Presently Ulysses got up to go towards the town; and Minerva sheda thick mist all round him to hide him in case any of the proudPhaecians who met him should be rude to him, or ask him who he was.Then, as he was just entering the town, she came towards him in thelikeness of a little girl carrying a pitcher. She stood right in frontof him, and Ulysses said:"My dear, will you be so kind as to show me the house of kingAlcinous? I am an unfortunate foreigner in distress, and do not knowone in your town and country."Then Minerva said, "Yes, father stranger, I will show you thehouse you want, for Alcinous lives quite close to my own father. Iwill go before you and show the way, but say not a word as you go, anddo not look at any man, nor ask him questions; for the people herecannot abide strangers, and do not like men who come from some otherplace. They are a sea-faring folk, and sail the seas by the grace ofNeptune in ships that glide along like thought, or as a bird in theair."On this she led the way, and Ulysses followed in her steps; butnot one of the Phaecians could see him as he passed through the cityin the midst of them; for the great goddess Minerva in her good willtowards him had hidden him in a thick cloud of darkness. He admiredtheir harbours, ships, places of assembly, and the lofty walls ofthe city, which, with the palisade on top of them, were very striking,and when they reached the king's house Minerva said:"This is the house, father stranger, which you would have me showyou. You will find a number of great people sitting at table, but donot be afraid; go straight in, for the bolder a man is the more likelyhe is to carry his point, even though he is a stranger. First find thequeen. Her name is Arete, and she comes of the same family as herhusband Alcinous. They both descend originally from Neptune, who wasfather to Nausithous by Periboea, a woman of great beauty. Periboeawas the youngest daughter of Eurymedon, who at one time reigned overthe giants, but he ruined his ill-fated people and lost his own lifeto boot."Neptune, however, lay with his daughter, and she had a son byhim, the great Nausithous, who reigned over the Phaecians.Nausithous had two sons Rhexenor and Alcinous; Apollo killed the firstof them while he was still a bridegroom and without male issue; but heleft a daughter Arete, whom Alcinous married, and honours as noother woman is honoured of all those that keep house along withtheir husbands."Thus she both was, and still is, respected beyond measure by herchildren, by Alcinous himself, and by the whole people, who lookupon her as a goddess, and greet her whenever she goes about the city,for she is a thoroughly good woman both in head and heart, and whenany women are friends of hers, she will help their husbands also tosettle their disputes. If you can gain her good will, you may haveevery hope of seeing your friends again, and getting safely back toyour home and country."Then Minerva left Scheria and went away over the sea. She went toMarathon and to the spacious streets of Athens, where she enteredthe abode of Erechtheus; but Ulysses went on to the house of Alcinous,and he pondered much as he paused a while before reaching thethreshold of bronze, for the splendour of the palace was like thatof the sun or moon. The walls on either side were of bronze from endto end, and the cornice was of blue enamel. The doors were gold, andhung on pillars of silver that rose from a floor of bronze, whilethe lintel was silver and the hook of the door was of gold.On either side there stood gold and silver mastiffs which Vulcan,with his consummate skill, had fashioned expressly to keep watchover the palace of king Alcinous; so they were immortal and couldnever grow old. Seats were ranged all along the wall, here and therefrom one end to the other, with coverings of fine woven work which thewomen of the house had made. Here the chief persons of the Phaeciansused to sit and eat and drink, for there was abundance at all seasons;and there were golden figures of young men with lighted torches intheir hands, raised on pedestals, to give light by night to thosewho were at table. There are fifty maid servants in the house, some ofwhom are always grinding rich yellow grain at the mill, while otherswork at the loom, or sit and spin, and their shuttles go, backwardsand forwards like the fluttering of aspen leaves, while the linen isso closely woven that it will turn oil. As the Phaecians are thebest sailors in the world, so their women excel all others in weaving,for Minerva has taught them all manner of useful arts, and they arevery intelligent.Outside the gate of the outer court there is a large garden of aboutfour acres with a wall all round it. It is full of beautiful trees-pears, pomegranates, and the most delicious apples. There are lusciousfigs also, and olives in full growth. The fruits never rot nor failall the year round, neither winter nor summer, for the air is sosoft that a new crop ripens before the old has dropped. Pear growson pear, apple on apple, and fig on fig, and so also with thegrapes, for there is an excellent vineyard: on the level ground of apart of this, the grapes are being made into raisins; in anotherpart they are being gathered; some are being trodden in the wine tubs,others further on have shed their blossom and are beginning to showfruit, others again are just changing colour. In the furthest partof the ground there are beautifully arranged beds of flowers thatare in bloom all the year round. Two streams go through it, the oneturned in ducts throughout the whole garden, while the other iscarried under the ground of the outer court to the house itself, andthe town's people draw water from it. Such, then, were thesplendours with which the gods had endowed the house of king Alcinous.So here Ulysses stood for a while and looked about him, but whenhe had looked long enough he crossed the threshold and went within theprecincts of the house. There he found all the chief people amongthe Phaecians making