Nurse and Torchlight

3He ended, and Telemachus obeyed
His father’s words, and calling forth his nurse,
The aged Eurycleia, said to her: —

4“Go, nurse, and see the women all shut up
In their own place, while in our inner room
I lay away my father’s beautiful arms,
Neglected long, and sullied by the smoke,
While he was absent. I was then a child,
But now would keep them from the breath of fire.”

5And thus the nurse, Dame Eurycleia, said:
“Would that at length, my child, you did exert
Your proper wisdom here, and take in charge
Your house and your possessions. But who goes
With you to bear a torch, since none of these,
Your handmaids, are allowed to light your way?”

6And thus discreet Telemachus replied:
“This stranger. No man may be idle here
Who eats my bread, though from a distant land.”