《奥德修记》-44

holding a veil before her face, and with a maid on either side of her.Then she said:"Listen to me you suitors, who persist in abusing the hospitality ofthis house because its owner has been long absent, and without otherpretext than that you want to marry me; this, then, being the prizethat you are contending for, I will bring out the mighty bow ofUlysses, and whomsoever of you shall string it most easily and sendhis arrow through each one of twelve axes, him will I follow andquit this house of my lawful husband, so goodly, and so abounding inwealth. But even so I doubt not that I shall remember it in mydreams."As she spoke, she told Eumaeus to set the bow and the pieces of ironbefore the suitors, and Eumaeus wept as he took them to do as shehad bidden him. Hard by, the stockman wept also when he saw hismaster's bow, but Antinous scolded them. "You country louts," said he,"silly simpletons; why should you add to the sorrows of yourmistress by crying in this way? She has enough to grieve her in theloss of her husband; sit still, therefore, and eat your dinners insilence, or go outside if you want to cry, and leave the bow behindyou. We suitors shall have to contend for it with might and main,for we shall find it no light matter to string such a bow as thisis. There is not a man of us all who is such another as Ulysses; for Ihave seen him and remember him, though I was then only a child."This was what he said, but all the time he was expecting to beable to string the bow and shoot through the iron, whereas in facthe was to be the first that should taste of the arrows from thehands of Ulysses, whom he was dishonouring in his own house- eggingthe others on to do so also.Then Telemachus spoke. "Great heavens!" he exclaimed, "Jove musthave robbed me of my senses. Here is my dear and excellent mothersaying she will quit this house and marry again, yet I am laughing andenjoying myself as though there were nothing happening. But,suitors, as the contest has been agreed upon, let it go forward. It isfor a woman whose peer is not to be found in Pylos, Argos, orMycene, nor yet in Ithaca nor on the mainland. You know this as wellas I do; what need have I to speak in praise of my mother? Come on,then, make no excuses for delay, but let us see whether you can stringthe bow or no. I too will make trial of it, for if I can string it andshoot through the iron, I shall not suffer my mother to quit thishouse with a stranger, not if I can win the prizes which my father wonbefore me."As he spoke he sprang from his seat, threw his crimson cloak fromhim, and took his sword from his shoulder. First he set the axes ina row, in a long groove which he had dug for them, and had Wadestraight by line. Then he stamped the earth tight round them, andeveryone was surprised when they saw him set up so orderly, thoughhe had never seen anything of the kind before. This done, he went onto the pavement to make trial of the bow; thrice did he tug at it,trying with all his might to draw the string, and thrice he had toleave off, though he had hoped to string the bow and shoot through theiron. He was trying for the fourth time, and would have strung ithad not Ulysses made a sign to check him in spite of all hiseagerness. So he said:"Alas! I shall either be always feeble and of no prowess, or I amtoo young, and have not yet reached my full strength so as to beable to hold my own if any one attacks me. You others, therefore,who are stronger than I, make trial of the bow and get this contestsettled."On this he put the bow down, letting it lean against the door[that led into the house] with the arrow standing against the top ofthe bow. Then he sat down on the seat from which he had risen, andAntinous said:"Come on each of you in his turn, going towards the right from theplace at which the. cupbearer begins when he is handing round thewine."The rest agreed, and Leiodes son of OEnops was the first to rise. Hewas sacrificial priest to the suitors, and sat in the corner nearthe mixing-bowl. He was the only man who hated their evil deeds andwas indignant with the others. He was now the first to take the bowand arrow, so he went on to the pavement to make his trial, but hecould not string the bow, for his hands were weak and unused to hardwork, they therefore soon grew tired, and he said to the suitors,"My friends, I cannot string it; let another have it; this bow shalltake the life and soul out of many a chief among us, for it isbetter to die than to live after having missed the prize that wehave so long striven for, and which has brought us so long together.Some one of us is even now hoping and praying that he may marryPenelope, but when he has seen this bow and tried it, let him wooand make bridal offerings to some other woman, and let Penelopemarry whoever makes her the best offer and whose lot it is to winher."On this he put the bow down, letting it lean against the door,with the arrow standing against the tip of the bow. Then he took hisseat again on the seat from which he had risen; and Antinous rebukedhim saying:"Leiodes, what are you talking about? Your words are monstrous andintolerable; it makes me angry to listen to you. Shall, then, this bowtake the life of many a chief among us, merely because you cannot bendit yourself? True, you were not born to be an archer, but there areothers who will soon string it."Then he said to Melanthius the goatherd, "Look sharp, light a firein the court, and set a seat hard by with a sheep skin on it; bring usalso a large ball of lard, from what they have in the house. Let uswarm the bow and grease it we will then make trial of it again, andbring the contest to an end."Melanthius lit the fire, and set a seat covered with sheep skinsbeside it. He also brought a great ball of lard from what they hadin the house, and the