Page:The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer (IA iliadodysseyofho02home).pdf/181

VIII. Whose bite hath pinch'd and pain'd me to the proof. He said; and mantled as he was, a quoit Upstarting, seized, in bulk and weight all those Transcending far, by the Phæacians used. Swiftly he swung, and from his vig'rous hand Sent it. Loud sang the stone, and as it flew The maritime Phæacians low inclined Their heads beneath it; over all the marks, And far beyond them, sped the flying rock. Minerva, in a human form, the cast Prodigious measur'd, and aloud exclaim'd. Stranger! the blind himself might with his hands Feel out the 'vantage here. Thy quoit disdains Fellowship with a crowd, borne far beyond. Fear not a losing game; Phæacian none Will reach thy measure, much less overcast. She ceased; Ulysses, hardy Chief, rejoiced That in the circus he had found a judge So favorable, and with brisker tone, As less in wrath, the multitude address'd. Young men, reach this, and I will quickly heave Another such, or yet a heavier quoit. Then, come the man whose courage prompts him forth To box, to wrestle with me, or to run; For ye have chafed me much, and I decline No strife with any here, but challenge all Phæacia, save Laodamas alone. He is mine host. Who combats with his friend?