deeply skilled in augury, drew
Telemachus apart and said: "It is a manifest sign of victory to thee
and to thy house." "May Heaven fulfil thy prophecy," answered
Telemachus, "and if thy words prove true I will load thee with
benefits, and give thee cause to bless this hour." Being now convinced
that he had found a friend, he called Peiraeus, in whom he had full
confidence, and bade him take Theoclymenus under his care until he
himself returned to the town. Peiraeus readily undertook the charge,
and this point being settled they thrust out from the shore and rowed
away in the direction of the harbour, while Telemachus strode off with
rapid footsteps along the path which led to the swineherd's hut.

II

On the evening before the arrival of Telemachus Odysseus was sitting
after supper with Eumaeus and the other herdsmen, and wishing to learn
the purpose of Eumaeus towards him he said: "I will no longer be a
burden to thee and thy fellows. To-morrow I will go to the town and
beg my living, if thou wilt send one of thy men to show me the way.
Perchance also I might visit the house of Odysseus, and have speech
with Penelope. And it may be that the wooers will take me into their
service, for I would have thee know that by favour of Hermes I am
right skilful of my hands, and no one can match me in laying a fire
and cleaving dry logs, in carving and roasting meat, and in pouring of
wine."

But this proposal found no favour with the honest swineherd. "Who put
such a thought," he asked, "into thy mind? Serve with the wooers! They
would put a speedy end to thy service, and pay thee thy wages in
blood. Those who wait upon them are of a different sort from thee--gay
striplings, daintily clad, with glossy hair and comely faces. Remain
with us until Telemachus comes home; thou art no burden either to me
or to my men."

"Be it so, then," answered Odysseus, "and may Heaven requite thee for
thy goodness to a poor homeless outcast, who wanders in misery, driven
by hunger from door to door! And since I am still to be thy guest,
tell me something of thy master's mother, and of the father whom he
left behind when he went to the wars. Do they still live, or have they
gone to their rest?"

"This also thou shalt know," replied Eumaeus. "Laertes his father still
lives, though sore stricken with years and sorrows; for his son's long
absence and his wife's miserable end have brought him to the verge of
the grave. She died long ago, and by s