THE CONVERSATION WITH EUMÆUS.
ULYSSES arrives in difguife at the houfe of Eumæus, where he is received, entertained, and lodged, with the utmost hofpitality. The feveral difcourfes of that faithful old fervant, with the feigned ftory told by Ulyffes to conceal himself, and other converfa.ions on various fubjects, take up this entire Book.
UT he, deep-mufing, o'er the mountains stray'd
And cavern'd ways, the fhaggy coast along,
With cliffs and nodding forests over-hung.
Eumæus at his fylvan lodge he fought,
A faithful fervant, and without a fault.
Ulyffes found him bufied, as he fate
Before the threshold of his ruftic gate;
Around the manfion in a circle fhone
A rural portico of rugged ftone
(In abfence of his Lord, with honest toil
His own industrious hands had rais'd the pile).
The wall was stone from neighbouring quarries borne,
Encircled with a fence of native thorn,
And strong with pales, by many a weary stroke
Of ftubborn labour hewn from heart of oak;
Frequent and thick. Within the space were rear'd
Twelve ample cells, the lodgement of his herd.
Full fifty pregnant females each contain'd;
The males without (a smaller race) remain;
Doom'd to fupply the suitors' wasteful feast,
A stock by daily luxury decreas'd;
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Now fcarce four hundred left. Thefe to defend,
Four favage dogs, a watchful guard, attend.
Here fate Eumæus, and his cares apply'd
To form ftrong bufkins of well-feafon'd hide.
Of four affiftants who his labour share,
Three now were absent on the rural care;
The fourth drove victims to the suitor train :
But he, of antient faith, a simple swain,
Sigh'd, while he furnish'd the luxurious board,
And weary'd Heaven with wishes for his lord.
Soon as Ulyffes near th' enclosure drew,
With open mouths the furious mastives flew :
Down fate the fage, and cautious to withstand,
Let fall th' offenfive truncheon from his hand.
Sudden,, the mafter runs; aloud he calls;
And from his hafty hand the leather falls;
With fhowers of ftones he drives them far away ;
The fcattering dogs around at distance bay.
Unhappy fanger! (thus the faithful fwain
Began with accent gracious and humane)
What forrow had been mine, if at my gate
Thy reverend age had met a fhameful fate!
Enough of woes already have I known;
Enough my mafter's forrows and my own.
While here (ungrateful task!) his herds I feed,
Ordain'd for lawless rioters to bleed;
Perhaps, fupported at another's board,
Far from his country roams my hapless lord!
Or figh'd in exile forta his latest breath,
Now cover'd with th' eternal fhade of death!
But enter this my homely roof, and fee
Our woods not void of hospitality.
Then tell me whence thou art ? and what the share
Of woes and wanderings thou wert born to bear?
He faid, and, feconding the kind request,
With friendly step precedes his unknown guest.
A fhaggy goat's soft hide beneath him spread,
And with fresh rushes heap'd an ample bed :'
Joy touch'd the hero's tender foul, to find
So juft reception from a heart fo kind:
And oh, ye Gods! with all your blessings grace
(He thus broke forth) this friend of human race!
The fwain reply'd: It never was our guise
To flight the poor, or aught humane despise;
For Jove unfolds our hofpitable door,
'Tis Jove that fends the stranger and the poor.
Little, alas is all the good I can;
A man opprefs'd, dependant, yet a man:
Accept fuch treatment as a fwain affords,
Slave to the infolence of youthful lords !
Far hence is by unequal Gods remov'd
That man of bounties, loving and belov'd!
To whom whate er his flave enjoys is ow'd,
And more, had Fate allow'd, had been beftow'd:
But Fate condemn'd him to a foreign fhore;
Much have I forrow'd, but my mafter more.
Now cold he lies, to death's embrace refign'd:
Ah, perish Helen! perish all her kind!
For whofe curs'd caufe, in Agamemnon's name,
He trod fo fatally the paths of Fame.
His veft fuccinct then girding round his waist,
Forth rush'd the swain with hospitable haste,
Straight to the lodgements of his herd he run,
Where the fat porkers slept beneath the sun ;
Of two, his cutlace lanch'd the spouting blood;
These quarter'd, sing'd, and fix'd on forks of wood,
All hafty on the hiffing coals he threw ;
And fmoking back the tasteful viands drew,
Broachers and all; then on the board display'd
The ready meal, before Ulyffes laid
With flour imbrown'd; next mingled wine yet new, And luscious as the bees nectareous dew:
Then fate companion of the friendly feast,
With open look; and thus bespoke his guest:
Take with free welcome what our hands prepare,
Such food as falls to fimple fervants share;
The beft our Lords confume; thofe thoughtless peers,
Rich without bounty, guilty without fears 4
Yet fure the Gods their impious acts deteft,
And honour justice and the righteous breast.
Pirates and conquerors, of harden'd mind,
The foes of peace, and scourges of mankind,
To whom offending men are made a prey
When Jove in vengeance gives a land away;
Ev'n thefe, when of their ill-got spoils poffefs'd,
Find fure tormentors in the guilty breast :
Some voice of God clofe whispering from within,
"Wretch! this is villainy, and this is fin."
But these, no doubt, fome oracle explore,,
That tells, the great Ulyffes is no more.
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