Latest / Classic Adventure Books - Daily / 17 - The Odyssey - Homer

Transcript

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

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Book seventeen. When the child of Morning, rosy fingered Dawn appeared,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Telemachus bound on his sandals and took a strong spear
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: that suited his hands. For he wanted to go into
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: the city. Old friend, said he to the swineherd. I
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: will now go to the town and show myself to
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: my mother, for she will never leave off grieving till
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: she has seen me. As for this unfortunate stranger, take
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: him to the town and let him beg there of
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: any one who will give him a drink and a
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: piece of bread. I have trouble enough of my own
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: and cannot be burdened with other people. If this makes
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: him angry, so much the worse for him. But I
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: like to say what I mean, then, Ulysses said sir,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: I do not want to stay here. A beggar can
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: always do better in town than country, for any one
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: who likes can give him something. I am too old
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: to care about remaining here at the beckoned call of
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: a master. Therefore, let this man do as you have
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: just told him, and take me to the town. As
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: soon as I have had a warm by the fire,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: and the day has got little heat in it. My
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: clothes are wretchedly thin, and this frosty morning I shall
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: be perished with cold, for you say the city is
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: some way off. On this, Telemachus strode off through the yards,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: brooding his revenge upon the suitors. When he reached home,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: he stood his spear against a bearing post of the cloister,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: crossed the stone floor of the cloister itself, and went inside.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Nurse Eurycliu saw him long before any one else did.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: She was putting the fleeces on to the seats, and
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: she burst out crying as she ran up to him.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: All the other maids came too, and covered his head
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: and shoulders with their kisses. Penelope came out of her room,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: looking like Diana or Venus, and wept as she flung
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: her arms about her son. She kissed his forehead and
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: both his beautiful eyes. Light of my eyes, she cried,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: as she spoke fondly to him. Oh, so you are
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: come home again. I made sure I was never going
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: to see you any more, to think of your having
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: gone off to Pylos without saying anything about it or
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: obtaining my consent. But come tell me what you saw.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Do not scold me, mother, answered Telemachus, nor vex me,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: seeing what a narrow escape I have had. But wash
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: your face, change your dress, go upstairs with your maids,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: and promise full and sufficient hecatombs to all the gods,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: if Jove will only grant us our revenge upon the suitors.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: I must now go to the place of assembly to
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: invite a stranger who has come back with me from Pylos.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: I sent him on with my crew, and told Pereeus
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: to take him home and look after him till I
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: could come for him myself. She heeded her son's words,
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: washed her face, changed her dress, and vowed full and
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: sufficient hecatomes to all the gods if they would only
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: vouchsafe her revenge upon the suitors. Telemachus went through and
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: out of the cloisters, spear in hand, not alone, for
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: his two fleet dogs went with him. Minerva endowed him
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: with a presence of such divine comeliness that all marveled
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: at him as he went by, and the suitors gathered
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: round him with fair words in their mouths and malice
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: in their hearts. But he avoided them and went to
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: sit with Mentor Antiphas and Halitherses, old friends of his
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: father's house, and they made him tell them all that
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: had happened to him. Then Peireus came up with Theoclemenus,
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: whom he had escorted through the town to the place
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: of assembly, whereon Telemachus at once joined them. Pireus was
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: the first to speak. Telemachus said, he, I wish you
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: would send some of your women to my house to
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: take away the presence Menelaus gave you. We do not know.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Pereus answered Telemachus, what may happen if the suitors kill
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: me in my own house and divide my property among them.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: I would rather you had the presence than that any
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: of those people should get hold of them. If, on
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: the other hand, I managed to kill them, I shall
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: be much obliged if you will kindly bring me my presents.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: With these words, he took thia Clemenus to his own house.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: When they got there, they laid their cloaks on the
