e fitted it to the string, and from the chair where he sat he
shot it through all the twelve axe heads. 'Your guest has done you no
dishonour, Telemachus,' he said, 'but surely it is time to eat,' and he
nodded. Telemachus drew his sword, took a spear in his left hand, and
stood up beside Ulysses.

IX

THE SLAYING OF THE WOOERS

Ulysses let all his rags fall down, and with one leap he reached the
high threshold, the door being behind him, and he dropped, the arrows
from the quiver at his feet. 'Now,' he said, 'I will strike another mark
that no man yet has stricken!' He aimed the arrow at Antinous, who was
drinking out of a golden cup. The arrow passed clean through the throat
of Antinous; he fell, the cup rang on the ground, and the wooers leaped
up, looking round the walls for shields and spears, but the walls were
bare.

'Thou shalt die, and vultures shall devour thee,' they shouted, thinking
the beggar had let the arrow fly by mischance.

'Dogs!' he answered, 'ye said that never should I come home from Troy;
ye wasted my goods, and insulted my wife, and had no fear of the Gods,
but now the day of death has come upon you! Fight or flee, if you may,
but some shall not escape!'

'Draw your blades!' cried Eurymachus to the others; 'draw your blades,
and hold up the tables as shields against this man's arrows. Have at
him, and drive him from the doorway.' He drew his own sword, and leaped
on Ulysses with a cry, but the swift arrow pierced his breast, and he
fell and died. Then Amphinomus rushed towards Ulysses, but Telemachus
sent his spear from behind through his shoulders. He could not draw
forth the spear, but he ran to his father, and said, 'Let me bring
shields, spears, and helmets from the inner chamber, for us, and for the
swineherd and cowherd.' 'Go!' said Ulysses, and Telemachus ran through a
narrow doorway, down a gallery to the secret chamber, and brought four
shields, four helmets, and eight spears, and the men armed themselves,
while Ulysses kept shooting down the wooers. When his arrows were spent
he armed himself, protected by the other three. But the goatherd,
Melanthius, knew a way of reaching the armoury, and he climbed up, and
brought twelve helmets, spears, and shields to the wooers.

[Illustration: ULYSSES SHOOTS THE FIRST ARROW AT THE WOOERS.]

Ulysses thought that one of the women was showering down the weapons
into the hall, but the swineherd and cowherd went to the armoury,
thro