The Odyssey of Homer Part 23

It is my purpose, lest I wear thee out, Thee and thy friends, to seek at early dawn The city, there to beg--But give me first Needful instructions, and a trusty guide Who may conduct me thither; there my task Must be to roam the streets; some hand humane Perchance shall give me a small pittance there, A little bread, and a few drops to drink.

Ulysses' palace I shall also seek, 380 And to discrete Penelope report My tidings; neither shall I fail to mix With those imperious suitors, who, themselves Full-fed, may spare perhaps some boon to me.

Me shall they find, in whatsoe'er they wish Their ready servitor, for (understand And mark me well) the herald of the skies, Hermes, from whom all actions of mankind Their grace receive and polish, is my friend, So that in menial offices I fear 390 No rival, whether I be called to heap The hearth with fuel, or dry wood to cleave, To roast, to carve, or to distribute wine, As oft the poor are wont who serve the great.

To whom, Eumaeus! at those words displeased, Thou didst reply. G.o.ds! how could such a thought Possess thee, stranger? surely thy resolve Is altogether fixt to perish there, If thou indeed hast purposed with that throng To mix, whose riot and outrageous acts 400 Of violence echo through the vault of heav'n.

None, such as thou, serve _them_; their servitors Are youths well-cloak'd, well-vested; sleek their heads, And smug their countenances; such alone Are their attendants, and the polish'd boards Groan overcharg'd with bread, with flesh, with wine.

Rest here content; for neither me nor these Thou weariest aught, and when Ulysses' son Shall come, he will with vest and mantle fair Cloath thee, and send thee whither most thou would'st. 410 To whom Ulysses, toil-inured.

I wish thee, O Eumaeus! dear to Jove As thou art dear to me, for this reprieve Vouchsafed me kind, from wand'ring and from woe!

No worse condition is of mortal man Than his who wanders; for the poor man, driv'n By woe and by misfortune homeless forth, A thousand mis'ries, day by day, endures.

Since thou detain'st me, then, and bidd'st me wait His coming, tell me if the father still 420 Of famed Ulysses live, whom, going hence, He left so nearly on the verge of life?

And lives his mother? or have both deceased Already, and descended to the shades?

To whom the master swine-herd thus replied.

I will inform thee, and with strictest truth, Of all that thou hast ask'd. Laertes lives, But supplication off'ring to the G.o.ds Ceaseless, to free him from a weary life, So deeply his long-absent son he mourns, 430 And the dear consort of his early youth, Whose death is his chief sorrow, and hath brought Old age on him, or ere its date arrived.

She died of sorrow for her glorious son, And died deplorably;[67] may never friend Of mine, or benefactor die as she!

While yet she liv'd, dejected as she was, I found it yet some solace to converse With her, who rear'd me in my childish days, Together with her lovely youngest-born 440 The Princess Ctimena; for side by side We grew, and I, scarce honour'd less than she.

But soon as our delightful prime we both Attain'd, to Samos her they sent, a bride, And were requited with rich dow'r; but me Cloath'd handsomely with tunic and with vest, And with fair sandals furnish'd, to the field She order'd forth, yet loved me still the more.

I miss her kindness now; but gracious heav'n Prospers the work on which I here attend; 450 Hence have I food, and hence I drink, and hence Refresh, sometimes, a worthy guest like thee.

But kindness none experience I, or can, From fair Penelope (my mistress now) In word or action, so is the house curs'd With that lewd throng. Glad would the servants be Might they approach their mistress, and receive Advice from her; glad too to eat and drink, And somewhat bear each to his rural home, For perquisites are ev'ry servant's joy. 460 Then answer thus, Ulysses wise return'd.

Alas! good swain, Eumaeus, how remote From friends and country wast thou forced to roam Ev'n in thy infancy! But tell me true.

The city where thy parents dwelt, did foes Pillage it? or did else some hostile band Surprizing thee alone, on herd or flock Attendant, bear thee with them o'er the Deep, And sell thee at this Hero's house, who pay'd Doubtless for _thee_ no sordid price or small? 470 To whom the master swine-herd in reply.

Stranger! since thou art curious to be told My story, silent listen, and thy wine At leisure quaff. The nights are longest now, And such as time for sleep afford, and time For pleasant conf'rence; neither were it good That thou should'st to thy couch before thy hour, Since even sleep is hurtful, in excess.

Whoever here is weary, and desires Early repose, let him depart to rest, 480 And, at the peep of day, when he hath fed Sufficiently, drive forth my master's herd; But we with wine and a well-furnish'd board Supplied, will solace mutually derive From recollection of our sufferings past; For who hath much endured, and wander'd far, Finds the recital ev'n of sorrow sweet.

Now hear thy question satisfied; attend!

