By the hall pillar, and my father’s chair
Next hers, where he, the wine-cup in his hand,
“Sits like a God. Yet pass him by, nor stay
Till round our mother’s knees your hands you lay.
For thus, although from very far you come,
Quickly shall dawn your glad returning day.”[[12]]
It all falls out as she has said. They start off as the sun is setting, and Odysseus follows behind the mule-cart at a little distance until they reach the sacred grove of poplars that Nausicaa has indicated. There he waits behind for a space, while she drives on to the palace. Her handsome young brothers come out to meet her, with hearty greetings and questions as to how the day has fared. But she does not make much response to them, leaving them to unharness the mules and carry out the clothing while she slips away to her room and the society of her old nurse.
Meanwhile Odysseus makes his way to the palace alone and is amazed at its size and magnificence.
The brazen walls