ODYSSEY BOOK XIV
NOW by a footpath rough he ascended that led from the harbour
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Winding aloft to the heights through woodland slopes; for Athene
Here had enjoined him to seek for the good old swineherd, who tended
Godlike Odysseus' estate far more than the rest of his servants.
Under the porch of a hut he discovered him sitting. His farmyard,
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Loftily builded, was here in a site with a beautiful prospect.
Goodly and great was the yard, and a run was around it. The swineherd
Built it himself for the swine in the years when his master was absent,
Saying thereof no word to his lady and agéd Laertes.
Stones he had dragged from afar for the kraal and with thorns he had fenced it.
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Round it he ran a stockaded enclosure on this and on that side—
Stakes right sturdy and close, that he cleft from the core of the oak-tree.
Then in the midst of the yard he erected a dozen of pig-sties,
One by the side of the other, as beds for the swine; and in each one
Penned was a herd of the wallowing beasts, full fifty together,
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Females for breeding—the males had an outer enclosure to sleep in;
Also the number was smaller by far, for the arrogant suitors
Ate and diminished them ever, commanding the swineherd to send them
Alway the beast that of all of the fat-fed hogs was the finest.
Thus was the number of males of the swine three hundred and sixty.
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Savage as ravening beasts, were always watching beside them
Four fierce dogs that the swineherd had trained with the hand of a master.
Now was the man to his feet adjusting a couple of sandals,
Cutting them out of the hide of an ox bright-coloured. His fellows
Each with a drove of the swine were hither and thither departed,
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Three of them—while that another, the fourth, he had sent to the city
Driving a boar;—since so had the insolent suitors commanded,
Wishing to slaughter the beast and to feast to their souls' satisfaction.
Now of a sudden the dogs, incessantly watching and barking,
Saw him and rushed at him, raising a yelp—but the wily Odysseus
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Warily crouched on the ground, down-dropping the staff that he carried.
Then at the farm of the which he was lord foul hurt had he suffered,
Had not the swineherd, on feet right active hurrying after,
Run to the courtyard gate, down-dropping the hide that he carried,
Shouted abuse on the dogs and chased them to this and to that side
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Showering stones; then turning he spake to Odysseus, his master :
"Ay, in a moment more, old man, they had torn thee to pieces,
Right on the spot—and a great disgrace were fallen upon me !
Troubles enough already the gods have sent me, and sorrows.
Mourning for ever and wailing the loss of a godlike master
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Here do I sit, and I batten his swine—yet only in order
Others may eat while craving for food he is wandering somewhere,
Begging his bread in a distant land or a city of strangers,
Haps it indeed that he still is alive and beholdeth the sunlight.
Follow me now, old man! Let us enter the cottage, that thou too,
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After partaking of bread and of wine to thy heart's satisfaction,
Mayest relate both whence thou art come and the woes thou hast suffered."
These words said, to the cottage returning the good old swineherd
Led him within, and he strewed for a couch soft branches of brushwood,
Spreading above them the fell of a long-haired goat of the mountains,
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Shaggy and large, that he used for a bed; and Odysseus was joyful
So to be welcomed, and spake to the swineherd, and thus he addressed him :
"Zeus vouchsafe, O stranger, and other immortals, to grant thee
All that is dear to thy soul in return for thy kindly reception."
Him then in answer addressed these words Eumaeus the swineherd:
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"Stranger, it were not right, if a guest still poorer than thou beest
Came to my door, to disdain him. 'Tis Zeus our Father that sendeth
Beggars and guests; though small be my gift it is willingly given.
So it is ever with those who, as we, are servants of others,
Always living in dread when as masters rule in the household
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Nothing but youths. But the one whom the gods have stayed from returning,
He was a master had loved me indeed and allowed me possessions,
Even a house and a glebe and a consort comely in person,
Such as a lord kind-hearted is wont to bestow on a servant,
One that has toiled for him much, whose labour the heaven hath prospered,
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E'en as it prospers this labour of mine that I alway attend to.
Many had been my rewards had he reached old age in his homestead.
