She spoke; the others stopped and called to one another, and down they brought Odysseus to the place of shelter, even as Nausicaae, daughter of generous Alcinoues, had ordered.  They placed a robe and tunic there for clothing, they gave him in the golden flask the liquid oil, and bade him bathe in the stream’s currents.

* * * * *

The women went away....  And now, with water from the stream, royal Odysseus washed his skin clean of the salt which clung about his back and his broad shoulders, and wiped from his head the foam brought by the barren sea; and when he had thoroughly bathed and oiled himself and had put on the clothing which the chaste maiden gave, Athene, the daughter of Zeus, made him taller than before and stouter to behold, and she made the curling locks to fall around his head as on the hyacinth flower.  As when a man lays gold on silver,—­some skillful man whom Hephaestus and Pallas Athene have trained in every art, and he fashions graceful work; so did she cast a grace upon his head and shoulders.  He walked apart along the shore, and there sat down, beaming with grace and beauty.  The maid observed; then to her fair-haired waiting-women said:—­

“Hearken, my white-armed women, while I speak.  Not without purpose on the part of all the gods that hold Olympus is this man’s meeting with the godlike Phaeacians.  A while ago, he really seemed to me ill-looking, but now he is like the gods who hold the open sky.  Ah, might a man like this be called my husband, having his home here, and content to stay!  But give, my women, to the stranger food and drink.”

She spoke, and very willingly they heeded and obeyed, and set beside Odysseus food and drink.  Then long-tried Odysseus eagerly drank and ate, for he had long been fasting.

And now to other matters white-armed Nausicaae turned her thoughts.  She folded the clothes and laid them in the beautiful wagon, she yoked the stout-hoofed mules, mounted herself, and calling to Odysseus thus she spoke and said:—­

“Arise now, stranger, and hasten to the town, that I may set you on the road to my wise father’s house, where you shall see, I promise you, the best of all Phaeacia.  Only do this,—­you seem to me not to lack understanding:  while we are passing through the fields and farms, here with my women, behind the mules and cart, walk rapidly along, and I will lead the way.  But as we near the town,—­round which is a lofty rampart, a beautiful harbor on each side and a narrow road between,—­there curved ships line the way; for every man has his own mooring-place.  Beyond is the assembly near the beautiful grounds of Poseidon, constructed out of blocks of stone deeply imbedded.  Further along, they make the black ships’ tackling, cables and canvas, and shape out the oars; for the Phaeacians do not care for bow and quiver, only for masts and oars of ships and the trim ships themselves, with which it is their joy to