Latest / Classic Adventure Books - Daily / 18 - The Odyssey - Homer
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Book eighteen. Now there came a certain common tramp who
- 0:05Speaker 1: used to go begging all over the city of Ithaca,
- 0:08Speaker 1: and was notorious as an incorrigible glutton and drunkard. This
- 0:12Speaker 1: man had no strength nor stay in him, but he
- 0:14Speaker 1: was a great hulking fellow. To look at his real name,
- 0:18Speaker 1: the one his mother gave him, was Arnaeus, but the
- 0:20Speaker 1: young men of the place called him Iris, because he
- 0:23Speaker 1: used to run errands for any one who would send him.
- 0:27Speaker 1: As soon as he came, he began to insult Ulysses
- 0:29Speaker 1: and to try and drive him out of his own house.
- 0:33Speaker 1: Be awful man, he cried from the doorway, or you
- 0:36Speaker 1: shall be dragged out neck and heels. Do you not
- 0:39Speaker 1: see that they are all giving me the wink and
- 0:41Speaker 1: wanting me to turn you out by force? Only I
- 0:44Speaker 1: do not like to do. So get up, then and
- 0:47Speaker 1: go of yourself, or we shall come to blows. Ulysses
- 0:51Speaker 1: frowned on him and said, my friend, I do you
- 0:54Speaker 1: no manner of harm. People give you a great deal,
- 0:57Speaker 1: but I am not jealous. There is room room enough
- 1:00Speaker 1: in this doorway for the pair of us, and you
- 1:02Speaker 1: need not grudge me things that are not yours. To give.
- 1:06Speaker 1: You seem to be just such another tramp as myself,
- 1:09Speaker 1: But perhaps the gods will give us better luck by
- 1:11Speaker 1: and by. Do not, however, talk too much about fighting,
- 1:16Speaker 1: or you will incense me and old though I am,
- 1:18Speaker 1: I shall cover your mouth and chest with blood. I
- 1:21Speaker 1: shall have more peace to morrow if I do, for
- 1:24Speaker 1: you will not come to the house of Ulysses any more.
- 1:28Speaker 1: Iris was very angry and answered, you, filthy glutton. You
- 1:32Speaker 1: run on trippingly like an old fish fag. I have
- 1:35Speaker 1: a good mind to lay both hands about you and
- 1:37Speaker 1: knock your teeth out of your head like so many
- 1:39Speaker 1: boars tusks. Get ready, therefore, and let these people here
- 1:43Speaker 1: stand by and look on. You will never be able
- 1:46Speaker 1: to fight one who is so much younger than yourself.
- 1:50Speaker 1: Thus roundly did they rate one another on the smooth
- 1:52Speaker 1: pavement in front of the doorway. And when Antonus saw
- 1:55Speaker 1: what was going on, he laughed heartily and said to
- 1:58Speaker 1: the others, this is the finest sport that you ever saw.
- 2:02Speaker 1: Heaven never yet sent anything like it into this house.
- 2:05Speaker 1: The stranger and Eres have quarreled and are going to fight.
- 2:09Speaker 1: Let us set them on to do so at once.
- 2:12Speaker 1: The suitors all came up, laughing, and gathered round the
- 2:15Speaker 1: two ragged tramps. Listen to me, said Antonus. There are
- 2:19Speaker 1: some goat's paunches down at the fire, which we have
- 2:21Speaker 1: filled with blood and fat and set aside for supper.