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: benches and seats, went into the baths and washed themselves.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: When the maids had washed and anointed them, and had
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: given them cloaks and shirts, they took their seats at table.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: A maid servant then brought them water in a beautiful
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: golden ewer and poured it into a silver basin for
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: them to wash their hands, and she drew a clean
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: table beside them. An upper servant brought them bread and
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: offered them many good things of what there was in
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: the house. Opposite them sat Penelope, reclining on a couch
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: by one of the bearing posts of the cloister, and spinning.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: Then they laid their hands on the good things that
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: were before them, and as soon as they had had
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: enough to eat and drink, Penelope said, Telemachus, I shall
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: go upstairs and lie down on that sad couch, which
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: I have not ceased to water with my tears from
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: the day Ulysses set out for Troy with the sons
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: of Atreus. You failed, however, to make it clear to
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: me before the suitors came back to the house whether
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: or no you had been able to hear anything about
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: the return of your father. I will tell you then, truth,
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: replied her son. We went to Pylos and saw Nestor,
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: who took me to his house and treated me as
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: hospitably as though I were a son of his own
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: who had just returned after a long absence. So also
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: did his sons. But he said he had not heard
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: a word from any human being about Ulysses, whether he
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: was alive or dead. He sent me therefore with the
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: chariot and horses to Menelaus. There I saw Helen, for
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: whose sake so many both Argives and Trojans were in
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: Heaven's wisdom doomed to suffer. Menelaus asked me what it
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: was that had brought me to Lacedaemon, and I told
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: him the whole truth. Whereon he said, so, then these
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: cowards would usurp a brave man's bed. A hind might
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: as well lay her new born young in the lair
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: of a lion, and then go off to feed in
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: the forest or in some grassy dell. The lion, when
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: he comes back to his lair, will make short work
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: with the pair of them, and so will Ulysses with
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: these suitors. By Father, Jove, Minerva and Apollo. If Ulysses
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: is still the man that he was when he wrestled
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: with Philomelides in Lesbos and threw him so heavily that
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: all the Greeks cheered him. If he is still such
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: and were to come near these suitors, they would have
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: a short shrift and a sorry wedding. As regards your question, however,
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: I will not prevaricate nor deceive you. But what the
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: old man of the sea told me so much will
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: I tell you in full. He said he could see
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: Ulysses on an island, sorrowing bitterly in the house of
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: the nymph Calypso, who was keeping him prisoner, and he
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: could not reach his home, for he had no ships
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: nor sailors to take him over the sea. This was
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: what Menelaus told me. And when I had heard his story,
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: I came away. The gods then gave me a fair wind,
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: and soon brought me safe home again. With these words
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: he moved the heart of Penelope. Then Theoclemenus said to her, Madam,
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: wife of Ulysses. Telemachus does not understand these things. Listen
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: therefore to me, for I can divine them surely, and
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: will hide nothing from you. May Jove, the King of
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: Heaven be my witness, and the rights of hospitality with
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: that hearth of Ulysses to which I now come. That
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: Ulysses himself is even now in Ithaca, and either going
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: about the country or staying in one place, is inquiring
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: into all these evil deeds, and preparing a day of
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: reckoning for the suitors I saw an omen when I
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: was on the ship which meant this, and I told
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: Telemachus about it. May it be even so, answered Penelope,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: if your words come true, you shall have such gifts
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: and such good will from me that all who see
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: you shall congratulate you. Thus did they. Meanwhile the suitors
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: were throwing discs or aiming with spears at a mark
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: on the leveled ground in front of the house, and
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: behaving with all their old insolence. But when it was
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: now time for dinner, and the flock of sheep and
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: goats had come into the town from all the country
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: round with their shepherds as usual, then Meadon, who was
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: their favorite servant and who waited upon them at table,
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: said now, then, my young masters, you have had enough sport,
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: so come inside that we may get dinner ready. Dinner
