Dwells no such thought; thou lov'st not to impart To others, but to gratify thyself. To whom Antinoüs answer thus return'd. High-soaring and intemp'rate in thy speech How hast thou said, Telemachus? Would all 490 As much bestow on him, he should not seek Admittance here again three months to come. So saying, he seized the stool which, banqueting, He press'd with his nice feet, and from beneath The table forth advanced it into view. The rest all gave to him, with bread and flesh Filling his wallet, and Ulysses, now, Returning to his threshold, there to taste The bounty of the Greeks, paused in his way Beside Antinoüs, whom he thus address'd. 500 Kind sir! vouchsafe to me! for thou appear'st Not least, but greatest of the Achaians here, And hast a kingly look. It might become Thee therefore above others to bestow, So should I praise thee wheresoe'er I roam. I also lived the happy owner once Of such a stately mansion, and have giv'n To num'rous wand'rers (whencesoe'er they came) All that they needed; I was also served By many, and enjoy'd all that denotes 510 The envied owner opulent and blest. But Jove (for so it pleas'd him) hath reduced My all to nothing, prompting me, in league With rovers of the Deep, to sail afar To Ægypt, for my sure destruction there. Within th' Ægyptian stream my barks well-oar'd I station'd, and, enjoining strict my friends To watch them close-attendant at their side, Commanded spies into the hill-tops; but they, Under the impulse of a spirit rash 520 And hot for quarrel, the well-cultur'd fields Pillaged of the Ægyptians, captive led Their wives and little-ones, and slew the men. Ere long, the loud alarm their city reach'd. Down came the citizens, by dawn of day, With horse and foot and with the gleam of arms Filling the plain. Then Jove with panic dread Struck all my people; none found courage more To stand, for mischiefs swarm'd on ev'ry side. There, num'rous by the glitt'ring spear we fell 530 Slaughter'd, while others they conducted thence Alive to servitude; but me they gave To Dmetor, King in Cyprus, Jasus' son; He entertained me liberally, and thence This land I reach'd, but poor and woe-begone. Then answer thus Antinoüs harsh return'd. What dæmon introduced this nuisance here, This troubler of our feast? stand yonder, keep Due distance from my table, or expect To see an Ægypt and a Cyprus worse 540 Than those, bold mendicant and void of shame! Thou hauntest each, and, inconsid'rate, each Gives to thee, because gifts at other's cost Are cheap, and, plentifully serv'd themselves,