Verse
Odyssey
Book 17, Line 415 by Samuel Butler (English)
"Sir, give me something; you are not, surely, the poorest man here; you seem to be a chief, foremost among them all; therefore you should be the better giver, and I will tell far and wide of your bounty. I too was a rich [ olbios ] man once, and had a fine house of my own; in those days I gave to many a tramp such as I now am, no matter who he might be nor what he wanted. I had any number of servants, and all the other things which people have who live well and are accounted wealthy, but it pleased Zeus to take all away from me. He sent me with a band of roving robbers to Egypt ; it was a long voyage and I was undone by it. I stationed my ships in the river Aigyptos, and bade my men stay by them and keep guard over them, while I sent out scouts to reconnoiter from every point of vantage.
OdysseyBook 17, Line 415Samuel ButlerEnglishVerse permalinkRead in Book 17
HomerProseID odyssey-odyssey-butler-en-prose-17-415