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22 - The Odyssey - Homer · Thrilling Adventures - Daily

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Speaker 1: Book twenty two. Then Ulysses tore off his rags and
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Speaker 1: sprang on to the broad pavement with his bow and
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Speaker 1: his quiver full of arrows. He shed the arrows on
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Speaker 1: to the ground at his feet, and said, the mighty
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Speaker 1: contest is at an end. I will now see whether
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Speaker 1: Apollo will vouchsafe it to me to hit another mark
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Speaker 1: which no man has yet hit. On this he aimed
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Speaker 1: a deadly arrow at Antinous, who was about to take
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Speaker 1: up a two handed gold cup to drink his wine,
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Speaker 1: and already had it in his hands. He had no
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Speaker 1: thought of death. Who amongst all the revelers would think
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Speaker 1: that one man, however brave, would stand alone among so
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Speaker 1: many and kill him. The arrow struck Antinuus in a throat,
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Speaker 1: and the point went clean through his neck, so that
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Speaker 1: he fell over, and a cup dropped from his hand,
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Speaker 1: while a thick stream of blood gushed from his nostrils.
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Speaker 1: He kicked the table from him and upset the things
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Speaker 1: on it, so that the bread and roasted meats were
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Speaker 1: all soiled. As they fell over on to the ground.
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Speaker 1: The suitors were in an uproar when they saw that
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Speaker 1: a man had been hit. They sprang in dismay one
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Speaker 1: and all of them from their seats and looked everywhere
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Speaker 1: towards the walls. But there was neither shield nor spear,
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Speaker 1: and they rebuked Ulysses very angrily. Stranger said they, you
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Speaker 1: shall pay for shooting people in this way. You shall
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Speaker 1: see no other contest. You are a doomed man. He
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Speaker 1: whom you have slain was the foremost youth in Ithaca,
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Speaker 1: and the vultures shall devour you for having killed him.
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Speaker 1: Thus they spoke, for they thought that he had killed
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Speaker 1: Antinous by mistake, and did not perceive that death was
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Speaker 1: hanging over the head of every one of them. But
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Speaker 1: Ulysses cleared at them and said, dogs, did you think
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Speaker 1: that I should not come back from Troy. You have
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Speaker 1: wasted my substance, have forced my women servants to lie
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Speaker 1: with you, and have wooed my wife while I was
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Speaker 1: still living. You have feared neither God nor man, and
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Speaker 1: now you shall die. They turned pale with fear as
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Speaker 1: he spoke, and every man looked round to see whither
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Speaker 1: he might fly for safety. But Eurymachus alone spoke. If
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Speaker 1: you are Ulysses, said he, then what you have said
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Speaker 1: is just. We have done much wrong. On your lands
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Speaker 1: and in your house. But continuous who was the head
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Speaker 1: and front of the offending lies low Already it was
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Speaker 1: all his doing. It was not that he wanted to
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Speaker 1: marry Penelope. He did not so much care about that.
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Speaker 1: What he wanted was something quite different, and Jove has
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Speaker 1: not vouchsafed it to him. He wanted to kill your
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Speaker 1: son and to be chief man in Ithaca. Now therefore,
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Speaker 1: that he has met the death which was his due,
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Speaker 1: spare the lives of your people. We will make everything
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Speaker 1: good among ourselves and pay you in full for all
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Speaker 1: that we have eaten and drunk. Each one of us
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Speaker 1: shall pay you a fine worth twenty oxen, and we
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Speaker 1: will keep on giving you gold and bronze till your
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Speaker 1: heart is softened. Until we have done this, no one
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Speaker 1: can complain of your being enraged against us. Ulysses again
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Speaker 1: glared at him and said, though you should give me
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Speaker 1: all that you have in the world, both now and
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Speaker 1: all that you ever shall have, I will not stay
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Speaker 1: my hands till I have paid all of you in full.
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Speaker 1: You must fight or fly for your lives, and fly
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Speaker 1: not a man of you shall. Their hearts sank as
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Speaker 1: they heard him, but Eurymachus again spoke, saying, my friends,
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Speaker 1: this man will give us no quarter. He will stand
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Speaker 1: where he is and shoot us down till he has
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Speaker 1: killed every man among us. Let us then show fight,
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Speaker 1: draw your swords, and hold up the tables to shield
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Speaker 1: you from his arrows. Let us have at him with
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Speaker 1: a rush to drive him from the pavement and doorway.
