Then the old woman took the
cauldron in which she was going to wash his feet, and poured plenty
of cold water into it, adding hot till the bath was warm enough.
Odysseus sat by the fire, but ere long he turned away from the light,
for it occurred to him that when the old woman had hold of his leg
she would recognize a certain scar which it bore, whereon the whole
truth would come out. And indeed as soon as she began washing her
master, she at once knew the scar as one that had been given him by a
wild boar when he was hunting on Mount Parnassus with his excellent
grandfather Autolykos - who was the most accomplished thief and
perjurer in the whole world - and with the sons of Autolykos. Hermes
himself had endowed him with this gift, for he used to burn the thigh
bones of goats and kids to him, so he took pleasure in his
companionship. It happened once that Autolykos had gone to the
dêmos of Ithaca and had found the child of his daughter
just born. As soon as he had done supper Eurykleia set the infant
upon his knees and said, "You must find a name for your grandson; you
greatly wished that you might have one."
‘Son-in-law and daughter,"
replied Autolykos, "call the child thus: I am highly displeased with
a large number of people in one place and another, both men and
women; so name the child ‘Odysseus,’ or the child of anger.
When he grows up and comes to visit his mother's family on Mount
Parnassus, where my possessions lie, I will make him a present and
will send him on his way rejoicing."
Odysseus, therefore, went to
Parnassus to get the presents from Autolykos, who with his sons shook
hands with him and gave him welcome. His grandmother Amphithea threw
her arms about him, and kissed his head, and both his beautiful eyes,
while Autolykos desired his sons to get dinner ready, and they did as
he told them. They brought in a five year old bull, flayed it, made
it ready and divided it into joints; these they then cut carefully up
into smaller pieces and spitted them; they roasted them sufficiently
and served the portions round. Thus through the livelong day to the
going down of the sun they feasted, and every man had his full share
so that all were satisfied; but when the sun set and it came on dark,
they went to bed and enjoyed the boon of sleep.
When the child of morning,
rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, the sons of Autolykos went out with
their hounds hunting, and Odysseus went too. They climbed the wooded
slopes of Parnassus and soon reached its breezy upland valleys; but
as the sun was beginning to beat upon the fields, fresh-risen from
the slow still currents of Okeanos, they came to a mountain dell. The
dogs were in front searching for the tracks of the beast they were
chasing, and after them came the sons of Autolykos, among whom was
Odysseus, close behind the dogs, and he had a long spear in his hand.
Here was the lair of a huge boar among some thick brushwood, so dense
that the wind and rain could not get through it, nor could the
sun's rays pierce it, and the ground underneath lay thick with
fallen leaves. The boar heard the noise of the men's feet, and
the hounds baying on every side as the huntsmen came up to him, so
rushed from his lair, raised the bristles on his neck, and stood at
bay with fire flashing from his eyes. Odysseus was the first to raise
his spear and try to drive it into the brute, but the boar was too
quick for him, and charged him sideways, ripping him above the knee
with a gash that tore deep though it did not reach the bone. As for
the boar, Odysseus hit him on the right shoulder, and the point of
the spear went right through him, so that he fell groaning in the
dust until the life went out of him. The sons of Autolykos busied
themselves with the carcass of the boar, and bound Odysseus’
wound; then, after saying a spell to stop the bleeding, they went
home as fast as they could. But when Autolykos and his sons had
thoroughly healed Odysseus, they made him some splendid presents, and
sent him back to Ithaca with much mutual good will. When he got back,
his father and mother were rejoiced to see him, and asked him all
about it, and how he had hurt himself to get the scar; so he told
them how the boar had ripped him when he was out hunting with
Autolykos and his sons on Mount Parnassus.
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