The swineherd now took up the bow
and was for taking it to Odysseus, but the suitors clamored at him
from all parts of the cloisters, and one of them said, "You idiot,
where are you taking the bow to? Are you out of your wits? If Apollo
and the other gods will answer our prayer, your own boarhounds shall
get you into some quiet little place, and worry you to
death."
Eumaios was frightened at the
outcry they all raised, so he put the bow down then and there, but
Telemakhos shouted out at him from the other side of the cloisters,
and threatened him saying, "Father Eumaios, bring the bow on in spite
of them, or young as I am I will pelt you with stones back to the
country, for I am the stronger [biê] man of the
two. I wish I was as much stronger than all the other suitors in the
house as I am than you, I would soon send some of them off sick and
sorry, for they mean mischief."
Thus did he speak, and they all
of them laughed heartily, which put them in a better humor with
Telemakhos; so Eumaios brought the bow on and placed it in the hands
of Odysseus. When he had done this, he called Eurykleia apart and
said to her, "Eurykleia, Telemakhos says you are to close the doors
of the women's apartments. If they hear any groaning or uproar
as of men fighting about the house, they are not to come out, but are
to keep quiet and stay where they are at their work."
Eurykleia did as she was told and
closed the doors of the women's apartments.
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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