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 cooked, he brought portions to Odysseus sprinkled with barley meal, and he brought him, too, wine in a deep bowl of ivy wood.  And when Odysseus had eaten and drunken, Eumaeus the swineherd said to him: 

’Old man, no wanderer ever comes to this land but that our lady Penelope sends for him, and gives him entertainment, hoping that he will have something to tell her of her lord, Odysseus.  They all do as thou wouldst do if thou earnest to her—­tell her a tale of having seen or of having heard of her lord, to win her ear.  But as for Odysseus, no matter what wanderers or vagrants say, he will never return—­dogs, or wild birds, or the fishes of the deep have devoured his body ere this.  Never again shall I find so good a lord, nor would I find one so kind even if I were back in my own land, and saw the faces of my father and my mother.  But not so much for them do I mourn as for the loss of my master.’

Said Odysseus, ’Thou sayst that thy master will never return, but I notice that thou art slow to believe thine own words.  Now I tell thee that Odysseus will return and in this same year.  And as sure as the old moon wanes and the young moon is born, he will take vengeance on those whom you have spoken of—­those who eat his substance and dishonour his wife and son.  I say that, and I swear it with an oath.’

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‘I do not heed thine oath,’ said Eumaeus the swineherd.  ’I do not listen to vagrant’s tales about my master since a stranger came here and cheated us with a story.  He told us that he had seen Odysseus in the land of the Cretans, in the house of the hero Idomeneus, mending his ships that had been broken by the storm, and that he would be here by summer or by harvest time, bringing with him much wealth.’

As they were speaking the younger swineherds came back from the woods, bringing the drove of swine into the courtyard.  There was a mighty din whilst the swine were being put into their pens.  Supper time came on, and Eumaeus and Odysseus and the younger swineherds sat down to a meal.  Eumaeus carved the swineflesh, giving the best portion to Odysseus whom he treated as the guest of honour.  And Odysseus said, ’Eumaeus, surely thou art counselled by Zeus, seeing thou dost give the best of the meat even to such a one as I.’

And Eumaeus, thinking Odysseus was praising him for treating a stranger kindly, said, ‘Eat, stranger, and make merry with such fare as is here.’

The night came on cold with rain.  Then Odysseus, to test the kindliness of the swineherd, said, ’O that I were young and could endure this bitter night!  O that I were better off!  Then would one of you swineherds give me a wrap to cover myself from the wind and rain!  But now, verily, I am an outcast because of my sorry raiment.’

Then Eumaeus sprang up and made a bed for Odysseus near the fire.  Odysseus lay down, and the swineherd covered him with a mantle he kept for a covering when great storms should arise.  Then, that he might better guard the swine, Eumaeus, wrapping himself up in a cloak, and taking with him a sword and javelin, to drive off wild beasts should they come near, went to lie nearer to the pens.