Page:The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer (IA iliadodysseyofho02home).pdf/420

412 Thy sustenance thou must, as now, obtain, Begging it at their hands who chuse to give. Then thus Ulysses, Hero toil-inured. Eumæus! readily I can relate Truth, and truth only, to the prudent Queen Icarius' daughter; for of him I know Much, and have suff'red sorrows like his own. But dread I feel of this imperious throng Perverse, whose riot and outrageous acts Of violence echo through the vault of heav'n. And, even now, when for no fault of mine Yon suitor struck me as I pass'd, and fill'd My flesh with pain, neither Telemachus Nor any interposed to stay his arm. Now, therefore, let Penelope, although Impatient, till the sun descend postpone Her questions; then she may enquire secure When comes her husband, and may nearer place My seat to the hearth-side, for thinly clad Thou know'st I am, whose aid I first implored. He ceas'd; at whose reply Eumæus sought Again the Queen, but ere he yet had pass'd The threshold, thus she greeted his return. Com'st thou alone, Eumæus? why delays The invited wand'rer? dreads he other harm?