- 2:25Speaker 1: He who is victorious and proves himself to be the
- 2:27Speaker 1: better man shall have his pick of the lot. He
- 2:30Speaker 1: shall be free of our table, and we will not
- 2:32Speaker 1: allow any other beggar about the house at all. The
- 2:36Speaker 1: others all agreed, but ulysses to throw them off the scent,
- 2:39Speaker 1: said sirs. An old man like myself, worn out with suffering,
- 2:44Speaker 1: cannot hold his own against a young one. But my
- 2:46Speaker 1: irrepressible belly urges me on, though I know it can
- 2:50Speaker 1: only end in my getting a drubbing. You must swear, however,
- 2:53Speaker 1: that none of you will give me a foul blow,
- 2:55Speaker 1: to favor Ras and secure him the victory. They swore,
- 3:00Speaker 1: or as he told them. And when they had completed
- 3:02Speaker 1: their oath, Telemachus put in a word and said, stranger,
- 3:05Speaker 1: if you have a mind to settle with this fellow,
- 3:08Speaker 1: you need not be afraid of any one here. Whoever
- 3:11Speaker 1: strikes you will have to fight more than one. I
- 3:14Speaker 1: am host, and the other chiefs Antonus and Eurymachus, both
- 3:18Speaker 1: of them men of understanding, are of the same mind
- 3:20Speaker 1: as I am. Every one assented, and Ulysses girded his
- 3:24Speaker 1: old rags about his loins, thus bearing his stalwart thighs,
- 3:28Speaker 1: his broad chest and shoulders, and his mighty arms. But
- 3:32Speaker 1: Minerva came up to him and made his limbs even stronger. Still,
- 3:36Speaker 1: the suitors were beyond measure astonished, and one would turn
- 3:39Speaker 1: towards his neighbors, saying, this stranger has brought such a
- 3:43Speaker 1: thigh out of his old rags that there will soon
- 3:45Speaker 1: be nothing left of rus Iris began to be very
- 3:49Speaker 1: uneasy as he heard them, But the servants girded him
- 3:51Speaker 1: by force and brought him into the open part of
- 3:54Speaker 1: the court in such a fright that his limbs were
- 3:56Speaker 1: all of a tremble. Antonus scolded him and said, said,
- 4:00Speaker 1: you swaggering bully, you ought never to have been born
- 4:03Speaker 1: at all. If you are afraid of such an old,
- 4:05Speaker 1: broken down creature as this tramp is, I say therefore,
- 4:09Speaker 1: and it shall surely be, if he beats you and
- 4:12Speaker 1: proves himself the better man, I shall pack you off
- 4:14Speaker 1: on board ship to the mainland. And send you to
- 4:17Speaker 1: King Ekeatus, who kills every one that comes near him.
- 4:21Speaker 1: He will cut off your nose and ears, and draw
- 4:23Speaker 1: out your entails for the dogs to eat. This frightened
- 4:26Speaker 1: heres still more. But they brought him into the middle
- 4:29Speaker 1: of the court, and the two men raised their hands
- 4:31Speaker 1: to fight. Then Ulysses considered whether he should let drive
- 4:35Speaker 1: so hard at him as to make an end of
- 4:37Speaker 1: him then and there, or whether he should give him
- 4:39Speaker 1: a lighter blow that should only knock him down. In
- 4:42Speaker 1: the end, he deemed it best to give the lighter blow,
- 4:45Speaker 1: for fear the Achaeans should begin to suspect who he was.
- 4:49Speaker 1: Then they began to fight, and Eras hit Ulysses on
- 4:52Speaker 1: the right shoulder. But Ulysses gave Ears a blow on
- 4:55Speaker 1: the neck under the ear that broke in the bones
- 4:57Speaker 1: of his skull, and the blood came gushing out out
- 5:00Speaker 1: of his mouth. He fell groaning in the dust, gnashing
- 5:03Speaker 1: his teeth and kicking on the ground. But the suitors
- 5:06Speaker 1: threw up their hands and nearly died of laughter. Ulysses
- 5:11Speaker 1: caught hold of him by the foot and dragged him
- 5:13Speaker 1: into the outer court as far as the gatehouse. There
- 5:16Speaker 1: he propped him up against the wall and put his
- 5:19Speaker 1: staff in his hands. Sit here, said he, and keep
- 5:23Speaker 1: the dogs and pigs off. You are a pitiful creature,
- 5:27Speaker 1: and if you try to make yourself king of the
- 5:28Speaker 1: beggars any more, you shall fare still worse. Then he
- 5:33Speaker 1: threw his dirty old wallet, all tattered and torn, over
- 5:36Speaker 1: his shoulder with the cord by which it hung, and
- 5:38Speaker 1: went back to sit down upon the threshold. But the
- 5:41Speaker 1: suitors went within the cloisters, laughing and saluting him. May
- 5:46Speaker 1: Jove and all the other gods said, they grant you
- 5:49Speaker 1: whatever you want for having put an end to the
- 5:51Speaker 1: importunity of this insatiable tramp. We will take him over
- 5:54Speaker 1: to the main land presently to King Echetus, who kills
- 5:57Speaker 1: every one that comes near him. Ulysses hailed this as
- 6:02Speaker 1: of good omen, and Antonus set a great goat's paunch
- 6:05Speaker 1: before him, filled with blood and fat. Amphinymus took two
- 6:09Speaker 1: loaves out of the bread basket and brought them to him,
- 6:12Speaker 1: pledging him as he did so, in a golden goblet
- 6:14Speaker 1: of wine. Good luck to you, he said, father stranger.