There is an island (thou hast heard, perchance, Of such an isle) named Syria;[68] it is placed 490 Above Ortigia, and a dial owns[69]

True to the tropic changes of the year.

No great extent she boasts, yet is she rich In cattle and in flocks, in wheat and wine.

No famine knows that people, or disease Noisome, of all that elsewhere seize the race Of miserable man; but when old age Steals on the citizens, Apollo, arm'd With silver bow and bright Diana come, Whose gentle shafts dismiss them soon to rest. 500 Two cities share between them all the isle, And both were subject to my father's sway Ctesius Ormenides, a G.o.dlike Chief.

It chanced that from Phnicia, famed for skill In arts marine, a vessel thither came By sharpers mann'd, and laden deep with toys.

Now, in my father's family abode A fair Phnician, tall, full-sized, and skill'd In works of elegance, whom they beguiled.

While she wash'd linen on the beach, beside 510 The ship, a certain mariner of those Seduced her; for all women, ev'n the wise And sober, feeble prove by love a.s.sail'd.

Who was she, he enquired, and whence? nor she Scrupled to tell at once her father's home.

I am of Sidon,[70] famous for her works In bra.s.s and steel; daughter of Arybas, Who rolls in affluence; Taphian pirates thence Stole me returning from the field, from whom This Chief procured me at no little cost. 520 Then answer thus her paramour return'd.

Wilt thou not hence to Sidon in our ship, That thou may'st once more visit the abode Of thy own wealthy parents, and themselves?

For still they live, and still are wealthy deem'd.

To whom the woman. Even that might be, Would ye, ye seamen, by a solemn oath a.s.sure me of a safe conveyance home.

Then sware the mariners as she required, And, when their oath was ended, thus again 530 The woman of Phnicia them bespake.

Now, silence! no man, henceforth, of you all Accost me, though he meet me on the road, Or at yon fountain; lest some tattler run With tidings home to my old master's ear, Who, with suspicion touch'd, may _me_ confine In cruel bonds, and death contrive for _you_.

But be ye close; purchase your stores in haste; And when your vessel shall be freighted full, Quick send me notice, for I mean to bring 540 What gold soever opportune I find, And will my pa.s.sage cheerfully defray With still another moveable. I nurse The good man's son, an urchin shrewd, of age To scamper at my side; him will I bring, Whom at some foreign market ye shall prove Saleable at what price soe'er ye will.

So saying, she to my father's house return'd.

They, there abiding the whole year, their ship With purchased goods freighted of ev'ry kind, 550 And when, her lading now complete, she lay For sea prepared, their messenger arrived To summon down the woman to the sh.o.r.e.

A mariner of theirs, subtle and shrewd, Then, ent'ring at my father's gate, produced A splendid collar, gold with amber strung.

My mother (then at home) with all her maids Handling and gazing on it with delight, Proposed to purchase it, and he the nod Significant, gave un.o.bserv'd, the while, 560 To the Phnician woman, and return'd.

She, thus informed, leading me by the hand Went forth, and finding in the vestibule The cups and tables which my father's guests Had used, (but they were to the forum gone For converse with their friends a.s.sembled there) Convey'd three cups into her bosom-folds, And bore them off, whom I a thoughtless child Accompanied, at the decline of day, When dusky evening had embrown'd the sh.o.r.e. 570 We, stepping nimbly on, soon reach'd the port Renown'd, where that Phnician vessel lay.

They shipp'd us both, and all embarking cleav'd Their liquid road, by favourable gales, Jove's gift, impell'd. Six days we day and night Continual sailed, but when Saturnian Jove Now bade the sev'nth bright morn illume the skies, Then, shaft-arm'd Dian struck the woman dead.

At once she pitch'd headlong into the bilge Like a sea-coot, whence heaving her again, 580 The seamen gave her to be fishes' food, And I survived to mourn her. But the winds And rolling billows them bore to the coast Of Ithaca, where with his proper goods Laertes bought me. By such means it chanced That e'er I saw the isle in which I dwell.

To whom Ulysses, glorious Chief, replied.

Eumaeus! thou hast moved me much, thy woes Enumerating thus at large. But Jove Hath neighbour'd all thy evil with this good, 590 That after num'rous sorrows thou hast reach'd The house of a kind master, at whose hands Thy sustenance is sure, and here thou lead'st A tranquil life; but I have late arrived, City after city of the world explored.

Thus mutual they conferr'd, nor leisure found Save for short sleep, by morning soon surprized.

Meantime the comrades of Telemachus Approaching land, cast loose the sail, and lower'd Alert the mast, then oar'd the vessel in. 600 The anchors heav'd aground,[71] and hawsers tied Secure, themselves, forth-issuing on the sh.o.r.e, Breakfast prepared, and charged their cups with wine.

