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Every one assented, and Odysseus
girded his old rags about his loins, thus baring his stalwart thighs,
his broad chest and shoulders, and his mighty arms; but Athena came
up to him and made his limbs even stronger still. The suitors were
beyond measure astonished, and one would turn towards his neighbor
saying, "The stranger has brought such a thigh out of his old rags
that there will soon be nothing left of Iros."
Iros began to be very uneasy as he
heard them, but the servants girded him by force, and brought him
into the open part of the court in such a fright that his limbs were
all of a tremble. Antinoos scolded him and said, "You swaggering
bully, you ought never to have been born at all if you are afraid of
such an old broken-down creature as this tramp is. I say, therefore -
and it shall surely be - if he beats you and proves himself the
better man, I shall pack you off on board ship to the mainland and
send you to king Echetos, who kills every one that comes near him. He
will cut off your nose and ears, and draw out your entrails for the
dogs to eat."
This frightened Iros still more,
but they brought him into the middle of the court, and the two men
raised their hands to fight. Then Odysseus considered whether he
should let drive so hard at Iros as to make his psukhê
leave him there and then as he fell, or whether he should give
him a lighter blow that should only knock him down; in the end he
deemed it best to give the lighter blow for fear the Achaeans should
begin to suspect who he was. Then they began to fight, and Iros hit
Odysseus on the right shoulder; but Odysseus gave Iros a blow on the
neck under the ear that broke in the bones of his skull, and the
blood came gushing out of his mouth; he fell groaning in the dust,
gnashing his teeth and kicking on the ground, but the suitors threw
up their hands and nearly died of laughter, as Odysseus caught hold
of him by the foot and dragged him into the outer court as far as the
gate-house. There he propped him up against the wall and put his
staff in his hands. "Sit here," said he, "and keep the dogs and pigs
off; you are a pitiful creature, and if you try to make yourself king
of the beggars any more you shall fare still worse."
Then he threw his dirty old
wallet, all tattered and torn, over his shoulder with the cord by
which it hung, and went back to sit down upon the threshold; but the
suitors went within the cloisters, laughing and saluting him, "May
Zeus, and all the other gods," said they, ‘grant you whatever
you want for having put an end to the importunity of this insatiable
tramp. We will take him over to the mainland presently, to king
Echetos, who kills every one that comes near him."
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