Eumaeus Stays Doubtful

17Then you, Eumaeus, thus did make reply:
“Unhappy stranger, you have deeply moved
My heart in telling all that you have borne,
And all your wanderings. Yet are some things wrong.
You have not spoken of Odysseus well.
Why should a man like you invent such tales,
So purposeless? Of one thing I am sure
Concerning his return —the gods all hate
My master, since they neither caused his death
In the great war of Troy, nor, when the war
Was over, suffered him to die at home,
And in the arms of those who loved him most;
For then would all the Greeks have reared to him
A monument, and mighty would have been
The heritage of glory for his son;
But now ingloriously the harpy brood
Have torn him. I, apart among my swine,
Go never to the town, unless, perchance,
The sage Penelope requires me there,
When someone comes with tidings from abroad.
Then those who sorrow for their absent lord,
And those who waste his substance, both inquire
News of the king. For me, it suits me not
Ever to ask for tidings, since the day
When an Aetolian with a flattering tale
Deceived me. He had slain a man, and came
Wandering in many lands to my abode,
And kindly I received him. He had seen,
He said, my master with Idomeneus,
Among the Cretans, putting in repair
His galleys, shattered by a furious storm,
And in the summer time he would be here,
Or in the autumn, bringing ample wealth,
And his brave comrades with him. Seek not then,
O aged sufferer, whom some deity
Has guided hither, to amuse my grief
With fictions that may bring back pleasant thoughts,
Since not for them I minister to you
And love you, but through reverence for Zeus —
The stranger’s friend —and pity for yourself.”

18Odysseus, the sagacious, spoke again:
“Within your bosom you do bear a heart
Of slow belief, since not the oath I take
Persuades or even moves you. Make we now
A covenant, and let the gods who dwell
Upon Olympus be our witnesses,
That when your master comes to this abode
You will bestow a tunic and a cloak,
And will despatch me clothed in seemly garb
Hence to Dulichium, whither I would go.
But if he come not as I have foretold,
Then charge your servants that they cast me down
From a tall rock, that never beggar more
May think to cozen you with lying tales.”

19The noble swineherd answered him and said:
“Great would my honor be, and I should gain
Great praise for worth among the sons of men,
If, having welcomed you into my lodge
And spread the board for you, I took your life;
Then boldly might I pray to Cronus’ son.
But see, the supper hour is come, and soon
Will my companions be within, and they
Will make a liberal banquet ready here.”