Should he, so wealthy, want at last a shroud. Such was my speech; they, unsuspicious all, With my request complied. Thenceforth, all day I wove the ample web, and, by the aid Of torches, ravell'd it again at night. Three years by artifice I thus their suit Eluded safe; but when the fourth arrived, And the same season after many moons 190 And fleeting days return'd, passing my train Who had neglected to release the dogs, They came, surprized and reprimanded me. Thus, through necessity, not choice, at last I have perform'd it, in my own despight. But no escape from marriage now remains, Nor other subterfuge for me; meantime My parents urge my nuptials, and my son (Of age to note it) with disgust observes His wealth consumed; for he is now become 200 Adult, and abler than myself to rule The house, a Prince distinguish'd by the Gods, Yet, stranger, after all, speak thy descent; Say whence thou art; for not of fabulous birth Art thou, nor from the oak, nor from the rock. Her answer'd then Ulysses, ever-wise. O spouse revered of Laertiades! Resolv'st thou still to learn from whom I sprang? Learn then; but know that thou shalt much augment My present grief, natural to a man 210 Who hath, like me, long exiled from his home Through various cities of the sons of men Wander'd remote, and num'rous woes endured. Yet, though it pain me, I will tell thee all. There is a land amid the sable flood Call'd Crete; fair, fruitful, circled by the sea. Num'rous are her inhabitants, a race Not to be summ'd, and ninety towns she boasts. Diverse their language is; Achaians some, And some indigenous are; Cydonians there, 220 Crest-shaking Dorians, and Pelasgians dwell. One city in extent the rest exceeds, Cnossus; the city in which Minos reign'd, Who, ever at a nine years' close, conferr'd With Jove himself; from him my father sprang The brave Deucalion; for Deucalion's sons Were two, myself and King Idomeneus. To Ilium he, on board his gallant barks, Follow'd the Atridæ. I, the youngest-born, By my illustrious name, Æthon, am known, 230 But he ranks foremost both in worth and years. There I beheld Ulysses, and within My walls receiv'd him; for a violent wind Had driv'n him from Malea (while he sought The shores of Troy) to Crete. The storm his barks Bore into the Amnisus, for the cave Of Ilythia known, a dang'rous port, And which with difficulty he attain'd. He, landing, instant to the city went, Seeking Idomeneus; his friend of old, 240 As he affirm'd, and one whom much he lov'd. But _he_ was far remote, ten days advanced, Perhaps eleven, on his course to Troy.