Had stopp'd that mouth,[9] that it should scoff no more.
Thus, mocking royal Agamemnon, spake
Thersites. Instant starting to his side, 295
Noble Ulysses with indignant brows
Survey'd him, and him thus reproved severe.
Thersites! Railer!--peace. Think not thyself,
Although thus eloquent, alone exempt
From obligation not to slander Kings. 300
I deem thee most contemptible, the worst
Of Agamemnon's followers to the war;
Presume not then to take the names revered
Of Sovereigns on thy sordid lips, to asperse
Their sacred character, and to appoint 305
The Greeks a time when they shall voyage home.
How soon, how late, with what success at last
We shall return, we know not: but because
Achaia's heroes numerous spoils allot
To Agamemnon, Leader of the host, 310
Thou therefore from thy seat revilest the King.
But mark me. If I find thee, as even now,
Raving and foaming at the lips again,
May never man behold Ulysses' head
On these my shoulders more, and may my son 315
Prove the begotten of another Sire,
If I not strip thee to that hide of thine
As bare as thou wast born, and whip thee hence
Home to thy galley, sniveling like a boy.
He ceased, and with his sceptre on the back 320
And shoulders smote him. Writhing to and fro,
He wept profuse, while many a bloody whelk