Seated by the Hearth

4So the good swineherd spoke, and led the way
Into the lodge, and bade his guest sit down,
And laid thick rushes for his seat, and spread
On these a wild goat’s shaggy hide to make
A soft and ample couch. Rejoiced to meet
So kind a welcome, thus Odysseus spoke: —

5“May Zeus and all the deathless gods
Bestow on you, my host, in recompense
Of this kind welcome, all your heart’s desire!”

6And then, Eumaeus, you did answer thus:
“My guest, it were not right to treat with scorn
A stranger, though he were of humbler sort
Than you, for strangers and the poor are sent
By Zeus; our gifts are small, though gladly given,
As it must ever be with those who serve
Young masters, whom they fear. The gods themselves
Prevent, no doubt, the safe return of him
Who loved me much, and would ere this have given
What a kind lord is wont to give his hind —
A house, a croft, the wife whom he has wooed,
Rewarding faithful services which God
Has prospered, as he here has prospered mine.
Thus would my master, had he here grown old,
Have recompensed my toils; but he is dead.
O that the house of Helen, for whose sake
So many fell, had perished utterly!
For he went forth at Agamemnon’s call,
Honoring the summons, and on Ilium’s coast,
Famed for its coursers, fought the sons of Troy.”