the women of some princely house Which he has entered in some distant land Scoff at him as these wretched creatures scoff At thee, O stranger, who, to shun their taunts And insults, wilt not suffer them to wash Thy feet. The sage Penelope commands, And I am not unwilling. I will wash Thy feet, both for her sake and for thy own; For deeply am I moved at sight of thee. Hear what I say: of strangers in distress Come many hither, yet have I beheld No one who bears, in shape and voice and feet, Such likeness to our absent lord as thou.”
Ulysses, the sagacious, thus replied: “O aged woman, so has it been said By all who have beheld both him and me. They all declare that we are very like Each other; thou in this hast spoken well.”
He spake; she took a shining vase designed For washing feet, and poured cold water in In large abundance, and warm water next. Ulysses, who had sat before the hearth, Moved to a darker spot, for in his mind The thought arose that she might find a scar Upon his limbs in handling them, and thus His secret would