Chapter 7 Odysseus and the Huaiaccas

While Nausicaa returns to his father's palace, Odysseus leaves the sacred grove, with Athena helping him along the way.In order to prevent the pompous Huaiakan from hurting him, she covered him with a thick fog, but he himself was unaware.When approaching the city gate, she had to transform into a Huaiakian girl, and walked up to Odysseus with a jug in her hand. "Little girl," said the great hero to her, "will you show me the way to the palace of King Alcinous? I am a stranger, and I know no one here!" "I would love to show you the way, for you are a good man," replied the goddess. "My father lives nearby, so you can safely follow me. People here don't like foreigners very much. The difficult life in the sea has hardened their hearts!" Athena led the way ahead, Odysseus followed her, but the Huaiakans did not see him.

Along the way, he happily admired the piers, ships, and tall city walls.At last they came to a place where Athena said: "This is the palace of Alcinous. Go in with confidence. There is one thing I want to remind you, you must first find the queen! Her name is Arete, and she is her husband's niece. Alcinous Si respects her very much, and the people of Huaiakaya also respect her very much. She is smart, virtuous, and good at mediating disputes among the people with wisdom. If you can get her sympathy, you don't have to worry about it." After finishing speaking, the goddess left in a hurry.Odysseus stood in front of the door thoughtfully, gazing at the magnificent palace.The tall hall is golden, like the sun radiating light.On both sides of the palace gate are palace walls inlaid with copper.The gates of the inner court were of gold, with silver posts and lintels of silver, with brass bases and gold latches.On both sides of the gate stood gold and silver dogs cast by Hephaestus, like warriors guarding the palace.As Odysseus entered the hall, he saw a row of soft chairs covered with rich and delicate cushions.Princes and nobles sat here to feast.On the high brackets stood the statues of golden boys, and they held torches in their hands, which illuminated like day when they were drinking and feasting.There were fifty maidservants in the palace, some were grinding flour, some were weaving, some were spinning.The women here are as good at weaving as the men of Huaiakaya are at sailing.Outside the palace was a walled orchard with pear, fig, pomegranate, olive, and apple trees.The country of Huaiakaya enjoys a warm westerly wind throughout the year, and there are fruits both in winter and summer.During the same season, some trees are blooming while others are fruiting.Next to the orchard are vineyards.In the sun, the crystal grapes glisten.Some grapes have already been picked, while others have just opened their buds.On the other side of the garden, there are a lot of flowers, and the fragrance is refreshing.One spring meanders through the garden, and the other flows past the palace gate.

Residents draw water here. Odysseus watched for a long time, and then went straight into the king's hall.The nobles of Huaiakaya are feasting.Because it was getting late, everyone was ready to end the banquet and hold a sacrifice to the god Hermes.Odysseus made his way through the crowd surrounded by thick fog to the king and queen.As soon as Athena raised her hand, the dense fog around him disappeared immediately. He stepped forward and knelt at the feet of Queen Arete, hugged her knees, and begged piteously: "Ah, daughter of Xenor, Arete Teyo, I prostrate before you and your husband as a supplicant, may God only grant you happiness and joy, please help me, this poor exile, to return to my hometown! I have been a wanderer for a long time. "

The Huaiakhians were startled when they saw him.Finally, Ecenaus, the elder and experienced elder among the guests, broke the silence and said to the king; Order the herald to make fine wine, and let us hold a pouring ceremony for the patron saint Zeus. At the same time, the maid will serve wine and food to the new guests!" Satisfied with this, the king raised Odysseus and seated him in the chair beside him.Here sat Laodamas, the king's beloved son, who made room for the guests.After offering sacrifices to Zeus, the banquet broke up.The king invited the guests to come back for a feast the next day.Without asking who the stranger was or where he came from, he allowed him to live in the palace and promised to let him return to his hometown safely.After speaking, he looked at the stranger carefully again.Athena made him more god-like manner and splendor.The king couldn't help saying to him: "If you are an immortal god, transformed into a mortal and come to feast, then you don't need our help. Instead, we should ask for your protection!"

"Oh, O King, please don't think so!" Odysseus replied hastily, "I am a mortal like you! Moreover, I am the most unfortunate person who has suffered so much." When the guests were gone and only the king, queen, and strangers were left, Arete looked at the beautiful clothes on his body, and suddenly recognized that she had made them.She was very strange and asked: "Outlander, I want to ask you a question. Please tell me, where do you come from, and who gave you this beautiful dress?" Calypso stayed on the island of Ochigia, and later, he was caught in a storm at sea, drifted here, and met Nausicaa.

