THE TRIAL OF THE BOW
Ulysses laid him down to sleep in the gallery of the hall. On a
bull's hide he lay, and over him he put fleeces of sheep that had
been slain for sacrifice and feast, and the dame that kept the
house threw a mantle over him.
And he slept not, for he had many thoughts in his heart, but
turned him from side to side, thinking how, being one against
many, he might slay the suitors in his hall.
Then Athene came down from Olympus, and stood over his head,
having taken upon herself the likeness of a woman. And she spake,
saying: "Wakest thou still, man of many troubles? Is not this thy
house? And is not thy wife within, and thy son, a noble lad?"
Ulysses made answer: "This is true, O goddess. But I think how I,
being one against many, can slay the suitors in my hall."
Then answered the goddess: "Verily, thou art weak in faith. Some
put trust in men, yet men are weaker than the gods; why trustest
not thou in me? Verily, I am with thee, and will keep thee to the
end. But now sleep, for to watch all the night is vexation of
spirit."
So saying, she poured sleep upon his eyes and went back to
Olympus.
When the morning came Ulysses awoke, and he took up the fleeces,
and set them on a seat in the hall, and the bull's hide he carried
without. Then he lifted up his hands to Zeus, and prayed, saying,
"O Father Zeus, if thou hast led me to mine own country of good
will, then give me a sign."
And even as he spake Zeus thundered from Olympus; and Ulysses
heard it, and was glad. Also a woman at the mill spake a word of
omen. Twelve women there were that ground the meal, wheat, and
barley. Eleven of these were now sleeping, for they had finished
their task; but this one, being weakest of all, was still
grinding. And now she stayed her work, and said: "Surely, Father
Zeus, this is a sign, for thou hast thundered in a clear sky.
Grant now that this be the last meal that I shall grind for the
suitors in the house of Ulysses!"
Afterwards came Telemachus, and spake to the nurse, saying, "Hast
thou given to the guest food and bedding, or doth he lie uncared
for?"
The nurse made answer: "The stranger drank as much as he would,
and ate till he said that he had had enough; but blankets and a
mattress he would not have; on an hide he slept, with fleeces of
sheep above. Also we cast a mantle over him."
Next came the swineherd, leading three fatted hogs, the best of
all the herd. And he said. "Stranger, do these men treat thee
well?"
Ulysses made answer, "May the gods repay them as they have dealt
insolently with me!"
Afterwards came Melanthius, the goatherd, having goats for the
feast of the day. And he spake to Ulysses bitter words: "Wilt thou
still plague us, stranger, with thy begging? Verily, I think that
we shall not part till we have made trial of each other with our
fists. Thy begging is not to be borne; and there are other feasts
whither thou mightest go."
But Ulysses answered him not a word.
Last came Philoetius [Footnote: Phi-loe'-ti-us.], the cattleherd,
bringing a heifer for the feast of the suitors. He spake to
Ulysses, saying: "May happiness come to thee, stranger, hereafter!
Now thou art encompassed with sorrows. Mine eyes are full of tears
as I behold thee, for it may be that Ulysses is clad in vile
garments like to these, wandering about among men, if, indeed, he
is yet alive. But if he is dead, that, indeed, is a great sorrow.
For he set me over his cattle, and these are now increased beyond
all counting; never have herds increased more plentifully.
Nevertheless, it vexeth my heart because strangers are ever
devouring them in his hall. Verily, I would have fled long since,
for the thing is past all enduring, but that I hope to see Ulysses
yet come again to his own."
Then Ulysses made answer: "Cattleherd, thou art a man of an
understanding heart. Now hearken to what I shall say. While thou
art still in this place, Ulysses shall come home, and thou shalt
see it with thine eyes, yea, and the slaying of the suitors also."
And after awhile the suitors came and sat down, as was their wont,
to the feast. And the servants bare to Ulysses, as Telemachus had
bidden, a full share with the others. And when Ctesippus, a prince
of Samos, saw this (he was a man heedless of right and of the
gods), he said: "Is it well that this fellow should fare even as
we? Look now at the gift that I shall give him." Thereupon he
took a bullock's foot out of a basket wherein it lay, and cast
it at Ulysses.
But he moved his head to the left and shunned it, and it flew on,
marking the wall. And Telemachus cried in great wrath:--
"It is well for thee, Ctesippus [Footnote: Cte-sip'-pus.], that
thou didst not strike this stranger. For surely, hadst thou done
this thing, my spear had pierced thee through, and thy father had
made good cheer, not for thy marriage, but for thy burial."
Then said Agelaus [Footnote: A-ge-la'-us.]: "This is well said.
Telemachus should not be wronged, no, nor this stranger. But, on
the other hand, he must bid his mother choose out of the suitors
whom she will, and marry him, nor waste our time any more."
