaker 1: the clothes down from the linen room and placed them
4:55
Speaker 1: on the wagon. Her mother prepared her a basket of
4:58
Speaker 1: provisions with all sorts of good things, and a goat
5:02
Speaker 1: skin full of wine. The girl now got into the wagon,
5:08
Speaker 1: and her mother gave her also a golden cruise of
5:11
Speaker 1: oil that she and her women might anoint themselves. Then
5:17
Speaker 1: she took the whip and reins and lashed the mules on,
5:20
Speaker 1: whereon they set off, and their hoofs clattered on the road.
5:26
Speaker 1: They pulled without flagging, and carried not only Narsikae and
5:30
Speaker 1: her wash of clothes, but the maids also who were
5:33
Speaker 1: with her. When they reached the water side, they went
5:38
Speaker 1: to the washing cisterns, through which there ran at all
5:41
Speaker 1: times enough pure water to wash any quantity of linen,
5:45
Speaker 1: no matter how dirty. Here they unharnessed the mules and
5:49
Speaker 1: turned them out to feed on the sweet, juicy herbage
5:53
Speaker 1: that grew by the water side. They took the clothes
5:57
Speaker 1: out of the wagon, put them in the water, and
6:00
Speaker 1: vied with one another in treading them in the pits
6:03
Speaker 1: to get the dirt out. After they had washed them
6:07
Speaker 1: and got them quite clean, they laid them out by
6:10
Speaker 1: the seaside, where the waves had raised a high beach
6:13
Speaker 1: of shingle, and set about washing themselves and anointing themselves
6:17
Speaker 1: with olive oil. Then they got their dinner by the
6:23
Speaker 1: side of the stream and waited for the sun to
6:26
Speaker 1: finish drying the clothes. When they had done dinner, they
6:30
Speaker 1: threw off the veils that covered their heads and began
6:34
Speaker 1: to play at ball, while Narsikae sang for them. As
6:39
Speaker 1: the huntress Diana goes forth upon the mountains of tejitis
6:43
Speaker 1: or arimanthus to hunt wild boars or deer, and the
6:48
Speaker 1: wood nymph's daughter of ages bearing jove take their sport
6:53
Speaker 1: along with her. Then is leto proud at seeing her
6:57
Speaker 1: daughter stand a full head taller than the others, and
7:00
Speaker 1: eclipse the loveliest amid a whole bevy of beauties. Even
7:05
Speaker 1: so did the girl outshine her handmaids. When it was
7:12
Speaker 1: time for them to start home, and they were folding
7:15
Speaker 1: the clothes and putting them into the wagon, Minerva began
7:18
Speaker 1: to consider how Ulysses should wake up and see the
7:21
Speaker 1: handsome girl who was to conduct him to the city
7:24
Speaker 1: of the Phaeacians. The girl therefore threw a ball at
7:29
Speaker 1: one of the maids, which missed her and fell into
7:32
Speaker 1: deep water. On this they all shouted, and the noise
7:36
Speaker 1: they made were Ulysses, who sat up in his bed
7:40
Speaker 1: of leaves and began to wonder what it might all be.
7:44
Speaker 1: Alas said he to himself, what kind of people have
7:48
Speaker 1: her come amongst? Are they cruel, savage and uncivilized? Or
7:54
Speaker 1: hospitable and humane? I seemed to hear the voice of
7:59
Speaker 1: young women, and they sound like those of the nymphs
8:03
Speaker 1: that harned mountain tops, or springs of rivers and meadows
8:07
Speaker 1: of green grass. At any rate, I am among a
8:10
Speaker 1: race of men and women. Let me try if I
8:14
Speaker 1: cannot manage to get a look at them. As he
8:19
Speaker 1: said this, he crept from under his bush and broke
8:23
Speaker 1: off a bough covered with thick leaves to hide his nakedness.
8:28
Speaker 1: He looked like some lion of the wilderness that stalks about,
8:32
Speaker 1: exulting in his strength and defying both wind and rain.
8:37
Speaker 1: His eyes glare as he prowls in quest of oxen
8:40
Speaker 1: sheep or deer, For he is famished, and will dare
8:44
Speaker 1: break even into a well fenced homestead trying to get
8:47
Speaker 1: at the sheep. Even such did Ulysses seem to the
8:51
Speaker 1: young women as he drew near to them, all naked
8:54
Speaker 1: as he was, for he was in great want on
8:58
Speaker 1: seeing one so unkempt and so be grimed with salt water.