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: is not a bad thing. At dinner time, they left
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: their sports as he told them, and when they were
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: within the house, they laid their cloaks on the benches
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: and seats inside, and then sacrificed some sheep, goats, pigs,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: and a heifer, all of them fat and well grown.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: Thus they made ready for their meal. In the meantime,
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Ulysses and the swineherd were about starting for the town,
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: and the swineherd said, stranger, I suppose you still want
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: to go to town to day, as my master said
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: you were to do. For my own part, I should
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: have liked you to stay here as a station hand,
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: But I must do as my master tells me, or
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: he will scold me later on, and a scolding from
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: one's masters a very serious thing. Let us then be off,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: for it is now broad day. It will be night
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: again directly, and then you will find it colder. I
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: know and understand you, replied Ulysses. You need say no more.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: Let us be going, But if you have a stick
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: ready cut, let me have it to walk with, for
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: you say the road is a very rough one. As
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: he spoke, he threw his shabby, old tattered wallet over
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: his shoulders by the cord from which it hung, and
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: Eumaeus gave him a stick to his liking. The two
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: then started leaving the station, in charge of the dogs
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: and herdsmen who remained behind. The swineherd led the way
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: and his master followed after, looking like some broken down
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: old tramp as he leaned upon his staff and his
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: clothes were all in rags. When and they had got
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: over the rough steep ground and were nearing the city,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: they reached the fountain from which the citizens drew their water.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: This had been made by Ithacus, Neritus and Polyctor. There
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: was a grove of water loving poplars planted in a
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: circle all round it, and the clear, cold water came
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: down to it from a rock high up, while above
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: the fountain there was an altar to the nymphs at
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: which all wayfarers used to sacrifice. Here Melanthius, son of Dlius,
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: overtook them as he was driving down some goats, the
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: best in his flock for the suitor's dinner, and there
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: were two shepherds with him. When he saw Eumaeus and Ulysses,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: he reviled them with outrageous and unseemly language, which made
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: Ulysses very angry. There you go, cried he and a
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: precious pear. You are see how heaven brings birds of
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: the same feather to one another. Where pray, master, swineherd,
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: are you taking this poor, miserable object. It would make
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: anyone sick to see such a creature at tape. A
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: fellow like this never won a prize for anything in
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: his life, but will go about rubbing his shoulders against
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: every man's doorpost, and begging not for swords and cauldrons
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: like a man, but only for a few scraps not
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: worth begging for. If you would give him to me
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: for a hand on my station, he might do to
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: clean out the folds, or bring a bit of sweet
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: feed to the kids, and he could fatten his thighs
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: as much as he pleased on whey. But he has
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: taken to bad ways and will not go about any
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: kind of work. He will do nothing but beg victuals
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: all the town over to feed his insatiable belly. I
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: say therefore, and it shall surely be. If he goes
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: near ulysses house, he will get his head broken by
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: the stools. They will fling at him till they turn
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: him out. On this. As he passed, he gave Ulysses
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: a kick on the hip, out of pure wantonness. But
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: Ulysses stood firm and did not budge from the path.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: For a moment he doubted whether or no to fly
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: at Melanthius and kill him with his staff, or fling
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: him to the ground and beat his brains out. He resolved, however,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: to endure it and keep himself in check. But the
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: swineherd looked straight at Melanthius and rebuked him, lifting up
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: his hands and praying to Heaven. As he did so,
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: fountain nymphs. He cried, Children of Jove, if ever Ulysses
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: burned you thigh bones covered with fat, whether of lambs
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: or kids, grant my prayer that Heaven may send him home.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: He would soon put an end to the swaggering threats
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: with which such men as you go about insulting people,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: gadding all over the town, while your flocks are going
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: to ruin through bad shepherding. Then Melanthius the goatherd answered, you,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: ill conditioned cur, what are you talking about? Some day
