n give protection to such a guest as this. Therefore I
will bestow upon him a new cloak and doublet, with sandals for his
feet, and arm him with a good sword, and send him whithersoever he
chooses to go. Or if thou art willing, thou canst keep him here with
thee, and I will send down food and raiment for him, that he may not
be a burden to thee and thy men. But I will not allow him to go among
the wooers, and suffer ill-treatment which I have no power to
prevent."

Odysseus, who had not seen his son since he was an infant, desired to
learn something more of his mind and character; and in order to draw
him into further speech he asked, with an air of indignation, who the
wooers were, and how it was that he submitted to their violence. "Is
the public voice against thee," he asked, "or art thou at feud with
thy brethren, so that they will not help thee? If I were in thy place
I would fall upon them singlehanded, for it were better to die once
for all than tamely to submit to such outrage."

"Behold I will tell thee all the truth," answered Telemachus. "'Tis
neither by the consent of the people nor by the ill-will of my
brethren, that this evil hath come upon me. But Heaven hath ordained
that the honours and the burden of our house should ever rest upon one
alone. Laertes, my grandsire, was an only son, and Odysseus was the
sole issue of his marriage; and even so I am the only child of
Odysseus. Therefore I sit helpless and alone, at the mercy of this
ruffian band. But enough of this! We have no hope left, save in the
justice of Heaven." Then he turned to Eumaeus, and said: "Make haste
now, go down to the house, and tell Penelope that I have come back
safe from Pylos. Let none else hear it, but come back hither at once,
when thou hast delivered thy message, and I will wait here until thy
return."

"Shall I not go to Laertes, and tell him also?" asked the swineherd.
"Since the day of thy departure he has tasted neither meat nor drink,
but sits alone in his sorrow, and will not be comforted."

"My mother can send a handmaid to inform him," answered Telemachus.
"But as for thee, see that thou return here straightway, and lose no
time."

II

Soon after the departure of Eumaeus, Odysseus and Telemachus were
sitting before the door of the hut, each lost in his own thoughts,
when their attention was attracted by the strange behaviour of the
dogs. These animals, which had been lying basking in the sun, all at
once started