Page:The Story of the Iliad.djvu/42

26 sceptre in his hand, and spake thus: "O my friends, ill hath Zeus dealt with me. He promised me that I should take the city of Troy, and so return to my home. But his words were deceitful, for now he bids me go back to Argos, inglorious, having lost much people. Shame indeed were it for men to know hereafter that we who are so many have yet fought in vain; many we are, and we fight with them that are fewer than ourselves, and yet we see no end. Verily, if the Greeks and the men of Troy should make a truce and number themselves, and the Greeks should be ranked in tens, and for each ten should take a man of Troy to pour the wine, verily, I say, many a ten would lack a cupbearer. Fewer indeed by far are the Trojans, but they have allies, valiant spearmen, who hinder me from taking the city. And now nine years have passed, and the timbers of our ships are rotted, and the rigging is worn; and our wives and our children sit at home and wait for us. Come, therefore, let us flee to the land of our fathers, for Troy we may not take."

So spake the King, and stirred the hearts of the people; that is to say, of all that knew not