he given, when Odysseus dashed him to the ground. Then all the
suitors held up their hands and almost died with laughter, as the
stranger dragged Iros from the hall, and said, "Meddle not more with
other men's matters, lest a worse thing befall thee." Then Odysseus
gathered up his tattered garment and went and sat down again upon the
threshold, while the suitors praised him with loud cheers for his
exploit, and Amphinomus held out to him a goblet of rosy wine: "Drink,
stranger, and mayest thou have good luck in time to come, for now thy
lot is hard and gloomy enough." The kindly words stirred the beggar's
heart, and he said, "Hear my counsel, Amphinomus, and trust me who
have borne many griefs and sorrows and wandered in many lands since
Zeus drove me from my home. Depart from these evil men who are wasting
another's substance and heed not the woes that are coming, when
Odysseus shall once more stand in his father's house." But Amphinomus
would not hear, for so had Athene doomed that he should fall on the
day of the great vengeance.

So, laughing at the beggar as he sat quietly on the threshold, the
suitors feasted at the banquet table of Odysseus, till the stars
looked forth in the sky. But when they were gone away to sleep,
Odysseus bade Telemachus gather up their arms and place them in the
inner chamber. And they carried in the spears and shields and helmets,
while Athene went before with a golden lamp in her hand to light the
way. And Telemachus said, "Surely some one of the blessed gods must be
here, my father, for walls, beams and pillars all gleam as though they
were full of eyes of blazing fire." But Odysseus bade him be silent
and sleep, and Telemachus went his way, and Odysseus tarried to take
counsel with Athene for the work of the coming vengeance.

Then, as he sat alone in the hall, Penelope came forth from her
chamber, to hear what the stranger might tell her of Odysseus. But
before she spake, Melantho reviled him as her father, Melanthius, had
reviled him by the fountain, and Odysseus said, "Dost thou scorn me
because my garments are torn and my face is seamed with age and
sorrow? Well, I, too, have been young and strong. See, then, that the
change come not on thee when Odysseus returns to his home." Then
Penelope asked him straightly, "Who art thou, stranger, and whence
hast thou come?" And the beggar said, "Ask me not, for I have had
grievous troubles, and the thought of all my woes will force the tear