"
This counsel the peers with one consent approved; and wine and meat being
set before Ulysses, he ate and drank, and gave the gods thanks who had
stirred up the royal bounty of Alcinous to aid him in that extremity. But
not as yet did he reveal to the king and queen who he was, or whence he
had come; only in brief terms he related his being cast upon their shores,
his sleep in the woods, and his meeting with the princess Nausicaa, whose
generosity, mingled with discretion, filled her parents with delight, as
Ulysses in eloquent phrases adorned and commended her virtues. But
Alcinous, humanely considering that the troubles which his guest had
undergone required rest, as well as refreshment by food, dismissed him
early in the evening to his chamber; where in a magnificent apartment
Ulysses found a smoother bed, but not a sounder repose, than he had
enjoyed the night before, sleeping upon leaves which he had scraped
together in his necessity.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Songs of Demodocus.--The Convoy Home.--The Mariners Transformed to
Stone.--The Young Shepherd.
When it was daylight, Alcinous caused it to be proclaimed by the heralds
about the town that there was come to the palace a stranger, shipwrecked
on their coast, that in mien and person resembled a god; and inviting all
the chief people of the city to come and do honour to the stranger.
The palace was quickly filled with guests, old and young, for whose cheer,
and to grace Ulysses more, Alcinous made a kingly feast with banquetings
and music.
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