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

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Speaker 1: Book nineteen. Telemachus and Ulysses remove the armor. Ulysses interviews Penelope. Eurycleia,
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Speaker 1: washes his feet and recognizes the scar on his leg.
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Speaker 1: Penelope tells her dream to Ulysses. Ulysses was left in
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Speaker 1: the cloister, pondering on the means whereby, with Minerva's help,
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Speaker 1: he might be able to kill the suitors. Presently, he
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Speaker 1: said to Telemachus. Telemachus, we must get the armor together
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Speaker 1: and take it down inside. Make some excuse when the
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Speaker 1: suitors ask you why you have removed it, Say that
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Speaker 1: you have taken it to be out of the way
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Speaker 1: of the smoke, inasmuch as it is no longer what
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Speaker 1: it was when Ulysses went away, but has become soiled
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Speaker 1: and begrimed with soot. Add to this more particularly, that
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Speaker 1: you are afraid Jove may set them on to quarrel
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Speaker 1: over their wine, and that they may do each other
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Speaker 1: some harm, which may disgrace both the banquet and the wooing,
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Speaker 1: for the sight of arms sometimes tempts people to use them.
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Speaker 1: Telemachus approved of what his father had said, so he
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Speaker 1: called his nurse Yurraclia, and said, nurse, shut the women
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Speaker 1: up in their room. Will I take the armor that
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Speaker 1: my father left behind him down into the store room?
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Speaker 1: No one looks after it now my father is gone,
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Speaker 1: and it has got all smirched with soot during my
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Speaker 1: own boyhood. I want to take it down where the
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Speaker 1: smoke cannot reach it. I wish child, answered Euryclia that
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Speaker 1: you would take the management of the house into your
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Speaker 1: own hands altogether and look after all the property yourself.
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Speaker 1: But who is to go with you and let you
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Speaker 1: to the store room. The maids would have done so,
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Speaker 1: but you would not let them. The stranger, said Telemachus,
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Speaker 1: shall show me a light. When people eat my bread,
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Speaker 1: they must earn it, no matter where they come from.
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Speaker 1: Euryclia did as she was told and bolted the women
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Speaker 1: inside their room. Then Ulysses and his son made all
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Speaker 1: haste to take the helmets, shields, and spears inside, and
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Speaker 1: Minerva went before them with a golden lamp in her
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Speaker 1: hand that shed a soft and brilliant radiance. Whereon Telemachus said, father,
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Speaker 1: my eyes behold a great marvel. The walls, with the rafters,
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Speaker 1: cross beams and supports on which they rest, are all
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Speaker 1: glowing as with a flaming fire. Surely there is some
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Speaker 1: god here who has come down from heaven. Hush, answered Ulysses.
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Speaker 1: Hold your peace and ask no questions, for this is
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Speaker 1: the manner of the gods. Get you to your bed
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Speaker 1: and leave me here to talk with your mother and
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Speaker 1: the maids. Your mother and her grief will ask me
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Speaker 1: all sorts of questions. On this Telemachus went by torchlight
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Speaker 1: to the other side of the inner court, to the
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Speaker 1: room in which he always slept. There he lay in
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Speaker 1: his bed till morning, while Ulysses was left in the cloister,
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Speaker 1: pondering on the means whereby, with Minerva's help, he might
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Speaker 1: be able to kill the suitors. Then Penelope came down
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Speaker 1: from her room, looking like Venus or Diana, and they
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Speaker 1: set her a seat inlaid with scrolls of silver and ivory,
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Speaker 1: near the fire in her accustomed place. It had been
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Speaker 1: made by Ecmaleius, and had a footstool all in one
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Speaker 1: piece with the seat itself, and it was covered with
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Speaker 1: a thick fleece. On this she now sat, and the
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Speaker 1: maids came from the women's room to join. They set
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Speaker 1: about removing the tables at which the wicked suitors had
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Speaker 1: been dining, and took away the bread that was left
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Speaker 1: with the cups from which they had drunk. They emptied
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Speaker 1: the ambers, entered the braziers, and heaped much wood upon
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Speaker 1: them to give them both light and heat. But Milantho
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Speaker 1: began to rail at Ulysses a second time, and said, stranger,
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Speaker 1: do you mean to plague us by hanging about the
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Speaker 1: house all night and spying upon the women? Be off,
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Speaker 1: you wretch outside and eat your supper there, or you
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Speaker 1: shall be driven out with a firebrand. Ulysses scowled at
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Speaker 1: her and answered, my good woman, why should you be
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Speaker 1: so angry with me? Is it because I am not
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Speaker 1: clean and my clothes are all in rags? And because
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Speaker 1: I am obliged to go begging about after the manner
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Speaker 1: of tramps and beggars. Generally, I too was a rich
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Speaker 1: man once, and had a fine house of my own.