- 6:18Speaker 1: You are very badly off at present, but I hope
- 6:20Speaker 1: you will have better times by and by to this,
- 6:24Speaker 1: Ulysses answered ampheminus, you seem to be a man of
- 6:28Speaker 1: good understanding, as indeed you may well be. Seeing whose
- 6:31Speaker 1: son you are, I have heard your father well spoken of.
- 6:34Speaker 1: He is Nysus of Dulichium, a man both brave and wealthy.
- 6:39Speaker 1: They tell me you are his son, and you appear
- 6:41Speaker 1: to be a considerable person. Listen, therefore, and take heed
- 6:45Speaker 1: to what I am saying. Man is the vainest of
- 6:48Speaker 1: all creatures that have their being upon earth. As long
- 6:52Speaker 1: as Heaven vouchsafes him health and strength, he thinks that
- 6:56Speaker 1: he shall come to no harm hereafter. And even when
- 6:59Speaker 1: the blessed Gods bring sorrow upon him, he bears it
- 7:01Speaker 1: as he needs must, and makes the best of it.
- 7:04Speaker 1: For God Almighty gives men their daily minds day by day.
- 7:09Speaker 1: I know all about it, for I was a rich
- 7:11Speaker 1: man once and did much wrong in the stubbornness of
- 7:13Speaker 1: my pride, and in the confidence that my father and
- 7:16Speaker 1: my brothers would support me. Therefore, let a man fear
- 7:20Speaker 1: God in all things always, and take the good that
- 7:23Speaker 1: Heaven may see fit to send him without vainglory. Consider
- 7:27Speaker 1: the infamy of what these suitors are doing. See how
- 7:29Speaker 1: they are wasting the estate and doing dishonor to the
- 7:32Speaker 1: wife of one who is certain to return some day,
- 7:36Speaker 1: and that too not long. Hence, nay, he will be
- 7:39Speaker 1: here soon. May Heaven send you home quietly first, that
- 7:42Speaker 1: you may not meet with him in the day of
- 7:44Speaker 1: his coming, For once he is here the suitors and
- 7:47Speaker 1: he will not part bloodlessly. With these words, he made
- 7:52Speaker 1: a drink offering, and when he had drunk, he put
- 7:54Speaker 1: the gold cup again into the hands of Ampheminus, who
- 7:57Speaker 1: walked away, serious and bowing his head. He foreboded evil,
- 8:02Speaker 1: But even so he did not escape destruction, for Minerva
- 8:05Speaker 1: had doomed him fall by the hand of Telemachus. So
- 8:08Speaker 1: he took his seat again at the place from which
- 8:10Speaker 1: he had come. Then Minerva put it into the mind
- 8:14Speaker 1: of Penelope to show herself to the suitors, that she
- 8:17Speaker 1: might make them still more enamored of her and win
- 8:20Speaker 1: still further honor from her son and husband. So she
- 8:24Speaker 1: feigned a mocking laugh and said, eurynymy, I have changed
- 8:27Speaker 1: my mind and have a fancy to show myself to
- 8:30Speaker 1: the suitors. Although I detest them, I should like also
- 8:33Speaker 1: to give my son a hint that he had better
- 8:35Speaker 1: not have anything more to do with them. They speak
- 8:38Speaker 1: fairly enough, but they mean mischief. My dear child answered, Eurynymy,
- 8:44Speaker 1: all that you have said is true. Go and tell
- 8:46Speaker 1: your son about it. But first wash yourself and anoint
- 8:49Speaker 1: your face. Do not go about with your cheeks all
- 8:52Speaker 1: covered with tears. It is not right that you should
- 8:55Speaker 1: grieve so incessantly, for Telemachus, whom you have always prayed
- 8:58Speaker 1: that you might live to see with the bees, is
- 9:00Speaker 1: already grown up. I know, Eurynymy, replied Penelope, that you
- 9:06Speaker 1: mean well, but do not try and persuade me to
- 9:08Speaker 1: wash and to anoint myself, for Heaven rob me of
- 9:11Speaker 1: all my beauty on the day my husband sailed. Nevertheless,
- 9:15Speaker 1: tell Autonoe and Hippodamia that I want them. They must
- 9:19Speaker 1: be with me when I am in the cloister. I
- 9:21Speaker 1: am not going among the men alone. It would not
- 9:23Speaker 1: be proper for me to do so. On this, the
- 9:26Speaker 1: old woman went out of the room to bid the
- 9:29Speaker 1: maids go to their mistress. In the meantime, Minerva bethought
- 9:32Speaker 1: her of another matter and sent Penelope off into a
- 9:35Speaker 1: sweet slumber. So she lay down on her couch and
- 9:39Speaker 1: her limbs became heavy with sleep. Then the goddess shed
- 9:42Speaker 1: grace and beauty over her, that all the Achaeans might
- 9:45Speaker 1: admire her. She washed her face with the ambrosial loveliness
- 9:49Speaker 1: that Venus wears when she goes dancing. With the graces,
- 9:53Speaker 1: she made her taller and of a more commanding figure,
- 9:56Speaker 1: while as for her complexion, it was whiter than san ivory.
