No; I will pass, as I am wont to pass The sleepless night; for on a sordid couch Outstretch'd, full many a night have I reposed Till golden-charioted Aurora dawn'd. Nor me the foot-bath pleases more; my foot Shall none of all thy ministring maidens touch, 430 Unless there be some ancient matron grave Among them, who hath pangs of heart endured Num'rous, and keen as I have felt myself; Her I refuse not. She may touch my feet. Him answer'd then prudent Penelope. Dear guest! for of all trav'llers here arrived From distant regions, I have none received Discrete as thou, or whom I more have lov'd, So just thy matter is, and with such grace Express'd. I have an ancient maiden grave, 440 The nurse who at my hapless husband's birth Receiv'd him in her arms, and with kind care Maternal rear'd him; she shall wash thy feet, Although decrepid. Euryclea, rise! Wash one coeval with thy Lord; for such The feet and hands, it may be, are become Of my Ulysses now; since man beset With sorrow once, soon wrinkled grows and old. She said, then Euryclea with both hands Cov'ring her face, in tepid tears profuse 450 Dissolved, and thus in mournful strains began. Alas! my son, trouble for thy dear sake Distracts me. Jove surely of all mankind Thee hated most, though ever in thy heart Devoutly giv'n; for never mortal man So many thighs of fatted victims burn'd, And chosen hecatombs produced as thou To Jove the Thund'rer, him entreating still That he would grant thee a serene old age, And to instruct, thyself, thy glorious son. 460 Yet thus the God requites thee, cutting off All hope of thy return--oh ancient sir! Him too, perchance, where'er he sits a guest Beneath some foreign roof, the women taunt, As all these shameless ones have taunted thee, Fearing whose mock'ry thou forbidd'st their hands This office, which Icarius' daughter wise To me enjoins, and which I, glad perform. Yes, I will wash thy feet; both for her sake And for thy own,--for sight of thee hath raised 470 A tempest in my mind. Hear now the cause! Full many a guest forlorn we entertain, But never any have I seen, whose size, The fashion of whose foot and pitch of voice, Such likeness of Ulysses show'd, as thine. To whom Ulysses, ever-shrewd, replied. Such close similitude, O ancient dame! As thou observ'st between thy Lord and me, All, who have seen us both, have ever found. He said; then taking the resplendent vase 480 Allotted always to that use, she first Infused cold water largely, then, the warm. Ulysses (for beside the hearth he sat) Turn'd quick his face into the shade, alarm'd Lest, handling him, she should at once remark