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Speaker 1: We can then get through into the town and raise
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Speaker 1: such an alarm as shall soon stay his shooting. As
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Speaker 1: he spoke, he drew his keen blade of bronze, sharpened
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Speaker 1: on both sides, and with a loud cry, sprang towards Ulysses.
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Speaker 1: But Ulysses instantly shut an arrow into his breast that
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Speaker 1: caught him by the nipple and fixed itself in his liver.
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Speaker 1: He dropped his sword and fell doubled over his table.
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Speaker 1: The cup and all the meads went over on to
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Speaker 1: the ground as he smote the earth with his forehead
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Speaker 1: in the agonies of death, and he kicked the stool
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Speaker 1: with his feet until his eyes were closed in darkness.
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Speaker 1: Then Amphinomus drew his sword and made straight at Ulysses
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Speaker 1: to try to get him away from the door, but
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Speaker 1: Telemachus was too quick for him and struck him from behind.
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Speaker 1: The spear caught him between the shoulders and went right
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Speaker 1: through his chest, so that he fell heavily to the
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Speaker 1: ground and struck the earth with his forehead. Then Telemachus
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Speaker 1: sprang away from him, leaving his spear still in the body,
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Speaker 1: for he feared that if he stayed to draw it out,
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Speaker 1: some of the Achaeans might come up and hag at
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Speaker 1: him with the sword or knock him down. So he
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Speaker 1: set off at a run and immediately was at his
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Speaker 1: father's side. Then he said, father, let me bring you
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Speaker 1: a shield, two spears, and a brass helmet for your temples.
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Speaker 1: I will arm myself as well, and bring other armor
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Speaker 1: for the swineherd and the stockman, for we had better
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Speaker 1: be armed. Run and fetch them, answered, Ulysses, while my
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Speaker 1: arrows hold out, or when I am alone, they may
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Speaker 1: get me away from the door. Telemachus did as his
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Speaker 1: father said, and went off to the storeroom where the
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Speaker 1: armor was kept. He chose four shields, eight spears, and
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Speaker 1: four brass helmets with horse hair plumes. He brought them
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Speaker 1: with all speed to his father and armed himself first,
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Speaker 1: while a stockman and the swineherd also put on their
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Speaker 1: armor and took their places near Ulysses. Meanwhile, Ulysses, as
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Speaker 1: long as his arrows lasted, had been shooting the suitors
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Speaker 1: one by one, and they fell thick on one another.
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Speaker 1: When his arrows gave out, he set the bow to
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Speaker 1: stand against the end wall of the house by the
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Speaker 1: door post, and hung a shield four hides thick about
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Speaker 1: his shoulders on his comely head. He said at his helmet,
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Speaker 1: well wrought with a crest of horsehair that nodded menacingly
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Speaker 1: above it, and he grasped two redoubtable bronze shod spears.
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Speaker 1: Now there was a trap door on the wall, while
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Speaker 1: at one end of the pavement there was an exit
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Speaker 1: leading to a narrow passage, and this exit was closed
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Speaker 1: by a well made door. Ulysses told Philoteus to stand
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Speaker 1: by this door and guard it, for only one person
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Speaker 1: could attack it at a time. But Agilos shouted out,
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Speaker 1: cannot some one go up to the trap door and
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Speaker 1: tell the people what is going on? Help would come
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Speaker 1: at once, and we should soon make an end of
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Speaker 1: this man and his shooting. This may not be Egdilos,
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Speaker 1: answered Melanthius. The mouth of the narrow passage is dangerously
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Speaker 1: near the entrance to the outer court. One brave man
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Speaker 1: could prevent any number from getting in. But I know
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Speaker 1: what I will do. I will bring your arms from
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Speaker 1: the storeroom, for I am sure it is there that
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Speaker 1: Ulysses and his son have put them on. This the
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Speaker 1: goatered Melanthius went by back passages to the storeroom of
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Speaker 1: ulysses house. There he chose twelve shields with as many
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Speaker 1: helmets and spears, and brought them back as fast as
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Speaker 1: he could give them to the suitors. Ulysses heart began
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Speaker 1: to fail him when he saw the suitors putting on
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Speaker 1: their armor and brandishing their spears. He saw the greatness
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Speaker 1: of the danger and said to Telemachus, some one of
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Speaker 1: the women inside is helping the suitors against us, or
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Speaker 1: it may be Melanthius. Telemachus answered, the fault father is
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Speaker 1: mine and mine only. I left the storeroom door open,
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Speaker 1: and they have kept a sharp look out than I have.
