Odysseus and Penelope Reunited

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Penelope came downstairs still doubtful of the stranger’s identity. She sat down quietly on the far side of the hall, gazing at him as he too sat in wary silence. Odysseus spoke first, saying that if his wife would not talk to him at least she could make up a bed for him to sleep. Now the shrewd Penelope put him to the test. She called to her servants to move out the great bed that Odysseus had built himself. Odysseus leapt to his feet, reminding her that the bed could not possibly be moved because he constructed it around a living olive tree — a secret known only to the two of them.

Realizing her husband had returned, she flung her arms around him. They went joyously to bed, and after making love they recounted the difficulties they had endured during their long years apart.