News of Penelope

5And thus discreet Telemachus replied:
“So be it, father; for your sake I came
To see you with these eyes, and hear you speak
And tell me if my mother dwells within
The palace yet; or has some wooer led
The queen away, his bride, and does the couch
Of great Odysseus lie untapestried,
With ugly cobwebs gathering over it?”

6And then the master swineherd spoke in turn:
“Most true it is that with a constant mind
The queen inhabits yet your palace halls,
And wastes in tears her wretched nights and days.”

7So speaking he received his brazen lance,
And over the stone threshold passed the prince
Into the lodge. Odysseus yielded up
His seat to him; Telemachus forbade.

8“Nay, stranger, sit; it shall be ours to find
Elsewhere a seat in this our lodge, and he
Who should provide it is already here.”

9He spoke; Odysseus turned, and took again
His place; the swineherd made a pile of twigs
And covered it with skins, on which sat down
The dear son of Odysseus. Next he brought
Dishes of roasted meats which yet remained,
Part of the banquet of the day before,
And heaped the canisters with bread, and mixed
The rich wines in a wooden bowl. He sat
Right opposite Odysseus. All put forth
Their hands and shared the meats upon the board;
And when the calls of thirst and hunger ceased,
Thus to the swineherd said Telemachus: —