Telemachus began to reproach her and said:"Mother- but you are so hard that I cannot call you by such aname- why do you keep away from my father in this way? Why do younot sit by his side and begin talking to him and asking him questions?No other woman could bear to keep away from her husband when he hadcome back to her after twenty years of absence, and after havinggone through so much; but your heart always was as hard as a stone."Penelope answered, "My son, I am so lost in astonishment that Ican find no words in which either to ask questions or to answerthem. I cannot even look him straight in the face. Still, if he reallyis Ulysses come back to his own home again, we shall get to understandone another better by and by, for there are tokens with which we twoare alone acquainted, and which are hidden from all others."Ulysses smiled at this, and said to Telemachus, "Let your mother putme to any proof she likes; she will make up her mind about itpresently. She rejects me for the moment and believes me to besomebody else, because I am covered with dirt and have such badclothes on; let us, however, consider what we had better do next. Whenone man has killed another, even though he was not one who would leavemany friends to take up his quarrel, the man who has killed him muststill say good bye to his friends and fly the country; whereas we havebeen killing the stay of a whole town, and all the picked youth ofIthaca. I would have you consider this matter.""Look to it yourself, father," answered Telemachus, "for they sayyou are the wisest counsellor in the world, and that there is no othermortal man who can compare with you. We will follow you with rightgood will, nor shall you find us fail you in so far as our strengthholds out.""I will say what I think will be best," answered Ulysses. "Firstwash and put your shirts on; tell the maids also to go to their ownroom and dress; Phemius shall then strike up a dance tune on his lyre,so that if people outside hear, or any of the neighbours, or someone going along the street happens to notice it, they may thinkthere is a wedding in the house, and no rumours about the death of thesuitors will get about in the town, before we can escape to thewoods upon my own land. Once there, we will settle which of thecourses heaven vouchsafes us shall seem wisest."Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said. First theywashed and put their shirts on, while the women got ready. ThenPhemius took his lyre and set them all longing for sweet song andstately dance. The house re-echoed with the sound of men and womendancing, and the people outside said, "I suppose the queen has beengetting married at last. She ought to be ashamed of herself for notcontinuing to protect her husband's property until he comes home."This was what they said, but they did not know what it was thathad been happening. The upper servant Eurynome washed and anointedUlysses in his own house and gave him a shirt and cloak, while Minervamade him look taller and stronger than before; she also made thehair grow thick on the top of his head, and flow down in curls likehyacinth blossoms; she glorified him about the head and shoulders justas a skilful workman who has studied art of all kinds under Vulcanor Minerva- and his work is full of beauty- enriches a piece of silverplate by gilding it. He came from the bath looking like one of theimmortals, and sat down opposite his wife on the seat he had left. "Mydear," said he, "heaven has endowed you with a heart more unyieldingthan woman ever yet had. No other woman could bear to keep away fromher husband when he had come back to her after twenty years ofabsence, and after having gone through so much. But come, nurse, get abed ready for me; I will sleep alone, for this woman has a heart ashard as iron.""My dear," answered Penelope, "I have no wish to set myself up,nor to depreciate you; but I am not struck by your appearance, for Ivery well remember what kind of a man you were when you set sailfrom Ithaca. Nevertheless, Euryclea, take his bed outside the bedchamber that he himself built. Bring the bed outside this room, andput bedding upon it with fleeces, good coverlets, and blankets."She said this to try him, but Ulysses was very angry and said,"Wife, I am much displeased at what you have just been saying. Who hasbeen taking my bed from the place in which I left it? He must havefound it a hard task, no matter how skilled a workman he was, unlesssome god came and helped him to shift it. There is no man living,however strong and in his prime, who could move it from its place, forit is a marvellous curiosity which I made with my very own hands.There was a young olive growing within the precincts of the house,in full vigour, and about as thick as a bearing-post. I built myroom round this with strong walls of stone and a roof to cover them,and I made the doors strong and well-fitting. Then I cut off the topboughs of the olive tree and left the stump standing. This I dressedroughly from the root upwards and then worked with carpenter's toolswell and skilfully, straightening my work by drawing a line on thewood, and making it into a bed-prop. I then bored a hole down themiddle, and made it the centre-post of my bed, at which I workedtill I had finished it, inlaying it with gold and silver; after this Istretched a hide of crimson leather from one side of it to theother. So you see I know all about it, and I desire to learn whetherit is still there, or whether any one has been removing it bycutting down the olive tree at its roots."When she heard the sure proofs Ulysses now gave her, she fairlybroke down. She flew weeping to his side, flung her arms about hisneck, and kissed him. "Do not be angry with me Ulysses," she cried,"you, who are the wisest of mankind. We have suffered, both of us.Heaven has denied us the happiness of spending our youth, and ofgrowing old, together; do not then be aggrieved or take it amissthat I did not embrace you thus as soon as I saw you. I have beenshuddering all the time through fear that