Ah but he perished.. as would that the kindred of Helen had perished
Utterly—since she hath loosened the knees of so many a fighter.
He too went, for the sake of avenging the king Agamemnon,
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Unto the horse-rich Ilian city to fight with the Trojans."
Thus did he speak, and in haste with his belt upgirding his tunic
Went to the yard, where litters of swine were penned in the pig-sties.
Here two sucklings he chose, and he carried them forth and despatched them,
Singed them and cut them in pieces and spitted the flesh on the skewers.
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Then, so soon he had roasted it well, to Odysseus he brought it
PATTEN WILSON.
IN THE COTTAGE OF THE SWINEHERD
Hot on the skewers, with barley-meal all whitely besprinkled.
Wine then sweet as the honey he mixed in a mazer of ivy,
Sat him adown in the front of his guest and addressed him, and urged him :
"Eat now, stranger—'Tis fare that a thrall is permitted to offer—
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Suckling. The fat-fed hogs are eaten alone by the suitors,
Men that regard not the wrath of the gods nor the call of compassion.
Yea and the blesséd immortals approve not iniquitous actions;
Honour they pay to the justice of men and to all that is righteous.
Even unprincipled men who as ravagers land in a country,
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Home of a foreign folk—should Zeus vouchsafe them a booty
So that they fill their vessels and sail straight back to the homeland—
Even on these there falls great dread of the anger of heaven,
While these others it's something they know—some whisper of Rumour
Touching his mournful fate that hath rendered them alway unwilling
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Fairly to woo or return to their homes. In disdainful composure
Recklessly all the estate they despoil, and the waste is unending.
Every morning and night which Zeus our Father vouchsafes us
Slaughter of victims is made—not of one, nor of two, but of many;
Yea and the store of the wine they diminish by recklessly drawing.
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Truly his wealth was unspeakably great. Such riches had no one,
None of the princes that dwell on the dark expanse of the mainland,
Nor on the Ithacan isle. The possessions of twenty together
Equalled it never. But come, I will reckon and fully recount it:
Cattle—a dozen of droves, and a dozen of flocks, on the mainland;
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Pigs—twelve droves; and as many the wandering goats that he owneth.
These by his own and by alien herds are driven to pasture.
Here too pasture his goats and the number of flocks is eleven—
Ranging the uttermost ends of the island with goatherds to guard them.
Daily doth each of the men bring one of his flock to the suitors,
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Choosing the beast that of all of the fat-fed goats is the finest—
Ay and myself, whose task is to guard and attend to the pigs here,
Ever I carefully choose them the hog that is fattest and send it.”
Thus did he speak; but Odysseus partook of the flesh and the wine-bowl
Eagerly, sitting in silence and plotting the doom of the suitors.
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Then, when at last he had dined and his heart was contented with eating,
Filling a vessel—the cup that he used for his drinking—the swineherd
Offered it brimming with wine; and he took it, and gladdened in spirit
Opened his lips in response, and with swift-winged words he addressed him:
"Who was it now, good friend, whose riches bought thee as servant?
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Who was the master so wealthy and mighty, of whom thou relatest—
He that hath perished, thou say'st, in avenging the king Agamemnon?
Tell me his name! for perhaps I have seen such man as thou sayest.
Known is it only to Zeus and the other immortals in heaven
Whether I met him and tidings can give for afar I have wandered."
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Forthwith answering spake Eumaeus master of swineherds :
"Oft doth it hap, old man, that a wanderer comes who reporteth
Tidings—but never persuadeth my lady or dear young master.
Many a vagrant is wont, when he hopes for a kindly reception,
Lies to invent, and he cares not at all for the truth of his story.
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Every wandering wight that arrives at the Ithacan island
Findeth his way to the queen and brings some tissue of falsehoods;
All she receiveth with kindness and plieth them closely with questions,
Grieving at every word, while tears fall fast from her eyelids,
E'en as a woman is wont when afar hath perished her husband.
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Thou too, gaffer, methinks wouldst forge some fabulous fiction
Quickly enough, were one to present thee a mantle and tunic.
