o’er her heart. Tears filled her eyes, and her clear voice was choked. She touched Ulysses on the chin, and said:—
“Dear child! thou art Ulysses, of a truth. I knew thee not till I had touched the scar.”
So speaking, toward Penelope she turned Her eyes, about to tell her that her lord Was in the palace; but the queen saw not, And all that passed was unperceived by her, For Pallas turned her thoughts another way. Meantime, Ulysses on the nurse’s throat Laid his right hand, and with the other drew The aged woman nearer him, and said:—
“Nurse, wouldst thou ruin me, who drew long since Milk from thy bosom, and who now return, After much suffering borne for twenty years, To mine own land? Now then, since thou hast learned The truth—by prompting of some god, no doubt— Keep silence, lest some others in the house Should learn it also. Else—I tell thee this, And will perform my word—if God permit That I o’ercome the arrogant suitor-crew, Nurse as thou art, I spare not even thee, When in these halls the other maidens die.”