ow it best.'

Then Nausicaa of the white arms, answered him, and said:

'Stranger, as thou seemest no evil man nor foolish--and it is Olympian
Zeus himself that giveth weal to men, to the good and to the evil, to
each one as he will, and this thy lot doubtless is of him, and so thou
must in anywise endure it--now, since thou hast come to our city and our
land, thou shalt not lack raiment nor aught else that is the due of a
hapless suppliant when he has met them who can befriend him. And I will
show thee the town, and name the name of the people. The Phaeacians hold
this city and land, and I am the daughter of Alcinous, great of heart,
on whom all the might and force of the Phaeacians depend.'

Thus she spake, and called to her maidens of the fair tresses: 'Halt, my
maidens, whither flee ye at the sight of a man? Ye surely do not take
him for an enemy? That mortal breathes not, and never will be born, who
shall come with war to the land of the Phaeacians, for they are very
dear to the gods. Far apart we live in the wash of the waves, the
outermost of men, and no other mortals are conversant with us. Nay, but
this man is some helpless one come hither in his wanderings, whom now we
must kindly entreat, for all strangers and beggars are from Zeus, and a
little gift is dear. So, my maidens, give the stranger meat and drink,
and bathe him in the river, where there is a shelter from the winds.'

So she spake, but they halted and called each to the other, and they
brought Ulysses to the sheltered place, and made him sit down, as
Nausiaca bade them, the daughter of Alcinous, high of heart. Beside him
they laid a mantle and a doublet for raiment, and gave him soft olive
oil in the golden cruse, and bade him wash in the streams of the river.
Then goodly Ulysses spake among the maidens, saying: 'I pray you stand
thus apart while I myself wash the brine from my shoulders, and anoint
me with olive oil, for truly oil is long a stranger to my skin. But in
your sight I will not bathe, for I am ashamed to make me naked in the
company of fair-tressed maidens.'

Then they went apart and told all to their lady. But with the river
water the goodly Ulysses washed from his skin the salt scurf that
covered his back and broad shoulders, and from his head he wiped the
crusted brine of the barren sea. But when he had washed his whole body,
and anointed him with olive oil, and had clad himself in the raiment
that the unwedded maiden gave him, t