Then the queen went back to her
room upstairs, and her maids brought the presents after her.
Meanwhile the suitors took to singing and dancing, and stayed till
evening came. They danced and sang till it grew dark; they then
brought in three braziers to give light, and piled them up with
chopped firewood very and dry, and they lit torches from them, which
the maids held up turn and turn about. Then Odysseus said:
"Maids, servants of Odysseus who
has so long been absent, go to the queen inside the house; sit with
her and amuse her, or spin, and pick wool. I will hold the light for
all these people. They may stay till morning, but shall not beat me,
for I can stand a great deal."
The maids looked at one another
and laughed, while pretty Melantho began to gibe at him
contemptuously. She was daughter to Dolios, but had been brought up
by Penelope, who used to give her toys to play with, and looked after
her when she was a child; but in spite of all this she showed no
consideration for the sorrows [penthos] of her
mistress, and used to misconduct herself with Eurymakhos, with whom
she was in love.
"Poor wretch," said she, "are you
gone clean out of your mind? Go and sleep in some smithy, or place of
public gossips, instead of chattering here. Are you not ashamed of
opening your mouth before your betters - so many of them too? Has the
wine been getting into your head, or do you always babble in this
way? You seem to have lost your wits because you beat the tramp Iros;
take care that a better man than he does not come and cudgel you
about the head till he pack you bleeding out of the
house."
Homer. The Odyssey. Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original. Samuel Butler. Based on public domain edition, revised by Timothy Power and Gregory Nagy. A. C. Fifield, London. 1900 (?).
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