Ah but I doubt that the dogs and the swift-winged fowls will be tearing
Long since all of the skin from his bones, and the spirit hath left them;
Else in the deep he was eaten of fishes, and now on the sea-shore
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Lieth his skeleton bleaching and swathed in the coils of a sand-drift.
Yea he is perished afar, and hath left us in sorrow who loved him,
All of us—mostly howbeit myself, since never another
Master as kind shall I meet, how far soever I wander,
Not if again to the house I returned of my father and mother,
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Even the home in the which I was born and was reared by my parents.
Nor is it longer for them that I mourn—though often I sorrowed,
Yearning to see them again and to find me again in my homeland—
No—but a longing doth hold me for him that is gone for Odysseus.
Merely to mention his name, O stranger, as one that is absent,
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Paineth my heart—for he loved me indeed and he cared for me truly—
Rather, although he is far, I will call him my lord and my brother.”
Him then in answer addressed long-suffering godlike Odysseus :
"Friend, as thou wholly deniest my words and declarest thy master
Never again will return, and incredulous still is thy spirit,
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So I will state it not only in words; with an oath I assure thee
Home is returning Odysseus. A gift for the news thou shalt give me
First on the day when he hither arriveth and reacheth his homestead;
Then shalt thou clothe me in beautiful raiment—in mantle and tunic;
Ere he arrives will I nothing accept, though sorely I need it.
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Hateful to me as the portal of death and of Hades a fellow
Maketh himself who induced by his poverty uttereth falsehoods.
First then witness it Zeus, and this table whereat I am welcomed,
Yea and the hearth to the which I am come of the noble Odysseus,
Verily all these things that I tell thee shall find a fulfilment :
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While this year on its path still circles return shall Odysseus,
Even as this moon dies and the new-born moon is appearing,
Yea he shall come to his home and shall smite with a terrible vengeance
Those who dishonour his wife and insult his illustrious offspring."
Him then in answer addressed these words Eumaeus the swineherd:
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"Never, I fear, old man, shall I give thee a gift for thy tidings;
Never again to his home will Odysseus return—But, I pray thee,
Drink and be still, or of something besides let us think! and recall not
This to my mind; for it maketh the heart in the bosom within me
Grievously suffer whenever my dear true master is mentioned.
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Touching thy oath—we will leave it to heav'n; and I pray that Odysseus
Yet may return; 'tis the hope of myself and of Penelopeia,
Yea and of agéd Laertes and Telemachus the heroic.
Ah but for him I am terribly troubled this son of Odysseus,
Telemachus. By the grace of the gods as a sapling he flourished,
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Till I had almost believed that as man he was destined to equal
Even his own dear father—so goodly his form and his favour.
Then, of a sudden his reason was thrown from its balance (I know not
Whether by man or immortal) and, tidings to seek of his father,
Now he is journeyed to Pylos the fair, and the arrogant suitors
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Lurking in ambush await his return, that from Ithaca's island
All of the race of the hero Arceisius wholly shall perish.
Well, we will leave it to heaven to let him be taken or let him
Safely escape should Zeus hold o'er him a hand to protect him.
Come now, speak of thyself, old man, and recount me thy troubles.
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One thing firstly relate me exactly, for fain will I know it :
Who art thou? Whence art thou come? Tell too of thy city and parents.
Whose was the vessel whereon thou hast come? How haps it that sailors
Brought thee to Ithacan land? What folk do they boast to belong to?
Seeing, methinks, it was never on foot that thou hither arrivedst."
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Him then in answer addressed long-suffering godlike Odysseus :
"Well now, all of the truth will I tell thee and clearly explain it.
Would that we two had abundance of sweet strong wine and of viands
Such as to last so long as we willed to remain in thy cottage
Quietly feasting and letting the others betake them to labour.
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Easily even the whole of a year were filled by my story
Ere I had finished the tale of the sorrows my spirit hath suffered,
All of the travail I wrought by the will of the blesséd immortals.
First I avow that I come from the widespread island of Creta,
Child of a man not lacking in wealth—nor in sons was he lacking.
