The Odyssey
Book VI
So here Ulysses slept, overcome by sleep and toil; but Minerva went off
to the country and city of the Phaecians- a people who used to live in
the fair town of Hypereia, near the lawless Cyclopes. Now the Cyclopes
were stronger than they and plundered them, so their king Nausithous moved
them thence and settled them in Scheria, far from all other people. He
surrounded the city with a wall, built houses and temples, and divided
the lands among his people; but he was dead and gone to the house of Hades,
and King Alcinous, whose counsels were inspired of heaven, was now reigning.
To his house, then, did Minerva hie in furtherance of the return of
Ulysses.
She went straight to the beautifully decorated bedroom in which
there slept a girl who was as lovely as a goddess, Nausicaa, daughter to
King Alcinous. Two maid servants were sleeping near her, both very pretty,
one on either side of the doorway, which was closed with well-made folding
doors. Minerva took the form of the famous sea captain Dymas′s daughter,
who was a bosom friend of Nausicaa and just her own age; then, coming up
to the girl′s bedside like a breath of wind, she hovered over her head
and said:
"Nausicaa, what can your mother have been about, to have such a
lazy daughter? Here are your clothes all lying in disorder, yet you are
going to be married almost immediately, and should not only be well dressed
yourself, but should find good clothes for those who attend you. This is
the way to get yourself a good name, and to make your father and mother
proud of you. Suppose, then, that we make tomorrow a washing day, and start
at daybreak. I will come and help you so that you may have everything ready
as soon as possible, for all the best young men among your own people are
courting you, and you are not going to remain a maid much longer. Ask your
father, therefore, to have a waggon and mules ready for us at daybreak,
to take the rugs, robes, and girdles; and you can ride, too, which will
be much pleasanter for you than walking, for the washing-cisterns are some
way from the town."
When she had said this Minerva went away to Olympus, which they
say is the everlasting home of the gods. Here no wind beats roughly, and
neither rain nor snow can fall; but it abides in everlasting sunshine and
in a great peacefulness of light, wherein the blessed gods are illumined
for ever and ever. This was the place to which the goddess went when she
had given instructions to the girl.
By and by morning came and woke Nausicaa, who began wondering about
her dream; she therefore went to the other end of the house to tell her
father and mother all about it, and found them in their own room. Her mother
was sitting by the fireside spinning her purple yarn with her maids around
her, and she happened to catch her father just as he was going out to attend
a meeting of the town council, which the Phaeacian aldermen had convened.
She stopped him and said:
"Papa dear, could you manage to let me have a good big waggon?
I want to take all our dirty clothes to the river and wash them. You are
the chief man here, so it is only right that you should have a clean shirt
when you attend meetings of the council. Moreover, you have five sons at
home, two of them married, while the other three are good-looking bachelors;
you know they always like to have clean linen when they go to a dance,
and I have been thinking about all this."
She did not say a word about her own wedding, for she did not like
to, but her father knew and said, "You shall have the mules, my love, and
whatever else you have a mind for. Be off with you, and the men shall get
you a good strong waggon with a body to it that will hold all your
clothes."
On this he gave his orders to the servants, who got the waggon
out, harnessed the mules, and put them to, while the girl brought the clothes
down from the linen room and placed them on the waggon. Her mother prepared
her a basket of provisions with all sorts of good things, and a goat skin
full of wine; the girl now got into the waggon, and her mother gave her
also a golden cruse of oil, that she and her women might anoint themselves.
Then she took the whip and reins and lashed the mules on, whereon they
set off, and their hoofs clattered on the road. They pulled without flagging,
and carried not only Nausicaa and her wash of clothes, but the maids also
who were with her.
When they reached the water side they went to the washing-cisterns,
through which there ran at all times enough pure water to wash any quantity
of linen, no matter how dirty. Here they unharnessed the mules and turned
them out to feed on the sweet juicy herbage that grew by the water side.
They took the clothes out of the waggon, put them in the water, and vied
with one another in treading them in the pits to get the dirt out. After
they had washed them and got them quite clean, they laid them out by the
sea side, where the waves had raised a high beach of shingle, and set about
washing themselves and anointing themselves with olive oil. Then they got
their dinner by the side of the stream, and waited for the sun to finish
drying the clothes. When they had done dinner they threw off the veils
that covered their heads and began to play at ball, while Nausicaa sang
for them. As the huntress Diana goes forth upon the mountains of Taygetus
or Erymanthus to hunt wild boars or deer, and the wood-nymphs, daughters
of Aegis-bearing Jove, take their sport along with her (then is Leto proud
at seeing her daughter stand a full head taller than the others, and eclipse
the loveliest amid a whole bevy of beauties), even so did the girl outshine
her handmaids.
