both arms, in firmly planted neck And strong-built frame; nor does he seem to lack A certain youthful vigor, though impaired By many hardships—for I know of naught That more severely tries the strongest man, And breaks him down, than perils of the sea.”
Euryalus replied:
“Laodamas, Well hast thou said, and rightly: go thou now And speak to him thyself, and challenge him.”
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.”