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Many another was born and was bred in the halls of his palace,
Lawfully born of a wife that was wed; but a slave was my mother,
Bought as a leman—yet like to a rightful son he esteemed me,
Castor Hylacides, whose blood I can boast to belong to.
He by the people of Creta was honoured like an immortal
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Both for his glorious sons and his goodly estate and his riches.
Now did the dread Death-Fates to him come, and departing they bare him
Down to the mansion of Hades. At once the estate they divided,
These high-spirited youths, and by casting of lots they assigned it.
Me they apportioned a share right scanty, but gave me a dwelling,
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Whither I took me a wife, whose kindred had many possessions,
Men who respected my valour—for then I was neither a weakling
Nor in the battle a coward but now it is gone! it is over!
Yet e'en so, from the stubble methinks thou'lt make a conjecture
What was the grain—for indeed past telling is all that I suffered.
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Courage was ever vouchsafed me by Ares and Pallas Athene,
Courage that bursteth the ranks of the battle. Whene'er for an ambush
All of the bravest I chose, designing a raid on the foemen,
Ne'er in my valiant heart was a boding of death or of danger;
Far to the front of the others I sprang with my spear, and I slaughtered
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Every foe that by swiftness of foot was unable to flee me.
Such was I ever in war; but I loved not the labour of tillage,
Neither the care of a home nor to rear me a glorious offspring.
Ships were ever the joy of my heart, and the oarage of vessels,
War and the weapons of war, bright-polished lances and arrows,
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Things right painful to view and arousing abhorrence in others.
Well—I delighted in things God gave to my heart to delight in.
This occupation is pleasing to one and that to another.
Ere on the Trojan shores were landed the sons of Achaea
Nine times led I a body of fighters in fleet-winged vessels
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Unto a distant land, and immense was the spoil that we captured.
Ever I chose what delighted my heart of the booty, and later
Much I acquired by lot; and my house grew rapidly richer,
Till ere long I became respected and feared by the Cretans.
Now when the war was ordained by the Father who speaketh in thunder
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(Hateful emprise, that hath loosened the knees of so many a fighter!)
Me did the people command, with Idomeneus the heroic,
Unto the Ilian city to lead with the vessels; nor any
Means to refuse we possessed, for the voice of the people was urgent.
Nine years long did we battle around it, we sons of Achaea,
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Till in the tenth, when at last we had plundered the city of Priam,
Homeward we sailed—and a god broke widely apart the Achaeans.
Then was my ruin devised, ah me, by the all-wise Father.
Only a month in my home I remained, and I joyed in my children,
Joyed in the wife of my youth and my riches; but shortly thereafter
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Unto the river of Egypt my spirit impelled me to voyage
Taking on ships well-fitted a band of heroic companions.
Nine I equipped, and the men right speedily gathered together.
Then for the next six days made merry my faithful companions,
Constantly feasting on many a victim, wherewith I supplied them
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Both for oblation and also to furnish themselves with a banquet,
Till, on the seventh, embarking, the widespread island of Creta
Soon we had left, and impelled by a fair fresh breeze of the North Wind
Easily sped, as it were down-current, not one of the vessels
Suffering any mishap; and in safety we sat and in comfort
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Watching them held to their course by the favouring wind and the steersman.
Five days later we came to the fair broad stream of Aegyptus.
Here, in the river of Egypt, I stationed my twy-beaked galleys.
Then did I issue an order to all of my trusty companions
Quietly there to remain at the side of the vessels and guard them
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While that I sent forth scouts to explore from the neighbouring outlooks.
Yielding however to wanton desires and arrogant boldness
Soon they invaded the beautiful fields of the people of Egypt,
Wasting the country and taking away both women and children,
Slaughtering also the men; and the cry reached quickly the city.
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These then, hearing the shout, as the new-born day was appearing
Came, and the whole of the plain seemed full of the footmen and horses,
Full of the flashing of bronze; and the god who delighteth in thunder
Cast on my comrades a panic so fearful that none had the courage
Firmly to stand and to face them for danger was pressing on all sides.