When it was time for them to start home, and they were folding
the clothes and putting them into the waggon, Minerva began to consider
how Ulysses should wake up and see the handsome girl who was to conduct
him to the city of the Phaeacians. The girl, therefore, threw a ball at
one of the maids, which missed her and fell into deep water. On this they
all shouted, and the noise they made woke Ulysses, who sat up in his bed
of leaves and began to wonder what it might all be.
"Alas," said he to himself, "what kind of people have I come amongst?
Are they cruel, savage, and uncivilized, or hospitable and humane? I seem
to hear the voices of young women, and they sound like those of the nymphs
that haunt mountain tops, or springs of rivers and meadows of green grass.
At any rate I am among a race of men and women. Let me try if I cannot
manage to get a look at them."
As he said this he crept from under his bush, and broke off a bough
covered with thick leaves to hide his nakedness. He looked like some lion
of the wilderness that stalks about exulting in his strength and defying
both wind and rain; his eyes glare as he prowls in quest of oxen, sheep,
or deer, for he is famished, and will dare break even into a well-fenced
homestead, trying to get at the sheep- even such did Ulysses seem to the
young women, as he drew near to them all naked as he was, for he was in
great want. On seeing one so unkempt and so begrimed with salt water, the
others scampered off along the spits that jutted out into the sea, but
the daughter of Alcinous stood firm, for Minerva put courage into her heart
and took away all fear from her. She stood right in front of Ulysses, and
he doubted whether he should go up to her, throw himself at her feet, and
embrace her knees as a suppliant, or stay where he was and entreat her
to give him some clothes and show him the way to the town. In the end he
deemed it best to entreat her from a distance in case the girl should take
offence at his coming near enough to clasp her knees, so he addressed her
in honeyed and persuasive language.
"O queen," he said, "I implore your aid- but tell me, are you a
goddess or are you a mortal woman? If you are a goddess and dwell in heaven,
I can only conjecture that you are Jove′s daughter Diana, for your face
and figure resemble none but hers; if on the other hand you are a mortal
and live on earth, thrice happy are your father and mother- thrice happy,
too, are your brothers and sisters; how proud and delighted they must feel
when they see so fair a scion as yourself going out to a dance; most happy,
however, of all will he be whose wedding gifts have been the richest, and
who takes you to his own home. I never yet saw any one so beautiful, neither
man nor woman, and am lost in admiration as I behold you. I can only compare
you to a young palm tree which I saw when I was at Delos growing near the
altar of Apollo- for I was there, too, with much people after me, when
I was on that journey which has been the source of all my troubles. Never
yet did such a young plant shoot out of the ground as that was, and I admired
and wondered at it exactly as I now admire and wonder at yourself. I dare
not clasp your knees, but I am in great distress; yesterday made the twentieth
day that I had been tossing about upon the sea. The winds and waves have
taken me all the way from the Ogygian island, and now fate has flung me
upon this coast that I may endure still further suffering; for I do not
think that I have yet come to the end of it, but rather that heaven has
still much evil in store for me.
"And now, O queen, have pity upon me, for you are the first person
I have met, and I know no one else in this country. Show me the way to
your town, and let me have anything that you may have brought hither to
wrap your clothes in. May heaven grant you in all things your heart′s desire-
husband, house, and a happy, peaceful home; for there is nothing better
in this world than that man and wife should be of one mind in a house.
It discomfits their enemies, makes the hearts of their friends glad, and
they themselves know more about it than any one."
To this Nausicaa answered, "Stranger, you appear to be a sensible,
well-disposed person. There is no accounting for luck; Jove gives prosperity
to rich and poor just as he chooses, so you must take what he has seen
fit to send you, and make the best of it. Now, however, that you have come
to this our country, you shall not want for clothes nor for anything else
that a foreigner in distress may reasonably look for. I will show you the
way to the town, and will tell you the name of our people; we are called
Phaeacians, and I am daughter to Alcinous, in whom the whole power of the
state is vested."
Then she called her maids and said, "Stay where you are, you girls.
Can you not see a man without running away from him? Do you take him for
a robber or a murderer? Neither he nor any one else can come here to do
us Phaeacians any harm, for we are dear to the gods, and live apart on
a land′s end that juts into the sounding sea, and have nothing to do with
any other people. This is only some poor man who has lost his way, and
we must be kind to him, for strangers and foreigners in distress are under
Jove′s protection, and will take what they can get and be thankful; so,
girls, give the poor fellow something to eat and drink, and wash him in
the stream at some place that is sheltered from the
wind."
On this the maids left off running away and began calling one another
back. They made Ulysses sit down in the shelter as Nausicaa had told them,
and brought him a shirt and cloak. They also brought him the little golden
cruse of oil, and told him to go wash in the stream. But Ulysses said,
"Young women, please to stand a little on one side that I may wash the
brine from my shoulders and anoint myself with oil, for it is long enough
since my skin has had a drop of oil upon it. I cannot wash as long as you
all keep standing there. I am ashamed to strip before a number of good-looking
young women."