9:02
Speaker 1: The others scampered off along the spits that jutted out
9:05
Speaker 1: into the sea, but the daughter of Alcinus stood firm
9:10
Speaker 1: from Minerva put courage into her heart and took away
9:13
Speaker 1: all fear from her. She stood right in front of Ulysses,
9:18
Speaker 1: and he doubted whether he should go up to her,
9:20
Speaker 1: throw himself at her feet and embrace her knees as
9:23
Speaker 1: a suppliant, or stay where he was and entreat her
9:27
Speaker 1: to give him some clothes and show him the way
9:29
Speaker 1: to the town. In the end, he deemed it best
9:33
Speaker 1: to entreat her from a distance, in case the girl
9:36
Speaker 1: should take offense at his coming near enough to clasp
9:39
Speaker 1: her knees. So he addressed her in a honeyed and
9:42
Speaker 1: persuasive language. O Queen, he said, I implore your aid,
9:49
Speaker 1: but tell me are you a goddess or are you
9:52
Speaker 1: a mortal woman? If you are a goddess and dwell
9:56
Speaker 1: in heaven, I can only conjecture that you are Joe
10:00
Speaker 1: whose daughter Diana, for your face and figure resemble none
10:03
Speaker 1: but hers. If, on the other hand, you are a
10:07
Speaker 1: mortal and live on earth, thrice happy are your father
10:11
Speaker 1: and mother? Thrice happy? Too? Are your brothers and sisters?
10:15
Speaker 1: How proud and delighted they must feel when they see
10:19
Speaker 1: so fair a sighing as yourself going out to a dance.
10:25
Speaker 1: Most happy, however, of all, will be he whose wedding
10:28
Speaker 1: gifts have been the richest, and who takes you to
10:32
Speaker 1: his own home. I never yet saw any one so beautiful,
10:37
Speaker 1: neither man nor woman, and I am lost in admiration as
10:41
Speaker 1: I behold you. I can only compare you to young
10:44
Speaker 1: palm tree, which I saw when I was at de Loss,
10:48
Speaker 1: growing near the altar of Apollo. For I was there, too,
10:52
Speaker 1: with much people after me, when I was on that
10:56
Speaker 1: journey which has been the source of all my troubles.
11:00
Speaker 1: Never yet did such a young plant shoot out of
11:03
Speaker 1: the ground as that was, and I admired and wondered
11:06
Speaker 1: at it, exactly as I now admire and wonder at yourself.
11:11
Speaker 1: I dare not clasp your knees, but I am in
11:14
Speaker 1: great distress. Yesterday made the twentieth day that I had
11:18
Speaker 1: been tossing about upon the sea. The winds and waves
11:21
Speaker 1: have taken me all the way from the Ogean Island,
11:25
Speaker 1: and now fate has flung me upon this coast, that
11:28
Speaker 1: I may endure still further suffering. For I do not
11:31
Speaker 1: think that I have yet come to the end of it,
11:34
Speaker 1: but rather that Heaven has still much evil in store
11:37
Speaker 1: for me. And now O Queen, have pity upon me,
11:42
Speaker 1: for you are the first person I have met, and
11:44
Speaker 1: I know no one else in this country. Show me
11:48
Speaker 1: the way to your town, and let me have anything
11:51
Speaker 1: that you may have brought hither to wrap your clothes in.
11:55
Speaker 1: May Heaven grant you in all things your heart's desire, husband, house,
12:00
Speaker 1: and a happy, peaceful home. For there is nothing better
12:03
Speaker 1: in this world than that man and wife should be
12:07
Speaker 1: of one mind in a house. It discomfits their enemies,
12:12
Speaker 1: makes the hearts of their friends glad, and they themselves
12:15
Speaker 1: know more about it than any one. To this, Nasirkai answered, stranger,
12:25
Speaker 1: you appear to be a sensible, well disposed person. There
12:29
Speaker 1: is no accounting for luck. Jove gives prosperity to rich
12:34
Speaker 1: and poor just as he chooses. So you must take
12:37
Speaker 1: what he has seen fit to send you and make
12:40
Speaker 1: the best of it. Now, however, you have come to
12:44
Speaker 1: this our country, you shall not want for clothes, nor
12:48
Speaker 1: for anything else that a foreigner in distress may reasonably
12:52
Speaker 1: look for. I will show you the way to the town,
12:56
Speaker 1: and will tell you the name of our people. We
12:59
Speaker 1: are called Faacians, and I am daughter to el Sinus,
13:04
Speaker 1: in whom the whole power of the state is vested.
