Page:The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer (IA iliadodysseyofho02home).pdf/418

410 For much a wand'rer by his garb he seems. To whom, Eumæus, thou didst thus reply. Were those Achaians silent, thou shouldst hear, O Queen! a tale that would console thy heart. Three nights I housed him, and within my cot Three days detain'd him, (for his ship he left A fugitive, and came direct to me) But half untold his hist'ry still remains. As when his eye one fixes on a bard From heav'n instructed in such themes as charm The ear of mortals, ever as he sings The people press, insatiable, to hear, So, in my cottage, seated at my side, That stranger with his tale enchanted me. Laertes, he affirms, hath been his guest Erewhile in Crete, where Minos' race resides, And thence he hath arrived, after great loss, A suppliant to the very earth abased; He adds, that in Thesprotia's neighbour realm He of Ulysses heard, both that he lives, And that he comes laden with riches home. To whom Penelope, discrete, replied. Haste; call him. I would hear, myself, his tale. Meantime, let these, or in the palace gate Sport jocular, or here; their hearts are light, For their possessions are secure; their wine None drinks, or eats their viands, save their own, While my abode, day after day, themselves