ct. I will take a
ship with twenty men, and lie in wait for him in a strait between Ithaka
and Samos, and put an end to his search for his father.'

Thereupon Antinous took twenty men to a ship, and fixing mast and sails
they went over the sea. There is a little isle between Ithaka and
Samos--Asteris it is called--and in the harbour of that isle he and his
men lay in wait for Telemachus.

VIII

Near the place where Odysseus had landed there lived an old man who was
a faithful servant in his house. Eumaeus was his name, and he was a
swineherd. He had made for himself a dwelling in the wildest part of the
island, and had built a wall round it, and had made for the swine pens
in the courtyard--twelve pens, and in each pen there were fifty swine.
Old Eumaeus lived in this place tending the swine with three young men to
help him. The swine-pens were guarded by four dogs that were as fierce
as the beasts of the forest.

As he came near the dogs dashed at him, yelping and snapping; and
Odysseus might have suffered foul hurt if the swineherd had not run out
of the courtyard and driven the fierce dogs away. Seeing before him one
who looked an ancient beggar, Eumaeus said, 'Old man, it is well that my
dogs did not tear thee, for they might have brought upon me the shame of
thy death. I have grief and pains enough, the gods know, without such a
happening. Here I sit, mourning for my noble master, and fattening hogs
for others to eat, while he, mayhap, is wandering in hunger through some
friendless city. But come in, old man. I have bread and wine to give
thee.'

The swineherd led the seeming beggar into the courtyard, and he let him
sit down on a heap of brushwood, and spread for him a shaggy goat-skin.
Odysseus was glad of his servant's welcome, and he said, 'May Zeus and
all the other gods grant thee thy heart's dearest wish for the welcome
that thou hast given to me.'

Said Eumaeus the swineherd, 'A good man looks on all strangers and
beggars as being from Zeus himself. And my heart's dearest wish is that
my master Odysseus should return. Ah, if Odysseus were here, he would
give me something which I could hold as mine own--a piece of ground to
till, and a wife to comfort me. But my master will not return, and we
thralls must go in fear when young lords come to rule it over them.'

He went to the swine-pens and brought out two sucking pigs; he
slaughtered them and cut them small and roasted the meat. When all was