their drink-offerings to Mercury, which theyalways did the last thing before going away for the night. He wentstraight through the court, still hidden by the cloak of darkness inwhich Minerva had enveloped him, till he reached Arete and KingAlcinous; then he laid his hands upon the knees of the queen, and atthat moment the miraculous darkness fell away from him and he becamevisible. Every one was speechless with surprise at seeing a man there,but Ulysses began at once with his petition."Queen Arete," he exclaimed, "daughter of great Rhexenor, in mydistress I humbly pray you, as also your husband and these your guests(whom may heaven prosper with long life and happiness, and may theyleave their possessions to their children, and all the honoursconferred upon them by the state) to help me home to my own country assoon as possible; for I have been long in trouble and away from myfriends."Then he sat down on the hearth among the ashes and they all heldtheir peace, till presently the old hero Echeneus, who was anexcellent speaker and an elder among the Phaeacians, plainly and inall honesty addressed them thus:"Alcinous," said he, "it is not creditable to you that a strangershould be seen sitting among the ashes of your hearth; every one iswaiting to hear what you are about to say; tell him, then, to rise andtake a seat on a stool inlaid with silver, and bid your servants mixsome wine and water that we may make a drink-offering to Jove the lordof thunder, who takes all well-disposed suppliants under hisprotection; and let the housekeeper give him some supper, ofwhatever there may be in the house."When Alcinous heard this he took Ulysses by the hand, raised himfrom the hearth, and bade him take the seat of Laodamas, who hadbeen sitting beside him, and was his favourite son. A maid servantthen brought him water in a beautiful golden ewer and poured it into asilver basin for him to wash his hands, and she drew a clean tablebeside him; an upper servant brought him bread and offered him manygood things of what there was in the house, and Ulysses ate and drank.Then Alcinous said to one of the servants, "Pontonous, mix a cup ofwine and hand it round that we may make drink-offerings to Jove thelord of thunder, who is the protector of all well-disposedsuppliants."Pontonous then mixed wine and water, and handed it round aftergiving every man his drink-offering. When they had made theirofferings, and had drunk each as much as he was minded, Alcinous said:"Aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, hear my words. Youhave had your supper, so now go home to bed. To-morrow morning I shallinvite a still larger number of aldermen, and will give asacrificial banquet in honour of our guest; we can then discuss thequestion of his escort, and consider how we may at once send himback rejoicing to his own country without trouble or inconvenienceto himself, no matter how distant it may be. We must see that he comesto no harm while on his homeward journey, but when he is once athome he will have to take the luck he was born with for better orworse like other people. It is possible, however, that the stranger isone of the immortals who has come down from heaven to visit us; but inthis case the gods are departing from their usual practice, forhitherto they have made themselves perfectly clear to us when wehave been offering them hecatombs. They come and sit at our feastsjust like one of our selves, and if any solitary wayfarer happens tostumble upon some one or other of them, they affect no concealment,for we are as near of kin to the gods as the Cyclopes and the savagegiants are."Then Ulysses said: "Pray, Alcinous, do not take any such notion intoyour head. I have nothing of the immortal about me, neither in bodynor mind, and most resemble those among you who are the mostafflicted. Indeed, were I to tell you all that heaven has seen fitto lay upon me, you would say that I was still worse off than theyare. Nevertheless, let me sup in spite of sorrow, for an empty stomachis a very importunate thing, and thrusts itself on a man's notice nomatter how dire is his distress. I am in great trouble, yet it insiststhat I shall eat and drink, bids me lay aside all memory of my sorrowsand dwell only on the due replenishing of itself. As for yourselves,do as you propose, and at break of day set about helping me to gethome. I shall be content to die if I may first once more behold myproperty, my bondsmen, and all the greatness of my house."Thus did he speak. Every one approved his saying, and agreed that heshould have his escort inasmuch as he had spoken reasonably. Then whenthey had made their drink-offerings, and had drunk each as much ashe was minded they went home to bed every man in his own abode,leaving Ulysses in the cloister with Arete and Alcinous while theservants were taking the things away after supper. Arete was the firstto speak, for she recognized the shirt, cloak, and good clothes thatUlysses was wearing, as the work of herself and of her maids; so shesaid, "Stranger, before we go any further, there is a question Ishould like to ask you. Who, and whence are you, and who gave youthose clothes? Did you not say you had come here from beyond the sea?"And Ulysses answered, "It would be a long story Madam, were I torelate in full the tale of my misfortunes, for the hand of heavenhas been laid heavy upon me; but as regards your question, there is anisland far away in the sea which is called 'the Ogygian.' Heredwells the cunning and powerful goddess Calypso, daughter of Atlas.She lives by herself far from all neighbours human or divine. Fortune,however, me to her hearth all desolate and alone, for Jove struck myship with his thunderbolts, and broke it up in mid-ocean. My bravecomrades were drowned every man of them, but I stuck to the keel andwas carried hither and thither for the space of nine days, till atlast during the darkness of the tenth night the gods brought me to theOgygian island where the great goddess Calypso lives. She took me in