The Story of the Odyssey | Page 9

his eyes. This Menelaus saw, and knew who he was,
and pondered whether he should wait till he should himself speak of his
father, or should rather ask him of his errand. But while he pondered
there came in the fair Helen, and three maidens with her, of whom one
set a couch for her to sit, and one spread a carpet for her feet, and one
bare a basket of purple wool; but she herself had a distaff of gold in her
hand. And when she saw the strangers she said:--
"Who are these, Menelaus? Never have I seen such likeness in man or
woman as this one bears to Ulysses. Surely 'tis his son Telemachus,
whom he left an infant at home when ye went to Troy for my sake!"
Then said Menelaus: "It must indeed be so, lady. For these are the
hands and feet of Ulysses, and the look of his eyes and his hair. And
but now, when I made mention of his name, he wept, holding his
mantle before his face."
Then said Peisistratus: "King Menelaus, thou speakest truth. This is
indeed the son of Ulysses who is come to thee; perchance thou canst
help him by word or deed."
And Menelaus answered: "Then is he the son of a man whom I loved
right well. I thought to give him a city in this land, bringing him from
Ithaca with all his goods. Then should naught have divided us but death
itself. But these things the gods have ordered otherwise."
At these words they all wept--the fair Helen and Telemachus and
Menelaus; nor could Peisistratus refrain himself, for he thought of his
dear brother who was slain at Troy.
Then said Menelaus: "Now we will cease from weeping; and
to-morrow there is much that Telemachus and I must say one to the
other."

Then the fair Helen put a mighty medicine in the wine whereof they
drank--nepenthe [Footnote: ne-pen'-the], men call it. So mighty is it
that whoever drinks of it, weeps not that day, though father and mother
die, and though men slay brother or son before his eyes.
And after this she said: "It would take long to tell all the wise and
valiant deeds of Ulysses. One thing, however, ye shall hear, and it is
this: while the Greeks were before Troy he came into the city, having
disguised himself as a beggar-man, yea, and he had laid many blows
upon himself, so that he seemed to have been shamefully treated. I
alone knew who he was, and questioned him, but he answered craftily.
And I swore that I would not betray him. So he slew many Trojans with
the sword, and learnt many things. And while other women in Troy
lamented, I was glad, for my heart was turned again to my home."
Then Menelaus said: "Thou speakest truly, lady. Many men have I seen,
and travelled over many lands, but never have I seen one who might be
matched with Ulysses. Well do I remember how, when I and other
chiefs of the Greeks sat in the horse of wood, thou didst come. Some
god who loved the sons of Troy put the thing into thy heart. Thrice
didst thou walk round our hiding-place and call by name to each one of
the chiefs, speaking marvellously like his wife. Then would we have
risen from our place or answered thee straightway. But Ulysses
hindered us, and thus saved all the Greeks."
But Telemachus said: "Yet all these things have not kept him, for he
has perished."
And after that they slept.

CHAPTER V
MENELAUS'S TALE
The next day Menelaus said to Telemachus: "For what end hast thou
come hither to fair Lacedaemon?"

Then Telemachus said: "I have come to ask if thou canst tell me aught
of my father. For certain suitors of my mother devour my goods, nor do
I see any help. Tell me truly, therefore; knowest thou anything thyself
about my father, or hast thou heard anything from another?"
And Menelaus answered:--
"In the river AEgyptus I was stayed long time, though I was eager to
get home; the gods stayed me, for I had not offered to them due
sacrifice. Now there is an island in the wash of the waves over against
the land of Egypt--men call it Pharos [Footnote: Pha'- ros.], and it is
distant one day's voyage for a ship, if the wind bloweth fair in her wake.
Here did the gods keep me twenty days, nor did the sea winds ever
blow. Then all my corn would have been spent, and the lives also of my
men lost, if the daughter of Proteus [Footnote: Pro'-teus.]had not taken
pity on me. Her heart was moved to see me when I wandered alone,