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Speaker 1: Go Eumanus to put the door to and see whether
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Speaker 1: it is one of the women who is doing this,
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Speaker 1: or whether, as I suspect, it is Melanthius, the son
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Speaker 1: of Dolius. Thus did they converse. Meanwhile, Melanthius was again
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Speaker 1: going to the storeroom to fetch more armor, but the
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Speaker 1: swineherd saw him and said to Ulysses, who was beside him, Ulysses,
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Speaker 1: noble son of Loyertes, it is that scoundrel Melanthius, just
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Speaker 1: as we suspected, who is going to the storeroom. Say
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Speaker 1: shall I kill him if I can get the better
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Speaker 1: of him, or shall I bring him here that you
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Speaker 1: may take your own revenge for all the many wrongs
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Speaker 1: that he has done in your house? Ulysses answered Telemachus,
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Speaker 1: and I will hold these suitors in check no matter
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Speaker 1: what they do. Go back, both of you and bind
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Speaker 1: Melanthius hands and feet behind him, throw him into the storeroom,
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Speaker 1: and make the door fast behind you. Then fasten on
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Speaker 1: news about his body, and string him close up to
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Speaker 1: the rafters from a high bearing post, that he may
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Speaker 1: linger on in an agony. Thus did he speak, and
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Speaker 1: they did even as he had said. They went to
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Speaker 1: the storeroom, which they entered before Melanthius saw them, for
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Speaker 1: he was busy searching for arms in the innermost part
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Speaker 1: of the room. So the two took their stand on
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Speaker 1: either side of the door, and waited by and by
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Speaker 1: Melanthius came out with a helmet in one hand and
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Speaker 1: an old, dry rotted shield in the other, which had
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Speaker 1: been borne by Laathes when he was young, but which
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Speaker 1: had been long since thrown aside, and the straps had
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Speaker 1: become ansoon. On this the two seized him, dragged him
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Speaker 1: back by the hair, and threw him struggling to the ground.
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Speaker 1: They bent his hands and feet well behind his back,
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Speaker 1: and bound them tied together with a painful bunt, as
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Speaker 1: Ulysses had told them. Then they fastened a noose about
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Speaker 1: his body and strung him up from a high pillar,
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Speaker 1: till he was close up to the rafters and over him.
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Speaker 1: Did you then want o swineherd, Eumeneus saying, Melanthius, you
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Speaker 1: will pass the night on a soft bed as you deserve.
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Speaker 1: You will know very well when morning comes from the
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Speaker 1: streams of Oceanus, and it is time for you to
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Speaker 1: be driving in your goats for the suitors to feast
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Speaker 1: on there. Then they left him in a very cruel bondage,
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Speaker 1: and having put on their armor, they closed the door
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Speaker 1: behind them and went back to take their places by
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Speaker 1: the side of Ulysses, whereon the four men stood in
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Speaker 1: the cloister fierce and full of fury. Nevertheless, those who
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Speaker 1: were in the body of the court were still both
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Speaker 1: brave and many. Then Jove's daughter, Minerva came up to them,
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Speaker 1: having assumed the voice and form of Mentor. Ulysses was
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Speaker 1: glad when he saw her and said, Mentor, lend me
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Speaker 1: your help, and forget not your old comrade nor the
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Speaker 1: many good turns he has done you. Besides, you are
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Speaker 1: my age mate. But all the time he felt sure
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Speaker 1: it was Minerva, and the suitors from the other side
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Speaker 1: raised an uproar when they saw her. Aguilos was the
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Speaker 1: first to reproach her Mentor. He cried, do not let
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Speaker 1: Ulysses beguile you into siding with him and fighting the suitors.
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Speaker 1: This is what we will do. When we have killed
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Speaker 1: these people, father and son, we will kill you too.
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Speaker 1: You shall pay for it with your head. And when
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Speaker 1: we have killed you, we will take all you have
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Speaker 1: indoors or out, and bring it into hotchpot with Ulysses property.
