Page:The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer (IA iliadodysseyofho02home).pdf/81

IV. I deem. What wealth, how various, how immense Is here! astonish'd I survey the sight! But Menelaus, golden-hair'd, his speech O'erhearing, thus in accents wing'd replied My children! let no mortal man pretend Comparison with Jove; for Jove's abode And all his stores are incorruptible. But whether mortal man with me may vie In the display of wealth, or whether not, This know, that after many toils endured, And perilous wand'rings wide, in the eighth year I brought my treasures home. Remote I roved To Cyprus, to Phœnice, to the shores Of Ægypt; Æthiopia's land I reach'd, Th' Erembi, the Sidonians, and the coasts Of Lybia, where the lambs their foreheads shew At once with horns defended, soon as yean'd. There, thrice within the year the flocks produce, Nor master, there, nor shepherd ever feels A dearth of cheese, of flesh, or of sweet milk Delicious, drawn from udders never dry. While, thus, commodities on various coasts Gath'ring I roam'd, another, by the arts Of his pernicious spouse aided, of life Bereav'd my brother privily, and when least He fear'd to lose it. Therefore little joy To me results from all that I possess. Your fathers (be those fathers who they may)