Provisions from Eurycleia

26So spoke they, but Telemachus went down
To that high-vaulted room, his father’s, where
Lay heaps of gold and brass, and garments store
In chests, and fragrant oils. And there stood casks
Of delicate old wine and pure, a drink
For gods, in rows against the wall, to wait
If ever, after many hardships borne,
Odysseus should return. Upon that room
Close-fitting double doors were shut, and there
Was one who night and day kept diligent watch,
A woman, Eurycleia, child of Ops,
Peisenor’s son. Telemachus went in
And called her to him, and bespoke her thus: —

27“Nurse, let sweet wine be drawn into my jars,
The finest next to that which you do keep
Expecting our unhappy lord, if yet
The nobly born Odysseus shall escape
The doom of death and come to us again.
Fill twelve, and fit the covers close, and pour
Meal into well-sewn skins, and let the tale
Be twenty measures of the flour of wheat.
This none but you must know. Let all these things
Be brought together; then, as night shuts in,
When to her upper chamber, seeking rest,
My mother shall withdraw, I come and take
What you provide for me. I am bound
For Sparta and for Pylos in the sands,
To gather news concerning the return
Of my dear father, if I haply may.”

28So spoke the youth, and his beloved nurse
Sobbed, wept aloud, and spoke these winged words: —

29“Why should there come, dear child, a thought like this
Into your heart. Why would you wander forth
To distant regions —you an only son
And dearly loved? Odysseus, nobly born,
Has perished, from his native land afar,
’Mid a strange race. These men, when you are gone,
At once will lay their plots to take your life,
And share your wealth among them. Stay you here
Among your people; need is none that you
Should suffer, roaming over the barren deep.”

30Then spoke discreet Telemachus again: —
“Be of good cheer, O nurse, for my design
Is not without the sanction of a god;
But swear you not to let my mother know
Of my intent until the eleventh day
Or twelfth shall pass, or till, in missing me,
She learn of my departure, lest she weep
And stain with tears the beauty of her face.”

31He spoke; the ancient woman solemnly
Swore by the gods, and when the rite was over
Drew wine into the jars, and poured the meal
Into the well-sewn skins. Telemachus
Entered the hall and joined the suitor train.