Then answered the goddess: "Verily, thou art weak in faith. Some put trust in men, yet men are weaker than the gods; why trustest not thou in me? Verily, I am with thee, and will keep thee to the end. But now sleep, for to watch all the night is vexation of spirit."
So saying, she poured sleep upon his eyes and went back to
Olympus.
When the morning came Ulysses awoke, and he took up the fleeces, and set them on a seat in the hall, and the bull's hide he carried without. Then he lifted up his hands to Zeus, and prayed, saying, "O Father Zeus, if thou hast led me to mine own country of good will, then give me a sign."
And even as he spake Zeus thundered from Olympus; and Ulysses heard it, and was glad. Also a woman at the mill spake a word of omen. Twelve women there were that ground the meal, wheat, and barley. Eleven of these were now sleeping, for they had finished their task; but this one, being weakest of all, was still grinding. And now she stayed her work, and said: "Surely, Father Zeus, this is a sign, for thou hast thundered in a clear sky. Grant now that this be the last meal that I shall grind for the suitors in the house of Ulysses!"
Afterwards came Telemachus, and spake to the nurse, saying, "Hast thou given to the guest food and bedding, or doth he lie uncared for?"
The nurse made answer: "The stranger drank as much as he would, and ate till he said that he had had enough; but blankets and a mattress he would not have; on an hide he slept, with fleeces of sheep above. Also we cast a mantle over him."
Next came the swineherd, leading three fatted hogs, the best of all the herd. And he said. "Stranger, do these men treat thee well?"
Ulysses made answer, "May the gods repay them as they have dealt insolently with me!"
Afterwards came Melanthius, the goatherd, having goats for the feast of the day. And he spake to Ulysses bitter words: "Wilt thou still plague us, stranger, with thy begging? Verily, I think that we shall not part till we have made trial of each other with our fists. Thy begging is not to be borne; and there are other feasts whither thou mightest go."
But Ulysses answered him not a word.