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Rh and deliver them to thee in full assembly. And afterwards let him furnish a feast of reconciliation, that so thou mayest miss nothing of thy due." Then said the King: "Thou speakest well, Ulysses. Do thou thyself fetch the gifts, and let the herald fetch us a boar, that we may do sacrifice to Zeus and to the Sun."

But Achilles said: "This business had suited better some other time, as when there was some breathing-space in the war, and my heart was not so hot within me. But now the dead whom Hector slew lieth low, and ye bid me think of food. Let the Greeks enter fasting into battle, and make them a great supper when the sun goes down. As for me, neither food nor drink shall pass my lips." To him Ulysses made reply: "Thou art the stronger, son of Peleus, yet I may be the wiser, for I am older than thou, and of more experience. Ask not the Greeks to fast because of the dead. Verily they fall every day. How, then, should there be any interval of grief? Rather let us bury him that dieth, and bewail him for a day, and harden our hearts to forget: