《奥德修记》-45

nostrils; then they dragged him through the doorway out of thehouse, so he went away crazed, and bore the burden of his crime,bereft of understanding. Henceforth, therefore, there was warbetween mankind and the centaurs, but he brought it upon himselfthrough his own drunkenness. In like manner I can tell you that itwill go hardly with you if you string the bow: you will find nomercy from any one here, for we shall at once ship you off to kingEchetus, who kills every one that comes near him: you will never getaway alive, so drink and keep quiet without getting into a quarrelwith men younger than yourself."Penelope then spoke to him. "Antinous," said she, "it is not rightthat you should ill-treat any guest of Telemachus who comes to thishouse. If the stranger should prove strong enough to string the mightybow of Ulysses, can you suppose that he would take me home with himand make me his wife? Even the man himself can have no such idea inhis mind: none of you need let that disturb his feasting; it wouldbe out of all reason.""Queen Penelope," answered Eurymachus, "we do not suppose thatthis man will take you away with him; it is impossible; but we areafraid lest some of the baser sort, men or women among the Achaeans,should go gossiping about and say, 'These suitors are a feeble folk;they are paying court to the wife of a brave man whose bow not oneof them was able to string, and yet a beggarly tramp who came to thehouse strung it at once and sent an arrow through the iron.' This iswhat will be said, and it will be a scandal against us.""Eurymachus," Penelope answered, "people who persist in eating upthe estate of a great chieftain and dishonouring his house must notexpect others to think well of them. Why then should you mind if mentalk as you think they will? This stranger is strong and well-built,he says moreover that he is of noble birth. Give him the bow, andlet us see whether he can string it or no. I say- and it shallsurely be- that if Apollo vouchsafes him the glory of stringing it,I will give him a cloak and shirt of good wear, with a javelin to keepoff dogs and robbers, and a sharp sword. I will also give him sandals,and will see him sent safely whereever he wants to go."Then Telemachus said, "Mother, I am the only man either in Ithaca orin the islands that are over against Elis who has the right to let anyone have the bow or to refuse it. No one shall force me one way or theother, not even though I choose to make the stranger a present ofthe bow outright, and let him take it away with him. Go, then,within the house and busy yourself with your daily duties, yourloom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants. This bow is aman's matter, and mine above all others, for it is I who am masterhere."She went wondering back into the house, and laid her son's saying inher heart. Then going upstairs with her handmaids into her room, shemourned her dear husband till Minerva sent sweet sleep over hereyelids.The swineherd now took up the bow and was for taking it toUlysses, but the suitors clamoured at him from all parts of thecloisters, and one of them said, "You idiot, where are you takingthe bow to? Are you out of your wits? If Apollo and the other godswill grant our prayer, your own boarhounds shall get you into somequiet little place, and worry you to death."Eumaeus was frightened at the outcry they all raised, so he putthe bow down then and there, but Telemachus shouted out at him fromthe other side of the cloisters, and threatened him saying, "FatherEumaeus, bring the bow on in spite of them, or young as I am I willpelt you with stones back to the country, for I am the better man ofthe two. I wish I was as much stronger than all the other suitors inthe house as I am than you, I would soon send some of them off sickand sorry, for they mean mischief."Thus did he speak, and they all of them laughed heartily, whichput them in a better humour with Telemachus; so Eumaeus brought thebow on and placed it in the hands of Ulysses. When he had done this,he called Euryclea apart and said to her, "Euryclea, Telemachus saysyou are to close the doors of the women's apartments. If they hear anygroaning or uproar as of men fighting about the house, they are not tocome out, but are to keep quiet and stay where they are at theirwork."Euryclea did as she was told and closed the doors of the women'sapartments.Meanwhile Philoetius slipped quietly out and made fast the gatesof the outer court. There was a ship's cable of byblus fibre lyingin the gatehouse, so he made the gates fast with it and then came inagain, resuming the seat that he had left, and keeping an eye onUlysses, who had now got the bow in his hands, and was turning itevery way about, and proving it all over to see whether the wormshad been eating into its two horns during his absence. Then wouldone turn towards his neighbour saying, "This is some tricky oldbow-fancier; either he has got one like it at home, or he wants tomake one, in such workmanlike style does the old vagabond handle it."Another said, "I hope he may be no more successful in other thingsthan he is likely to be in stringing this bow."But Ulysses, when he had taken it up and examined it all over,strung it as easily as a skilled bard strings a new peg of his lyreand makes the twisted gut fast at both ends. Then he took it in hisright hand to prove the string, and it sang sweetly under his touchlike the twittering of a swallow. The suitors were dismayed, andturned colour as they heard it; at that moment, moreover, Jovethundered loudly as a sign, and the heart of Ulysses rejoiced as heheard the omen that the son of scheming Saturn had sent him.He took an arrow that was lying upon the table- for those whichthe