Page 141 - the-odyssey

said:
‘Aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, let
Demodocus cease his song, for there are those present who
do not seem to like it. From the moment that we had done
supper and Demodocus began to sing, our guest has been
all the time groaning and lamenting. He is evidently in
great trouble, so let the bard leave off, that we may all enjoy
ourselves, hosts and guest alike. This will be much more as
it should be, for all these festivities, with the escort and the
presents that we are making with so much good will are
wholly in his honour, and any one with even a moderate
amount of right feeling knows that he ought to treat a guest
and a suppliant as though he were his own brother.
‘Therefore, Sir, do you on your part affect no more con-
cealment nor reserve in the matter about which I shall ask
you; it will be more polite in you to give me a plain answer;
tell me the name by which your father and mother over yon-
der used to call you, and by which you were known among
your neighbours and fellow-citizens. There is no one, nei-
ther rich nor poor, who is absolutely without any name
whatever, for people’s fathers and mothers give them names
as soon as they are born. Tell me also your country, nation,
and city, that our ships may shape their purpose accord-
ingly and take you there. For the Phaeacians have no pilots;
their vessels have no rudders as those of other nations have,
but the ships themselves understand what it is that we are
thinking about and want; they know all the cities and coun-
tries in the whole world, and can traverse the sea just as
well even when it is covered with mist and cloud, so that

1 0 The Odyssey