And thus discreet Antilochus replied: “Have patience with me: I am younger far Than thou, King Menelaus; thou art both My elder and my better. Thou dost know The faults to which the young are ever prone; The will is quick to act, the judgment weak. Bear with me then. The mare which I received I cheerfully make over to thy hands. And if thou wilt yet more of what I have, I give it willingly and instantly, Rather, O loved of Jove, than lose a place In thy good-will, and sin against the gods.”

The son of large-souled Nestor, speaking thus, Led forth the mare, and gave her to the hand Of Menelaus, o’er whose spirit came A gladness. As upon a field of wheat Bristling with ears gathers the freshening dew, So was his spirit gladdened in his breast, And he bespake the youth with wingèd words:⁠—