"My daughter ought to do this," said King Alcinous, smiling, "but she did not quite do her duty. She should have brought you to me right away! " "Don't blame her, O king," said Odysseus, "she was ready to do this, but I refused.Because I'm afraid of arousing your suspicion! " "I will never be suspicious," said the king, "but it is always good to have order in everything. Now, if God's providence requires a man like you to marry my daughter, how I will! I will give Your palace and property! But I will not compel you to stay here. Tomorrow I will give you a ship and sailors, so that you can go home. I will help you as best I can."

Odysseus was very grateful for his kindness.He took his leave and went to sleep on a soft bed, relieving his fatigue and sleepiness. Early the next morning, the king called a meeting of the people in the marketplace.He brought the guests to the meeting too.All looked in amazement at the son of Laertes, whom Athena had endowed with extraordinary beauty and majesty.The king solemnly introduced the stranger to his people.He asked the citizens to prepare a large ship and fifty-two young sailors from Huaiakaya.At the same time, he also invited the nobles present to a banquet for foreigners, and ordered the singer Temodocos, who had been endowed with musical talent by Arobo, to perform at the banquet.

After the assembly, the young sailors prepared a large, strong ship.They hoisted the masts, hung the sails, and tied the oars with straps.When everything was ready, they came to the king's palace.The halls and courtyards of the palace were packed with invited dignitaries.The servants killed twelve sheep, eight pigs and two bulls.After the banquet, the blind singer sang the famous Trojan heroes with a loud voice.Two of the most famous heroes are the well-known Achilles and Odysseus. When Odysseus heard his name being sung in song, he could not help covering his face with his cloak so that no one could see him weeping.The king, who was sitting nearby, noticed this, and ordered the singers to stop singing, and at the same time announced a contest, as a tribute to the stranger. "Our guest," said the king, "when you return home, don't forget to tell people in your hometown that we Huaiakians are good at boxing, wrestling, long jumping and running." As the king gave an order, everyone rushed to the market.Many noble youths competed for the competition, among them were the three sons of King Alcinous, namely Laodamas, Halius and Clytonios.They started with a race.Clytonios led the way and was the first to reach the finish line.Then there was a wrestling contest, and Amfialos the Huaiakian was victorious.Eratreus won the discus throwing crown.The king's son Laodamas won the boxing match.

Now, Laodamas rose to his feet and said to the young men in the competition: "My friends, we all want to see what competition skills the outlanders have!" "Yes, you are right," said Euryalus, "you should ask him yourself and invite him to compete!" Laodamas politely walked up to the stranger and invited him to compete. Odysseus declined and said: "Young man, don't you want to see my jokes? I am very sad and have no interest in participating in the competition. I have suffered a lot and now I just want to return to my motherland, my hometown as soon as possible. !"

Euryalus said displeasedly: "Outlander, your speech does not seem to come from the mouth of a warrior. You may be a good captain or a wise merchant. You are not a hero." Odysseus frowned when he heard this, and said to him: "My friend, that is not a pleasant word. I am not incompetent in the arena. When I was young, I always fought against the strongest. It is different now, years of fighting and the storms at sea have worn me down. But since you challenged me, I had to try!" As he spoke, Odysseus stood up from his seat, without even taking off his cloak, reached out and grabbed a big and thick discus, and threw it forcefully.The discus whirred and flew through the air.The people nearby bent down hurriedly and stepped back, the discus far exceeded the marking line.Athena transformed into a Huaiakan, marked the place where the discus landed, and said loudly:

