This he did, saying: "O queen, I beg you to be kind to me. Maybe you are a goddess. But if you are a woman, then your father is a happy man, and happy your brothers, and happiest of all he who is to be your husband. Never did I see man or woman so fair. You are like a young palm-tree that I once saw springing up by a temple in the island of Delos. Have pity on me, for I have been cast up here by the sea, and have nothing. Give me something to put on—a wrapper of linen, maybe, and show me the way to the city."
Nausicaa said: "You do not look like a bad or foolish man; as for the sad plight in which you are, the gods give good luck to some, and bad luck to others. You shall have clothing and food, and everything that you need. And I will take you to the city, for I am daughter to the king of this country. And the name of the country, if you wish to know it, is the Island of Phaeacia."
Then the princess turned to the maids, and said: "Why do you run away when you see a man? No one comes here to do us harm, for the gods love us and take care of us. And besides, we live in an island, and so are safe. But if some one upon whom trouble has fallen comes here, we ought to help him. Give this man, therefore, food and drink, and let him wash in the river in some place that is out of the wind."
So the maids led him down to the river, and gave him clothes: a tunic to wear next to his skin, and a cloak to put over the tunic. Also they gave him a flask of olive oil, to use after he had his bath. Then they left him to himself, and he bathed in the river, and washed the salt from his skin, and out of his hair, and rubbed the oil on his body, and put on the tunic and the cloak. And Athené made him look taller and fairer than he was, and caused the hair to grow thicker and darker on his head. So he sat down on the sea-shore, and waited. And when the princess saw him, she said: "Surely it is the gods who have brought this man here. When I saw him first, I thought that he was not uncomely, but now he seems more like a god than a man. I should be well contented to have such a man for my husband, and perhaps he may be willing to stay in this country." Then she turned to the maids, and said: "Give the stranger food and drink." So they gave him, and he ate ravenously, for he had had a long fast, for it was now the third day since the raft had been broken by the sea, and all the store of food and drink which Calypso had given him had been lost.
Then Nausicaa told the maids to harness the mules, and she said to Ulysses: "Come stranger, with me, and I will take you to my father's house. But now listen, and do as I shall tell you; as long as we are in the country, follow with the maids, and keep close to the waggon. But when we come to the city, then drop behind. This is how you will know the place. There is a narrow passage leading to the city gate, and on each side of the passage there is a harbour. Then you will see a grove of poplar trees, and a spring in the midst of the grove, with grass round it. Stay there till I shall have had time to reach my father's house. Now the reason why I would have you do so is this. I do not wish the common people to gossip about me. If they were to see you following close after the chariot, one of them might say: 'Who is this tall and handsome stranger that comes with Nausicaa? Will he be her husband? Is he a god come down from heaven, or is he a man from some place over the sea? The princess is too proud, it seems, to marry one of us.' I would not have such words spoken about me. Stay, then, in the grove till you think that I have got to my home. Then come out, and pass through the gate, and ask for the king's palace. Any one, even a child, can tell you the way, for there is not another house in the city like it. And when you have come to it, pass quickly through the hall to the place where my mother sits. It is on one side of the hearth, and my father's is on the other. Do not speak to him, but lay hold of my mother's knees, and beg of her that she will send you safely home."
Then she touched the mules with the whip, and they set off. But the princess was careful not to drive so fast but that Ulysses and the maids could easily keep up with the waggon. And when the sun was about to set, they came to the city, and Ulysses stayed behind the grove, but Nausicaa with the maids went on to the palace. When she came thither, her brothers unyoked the mules from the waggon and carried the linen into the house, and she went to her room, where her maid lit a fire for her and prepared a meal.
Alcinous
After a while Ulysses rose to go into the city, and Athené spread a mist about him so that the passers-by might not see him as he went. Also she took upon her the shape of a young girl who was carrying a pitcher, and met him.
Ulysses asked her: "My child, can you tell me where King Alcinoüs lives? I am a stranger here."
She answered: "I will show you his abode; it is close to the home of my father." So she led the way, and Ulysses followed her. Much did he wonder, as he went, at all he saw—the harbour, and the ships, and the place of assembly, and the walls, till they came to the palace. Athené said: "This is the king's house." Further, she said—and now Ulysses knew that it was Athené and not a girl that was speaking—"Go in, fear nothing; the fearless man always fares best. And look first for the queen. Her name is Areté. Never was there a wife more loved by her husband, or a queen more honoured by her people. Be sure that if she favours you, you have come to the end of your troubles, and will see your dear land of Ithaca again."
When she had said this, Athené vanished out of sight, and Ulysses went into the palace. A wonderful place it was, as bright as if the sun had been shining in it. The walls were of brass, and the doors were of gold, and the posts on which the doors were hung were of silver, and along the sides of the hall were golden chairs on which the chiefs were used to sit when they were invited to a feast. By each seat was the golden statue of a man, holding a torch in his hand, so that the hall might be lighted when it was night. There were fifty maid-servants in the house; half of them were grinding corn, and half of them were weaving robes. All round the house were beautiful gardens, full of fig-trees and apples, and pears, and pomegranates, and olives. They never are harmed by frost or by drought, and there is never a time when some fruit is not ripe. Also there was a vineyard, and this bore grapes all the year round. Some of them were hanging dried in the sun, and some were being gathered, and some were just turning red. Also there were beds of beautiful flowers, and in the middle were two fountains which never grew dry.
Ulysses could not help looking for a short time at all these wonderful and beautiful things. There were many people in the hall, but no one saw him, for, as we know, there was a mist all around him which hid him from them. So he went on to where the queen was sitting, and knelt down before her, and put his hands on her knees. And as he did this, the mist cleared away from round him, and all the people in the hall saw him quite plainly.
He said: "O queen, I beg a favour of you. I pray you, and your husband, and your children to help me. Send me to my home, for I know that you help strangers to travel across the sea."
And when he had said this, he sat down among the ashes on the hearth. Then said one of the nobles that were in the hall—he was the very oldest man that there was in all the land: "King Alcinoüs, do not let this stranger sit there among the ashes. Tell him to sit upon a chair, and give him something to eat and drink."
Then the king told his eldest son to take the stranger by the hand and raise him up, and make him sit down on his own seat. This the young man did. And a servant brought a basin and poured water over Ulysses' hands, and the housekeeper brought him something to eat and to drink. The king said: "This man begs a favour of us, that we may take him to his home. To-morrow we will have an Assembly, and will consider how we may best do this. And now you can go all of you to your homes." But before they went, Ulysses said: "I could tell you, my friends, of many troubles that I have suffered. But first I must eat and drink; that a man must do, however unhappy he may be. I will say only this, when you come together to-morrow, do your best to help me in this matter. I should be content to die if I could only see my home again."