HOMER
Boars?
(He’s interested, now.)
ULYSSES
I’ve met them too on my travels.
HOMER
(Angry again)
I meant wild boars. Have you ever hunted them?
ULYSSES
Sure, sure...
HOMER
Splendid! You see, I’m composing a description of a boar hunt for my new book, and this particular hunt is the famous one when Odysseus was gashed in the leg by a boar’s tusk.
ULYSSES
Working the boar pretty close, wasn’t he?
HOMER
(Severely)
He killed it. But, what I must find out is this: when a boar attacks, how does he—
ULYSSES
Odysseus... That’s the fellow who owns this house?
HOMER
(Rising in disgust)
The delayed-reaction type, I see.
ULYSSES
Him?
HOMER
(Turning away)
No. Not him, as you say so eloquently.
ULYSSES
Nice place he’s got here, anyway.
(He grins, watching HOMER’s retreat.)
Pretty nice, pretty nice, if you ask me.
(He stretches his legs and relaxes.)
Not bad at all.
HOMER
That’s what some other men think, too.
(ULYSSES’s smile fades, CLIA enters, and hurries down from the dais. HOMER forgets the beggar.)
How is Penelope? Did you tell her I was sorry? Of course, I still disagree with what she’s done, but I should never have—
CLIA
I told her. But she just sat there, clasping her hands.
HOMER
(Somewhat taken aback)
Oh...
CLIA
Twice, she said: “Was I right? Or did I guess wrong?” And I said, “Now whether you were right or wrong, honey, we’ll just have to wait until those men get back here tonight. Then we’ll know.”—Heaven help us!
HOMER
Her conscience has begun to trouble her.
CLIA
Then she said, “Could I have been mistaken?”
HOMER
You see!
CLIA
But she answered herself, this time. “No,” she said, “no. I was right. I could feel it. In here.” And she clasped her hands over her heart.
HOMER
Clia!—Is Penelope ill? She has been living under too great a strain—
CLIA
But wait until you hear the end! Up she jumps, throws her arms around me, and dances around the room. She was singing that song she’s picked up from you. About Mrs. Porter and her daughter. I left then.
(She turns to ULYSSES.)
I’ll get you freshened up in no time, before Penelope comes downstairs to welcome you.
(She goes over to fetch a basin from a wall.)
ULYSSES
(Startled)
Welcome me?
CLIA
So she said. And why not?
ULYSSES
But—I’m just a—beggar, someone of no account.
CLIA
(To HOMER, as she bustles across to the door into the yard)
He’s a stranger to this part of the world, all right. Nora! Icantha!... One of you girls—bring some water!
(She returns to the hearth, places the basin in front of ULYSSES, and lifts a kettle of hot water from the fire.)
ULYSSES
Don’t trouble, please don’t—
CLIA
(Pouring some hot water into the basin)
I wish that was all the trouble we had to worry about. Wait, now, wait! Let me help you with your boots.
(But ULYSSES is too quick for her.)
Independent character, aren’t you?
HOMER
It’s good to find a house where the old rules of hospitality are still respected. People have got careless since the war. And selfish, too. There’s a general lowering of standards—it’s all most worrying.
CLIA
Why blame the war? Any excuse is a good excuse for some people.
(Stopping ULYSSES, as he is about to put a foot into the basin)
Take your time. It’s much too hot. What’s the hurry, anyway?
(AMARYLLIS enters from the yard, carrying a vase of water on her shoulder. She looks nervously at CLIA, and hesitates. CLIA glances over her shoulder.)
Oh! It’s you, Miss Troublemaker.
AMARYLLIS
I didn’t mean to—
CLIA
You didn’t mean it! That’s another excuse we can do without. Well, stop standing there, posing like a dancing girl. Can’t you see we’re waiting?
(AMARYLLIS comes over to the hearth. She is partly afraid of CLIA, partly curious about the stranger. CLIA takes the vase of water, and pours some of it into the basin and tests it. She notices AMARYLLIS’ interest in the beggar.)
Yes, have a good look. But I don’t think he’s your style. What’s wrong with your cheek? It’s bruised. And you’ve been crying—
AMARYLLIS
And they twisted my arm, and they—
CLIA
(More gently)
So you’ve decided we are your friends, after all. Stop crying, and get me a towel. A clean towel.
AMARYLLIS
They were trying to make me tell all I know about Penelope. But I didn’t say a thing.
CLIA
You had already said it. Where’s the towel?
AMARYLLIS
They are all gathered together, and they are saying terrible things—if Penelope is tricking them, they’ll—
HOMER
(Striding quickly to the door)
Let them talk. What I fear is action. Sudden, irrational action.
(He looks out into the yard, and then beyond.)
No, it’s all right. They’ve taken the path to the Green Mountain. All of them.
(He sighs with relief, but he still watches the men in the distance.)
