Death and the Fates. This further let me say,

And thou remember it; if what he tells

Be true, I will bestow on him a change

Of fair attire, a tunic and a cloak."

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She spake, the swineherd went, and, drawing near Ulysses, said to him in winged words :

"Stranger and father, sage Penelope,

The mother of the prince, hath sent for thee.
Though sorrowing, she is minded to inquire
What of her husband thou canst haply say;
And should she find that all thy words are true,
She will bestow a tunic and a cloak,

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Garments which much thou needest. For thy food, What will appease thy hunger thou wilt find Among the people; ask, and each will give."

Ulysses, much-enduring man, replied:

“Eumæus, faithfully will I declare All that I know to sage Penelope,

The daughter of Icarius. Well I knew
Her husband, and with like calamities
We both have suffered. But I greatly dread

This reckless suitor-crew, whose riotous acts
And violence reach to the iron heavens.
Even now, when that man dealt me, as I passed,
A painful blow, though I had done no harm,
None interposed, not even Telemachus,
In my defence. Now, therefore, ask, I pray,
Penelope that she will deign to wait

Till sunset in her rooms, though strong her wish

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To hear my history.

Of her husband then,

And his return, she may inquire, while I
Sit by the blazing hearth; for scant have been
My garments, as thou knowest, since the day
When first I came, a suppliant, to thy door."

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He spake; the swineherd went, and as he crossed The threshold of Penelope she said :—

"Thou bringst him not, Eumæus? What may be The wanderer's scruple? Fear of some one here? 705 Or in a palace is he filled with awe?

To be a bashful beggar is most hard."

And thus, Eumæus, thou didst answer her:
"Rightly he speaks, and just as one would think
Who shuns the encounter of disorderly men.
He prays that thou wilt wait till set of sun;
And better were it for thyself, O queen,
To speak with him and hear his words alone."
Then spake discreet Penelope again:
"Whoe'er may be the stranger, not unwise
He seems; for nowhere among men are done
Such deeds of wrong and outrage as by these."
She spake, and the good swineherd, having told
The lady all, went forth among the crowd
Of suitors, drawing near Telemachus,

And bowed his head beside him that none else
Might hear, and said to him in winged words:

"I go, my friend, to tend the swine and guard What there thou hast, thy sustenance and mine. The charge of what is here belongs to thee.

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Be thy first care to save thyself, and watch
To see that mischief overtake thee not,
For many are the Achaians plotting it,
Whom Jove destroy ere we become their prey!"
Then spake discreet Telemachus in turn:
"So be it, father, and, when thou hast supped,
Depart, but with the morning come, and bring
Choice victims for the sacrifice. The care

Of all things here is with the gods and me."

730

He spake; the swineherd sat him down again 735

Upon his polished seat, and satisfied

His appetite and thirst with food and wine.

Then he departed to his herd, and left

The palace and the court before it thronged
With revellers, who gave the hour to song,

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And joined the dance; for evening now was come.

BOOK XVIII.

HERE came a common beggar, wont to ask

THE

Alms through the town of Ithaca, well known

For greediness of stomach, gluttonous

And a wine-bibber, but of little strength

And courage, though he seemed of powerful mould.
Arnæus was the name which at his birth
His mother gave him, but the young men called
The fellow Irus, for it was his wont

To go on errands, as a messenger,

When he was ordered. Coming now, he thought To drive Ulysses out of his own house,

ΙΟ

And railed at him, and said in winged words: "Hence with thee! leave the porch, old man, at

once,

Lest thou be taken by the foot and dragged

Away from it. Dost thou not see how all
Around us nod, to bid me drag thee out?
I am ashamed to do it. Rise and go,
Else haply we may have a strife of blows."

Ulysses, the sagacious, frowned and said:
"Wretch! there is nothing that I do or say
To harm thee aught. I do not envy thee
What others give thee, though the dole be large;
And ample is this threshold for us both.

Nor shouldst thou envy others, for thou seemst

A straggler like myself.
Wealth where they list.

The gods bestow
But do not challenge me
To blows, lest, aged as I am, thou rouse
My anger, and I make thy breast and lips
Hideous with blood. To-morrow then will be

A quiet day for me, since thou, I trust,
In all the time to come, wilt never more
Enter the palace of Laertes' son."

The beggar Irus angrily rejoined:
"Ye gods! this glutton prattles volubly,
Like an old woman at the chimney-side.
Yet could I do him mischief, smiting him

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On both his sides, and dashing from his cheeks
The teeth to earth, as men are wont to deal
With swine that eat the wheat.

Now gird thyself,

How canst thou 40

Let these men see us fighting.
Think to contend with one so young as I?"
Thus fiercely did they wrangle as they stood
Beside the polished threshold and before
The lofty gates. The stout Antinous heard,
And, laughing heartily, bespake the rest :-
"Here, friends, is what we never yet have had.
Behold the pleasant pastime which the gods
Provide for us.

These men

the stranger here,

And Irus - quarrel, and will come to blows.

Let us stand by and bring the combat on."

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He spake. All rose with laughter and came round The ragged beggars, while Eupeithes' son, Antinous, in these words harangued the rest :

"Ye noble suitors, hear me. At the fire
Already lie the paunches of two goats,
Preparing for our evening meal, and both
Are filled with fat and blood. Whoever shows
Himself the better man in this affray,

And conquers, he shall take the one of these
He chooses, and shall ever afterward

Feast at our table, and no man but he

Shall ever come among us asking alms."

He ended. All approved his words, and thus Ulysses, craftily dissembling, said :

"O friends, it is not well that one so old

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