- 10:00Speaker 1: When Minerva had done all this, she went away, whereon
- 10:03Speaker 1: the maids came in from the women's room and woke
- 10:05Speaker 1: Penelope with the sound of their talking. Oh what an
- 10:09Speaker 1: exquisitely delicious sleep I have been having, said she as
- 10:12Speaker 1: she passed her hands over her face. In spite of
- 10:15Speaker 1: all my misery, I wish Diana would let me die
- 10:19Speaker 1: so sweetly now, at this very moment, that I might
- 10:21Speaker 1: no longer waste in despair for the loss of my
- 10:24Speaker 1: dear husband, who possessed every kind of good quality and
- 10:27Speaker 1: was the most distinguished man among the Achaeans. With these words,
- 10:32Speaker 1: she came down from her upper room, not alone, but
- 10:35Speaker 1: attended by two of her maidens, And when she reached
- 10:38Speaker 1: the suitors, she stood by one of the bearing posts
- 10:40Speaker 1: supporting the roof of the cloister holding a veil before
- 10:43Speaker 1: her face, and with a staid maid servant on either
- 10:46Speaker 1: side of her. As they beheld her, the suitors were
- 10:50Speaker 1: so overpowered and became so desperately enamored of her, that
- 10:54Speaker 1: each one prayed he might win her for his own bed.
- 10:56Speaker 1: Fellow Telemachus, said she, addressing her son, I fear you
- 11:02Speaker 1: are no longer so discreet and well conducted as you
- 11:04Speaker 1: used to be. When you were younger, you had a
- 11:07Speaker 1: greater sense of propriety. Now, however, that you are grown up,
- 11:11Speaker 1: though a stranger to look at you would take you
- 11:13Speaker 1: for the son of a well to do father. As
- 11:15Speaker 1: far as size and good looks go, your conduct is
- 11:18Speaker 1: by no means what it should be. What is all
- 11:21Speaker 1: this disturbance that has been going on? And how came
- 11:23Speaker 1: you to allow a stranger to be so disgracefully ill treated?
- 11:27Speaker 1: What would have happened if he had suffered serious injury
- 11:29Speaker 1: while suppliant in our house? Surely this would have been
- 11:32Speaker 1: very discreditable to you. I am not surprised, my dear mother,
- 11:37Speaker 1: at your displeasure, replied Telemachus. I understand all about it,
- 11:41Speaker 1: and no one things are not as they should be,
- 11:43Speaker 1: which I could not do when I was younger. I cannot, however,
- 11:47Speaker 1: behave with perfect propriety at all times. First one and
- 11:51Speaker 1: then another of these wicked people here keeps driving me
- 11:53Speaker 1: out of my mind, and I have no one to
- 11:56Speaker 1: stand by me. After all. However, this fire between Iris
- 12:00Speaker 1: and the stranger did not turn out as the suitors
- 12:03Speaker 1: meant it to do, for the stranger got the best
- 12:05Speaker 1: of it. I wish Father Jove, Minerva and Apollo would
- 12:08Speaker 1: break the neck of every one of these wooers of yours,
- 12:11Speaker 1: some inside the house and some out. And I wish
- 12:14Speaker 1: they might all be as limp as erases over yonder
- 12:17Speaker 1: in the gait of the outer court. See how he
- 12:20Speaker 1: nods his head like a drunken man. He has had
- 12:23Speaker 1: such a thrashing that he cannot stand on his feet
- 12:26Speaker 1: nor get back to his home, wherever that may be,
- 12:28Speaker 1: for he has no strength left in him. Thus did
- 12:32Speaker 1: they converse. Eurymachus then came up and said, Queen Penelope,
- 12:37Speaker 1: daughter of Vicarius, if all the Achaeans in Yeasian Argos