And stop gloating over our troubles, Amaryllis. I can imagine our possible future more fully than you could ever describe it.
(AMARYLLIS tosses her head, and moves over to one of the chests by the wall, where she searches for a towel. HOMER watches the path to the mountain. CLIA begins bathing the stranger’s feet, talking to him as she does so.)
CLIA
If you’ve got to clutch that rag around you, hold it a bit higher, will you? You’re safe with me. I’ve buried three husbands, and I’m not looking for any more, thank you. There, that’s better.
(She pulls up the cloak over his knee. She stiffens, suddenly, with her hand on his leg.)
What’s this?
(She looks down, staring at the large scar which begins just below his knee.)
Why it’s—
(ULYSSES clamps one hand over her mouth and chokes off the word. With his other hand, he grasps her shoulder, and he leans forward to look intently into her eyes. Then he lets her go, still watching her. CLIA sits back on her heels, quite motionless, staring at him. She begins, slowly, to bathe his feet as AMARYLLIS calls over from one of the chests.)
AMARYLLIS
I’ve looked and looked. This is the best I can find.
(She comes over to the hearth with a white towel.)
And don’t blame me—it’s Nora who does the laundry.
(CLIA takes the towel in silence. AMARYLLIS looks surprised. Then she sees that the stranger is watching her, and she smiles at him as she moves to a corner of the hearth where she can strike a pretty pose as she looks down at him.)
Where did you come from, stranger?
ULYSSES
Sparta.
AMARYLLIS
And what’s your name?
CLIA
Finish your work, Amaryllis.
AMARYLLIS
I’ve cleaned all the dishes. They are drying, out in the sunshine.
CLIA
Then gather some figs. And collect some honey.
AMARYLLIS
I want to hear the news, too. What’s the latest in Sparta? How’s Helen settling down?
CLIA
Will you do as I tell you?
AMARYLLIS
I’ll get the sandals for him. He has big feet, hasn’t he? He’s not so old, either.
CLIA
(Rising to her feet and turning on AMARYLLIS)
I want figs and I want honey.
AMARYLLIS
(Backing toward the door)
Yes, ma’am.
CLIA
That’s better. And if I catch you talking to one of those men again, I’ll—I’ll shave your hair off.
AMARYLLIS
(Runs to the door, and then halts as she sees HOMER)
I’m going to gather some figs. Like to help me? You could watch the path to the mountain just as well, out there.
HOMER
I don’t need to watch the path any longer. They’ve started climbing up through the trees. They actually mean to hunt a deer! I take that as a sign. A deer means a banquet, a banquet means a contest. They’ve accepted Penelope’s plan.
CLIA
(Carrying the basin of water to the door)
Is that good or bad?
(AMARYLLIS departs hurriedly.)
HOMER
(Moving back into the Hall, as CLIA empties the basin)
It will be good for the next two or three hours, anyway.
(He looks round the silent Hall.)
Peace... This is the way a house should live. I think I’ll try to catch some sleep. Nothing very much can happen until those barbarians get back. Call me then. Penelope will need me.
(He has walked over to the steps, and is about to ascend them to the dais. He yawns.)
Yes, sleep’s the thing. Sleep... Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleeve of care.
CLIA
(Replacing the basin on its peg)
That’s the wrong way! The men sleep through there!
(She points to the door of the men’s quarters.)
HOMER
(Retracing his steps, and now headed in the right direction)
Stupid of me! I must be getting as absent-minded as my pupils say. Yet, what is absent-mindedness? A mere forgetting of unimportant things like doors. And what’s amusing you, Noman?
ULYSSES
It’s a useful kind of forgetting when it leads you into the women’s quarters.
HOMER
We aren’t all hunters, my friend. Besides, with all this newfangled nonsense of bedrooms, why shouldn’t I forget? This is the only house I know which is built this way. Just show me a ridge of mountains, black-pointed against a sunset, or a rosy-fingered dawn caressing a laughing sea, and I’ll remember them. A door is a door is a door.
(He pauses at the correct door.)
Waken me if any trouble starts.
(He goes out.)
ULYSSES
I believe the old boy would flail around with a sword if he had to... You know, Clia, that’s the kind of courage I really admire.
(CLIA has come over to him. She falls on her knees and kisses his sleeve.)
No, no!
(He raises her, gives her a hug, and wipes her eyes with his hand.)
Besides, don’t you start forgetting. I’m a beggar. That’s how I’ve come home.
(He stands erect, suddenly, and throws back his cloak. His hand closes over the dagger at his belt as he looks at the threshold.)
A beggar, lying hidden in a filthy hut with the smell of pigs around me, plodding through dry hot dust under a full sun, grovelling in front of my own door, being shoved aside and swallowing each insult with a cringing smile... watching my wife’s smiles for two men who—
(He curses them under his breath.)
