eat and drink as thou wert wont. The Achaians generously will provide Whatever thou requirest, ship and men— All chosen rowers—that thou mayst arrive Sooner at sacred Pylos, there to learn Tidings of thy illustrious father’s fate.”
Then spake discreet Telemachus in turn:— “Antinoüs, never could I sit with you, Arrogant ones! in silence nor enjoy The feast in quiet. Is it not enough, O suitors, that while I was yet a child Ye wasted on your revelries my large And rich possessions? Now that I am grown, And, when I hear the words of other men, Discern their meaning, now that every day Strengthens my spirit, I will make the attempt To bring the evil fates upon your heads, Whether I go to Pylos or remain Among this people. I shall surely make This voyage, and it will not be in vain. Although I go a passenger on board Another’s ship—since neither ship have I Nor rowers—ye have judged that so were best.”
He spake, and quickly from the suitor’s hand Withdrew his own. The others who prepared Their banquet in the palace scoffed at him, And flung at him their bitter taunts, and one Among the insolent youths reviled him thus:—
“Telemachus is certainly resolved To butcher us. He goes to bring allies From sandy Pylos or the Spartan coast, He is so bent on slaughter. Or perhaps He visits the rich land of Ephyrè In search of deadly poisons to be thrown Into a cup and end us all at once.”
Then said another of the haughty youths:— “Who knows but, wandering in his hollow barque, He too may perish, far from all his friends, Just as Ulysses perished? This would bring Increase of labor; it would cast on us The trouble to divide his goods, and give His palace to his mother, and to him Who takes the woman as his wedded wife.”
So spake they, but Telemachus went down To that high-vaulted room, his father’s, where Lay heaps of gold and brass, and garments store In