book 17 stranger at the gate so at this point odysseus is back in his disguise as the beggar and the old man and he is going to figure out or try to take over um the suitors and get rid of them well what do we have here two cast offs each more ragged than the other eumaeus where did you find such a beggar give him to me i'll put him to work scraping stalls ha no he's learned his dodges too well he'd rather beg than do honest work be careful in the palace beggar if you try your tricks there you may get blows instead of alms which is money here's a taste father zeus hear my prayer bring odysseus back to teach all these swine proper manners your barks worse than your bite swineherd as for me i pray apollo brings down telemachus with the golden shaft then i'll have you off in a slave ship in no time friend i'm sure this must be odysseus's hall it's magnificent it is i'll go in first follow me shortly i hope you find the suitors in a generous mood have no fear for me i've suffered my share of blows why does this dog lie in the dung here he looks like he might once have been a fine hound argos is his name odysseus raised him from a pup and he was not full grown when his master left for troy yet he was the fastest and bravest in the hunt old age and misery are his masters now he's waited almost 20 years for odysseus to return and so athena takes argos up to mount olympus you may ask give this to the baker and tell him not to be shy but to ask each suitor for more who is this beggar where did he come from listen to me a moment my lords i've seen this man before outside on the road i don't know his name or where he hails from but the swineherd brought him here what eumaeus bringing foreign beggars here to scavenge are we not eating your pigs fast enough without inviting more mouths to the table thank you antoneus for your kind concern about my goods but don't begrudge the beggar i ask you all to give generously to him there's plenty here if each man gave him as much as i will we'd soon be rid of him come sir you're not the poorest man here by your looks no i'd say you're the noblest and so you should give the most i too was a rich man till fortune brought me low i led a crew of men to egypt once good gods what evil wind blew in this pest get away from me it's a pity you have more looks than sense you sit there eating another man's food and won't give me a few scraps this is odysseus speaking think you'll get away with that well you shouldn't have done that antoneus what if he was a god in disguise who was the stranger you've brought does he have any news from abroad lady the fellow escaped from slavers but he says that once he was a rich man in crete his stories are marvelous i stayed up listening to him all night and never grew tired of them he claims to have heard news of your husband too near at hand in the rich land of thrasbocia he says the gods granted may be so bring him here i wish to hear a story for myself what did you not bring him does he refuse my request no but he is afraid and wisely too i think to stir the suitor's jealous violence he said it is better to wait until night when the suitors leave and you can question him in private that beggar is no fool he sees how it might go with these bullies