Achaeans were so shortly about to taste were all inside thequiver- he laid it on the centre-piece of the bow, and drew thenotch of the arrow and the string toward him, still seated on hisseat. When he had taken aim he let fly, and his arrow pierced everyone of the handle-holes of the axes from the first onwards till it hadgone right through them, and into the outer courtyard. Then he said toTelemachus:"Your guest has not disgraced you, Telemachus. I did not miss what Iaimed at, and I was not long in stringing my bow. I am still strong,and not as the suitors twit me with being. Now, however, it is timefor the Achaeans to prepare supper while there is still daylight,and then otherwise to disport themselves with song and dance which arethe crowning ornaments of a banquet."As he spoke he made a sign with his eyebrows, and Telemachusgirded on his sword, grasped his spear, and stood armed beside hisfather's seat.BOOK XXII.THEN Ulysses tore off his rags, and sprang on to the broadpavement with his bow and his quiver full of arrows. He shed thearrows on to the ground at his feet and said, "The mighty contest isat an end. I will now see whether Apollo will vouchsafe it to me tohit another mark which no man has yet hit."On this he aimed a deadly arrow at Antinous, who was about to takeup a two-handled gold cup to drink his wine and already had it inhis hands. He had no thought of death- who amongst all the revellerswould think that one man, however brave, would stand alone among somany and kill him? The arrow struck Antinous in the throat, and thepoint went clean through his neck, so that he fell over and the cupdropped from his hand, while a thick stream of blood gushed from hisnostrils. He kicked the table from him and upset the things on it,so that the bread and roasted meats were all soiled as they fellover on to the ground. The suitors were in an uproar when they sawthat a man had been hit; they sprang in dismay one and all of themfrom their seats and looked everywhere towards the walls, but therewas neither shield nor spear, and they rebuked Ulysses very angrily."Stranger," said they, "you shall pay for shooting people in this way:om yi you shall see no other contest; you are a doomed man; he whomyou have slain was the foremost youth in Ithaca, and the vulturesshall devour you for having killed him."Thus they spoke, for they thought that he had killed Antinous bymistake, and did not perceive that death was hanging over the headof every one of them. But Ulysses glared at them and said:"Dogs, did you think that I should not come back from Troy? You havewasted my substance, have forced my women servants to lie with you,and have wooed my wife while I was still living. You have fearedneither Cod nor man, and now you shall die."They turned pale with fear as he spoke, and every man looked roundabout to see whither he might fly for safety, but Eurymachus alonespoke."If you are Ulysses," said he, "then what you have said is just.We have done much wrong on your lands and in your house. ButAntinous who was the head and front of the offending lies low already.It was all his doing. It was not that he wanted to marry Penelope;he did not so much care about that; what he wanted was something quitedifferent, and Jove has not vouchsafed it to him; he wanted to killyour son and to be chief man in Ithaca. Now, therefore, that he hasmet the death which was his due, spare the lives of your people. Wewill make everything good among ourselves, and pay you in full for allthat we have eaten and drunk. Each one of us shall pay you a fineworth twenty oxen, and we will keep on giving you gold and bronze tillyour heart is softened. Until we have done this no one can complain ofyour being enraged against us."Ulysses again glared at him and said, "Though you should give me allthat you have in the world both now and all that you ever shallhave, I will not stay my hand till I have paid all of you in full. Youmust fight, or fly for your lives; and fly, not a man of you shall."Their hearts sank as they heard him, but Eurymachus again spokesaying:"My friends, this man will give us no quarter. He will stand wherehe is and shoot us down till he has killed every man among us. Letus then show fight; draw your swords, and hold up the tables to shieldyou from his arrows. Let us have at him with a rush, to drive him fromthe pavement and doorway: we can then get through into the town, andraise such an alarm as shall soon stay his shooting."As he spoke he drew his keen blade of bronze, sharpened on bothsides, and with a loud cry sprang towards Ulysses, but Ulyssesinstantly shot an arrow into his breast that caught him by thenipple and fixed itself in his liver. He dropped his sword and felldoubled up over his table. The cup and all the meats went over on tothe ground as he smote the earth with his forehead in the agonies ofdeath, and he kicked the stool with his feet until his eyes wereclosed in darkness.Then Amphinomus drew his sword and made straight at Ulysses to tryand get him away from the door; but Telemachus was too quick forhim, and struck him from behind; the spear caught him between theshoulders and went right through his chest, so that he fell heavily tothe ground and struck the earth with his forehead. Then Telemachussprang away from him, leaving his spear still in the body, for hefeared that if he stayed to draw it out, some one of the Achaeansmight come up and hack at him with his sword, or knock him down, so heset off at a run, and immediately was at his father's side. Then hesaid:"Father, let me bring you a shield, two spears, and a brass helmetfor your temples. I will arm myself as well, and will bring otherarmour for the swineherd and the stockman, for we had better bearmed."