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Now of my friends with the edge of the sword full many they slaughtered,
Many they captured and led them away to the labours of bondsmen,
While for myself—it was Zeus that again suggested the counsel—
(Would I had died with the rest and encountered my destiny there too,
Even in Egypt—for nothing but woe hath awaited me alway !)
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Straight from my head I unfastened my well-wrought helmet and dropt it,
Also the shield from my shoulders I dropt, and the spear that I carried.
Then in the way of the king and his chariot-horses I threw me,
Grasped at his knees and embraced them and kissed them. He pitied and saved me,
Made me to mount on his car and brought me in tears to his palace.
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Truly with ashen spears came many attacking me fiercely,
Longing to stab me to death, since sorely enraged was the people;
Yet did he ward them aside, for he dreaded the anger of heaven,
Even of Zeus, who is god of the guest and avenges transgression.
Years full seven I lived in the land, and amidst the Egyptians
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Many possessions I gathered, for all of them gave to me freely.
Now did it happen at last, as the eighth year made a beginning,
Came a Phoenician man who was versed in deceitful devices,
Fraudulent huckster—a knave who had wrought much mischief already.
Me with his wiles he cajoled, and I followed him back to his homeland,
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E'en the Phoenician land, where lay his estate and his houses.
Here I remained with the man till a year had completed its circuit;
Then, when the circle of days and of seasons was fully accomplished,
While that the year was returning and springtide followed the winter,
On to an ocean trader for Libya bound he embarked me,
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Forging the falsehood he needed my aid in conveying the cargo,
While he intended to sell me and win him a profit enormous.
Him by compulsion I followed aboard, though full of foreboding.
Soon she was running before fresh breezes and fair of the North Wind
Midst of the sea, past Creta—but Zeus their doom was devising;
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Yea, for as soon as the island was dropping behind us, nor any
Other land was in sight, but the heaven alone and the ocean,
Then was a black-blue cloud commanded to halt by Cronion
Over the hollow ship, and beneath it the deep sea darkened.
Zeus at that instant thundered and lightning hurled at the vessel.
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Struck by the bolt of the Father she shook all over and staggered,
Filled with a sulphurous flame. From the ship fell all of my shipmates;
Then on the waves like gulls at the side of the black-hulled vessel
Floated and tossed; and the god thus ended their hope of the homeland,
While for myself it was Zeus that again in my desperate peril
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Brought to the grip of my hands such means to escape from destruction,
Even the monstrous wreck of the mast of the blue-prowed vessel,
Clinging to which I was drifted along by the ruinous storm-winds.
Nine days long was I borne; on the tenth in the blackness of midnight
Nigh to Thesprotian land I was brought by the roll of the ocean.
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Here did a prince heroic, the king of Thesprotia, Pheidon,
Freely receive me as guest; for the well-loved son of the monarch
Found me, as faint from the cold sea air and outworn I was lying,
Gave me a hand and supported my steps till we came to the palace;
Ay and he clothed me about with a garment—with mantle and tunic.
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There did I hear of Odysseus : the monarch himself (he assured me)
Here had received and entreated him well on his way to his homeland.
Also he showed me the wealth that Odysseus had gotten together,
Treasures of bronze and of gold and of well-wrought iron that lay there—
Treasures sufficient to feed one's heirs to the tenth generation—
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Such was the wealth that Odysseus had stored in the halls of the monarch.
Now he had gone, I was told, to Dodona, to list to the counsel
Zeus from the thick-leaved height of his oak might utter, to guide him
So as to win once more to the fruit-rich Ithacan island,
Whence so long he is missed, whether open his coming or secret.
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Yea he assured me on oath, as he poured in his hall a libation,
Dragged to the sea was the ship and the band of the rowers was ready,
Waiting to carry him home to the well-loved land of his fathers.
Me ere this he despatched—for it chanced that a vessel was sailing,
Manned with Thesprotian folk, to the island of bountiful harvests
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Dulichium, and he bade them convey me to chieftain Acastus,
Carefully. Ah but a plot right cowardly won their approval
Touching myself that I yet might sink to the depths of disaster.
