Let one of you go forth Among the fields, and bring a heifer thence, Led by the herdsman. To the dark-hulled ship Of the large-souled Telemachus I bid Another son repair, and bring the crew Save only two; and let another call Laërceus hither, skilled to work in gold, That he may plate with gold the heifer’s horns. Let all the rest remain to bid the maids Within prepare a sumptuous feast, and bring Seats, wood, and limpid water from the fount.”
He spake, and all were busy. From the field The bullock came; from the swift-sailing barque Came the companions of the gallant youth Telemachus; with all his implements— Hammer and anvil, and well-jointed tongs— With which he wrought, the goldsmith also came, And to be present at the sacred rites Pallas came likewise. Nestor, aged knight, Brought forth the gold; the artisan prepared The metal, and about the bullock’s horns Wound it, that Pallas might with pleasure see The victim so adorned. Then Stratius grasped The horns, and, aided by Echephron, led The bullock. From his room Aretus brought A laver filled with water in one hand, And in the other hand a canister Of cakes, while Thrasymedes, great in war, Stood near with a sharp axe, about to smite The victim. Perseus held a vase to catch The blood, while Nestor, aged horseman, took Water and cakes, and offering first a part, And flinging the shorn forelock to the flames, Prayed to the goddess Pallas fervently.
And now, when they had prayed, and flung the cakes, The large-souled Thrasymedes, Nestor’s son, Struck, where he stood, the blow; the bullock’s strength Gave way.
At once the daughters of the king, And his sons’ wives, and queen Eurydicè— Nestor’s chaste wife, and daughter eldest born Of Clymenus, broke forth in shrilly cries.