Page:The Story of the Iliad.djvu/158

bronze and iron, and fair women slaves, my portion of the spoil. My portion they are, but my choicest gift King Agamemnon has taken from me; he took it, having given it himself. Never will I take counsel with him again, nor bear him company in battle; once hath he deceived me; let this suffice. He shall not beguile me again with lying speech. And as for his gifts, I scorn them; though he give me tenfold, yea, twentyfold, all that he now hath promised, though it be as the wealth of Thebes that is in the land of Egypt, and than Thebes, I ween, there is no wealthier city. A hundred gates it hath, and from each gate two hundred warriors issue forth with horses and chariots. Yea, verily, though he give me gifts as the sand of the sea for multitude, he shall not persuade me, till he shall have endured like bitterness of soul with mine. And his daughter I will not wed—no, not though she be as fair as golden Aphrodité, and match Athené of the flashing eyes in skill of handiwork. Let him choose him, forsooth, from among the Greeks some kinglier son-in-law than I, and for me, if the gods bring me safe to my home, Peleus