“I would have asked thee at another time To make our house thy home, for there would be No lack of kindly welcome. ’Twere not well To ask thee now, for I shall not be there, Nor will my mother see thee—since not oft Doth she appear before the suitor-train, But in an upper room, apart from them, Weaves at her loom a web. Another man I name, Eurymachus, the illustrious son Of the sage Polybus, to be thy host. The noblest of the suitors he, and seeks Most earnestly to wed the queen, and take The rank Ulysses held. Olympian Jove, Who dwells in ether, knows the fatal day That may o’ertake the suitors ere she wed.”
As thus he spake, a falcon on the right Flew by, Apollo’s messenger. A dove Was in his talons, which he tore, and poured The feathers down between Telemachus And where the galley lay. When this was seen By Theoclymenus, he called the youth Apart, alone, and took his hand and said:—
“The bird that passed us, O Telemachus, Upon the right, flew not without a god To guide him. When I saw it, well I knew The omen. Not in Ithaca exists A house of a more kingly destiny Than thine, and ever will its power prevail.”
And thus discreet Telemachus replied:
“O stranger, may thy saying come to pass; Then shalt thou quickly know me for thy friend, And be rewarded with such liberal gifts That all who meet thee shall rejoice with thee.”
Then turning to Piraeus he bespake That faithful follower thus: > “Piraeus, son Of Clytius, thou who ever wert the first To move, at my command, of all the men Who went with