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Speaker 1: We will not let your sons live in your house,
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Speaker 1: nor your daughter's, nor shall your widow continued to live
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Speaker 1: in the city of Itaca. This made Minerva still more furious,
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Speaker 1: so she scolded Ulysses very angrily, Ulysses said she, Your
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Speaker 1: strength and prowess are no longer what they were when
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Speaker 1: you fought for nine long years among the Trojans about
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Speaker 1: the noble lady Helen. You killed many a man in
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Speaker 1: those days, and it was through your stratagem that Prime's
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Speaker 1: city was taken. How comes it that you are so
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Speaker 1: lamentably less valiant now that you are on your own ground,
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Speaker 1: face to face with the suitors in your own house.
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Speaker 1: Come on, my good fellow, stand by my side and
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Speaker 1: see how Mentor, son of Alcinous, shall fight your foes
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Speaker 1: and requite your kindnesses conferred upon him. But she would
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Speaker 1: not give him full victory as yet, for she wished
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Speaker 1: still further to prove his own prowess and that of
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Speaker 1: his brave son. So she flew up to one of
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Speaker 1: the rafters in the roof of the cloister and sat
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Speaker 1: upon it in the form of a swallow. Meanwhile, Agilos,
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Speaker 1: son of Damaster, Eurynomus Amphimedon, Demoptolemus Pysander, and Polybus, son
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Speaker 1: of Polyctor, bore the brunt of the fight upon the
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Speaker 1: suitor's side. Of all those who were still fighting for
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Speaker 1: their lives. They were by far the most valiant, for
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Speaker 1: the others had already fallen under the arrows of Ulysses.
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Speaker 1: Agilos shouted to them and said, my friends, he will
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Speaker 1: soon have to leave off, for Mentor has gone away
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Speaker 1: after having done nothing for him but brag. They are
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Speaker 1: standing at the doors unsupported. Do not aim at him
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Speaker 1: all at once, but six of you throw your spears first,
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Speaker 1: and see if you cannot cover yourself with glory by
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Speaker 1: killing him. When he has fallen. We need not be
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Speaker 1: uneasy about the others. They threw their spears as he
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Speaker 1: bade them, but Minerva made them all of no effect.
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Speaker 1: One hit the door post, another went against the door,
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Speaker 1: the pointed shaft of another struck the wall. And as
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Speaker 1: soon as they had avoided all the spears of the suitors,
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Speaker 1: Ulysses said to his own men, my friends, I should say,
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Speaker 1: we two had better let drive into the middle of them,
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Speaker 1: or they will crown all the harm they have done
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Speaker 1: us by killing us outright. They therefore aimed straight in
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Speaker 1: front of them and threw their spears. Ulysses killed Demoptolemus, Telemachus, Euryadus, Eumeneus, Elatus,
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Speaker 1: while the stockman killed Passander. These all bit the dust,
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Speaker 1: and as the others drew back into a corner, Ulysses
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Speaker 1: and his men rushed forward and regained their spears by
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Speaker 1: drawing them from the bodies of the dead. The suitors
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Speaker 1: now aimed a second time, but again Minerva made their
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Speaker 1: weapons for the most part without effect. One hit a
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Speaker 1: bearing post of the cloister, another went against the door,
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Speaker 1: while the pointed shaft of another struck the wall. Still,
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Speaker 1: Amphimedon just took a piece of the top skin from
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Speaker 1: off Telemachus's wrist, and Steesippus managed to graze Eumanus's shoulder
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Speaker 1: above his shield, but the spear went on and fell
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Speaker 1: to the ground. Then Ulysses and his men let drive
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Speaker 1: into the crowd of suitors. Ulysses hit Eurydemus, Telemachus, Amphimidon,
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Speaker 1: and Eumanus Polybus. After this, the stockman hit Stecippus in
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Speaker 1: the breast and taunted him, saying, foul mouthed son of
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Speaker 1: poly Theories, do not be so foolish as to talk
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Speaker 1: wickedly another time, But let Heaven direct your speech, for
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Speaker 1: the gods are far stronger than men. I make you
