"See to the lid yourself, and
have the whole bound round at once, for fear any one should rob you
by the way when you are asleep in your ship."
When Odysseus heard this he put
the lid on the chest and made it fast with a bond that Circe had
taught him. He had done so before an upper servant told him to come
to the bath and wash himself. He was very glad of a warm bath, for he
had had no one to wait upon him ever since he left the house of
Calypso, who as long as he remained with her had taken as good care
of him as though he had been a god. When the servants had done
washing and anointing him with oil, and had given him a clean cloak
and shirt, he left the bath room and joined the guests who were
sitting over their wine. Lovely Nausicaa stood by one of the
bearing-posts supporting the roof of the room, and admired him as she
saw him pass. "Farewell stranger," said she, "do not forget me when
you are safe at home again, for it is to me first that you owe a
ransom for having saved your life."
And Odysseus said, "Nausicaa,
daughter of great Alkinoos, may Zeus the mighty husband of Hera,
grant that I may reach my home and see my day of nostos; so
shall I bless you as a goddess all my days, for it was you who saved
me."
When he had said this, he seated
himself beside Alkinoos. Supper was then served, and the wine was
mixed for drinking. A servant led in the favorite bard Demodokos, and
set him in the midst of the company, near one of the bearing-posts
supporting the room, that he might lean against it. Then Odysseus cut
off a piece of roast pork with plenty of fat (for there was abundance
left on the joint) and said to a servant, "Take this piece of pork
over to Demodokos and tell him to eat it; for all the pain his lays
may cause me I will salute him none the less; bards get honor and
respect [aidôs] throughout the world, for the
Muse teaches them their songs and loves them."
Homer. The Odyssey. Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original. Samuel Butler. Based on public domain edition, revised by Timothy Power and Gregory Nagy. A. C. Fifield, London. 1900 (?).
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