Page:The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer (IA iliadodysseyofho02home).pdf/361

Book XV. Whom thus Telemachus answer'd discrete. I shall not, be assured, since thou desir'st To join me, chace thee from my bark away. Follow me, therefore, and with us partake, In Ithaca, what best the land affords. So saying, he at the stranger's hand received His spear, which on the deck he lay'd, then climb'd Himself the bark, and, seated in the stern, At his own side placed Theoclymenus. They cast the hawsers loose; then with loud voice Telemachus exhorted all to hand The tackle, whom the sailors prompt obey'd. The tall mast heaving, in its socket deep They lodg'd it, and its cordage braced secure, Then, straining at the halyards, hoised the sail. Fair wind, and blowing fresh through æther pure Minerva sent them, that the bark might run Her nimblest course through all the briny way. Now sank the sun, and dusky ev'ning dimm'd The waves, when, driven by propitious Jove, His bark stood right for Pheræ; thence she stretch'd To sacred Elis where the Epeans rule, And through the sharp Echinades he next Steer'd her, uncertain whether fate ordain'd His life or death, surprizal or escape. Meantime Ulysses and the swineherd ate Their cottage-mess, and the assistant swains Theirs also; and when hunger now and thirst