The son of King Alcinoüs, as he heard, Came forward, and bespake Ulysses thus:—
“Thou also, guest and father, try these feats, If thou perchance wert trained to them. I think Thou must be skilled in games, since there is not A greater glory for a man while yet He lives on earth than what he hath wrought out, By strenuous effort, with his feet and hands. Try, then, thy skill, and give no place to grief. Not long will thy departure be delayed; Thy barque is launched; the crew are ready here.”
Ulysses, the sagacious, answered thus:— “Why press me, O Laodamas! to try These feats, when all my thoughts are of my woes, And not of games? I, who have borne so much Of pain and toil, sit pining for my home In your assembly, supplicating here Your king and all the people of your land.”
Then spake Euryalus with chiding words:— “Stranger, I well perceive thou canst not boast, As many others can, of skill in games; But thou art one of those who dwell in ships With many benches, rulers o’er a crew Of sailors—a mere trader looking out For freight, and watching o’er the wares that form The cargo. Thou hast doubtless gathered wealth By rapine, and art surely no athlete.”
Ulysses, the sagacious, frowned and said:— “Stranger, thou speakest not becomingly, But like a man who recks not what he says. The gods bestow not equally on all The gifts that men desire—the grace of form, The mind, the eloquence. One man to sight Is undistinguished, but on him the gods Bestow the power of words. All look on him Gladly; he knows whereof he speaks; his speech Is mild and modest; he is eminent In all assemblies, and, whene’er he walks The city, men regard him as a god. Another in the form he wears is like The immortals, yet has he no power to speak Becoming words. So thou hast comely looks— A god would not have shaped thee otherwise Than we behold thee—yet thy wit is small,