Page 246 - the-odyssey

some one of you swineherds would give me a cloak both
out of good will and for the respect due to a brave soldier;
but now people look down upon me because my clothes are
shabby.’
And Eumaeus answered, ‘Old man, you have told us an
excellent story, and have said nothing so far but what is
quite satisfactory; for the present, therefore, you shall want
neither clothing nor anything else that a stranger in distress
may reasonably expect, but to-morrow morning you have to
shake your own old rags about your body again, for we have
not many spare cloaks nor shirts up here, but every man
has only one. When Ulysses’ son comes home again he will
give you both cloak and shirt, and send you wherever you
may want to go.’
With this he got up and made a bed for Ulysses by throw-
ing some goatskins and sheepskins on the ground in front
of the fire. Here Ulysses lay down, and Eumaeus covered
him over with a great heavy cloak that he kept for a change
in case of extraordinarily bad weather.
Thus did Ulysses sleep, and the young men slept beside
him. But the swineherd did not like sleeping away from his
pigs, so he got ready to go outside, and Ulysses was glad to
see that he looked after his property during his master’s ab-
sence. First he slung his sword over his brawny shoulders
and put on a thick cloak to keep out the wind. He also took
the skin of a large and well fed goat, and a javelin in case of
attack from men or dogs. Thus equipped he went to his rest
where the pigs were camping under an overhanging rock
that gave them shelter from the North wind.