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(From The Odyssey, Book XIII) Translated by W. C. Bryant
A PORT there is in Ithaca, the haunt | |
| Of Phorcys, Ancient of the Sea. Steep shores | |
| Stretch inward toward each other, and roll back | |
| The mighty surges which the hoarse winds hurl | |
| Against them from the ocean, while within | 5 |
| Ships ride without their hawsers when they once | |
| Have passed the haven’s mouth. An olive-tree | |
| With spreading branches at the farther end | |
| Of that fair haven stands, and overbrows | |
| A pleasant shady grotto of the nymphs | 10 |
| Called Naiads. Cups and jars of stone are ranged | |
| Within, and bees lay up their honey there. | |
| There from their spindles wrought of stone the nymphs | |
| Weave their sea-purple robes, which all behold | |
| With wonder; there are ever-flowing springs. | 15 |
| Two are the entrances: one toward the north | |
| By which men enter; but a holier one | |
| Looks toward the south, nor ever mortal foot | |
| May enter there. By that way pass the gods. | |
| They touched the land, for well they knew the spot. | 20 |
| The galley, urged so strongly by the arms | |
| Of those who plied the oar, ran up the beach | |
| Quite half her length. And then the crew came forth | |
| From the good ship, and first they lifted out | |
| Ulysses with the linen and rich folds | 25 |
| Of tapestry, and laid him on the sands | |
| In a deep slumber. Then they also took | |
| The presents from the hold, which, as he left | |
| Their isle, the princes of Phæacia gave | |
| By counsel of wise Pallas. These they piled | 30 |
| Close to the olive-tree, without the way, | |
| That none, in passing, ere Ulysses woke, | |
| Might do their owner wrong. Then homeward sailed | |
| The crew. * * * * * | |
| Then from the haven up the rugged path | 35 |
| Ulysses went among the woody heights. | |
| He sought the spot where Pallas bade him meet | |
| The noble swineherd, who of all that served | |
| The great Ulysses chiefly had in charge | |
| To bring the day’s supplies. He found him there | 40 |
| Seated beneath the portico, before | |
| His airy lodge, that might be seen from far, | |
| Well built and spacious, standing by itself. | |
| Eumæus, while his lord was far away, | |
| Had built it, though not bidden by the queen | 45 |
| Nor old Laertes, with the stones he drew | |
| From quarries thither. Round it he had set | |
| A hedge of thorns, encircling these with stakes | |
| Close set and many, cloven from the heart | |
| Of oak. Within that circuit he had made | 50 |
| Twelve sties, beside each other, for the swine | |
| To lie in. Fifty wallowed in each sty, | |
| All females; there they littered. But the males | |
| Were fewer, and were kept without; and these | |
| The suitor train made fewer every day, | 55 |
| Feeding upon them, for Eumæus sent | |
| Always the best of all his fatling herd. | |
| These numbered twice nine score. Beside them slept | |
| Four mastiffs, which the master swineherd fed, | |
| Savage as wolves. Eumæus to his feet | 60 |
| Was fitting sandals, which he carved and shaped | |
| From a stained ox-hide, while the other hinds | |
| Were gone on different errands,—three to drive | |
| The herds of swine,—a fourth was sent to take | |
| A fatling to the city, that the crew | 65 |
| Of arrogant suitors, having offered him | |
| In sacrifice, might feast upon his flesh. | |
| The loud-mouthed dogs that saw Ulysses come | |
| Ran toward him, fiercely baying. He sat down | |
| At once, through caution, letting fall his staff | 70 |
| Upon the ground, and would have suffered there | |
| Unseemly harm, within his own domain, | |
| But then the swineherd, following with quick steps, | |
| Rushed through the vestibule, and dropped the hide. | |
| He chid the dogs and, pelting them with stones, | 75 |
| Drave them asunder, and addressed the king:— | |
| “O aged man, the mastiffs of the lodge | |
| Had almost torn thee, and thou wouldst have cast | |
| Bitter reproach upon me. Other griefs | |
| And miseries the gods have made my lot. | 80 |
| Here sorrowfully sitting I lament | |
| A godlike master, and for others tend | |
| His fatling swine; while, haply hungering | |
| For bread, he wanders among alien men | |
| In other kingdoms, if indeed he lives | 85 |
| And looks upon the sun. But follow me, | |
| And come into the house, that there, refreshed | |
| With food and wine, old man, thou mayst declare | |
| Whence thou dost come and what thou hast endured.” | |
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