Page 44 - the-odyssey

very right and proper of him to have given it to herself first;
{27} she accordingly began praying heartily to Neptune.
‘O thou,’ she cried, ‘that encirclest the earth, vouchsafe to
grant the prayers of thy servants that call upon thee. More
especially we pray thee send down thy grace on Nestor and
on his sons; thereafter also make the rest of the Pylian peo-
ple some handsome return for the goodly hecatomb they
are offering you. Lastly, grant Telemachus and myself a hap-
py issue, in respect of the matter that has brought us in our
ship to Pylos.’
When she had thus made an end of praying, she hand-
ed the cup to Telemachus and he prayed likewise. By and
by, when the outer meats were roasted and had been taken
off the spits, the carvers gave every man his portion and
they all made an excellent dinner. As soon as they had had
enough to eat and drink, Nestor, knight of Gerene, began
to speak.
‘Now,’ said he, ‘that our guests have done their dinner, it
will be best to ask them who they are. Who, then, sir strang-
ers, are you, and from what port have you sailed? Are you
traders? or do you sail the seas as rovers with your hand
against every man, and every man’s hand against you?’
Telemachus answered boldly, for Minerva had given
him courage to ask about his father and get himself a good
name.
‘Nestor,’ said he, ‘son of Neleus, honour to the Achaean
name, you ask whence we come, and I will tell you. We come
from Ithaca under Neritum, {28} and the matter about which
I would speak is of private not public import. I seek news of