Full of anxious thought, Telemachus went down to the shore, wondering
how he should find means to accomplish his voyage. Stooping down, he
bathed his hands in the sea, and after this act of purification he
lifted up his hands and prayed to Athene: "O thou who camest yesterday
to our house, and badest me go on this quest, give ear and help me in
this strait."
He had hardly finished his prayer when he heard a footstep, and
looking round saw Mentor, who had come to his aid at the meeting,
approaching from the town. "Be not cast down," said Mentor, "remember
whose son thou art, and all shall be well with thee. As to this
voyage, that shall be my care. I will find thee a ship, and will go
with thee to Pylos. Meanwhile go thou home and make ready all things
for victualling the ship, corn and wine and barley-meal, and bestow
them heedfully in vessels and in bags of leather. Ships there are in
plenty, new and old, in seagirt Ithaca; I will choose the best of them
all, and man her with a crew who will serve thee freely and with all
goodwill."
Away went Telemachus, much comforted in spirit, though his heart
fluttered when he thought of the great adventure which lay before him.
When he entered the courtyard of his house he found the suitors
flaying goats and singeing swine for the midday feast. Antinous hailed
his coming with a rude laugh, and running up to him seized his hand
and said mockingly: "Well met, Sir Eloquence! Thy face, I see, is full
of care, as of one who is bent on high designs. But lay thy graver
burdens aside for awhile, and eat and drink with us. Thou shalt want
neither ship nor men to carry thee to holy Pylos."
Telemachus snatched his hand away, and answered sternly: "My thoughts
are not of feasting and merry-making, nor would I eat and drink with
you if they were. I am no longer a child, to be flouted and robbed
without a word. I tell you I shall find it in my heart to do you a
mischief, before many days are passed. But now I am going, as I said,
on this journey. I must go as a passenger, since ye will not lend me a
ship."
Many a scornful face was turned upon him, and many a taunt aimed at
him, as he uttered these bold words. "We are all undone!" cried one in
pretended alarm, "Telemachus is gone to gather an army in Pylos or in
Sparta, and he will come back with his mighty men and take all our
lives." "Or perhaps he is going to bring poison from Ephyra," said
another, "and he will cast it in the bowl, and we shall be all dead
corpses.[1]" And a third cried: "Take care of thyself, Telemachus, or
we shall have double labour because of thee, in dividing thy goods
among us."
[Footnote 1: 2 Kings xix. 35.]
But the taunts of fools and knaves have no sting for honest ears.
Without another word Telemachus left that gibing mob, and went
straight to the strong-room where his father's treasure was stored.
There lay heaps of gold and silver, and chests full of fine raiment,
and great jars of fragrant olive-oil. Along the wall was a long row of
portly casks, filled with the choicest wine; there they had stood
untouched for twenty years, awaiting the master's return. All this
wealth was given in charge to Eurycleia, the nurse of Telemachus, a
wise and careful dame, who watched the chamber day and night. Her
Telemachus now summoned, and said: "Fill me twelve jars of wine--not
the best, which thou art keeping for my father, but the next best to
that. And take twenty measures of barley-meal, and store it in sacks
of leather, and keep all these things together till I send for them.
Keep close counsel, and above all let not my mother know. I am going
to Sparta and to sandy Pylos to inquire of my father's return; and I
shall start in the evening when my mother is gone to rest."
"Who put such a thought into thy heart?" cried Eurycleia in wailing
tones. "Why wilt thou take this dreadful journey, thou, an only child,
so loved, and so dear? Odysseus is lost for ever, and if thou go we
shall lose thee too, for the suitors will plot thy ruin while thou art
far away."
"Fear nothing for me," answered Telemachus, "Heaven's eye is upon me,
and the hand of Zeus is spread over me. Swear to me now that thou wilt
not tell my mother until twelve days have past." Eurycleia swore as he
bade her, and at once set about making the preparations for his
journey.
The suitors were in high spirits at the result of the meeting, and
they ate heavily and drank deeply to celebrate their triumph. Hence it
happened that they retired to rest earlier than usual, being drowsy
from their intemperate revel; and when Telemachus returned to the
banquet-hall he found all the guests departed, and the servants
removing the remains of the feast. Soon afterwards Mentor appeared,
and announced that the ship lay ready at her moorings outside the
harbour. The stores were carried down to the sea, and stowed under the
rowers' benches. "All hands on board!" cried Mentor, and took his
place in the stern, Telemachus sitting by his side. The crew sat ready
at their oars, the ship was cast loose from the moorings, and a few
vigorous strokes impelled her into deep water. Then a strong breeze
sprang up from the west, the big sail was set, and the good ship
bounded joyfully over the waves, with the white wake roaring behind.
The oars were shipped, the sheets made fast, and all the company
pledged each other in brimming cups, drinking to their prosperous
voyage.