dy
for thy departure, and thou shalt soon be home again. But come, give
us a proof of thy manhood, if thou knowest aught of games of skill.
Thou seemest a stout fellow, and I doubt not that thou wilt acquit
thee well."

"Friend," answered Odysseus, "mock me not. Thou seest how broken I am,
and worn by my long battle with the sea; and care sits heavy on my
heart, forbidding me to think of the things which thou namest."

"Nay," said Euryalus, with a scornful laugh, "I see that I was
mistaken in thee. Thou art plainly no athlete, but some cunning
merchant, with thy head full of thy cargo, and fingers only skilled in
counting thy gains."

Then Odysseus bent his brows, and answered with a stern look: "Friend,
thou art over-saucy of thy tongue. But so it ever is; the gods
dispense their gifts with sparing hand, and give not all excellence to
the same man. One man is mean of aspect, but heaven's grace descends
upon his lips, so that men look upon him with delight while he
discourses smoothly with a winning modesty. He is the observed of all
observers, and when he walks through the town all eyes follow him as
if he were a god. Another again is glorious, like a very god, in the
splendour of his face and form, but no grace attends upon his speech.
Even so thou art conspicuous for thy beauty, as though the hand of a
god had fashioned thee, but in understanding thou art naught. Thou
hast stung me by thy unseemly words; I am not ignorant of manly
sports, as thou sayest, but I tell thee that I was among the foremost
as long as I trusted in my youth and in the might of my hands. But now
I am sore spent with woe and pain, for many things have I suffered in
battles by land, and buffeting with the sea. Nevertheless, broken as I
am, I will give proof of my strength, for thou hast provoked me
bitterly by thy wanton words."

Thereupon, without waiting to throw off his cloak, he sprang into the
arena, and caught up a massy disc of iron, far heavier than those with
which the Phaeacians had been throwing. Poising it lightly, with one
hand he flung it, as one who flings a ball. The Phaeacians sank back in
dismay as they saw the huge mass flying high over their heads, and
when it fell all rushed to the spot to mark the distance. There it
lay, far beyond the longest cast of the native athletes, and Odysseus
pointed to it, and said: "Reach that mark, my young masters, if ye
can! And if any among you have a mind to try a match with me in boxin