He spake; the blue-eyed goddess, Pallas, smiled, And touched the chief caressingly. She seemed A beautiful and stately woman now, Such as are skilled in works of rare device, And thus she said to him in winged words:—
“Full shrewd were he, a master of deceit, Who should surpass thee in the ways of craft, Even though he were a god—thou unabashed And prompt with shifts, and measureless in wiles! Thou canst not even in thine own land refrain From artful figments and misleading words, As thou hast practised from thy birth. But now Speak we of other matters, for we both Are skilled in stratagem. Thou art the first Of living men in counsel and in speech, And I am famed for foresight and for craft Among the immortals. Dost thou not yet know Pallas Athenè, child of Jove, whose aid Is present to defend thee in all time Of peril, and but lately gained for thee The favor of the whole Phaeacian race? And hither am I come to frame for thee Wise counsels, and to hide away the stores Given by the opulent Phaeacian chiefs At thy departure. I shall also tell What thou must yet endure beneath the roof Of thine own palace, by the will of fate. Yet bear it bravely, since thou must, nor speak To any