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: or other I will put you on board ship and
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: take you to a foreign country, where I can sell
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: you and pocket the money you will fetch. I wish
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: I were as sure that Apollo would strike Telemachus dead
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: this very day, or that the suitors would kill him,
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: as I am, that Ulysses never come home again. With this,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: he left them to come on at their leisure while
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: he went quickly forward and soon reached the house of
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: his master. When he got there, he went in and
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: took his seat among the suitors, opposite Eurymachus, who liked
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: him better than any of the others. The servants brought
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: him a portion of meat, and an upper woman servant
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: set bread before him that he might eat. Presently, Ulysses
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: and the swineherd came up to the house and stood
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: by it amid a sound of music, for Femius was
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: just beginning to sing to the suitors. Then Ulysses took
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: hold of the swineherd's hand and said, Eumaeus, this house
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: of Ulysses is a very fine place. No matter how
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: far you go, you will find few like it. One
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: building keeps following on after another. The outer court has
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: a wall with battlements all round it. The doors are
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: double folding, and of good workmanship. It would be a
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: hard matter to take it by force of arms. I
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: perceived too that there there are many people banqueting within it,
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: for there is a smell of roast meat, and I
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: hear a sound of music, which the gods have made
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: to go along with feasting. Then you may have said
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: you have perceived aright, as indeed you generally do. But
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: let us think what will be our best course will
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: you go inside first and join the suitors, leaving me
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: here behind you, Or will you wait here and let
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: me go in first, But do not wait long, or
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: some one may see you loitering about outside and throw
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: something at you. Consider this matter, I pray you, And
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: Ulysses answered, I understand and heed. Go in first, and
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: leave me here where I am. I am quite used
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: to being beaten and having things thrown at me. I
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: have been so much buffeted about in war and by
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: sea that I am case hardened. And this too may
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: go with the rest. But a man cannot hide away
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: the cravings of a hungry belly. This is an enemy
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: which gives much trouble to all men. It is because
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: of this that ships are fitted out to sail the
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: seas and to make war upon other people. As they
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: were thus talking, a dog that had been lying asleep
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: raised his head and pricked up his ears. This was Argos,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: whom Ulysses had bred before setting out for Troy. But
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: he had never had any work out of him. In
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: the old days, he used to be taken out by
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: the young men when they went hunting wild goats or
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: deer or hare's. But now that his master was gone.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: He was lying neglected on the heaps of mule and
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: cowdung that lay in front of the stable doors, till
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: the men should come and draw it away to manure.
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: The great close, and he was full of fleas. As
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: soon as he saw Ulysses standing there, he dropped his
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: ears and wagged his tail, but he could not get
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: close up to his master. When Ulysses saw the dog
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: on the other side of the yard, dashed a tear
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: from his eyes without Eumaeas seeing it, and said, Eumaeus,
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: what a noble hound that is over yonder on the
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: manure heap. His build is splendid. Is he as fine
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: a fellow as he looks? Or is he only one
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: of those dogs that come begging about a table and
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: are kept merely for show? This hound, answered, Eumaeus, belonged
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: to him who has died in a far country. If
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: he were what he was when Ulysses left for Troy,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: he would soon show you what he could do. There
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: was not a wild beast in the forest that could
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: get away from him when he was once on its tracks.
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: But now he has fallen on evil times, for his
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: master is dead and gone, and the women take no
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: care of him. Servants never do their work when their
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: master's hand is no longer over them, For Jove takes
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: half the goodness out of a man when he makes
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: a slave of him. As he spoke, he went inside
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: the buildings to the cloister where the suitors were, But
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: Argos died as soon as he had recognized his master.
