Some castaway, perhaps, she
rescued from his vessel, some foreigner; for we have no neighbors here.
Or at her prayer some long-entreated god has come straight down from
heaven, and he will keep her his forever. So much the better, if she has
gone herself and found a husband elsewhere! The people of our own land
here, Phaeacians, she disdains, though she has many high-born suitors.'
So they will talk, and for me it would prove a scandal. I should myself
censure a girl who acted so, who, heedless of friends, while father and
mother were alive, mingled with men before her public wedding. And,
stranger, listen now to what I say, that you may soon obtain assistance
and safe conduct from my father. Near our road you will see a stately
grove of poplar trees, belonging to Athene; in it a fountain flows, and
round it is a meadow. That is my father's park, his fruitful vineyard,
as far from the town as one can call. There sit and wait a while, until
we come to the town and reach my father's palace. But when you think we
have already reached the palace, enter the city of the Phaeacians, and
ask for the palace of my father, generous Alcinoues. Easily is it known;
a child, though young, could show the way; for the Phaeacians do not
build their houses like the dwelling of Alcinoues their prince. But when
his house and court receive you, pass quickly through the hall until you
find my mother. She sits in the firelight by the hearth, spinning
sea-purple yarn, a marvel to behold, and resting against a pillar.
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