And thus again the blue-eyed Pallas spake:—
“Well hast thou said, my aged friend, and well Doth it become Telemachus to heed Thy words, for that were best. Let him remain With thee and sleep in thine abode, while I Repair to our black ship, encouraging The crew, and setting them their proper tasks, For I am eldest of them all; the rest Are young men yet, and moved by friendship joined Our enterprise; the peers in age are they Of the large-souled Telemachus. Tonight I sleep within the hull of our black ship, And sail with early morning for the land Of the Cauconians, large of soul, from whom A debt is due me, neither new nor small. Send meantime from thy palace in a car, And with thy son, this youth, and be the steeds The fleetest and the strongest in thy stalls.”
The blue-eyed Pallas, having spoken thus, Passed like an eagle out of sight, and all Were seized with deep amazement as they saw. The aged monarch, wondering at the sight, Took by the hand Telemachus, and said:—
“Of craven temper, and unapt for war, O friend, thou canst not be, since thus the gods Attend and guide thee in thy youth. And this, Of all the gods whose dwelling is in heaven, Can be no other than the spoiler-queen Pallas, the child of Jove, who also held Thy father in such eminent esteem Among the Grecians.
Deign to favor us, O queen! bestow on me and on my sons And on my venerable spouse the meed Of special glory. I will bring to thee A sacrifice, a broad-horned yearling steer, Which never man hath tamed or led beneath The yoke. Her will I bring with gilded horns, And lay an offering on thine altar-fires.”
Such were his words, and Pallas heard the prayer, And then Gerenian Nestor led the way, And with his sons and sons-in-law approached His