Snare Of The Fowler, parts 2188 - 2191

 2188. Otis, being a pagan wolf, did what any pagan wolf would do under the circumstances. He offered up a prayer to his beloved Gods, and he soon received an answer. A crow flew down and landed on his head and whispered something in his ear. This is what the crow said:...

 2189 It was this passage from the Odyssey. ---  There was in Ithaca a common beggar; he was a most greedy fellow, and he was nicknamed Irus because he used to run errands for the servants of Odysseus’ house. He came in the evening, and seeing a seeming beggar seated on the threshold, he flew into a rage and shouted at him:

 2190. “Get away from here, old fellow, lest you be dragged away by the hand or foot. Look you! The lords within the house are giving me the wink to turn you out. But I can’t demean myself by touching the like of you. Get up now and go while I’m easy with you.”

2191. Odysseus looked at the fellow and said, “I have not harmed you in deed or word, and I do not grudge you anything of what you may get in this house. The threshold I sit on is wide enough for two of us.”