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Speaker 1: a present of this advice to repay you for the
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Speaker 1: foot which you gave Ulysses when he was begging about
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Speaker 1: in his own house. Thus spoke the stockman, and Ulysses
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Speaker 1: struck the son of Damaster with a spear in close fight,
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Speaker 1: while Telemachus hit Leocritus, son of Evanor, in the belly,
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Speaker 1: and the dart went clean through him, so that he
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Speaker 1: fell forward, full on his face upon the ground. Then Minerva,
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Speaker 1: from her seat on the rafter, held up her deadly aegis,
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Speaker 1: and the hearts of the suitors quailed. They fled to
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Speaker 1: the other end of the court like a herd of cattle,
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Speaker 1: maddened by the gadfly. In early summer, when the days
17:54
Speaker 1: are at their longest, as eagle beaked, crooked talon vultures
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Speaker 1: from the mountons swoop down on the smaller birds that
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Speaker 1: cower in flocks upon the ground and kill them, for
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Speaker 1: they cannot either fight or fly, and lookers on enjoy
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Speaker 1: the sport. Even so did Ulysses and his men fall
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Speaker 1: upon the suitors and smite them on every side. They
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Speaker 1: made a horrible groaning as their brains were being battered in,
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Speaker 1: and the ground seethed with their blood. Laodes then caught
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Speaker 1: the knees of Ulysses and said, Ulysses, I beseech you
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Speaker 1: have mercy upon me and spare me. I never wronged
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Speaker 1: any of the women in your house, either in word
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Speaker 1: or deed, and I tried to stop the others I
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Speaker 1: saw them, but they would not listen. And now they
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Speaker 1: are paying for their folly. I was their sacrificing priest.
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Speaker 1: If you kill me, I shall die without having done
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Speaker 1: anything to deserve it, and shall have got no thanks
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Speaker 1: for all the good that I did. Ulysses looked sternly
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Speaker 1: at him and answered, if you were their sacrificing priest,
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Speaker 1: you must have prayed many a time that it did
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Speaker 1: be long before I got home again, and that you
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Speaker 1: might marry my wife and have children by her. Therefore
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Speaker 1: you shall die. With these words, he picked up the
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Speaker 1: sword that Aggilaus had dropped when he was being killed,
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Speaker 1: and which was lying upon the ground. Then he struck
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Speaker 1: Laotes on the back of his neck, so that his
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Speaker 1: head fell rolling in the dust. While he was yet speaking.
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Speaker 1: The minstrel Femeius, son of Turpes, He who had been
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Speaker 1: forced by the suitors to sing by them, now tried
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Speaker 1: to save his life. He was standing near towards the
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Speaker 1: trap door, and held his lyre in his hand. He
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Speaker 1: did not know whether to fly out of the cloister
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Speaker 1: and sit down by the altar of Jove that was
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Speaker 1: in the outer court, and on which both Loyarties and
20:03
Speaker 1: Ulysses had offered up the thigh bones of many an Ox,
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Speaker 1: or whether to go straight up to Ulysses and embrace
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Speaker 1: his knees. But in the end he deemed it best
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Speaker 1: to embrace ulysses knees. So he laid his lyre on
20:19
Speaker 1: the ground between a mixing bowl and a silver studded seat. Then,
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Speaker 1: going up to Ulysses, he caught hold of his knees
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Speaker 1: and said, Ulysses, I beseech you have mercy on me
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Speaker 1: and spare me. You will be sorry for it afterwards
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Speaker 1: if you kill a bard who can sing both for
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Speaker 1: gods and men, as I can, I make all my
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Speaker 1: lace myself, and Heaven visits me with every kind of inspiration.
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Speaker 1: I would sing to you as though you were a god.
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Speaker 1: Do not therefore, be in such a hurry to cut
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Speaker 1: my head off Your own son, Telemachus will tell you
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Speaker 1: that I did not want to frequent your house and
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Speaker 1: sing to the suitors after their meals, but they were
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Speaker 1: too many and too strong for me, so they made me.
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Speaker 1: Telemachus heard him, and at once went up to his father.