someone might come hereand deceive me with a lying story; for there are many very wickedpeople going about. Jove's daughter Helen would never have yieldedherself to a man from a foreign country, if she had known that thesons of Achaeans would come after her and bring her back. Heaven putit in her heart to do wrong, and she gave no thought to that sin,which has been the source of all our sorrows. Now, however, that youhave convinced me by showing that you know all about our bed (which nohuman being has ever seen but you and I and a single maid servant, thedaughter of Actor, who was given me by my father on my marriage, andwho keeps the doors of our room) hard of belief though I have been Ican mistrust no longer."Then Ulysses in his turn melted, and wept as he clasped his dear andfaithful wife to his bosom. As the sight of land is welcome to men whoare swimming towards the shore, when Neptune has wrecked their shipwith the fury of his winds and waves- a few alone reach the land,and these, covered with brine, are thankful when they findthemselves on firm ground and out of danger- even so was her husbandwelcome to her as she looked upon him, and she could not tear hertwo fair arms from about his neck. Indeed they would have gone onindulging their sorrow till rosy-fingered morn appeared, had notMinerva determined otherwise, and held night back in the far west,while she would not suffer Dawn to leave Oceanus, nor to yoke thetwo steeds Lampus and Phaethon that bear her onward to break the dayupon mankind.At last, however, Ulysses said, "Wife, we have not yet reached theend of our troubles. I have an unknown amount of toil still toundergo. It is long and difficult, but I must go through with it,for thus the shade of Teiresias prophesied concerning me, on the daywhen I went down into Hades to ask about my return and that of mycompanions. But now let us go to bed, that we may lie down and enjoythe blessed boon of sleep.""You shall go to bed as soon as you please," replied Penelope,"now that the gods have sent you home to your own good house and toyour country. But as heaven has put it in your mind to speak of it,tell me about the task that lies before you. I shall have to hearabout it later, so it is better that I should be told at once.""My dear," answered Ulysses, "why should you press me to tell you?Still, I will not conceal it from you, though you will not like BOOKit. I do not like it myself, for Teiresias bade me travel far andwide, carrying an oar, till I came to a country where the peoplehave never heard of the sea, and do not even mix salt with their food.They know nothing about ships, nor oars that are as the wings of aship. He gave me this certain token which I will not hide from you. Hesaid that a wayfarer should meet me and ask me whether it was awinnowing shovel that I had on my shoulder. On this, I was to fix myoar in the ground and sacrifice a ram, a bull, and a boar toNeptune; after which I was to go home and offer hecatombs to all thegods in heaven, one after the other. As for myself, he said that deathshould come to me from the sea, and that my life should ebb awayvery gently when I was full of years and peace of mind, and mypeople should bless me. All this, he said, should surely come topass."And Penelope said, "If the gods are going to vouchsafe you a happiertime in your old age, you may hope then to have some respite frommisfortune."Thus did they converse. Meanwhile Eurynome and the nurse tooktorches and made the bed ready with soft coverlets; as soon as theyhad laid them, the nurse went back into the house to go to her rest,leaving the bed chamber woman Eurynome to show Ulysses and Penelope tobed by torch light. When she had conducted them to their room she wentback, and they then came joyfully to the rites of their own old bed.Telemachus, Philoetius, and the swineherd now left off dancing, andmade the women leave off also. They then laid themselves down to sleepin the cloisters.When Ulysses and Penelope had had their fill of love they felltalking with one another. She told him how much she had had to bear inseeing the house filled with a crowd of wicked suitors who hadkilled so many sheep and oxen on her account, and had drunk so manycasks of wine. Ulysses in his turn told her what he had suffered,and how much trouble he had himself given to other people. He told hereverything, and she was so delighted to listen that she never wentto sleep till he had ended his whole story.He began with his victory over the Cicons, and how he thence reachedthe fertile land of the Lotus-eaters. He told her all about theCyclops and how he had punished him for having so ruthlessly eaten hisbrave comrades; how he then went on to Aeolus, who received himhospitably and furthered him on his way, but even so he was not toreach home, for to his great grief a hurricane carried him out tosea again; how he went on to the Laestrygonian city Telepylos, wherethe people destroyed all his ships with their crews, save himselfand his own ship only. Then he told of cunning Circe and her craft,and how he sailed to the chill house of Hades, to consult the ghost ofthe Theban prophet Teiresias, and how he saw his old comrades in arms,and his mother who bore him and brought him up when he was a child;how he then heard the wondrous singing of the Sirens, and went on tothe wandering rocks and terrible Charybdis and to Scylla, whom noman had ever yet passed in safety; how his men then ate the cattleof the sun-god, and how Jove therefore struck the ship with histhunderbolts, so that all his men perished together, himself alonebeing left alive; how at last he reached the Ogygian island and thenymph Calypso, who kept him there in a cave, and fed him, and wantedhim to marry her, in which case she intended making him immortal sothat he should never grow old, but she could not persuade him to lether do so; and how after much suffering he had found his way to thePhaeacians, who had treated him as though he had been a god, andsent him back in a ship to his own country after having given him