aught suspect the doom Which now approaches them, and in one day Shall overwhelm them all. No long suspense Shall hold thy purposed enterprise in doubt, Such help from me, of old thy father’s friend, Thou shalt receive, who with a bark well-oar’d Will serve thee, and myself attend thee forth. But haste, join thou the suitors, and provide, In sep’rate vessels stow’d, all needful stores, 380 Wine in thy jars, and flour, the strength of man, In skins close-seam’d. I will, meantime, select Such as shall voluntary share thy toils. In sea-girt Ithaca new ships and old Abound, and I will chuse, myself, for thee The prime of all, which without more delay We will launch out into the spacious Deep. Thus Pallas spake, daughter of Jove; nor long, So greeted by the voice divine, remain’d Telemachus, but to his palace went 390 Distress’d in heart. He found the suitors there Goats slaying in the hall, and fatted swine Roasting; when with a laugh Antinoüs flew To meet him, fasten’d on his hand, and said, Telemachus, in eloquence sublime, And of a spirit not to be controul’d! Give harbour in thy breast on no account To after-grudge or enmity, but eat, Far rather, cheerfully as heretofore, And freely drink, committing all thy cares 400 To the Achaians, who shall furnish forth A gallant ship and chosen crew for thee, That thou may’st hence to Pylus with all speed, Tidings to learn of thy illustrious Sire. To whom Telemachus, discrete, replied. Antinoüs! I have no heart to feast With guests so insolent, nor can indulge The pleasures of a mind at ease, with you. Is’t not enough, suitors, that ye have used My noble patrimony as your own 410 While I was yet a child? now, grown mature, And competent to understand the speech Of my instructors, feeling, too, a mind Within me conscious of augmented pow’rs, I will attempt your ruin, be assured, Whether at Pylus, or continuing here. I go, indeed, (nor shall my voyage prove Of which I speak, bootless or vain) I go An humble passenger, who neither bark Nor rowers have to boast my own, denied 420 That honour (so ye judg’d it best) by you. He said, and from Antinoüs’ hand his own Drew sudden. Then their delicate repast The busy suitors on all sides prepar’d, Still taunting as they toil’d, and with sharp speech Sarcastic wantoning, of whom a youth, Arrogant as his fellows, thus began. I see it plain, Telemachus intends Our slaughter; either he will aids procure From sandy Pylus, or will bring them arm’d 430 From Sparta; such is his tremendous drift. Even to fruitful Ephyre, perchance, He will proceed, seeking some baneful herb Which cast into our cup, shall drug us all. To whom some haughty suitor thus replied. Who knows but that himself, wand’ring the sea From all his friends and kindred far remote, May perish like Ulysses? Whence to us Should double toil ensue, on whom the charge To parcel out his wealth would then devolve, 440 And to endow his mother with the house For his abode whom she should chance to wed. So sported they; but he, ascending sought His father’s lofty chamber, where his heaps He kept of brass and gold, garments in chests, And oils of fragrant scent, a copious store. There many a cask with season’d nectar fill’d The grape’s pure juice divine, beside the wall Stood orderly arranged, waiting the hour (Should e’er such hour arrive) when, after woes 450 Num’rous, Ulysses should regain his home. Secure that chamber was with folding doors Of massy planks compact, and night and day, Within it antient Euryclea dwelt, Guardian discrete of all the treasures there, Whom, thither call’d, Telemachus address’d. Nurse! draw me forth sweet wine into my jars, Delicious next to that which thou reserv’st For our poor wand’rer; if escaping death At last, divine Ulysses e’er return. 