hen they were gone I arose, and was
led by Heaven's hand to thy doors."

The swineherd listened attentively to the well-imagined tale, and when
it was ended he said: "Hapless man, thou hast been the very sport of
Destiny, and my heart is big when I think of thy wanderings and thy
woes. But as touching Odysseus, that part of thy story likes me not;
methinks 'tis a cunning invention to flatter my ears. Long ago I was
deceived by a false report, brought hither by a wandering exile like
thee, who said that he had seen Odysseus repairing his ships in Crete,
and bade us look for his coming in the autumn of that year. Since then
I have closed my ears against all such rumours, and therefore I say,
tell me no more of him, for I cannot and will not believe but that he
is dead."

II

Evening was now coming on, and it was time for the herdsmen to return
with their charge from the feeding-ground. Presently, with huge
commotion, and multitudinous din, the swine were driven home and
penned in their styes. Then Eumaeus called to his helpers, and bade
them bring the best of the herd to make savoury meat for his guest
"Spare not," he said, "to bring the fattest and choicest of them all,
for why should we be careful, when strangers devour our labour?" So
they brought a hog of five years old, exceeding fat, and having
slaughtered it they offered sacrifice, not forgetting a prayer for the
return of Odysseus. When all rites of religion were duly paid, they
roasted the flesh, and served it on wooden platters. Odysseus was
honoured by Eumaeus with a choice portion of the loin.

When they had finished, night came on, dark and stormy, with furious
gusts of rain and wind. Just as they were about to retire to rest,
Odysseus, who seldom spoke without a purpose, turned to his kind host
and said: "Eumaeus, the good wine has loosened my tongue, and moved me
to tell thee a story of long ago, when these withered limbs were in
their lusty prime, and my heart burned with the fire of youth. Then I
was chosen with Menelaus and Odysseus to lead an ambush under the
walls of Troy. With a picked company we took up our position in a
marshy place, and lay down in our armour among the rushes. It was a
bitter night, with snow and frost, and our shields were soon coated
with ice. Now it chanced that I had left my cloak in the camp, and
while the others lay warm in their thick woollen mantles, I was
perishing with cold. At last I could bear it no longer, so I nu