The Odyssey by Stephen Mitchell

Author:Stephen Mitchell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2023-05-05T00:00:00+00:00

Book 14

Odysseus now left the harbor and took the rough path

up through the woodlands and over the crest of the hills

till he reached the place that Athena had told him about

where the swineherd lived. Of all Odysseus’s slaves

he was the one who cared best for his master’s possessions.

*

He found him sitting in front of his hut. It was near

a large yard enclosed by a high wall, in a place

with an open view all around. The swineherd had built it

himself while Odysseus was absent, without the help

of his mistress or of the old man Laértes. The wall

was of quarried stones, with a hedge of wild pear on top.

On all its sides, he had fenced the whole length of the yard

with closely set posts that he had split from the black

core of an oak tree. Inside the yard he had made

twelve sties, all in a row, for the pigs to lie in.

Fifty wallowing brood-sows slept in each one,

along with their litters. The boars slept outside; there were far

fewer of these, since the suitors kept feasting on them,

and the swineherd was forced to send them the fattest ones

that he had, and only three hundred sixty were left.

They were guarded at night by four dogs, savage as wolves,

who had been carefully bred and trained by the swineherd.

As Odysseus approached, he was making a pair of sandals

for his own feet, cutting them out of a prime

piece of dark-colored oxhide. Three of his men

had gone off in different directions with herds of pigs;

the fourth one had driven a boar to the suitors for dinner

to satisfy their incessant craving for meat.

*

As soon as the dogs saw Odysseus, they all leaped up

and rushed at him with a ferocious barking,

but he knew what to do: He sat down and dropped his staff.

Yet even so, he would have been mauled on his own land

if the swineherd hadn’t run after them through the gateway,

letting the oxhide fall from his hands and shouting

and cursing at them and driving them off with stones.

He said to his master, “Old man, the dogs would have torn you

to pieces in one more moment, and you would have caused me

a good deal of blame—as if I don’t have enough

trouble without that. The gods have sent me great sorrows;

I lost the kindest of masters and sit here grieving

and mourning for him, and I have to fatten his hogs

for others to eat, while he himself may be starving,

alone, in a country where people don’t even speak

our language—if, indeed, he is still alive.

But follow me. There is plenty of food and wine

inside, and when you have had enough, you can tell me

where you were born and what your troubles have been.”

*

With these words the swineherd led him back to his hut,

invited him in, and had him sit down on a pile

of brushwood that he had spread for him on the floor;

on top of it he had thrown the skin of a wild goat,

thick and shaggy, which served at night as his mattress.

Odysseus was overjoyed by this welcome and said,

“Stranger, may Zeus and the other immortals grant you

your heart’s desire in return for this generous welcome.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.