Page:The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer (IA iliadodysseyofho02home).pdf/415

Book XVII. Then answer thus Antinoüs harsh return'd. What dæmon introduced this nuisance here, This troubler of our feast? stand yonder, keep Due distance from my table, or expect To see an Ægypt and a Cyprus worse Than those, bold mendicant and void of shame! Thou hauntest each, and, inconsid'rate, each Gives to thee, because gifts at other's cost Are cheap, and, plentifully serv'd themselves, They squander, heedless, viands not their own. To whom Ulysses while he slow retired. Gods! how illib'ral with that specious form! Thou wouldst not grant the poor a grain of salt From thy own board, who at another's fed So nobly, canst thou not spare a crust to me. He spake; then raged Antinoüs still the more, And in wing'd accents, louring, thus replied. Take such dismission now as thou deserv'st, Opprobrious! hast thou dared to scoff at me? So saying, he seized his stool, and on the joint Of his right shoulder smote him; firm as rock He stood, by no such force to be displaced, But silent shook his brows, and dreadful deeds Of vengeance ruminating, sought again His seat the threshold, where his bag full-charged He grounded, and the suitors thus address'd. Hear now, ye suitors of the matchless Queen, My bosom's dictates. Trivial is the harm,