Telemachus said: "It is well. She shall marry whom she will. But
from my house I will never send against her will."
After this Penelope went to fetch the great bow of Ulysses. From
the peg on which it hung she took it with its sheath, and, sitting
down, she laid it on her knees and wept over it, and after this
rose up and went to where the suitors sat feasting in the hall.
The bow she brought, and also the quiver full of arrows, and,
stalling by the pillar of the dome, spake thus:--
"Ye suitors, who devour this house, lo! here is a proof of your
skill. Here is the bow of the great Ulysses. Whoever shall bend it
easiest in his hands, and shoot an arrow most easily through the
holes in the heads of the twelve axes that Telemachus shall set
up, him will I follow, leaving this house, which I shall remember
only in my dreams."
Then she bade Eumaeus bear the bow and the arrows to the suitors.
And the good swineherd wept to see his master's bow, and
Philoetius, the herdsman of the kine, wept also, for he was a good
man, and loved the house of Ulysses.
Then Telemachus planted in order the axes wherein were the holes,
and was minded himself to draw the bow; and indeed would have done
the thing, but Ulysses signed to him that he should not. Therefore
he said, "Methinks I am too weak and young; ye that are elder
should try the first."
Then first Leiodes [Footnote: Lei-o'-des.], the priest, who alone
among the suitors hated their evil ways, made trial of the bow.
But he moved it not, but wearied his hands with it, for they were
tender, and unaccustomed to toil. And he said, "I cannot bend this
bow; let some other try; but I think that it shall be grief and
pain to many this day."
And Antinous was wroth to hear such words, and bade Melanthius
bring forth a roll of fat, that they might anoint the string and
soften it. So they softened the string with fat, but still could
they not bend it, for they all of them tried in vain, till only
Antinous and Eurymachus were left, who, indeed, were the bravest
and the strongest of them all.
Now the swineherd and the herdsman of the kine had gone forth out
of the yard, and Ulysses came behind them and said: "What would ye
do if Ulysses were to come back to his home? Would ye fight for
him or for the suitors?"
And both said that they would fight for him.
And Ulysses said: "It is even I who am come back in the twentieth
year, and ye, I know, are glad at heart that I am come; nor know I
of any one besides. And if ye will help me as brave men to-day,
wives shall ye have, and possessions and houses near to mine own.
And ye shall be brothers and comrades to Telemachus. And for a
sign, behold this scar which the wild boar made."
Then they wept for joy and kissed Ulysses, and he also kissed
them. And he said to Eumaeus that he should bring the bow to him
when the suitors had tried their fortune therewith; also that he
should bid the women keep within doors, nor stir out if they
should hear the noise of battle. And Philoetius he bade lock the
doors of the hall, and fasten them with a rope.
After this he came back to the hall, and Eurymachus had the bow in
his hands, and sought to warm it at the fire. Then he essayed to
draw it, but could not. And he groaned aloud, saying: "Woe is me!
not for loss of this marriage only, for there are other women to
be wooed in Greece, but that we are so much weaker than the great
Ulysses. This is, indeed, shame to tell."
Then said Antinous: "Not so; to-day is a holy day of the god of
archers; therefore we could not draw the bow. But to-morrow will
we try once more, after sacrifice to Apollo."
And this saying pleased them all; but Ulysses said, "Let me try
this bow; for I would fain know whether I have such strength as I
had in former days."
At this all the suitors were wroth, and chiefly Antinous, but
Penelope said that it should be so, and promised the man great
gifts if he could draw this bow.
But Telemachus spake thus: "Mother, the bow is mine to give or to
refuse. And no man shall say me nay, if I will that this stranger
make trial of it. But do thou go to thy chamber with thy maidens,
and let men take thought for these things."
And this he said because he would have her depart from the hall
forthwith, knowing what should happen therein. But she marvelled
to hear him speak with such authority, and answered not, but
departed. And when Eumaeus would have carried the bow to Ulysses,
the suitors spake roughly to him, but Telemachus constrained him
to go. Therefore he took the bow and gave it to his master. Then
went he to Eurycleia, and bade her shut the door of the women's
chambers and keep them within, whatsoever they might hear.
Then Ulysses handled the great bow, trying it, whether it had
taken any hurt, but the suitors thought scorn of him. Then, when
he had found it to be without flaw, just as a minstrel fastens a
string upon his harp and strains it to the pitch, so he strung the
bow without toil; and holding the string in his right hand, he
tried its tone, and the tone was sweet as the voice of a swallow.
Then he took an arrow from the quiver, and laid the notch upon the
string and drew it, sitting as he was, and the arrow passed
through every ring, and stood in the wall beyond. Then he said to
Telemachus:--
"There is yet a feast to be held before the sun go down."
And he nodded the sign to Telemachus. And forthwith the young man
stood by him, armed with spear and helmet and shield.