"Even a blind man can see that you can throw farther than anyone else. No one can pass you in this game!" Odysseus was very happy to have such a good friend among the Huaiakians, and he said to him happily: "Well, young man, if you throw, you can throw it so far! And you, who just sneered Come here, my young man, what games do you want? I will accompany you, and I will not back down! But I will not compete with Laodamas. How can a guest compete with the host who entertains him? What about the competition?" The young Huaiakayas were silent when they heard this.At this time the king said: "Outlander, you have shown us your strength. From now on, no one will not admire you. When you go home to reunite with your wife and children, please don't forget to tell them about our demeanor." And morals. We may not be good at boxing and wrestling, but we are pretty good at sailing and running. As for playing the piano and dancing, we all have experts in this area.We have the most beautiful jewelry, the most comfortable bath, the softest bed, you have seen it all.Now come out, singers and dancers, and show your skills to strangers!And don't forget to bring the harp of Tymodocos. " A messenger brought the harp.Nine young people packed up the venue and prepared to perform dance.The pianist came to the middle.The dance show begins.Odysseus was amazed, he had never seen such a beautiful dance.Then, the singer sang a moving song, praising the happy life of the gods.After dancing the round dance, the king ordered his son Laodamas to dance with the clever Halius.One person holds a small ball in his hand, throws the ball up into the air, and the other jumps up and catches the ball in the air.They changed their dance steps nimbly and jumped briskly.The people watching from the side clapped their hands rhythmically to cheer them up. Odysseus admired him from the bottom of his heart, turned to the king and said, "King Alcinous, it is no exaggeration to say that you have the best dancers in the world!" Alcinous heard his praise very happy.He said to the Huaiakhians: "Have you all heard this? Have you heard this stranger's praise for you? He is a man of insight, and he deserves a rich gift from us. There are ten people in our country. The two princes, there are thirteen people together with me, each should bring a cloak, a doublet and a talent of gold. Then we will give him all these gifts, as a parting present, he must Will be pleased. Besides, Euryalus should apologize to the stranger, and let him not have the slightest displeasure against us." The people of Huaiakaya cheered in unison when they heard the king's speech.So a messenger got up and went to collect the presents.Euryalus also gave the stranger the ivory scabbard and the silver-hilted sword.He said: "If my words offend you, let it blow away with the wind. May God bless you to return home safely! The people of Huaiyakaya wish you happiness!" "I hope you will not regret sending Give me a precious gift!" said Odysseus, putting his sword on his shoulders.At sunset all the presents were collected and placed before the Queen.King Alcinous asked the queen for a fine chest, packed clothes and gold in it, and sent the chest to Odysseus' residence.The king also gave him many robes and a costly golden cup.Odysseus closed the lid carefully, tied the box firmly with a knot, and finally bathed in warm water.Then, prepare to drink with the guests in the lobby. Then suddenly he saw Nausica at the door of the hall.It was the first time Odysseus saw her after entering the palace.The princess is a dignified person who lives in the inner court and does not participate in the banquets of men.Now, she wanted to say goodbye to her distinguished guest.The princess looked at his burly figure and handsome face in admiration, and said softly: "My noble guest, I wish you health and happiness! I hope you will always think of me when you return home!" Odysseus was deeply moved and replied Said: "Dear Nausika, if God only blesses me and allows me to return to my hometown safely, I will regard you as a god and pray to you, because you are my savior." So saying, he entered the hall and sat down beside the king.The servants were busy pouring wine and dividing the meat.The blind singer Temodocos was brought in and sat in the middle.Odysseus summoned the messenger, cut off the best piece of roast pork in front of him, put it on a plate, and said to the messenger: "My friend, please give this piece of meat to the singer, I should pay him homage. Singers should be respected everywhere because they are students of the Muse. The Muse taught them to sing and took care of them everywhere.” The blind singer gratefully accepted the food he presented. After the banquet, Odysseus turned to Temodocus and said: "I praise you before the world, dear singer. You sang the fate of the Greek heroes beautifully, as if you were there and saw it with your own eyes. It's like hearing all these things with your own ears. Come on, keep singing, sing the story of the Trojan Horse and the deeds of Odysseus! " The singer happily obeyed his orders, and all the people listened in silence to his singing.When Odysseus heard the praise of his deeds, he could not help but secretly shed tears.King Alcinous noticed, stopped the singer, and said: "We had better let the harp rest. Our guest has been sadder and sadder since the song began. We cannot make him happy. The foreign land Tell us, man, who are your parents, and where are you from? I am not asking you out of curiosity, but we must first know your country, know your native place, so that we Huaiakaya sailors can You send it back. They don't want to know anything else. They don't need a guide. They just need to know the names of places, and they can sail to their destination through fog or night!" Odysseus, upon hearing this friendly request, replied: "My lord, do not think that singers do not bring me joy! On the contrary, it is a pleasure to hear beautiful voices. Behold, a national hero The deeds of my life are sung by singers, and the guests taste, drink, and listen to the food in front of the food. There is nothing happier than this in the world. Dear master, if you really want to know my life experience, I am willing to take advantage of it Tell my friends about Jiu Xing, and thank them for their deep affection for me!"