Reunion at the Ship

40“ ‘Son of Laertes, nobly born and wise,
Odysseus! go to your good ship beside
The sea and draw it up the beach, and hide
The goods and weapons in the caverns there,
And come you back and bring with you your friends.’

41“She spoke, and easily my generous mind
Was moved by what she said. Forthwith I went
To my good ship beside the sea, and found
My friends in tears, lamenting bitterly.
As in some grange the calves come leaping round
A herd of kine returning to the stall
From grassy fields where they have grazed their fill,
Nor can the stall contain the young which spring
Around their mothers with continual bleat;
So when my comrades saw me through their tears,
They sprang to meet me, and their joy was such
As if they were in their own native land
And their own city, on the rugged coast
Of Ithaca, where they were born and reared;
And as they wept they spoke these winged words: —

42“ ‘O foster-child of Zeus! we welcome you
On your return with a delight as great
As if we all had reached again the land
That gave us birth, our Ithaca. And now
Tell by what death our other friends have died.’

43“They spoke; I answered with consoling words: —
‘First draw our galley up the beach, and hide
Our goods and all our weapons in the caves,
And then let all make haste to follow me,
And see our friends in Circe’s sacred halls,
Eating and drinking at the plenteous board.’