"Stranger," said she, "rise and
let us be going back to the town; I will introduce you at the house
of my excellent father, where I can tell you that you will meet all
the best people among the Phaeacians. But be sure and do as I bid
you, for you seem to be a sensible person. As long as we are going
past the fields - and farm lands, follow briskly behind the wagon
along with the maids and I will lead the way myself. Presently,
however, we shall come to the town, where you will find a high wall
running all round it, and a good harbor on either side with a narrow
entrance into the city, and the ships will be drawn up by the road
side, for every one has a place where his own ship can lie. You will
see the market place with a temple of Poseidon in the middle of it,
and paved with large stones bedded in the earth. Here people deal in
ship's gear of all kinds, such as cables and sails, and here,
too, are the places where oars are made, for the Phaeacians are not a
nation of archers; they know nothing about bows and arrows, but are a
sea-faring folk, and pride themselves on their masts, oars, and
ships, with which they travel far over the sea.
"I am afraid of the gossip and
scandal that may be set on foot against me later on; for the people
in the dêmos here are very ill-natured, and some lowly
person, if he met us, might say, ‘Who is this fine-looking
stranger that is going about with Nausicaa? Where did she find him? I
suppose she is going to marry him. Perhaps he is a vagabond sailor
whom she has taken from some foreign vessel, for we have no
neighbors; or some god has at last come down from heaven in answer to
her prayers, and she is going to live with him all the rest of her
life. It would be a better thing if she would take herself away and
find a husband somewhere else, for she will not look at one of the
many excellent young Phaeacians in the dêmos who woo
her.’ This is the kind of disparaging remark that would be made
about me, and I could not complain, for I should myself be
scandalized at seeing any other girl do the like, and go about with
men in spite of everybody, while her father and mother were still
alive, and without having been married in the face of all the
world.
"If, therefore, you want my
father to give you an escort and to help you home
[nostos], do as I bid you; you will see a beautiful
grove of poplars by the road side dedicated to Athena; it has a well
in it and a meadow all round it. Here my father has a field of
fertile garden ground, about as far from the town as a man's
voice will carry. Sit down there and wait for a while till the rest
of us can get into the town and reach my father's house. Then,
when you think we must have done this, come into the town and ask the
way to the house of my father Alkinoos. You will have no difficulty
in finding it; any child will point it out to you, for no one else in
the whole town has anything like such a fine house as he has. When
you have got past the gates and through the outer court, go right
across the inner court till you come to my mother. You will find her
sitting by the fire and spinning her purple wool by firelight. It is
a fine sight to see her as she leans back against one of the
bearing-posts with her maids all ranged behind her. Close to her seat
stands that of my father, on which he sits and topes like an immortal
god. Never mind him, but go up to my mother, and lay your hands upon
her knees if you would get home quickly. If you can win her over, you
may hope to see your own country again, no matter how distant it may
be."
So saying she lashed the mules
with her whip and they left the river. The mules drew well and their
hoofs went up and down upon the road. She was careful not to go too
fast for Odysseus and the maids who were following on foot along with
the wagon, so she plied her whip with judgment [noos].
As the sun was going down they came to the sacred grove of Athena,
and there Odysseus sat down and prayed to the mighty daughter of
Zeus.
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