When neither hunger now, nor thirst remained Unsatisfied, Telemachus began.

Push ye the sable bark without delay Home to the city. I will to the field Among my shepherds, and, (my rural works Survey'd,) at eve will to the town return.

To-morrow will I set before you wine 610 And plenteous viands, wages of your toil.

To whom the G.o.dlike Theoclymenus.

Whither must I, my son? who, of the Chiefs Of rugged Ithaca, shall harbour me?

Shall I to thine and to thy mother's house?

Then thus Telemachus, discrete, replied.

I would invite thee to proceed at once To our abode, since nought should fail thee there Of kind reception, but it were a course Now not adviseable; for I must myself, 620 Be absent, neither would my mother's eyes Behold thee, so unfrequent she appears Before the suitors, shunning whom, she sits Weaving continual at the palace-top.

But I will name to thee another Chief Whom thou may'st seek, Eurymachus, the son Renown'd of prudent Polybus, whom all The people here reverence as a G.o.d.

Far n.o.blest of them all is he, and seeks More ardent than his rivals far, to wed 630 My mother, and to fill my father's throne.

But, He who dwells above, Jove only knows If some disastrous day be not ordain'd For them, or ere those nuptials shall arrive.

While thus he spake, at his right hand appear'd, Messenger of Apollo, on full wing, A falcon; in his pounces clench'd he bore A dove, which rending, down he pour'd her plumes Between the galley and Telemachus.

Then, calling him apart, the prophet lock'd 640 His hand in his, and thus explain'd the sign.

Not undirected by the G.o.ds his flight On our right hand, Telemachus! this hawk Hath wing'd propitious; soon as I perceived I knew him ominous--In all the isle No family of a more royal note Than yours is found, and yours shall still prevail.

Whom thus Telemachus answer'd discrete.

Grant heav'n, my guest! that this good word of thine Fail not, and soon thou shalt such bounty share 650 And friendship at my hands, that, at first sight, Whoe'er shall meet thee shall p.r.o.nounce thee blest.

Then, to Piraeus thus, his friend approved.

Piraeus, son of Clytius! (for of all My followers to the sh.o.r.e of Pylus, none More prompt than thou hath my desires perform'd) Now also to thy own abode conduct This stranger, whom with hospitable care Cherish and honour till myself arrive.

To whom Piraeus answer'd, spear-renown'd. 660 Telemachus! however long thy stay, Punctual I will attend him, and no want Of hospitality shall he find with me.

So saying, he climb'd the ship, then bade the crew Embarking also, cast the hawsers loose, And each, obedient, to his bench repair'd.

Meantime Telemachus his sandals bound, And lifted from the deck his glitt'ring spear.

Then, as Telemachus had bidden them, Son of divine Ulysses, casting loose 670 The hawsers, forth they push'd into the Deep And sought the city, while with nimble pace Proceeding thence, Telemachus attain'd The cottage soon where good Eumaeus slept, The swine-herd, faithful to his num'rous charge.

FOOTNOTES:

[65] Iphyclus the son of Phylacus had seized and detained cattle belonging to Neleus; Neleus ordered his nephew Melampus to recover them, and as security for his obedience seized on a considerable part of his possessions. Melampus attempted the service, failed, and was cast into prison; but at length escaping, accomplished his errand, vanquished Neleus in battle, and carried off his daughter Pero, whom Neleus had promised to the brother of Melampus, but had afterward refused her.

[66] His wife Eryphyle, bribed by Polynices, persuaded him, though aware that death awaited him at that city, to go to Thebes, where he fell accordingly.

[67] She is said to have hanged herself.

[68] Not improbably the isthmus of Syracuse, an island, perhaps, or peninsula at that period, or at least imagined to be such by Homer. The birth of Diana gave fame to Ortygia. F.

[69] ??? t??pa? ?e?????--The Translator has rendered the pa.s.sage according to that interpretation of it to which several of the best expositors incline. Nothing can be so absurd as to suppose that Homer, so correct in his geography, could mean to place a Mediterranean island under the Tropic.

[70] A princ.i.p.al city of Phnicia.

[71] The anchors were lodged on the sh.o.r.e, not plunged as ours.

BOOK XVI

ARGUMENT

Telemachus dispatches Eumaeus to the city to inform Penelope of his safe return from Pylus; during his absence, Ulysses makes himself known to his son. The suitors, having watched for Telemachus in vain, arrive again at Ithaca.

It was the hour of dawn, when in the cot Kindling fresh fire, Ulysses and his friend n.o.ble Eumaeus dress'd their morning fare, And sent the herdsmen with the swine abroad.

Seeing Telemachus, the watchful dogs Bark'd not, but fawn'd around him. At that sight, And at the sound of feet which now approach'd, Ulysses in wing'd accents thus remark'd.