Then answer thus Antinoüs harsh return'd.
What dæmon introduced this nuisance here,
This troubler of our feast? stand yonder, keep
Due distance from my table, or expect
To see an Ægypt and a Cyprus worse 540
Than those, bold mendicant and void of shame!
Thou hauntest each, and, inconsid'rate, each
Gives to thee, because gifts at other's cost
Are cheap, and, plentifully serv'd themselves,
They squander, heedless, viands not their own. 545
To whom Ulysses while he slow retired.
Gods! how illib'ral with that specious form!
Thou wouldst not grant the poor a grain of salt
From thy own board, who at another's fed
So nobly, canst thou not spare a crust to me. 550
He spake; then raged Antinoüs still the more,
And in wing'd accents, louring, thus replied.
Take such dismission now as thou deserv'st,
Opprobrious! hast thou dared to scoff at me?
So saying, he seized his stool, and on the joint 555
Of his right shoulder smote him; firm as rock
He stood, by no such force to be displaced,
But silent shook his brows, and dreadful deeds
Of vengeance ruminating, sought again
His seat the threshold, where his bag full-charged 560
He grounded, and the suitors thus address'd.
Hear now, ye suitors of the matchless Queen,
My bosom's dictates. Trivial is the harm,
Scarce