suitors warmed the bow and again made trial ofit, but they were none of them nearly strong enough to string it.Nevertheless there still remained Antinous and Eurymachus, who werethe ringleaders among the suitors and much the foremost among themall.Then the swineherd and the stockman left the cloisters together, andUlysses followed them. When they had got outside the gates and theouter yard, Ulysses said to them quietly:"Stockman, and you swineherd, I have something in my mind which I amin doubt whether to say or no; but I think I will say it. Whatmanner of men would you be to stand by Ulysses, if some god shouldbring him back here all of a sudden? Say which you are disposed to do-to side with the suitors, or with Ulysses?""Father Jove," answered the stockman, "would indeed that you mightso ordain it. If some god were but to bring Ulysses back, you shouldsee with what might and main I would fight for him."In like words Eumaeus prayed to all the gods that Ulysses mightreturn; when, therefore, he saw for certain what mind they were of,Ulysses said, "It is I, Ulysses, who am here. I have suffered much,but at last, in the twentieth year, I am come back to my owncountry. I find that you two alone of all my servants are glad thatI should do so, for I have not heard any of the others praying formy return. To you two, therefore, will I unfold the truth as itshall be. If heaven shall deliver the suitors into my hands, I willfind wives for both of you, will give you house and holding close tomy own, and you shall be to me as though you were brothers and friendsof Telemachus. I will now give you convincing proofs that you may knowme and be assured. See, here is the scar from the boar's tooth thatripped me when I was out hunting on Mount Parnassus with the sons ofAutolycus."As he spoke he drew his rags aside from the great scar, and whenthey had examined it thoroughly, they both of them wept about Ulysses,threw their arms round him and kissed his head and shoulders, whileUlysses kissed their hands and faces in return. The sun would havegone down upon their mourning if Ulysses had not checked them andsaid:"Cease your weeping, lest some one should come outside and see us,and tell those who a are within. When you go in, do so separately, notboth together; I will go first, and do you follow afterwards; Let thismoreover be the token between us; the suitors will all of them tryto prevent me from getting hold of the bow and quiver; do you,therefore, Eumaeus, place it in my hands when you are carrying itabout, and tell the women to close the doors of their apartment. Ifthey hear any groaning or uproar as of men fighting about the house,they must not come out; they must keep quiet, and stay where theyare at their work. And I charge you, Philoetius, to make fast thedoors of the outer court, and to bind them securely at once."When he had thus spoken, he went back to the house and took the seatthat he had left. Presently, his two servants followed him inside.At this moment the bow was in the hands of Eurymachus, who waswarming it by the fire, but even so he could not string it, and he wasgreatly grieved. He heaved a deep sigh and said, "I grieve formyself and for us all; I grieve that I shall have to forgo themarriage, but I do not care nearly so much about this, for there areplenty of other women in Ithaca and elsewhere; what I feel most is thefact of our being so inferior to Ulysses in strength that we cannotstring his bow. This will disgrace us in the eyes of those who are yetunborn.""It shall not be so, Eurymachus," said Antinous, "and you know ityourself. To-day is the feast of Apollo throughout all the land; whocan string a bow on such a day as this? Put it on one side- as for theaxes they can stay where they are, for no one is likely to come to thehouse and take them away: let the cupbearer go round with his cups,that we may make our drink-offerings and drop this matter of thebow; we will tell Melanthius to bring us in some goats to-morrow-the best he has; we can then offer thigh bones to Apollo the mightyarcher, and again make trial of the bow, so as to bring the contest toan end."The rest approved his words, and thereon men servants poured waterover the hands of the guests, while pages filled the mixing-bowls withwine and water and handed it round after giving every man hisdrink-offering. Then, when they had made their offerings and had drunkeach as much as he desired, Ulysses craftily said:"Suitors of the illustrious queen, listen that I may speak even as Iam minded. I appeal more especially to Eurymachus, and to Antinous whohas just spoken with so much reason. Cease shooting for the presentand leave the matter to the gods, but in the morning let heaven givevictory to whom it will. For the moment, however, give me the bow thatI may prove the power of my hands among you all, and see whether Istill have as much strength as I used to have, or whether travel andneglect have made an end of it."This made them all very angry, for they feared he might string thebow; Antinous therefore rebuked him fiercely saying, "Wretchedcreature, you have not so much as a grain of sense in your whole body;you ought to think yourself lucky in being allowed to dine unharmedamong your betters, without having any smaller portion served you thanwe others have had, and in being allowed to hear our conversation.No other beggar or stranger has been allowed to hear what we say amongourselves; the wine must have been doing you a mischief, as it doeswith all those drink immoderately. It was wine that inflamed theCentaur Eurytion when he was staying with Peirithous among theLapithae. When the wine had got into his head he went mad and didill deeds about the house of Peirithous; this angered the heroes whowere there assembled, so they rushed at him and cut off his ears and