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Speaker 1: In those days, I gave to many a tramp such
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Speaker 1: as I am now, no matter who he might be,
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Speaker 1: nor what he wanted. I had any number of servants
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Speaker 1: and all the other things which people have who live well,
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Speaker 1: and our accounted wealthy. But it pleased Jove to take
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Speaker 1: all away from me. Therefore, woman, beware lest you too
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Speaker 1: come to lose that pride and place in which you
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Speaker 1: now wanton. Above your fellows, have a care lest you
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Speaker 1: get out of favor with your mistress, and lest Ulysses
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Speaker 1: should come home, for there is still a chance that
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Speaker 1: he may do so. Moreover, though he be as dead
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Speaker 1: as you think he is, yet by Apollo's will, he
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Speaker 1: has left a son behind him. Tell Himachus, who will
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Speaker 1: note anything done amiss by the maids in the house,
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Speaker 1: for he is now no longer in his boyhood. Penelope
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Speaker 1: heard what he was saying and scolded the maid impudent baggage.
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Speaker 1: She said, I see how obominably you are behaving, and
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Speaker 1: you shall smart for it. You know perfectly well, for
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Speaker 1: I told you myself that I was going to see
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Speaker 1: the stranger and ask him about my husband, for whose
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Speaker 1: sake I am in such continual sorrow. Then she said
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Speaker 1: to her head, waiting woman, urinome, bring a seat with
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Speaker 1: fleece upon it, for the stranger to sit upon while
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Speaker 1: he tells his story and listens to what I have
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Speaker 1: to say. I wish to ask him some questions. Your
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Speaker 1: nomay brought the seat at once and set a fleece
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Speaker 1: upon it, And as soon as Ulysses had sat down,
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Speaker 1: Penelope began by saying, stranger, I shall first ask you
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Speaker 1: who and whence you are? Tell me of your town
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Speaker 1: and parents. Madam answered, ulysses, who in the face of
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Speaker 1: the whole earth can dare to chide with you? Your
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Speaker 1: fame reaches the firmament of heaven itself. You are like
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Speaker 1: some blameless king who upholds righteousness, as the monarch over
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Speaker 1: a great and valiant nation. The earth yielded to beaten barley,
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Speaker 1: the trees are loaded with fruit, the ewes bring forth lamb,
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Speaker 1: and the sea abounds with fish. By reason of his virtues,
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Speaker 1: and his people do good deeds under him. Nevertheless, as
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Speaker 1: I sit here in your house, ask me some other question,
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Speaker 1: and do not seek to know my race and family,
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Speaker 1: or you will recall memories that will yet more increase
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Speaker 1: my sorrow. I am full of heaviness. But I ought
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Speaker 1: not to sit weeping and wailing in another person's house.
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Speaker 1: Nor is it well to be the thus grieving continually.
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Speaker 1: I shall have one of your servants or even yourself,
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Speaker 1: complaining of me, and saying that my eyes swim with
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Speaker 1: tears because I am heavy with wine. Then Penelope answered
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Speaker 1: the stranger heaven robbed me of all my beauty, whether
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Speaker 1: of face or figure. When the argued set sail for Troy,
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Speaker 1: and my dear husband with them. If you were to
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Speaker 1: return and look after my affairs, I should be both
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Speaker 1: more respected and I should show a better presence to
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Speaker 1: the world. As it is, I am oppressed with care
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Speaker 1: and with the afflictions which Heaven has seen fit to
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Speaker 1: heap upon me. The chiefs from all our islands, Ntilychium, Samee,
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Speaker 1: and xacythus, as also from Ithaca itself, are wooing me
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Speaker 1: against my will, and are wasting my estate. I can
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Speaker 1: therefore show no attention to strangers, nor suppliants, nor to
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Speaker 1: the people who say that they are skilled artisans, but
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Speaker 1: am all the time broken hearted over Ulysses. They want
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Speaker 1: me to marry again at once, and I have invented
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Speaker 1: stratagems in order to deceive them. In the first place,
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Speaker 1: Heaven put it in to my mind to set up
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Speaker 1: a great tambour frame in my room and to begin
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Speaker 1: working upon an enormous piece of fine needlework. Then I
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Speaker 1: said to them, sweethearts, Ulysses is indeed dead. Still, do
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Speaker 1: not press me to marry again. Immediately, wait for I
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Speaker 1: would not have my skill and needlework perish unrecorded till
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Speaker 1: I have finished making a pall for the hero Laerties
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Speaker 1: to be ready against the time when death shall take him.
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Speaker 1: He is very rich, and the women of the palace
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Speaker 1: will talk if he is laid out without a pall.
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Speaker 1: This was what I said, and they assented. Whereon I
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Speaker 1: used to keep working at my great web all day long,
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Speaker 1: but at night I would unpick the stitches again by torchlight.