- 12:40Speaker 1: could see you at this moment, you would have still
- 12:43Speaker 1: more suitors in your house by tomorrow morning. For you
- 12:46Speaker 1: are the most admirable woman in the whole world, both
- 12:49Speaker 1: as regards personal beauty and strength of understanding. To this,
- 12:54Speaker 1: Penelope replied Eurymachus, Heaven robbed me of all my beauty,
- 12:58Speaker 1: whether of face or figure. When the argives set sail
- 13:01Speaker 1: for Troy, and my dear husband with them, if he
- 13:04Speaker 1: were to return and look after my affairs, I should
- 13:07Speaker 1: both be more respected and show a better presence to
- 13:10Speaker 1: the world. As it is, I am oppressed with care
- 13:13Speaker 1: and with the afflictions which Heaven has seen fit to
- 13:16Speaker 1: heap upon me. My husband foresaw it all, and when
- 13:19Speaker 1: he was leaving home, he took my right wrist in
- 13:22Speaker 1: his hand. Wife, he said, we shall not all of
- 13:26Speaker 1: us come home safe from Troy. For the Trojans fight well,
- 13:29Speaker 1: both with beau and spear. They are excellent also at
- 13:32Speaker 1: fighting from chariots, and nothing decides the issue of a
- 13:35Speaker 1: fight sooner than this. I know not, therefore, whether Heaven
- 13:39Speaker 1: will send me back to you, or whether I may
- 13:42Speaker 1: not fall over there at Troy. In the meantime, do
- 13:46Speaker 1: you look after things here? Take care of my father
- 13:49Speaker 1: and mother as at present, and even more so during
- 13:52Speaker 1: my absence. But when you see our son growing a beard,
- 13:55Speaker 1: then marry whom you will, and leave this your present home.
- 13:59Speaker 1: This is what he is say said, And now it
- 14:01Speaker 1: is all coming true. A night will come when I
- 14:03Speaker 1: shall have to yield myself to a marriage which I detest,
- 14:07Speaker 1: for Jove has taken from me all hope of happiness.
- 14:10Speaker 1: This further grief moreover cuts me to the very heart.
- 14:14Speaker 1: You suitors are not wooing me, after the custom of
- 14:16Speaker 1: my country, when men are courting a woman whom they
- 14:19Speaker 1: think will be a good wife to them, and who
- 14:21Speaker 1: is of noble birth, and when they are each trying
- 14:24Speaker 1: to win her for himself, they usually bring oxen and
- 14:27Speaker 1: sheep to feast the friends of the lady, and they
- 14:29Speaker 1: make her magnificent presents instead of eating up other people's
- 14:33Speaker 1: property without paying for it. This was what she said,
- 14:37Speaker 1: and Ulysses was glad when he heard her trying to
- 14:40Speaker 1: get presents out of the suitors and flattering them with
- 14:42Speaker 1: fair words which he knew she did not mean. Then
- 14:46Speaker 1: Antona said, Queen Penelope, daughter Vicarius, take as many presents
- 14:52Speaker 1: as you please from any one who will give them
- 14:54Speaker 1: to you. It is not well to refuse a present.
- 14:57Speaker 1: But we will not go about our business, nor stir
- 15:00Speaker 1: from where we are till you have married the best
- 15:02Speaker 1: man among us, whoever he may be. The others applauded
- 15:06Speaker 1: what Antonus had said, and each one sent his servant
- 15:09Speaker 1: to bring his present. Antinus's man returned with a large
- 15:12Speaker 1: and lovely dress, most exquisitely embroidered. It had twelve beautifully
- 15:17Speaker 1: made brooch pins of pure gold with which to fasten it.