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: Telemachus saw Eumaeus long before anyone else did, and beckoned
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: him to come and sit beside him. So he looked
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: about and saw a seat lying near where the carver
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: sat serving out their portions to the suitors. He picked
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: it up, brought it to Telemachus's table, and sat down
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: opposite him. Then the servant brought him his portion and
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: gave him bread from the bread basket. Immediately afterwards, Ulysses
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: came inside, looking like a poor, miserable old beggar, leaning
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: on his staff and with his clothes all in rags.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: He sat down upon the threshold of ashwood, just inside
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: the doors leading from the outer to the inner court,
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: and against a bearing post of cypress wood, which the
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: carpenter had skillfully planed and had made to join truly
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: with rule and line. Telemachus took a whole loaf from
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: the bread basket with as much meat as he could
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: hold in his two hands, and said to Eumaeus, take
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: this to the stranger, and tell him to go the
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: round of the suitors and beg from them. A beggar
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: must not be shame faced. So Eumaeus went up to
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: him and said, stranger, Telemachus sends you this, and says
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: you are to go the round of the suitors begging
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: for beggars must not be shamefaced. Ulysses answered, may King
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: Jove grant all happiness to Telemachus and fulfill the desire
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: of his heart. Then, with both hands he took what
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: Telemachus had sent him and laid it on the dirty
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: old wallet at his feet. He went on eating it
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: while the Bard was singing, and had just finished his dinner.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: As he left off, the suitors applauded the bard. Whereon
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: Minerva went up to Ulysses and prompted him to beg
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: pieces of bread from each one of the suitors, that
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: he might see what kind of people they were and
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: tell the good from the bad. But come what might,
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: she was not going to save a single one of them.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: Ulysses therefore went on his round, going from left to right,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: and stretched out his hands to beg as though he
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: were a real beggar. Some of them pitied him and
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: were curious about him, asking one another who he was
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: and where he came from? Whereon the goatherd, Melanthius said,
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: suitors of my noble mistress, I can tell you something
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: about him, for I have seen him before the swineherd
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: brought him here, But I know nothing about the man
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: himself nor where he comes from. On this Antinus began
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: to abuse the swineherd, You precious idiot, he cried, what
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: have you brought this man to town? For? Have we
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: not tramps and beggars enough already to pester us as
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: we sit up? Meat? Do you think it a small
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: thing that such people gather here to waste your master's property?
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: And must you needs bring this man as well? And
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: you mayus? Answered, Antinous, your birth is good, but your
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: words evil. It was no doing of mine that he
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: came here. Who is likely to invite a stranger from
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: a foreign country unless it be one of those who
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: can do public service as a seer, a healer of hurts,
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: a carpenter, or a bard who can charm us with
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: his songs. Such men are welcome all the world over,
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: but no one is likely to ask a beggar who
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: will only worry him. You are always harder on Ulysses
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: servants than any of the other suitors are, and above
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: all on me. But I do not care so long
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: as Telemachus and Penelope are alone and here. But Telemachus said, hush,
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: do not answer him. Antonus has the bitterest tongue of
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: all the suitors, and he makes the others worse. Then,
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: turning to Antonas, he said, Antonus, you take as much
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: care of my interests as though I were your son.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: Why should you want to see this stranger turned out
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: of the house. Heaven forbid take something and give it
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: him yourself. I do not grudge it. I bid you
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: take it, never mind my mother nor any of the
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: other servants in the house. But I know you will
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: not do what I say, for you are more fond
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: of eating things yourself than of giving them to other people.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: What do you mean, Telemachus replied Antonus, by the swaggering talk.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: If all the suitors were to give him as much
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: as I will, he would not come here again for
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: another three months, As he spoke. He drew the stool
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: on which he rested his dainty feet from under the table,
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: and made as though he would throw it at Ulysses.
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: But the other suitors all gave him something and filled
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: his wallet with bread and meat. He was about, therefore
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: to go back to the threshold and eat what the
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: suitors had given him, but he first went up to
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: Antonus and said, sir, give me something. You are not
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: surely the poorest man here. You seem to be a
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: chief foremost among them all. Therefore you should be the
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: better giver, and I will tell far and wide of
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: your bounty. I too was a rich man once, and
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: had a fine house of my own. In those days,
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: I gave to many a tramp such as I now am,
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: no matter who he might be, nor what he wanted.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: I had any number of servants and all the other
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: things which people have who live well and are accounted wealthy.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: But it pleased Jove to take all away from me.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: He sent me with a band of roving robbers to Egypt.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: It was a long voyage, and I was undone by it.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: I stationed my ships and the river Egyptus, and bade
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: my men stay by them, and keep guard over them,
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: while we sent out scouts to reconnoiter from every point
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: of vantage. But the men disobeyed my orders, took to
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: their own devices and ravaged the land of the Egyptians,
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: killing the men and taking their wives and children captives.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: The alarm was soon carried to the city, and when
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: they heard the war cry, the people came out at daybreak,
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: till the plain was filled with soldiers horse and foot,
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: and with a gleam of armor. Then Jove spread panic
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: among my men, and they would no longer face the enemy,
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: for they found themselves surrounded. The Egyptians killed many of
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: us and took the rest alive to do forced labor
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: for them. As for myself, they gave me to a
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: friend who met them, to take to Cypress Dmitor by name,
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: son of Yasus, who was a great man in Cyprus.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: Thence I am come hither in a state of great misery.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: Then Antonus said, what God can have sent such a
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: pestilence to plague us during our dinner. Get out into
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: the open part of the court, or I will give
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: you Egypt and Cypress over again for your insolence and importunity.