460 Fill twelve, and stop them close; pour also meal Well mill’d (full twenty measures) into skins Close-seam’d, and mention what thou dost to none. Place them together; for at even-tide I will convey them hence, soon as the Queen, Retiring to her couch, shall seek repose. For hence to Sparta will I take my course, And sandy Pylus, tidings there to hear (If hear I may) of my lov’d Sire’s return. He ceas’d, then wept his gentle nurse that sound 470 Hearing, and in wing’d accents thus replied. My child! ah, wherefore hath a thought so rash Possess’d thee? whither, only and belov’d, Seek’st thou to ramble, travelling, alas! To distant climes? Ulysses is no more; Dead lies the Hero in some land unknown, And thou no sooner shalt depart, than these Will plot to slay thee, and divide thy wealth. No, stay with us who love thee. Need is none That thou should’st on the barren Deep distress 480 Encounter, roaming without hope or end. Whom, prudent, thus answer’d Telemachus. Take courage, nurse! for not without consent Of the Immortals I have thus resolv’d. But swear, that till eleven days be past, Or twelve, or, till enquiry made, she learn Herself my going, thou wilt not impart Of this my purpose to my mother’s ear, Lest all her beauties fade by grief impair’d. He ended, and the antient matron swore 490 Solemnly by the Gods; which done, she fill’d With wine the vessels and the skins with meal, And he, returning, join’d the throng below. Then Pallas, Goddess azure-eyed, her thoughts Elsewhere directing, all the city ranged In semblance of Telemachus, each man Exhorting, at the dusk of eve, to seek The gallant ship, and from Noëmon, son Renown’d of Phronius, ask’d, herself, a bark, Which soon as ask’d, he promis’d to supply. 500 Now set the sun, and twilight dimm’d the ways, When, drawing down his bark into the Deep, He gave her all her furniture, oars, arms And tackle, such as well-built galleys bear, Then moor’d her in the bottom of the bay. Meantime, his mariners in haste repair’d Down to the shore, for Pallas urged them on. And now on other purposes intent, The Goddess sought the palace, where with dews Of slumber drenching ev’ry suitor’s eye, 510 She fool’d the drunkard multitude, and dash’d The goblets from their idle hands away. They through the city reeled, happy to leave The dull carousal, when the slumb’rous weight Oppressive on their eye-lids once had fall’n. Next, Pallas azure-eyed in Mentor’s form And with the voice of Mentor, summoning Telemachus abroad, him thus bespake. Telemachus! already at their oars Sit all thy fellow-voyagers, and wait 520 Thy coming; linger not, but haste away. This said, Minerva led him thence, whom he With nimble steps follow’d, and on the shore Arrived, found all his mariners prepared, Whom thus the princely voyager address’d. Haste, my companions! bring we down the stores Already sorted and set forth; but nought My mother knows, or any of her train Of this design, one matron sole except. He spake, and led them; they, obedient, brought 530 All down, and, as Ulysses’ son enjoin’d, Within the gallant bark the charge bestow’d. Then, led by Pallas, went the prince on board, Where down they sat, the Goddess in the stern, And at her side Telemachus. The crew Cast loose the hawsers, and embarking, fill’d The benches. Blue-eyed Pallas from the West Call’d forth propitious breezes; fresh they curled The sable Deep, and, sounding, swept the waves. He loud-exhorting them, his people bade 540 Hand, brisk, the tackle; they, obedient, reared The pine-tree mast, which in its socket deep They lodg’d, then strain’d the cordage, and with thongs Well-twisted, drew the shining sail aloft. A land-breeze fill’d the canvas, and the flood Roar’d as she went against the steady bark That ran with even course her liquid way. The rigging, thus, of all the galley set, Their beakers crowning high with wine, they hail’d The ever-living Gods, but above all 550 Minerva, daughter azure-eyed of Jove. Thus, all night long the galley, and till dawn Had brighten’d into day, cleaved swift the flood.
6 The reader is to be reminded that this is not an assembly of the suitors only, but a general one, which affords Telemachus an opportunity to apply himself to the feelings of the Ithacans at large.
Telemachus arriving at Pylus, enquires of Nestor concerning Ulysses. Nestor relates to him all that he knows or has heard of the Greecians since their departure from the siege of Troy, but not being able to give him any satisfactory account of Ulysses, refers him to Menelaus. At evening Minerva quits Telemachus, but discovers herself in going. Nestor sacrifices to the Goddess, and the solemnity ended, Telemachus sets forth for Sparta in one of Nestor’s chariots, and accompanied by Nestor’s son, Pisistratus.
