she saved me, when my shameless mother threw me down from heaven; and I
should have suffered dire anguish had not Eurynome, daughter of Oceanos,
and Thetis taken me to their hearts and comforted me. Nine years I spent
with them, and fashioned all kinds of curious work of bronze--clasps, and
spiral bracelets, and ear-rings, like the calyx of a flower, and
necklaces--in the hollow grot, while all around me roared the streams of
great Oceanus. And none of the other Gods knew where I was, but only
Thetis and Eurynome. And now that she is come, a welcome guest, to my
house, I will repay the fair-haired nymph in every way, for saving my
life."

So saying, he raised his mighty bulk from the block, and, limping on his
slender legs, moved quickly; and he put away his bellows, and placed his
tools in a silver chest, and sponged his face and hands, his strong neck
and hairy breast; then he donned his tunic, and leaning on a staff, he
limped along. And golden handmaids, in the form of living maidens, came to
help their lord; these have intelligent minds, and human voices, and skill
from the deathless Gods. And he went with halting gait, and seated himself
on a shining throne, near the silver-footed Thetis; and he took her by the
hand, and said to her, "O dear and honored Thetis of the flowing robes!
why comest thou to our house, thou, an infrequent guest?"

Then the silver-footed goddess answered him, "O Vulcan! hath Zeus, the son
of Cronos, laid on any other goddess in Olympus such grievous woes as on
_me_, unhappy that I am? He chose out me, from all the sea nymphs, to
endure marriage with a mortal. A son I bare, the greatest of heroes. I
brought him up, like a young tree in a fruitful soil, and sent him in a
high-peaked ship to war against the Trojans; but never again will he
return to me, in the halls of his aged father Peleus. And even while I yet
see him, and he beholdeth the light of the sun, he is full of grief, and I
cannot help him. For King Agamemnon took away his prize, the dearly loved
maiden Briseis. For the loss of her, he pined and wept; nor would he allow
his Myrmidons to join in the battle, though the Achaians were hard pressed
and driven to their ships. The chiefs of the Argives came to him with
prayers and tears, and many costly gifts. And though he refused himself to
rescue them, he suffered Patroclus to put on his divine armor, and sent
many of the Myrmidons with him to the battle. And the son of Menoetius
per