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Speaker 1: I fooled them in this way for three years without
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Speaker 1: their finding out. But as time wore on, and I
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Speaker 1: was now in my fourth year in the waning of
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Speaker 1: the moons, and many days had been accomplished, those good
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Speaker 1: for nothing hussies my maids betrayed me to the suitors,
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Speaker 1: who broke in upon me and caught me. They were
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Speaker 1: very angry with me, so I was forced to finish
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Speaker 1: my work, whether I would or no. And now I
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Speaker 1: do not see how I can find any further shift
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Speaker 1: for getting out of this marriage. My parents are putting
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Speaker 1: great pressure upon me, and my son chafes at the
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Speaker 1: ravages the suitors are making upon his estate, for he
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Speaker 1: is now old enough to understand all about it, and
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Speaker 1: is perfectly able to look after his own affairs, for
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Speaker 1: Heaven has blessed him with an excellent disposition. Still, notwithstanding
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Speaker 1: all this, tell me who you are and where you
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Speaker 1: come from, For you must have had a father and
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Speaker 1: mother of some sort. You cannot be the son of
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Speaker 1: an oak or of a rock, then, Ulysses answered, Madam,
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Speaker 1: wife of Ulysses. Since you persist in asking me about
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Speaker 1: my family, I will answer, no matter what it costs me.
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Speaker 1: People must expect to be pained when they have been
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Speaker 1: exiles as long as I have, and suffered as much
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Speaker 1: among as many peoples. Nevertheless, as regards your question, I
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Speaker 1: will tell you all you ask. There is a fair
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Speaker 1: and fruitful island in mid ocean called Crete. It is
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Speaker 1: thickly peopled, and there are ninety cities in it. The
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Speaker 1: people speak many different languages which overlap one another. For
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Speaker 1: there are Achaeans, brave Etocretans, Dorians of threefold race, and
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Speaker 1: noble Pelaski. There is a great town there, Nassus, where
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Speaker 1: Minos reigned, who every nine years had a conference with
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Speaker 1: Jove himself. Minos was father to Deucalion, whose son I am.
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Speaker 1: For Deucalion had two sons Idomeneus and myself. Idomeneus sailed
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Speaker 1: for Troy, and I, who am the younger, am called Athon.
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Speaker 1: My brother, however, was at once the older and the
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Speaker 1: more valiant of the two. Hence it was in Crete
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Speaker 1: that I saw Ulysses and showed him hospitality, for the
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Speaker 1: winds took him there as he was on his way
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Speaker 1: to Troy, carrying him out of his course from Cape Mali,
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Speaker 1: and leaving him in an Omnissus, off the cave of Althua,
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Speaker 1: where the harbors are difficult to enter, and he could
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Speaker 1: hardly find shelter from the winds that were then raging.
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Speaker 1: As soon as he got there, he went into town
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Speaker 1: and asked for Adaminius, claiming to be his old and
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Speaker 1: valued friend. But Idomeneus had already set sail for Troy,
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Speaker 1: some ten or twelve days earlier. So I took him
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Speaker 1: to my own house and showed him every kind of hospitality,
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Speaker 1: for I had an abundance of everything. Moreover, I fed
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Speaker 1: the men who were with him with barleymeal from the
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Speaker 1: public's store, and got subscriptions of wine and oxen for
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Speaker 1: them to sacrifice to their heart's content. They stayed with
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Speaker 1: me twelve days, for there was a gale blowing from
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Speaker 1: the north, so strong that one could hardly keep one's
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Speaker 1: feet on land. I suppose some unfriendly God had raised
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Speaker 1: it for them. But on the thirteenth day the wind
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Speaker 1: dropped and they got away. Many plausible tales did Ulysses
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Speaker 1: further tell her, And Penelope wept as she listened, for
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Speaker 1: her heart was melted as the snow wastes upon the
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Speaker 1: mountain tops when the winds from the southeast and west
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Speaker 1: have breathed upon it, and thought it till the rivers
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Speaker 1: run bank full with water. Even so did her cheeks
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Speaker 1: overflow with tears. For the husband, who was all the
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Speaker 1: time sitting by her side. Ulysses felt for her and
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Speaker 1: was sorry for her. But he kept his eyes as
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Speaker 1: hard as horn or iron, without letting them so much
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Speaker 1: as quiver. So cunningly did he restrain his tears. Then,
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Speaker 1: when she had relieved herself by weeping, she turned to
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Speaker 1: him and said, now, stranger, I shall put you to
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Speaker 1: the test and see whether or no you really did
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Speaker 1: entertain my husband and his men as you say. You did.
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Speaker 1: Tell me then how he was dressed, what kind of
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Speaker 1: man he was to look at, and so also with
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Speaker 1: his companions. Madam answered Ulysses, it is such a long
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Speaker 1: time ago that I can hardly say twenty years are
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Speaker 1: come and gone since he left my home and went elsewhither.
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Speaker 1: But I will tell you as well as I can recollect.