13:09
Speaker 1: Then she called her maids and said, stay where you
13:12
Speaker 1: are you girls, Can you not see a man without
13:15
Speaker 1: running away from him, do you take him for a
13:18
Speaker 1: robber or a murderer? Neither he nor any one else
13:21
Speaker 1: can come here to do us Faations any harm, For
13:25
Speaker 1: we are dear to the gods and live apart on
13:27
Speaker 1: a land's end that juts into the Sounding Sea, and
13:31
Speaker 1: have nothing to do with any other people. This is
13:35
Speaker 1: only some poor man who has lost his way, and
13:38
Speaker 1: we must be kind to him, for strangers and foreigners
13:42
Speaker 1: in distress are under Joe's protection and will take what
13:46
Speaker 1: they can get and be thankful. So girls, give the
13:51
Speaker 1: poor fellow something to eat and drink, and wash him
13:54
Speaker 1: in the stream at some place that is sheltered from
13:56
Speaker 1: the wind. On the The maids left off running away
14:02
Speaker 1: and began calling one another back. They made Ulysses sit
14:06
Speaker 1: down in the shelter as Narasirkie had told them, and
14:10
Speaker 1: brought him a shirt and cloak. They also brought him
14:15
Speaker 1: the little golden cruc of oil and told him to
14:18
Speaker 1: go and wash in the stream. But Ulysses said, young women,
14:25
Speaker 1: please to stand a little on one side, that I
14:27
Speaker 1: may wash the brine from my shoulders and anoint myself
14:30
Speaker 1: with oil. For it is long enough since my skin
14:33
Speaker 1: has had a drop of oil upon it. I cannot
14:37
Speaker 1: wash as long as you all keep standing here. I
14:40
Speaker 1: am ashamed to strip before a number of good looking
14:43
Speaker 1: young women. Then they stood on one side and went
14:47
Speaker 1: to tell the girl, while Ulysses washed himself in the
14:50
Speaker 1: stream and scrubbed the brine from his back and from
14:53
Speaker 1: his broad shoulders. When he had thoroughly washed himself and
14:58
Speaker 1: had got the brine at a his hair, he anointed
15:01
Speaker 1: himself with oil and put on the clothes which the
15:05
Speaker 1: girl had given him, and Minerva made him look taller
15:09
Speaker 1: and stronger than before. She also made the hair grow
15:13
Speaker 1: sick on the top of his head and flow down
15:15
Speaker 1: in curls like Hyacinth's blossoms. She glorified him about the
15:20
Speaker 1: head and shoulders as a skillful workman who has studied
15:24
Speaker 1: art of all kinds under Vulcan and Minerva enriches a
15:28
Speaker 1: piece of silver plate by gilding it, and his work
15:32
Speaker 1: is full of beauty. Then he went and sat down
15:37
Speaker 1: a little way off upon the beach, looking quite young
15:40
Speaker 1: and handsome, and the girl gazed on him with admiration.
15:44
Speaker 1: Then she said to her maids, hush, my DearS, for
15:48
Speaker 1: I want to say something. I believe the gods who
15:52
Speaker 1: live in heaven have sent this man to the Phaeacians.
15:56
Speaker 1: When I first saw him, I thought him plain. But
15:59
Speaker 1: now his appear pearance is like that of the gods
16:01
Speaker 1: who dwell in heaven. I should like my future husband
16:05
Speaker 1: to be just such another as he is, if he
16:08
Speaker 1: would only stay here and not want to go away. However,
16:13
Speaker 1: give him something to eat and drink. They did as
16:18
Speaker 1: they were told and set food before Ulysses, who ate
16:22
Speaker 1: and drank ravenously, for it was long since he had
16:25
Speaker 1: had food of any kind. Meanwhile, Nowseekaia besought her of
16:30
Speaker 1: another matter. She got the linen folded and placed in
16:34
Speaker 1: the wagon. She then yoked the mules, and as she
16:37
Speaker 1: took her seat, she called Ulysses stranger, said she rise,
16:44
Speaker 1: and let us be going back to the town. I
16:46
Speaker 1: will introduce you at the house of my excellent father,
16:50
Speaker 1: where I can tell you that you will meet all
16:53
Speaker 1: the best people among the Faacans. But be sure and
16:57
Speaker 1: do as I bid you, for you seem to be
16:59
Speaker 1: a sensible As long as we are going past the
17:04
Speaker 1: fields and farm lands, follow briskly behind the wagon along
17:08
Speaker 1: with the maids, and I will lead the way myself. Presently, however,
17:13
Speaker 1: we shall come to the town, where you will find
17:16
Speaker 1: a high wall running all round it, and a good
17:20
Speaker 1: harbor on either side, with a narrow entrance into the city,
17:25
Speaker 1: and the ships will be drawn up by the roadside,
17:28
Speaker 1: for everyone has a place where his own ship can lie.
