s! She would be a proud maiden who should wed with such
as him. Now give the stranger food and drink." And they did so, and
Odysseus ate and drank with keen appetite, having tasted nothing for
many days. While he was eating, the maidens folded the garments and
placed them in the waggon, and when he had finished, Nausicaae mounted
the waggon, and bidding him and the handmaids follow on foot started
the mules and drove slowly towards the city. When they reached the
cultivated lands outside the walls she drew up, and addressed Odysseus
thus: "Stranger, I may not go with thee further, for I fear the
envious tongues of the citizens, who will point the finger at us and
say: 'See what a tall and handsome stranger Nausicaae hath brought with
her!--some seafaring man whom she hath brought with her to be her
husband, since she despises the men of her own nation.' And this will
be a reproach unto me. Therefore wait thou awhile, and do as I bid
thee. Not far from here is a temple and grove of Athene, a fair
coppice of poplar-trees, and a spring of clear water. Go thou thither,
and wait until we have time to reach my father's house, then rise and
go into the city and inquire for the dwelling of Alcinous. A little
child could show thee the way, for there is none like it in all the
city."

[Illustration: Odysseus and Nausicaae]

So saying, Nausicaae drove on, leaving Odysseus where he was. He soon
found the temple, and going in knelt down and prayed to the goddess to
continue her favour. When he thought that Nausicaae had had time to
reach home, he rose and went into the city. The road lay along a
narrow causeway, which connected the city with the mainland, and on
either side was a sheltered haven, with ships drawn up on the beach.
Passing through the gates he came next to the place of assembly, in
front of a temple of Poseidon, with a circle of massive stones bedded
deeply in the earth. Wherever he looked he saw signs of a busy
seafaring people--masts, and oars, and great coils of rope--and his
ears were filled with the sound of saw and hammer from the
shipwrights' yards.

II

As he stood thus gazing about him, he saw a young maiden coming
towards him, carrying a pitcher. He inquired of her the way to the
house of Alcinous, and she bade him follow her, as she was going that
way. "My father's house," she said, "is close to the house which thou
seekest. But thou art a stranger, I perceive, and not of this land;
walk therefore war