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Speaker 1: Ulysses wore a mantle of purple wool, double lined, and
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Speaker 1: it was fastened by a gold brooch with two catches
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Speaker 1: for the pin. On the face of this there was
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Speaker 1: a device that showed a dog holding a spotted fawn
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Speaker 1: between his fore paws, and watching as it lay panting
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Speaker 1: upon the ground. Everyone marveled at the way in which
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Speaker 1: these things had been done in gold, the dog looking
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Speaker 1: at the fawn and strangling it, while the fawn was
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Speaker 1: struggling convulsively to escape. As for the shirt that he
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Speaker 1: wore next to his skin, it was so soft that
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Speaker 1: it fitted him like the skin of an onion, and
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Speaker 1: glistened in the sunlight, to the admiration of all the
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Speaker 1: women who beheld it. Furthermore, I say, and lay my
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Speaker 1: saying to your heart, that I do not know whether
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Speaker 1: Ulysses wore these clothes when he left home, or whether
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Speaker 1: one of his companions had given them to him while
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Speaker 1: he was on his voyage, or possibly some one at
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Speaker 1: whose house he was staying, made him a present of them,
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Speaker 1: for he was a man of many friends, and had
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Speaker 1: few equals among the Achaeans. I myself gave him a
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Speaker 1: sword of bronze and a beautiful purple mantle, double lined,
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Speaker 1: with a shirt that went down to his feet, and
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Speaker 1: I sent him on board his ship with every mark
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Speaker 1: of honor. He had a servant with him, a little
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Speaker 1: older than himself, and I can tell you what he
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Speaker 1: was like. His shoulders were hunched, he was dark, and
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Speaker 1: he had thick, curly hair. His name was Eurybites. And
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Speaker 1: Ulysses treated him with greater familiarity than he did with
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Speaker 1: any of the others, as being the most like minded
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Speaker 1: with himself. Penelope was moved still more deeply as she
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Speaker 1: heard the indisputable proofs that Ulysses had laid before her,
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Speaker 1: And when she had again found relief in tears, she
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Speaker 1: said to him, stranger, I was already disposed to pity you,
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Speaker 1: but henceforth you shall be honored and made welcome in
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Speaker 1: my house. It was I who gave Ulysses these clothes
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Speaker 1: you speak of. I took them out of the storeroom
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Speaker 1: and folded them up myself, and I gave him also
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Speaker 1: the gold brooch to wear his noornment alas I shall
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Speaker 1: never welcome him home again. It was by an ill
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Speaker 1: fate that he ever set out for that detested city
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Speaker 1: whose very name I cannot bring myself to mansion. Then
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Speaker 1: Ulysses answered, Madam, wife of Ulysses, do not disfigure yourself
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Speaker 1: further by grieving thus bitterly for your loss, though I
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Speaker 1: can hardly blame you for doing so. A woman who
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Speaker 1: has loved her husband and borne him children would naturally
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Speaker 1: be grieved at losing him, even though he were a
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Speaker 1: worse man than Ulysses, who they say is like a god.
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Speaker 1: Still see your tears and listen to what I can
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Speaker 1: tell you. I will hide nothing from you, and can
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Speaker 1: say with perfect truth that I have lately heard of
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Speaker 1: Ulysses as being alive and on his way home. He
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Speaker 1: is among the Thesperteians, and is bringing back much valuable
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Speaker 1: treasure that he has begged from one and another of them.
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Speaker 1: But his ship and all his crew were lost as
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Speaker 1: they were leaving the Threnacian Island. For Jove and the
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Speaker 1: Sun God were angry with him because his men had
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Speaker 1: slaughtered the sun God's cattle, and they were all drowned
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Speaker 1: to a man. But Ulysses stuck to the keel of
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Speaker 1: his ship and was drifted on to the lands of
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Speaker 1: the Phaeacians, who are nearer of kin to the immortals,
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Speaker 1: and who treated him as though he had been a god,
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Speaker 1: giving him many presents and wishing to escort him home
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Speaker 1: safe and sound. In fact, Ulysses would have been here
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Speaker 1: long ago had he not thought better to go from
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Speaker 1: land to land gathering wealth. For there is no man
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Speaker 1: living who is so wily as he is. There is
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Speaker 1: no one who can compare with him. Fiedon, and king
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Speaker 1: of the Thesproteans, told me all this, and he swore
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Speaker 1: to me, making drink offerings in his house as he
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Speaker 1: did so that the ship was by the water side,
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Speaker 1: and the crew found who would take Ulysses to his
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Speaker 1: own country. He sent me off first, for there happened
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Speaker 1: to be a Thespertian ship sailing for the wheat growing
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Speaker 1: island of Dolychium. But he showed me all the treasure.
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Speaker 1: Ulysses had got together, and he had enough lying in
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Speaker 1: the house of King Phadon to keep his family for
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Speaker 1: ten generations. But the King said Ulysses had gone to Dodona,
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Speaker 1: that he might learn Jove's mind from the high oak
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Speaker 1: tree and know whether, after so long an absence, he
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Speaker 1: should return to Ithaca openly or in secret. So you
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Speaker 1: may know that he is safe and will be here shortly.