Far from the land was already the ship as she voyaged the waters :
Then they began to devise to enslave me and sell me as bondsman.
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Firstly they stript from my body my garment—the mantle and tunic;
Round me, in stead of my raiment, they cast vile rags and a doublet
Tattered and torn—in the which thou beholdest me sitting before thee.
Now in the even, arriving at far-seen Ithaca's corn-lands,
Me in the well-decked vessel they left, where straitly they bound me,
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Using a twisted rope, but themselves, from the ship disembarking,
Hastily made them a meal by the surf-beat strand of the ocean.
Then did the gods themselves unloosen the knots of the cordage,
Easily bending it back; and, my head in the wrapper enveloped,
Down by the polished rudder descending, I laid on the water
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Softly my breast, and with both of my hands kept rowing and shore-ward
Swam—and I quickly was out of the water and far from pursuers.
Then I ascended the shore to a thick-leaved copse of the woodland;
Cowering here in the bushes I lay ; and with much lamentation
Hither and thither they wandered and sought me—till, deeming it useless
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Further afield to explore, they departed again, and returning
Mounted the hollow ship; and the gods everlasting concealed me
Easily; ay and they guided me well, till I came to thy farmstead,
Home of a good wise man—where life once more is vouchsafed me."
Him then in answer addressed these words Eumaeus the swineherd:
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"Ah, poor friend, right deeply thou touchest the heart in my bosom
Telling of all thou hast seen and all thou hast suffered in far lands.
Still not aright do I think thou hast spoken—nor canst thou convince me—
Touching Odysseus And yet what avails it for any as thou beest
Profitless lies to invent?—Ah well, one thing I am sure of
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Touching my master's return: he was hated of all the immortals
Utterly, since they permitted him neither to perish in Troyland
Nor in the arms of his friends, when wound to an end was the warfare,
Else had the whole of Achaea erected a tomb to his honour,
Yea and for Telemachus he had left great glory behind him.
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Ah but the Spirits of storm to a death inglorious swept him.
Well—for myself all lonely I live with my swine, and the city
Never I visit, except when the wise-souled Penelopeia
Summons me thither, if haply a rumour arriveth from somewhere.
Then will they all sit round such comer and question him closely,
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All who for aye are mourning the master that never returneth,
Ay and the ones that delight them unpunished in eating his substance,
All but myself—for I care not at all to examine and question
Since an Aetolian once with a fabulous story befooled me,
One who had slain some man and had wandered in many a country
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Ere he arrived at my farm ; and a loving reception I gave him.
This was his story: in Creta with Idomeneus he had seen him;
Here he was mending his chips, that the storms of the ocean had shattered,
Yea and he surely was bound to arrive by the summer or autumn
Bringing abundance of treasure and all his heroic companions.
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Thus, old man, though many thy woes—since now to my homestead
Heaven hath brought thee—attempt not with fables to please or console me.
Never for reason of this will I give thee respect and affection,
Nay but for fear of the god of the stranger—and also for pity."
Him then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:
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"Verily dwells in thy bosom a right incredulous spirit,
Since not e'en with an oath am I able to move and convince thee.
Well, let us make an agreement, and bind us to keep it hereafter,
Both of us calling to witness the gods who inhabit Olympus:
Should he return, this master of thine, and arrive at thy farmstead
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Then shalt thou clothe me in garments—in mantle and tunic and send me
Safely to Dulichium, to the which I was longing to journey.
Should he however, thy master, arrive not just as I told thee,
Order thy drudges to seize me and over a precipice hurl me,
So that another that cometh to beg shall beware of deceiving."
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Him then addressing in turn gave answer the good old swineherd:
"Yea and forsooth, O stranger, my good reputation and prowess
Thus were bruited abroad midst mortals, now and hereafter,
Were I to bring thee as guest to my cottage and kindly entreat thee,
Then to a murderer turn and of life's dear treasure bereave thee!
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Light were ever my heart when I prayed to the Father Cronion!
Now it is time for the supper, and soon, as I hope, will my fellows
Enter, and then we can make us a right good meal in the cottage."