CLIA
(Moving toward the steps, at the mention of PENELOPE)
I’ll tell her you’ve come back. Let me break the news gently. The shock would be too great if you suddenly walked into her room.
ULYSSES
(Bitterly)
Yes, let’s spare her all unpleasant surprises.
CLIA
Ulysses!
ULYSSES
(Gesturing silence)
Sh!
CLIA
(Dropping her voice obediently, but still shocked)
Have you come back as a beggar to spy on your wife? Then shame on you! She has waited so long... She has wept and watched—
ULYSSES
(Grimly)
As she did today?
(He takes CLIA by the wrist and pulls her back from the steps.)
CLIA
Let me go! I must tell her. Why, she’ll never recognise you like this. I was your nurse, I brought you up, and if it hadn’t been for that scar on your leg, I’d never have known you.
ULYSSES
I wish you had known me, as I stood there at the door. Then there could have been an excuse for Penelope and what she did. For a moment, I almost thought she did recognise me...
CLIA
But who would expect you to arrive here as a beggar?
ULYSSES
Did you expect me to walk in here and face eleven men with only a dagger at my waist?
CLIA
(Shakes her head, bewildered by everything)
We’ve talked so often about your home-coming, but never did I imagine anything like this.
ULYSSES
Careful! My home is far away—in Thessaly. Got that? And my name is Noman. My luck ran out in Sparta, and I’m heading home to my own mountains where I hunted as a boy. And I’ll live with my daughter, who’s married to a drunkard with thirteen children. That’s in Thessaly, remember?
CLIA
My, I was getting all ready to weep for you, crowded into a hut with thirteen children. Go on!
(She nudges him playfully.)
You’re the same old Ulyss—
(She clamps her own hand this time across her lips.)
ULYSSES
See how easy it is to let the wrong word slip? So, keep quiet. And trust me.
CLIA
But what are you going to do?
ULYSSES
(Laughing as he gives her shoulder an encouraging pat)
First, we reconnoitre. Next, we estimate the situation. And then—we take appropriate action.
CLIA
My! You learned a lot in the army.
(Her hand goes to silence her lips again.)
ULYSSES
Stop thinking of me as Ulysses, will you? Now—
(He is suddenly serious.)
eleven men... The servants have left, they haven’t come back?
(CLIA shakes her head.)
As I wandered in here, I noted five men waiting at the stables, four men down by the stream. Was that accidental?
CLIA
Accidental?
ULYSSES
Do they usually split into two groups?
CLIA
Now that you mention it—I believe they do. Recently, anyway.
ULYSSES
Eryx—that’s the fellow with the red hair? He’s the leader of one group?
CLIA
Penelope never did like Eryx. He’s too crafty.
ULYSSES
She didn’t, did she? What about Melas?
CLIA
You’ve got it the wrong way round—he’s the one who likes her! You saw that, didn’t you?
ULYSSES
(Grimly)
Yes, I saw that. He’s the one who fancied the master’s chair.
CLIA
(Startled)
Who was to stop him? He’s the best fighter of them all!
ULYSSES
(Catching control of himself)
...Yes... who was to stop him?
(He speaks almost to himself. He strikes his left palm with his clenched right fist, and turns away from CLIA.)
Were they in the war?
CLIA
Too yo
ung for that. They said.
ULYSSES
No military training, then. Good. What about the weapons I left here? Have they been stolen?
CLIA
Philetius made Telemachus hide them. You remember Philetius?
ULYSSES
I’ve forgotten no one, Clia.
CLIA
It’s been so long...
ULYSSES
It’s been too long. I see that now.
(He begins to walk around the Hall, looking at it. He takes a deep breath, almost a sigh.)
You’ll laugh at me, Clia, but when I used to dream of getting back, I thought that all I had to do was to walk into this house, relax by that fire, and be master of my own home.
(He looks down at his cloak.)
I’m a clown, all right... Let Homer sing about that!
CLIA
If he lives to do any more singing! If any of us live through this night!... Tell me, where are your men? Are they waiting in the village, until they get a signal from you?
ULYSSES
No. None came back. Some found death in the sea, some stayed—
(PENELOPE opens the door onto the dais, and stands there. ULYSSES drops his cloak around him and slouches.)
CLIA
None? But that’s terrible—terrible!
PENELOPE
(Speaking as she comes down into the Hall and goes over to the doorway, as if enjoying the sunshine in the yard)
And what’s so terrible?... It’s a lovely day. Not a storm cloud to be seen over the mountains; and here, it is quiet. What’s so terrible?
CLIA
(Quickly, as she hurries over to the fireplace, and fills a bowl with soup)
He was telling me about his daughter—in Thessaly—a drunkard. I mean, she’s married to a drunkard. With thirteen children. Imagine that!
Home is the Hunter Page 9