But I was somebody in those times, and could do
something. Be that as it may, a bitter freezing night it was, such a night
as this, the air cut like steel, and the sleet gathered on our shields
like crystal. There was some twenty of us, that lay close crouched down
among the reeds and bulrushes that grew in the moat that goes round the
city. The rest of us made tolerable shift, for every man had been careful
to bring with him a good cloak or mantle to wrap over his armour and keep
himself warm; but I, as it chanced, had left my cloak behind me, as not
expecting that the night would prove so cold, or rather I believe because
I had at that time a brave suit of new armour on, which, being a soldier,
and having some of the soldier's vice about me--_vanity_--I was not
willing should be hidden under a cloak; but I paid for my indiscretion
with my sufferings, for with the inclement night, and the wet of the ditch
in which we lay, I was well-nigh frozen to death; and when I could endure
no longer, I jogged Ulysses who was next to me, and had a nimble ear, and
made known my case to him, assuring him that I must inevitably perish. He
answered in a low whisper, 'Hush, lest any Greek should hear you, and take
notice of your softness.' Not a word more he said, but showed as if he had
no pity for the plight I was in. But he was as considerate as he was
brave; and even then, as he lay with his head reposing upon his hand, he
was meditating how to relieve me, without exposing my weakness to the
soldiers.
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