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Speaker 1: He is close at hand and cannot remain away from
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Speaker 1: home much longer. Nevertheless, I will confirm my words with
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Speaker 1: an oath, and call Jove, who is the first and
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Speaker 1: mightiest of the gods, to witness, as also that hearth
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Speaker 1: of Ulysses, to which I have now come, that all
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Speaker 1: I have spoken shall surely come to pass. Ulysses will
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Speaker 1: return in this self same year, with the end of
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Speaker 1: this moon, in the beginning of the next, he will
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Speaker 1: be here. May it be even so, answered Penelope, if
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Speaker 1: your words come true, you shall have such gifts and
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Speaker 1: such good will from me that all who see you
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Speaker 1: shall congratulate you. But I know very well how it
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Speaker 1: will be. Ulysses will not return, neither will you get
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Speaker 1: your escort Hens. For so surely as that Ulysses ever was,
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Speaker 1: there are no longer any such masters in this house
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Speaker 1: as he was to receive honorable strangers, or to further
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Speaker 1: them on their way home. And now you maids wash
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Speaker 1: his feet for him, and make him bed on a
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Speaker 1: couch with rugs and blankets, that he may be warm
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Speaker 1: and quiet till morning. Then at daybreak wash him and
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Speaker 1: anoint him again, that he may sit in the cloister
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Speaker 1: and take his meals with Telemachus. It shall be the
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Speaker 1: worse for any one of these hateful people who is
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Speaker 1: uncivil to him, Like it or not, he shall have
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Speaker 1: no more to do in this house. For how sir,
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Speaker 1: shall you be able to learn whether or not I
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Speaker 1: am superior to all others of my sex, both in
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Speaker 1: goodness of heart and understanding, if I let you dine
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Speaker 1: in my cloisters. Squalid and ill clad men live but
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Speaker 1: for a little season. If they are hard and deal hardly,
17:07
Speaker 1: people wish them ill so long as they are alive,
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Speaker 1: and speak contemptuously of them when they are dead. But
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Speaker 1: he that is righteous and deals righteously, the people tell
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Speaker 1: of his praises among all the lands, and many shall
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Speaker 1: call him blessed. Ulysses answered, Madam, I have forced worn
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Speaker 1: rugs and blankets from the day I left the snowy
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Speaker 1: ranges of crete to go on shipboard I will lie
17:28
Speaker 1: as I have lain on many a sleepless night hitherto
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Speaker 1: night after night have I passed in any rough sleeping
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Speaker 1: place and waited for morning? Nor again do I like
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Speaker 1: having my feet washed. I shall not let any of
17:40
Speaker 1: the young hussies about your house touch my feet. But
17:44
Speaker 1: if you have an old and respectable woman who has
17:46
Speaker 1: gone through as much trouble as I have, I will
17:49
Speaker 1: allow her to wash them. To this Penelope, said my
17:53
Speaker 1: dear sir. Of all the guests whoever yet came to
17:56
Speaker 1: my house, there never was one who spoke in all
17:59
Speaker 1: things with such admirable propriety as you do. There happens
18:03
Speaker 1: to be in the house a most respectable woman, the
18:05
Speaker 1: same who received my poor dear husband in her arms
18:08
Speaker 1: the knight he was born, and nursed him in infancy.
18:12
Speaker 1: She is very feeble now, but she shall wash your feet.
18:15
Speaker 1: Come here, said she, Euyclia, and wash your master's age. Mate.
18:20
Speaker 1: I suppose Ulysses hands and feet are very much the
18:23
Speaker 1: same now as his are. For trouble ages, all of
18:25
Speaker 1: us dreadfully fast on these words. The old woman covered
18:29
Speaker 1: her face with her hands. She began to weep and
18:32
Speaker 1: made lamentations. Saying, my dear child, I cannot think whatever
18:36
Speaker 1: I am to do with you. I am certain no
18:39
Speaker 1: one was ever more god fearing than yourself, And yet
18:41
Speaker 1: Jove hates you. No one in the whole world ever
18:44
Speaker 1: burned him more thigh bones, nor gave him finer hecatomes.
18:48
Speaker 1: When you prayed you might come to a green old
18:50
Speaker 1: age yourself and see your son grow up to take
18:52
Speaker 1: after you. Yet see how you has prevented you alone
18:55
Speaker 1: from ever getting back to your own home. I have
18:58
Speaker 1: no doubt the woman in some foreign place which ulysses
19:01
Speaker 1: have got to are giving at him, as all these
19:03
Speaker 1: slots here have been giving at you. I do not
19:06
Speaker 1: wonder at your not choosing to let them wash you
19:08
Speaker 1: after the manner in which they have insulted you. I
19:12
Speaker 1: will wash your feet gladly enough, as Penelope has said
19:15
Speaker 1: I am to do so. I shall wash them both
19:17
Speaker 1: for Penelope's sake and for your own. For you have
19:20
Speaker 1: raised the most lively feelings of compassion in my mind.
19:23
Speaker 1: And let me say this moreover, which pray attend to.
19:26
Speaker 1: We have had all kinds of strangers in distress come
19:29
Speaker 1: here before now. But I make bold to say that
19:32
Speaker 1: no one ever yet came, who was so like Ulysses
19:35
Speaker 1: in figure, voice and feet as you are. Those who
19:38
Speaker 1: have seen us both answered, Ulysses have always said that
19:41
Speaker 1: we were wonderfully like each other, and now you have
19:44
Speaker 1: noticed it too. Then the old woman took the cauldron
19:47
Speaker 1: in which she was going to wash his feet, and
19:49
Speaker 1: poured plenty of cold water into it, adding hot till
19:52
Speaker 1: the bath was warm enough. Ulysses sat by the fire,
19:55
Speaker 1: but ere long he turned away from the light, for
19:57
Speaker 1: it occurred to him that when the old woman had
19:59
Speaker 1: hold of it leg, she would recognize a certain scar
20:02
Speaker 1: which it bore, whereon the whole truth would come out.
