And now Telemachus, by his father's
direction, went and brought down into the hall armour and lances from the
armoury; for Ulysses said, "On the morrow we shall have need of them." And
moreover he said, "If any one shall ask why you have taken them down, say
it is to clean them and scour them from the rust which they have gathered
since the owner of this house went for Troy." And as Telemachus stood by
the armour, the lights were all gone out, and it was pitch dark, and the
armour gave out glistering beams as of fire, and he said to his father,
"The pillars of the house are on fire." And his father said, "It is the
gods who sit above the stars, and have power to make the night as light as
the day." And he took it for a good omen. And Telemachus fell to cleaning
and sharpening of the lances.
Now Ulysses had not seen his wife Penelope in all the time since his
return; for the queen did not care to mingle with the suitors at their
banquets, but, as became one that had been Ulysses's wife, kept much in
private, spinning and doing her excellent housewiferies among her maids in
the remote apartments of the palace. Only upon solemn days she would come
down and show herself to the suitors. And Ulysses was filled with a
longing desire to see his wife again, whom for twenty years he had not
beheld, and he softly stole through the known passages of his beautiful
house, till he came where the maids were lighting the queen through a
stately gallery that led to the chamber where she slept.
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