darkness was over all the land, so we hurried on as fast as we couldtill we reached the harbour, where the Phoenician ship was lying. Whenthey had got on board they sailed their ways over the sea, taking uswith them, and Jove sent then a fair wind; six days did we sail bothnight and day, but on the seventh day Diana struck the woman and shefell heavily down into the ship's hold as though she were a sea gullalighting on the water; so they threw her overboard to the seals andfishes, and I was left all sorrowful and alone. Presently the windsand waves took the ship to Ithaca, where Laertes gave sundry of hischattels for me, and thus it was that ever I came to set eyes uponthis country."Ulysses answered, "Eumaeus, I have heard the story of yourmisfortunes with the most lively interest and pity, but Jove has givenyou good as well as evil, for in spite of everything you have a goodmaster, who sees that you always have enough to eat and drink; and youlead a good life, whereas I am still going about begging my way fromcity to city."Thus did they converse, and they had only a very little time leftfor sleep, for it was soon daybreak. In the meantime Telemachus andhis crew were nearing land, so they loosed the sails, took down themast, and rowed the ship into the harbour. They cast out their mooringstones and made fast the hawsers; they then got out upon the seashore, mixed their wine, and got dinner ready. As soon as they had hadenough to eat and drink Telemachus said, "Take the ship on to thetown, but leave me here, for I want to look after the herdsmen onone of my farms. In the evening, when I have seen all I want, I willcome down to the city, and to-morrow morning in return for yourtrouble I will give you all a good dinner with meat and wine."Then Theoclymenus said, 'And what, my dear young friend, is tobecome of me? To whose house, among all your chief men, am I torepair? or shall I go straight to your own house and to your mother?""At any other time," replied Telemachus, "I should have bidden yougo to my own house, for you would find no want of hospitality; atthe present moment, however, you would not be comfortable there, for Ishall be away, and my mother will not see you; she does not often showherself even to the suitors, but sits at her loom weaving in anupper chamber, out of their way; but I can tell you a man whosehouse you can go to- I mean Eurymachus the son of Polybus, who is heldin the highest estimation by every one in Ithaca. He is much thebest man and the most persistent wooer, of all those who are payingcourt to my mother and trying to take Ulysses' place. Jove, however,in heaven alone knows whether or no they will come to a bad end beforethe marriage takes place."As he was speaking a bird flew by upon his right hand- a hawk,Apollo's messenger. It held a dove in its talons, and the feathers, asit tore them off, fell to the ground midway between Telemachus and theship. On this Theoclymenus called him apart and caught him by thehand. "Telemachus," said he, "that bird did not fly on your right handwithout having been sent there by some god. As soon as I saw it I knewit was an omen; it means that you will remain powerful and thatthere will be no house in Ithaca more royal than your own.""I wish it may prove so," answered Telemachus. "If it does, I willshow you so much good will and give you so many presents that allwho meet you will congratulate you."Then he said to his friend Piraeus, "Piraeus, son of Clytius, youhave throughout shown yourself the most willing to serve me of allthose who have accompanied me to Pylos; I wish you would take thisstranger to your own house and entertain him hospitably till I cancome for him."And Piraeus answered, "Telemachus, you may stay away as long asyou please, but I will look after him for you, and he shall find nolack of hospitality."As he spoke he went on board, and bade the others do so also andloose the hawsers, so they took their places in the ship. ButTelemachus bound on his sandals, and took a long and doughty spearwith a head of sharpened bronze from the deck of the ship. Then theyloosed the hawsers, thrust the ship off from land, and made on towardsthe city as they had been told to do, while Telemachus strode on asfast as he could, till he reached the homestead where his countlessherds of swine were feeding, and where dwelt the excellentswineherd, who was so devoted a servant to his master.BOOK XVI.MEANWHILE Ulysses and the swineherd had lit a fire in the hut andwere were getting breakfast ready at daybreak for they had sent themen out with the pigs. When Telemachus came up, the dogs did not bark,but fawned upon him, so Ulysses, hearing the sound of feet andnoticing that the dogs did not bark, said to Eumaeus:"Eumaeus, I hear footsteps; I suppose one of your men or some one ofyour acquaintance is coming here, for the dogs are fawning urn him andnot barking."The words were hardly out of his mouth before his son stood at thedoor. Eumaeus sprang to his feet, and the bowls in which he was mixingwine fell from his hands, as he made towards his master. He kissed hishead and both his beautiful eyes, and wept for joy. A father could notbe more delighted at the return of an only son, the child of his oldage, after ten years' absence in a foreign country and after havinggone through much hardship. He embraced him, kissed him all over asthough he had come back from the dead, and spoke fondly to him saying:"So you are come, Telemachus, light of my eyes that you are. WhenI heard you had gone to Pylos I made sure I was never going to see youany more. Come in, my dear child, and sit down, that I may have a goodlook at you now you are home again; it is not very often you come intothe country to see us herdsmen; you stick pretty close to the towngenerally. I suppose you think it better to keep an eye on what thesuitors are doing.""So be it, old friend," answered Telemachus, "but I am come nowbecause I want to see you, and to