Stories from the Odyssey | Page 6

the time until the
banquet should be ready. Loud was their talk, and boisterous their
laughter, as of men who have no respect for themselves or for others.
"Surely this was the house of Odysseus," murmured the stranger to
himself, "but now it seems like a den of thieves. But who is that tall and
goodly lad, who sits apart, with gloomy brow, and seems ill-pleased
with the doings of that riotous crew? Surely I should know that face,
the very face of my old friend as I knew him long years ago."
As he spoke, the youth who had attracted his notice glanced in his
direction, and seeing a stranger standing unheeded at the entrance, he
rose from his seat and came with hasty step and heightened colour
towards him. "Forgive me, friend," he said, with hand outstretched in

welcome, "that I marked thee not before. My thoughts were far away.
But come into the house, and sit down to meat, and when thou hast
eaten we will inquire the reason of thy coming."
So saying, and taking the stranger's spear, he led him into the great hall
of the house, and sat down with him in a corner, remote from the noise
of the revel. And a handmaid bare water in a golden ewer, and poured it
over their hands into a basin of silver; and when they had washed, a
table was set before them, heaped with delicate fare. Then host and
guest took their meal together, and comforted their hearts with wine.
Before they had finished, the whole company came trooping in from
the courtyard, and filled the room with uproar, calling aloud for food
and drink. Not a chair was left empty, and the servants hurried to and
fro, supplying the wants of these unwelcome visitors. Vast quantities of
flesh were consumed, and many a stout jar of wine was drained to the
dregs, to supply the wants of that greedy multitude.
When at last their hunger was appeased, and every goblet stood empty,
Phemius, the minstrel, stood up in their midst, and after striking a few
chords on his harp, began to sing a famous lay. Then the youth who had
been entertaining the stranger drew closer his chair, and thus addressed
him, speaking low in his ear: "Thou seest what fair company we keep,
how wanton they are, and how gay. Yet there was once a man who
would have driven them, like beaten hounds, from this hall, even he
whose substance they are devouring. But his bones lie whitening at the
bottom of the sea, and we who are left must tamely suffer this wrong.
But now thou hast eaten, and I may question thee without reproach. Say,
therefore, who art thou, and where is thy home? Comest thou for the
first time to Ithaca, or art thou an old friend of this house, bound to us
by ties of ancient hospitality?"
"My name is Mentes," answered the stranger, "and I am a prince of the
Taphians, a bold race of sailors. I am a friend of this house, well known
to its master, Odysseus, and his father, Laertes. Be of good cheer, for
he whom thou mournest is not dead, nor shall his coming be much
longer delayed. But tell me now of a truth, art not thou the son of that
man? I knew him well, and thou hast the very face and eyes of
Odysseus."
"My mother calls me his son," replied the youth, who was indeed
Telemachus himself, "and I am bound to believe her. Would that it

were otherwise! I have little cause to bless my birth."
"Yet shalt thou surely be blest," said Mentes; "thou art not unmarked of
the eye of Heaven. But answer me once more, what means this lawless
riot in the house? And what cause has brought all these men hither?"
"This also thou shalt know," replied Telemachus. "These are the
princes who have come to woo my mother; and while she keeps them
waiting for her answer they eat up my father's goods. Ere long,
methinks, they will make an end of me also."
"Fit wooers indeed for the wife of such a man!" said Mentes with a
bitter smile. "Would that he were standing among them now as I saw
him once in my father's house, armed with helmet and shield and spear!
He would soon wed them to another bride. But whether it be God's will
that he return or not, 'tis for thee to devise means to drive these men
from thy house. Take heed, therefore, to my words, and do as I bid thee.
To-morrow thou shalt summon the suitors to the place of assembly, and
charge them that they depart to their homes. And do thou thyself fit