MENELAUS'S TALE
The next day Menelaus said to Telemachus: "For what end hast thou
come hither to fair Lacedaemon?"
Then Telemachus said: "I have come to ask if thou canst tell me
aught of my father. For certain suitors of my mother devour my
goods, nor do I see any help. Tell me truly, therefore; knowest
thou anything thyself about my father, or hast thou heard anything
from another?"
And Menelaus answered:--
"In the river AEgyptus I was stayed long time, though I was eager
to get home; the gods stayed me, for I had not offered to them due
sacrifice. Now there is an island in the wash of the waves over
against the land of Egypt--men call it Pharos [Footnote: Pha'-
ros.], and it is distant one day's voyage for a ship, if the wind
bloweth fair in her wake. Here did the gods keep me twenty days,
nor did the sea winds ever blow. Then all my corn would have been
spent, and the lives also of my men lost, if the daughter of
Proteus [Footnote: Pro'-teus.]had not taken pity on me. Her heart
was moved to see me when I wandered alone, apart from my company,
for they all roamed about the island, fishing with hooks because
hunger gnawed them. So she stood by me and spake, saying: 'Art
thou foolish, stranger, and feeble of mind, or dost thou sit still
for thine own pleasure, because it is sweet to thee to suffer?
Verily, thou stayest long in this place, and canst find no escape,
while the heart of thy people faileth within them.' Then I
answered: 'I will tell thee the truth, whosoever thou art. It is
not my own will that holdeth me here; I must have sinned against
the gods. Tell me now which of the gods have I offended, and how
shall I contrive to return to my own home?' So I spake, and
straightway the goddess made answer: 'I will tell thee all. To
this place comes Proteus, my father, who knoweth the depths of all
the sea. If thou canst lay an ambush for him and catch him, he
will declare to thee thy way, and tell thee how thou mayest return
across the deep.' So she spake, and I made reply, 'Plan for me
this ambush, lest by any chance he see me first and avoid me, for
it is hard for a man to overcome a god.' Then said the goddess:
'When the sun in his course hath reached the midheaven, then
cometh the old man from the sea; before the breath of the west
wind he cometh, and the ripple covereth him. And when he is come
out of the sea, he lieth down in the caves to sleep, and all about
him lie the seals, the brood of ocean, and bitter is the smell of
the salt water that they breathe. Thither will I lead thee at
break of day, thee and three of thy companions. Choose them from
thy ships, the bravest that thou hast. And now I will tell thee
the old man's ways. First, he will count the seals, and then will
lie down in the midst, as a shepherd in the midst of his flock.
Now, so soon as ye shall see him thus laid down, then remember
your courage, and hold him there. And he will take all manner of
shapes of creatures that creep upon the earth, and of water
likewise, and of burning fire. But do ye grasp him fast, and press
him hard, and when he shall return to his proper shape, then let
him go free, and ask him which of the gods is angry with thee, and
how thou mayest return across the deep.' Thereupon she dived
beneath the sea, and I betook me to the ships; but I was sorely
troubled in heart. The next morning I took three of my comrades,
in whom I trusted most, and lo! she had brought from the sea the
skins of four sea-calves, which she had newly flayed, for she was
minded to lay a snare for her father. She scooped hiding-places
for us in the sand, and made us lie down therein, and cast the
skin of a sea-calf over each of us. It would have been a grievous
ambush, for the stench of the skins had distressed us sore,--who,
indeed, would lay him down by a beast of the sea?--but she wrought
a deliverance for us. She took ambrosia [Footnote: ambrosia, the
food of the gods.], very sweet, and put it under each man's
nostrils, that it might do away with the stench of the beast.
"So all the morning we waited with steadfast hearts. And the seals
came forth from the brine, and ranged them in order upon the
shore. And at noon the old man came forth out of the sea, and went
along the line of the sea-beasts, and counted them. Us, too, he
counted among them, and perceived not our device; and after that
he laid him down to sleep. Then we rushed upon him with a cry, and
held him fast; nor did he forget his cunning, for he became a
bearded lion, and a snake, and a leopard, and a great wild boar.
Also he took the shape of running water, and of a flowering tree.
And all the while we held him fast. When at last he was weary, he
said, 'Which of the gods, son of Atreus [Footnote: A'-treus.],
bade thee thus waylay me?' But I answered him: 'Wherefore dost
thou beguile me, old man, with crooked words? I am held fast in
this isle, and can find no escape therefrom. Tell me now which of
the gods hindereth me, and how I may return across the sea?' The
old man made reply: 'Thou shouldst have done sacrifice to Zeus and
the other gods before embarking, if thou wouldst have reached thy
native country with speed. But now thou must go again to the river
AEgyptus, and make offerings to the gods; then they will grant
that which thou desirest.' Then was my spirit broken within me,
when I heard that I must cross again this weary way, but I said:
'Old man, I will do all thy bidding. But tell me now, I pray thee,
did the other Greeks, whom Nestor and I left behind us in Troy,
return safe to their homes, or perished any by an evil death on
board of his ship or among his friends?' To this the old man made
reply: 'Thou doest ill to ask such things, for thou wilt weep to
hear them. Thy brother indeed escaped from the fates of the sea;
but the storm-wind carried him to the land where Aegisthus dwelt.
