The swift Achilles answered him and said:⁠— “Son of Laertes, nobly born, and versed In wise devices, let me frankly speak Just as I think, and just as I shall act, And then ye will not importune me more. Hateful to me, as are the gates of hell, Is he who, hiding one thing in his heart, Utters another. I shall speak as seems To me the best; nor deem I that the son Of Atreus or the other Greeks can move My settled purpose, since no thanks are paid To him who with the enemy maintains A constant battle: equal is the meed Of him who stands aloof and him who fights Manfully; both the coward and the brave Are held in equal honor, and they die An equal death⁠—the idler and the man Of mighty deeds. For me there is no store Of wealth laid up from all that I have borne, Exposing life in battle. As a bird Brings to her unfledged young the food she finds, Though she herself be fasting, so have I Had many a night unvisited by sleep, And passed in combat many a bloody day,