20:05
Speaker 1: And indeed, as soon as she began washing her master,
20:08
Speaker 1: she at once knew the scar as one that had
20:10
Speaker 1: been given him by a wild boar when he was
20:12
Speaker 1: hunting on Mount Parnassus with his excellent grandfather Attolychus, who
20:17
Speaker 1: was the most accomplished thief and perjurer in the whole world,
20:20
Speaker 1: and with the sons of Autolychus. Mercury himself had endowed
20:24
Speaker 1: him with this gift, for he used to burn the
20:26
Speaker 1: thigh bones of goats and kids to him. So he
20:28
Speaker 1: took pleasure in his companionship. It happened once that Autolycus
20:32
Speaker 1: had gone to Ithaca and had found the child of
20:34
Speaker 1: his daughter just born. As soon as he had done
20:37
Speaker 1: his supper, Euryclia had set the infant upon his knee
20:40
Speaker 1: and said, Autolycus, you must find a name for your grandson.
20:44
Speaker 1: You greatly wished that you might have one son in
20:47
Speaker 1: law and daughter, replied Attolychus, call the child. Thus, I
20:52
Speaker 1: am highly displeased with a large number of people in
20:54
Speaker 1: one place and another, both men and women. So named
20:58
Speaker 1: the child Ulysses, or the ch child of Anger. When
21:01
Speaker 1: he grows up and comes to visit his mother's family
21:03
Speaker 1: on Mount Parnassus, where my possessions lie, I will make
21:07
Speaker 1: him a present and will send him on his way. Rejoicing,
21:10
Speaker 1: Ulysses therefore went to Parnassus to get the presents from Autolychus,
21:14
Speaker 1: who with his sons, shook hands with him and gave
21:16
Speaker 1: him welcome. His grandmother Amphithea threw her arms around him
21:20
Speaker 1: and kissed his head and both his beautiful eyes. While
21:23
Speaker 1: Autolychus desired his sons to get dinner ready, and they
21:27
Speaker 1: did as he told them. They brought in a five
21:29
Speaker 1: year old bull flayed it and made it ready to
21:32
Speaker 1: divide into joints. These they cut carefully into smaller pieces
21:36
Speaker 1: and spitted them. They roasted them sufficiently and served the
21:39
Speaker 1: portions round. Thus, through the livelong day to the going
21:42
Speaker 1: down of the sun they feasted, and every man had
21:45
Speaker 1: his full share. So they were all satisfied. But when
21:48
Speaker 1: the sunset and it came on dark, they went to
21:50
Speaker 1: bed and enjoyed the boon of sleep. When the child
21:53
Speaker 1: of morning, rosy fingered dawn appeared, the sons of Autolychus
21:57
Speaker 1: went out with their hounds hunting, and Ulysses went too.
22:00
Speaker 1: They kind the wooded slopes of Pharnassus and soon reached
22:04
Speaker 1: its breezy upland valleys. But as the sun was beginning
22:07
Speaker 1: to beat upon the fields, fresh risen from the slow
22:09
Speaker 1: still currents of Oceanus, they came to a mountain dell.
22:13
Speaker 1: The dogs were in front, searching for the tracks of
22:15
Speaker 1: the beast they were chasing, and after them came the
22:18
Speaker 1: sons of Autolachis, among whom was Ulysses close behind the
22:22
Speaker 1: dogs and had a long spear in his hand. Here
22:25
Speaker 1: was the layer of a huge boar among some thick
22:27
Speaker 1: brushwood so dense that the wind and rain could not
22:30
Speaker 1: get through it, nor could the sun's rays pierce it,
22:33
Speaker 1: and the ground underneath lay thick with fallen leaves. The
22:36
Speaker 1: boar heard the noise of the men's feet and the
22:38
Speaker 1: hounds baying on every side as the huntsmen came up
22:41
Speaker 1: to him, so he rushed from his lair, raised the
22:43
Speaker 1: bristles on his neck, and stood at bay with fire
22:46
Speaker 1: flashing from his eyes. Ulysses was the first to raise
22:49
Speaker 1: his spear and tried to drive it into the brute,
22:51
Speaker 1: but the boar was too quick for him and charged
22:53
Speaker 1: him sideways, ripping him above the knee with a gash
22:56
Speaker 1: that tore deep, though it did not reach the bone.
