And should the event verify thy report, Thy meed shall be (a boon which much thou need'st) Tunic and mantle; but she gives no more; Thy sustenance thou must, as now, obtain,[78] Begging it at their hands who chuse to give. 670 Then thus Ulysses, Hero toil-inured. Eumæus! readily I can relate Truth, and truth only, to the prudent Queen Icarius' daughter; for of him I know Much, and have suff'red sorrows like his own. But dread I feel of this imperious throng Perverse, whose riot and outrageous acts Of violence echo through the vault of heav'n. And, even now, when for no fault of mine Yon suitor struck me as I pass'd, and fill'd 680 My flesh with pain, neither Telemachus Nor any interposed to stay his arm. Now, therefore, let Penelope, although Impatient, till the sun descend postpone Her questions; then she may enquire secure When comes her husband, and may nearer place My seat to the hearth-side, for thinly clad Thou know'st I am, whose aid I first implored. He ceas'd; at whose reply Eumæus sought Again the Queen, but ere he yet had pass'd 690 The threshold, thus she greeted his return. Com'st thou alone, Eumæus? why delays The invited wand'rer? dreads he other harm? Or sees he aught that with a bashful awe Fills him? the bashful poor are poor indeed. To whom, Eumæus, thou didst thus reply. He hath well spoken; none who would decline The rudeness of this contumelious throng Could answer otherwise; thee he entreats To wait till sun-set, and that course, O Queen, 700 Thou shalt thyself far more commodious find, To hold thy conf'rence with the guest, alone. Then answer thus Penelope return'd. The stranger, I perceive, is not unwise, Whoe'er he be, for on the earth are none Proud, insolent, and profligate as these. So spake the Queen. Then (all his message told) The good Eumæus to the suitors went Again, and with his head inclined toward Telemachus, lest others should his words 710 Witness, in accents wing'd him thus address'd. Friend and kind master! I return to keep My herds, and to attend my rural charge, Whence we are both sustain'd. Keep thou, meantime, All here with vigilance, but chiefly watch For thy own good, and save _thyself_ from harm; For num'rous here brood mischief, whom the Gods Exterminate, ere yet their plots prevail! To whom Telemachus, discrete, replied. So be it, father! and (thy evening-mess 720 Eaten) depart; to-morrow come again, Bringing fair victims hither; I will keep, I and the Gods, meantime, all here secure. He ended; then resumed once more the swain His polish'd seat, and, both with wine and food