“Father, thou yet wilt know my heart, and find That of a careless and too easy mood I am not; but a search like this, I think, Would profit neither of us, and I pray That thou wilt well consider it. Long time Wouldst thou go wandering from place to place, O’er thy estates, to prove the loyalty Of everyone, while in thy halls at ease The suitors wastefully consume thy wealth. Yet would I counsel that the women’s faith Be proved, that the disloyal may be marked And the innocent go free. As for the men, I would not now inquire from farm to farm; That may be done hereafter, if indeed Thou hast a sign from aegis-bearing Jove.”
So talked they with each other. The good ship Which brought Telemachus and all his friends From Pylos kept meantime upon its way To Ithaca. There, entering the deep port, The seamen hauled the black ship up the beach; And then the ready servants took away The arms, and to the house of Clytius bore The costly gifts. A herald from the ship Went forward to the palace of the king With tidings to the sage Penelope That now her son was come and in the fields, And that the ship at his command had reached The city, lest the royal dame might feel Fear for his safety, and give way to tears. The herald and the noble swineherd met, Each bearing the same message to the queen. Entering the palace of the godlike king, And standing midst the maids, the herald said:—
“O lady, thy beloved son is come.”
But close beside the queen the swineherd stood, And told her everything which her dear son Had bid him say; and, having thus fulfilled His errand, left the palace and its court.
Then were the suitors vexed and sorrowful, And going from the palace, and without The great wall that enclosed the court, sat down Before the gates, and there Eurymachus, The son of Polybus, harangued the throng:—