Page 340 - the-odyssey

He girded his sword about his shoulder, bound his san-
dals on to his comely feet, and took a doughty spear with a
point of sharpened bronze; then he went to the threshold of
the cloister and said to Euryclea, ‘Nurse, did you make the
stranger comfortable both as regards bed and board, or did
you let him shift for himself?—for my mother, good woman
though she is, has a way of paying great attention to sec-
ond-rate people, and of neglecting others who are in reality
much better men.’
‘Do not find fault child,’ said Euryclea, ‘when there is no
one to find fault with. The stranger sat and drank his wine
as long as he liked: your mother did ask him if he would take
any more bread and he said he would not. When he wanted
to go to bed she told the servants to make one for him, but
he said he was such a wretched outcast that he would not
sleep on a bed and under blankets; he insisted on having an
undressed bullock’s hide and some sheepskins put for him
in the cloister and I threw a cloak over him myself.’ {157}
Then Telemachus went out of the court to the place where
the Achaeans were meeting in assembly; he had his spear in
his hand, and he was not alone, for his two dogs went with
him. But Euryclea called the maids and said, ‘Come, wake
up; set about sweeping the cloisters and sprinkling them
with water to lay the dust; put the covers on the seats; wipe
down the tables, some of you, with a wet sponge; clean out
the mixing-jugs and the cups, and go for water from the
fountain at once; the suitors will be here directly; they will
be here early, for it is a feast day.’
Thus did she speak, and they did even as she had said: