with oil, And each received a tunic at their hands, And fleecy mantle. Then they left the baths And took their seats. A damsel came, and poured Water from a fair ewer wrought of gold Into a silver basin for their hands, And spread a polished table near their seats; And there the matron of the household placed Bread, and the many dishes which her stores Supplied. The queen was seated opposite, Beside a column of the pile, and twirled A slender spindle, while the son and guest Put forth their hands and shared the meal prepared. And when the calls of hunger and of thirst Had ceased, thus spake the sage Penelope:—
“Telemachus, when I again go up Into my chamber, I shall lay me down Upon the couch which, since Ulysses sailed For Troy with Atreus’ sons, has been to me A couch of mourning, sprinkled with my tears.
And now thou hast not chosen to reveal, Ere yet the haughty suitors throng again Into these halls, what in thy voyage thou Hast haply heard concerning his return.”
And thus discreet Telemachus replied: > “Then, mother, will I truly tell thee all. We went to Pylos, and saw Nestor there, The shepherd of the people. Kindly he Received me in his stately home, as one Might welcome back a wandering son returned From foreign lands. Such welcome I received Both from the king and his illustrious sons. But he had heard, he said, from living man, No tidings of the much-enduring chief Ulysses, whether he were yet alive Or dead. He therefore sent me with his steeds And chariot to the court of Atreus’ son, The warlike Menelaus. There I saw The Argive Helen, for whose sake the Greeks And Trojans, by the appointment of the gods, Suffered so much. The valiant king inquired What wish of mine had brought me to the town