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: You have begged of all the others, and they have
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: given you lavishly, for they have abundance round them, and
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: it is easy to be free with other people's property
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: when there is plenty of it. On this Ulysses began
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: to move off and said, your looks, my fine sir,
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: are better than your breeding. If you were in your
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: own house, you would not spare a poor man so
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: much as a pinch of salt. For though you are
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: in another man's and surrounded with abundance, you cannot find
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: it in you to give him even a piece of bread.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: This made Antonus very angry, and he scowled at him, saying,
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: you shall pay for this before you get clear of
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: the court. With these words, he threw a footstool at
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: him and hit him on the right shoulder blade, near
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: the top of his back. Ulysses stood firm as a rock,
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: and the blow did not even stagger him, but he
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: shook his head in silence as he brooded on his revenge.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: Then he went back to the threshold and sat down there,
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: laying his well filled wallet at his feet. Listen to me,
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: he cried, you, suitors of Queen Penelope, that I may
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: speak even as I am minded. A man knows neither
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: ache nor pain if he gets hit while fighting for
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: his money, or for his sheep or his cattle. And
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: even so Antonus has hit me while in the service
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: of my miserable belly, which is always getting people into trouble. Still,
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: if the poor have gods and avenging deities at all,
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: I pray them that Antonus may come to a bad
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: end before his marriage. Sit where you are and eat
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: your victuals in silence, or be off elsewhere, shouted Antonus.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: If you say more, I will have you dragged hand
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: and foot through the courts, and the servants shall flay
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: you alive. The other suitors were much displeased at this,
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: and one of the young men said, Antonus, you did
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: ill in striking that poor wretch of a tramp. It
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: will be worse for you if he should turn out
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: to be some god. And we know the gods go
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: about disguised in all sorts of ways as people from
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: foreign countries, and travel about the world to see who
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: do amiss and righteously. Thus said the suitors, but Antonas
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: paid them no heed. Meanwhile, Telemachus was furious about the
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: blow that had been given to his father, and though
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: no tear fell from him. He shook his head in
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: silence and brooded on his revenge. Now, when Penelope heard
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: that the beggar had been struck in the banquet in cloister,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: she said, before her maids would that Apollo would so
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: strike you Antonus, and her waiting woman Eurynymy, answered, if
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: our prayers were answered, not one of the suitors would
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: ever again see the sun rise. Then Penelope said, nurse,
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: I hate every single one of them, for they mean
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: nothing but mischief. But I hate Antonus like the darkness
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: of death itself. A poor, unfortunate tramp has come begging
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: about the house for sheer want. Every one else has
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: given him something to put in his wallet, but Antonus
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: has hit him on the right shoulder blade with a footstool.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: Thus did she talk with her maids as she sat
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: in her own room, and in the meantime Ulysses was
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: getting his dinner. Then she called for the swineherd and said, Eumaeus,
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: go and tell the stranger to come here. I want
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: to see him and ask him some questions. He seems
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: to have traveled much, and he may have seen or
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: heard something of my unhappy husband. To this, you answered,
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: o swineherd Eumaeus. If these Achaeans, Madam, would only keep quiet,
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: you would be charmed with the history of his adventures.
