He spake; the suitor-train, assenting, took The oath, and when they all were duly sworn, The highborn prince Telemachus began:—
“O stranger, if thy manly heart be moved To drive him hence, fear no one else of all The Achaians. Whosoever strikes at thee Has many to contend with. I am here The host. Antinoüs and Eurymachus, Wise men and kings, agree with me in this.”
He spake, and all approved. Ulysses drew And girt his tatters round his waist and showed His large and shapely thighs. Unclothed appeared His full broad shoulders, and his manly breast And sinewy arms. Minerva stood by him, And with a mighty breadth of limb endued The shepherd of the people. Earnestly The suitors gazed, and wondered at the sight, And each one, turning to his neighbor, said:—
“Irus, poor Irus, on himself has drawn An evil fate, for what a sinewy thigh His adversary shows beneath his rags!”
So talked they, while the heart of Irus sank Within him; yet the attendants girding him Forcibly drew him forward, sore afraid, The muscles quivering over every limb. And then Antinoüs spake, and chid him thus:—
“Now, boaster, thou deservest not to live, Nay, nor to have been born, if thou dost fear And quake at meeting one so old as he, So broken with the hardships he has borne. And now I tell thee what will yet be done, Should he approve himself the better man, And conquer. I will have thee sent on board A galley to Epirus, and its king, The foe of all men living, Echetus, And he will pare away thy nose and ears With the sharp steel, and, wrenching out the parts Of shame, will cast them to be torn by dogs.”
He spake, and Irus shook through all his frame With greater terror, yet they dragged him on Into the midst. Both champions lifted up Their