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Speaker 1: Hold He cried, the man is guiltless. Do him no hurt,
21:16
Speaker 1: and we will spare Medan too, who was always good
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Speaker 1: to me when I was a boy, Unless Philoctets or
21:24
Speaker 1: Eumaneus has already killed him, or he has fallen in
21:28
Speaker 1: your way. When you were raging about the court, Medon
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Speaker 1: caught these words of Telemachus, for he was crouching under
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Speaker 1: a seat beneath which he had hidden by covering himself
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Speaker 1: up with a freshly flayed heifer's hide. So he threw
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Speaker 1: off the hide, went up to Telemachus and laid hold
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Speaker 1: of his knees. Here I am, my dear sir, said
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Speaker 1: he stay your hand. Therefore and tell your father, or
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Speaker 1: he will kill me in his rage against the suitors,
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Speaker 1: for he wasted his substance and been so foolishly disrespectful
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Speaker 1: to yourself. Ulysses smiled at him and answered, fear not,
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Speaker 1: Telemachus has saved your life, that you may know in
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Speaker 1: the future and tell other people how greatly better good
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Speaker 1: deeds prosper than evil ones. Go therefore outside the cloisters
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Speaker 1: into the outer court, and be out of the way
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Speaker 1: of the slaughterer. You and a bard while I finished
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Speaker 1: my work here inside. The peer went into the outer
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Speaker 1: court as fast as they could, and sat down by
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Speaker 1: Jove's great altar, looking fearfully round and still expecting that
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Speaker 1: they would be killed. Then Ulysses searched the whole court
22:47
Speaker 1: carefully over to see if any one had managed to
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Speaker 1: hide himself and was still living. But he found them
22:55
Speaker 1: all lying in the dust and weltering in their blood.
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Speaker 1: They were like fishes which fishermen have netted out of
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Speaker 1: the sea and thrown upon the beach, to lie gasping
23:06
Speaker 1: for water, till the heat of the sun makes an
23:09
Speaker 1: end of them. Even so were the suitors lying, all
23:13
Speaker 1: huddled up, one against the other. Then Ulysses said to Telemachus,
23:20
Speaker 1: cool nurse Eurycleia, I have something to say to her.
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Speaker 1: Telemachus went and knocked at the door of the women's room.
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Speaker 1: Make haste, said he, you, old woman, who have been
23:32
Speaker 1: set over all the other women in the house, Come outside.
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Speaker 1: My father wishes to speak to you. When Eurycleia heard this,
23:41
Speaker 1: she unfastened the door of the women's room and came
23:44
Speaker 1: out following Telemachus. She found Ulysses among the corpses, be
23:49
Speaker 1: spattered with blood and filth, like a lion that has
23:53
Speaker 1: just been devouring an ox. And his breast and both
23:57
Speaker 1: his cheeks are all bloody, so that he is a
24:00
Speaker 1: fearful sight. Even so was Ulysses besmirched from head to
24:05
Speaker 1: foot with gore. When she saw all the corpses and
24:09
Speaker 1: such a quantity of blood, she was beginning to cry
24:12
Speaker 1: out for joy, for she saw that a great deed
24:16
Speaker 1: had been done. But Ulysses checked her. Old woman said
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Speaker 1: he rejoice in silence. Restrain yourself, and do not make
24:25
Speaker 1: any noise about it. It is an unholy thing to
24:29
Speaker 1: want over dead men. Heaven's doom and their own evil
24:34
Speaker 1: deeds have brought these men to destruction, for they respected
24:38
Speaker 1: no man in the whole world, neither rich nor poor,
24:42
Speaker 1: who came near them, and they have come to a
24:44
Speaker 1: bad end as a punishment for their wickedness and folly. Now, however,
24:50
Speaker 1: tell me which of the women in the house have
24:53
Speaker 1: misconducted themselves, and who are innocent. I will tell you
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Speaker 1: the truth, my son answered, Eurycleia, there are fifty women
25:03
Speaker 1: in the house whom we teach to do things such
25:06
Speaker 1: as carding, wool, and all kinds of household work. Of these,
25:11
Speaker 1: twelve in all have misbehaved and have been wanting in
25:16
Speaker 1: respect to me and also to Penelope. They showed no
25:20
Speaker 1: disrespect to Telemachus, for he has only lately grown, and
25:25
Speaker 1: his mother never permitted him to give orders to the
25:28
Speaker 1: female servants. But let me go up stairs and tell
25:32
Speaker 1: your wife all that has happened. For some God has
25:36
Speaker 1: been sending her to sleep. Do not wake her yet,
25:40
Speaker 1: answered Ulysses, but tell the women who have misconducted themselves
25:45
Speaker 1: to come to me. Euryclea left the cloister to tell
25:49
Speaker 1: the women and make them come to Ulysses. In the meanwhile,
25:54
Speaker 1: he called Telemachus, the stockman and the swineherd, begin said
25:59
Speaker 1: he to remove the dead and make the women help. You.