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: I had him three days and three nights with me
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: in my hut, which was the first place he reached
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: after running away from his ship, and he has not
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: yet completed the story of his misfortunes. If he had
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: been the most heaven taught minstrel in the whole world,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: on whose lips all hearers hang entranced, I could not
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: have been more charmed as I sat in my hut
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: and listened to him. He says there is an old
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: friendship between his house and that of Ulysses, and that
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: he comes from Crete, where the descendants of Minos live,
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: after having been driven hither and thither by every kind
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: of misfortune. He also declares that he has heard of
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: Ulysses as being alive and near at hand among the
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: thrust Potians, and that he is bringing great wealth home
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: with him. Call him here, then, said Penelope, that I
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: too may hear his story. As for the suitors, let
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: them take their pleasure indoors or out as they will,
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: for they have nothing to fret about. Their corn and
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: wine remain unwated in their houses, with none but servants
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: to consume them, while they keep hanging about our house
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: day after day, sacrificing our oxen sheep and fat goats
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: for their banquets, and never giving so much as a
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: thought to the quantity of wine they drink. No estate
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: can stand such recklessness, for we have now no Ulysses
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: to protect us. If he were to come again, he
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: and his son would soon have their revenge. As she spoke,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: Telemachus sneezed so loudly that the whole house resounded with it.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: Penelope laughed when she heard this, and said to Eumaeus,
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: go and call the stranger. Did you not hear how
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: my son sneezed just as I was speaking. This can
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: only mean that all the suitors are going to be killed,
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: and that not one of them shall escape. Furthermore, I say,
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: and lay my saying to your heart. If I am
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: satisfied that the stranger is speaking the truth, I shall
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: give him a shirt and cloak of good wear. When
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: you may have heard this, he went straight to Ulysses
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: and said, father, stranger, my mistress Penelope, mother of Telemachus,
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: has sent for you. She is in great grief, but
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: she wishes to hear anything you can tell her about
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: her husband. And if she is satisfied that you are
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: speaking the truth, she will give you a shirt and cloak,
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: which are the very things that you are most in
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: want of. As for bread, you can get enough of
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: that to fill your belly by begging about the town
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: and letting those give that will. I will tell Penelope answered, Ulysses,
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: nothing but what is strictly true. I know all about
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: her husband, and have been partner with him in affliction.
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: But I am afraid of passing through this crowd of
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: cruel suitors, for their pride and insolence reach heaven. Just now. Moreover,
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: as I was going about the house without doing any harm,
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: a man gave me a blow that hurt me very much,
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: But neither Telemachus nor any one else defended me. Tell
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: Penelope therefore, to be patient and wait till sundown. Let
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: her give me a seat close up to the fire.
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: For my clothes are worn very thin. You know they are,
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: for you have seen them ever since I first asked
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: you to help me. She can then ask me about
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: the return of her husband. The Swineherd went back when
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: he heard this and Penelope said, as she saw him
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: cross the threshold, why do you not bring him here? Eumaeus?
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: Is he afraid that some one will ill treat him?
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: Or is he shy of coming inside the house at all?
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: Beggars should not be shamefaced to this, you answered, O swineherd. Eumaeus,
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: the stranger is quite reasonable. He is avoiding the suitors
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: and is only doing what any one else would do.
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: He asks you to wait till sundown, and it will
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: be much better, madam, that you should have him all
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: to yourself, when you can hear him and talk to
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: him as you will. The man is no fool, answered Penelope.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: It would very likely be as he says, for there
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: are no such abominable people in the whole world as
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: these men are. When she had done speaking, Eumaeus went
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: back to the suitors, for he had explained everything. Then
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: he went up to Telemachus and said in his ear
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: so that none could overhear him. My dear sir, I
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: will now go back to the pigs to see after
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: your property and my own business. You will look to
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: what is going on here, but above all be careful
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: to keep out of danger, for there are many who
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: bear you ill, will, may Jove bring them to a
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: bad end before they do us a mischief. Very well,
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: replied Telemachus. Go home when you have had your dinner,
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: and in the morning come here with the victims we
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: are to sacrifice for the day. Leave the rest to
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: heaven and me. On this, Eumaeus took his seat again,
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: and when he had finished his dinner, he left the
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: courts and the cloister with the men at table, and
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: went back to his pigs. As for the suitors, they
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: presently began to amuse themselves with singing and dancing, for
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: it was now getting on towards evening. End of book seventeen,