- 15:21Speaker 1: Eurymachus immediately brought her a magnificent chain of gold and
- 15:25Speaker 1: amber beads that gleamed like sunlight. Eurydamus's two men returned
- 15:30Speaker 1: with some earrings fashioned into three brilliant pendants, which glistened
- 15:34Speaker 1: most beautifully, while King Pisander, son of Polloctor, gave her
- 15:38Speaker 1: a necklace of the rarest workmanship, and every one else
- 15:42Speaker 1: brought her a beautiful present of some kind. Then the
- 15:45Speaker 1: queen went back to her room upstairs, and her maids
- 15:48Speaker 1: brought the presents after her. Meanwhile, the suitors took to
- 15:51Speaker 1: singing and dancing, and stayed till evening came. They danced
- 15:56Speaker 1: and sang till it grew dark. Then they brought in
- 15:58Speaker 1: three braziers to give life, and pile them up with
- 16:01Speaker 1: chopped firewood, very old and dry, and they lit torches
- 16:05Speaker 1: from them, which the maids held up in turn, and
- 16:07Speaker 1: turn about. Then, Ulysses, said, maids, servants of Ulysses, who
- 16:12Speaker 1: has so long been absent, go to the queen inside
- 16:15Speaker 1: the house, sit with her and amuse her, or spin
- 16:18Speaker 1: and pick wool. I will hold the light for all
- 16:21Speaker 1: these people. They may stay till morning, but shall not
- 16:23Speaker 1: beat me, for I can stand a great deal. The
- 16:27Speaker 1: maids looked at one another and laughed, while pretty Melantho
- 16:30Speaker 1: began to gibe at him contemptuously. She was daughter Todolius,
- 16:35Speaker 1: but had been brought up by Penelope, who used to
- 16:37Speaker 1: give her toys to play with and looked after her
- 16:39Speaker 1: when she was a child. But in spite of all this,
- 16:42Speaker 1: she showed no consideration for the sorrows of her mistress,
- 16:46Speaker 1: and used to misconduct herself with Eurymachus, with whom she
- 16:48Speaker 1: was in love. Poor wretch, said she, Are you gone
- 16:53Speaker 1: clean out of your mind? Go and sleep in some
- 16:56Speaker 1: smithy or place of public gossips instead of chattering here?
- 17:00Speaker 1: Are you not ashamed of opening your mouth before your
- 17:02Speaker 1: betters so many of them too? Has the wine been
- 17:06Speaker 1: getting into your head? Or do you always babble in
- 17:09Speaker 1: this way. You seem to have lost your wits because
- 17:12Speaker 1: you beat the tramp Eiress. Take care that a better
- 17:15Speaker 1: man than he does not come and cudgel you about
- 17:18Speaker 1: the head till he pack you bleeding out of the house.
- 17:22Speaker 1: Vixen replied Ulysses, scowling at her, I will go and
- 17:26Speaker 1: tell Telemachus what you have been saying, and he will
- 17:29Speaker 1: have you torn limb from limb. With these words, he
- 17:32Speaker 1: scared the women, and they went off into the body
- 17:35Speaker 1: of the house. They trembled all over, for they thought
- 17:38Speaker 1: he would do as he said. But Ulysses took his
- 17:41Speaker 1: stand near the burning braziers, holding up torches and looking
- 17:44Speaker 1: at the people, brooding the while on things that should
- 17:47Speaker 1: surely come to pass. But Minerva would not let the
- 17:51Speaker 1: suitors for one moment cease their insolence, for she wanted
- 17:55Speaker 1: Ulysses to become even more bitter against them. She therefore
- 17:59Speaker 1: sent Eurymachus, son of Polybus, on to gibe at him,
- 18:02Speaker 1: which made the others laugh. Listen to me, said he you,
- 18:06Speaker 1: suitors of Queen Penelope, that I may speak even as
- 18:09Speaker 1: I am minded. It is not for nothing that this
- 18:12Speaker 1: man has come to the house of Ulysses, I believe
- 18:15Speaker 1: the light has not been coming from the torches, but
- 18:18Speaker 1: from his own head, for his hair is all gone,
- 18:21Speaker 1: every bit of it. Then, turning to Ulysses, he said, stranger,
- 18:26Speaker 1: will you work as a servant? If I send you
- 18:28Speaker 1: to the wolds and see that you are well paid?
- 18:31Speaker 1: Can you build a stone fence or plant trees? I
- 18:34Speaker 1: will have you fed all the year round, and will
- 18:36Speaker 1: find you in shoes and clothing. Will you go then?
- 18:40Speaker 1: Not you, for you have got into bad ways and
- 18:43Speaker 1: do not want to work. You would rather fill your
- 18:46Speaker 1: belly by going round the country begging Youremachus answered Ulysses.
