在Ulysses回來(lái)終于要與妻子相認(rèn)之后，她的妻子告訴女仆說(shuō)：Take his bed outside the bed chamber that he himself built. Bring the bed outside this room, and put bedding upon it with fleeces, good coverlets, and blankets. 這句話看起來(lái)很一般，但是這其實(shí)是夫妻二人之間的秘密。

Wife, I am much displeased at what you have just been saying. Who has been taking my bed from the place in which I left it? He must have found it a hard task, no matter how skilled a workman he was, unless some god came and helped him to shift it. （誰(shuí)都移不動(dòng)我的床）There is no man living, however strong and in his prime, who could move it from its place, for it is a marvellous curiosity which I made with my very own hands. 只有尤利西斯知道，這張床非他本人不能移動(dòng)，而Penelope也深知這一點(diǎn)，兩人就保持著這樣的默契，這張床的堅(jiān)固也是他們愛(ài)情的象征。

同時(shí)，Penelope用這樣簡(jiǎn)單的一個(gè)問(wèn)題對(duì)自己的丈夫進(jìn)行測(cè)試，也是她智慧的一種體現(xiàn)。夫妻二人各有各的智慧。在尤利西斯見(jiàn)妻子之前，他對(duì)妻子進(jìn)行了多次試探，這次是妻子試探他，所以，這里也是夫妻平等的體現(xiàn)吧。這在希臘文學(xué)中不常有。

下面是尤利西斯對(duì)自己的床具體描述：There was a young olive growing within the precincts of the house, in full vigour, and about as thick as a bearing-post. I built my room round this with strong walls of stone and a roof to cover them, and I made the doors strong and well-fitting. Then I cut off the top boughs of the olive tree and left the stump standing. This I dressed roughly from the root upwards and then worked with carpenter's tools well and skilfully, straightening my work by drawing a line on the wood, and making it into a bed-prop. I then bored a hole down the middle, and made it the centre-post of my bed, at which I worked till I had finished it, inlaying it with gold and silver; after this I stretched a hide of crimson leather from one side of it to the other.

So you see I know all about it, and I desire to learn whether it is still there, or whether any one has been removing it by cutting down the olive tree at its roots