when thou art to array thyself In seemly garments, and bestow the like On those who lead thee to the bridal rite; For thus the praise of men is won, and thus Thy father and thy gracious mother both Will be rejoiced. Now with the early dawn Let us all hasten to the washing-place. I too would go with thee, and help thee there, That thou mayst sooner end the task, for thou Not long wilt be unwedded. Thou art wooed Already by the noblest of the race Of the Phaeacians, for thy birth, like theirs, Is of the noblest. Make thy suit at morn To thy illustrious father, that he bid His mules and car be harnessed to convey Thy girdles, robes, and mantles marvellous In beauty. That were seemlier than to walk, Since distant from the town the lavers lie.”
Thus having said, the blue-eyed Pallas went Back to Olympus, where the gods have made, So saith tradition, their eternal seat. The tempest shakes it not, nor is it drenched By showers, and there the snow doth never fall. The calm clear ether is without a cloud; And in the golden light, that lies on all, Days after day the blessed gods rejoice. Thither the blue-eyed goddess, having given Her message to the sleeping maid, withdrew.
Soon the bright morning came. Nausicaä rose, Clad royally, as marvelling at her dream She hastened through the palace to declare Her purpose to her father and the queen. She found them both within. Her mother sat Beside the hearth with her attendant maids, And turned the distaff loaded with a fleece Dyed in sea-purple. On the threshold stood Her father, going forth to meet the chiefs Of the Phaeacians in a council where Their noblest asked his presence. Then the maid, Approaching her beloved father, spake:—
“I pray, dear father, give command to make A chariot ready for me, with high sides And sturdy wheels, to bear to the river-brink, There to be cleansed, the costly robes that now Lie soiled. Thee likewise it doth well beseem At councils to appear in vestments fresh And stainless. Thou hast also in these halls Five sons, two wedded, three in boyhood’s bloom,