learn whether my mother is stillat her old home or whether some one else has married her, so thatthe bed of Ulysses is without bedding and covered with cobwebs.""She is still at the house," replied Eumaeus, "grieving and breakingher heart, and doing nothing but weep, both night and daycontinually."As spoke he took Telemachus' spear, whereon he crossed the stonethreshold and came inside. Ulysses rose from his seat to give himplace as he entered, but Telemachus checked him; "Sit down, stranger."said he, "I can easily find another seat, and there is one here whowill lay it for me."Ulysses went back to his own place, and Eumaeus strewed some greenbrushwood on the floor and threw a sheepskin on top of it forTelemachus to sit upon. Then the swineherd brought them platters ofcold meat, the remains from what they had eaten the day before, and hefilled the bread baskets with bread as fast as he could. He mixed winealso in bowls of ivy-wood, and took his seat facing Ulysses. Then theylaid their hands on the good things that were before them, and as soonas they had had enough to eat and drink Telemachus said to Eumaeus,"Old friend, where does this stranger come from? How did his crewbring him to Ithaca, and who were they?-for assuredly he did notcome here by land"'To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "My son, I will tellyou the real truth. He says he is a Cretan, and that he has been agreat traveller. At this moment he is running away from aThesprotian ship, and has refuge at my station, so I will put him intoyour hands. Do whatever you like with him, only remember that he isyour suppliant.""I am very much distressed," said Telemachus, "by what you have justtold me. How can I take this stranger into my house? I am as yetyoung, and am not strong enough to hold my own if any man attacksme. My mother cannot make up her mind whether to stay where she is andlook after the house out of respect for public opinion and thememory of her husband, or whether the time is now come for her to takethe best man of those who are wooing her, and the one who will makeher the most advantageous offer; still, as the stranger has come toyour station I will find him a cloak and shirt of good wear, with asword and sandals, and will send him wherever he wants to go. Or ifyou like you can keep him here at the station, and I will send himclothes and food that he may be no burden on you and on your men;but I will not have him go near the suitors, for they are veryinsolent, and are sure to ill-treat him in a way that would greatlygrieve me; no matter how valiant a man may be he can do nothingagainst numbers, for they will be too strong for him."Then Ulysses said, "Sir, it is right that I should say somethingmyself. I am much shocked about what you have said about theinsolent way in which the suitors are behaving in despite of such aman as you are. Tell me, do you submit to such treatment tamely, orhas some god set your people against you? May you not complain of yourbrothers- for it is to these that a man may look for support,however great his quarrel may be? I wish I were as young as you areand in my present mind; if I were son to Ulysses, or, indeed,Ulysses himself, I would rather some one came and cut my head off, butI would go to the house and be the bane of every one of these men.If they were too many for me- I being single-handed- I would ratherdie fighting in my own house than see such disgraceful sights dayafter day, strangers grossly maltreated, and men dragging the womenservants about the house in an unseemly way, wine drawn recklessly,and bread wasted all to no purpose for an end that shall never beaccomplished."And Telemachus answered, "I will tell you truly everything. There isno emnity between me and my people, nor can I complain of brothers, towhom a man may look for support however great his quarrel may be. Jovehas made us a race of only sons. Laertes was the only son ofArceisius, and Ulysses only son of Laertes. I am myself the only sonof Ulysses who left me behind him when he went away, so that I havenever been of any use to him. Hence it comes that my house is in thehands of numberless marauders; for the chiefs from all theneighbouring islands, Dulichium, Same, Zacynthus, as also all theprincipal men of Ithaca itself, are eating up my house under thepretext of paying court to my mother, who will neither say point blankthat she will not marry, nor yet bring matters to an end, so theyare making havoc of my estate, and before long will do so withmyself into the bargain. The issue, however, rests with heaven. But doyou, old friend Eumaeus, go at once and tell Penelope that I am safeand have returned from Pylos. Tell it to herself alone, and thencome back here without letting any one else know, for there are manywho are plotting mischief against me.""I understand and heed you," replied Eumaeus; "you need instructme no further, only I am going that way say whether I had not betterlet poor Laertes know that you are returned. He used to superintendthe work on his farm in spite of his bitter sorrow about Ulysses,and he would eat and drink at will along with his servants; but theytell me that from the day on which you set out for Pylos he hasneither eaten nor drunk as he ought to do, nor does he look afterhis farm, but sits weeping and wasting the flesh from off his bones.""More's the pity," answered Telemachus, "I am sorry for him, butwe must leave him to himself just now. If people could have everythingtheir own way, the first thing I should choose would be the returnof my father; but go, and give your message; then make haste backagain, and do not turn out of your way to tell Laertes. Tell my motherto send one of her women secretly with the news at once, and let himhear it from her."Thus did he urge the swineherd; Eumaeus, therefore, took hissandals, bound them to his feet, and started for the town. Minervawatched him well off the station, and then came up to it in the form