26:03
Speaker 1: Then get sponges and clean water to swill down the
26:06
Speaker 1: tables and seat. When you have thoroughly cleansed the whole, cloisters,
26:11
Speaker 1: take the women into the space between the domed room
26:14
Speaker 1: and the wall of the outer court, and run them
26:17
Speaker 1: through with your swords till they are quite dead, and
26:21
Speaker 1: have forgotten all about the love and the way in
26:24
Speaker 1: which they used to lie in secret with the suitors.
26:29
Speaker 1: On this the women came down in a body, weeping
26:32
Speaker 1: and wailing bitterly. First they carried the dead bodies out
26:37
Speaker 1: and propped them up against one another in a gatehouse.
26:41
Speaker 1: Ulysses ordered them about and made them do their work quickly,
26:45
Speaker 1: so they had to carry the bodies out. When they
26:48
Speaker 1: had done this, they cleaned all the tables and seats
26:52
Speaker 1: with sponges and water, while Telemachus and the two others
26:57
Speaker 1: shoaled up the blood and dirt from the ground, and
27:00
Speaker 1: the women carried it all away and put it out
27:03
Speaker 1: of doors. Then, when they had made the whole place
27:07
Speaker 1: quite clean and orderly, they took the women and hammed
27:11
Speaker 1: them in the narrow space between the wall of the
27:13
Speaker 1: domed room and that of the yard, so that they
27:16
Speaker 1: could not get away. And Telemachus said to the other two,
27:21
Speaker 1: I shall not let these women die a clean death,
27:25
Speaker 1: for they were insolent to me and my mother, and
27:28
Speaker 1: used to sleep with the suitors. So saying, he made
27:32
Speaker 1: a ship's cable fast to one of the bearing posts
27:36
Speaker 1: that supported the roof of the domed room, and secured
27:39
Speaker 1: it all around the building at a good height lest
27:43
Speaker 1: any of the women's feet should touch the ground. And
27:47
Speaker 1: as thrushes or doves beat against a net that had
27:51
Speaker 1: been set for them in a thicket, just as they
27:54
Speaker 1: were getting to their nest, and a terrible fate awaits them.
27:58
Speaker 1: Even so did the women have to put their heads
28:01
Speaker 1: in nooses, one after the other, and die most miserably.
28:06
Speaker 1: Their feet moved convulsively for a while, but not for
28:10
Speaker 1: very long. As for Melanthius, they took him through the
28:15
Speaker 1: cloister into the inner court. There they cut off his
28:19
Speaker 1: nose and his ears. They drew out his vitals and
28:23
Speaker 1: gave them to the dogs roar, And then, in their fury,
28:27
Speaker 1: they cut off his hands and his feet. When they
28:31
Speaker 1: had done this, they washed their hands and feet and
28:34
Speaker 1: went back into the house. For all was now over,
28:38
Speaker 1: and Ulysses said to the dear old nurse Eurycleia, bring
28:43
Speaker 1: me sulfur which cleanses all pollution, and fetch fire, also
28:49
Speaker 1: that I may burn it and purify the cloisters. Go moreover,
28:54
Speaker 1: and tell Penelope to come here with her attendants, and
28:58
Speaker 1: also all the maid servants that are in a house.
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Speaker 1: All that you have said is true, answered Euryclea. But
29:06
Speaker 1: let me bring you some clean clothes, a shirt and cloak.
29:10
Speaker 1: Do not keep these rags on your back any longer.
29:13
Speaker 1: It is not right. First light me a fire, replied Ulysses.
29:19
Speaker 1: She brought the fire and sulfur as he had bidden her,
29:23
Speaker 1: and Ulysses thoroughly purified the cloisters and both the inner
29:27
Speaker 1: and outer courts. Then she went inside to call the
29:31
Speaker 1: women and tell them what had happened. Whereon they came
29:35
Speaker 1: from their apartment with torches in their hands, and pressed
29:39
Speaker 1: round Ulysses to embrace him, kissing his head and shoulders
29:44
Speaker 1: and taking hold of his hands. It made him feel
29:48
Speaker 1: as if he should like to weep, for he remembered
29:51
Speaker 1: every one of them. End of Book twenty two