Page:Homer. The Odyssey (IA homerodyssey00collrich).pdf/66

56 mortal indeed, and wholly taken up at present with one of the most inglorious of mortal cravings:—

There is every appliance to satisfy appetite, however, in the luxurious halls of Alcinous. While Ulysses is seated at table, Queen Arete, careful housewife as she is with all her royalty, marks with some curiosity that the raiment which their strange guest wears must have come from her own household stores—so well does she know the work of herself and her handmaidens. This leads to a confession on Ulysses' part of his previous interview with Nausicaa, whom he praises, as he had good right to do, as wise beyond her years. So charmed is the king with his guest's taste and discernment, that he at once declares that nothing would