So spake he, supplicating, and to him Phoebus Apollo hearkened. When the prayers Were ended, and the salted meal was flung, Backward they turned the necks of the fat beeves, And cut their throats, and flayed the carcasses, And hewed away the thighs, and covered them With caul in double folds; and over this They laid raw fragments of the other parts. O’er all the aged priest poured dark red wine, And burned them on dry wood. A band of youths With five-pronged spits, beside him, thrust these through The entrails, which they laid among the flames. And when the thighs were all consumed, and next The entrails tasted, all the rest was carved Into small portions and transfixed with spits And roasted with nice care and then withdrawn From the hot coals. This task performed, they made The banquet ready. All became its guests And all were welcome to the equal feast. And when their thirst and hunger were allayed, Boys crowned the ample urns with wreaths, and served The wine to all, and poured libations forth. Meantime the