Thus these twain, as they sat, held converse one with the other.
Meanwhile near to the farm were coming the swine and the swineherds.
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Then, as the droves of the sows were penned in the places for sleeping
Indescribable grunting and squealing arose in the farmyard.
Forthwith loudly he called to his fellows, the good old swineherd :
"Bring ye the best of the hogs! I will slaughter the beast for a stranger
Come from afar; and ourselves will enjoy it as well, for the labour,
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Toiling and moiling in charge of the white-tusked pigs, is unending—
Ay and we toil while others consume our labours unpunished."
These words uttered he clave him the wood with the pitiless hatchet,
While that a five-year hog, well-fatted, was brought by the fellows.
Close by the side of the hearth it was placed; nor now did the swineherd
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Fail to remember the gods, since good was the heart in his bosom.
First in the flame as an earnest he cast an oblation of bristles
Cut from the head of the hog, and to every deity offered
Vows that Odysseus the wise might come once more to his homeland,
Then uplifting a billet of oak that was left from his cleaving
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Smote—and the hog fell dead; and they opened its gullet, and singed it,
Speedily jointed it too; and from every member the swineherd
Cut for oblation a slice and in unctuous fat he enwrapped it.
This when he cast in the fire, with fine brown barley besprinkled,
Chopping the rest of it small on the skewers they spitted the pieces,
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Carefully roasted the whole, and withdrawing it all from the skewers
Laid it together in heaps on the trenchers; and then did the swineherd
Rise to dispense it, for well was he practised in dealing it fairly.
Seven the messes he made in apportioning all and dividing;
One for the nymphs and for Maia's son, Hermeias the herald,
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Setting aside with a prayer, and the rest to the others allotting,
Unto Odysseus he gave as an honour the long, undivided
Chine of the white-tusked hog, and delighted the heart of his master,
So that with swift-winged words addressed him the wileful Odysseus:
"Would, Eumaeus, that Zeus our Father may love thee as I do,
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Seeing that, poor as I be, thou dost honour and treat me with goodness."
Him then in answer addressed these words Eumaeus the swineherd:
"Eat, unfortunate friend! come eat and enjoy what is present,
Such as we have! For the rest, it is God that shall give or withhold it
Howsoever he willeth—to God are possible all things."
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These words spoken, the earnest he burnt to the gods everlasting,
Poured a libation, and unto Odysseus the sacker of cities
Handed the glowing wine; and he sat him adown to his portion.
Bread was dispensed to them all by Mesaulius. Him had the swineherd
Bought at his sole expense in the years when his master was absent,
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Saying thereof no word to his mistress and agéd Laertes,
Purchased by means of his own possessions from Taphian people.
Now did they stretch forth hands to the food that was lying before them,
Till, when at last they had lost all pleasure in meat and the wine-cup,
Then was the rest of the bread by Mesaulius cleared, and they straightway,
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Sated with bread and with flesh, felt moved by a longing for slumber.
Now came night unlit by the moon and tempestuous; Zeus rained
Ceaseless, and strongly was blowing the West, that is ever the rain-wind.
Then did Odysseus, addressing them all, make proof of the swineherd,
Whether his cloak he was willing to doff and to lend, or to order
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One of his fellows to strip—so great was his care for the stranger.
"List to my words, Eumaeus, and all of you others, his fellows!
After a prayer I will tell you a tale. 'Tis the wine that incites me—
Maddening stuff, that induceth the sagest to break into singing,
Ay and to laugh right sweetly, and even to dance will arouse him;
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Yea more—maketh him speak what oft were better unspoken.
Still—as the silence is broken already—my tale shall be ended.
Would that I still were young, in the prime of my strength, as aforetime,
E'en at the time when beneath Troy's ramparts we posted an ambush.
Leader thereof was Odysseus and prince Menelaus Atrides;
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Also myself was a third in command, since thus they had wished it.