22:59
Speaker 1: As for the boar, Ulysses hid him in the right shoulder,
23:02
Speaker 1: and the point of the spear went right through him,
23:04
Speaker 1: so that he fell groaning in the dust until the
23:06
Speaker 1: life went out of him. The sons of Autolychus busied
23:09
Speaker 1: themselves with the carcass of the boar and bound Ulysses wound. Then,
23:14
Speaker 1: after saying a spell to stop the bleeding, they went
23:16
Speaker 1: home as fast as they could. But when Autolycus and
23:20
Speaker 1: his sons had thoroughly healed Ulysses. They made him some
23:23
Speaker 1: splendid presents and sent him back to Ithaca with much
23:26
Speaker 1: mutual good will. When he got back, his father and
23:29
Speaker 1: mother were rejoiced to see him and asked him all
23:32
Speaker 1: about it and how he had hurt himself to get
23:34
Speaker 1: the scar So he told them how the boar had
23:36
Speaker 1: ripped him when he was out hunting with Autolychus and
23:39
Speaker 1: his sons on Mount Parnassus. As soon as Euryclia had
23:42
Speaker 1: got the scarred limb in her hands and had well
23:44
Speaker 1: hold of it, she recognized it and dropped the foot
23:47
Speaker 1: at once. The leg fell into the bath, which rang
23:51
Speaker 1: out and was overturned, so that all the water spilt
23:53
Speaker 1: on the ground. Eurycleia's eyes, between her joy and her grief,
23:57
Speaker 1: filled with tears. She could not speak, but she caught
24:00
Speaker 1: Ulysses by the beard and said, my dear child, I
24:04
Speaker 1: am sure you must be Ulysses himself. Only I did
24:07
Speaker 1: not know you till I had actually touched and handled you.
24:10
Speaker 1: As she spoke, she looked towards Penelope, as though wanting
24:13
Speaker 1: to tell her that her dear husband was in the house.
24:16
Speaker 1: But Penelope was unable to look in that direction and
24:18
Speaker 1: observe what was going on, for Minerva had diverted her attention.
24:22
Speaker 1: So Ulysses caught Euryclia by the throat with his right hand,
24:25
Speaker 1: and with his left drew her close to him and said, nurse,
24:29
Speaker 1: do you wish to be the ruin of me? You
24:31
Speaker 1: who nursed me at your breast? Now that after twenty
24:34
Speaker 1: years of wandering, I am at last come to my
24:36
Speaker 1: own house again, since it has been borne in upon
24:39
Speaker 1: you by Heaven to recognize me. Hold dear tongue, and
24:42
Speaker 1: do not say a word about it to any one
24:44
Speaker 1: else in the house, for if you do, I tell you,
24:47
Speaker 1: and it shall surely be true, that if Heaven grants
24:49
Speaker 1: me to take the lives of these suitors, I shall
24:51
Speaker 1: not spare you, though you are my own nurse, when
24:54
Speaker 1: I am killing the other women. My child answered, Euaclia,
24:58
Speaker 1: what are you talking about? You know very well that
25:01
Speaker 1: nothing can either bend or break me. I will hold
25:03
Speaker 1: my tongue like a stone or a piece of iron. Furthermore,
25:07
Speaker 1: let me say and lay my saying to your heart.
25:10
Speaker 1: When Heaven has delivered the suitors into your hand, I
25:13
Speaker 1: will give you a list of women in the house
25:15
Speaker 1: who have been ill behaved and of those who are guiltless,
25:18
Speaker 1: and Ulysses answered, nurse, you ought not to speak in
25:22
Speaker 1: that way. I am well able to form my own
25:24
Speaker 1: opinion about one and all of them. Hold your tongue
25:27
Speaker 1: and leave everything to heaven. As he said this, Euryclia
25:31
Speaker 1: left the cloister to fetch the more water, for the
25:33
Speaker 1: first had been all spilt. And when she had washed
25:35
Speaker 1: his feet and anointed him with oil, Ulysses drew his
25:38
Speaker 1: seat nearer to the fire to warm himself, and hid
25:41
Speaker 1: his scar under his rags. Then Penelope began talking to
25:44
Speaker 1: him and said, stranger, I should like to speak with
25:47
Speaker 1: you briefly about another matter. It is indeed nearly bedtime
25:51
Speaker 1: for those at least who can sleep in spite of sorrow.
25:54
Speaker 1: As for myself, Heaven has given me a life of
25:57
Speaker 1: such unmeasurable woe that even by day, when I am
26:00
Speaker 1: attending to my duties and looking after the servants, I
26:03
Speaker 1: am still weeping and lamenting during the whole time. Then
26:07
Speaker 1: when night comes and we all of us go to bed,
26:10
Speaker 1: I lie awake thinking, and my heart becomes prey to
26:13
Speaker 1: the most incessant and cruel tortures. As the dune Nightingale,
26:17
Speaker 1: daughter of Pandarius, sings in the early spring from her
26:20
Speaker 1: seat in the shadiest covered head, and with many a
26:23
Speaker 1: pointive trill, pours out the tale of how by mishap
26:26
Speaker 1: she killed her own child to Tylus, son of King Zethus.
26:30
Speaker 1: Even so does my mind toss and turn in its uncertainty,
26:33
Speaker 1: whether I ought to stay with my son here and
26:35
Speaker 1: safeguard my substance, my bondsmen, and the greatness of my
26:38
Speaker 1: house out of regard for public opinion and the memory
26:41
Speaker 1: of my late husband, or whether it is now time
26:44
Speaker 1: for me to go with the best of these suitors
26:46
Speaker 1: who are wooing me and making me such magnificent presents.