Then they stood on one side and went to tell the girl, while Ulysses
washed himself in the stream and scrubbed the brine from his back and from
his broad shoulders. When he had thoroughly washed himself, and had got
the brine out of his hair, he anointed himself with oil, and put on the
clothes which the girl had given him; Minerva then made him look taller
and stronger than before, she also made the hair grow thick on the top
of his head, and flow down in curls like hyacinth blossoms; she glorified
him about the head and shoulders as a skilful workman who has studied art
of all kinds under Vulcan and Minerva enriches a piece of silver plate
by gilding it- and his work is full of beauty. Then he went and sat down
a little way off upon the beach, looking quite young and handsome, and
the girl gazed on him with admiration; then she said to her
maids:
"Hush, my dears, for I want to say something. I believe the gods
who live in heaven have sent this man to the Phaeacians. When I first saw
him I thought him plain, but now his appearance is like that of the gods
who dwell in heaven. I should like my future husband to be just such another
as he is, if he would only stay here and not want to go away. However,
give him something to eat and drink."
They did as they were told, and set food before Ulysses, who ate
and drank ravenously, for it was long since he had had food of any kind.
Meanwhile, Nausicaa bethought her of another matter. She got the linen
folded and placed in the waggon, she then yoked the mules, and, as she
took her seat, she called Ulysses:
"Stranger," said she, "rise and let us be going back to the town;
I will introduce you at the house of my excellent father, where I can tell
you that you will meet all the best people among the Phaecians. But be
sure and do as I bid you, for you seem to be a sensible person. As long
as we are going past the fields- and farm lands, follow briskly behind
the waggon along with the maids and I will lead the way myself. Presently,
however, we shall come to the town, where you will find a high wall running
all round it, and a good harbour on either side with a narrow entrance
into the city, and the ships will be drawn up by the road side, for every
one has a place where his own ship can lie. You will see the market place
with a temple of Neptune in the middle of it, and paved with large stones
bedded in the earth. Here people deal in ship′s gear of all kinds, such
as cables and sails, and here, too, are the places where oars are made,
for the Phaeacians are not a nation of archers; they know nothing about
bows and arrows, but are a sea-faring folk, and pride themselves on their
masts, oars, and ships, with which they travel far over the
sea.
"I am afraid of the gossip and scandal that may be set on foot
against me later on; for the people here are very ill-natured, and some
low fellow, if he met us, might say, ′Who is this fine-looking stranger
that is going about with Nausicaa? Where did she End him? I suppose she
is going to marry him. Perhaps he is a vagabond sailor whom she has taken
from some foreign vessel, for we have no neighbours; or some god has at
last come down from heaven in answer to her prayers, and she is going to
live with him all the rest of her life. It would be a good thing if she
would take herself of I for sh and find a husband somewhere else, for she
will not look at one of the many excellent young Phaeacians who are in
with her.′ This is the kind of disparaging remark that would be made about
me, and I could not complain, for I should myself be scandalized at seeing
any other girl do the like, and go about with men in spite of everybody,
while her father and mother were still alive, and without having been married
in the face of all the world.
"If, therefore, you want my father to give you an escort and to
help you home, do as I bid you; you will see a beautiful grove of poplars
by the road side dedicated to Minerva; it has a well in it and a meadow
all round it. Here my father has a field of rich garden ground, about as
far from the town as a man′ voice will carry. Sit down there and wait for
a while till the rest of us can get into the town and reach my father′s
house. Then, when you think we must have done this, come into the town
and ask the way to the house of my father Alcinous. You will have no difficulty
in finding it; any child will point it out to you, for no one else in the
whole town has anything like such a fine house as he has. When you have
got past the gates and through the outer court, go right across the inner
court till you come to my mother. You will find her sitting by the fire
and spinning her purple wool by firelight. It is a fine sight to see her
as she leans back against one of the bearing-posts with her maids all ranged
behind her. Close to her seat stands that of my father, on which he sits
and topes like an immortal god. Never mind him, but go up to my mother,
and lay your hands upon her knees if you would get home quickly. If you
can gain her over, you may hope to see your own country again, no matter
how distant it may be."
So saying she lashed the mules with her whip and they left the
river. The mules drew well and their hoofs went up and down upon the road.
She was careful not to go too fast for Ulysses and the maids who were following
on foot along with the waggon, so she plied her whip with judgement. As
the sun was going down they came to the sacred grove of Minerva, and there
Ulysses sat down and prayed to the mighty daughter of
Jove.
"Hear me," he cried, "daughter of Aegis-bearing Jove, unweariable,
hear me now, for you gave no heed to my prayers when Neptune was wrecking
me. Now, therefore, have pity upon me and grant that I may find friends
and be hospitably received by the Phaecians."
Thus did he pray, and Minerva heard his prayer, but she would not
show herself to him openly, for she was afraid of her uncle Neptune, who
was still furious in his endeavors to prevent Ulysses from getting
home.
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