And when Agamemnon [Footnote: Ag-a-mem'-non.]set foot upon his
native land, he kissed it, weeping hot tears, so glad was he to
see it again. And Aegisthus set an ambush for him, and slew him
and all his companions.' Then I wept sore, caring not to live any
more. But the old man said: 'Weep not, son of Atreus, for there is
no help in tears. Rather make haste to return, that thou mayest
take vengeance on AEgisthus.'[Footnote: AE-gis'-thus.] So he
spake, and my heart was comforted within me, and I said: 'There is
yet another of whom I would fain hear. Is he yet alive, wandering
on the deep, or is he dead? Speak, though it grieve me to hear.'
Straightway the old man answered: 'It is the son of Laertes of
whom thou speakest. Him I saw in an island, even in the dwelling
of Calypso; and he was shedding great tears, because the nymph
keeps him there by force, so that he may not come to his own
country, for he hath neither ship nor comrades.' So spake Proteus,
and plunged into the sea. The next day we went back to the river
AEgyptus, the stream that is fed from heaven, and offered
sacrifice to the gods. And I made a great burial mound for
Agamemnon, my brother, that his name might not be forgotten among
men. And when these things had been duly performed, I set sail,
and came back to my own country, for the gods gave me a fair wind.
But do thou tarry now in my halls. And when thou art minded to go,
I will give thee a chariot and three horses with it, and a goodly
cup also, from which thou mayest pour offerings to the gods."
To him Telemachus made reply: "Keep me not long, son of Atreus,
for my company wait for me in Pylos, though indeed I would be
content to stay with thee for a whole year, nor would any longing
for my home come over me. And let any gift thou givest me be a
thing for me to treasure. But I will take no horses to Ithaca.
Rather let them stay here and grace thy home, for thou art lord of
a wide plain where there is wheat and rye and barley. But in
Ithaca there is no meadow land. It is a pasture land of goats, yet
verily it is more pleasant to my eyes than as if it were a fit
feeding-place for horses."
Then said Menelaus: "Thou speakest well, as becometh the son of
thy father. Come, now, I will change the gifts. Of all the
treasures in my house, I will give thee the goodliest, especially
a bowl which the King of the Sidonians gave me. Of silver it is,
and the lips are finished with gold."
Now it had been made known meanwhile to the suitors in Ithaca that
Telemachus was gone upon this journey seeking his father, and the
thing displeased them much. And after they had held counsel about
the matter, it seemed best that they should lay an ambush against
him, and should slay him as he came back to his home. So Antinous
took twenty men and departed, purposing to lie in wait in the
strait between Ithaca and Samos.[Footnote: Sa'-mos.]
Nor was this plan unknown to Penelope, for the herald Medon
[Footnote: Me'-don.]had heard it, and he told her how Telemachus
had gone seeking news of his father, and how the suitors purposed
to slay him as he returned. And she called her women, old and
young, and rebuked them, saying: "Wicked ye were, for ye knew that
he was about to go, and did not rouse me from my bed. Surely I
would have kept him, eager though he was, from his journey!"
Then said Eurycleia: "Slay me, if thou wilt, but I will hide
nothing from thee. I knew his purpose, and I furnished him with
such things as he needed. But he made me swear that I would not
tell thee till the eleventh or the twelfth day was come. But go
with thy maidens and make thy prayer to Athene that she will save
him, from death; for this house is not altogether hated by the
gods."
Then Penelope, having duly prepared herself, went with her maidens
to the upper chamber, and prayed aloud to Athene that she would
save her son. And the suitors heard her praying, and said, "Surely
the Queen prays, thinking of her marriage, nor knows that death is
near to her son."
Then she lay down to sleep, and while she slept Athene sent her a
dream in the likeness of her sister. And the vision stood over her
head and spake: "Sleepest thou, Penelope? The gods would not have
thee grieve, for thy son shall surely return."
And Penelope said: "How camest thou here, my sister? For thy
dwelling is far away. And how can I cease to weep when my husband
is lost? And now my son is gone, and I am sore afraid for him,
lest his enemies slay him."
But the vision answered: "Fear not at all; for there is a mighty
helper with him, even Athene, who hath bid me tell thee these
things."
Then Penelope said: "If thou art a goddess, tell me this. Is my
husband yet alive?"
But the vision answered, "That I cannot say, whether he be alive
or dead." And so saying, it vanished into air.
And Penelope woke from her sleep, and her heart was comforted.