26:50
Speaker 1: As long as my son was still young and unable
26:52
Speaker 1: to understand, he would not hear of my leaving my
26:55
Speaker 1: husband's house. But now that he is full grown, he
26:57
Speaker 1: begs and prays me to do so, being incense at
27:00
Speaker 1: the way in which the suitors are eating up his property.
27:03
Speaker 1: Listen then to a dream I have had, and interpret
27:05
Speaker 1: it for me, if you can. I have twenty geese
27:08
Speaker 1: about the house that eat mash out of a trough,
27:11
Speaker 1: and which I am exceedingly fond of. I dreamed that
27:13
Speaker 1: a great eagle came swooping down from a mountain and
27:16
Speaker 1: dug his curved beak into the neck of each of them,
27:18
Speaker 1: till he had killed them all. Presently, he soared off
27:21
Speaker 1: into the sky and left them dead about the yard,
27:24
Speaker 1: whereon I wept in my dream, till all my maids
27:27
Speaker 1: gathered round me. So piteously was I grieving because the
27:29
Speaker 1: eagle had killed my geese. Then he came back to
27:33
Speaker 1: me again, and, perching on a projecting rafter, spoke to
27:36
Speaker 1: me with a human voice and told me to leave
27:38
Speaker 1: off crying. Be of good courage. She said, Daughter of Vicarius,
27:43
Speaker 1: this is no dream, but a vision of good omen
27:46
Speaker 1: that shall surely come to pass. The geese are the suitors,
27:49
Speaker 1: and I am no longer an eagle, but your own husband,
27:52
Speaker 1: who am come back to you, and who will bring
27:53
Speaker 1: these suitors to a disgraceful end. On this I awoke,
27:58
Speaker 1: and when I looked out, I saw my geese at
27:59
Speaker 1: the trout, eating their mash as usual this dream, Madam replied,
28:04
Speaker 1: Ulysses can admit but one interpretation, for had not Ulysses
28:08
Speaker 1: himself told you how it should be fulfilled. The death
28:11
Speaker 1: of the suitors is portended, and not one single one
28:14
Speaker 1: of them will escape. And Penelope answered, stranger dreams are
28:19
Speaker 1: very curious and unaccountable things, and they do not, by
28:22
Speaker 1: any means invariably come true. There are two gaits through
28:26
Speaker 1: which these unsubstantial fancies proceed. The one is of Horn,
28:30
Speaker 1: the other Ivory. Those that come through the gate of
28:33
Speaker 1: Ivory are fatuous, but those from the gate of Horn
28:36
Speaker 1: mean something to those who see them. I do not think, however,
28:39
Speaker 1: that my own dreams come through the gate of Horn,
28:42
Speaker 1: though I and my son should be most thankful if
28:44
Speaker 1: it proves to have done so. Furthermore, I say, and
28:47
Speaker 1: lay my saying to your heart, the coming dawn will
28:50
Speaker 1: usher in the ill omened day, that is to sever
28:52
Speaker 1: me from the house of Ulysses. For I am about
28:55
Speaker 1: to hold a tournament of axes. My husband used to
28:57
Speaker 1: set up twelve axes in the court, one in front
29:00
Speaker 1: of the other, that like the stays upon which a
29:02
Speaker 1: ship is built. He would then go back from them
29:04
Speaker 1: and shoot an arrow through the whole twelve. I shall
29:07
Speaker 1: make the suitors try to do the same thing, and
29:09
Speaker 1: whichever of them can string the bow the most easily
29:12
Speaker 1: and send his arrow through all twelve axes him, will
29:14
Speaker 1: I follow and quit the house of my lawful husband,
29:17
Speaker 1: so goodly and so abounding in wealth. But even so
29:21
Speaker 1: I doubt not that I shall remember it in my dreams.
29:24
Speaker 1: Then Ulysses answered, Madam, wife of Ulysses, you need not
29:28
Speaker 1: defer your tournament, for Ulysses will return ere ever they
29:31
Speaker 1: can string the bow, handle it how they will, and
29:34
Speaker 1: send their arrows through the iron. To this, Penelope said,
29:38
Speaker 1: as long sir, as you sit here and talk to me,
29:40
Speaker 1: I can have no desire to go to bed. Still,
29:43
Speaker 1: people cannot do permanently without sleep, and Heaven has appointed
29:46
Speaker 1: us dwellers on earth a time for all things. I
29:49
Speaker 1: will therefore go upstairs and recline upon that couch which
29:52
Speaker 1: I have never ceased to flood with my tears from
29:54
Speaker 1: the day Ulysses set out for the city with a
29:56
Speaker 1: hateful name. She then went upstairs to her own way,
30:00
Speaker 1: not alone, but attended by her maids, And when there
30:03
Speaker 1: she lamented her dear husband till Minerva shed sweet sleep
30:06
Speaker 1: over her eyelids. End of book nineteen