Now when at last we had come to the city's precipitous ramparts,
There all round of the citadel walls in the covert of thickets,
Crouching beneath our shields in the middle of reeds and of marshes,
Lay we in ambush. Foul was the night; though fallen the North Wind,
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Keenly it froze, and the snow kept falling and glinted as hoar-frost
Bitterly cold, while icicles formed on the rims of the bucklers.
Well now, each of the rest of the men in his mantle and doublet
Quietly slept, with his shield as a covering over his shoulders,
While for myself I had left, when I started, my cloak with a comrade
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Carelessly, never suspecting the cold might make me to suffer;
So with my buckler alone and shining jerkin I followed.
Now at the tierce of the night, when the stars were passed to their setting,
Thus did I speak, addressing Odysseus, who happ'd to be near me,
Nudging his side with my arm ; and he instantly listened attentive :
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'Zeus-born son of Laertes, thou wise and wileful Odysseus,
Verily soon I shall cease from the living. By cold I am conquered,
Frozen to death; for a cloak I possess not; a deity fooled me
Making me come with a jerkin alone; too late I repent it.'
Thus did i speak, and at once in his mind this plan he invented, —
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Such was the hero not only in fighting but also at counsel;
Dropping the tones of his voice to a whisper he turned to me saying:
'Keep thee quiet—that none of the other Achaeans shall hear thee!'
Then on his elbow upraising himself he addressed his companions:
'Listen, my friends! As I slumbered a deity sent me a vision.
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Lo, right far from the ships we are come. 'Twere better if some one
Carried a message to King Agamemnon, the prince of the people,
Begging him urge more men from the vessels to come and support us.'
Thus did he speak, and at once bold Thoas, the son of Andraemon,
Hastily rising and doffing his cloak of Phoenician purple
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Started to run to the ships of the Greeks—while wrapped in his raiment
Softly I lay, till the Morning appeared, enthroned in her glory.
Would that I now were young, in the prime of my strength, as aforetime!
Then might one of the herds at a pig-farm give me a mantle
Both as a kindness and eke for respect of a brave old soldier—
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Now they despise me, beholding me vested in wretched apparel."
Him then in answer addressed these words Eumaeus the swineherd:
"Gaffer, in praise of my lord thou hast told us a capital story;
Neither as yet hast thou uttered a profitless word or a foolish,
So thou shalt lack not a garment; and nothing besides will I grudge thee,
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Nought that 'tis right to bestow on unfortunate beggars that meet one,
Just for to-night—In the morn thou'lt wrap thee again in thy tatters,
Seeing that here no mantles in plenty nor changes of tunics
Have we to deck us withal; each man one garment possesses.
Shouldst thou await the return of the well-loved son of Odysseus,
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He will be ready to clothe thee in raiment, in mantle and tunic,
Ay and will send thee wherever thy heart and thy spirit shall call thee."
These words spoken he rose to his feet and adjusted a bedstead
Nigh to the hearth, and upon it he cast soft fleeces and goatskins.
Here did Odysseus recline; and he covered him o'er with a mantle
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Heavy and large, that was ever at hand as a change of apparel
Ready for donning whenever arose some terrible tempest.
Thus in the cottage was sleeping Odysseus, and lying around him
Slumbered the boys of the farm; but the master of swineherds it pleased not
There to remain in a bed and afar from the swine to be sleeping.
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So he accoutred himself, and he went; and Odysseus exulted
Seeing the man thus care for the wealth of his lord in his absence.
After his sharp-edged sword he had slung to his stalwart shoulders,
Over his body a mantle he cast right heavy and wind-proof;
Then, upsnatching the fell of a fine fat goat for his mattress,
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Also a lance sharp-pointed, from dogs and from men to protect him,
Forth to the white-tusked boars he betook him, to slumber beside them
Under a hollow rock in a place well screened from the North Wind.
Minoan—probably Neopalatial—fresco commonly known as the “Lily Prince.” Whatever the exact type of this personage (perhaps a crowned acrobat, according to the interpretation of Maria Shaw), the Lily Prince is certainly a Minoan of elite standing. Public domain image based on a famous watercolor by Émile Gilliéron of a reconstruction by Arthur Evans.
Image via Wikimedia Commons.