- 18:52Speaker 1: If you and I were to work one against the
- 18:54Speaker 1: other in early summer, when the days are at their longest,
- 18:57Speaker 1: give me a good scythe and take an other yourself,
- 19:01Speaker 1: and let us see which will fast the longer, or
- 19:03Speaker 1: mow the stronger from dawn till dark when the mowing
- 19:06Speaker 1: grass is about. Or if you will plow against me,
- 19:10Speaker 1: let us each take a yoke of tawny oxen, well
- 19:13Speaker 1: mated and of great strength and endurance, turn me into
- 19:16Speaker 1: a four acre field, and see whether you or I
- 19:19Speaker 1: can drive the straighter furrow. If again, war were to
- 19:23Speaker 1: break out this day, Give me a shield and a
- 19:26Speaker 1: couple of spears, and a helmet fitting well upon my temples.
- 19:29Speaker 1: You would find me foremost in the fray, and would
- 19:32Speaker 1: cease your gibes about my belly. You are insolent and cruel,
- 19:36Speaker 1: and think yourself a great man, because you live in
- 19:38Speaker 1: a little world, and that a bad one. If Ulysses
- 19:43Speaker 1: comes to his own again, the doors of his house
- 19:45Speaker 1: are wide, but you will find them narrow when you
- 19:48Speaker 1: try to fly through them. Eurymachus was furious at all this.
- 19:53Speaker 1: He scowled at him and cried, you wretch, I will
- 19:56Speaker 1: soon pay you out for daring to say such things
- 19:58Speaker 1: to me and in public to two. Has the wine
- 20:01Speaker 1: been getting into your head? Or do you always babble
- 20:04Speaker 1: in this way? You seem to have lost your wits,
- 20:07Speaker 1: because you beat the tramp eres with this he caught
- 20:10Speaker 1: hold of a footstool, but Ulysses saw protection at the
- 20:13Speaker 1: knees of Amphinymus of Duluchium, for he was afraid. The
- 20:17Speaker 1: stool hit the cupbearer on his right hand and knocked
- 20:19Speaker 1: him down. The man fell with a cry, flat on
- 20:22Speaker 1: his back, and his wine jug fell ringing to the ground.
- 20:26Speaker 1: The suitors in the covered cloister were now in an uproar,
- 20:29Speaker 1: and one would turn towards his neighbor, saying, I wish
- 20:32Speaker 1: the stranger had gone somewhere else, bad luck to hide
- 20:35Speaker 1: for all the trouble he gives us. We cannot permit
- 20:38Speaker 1: such disturbance about a beggar. If such ill counsels are
- 20:41Speaker 1: to prevail, we shall have no more pleasure at our banquet.
- 20:45Speaker 1: On this Telemachus came forward and said, sirs, are you mad?
- 20:50Speaker 1: Can you not carry your meat and your liquor decently?
- 20:53Speaker 1: Some evil spirit has possessed you. I do not wish
- 20:56Speaker 1: to drive any of you away, but you have had
- 20:58Speaker 1: your suppers and the sous. You all go home to
- 21:01Speaker 1: bed the better. The suitors bit their lips and marveled
- 21:05Speaker 1: at the boldness of his speech. But Amphinymus, the son
- 21:08Speaker 1: of Nisus, who was son to Aretius, said, do not
- 21:12Speaker 1: let us take offense. It is reasonable, So let us
- 21:15Speaker 1: make no answer. Neither let us do violence to the
- 21:18Speaker 1: stranger nor to any of ulysses servants. Let the cup
- 21:22Speaker 1: bearer go round with the drink offerings that we may
- 21:24Speaker 1: make them, and go home to our rest. As for
- 21:27Speaker 1: the stranger. Let us leave Telemachus to deal with him,
- 21:30Speaker 1: for it is to his house that he is come.
- 21:33Speaker 1: Thus did he speak, and his saying pleased them well.
- 21:36Speaker 1: So Mulius of Delicium, servant to Amphinymus, mixed them a
- 21:40Speaker 1: bowl of wine and water, and handed it round to
- 21:43Speaker 1: each of them man by man, whereon they made their
- 21:45Speaker 1: drink offerings to the blessed gods. Then, when they had
- 21:49Speaker 1: made their drink offerings and had drunk each one as
- 21:52Speaker 1: he was minded, they took their several ways, each of
- 21:55Speaker 1: them to his own abode. End of Book eighteen