17:32
Speaker 1: You will see the market place with a temple of
17:35
Speaker 1: neptune in the middle of it, and paved with large
17:38
Speaker 1: stones bedded in the earth. Here people deal in ships
17:42
Speaker 1: gear of all kinds, such as cables and sails, and
17:46
Speaker 1: here too are the places where oars are made. For
17:50
Speaker 1: the Faeacians are not a nation of archers. They know
17:53
Speaker 1: nothing about bows and arrows, but are a seafaring folk,
17:57
Speaker 1: and pride themselves on their masts, oars and ships with
18:01
Speaker 1: which they travel far over the sea. I am afraid
18:06
Speaker 1: of the gossip and scandal that may be set on
18:09
Speaker 1: foot against me later on, for the people here are
18:12
Speaker 1: very ill natured, and some low fellow if he met us,
18:16
Speaker 1: might say, who is this fine looking stranger that is
18:20
Speaker 1: going about with Nasikai? Where did she find him? I
18:24
Speaker 1: suppose she is going to marry him. Perhaps he is
18:27
Speaker 1: a vagabond sailor whom she has taken from some foreign vessel,
18:33
Speaker 1: for we have no neighbors, or some God has at
18:36
Speaker 1: last come down from heaven in answer to her prayers,
18:40
Speaker 1: and she is going to live with him all the
18:42
Speaker 1: rest of her life. It would be a good thing
18:45
Speaker 1: if she would take herself off and find her husband
18:48
Speaker 1: somewhere else, for she will not look at one of
18:51
Speaker 1: the many excellent young Faacans who are in love with her.
18:57
Speaker 1: This is the kind of disparaging remark that would be
18:59
Speaker 1: made of me, and I could not complain, for I
19:03
Speaker 1: should myself be scandalized at seeing any other girl do
19:06
Speaker 1: the like and go about with men in spite of everybody,
19:10
Speaker 1: while her father and mother were still alive, and without
19:14
Speaker 1: having been married, in the face of all the world.
19:20
Speaker 1: If therefore ye want my father to give you an
19:23
Speaker 1: escort and to help you home, do as I bid you.
19:27
Speaker 1: You will see a beautiful grove of poplars by the roadside,
19:31
Speaker 1: dedicated to Minerva. It has a well in it and
19:35
Speaker 1: a meadow all around it. Here, my father has a
19:38
Speaker 1: field of rich garden ground about as far from the
19:42
Speaker 1: town as a man's voice will carry. Sit down there
19:46
Speaker 1: and wait for a while till the rest of us
19:48
Speaker 1: can get into the town and reach my father's house. Then,
19:53
Speaker 1: when ye think we must have done this, come into
19:56
Speaker 1: the town and ask the way to the house of
19:59
Speaker 1: my father al Sinus. You will have no difficulty in
20:03
Speaker 1: finding it. Any child will point it out to you,
20:07
Speaker 1: for no one else in the whole town has anything
20:10
Speaker 1: like such a fine house as he has. When you
20:14
Speaker 1: have got past the gates and through the outer court,
20:19
Speaker 1: go right across the inner court till you come to
20:21
Speaker 1: my mother. You will find her sitting by the fire
20:25
Speaker 1: and spinning her purple wool by firelight. It is a
20:28
Speaker 1: fine sight to see her as she leans back against
20:32
Speaker 1: one of the bearing posts, with her maids all ranged
20:35
Speaker 1: behind her. Close to her seat stands that of my father,
20:40
Speaker 1: on which he sits and topes like an immortal god.
20:45
Speaker 1: Never mind him, but go up to my mother and
20:48
Speaker 1: lay your hands upon her knees. If you would get
20:51
Speaker 1: home quickly, If you can gain her over, you may
20:56
Speaker 1: hope to see your own country again, no matter how
21:00
Speaker 1: how distant it may be. So saying, she lashed the
21:05
Speaker 1: mules with her whip, and they left the river. The
21:09
Speaker 1: mules drew well, and their hoofs went up and down
21:13
Speaker 1: upon the road. She was careful not to go too
21:16
Speaker 1: fast for Ulysses and the maids, who were following on
21:19
Speaker 1: foot along with the wagon. So she plied her whip
21:23
Speaker 1: with judgment. As the sun was going down, they came
21:27
Speaker 1: to the sacred grove of Minerva, and there Ulysses sat
21:31
Speaker 1: down and prayed to the mighty daughter of Jove. Hear me,
21:38
Speaker 1: he cried, Daughter of Ages bearing Jove, unweariable. Hear me now,
21:47
Speaker 1: for you gave no heed to my prayers when Neptune
21:51
Speaker 1: was wrecking me. Now, therefore have pity upon me, and
21:55
Speaker 1: grant that I may find friends and be hospitably received
21:59
Speaker 1: by the Facians. Thus did he pray, and Minerva heard
22:05
Speaker 1: his prayer, but she would not show herself to him openly,
22:09
Speaker 1: for she was afraid of her uncle Neptune, who was
22:12
Speaker 1: still furious in his endeavors to prevent Ulysses from getting home.
22:19
Speaker 1: End of Book six