an can equal me in riches, I know
not. For indeed I wandered far and long to gather all this treasure,
to Cyprus, and Phoenicia, and Egypt, to AEthiopia, and Sidon, and the
Afric shore, a land unmatched in its countless multitudes of sheep.
There the ewes bring forth young three times a year, and the poorest
shepherd has abundance of cheese, and flesh, and milk. From all these
lands I gathered many a costly freight, and now I dwell in the midst
of plenty. Nevertheless my heart is sad, when I think of all that I
have lost. Had I returned home straight from Troy, I should have come
back a poor man, for my house had gone to waste in my absence; but I
should not have had to mourn for the death of my brother, struck down,
as doubtless ye have heard, by a murderer's hand. And then the thought
lies heavy upon me of all those who fell in my cause at Troy, and
especially of one who was dear to me above all, Odysseus, ever the
foremost in every toil and adventure. His image haunts me by day and
by night, marring my slumbers, and making my food taste bitter in my
mouth. He was a man of many woes, and sorrowful is the lot of his wife
Penelope and Telemachus his son."

At this mention of his father Telemachus could not control his tears,
but covered his face with his mantle, and wept without restraint.
Menelaus saw his emotion, and began to suspect who he was; but for the
present he said nothing.

A slight stir was now heard at the back of the hall, and a low murmur
went round among the guests, who whispered to each other: "The Queen!
The Queen!" And in she came softly, with slow and stately step, Helen,
the daughter of Tyndareus, and wife of Menelaus, fairest among all the
high-born dames of Greece. Her wondrous beauty was now ripened into
matronly perfection, but now and then a shadow seemed to pass over her
face, like the ghost of an old sin, long repented and forgiven. A
handmaid set a chair for her, throwing over it a soft rug, and brought
a footstool for her feet, while another bare a silver basket, with
rims of gold, and placed it ready, filled with purple yarn. When Helen
was seated, she gazed long and earnestly at Telemachus, and then,
turning to her husband, she said; "Menelaus, shall I utter the thought
which is in my heart? Nay, speak I must. Ne'er saw I such a likeness,
either in man or woman, as is the likeness of this fair youth to
Odysseus. Surely this is Telemachus, whom he left an infant in Ithaca
when the host w