eshold.

Telemachus had in his heart a mighty rage for the stroke that had been
given his father. But he let no tear fall from his eyes and he sat very
still, brooding in his heart evil for the wooers. Odysseus, after a
while, lifted his head and spoke:

[Illustration]

'Wooers of the renowned queen,' he said, 'hear what the spirit within me
bids me say to you. There is neither pain nor shame in the blow that a
man may get in battle. But in the blow that Antinous has given me--a
blow aimed at a beggar--there is pain and there is shame. And now I call
upon that god who is the avenger of the insult to the poor, to bring,
not a wedding to Antinous, but the issue of death.'

'Sit there and eat thy meat in quiet,' Antinous called out, 'or else
thou wilt be dragged through the house by thy heels, and the flesh will
be stripped off thy bones,'

And now the lady Penelope had come into the hall. Hearing that a
stranger was there, she sent for Eumaeus and bade the swineherd bring him
to her, that she might question him as to what he had heard about
Odysseus. Eumaeus came and told him of Penelope's request. But Odysseus
said, 'Eumaeus, right willing am I to tell the truth about Odysseus to
the fair and wise Penelope. But now I may not speak to her. Go to her
and tell her that when the wooers have gone I will speak to her. And ask
her to give me a seat near the fire, that I may sit and warm myself as I
speak, for the clothes I wear are comfortless.'

As Eumaeus gave the message to the lady Penelope, one who was there,
Theoclymenus, the guest who had come in Telemachus' ship, said, 'O wife
of the renowned Odysseus, be sure that thy lord will return to his
house. As I came here on the ship of Telemachus, thy son, I saw a
happening that is an omen of the return of Odysseus. A bird flew out on
the right, a hawk. In his talons he held a dove, and plucked her and
shed the feathers down on the ship. By that omen I know that the lord
of this high house will return, and strike here in his anger.'

Penelope left the hall and went back to her own chamber. Next Eumaeus
went away to look after his swine. But still the wooers continued to
feast, and still Odysseus sat in the guise of a beggar on the threshold
of his own house.

XI

There was in Ithaka a common beggar; he was a most greedy fellow, and he
was nicknamed Irus because he used to run errands for the servants of
Odysseus' house. He came in the evening, and seeing a s