we have toiled Long time in tendance of this white-toothed herd, And others waste, unpunished, what we rear.”
So spake he, and began to cleave the wood With the sharp steel; the others chose and brought A fatted brawn, and placed him on the hearth. Nor was the swineherd careless of the rites Due to the gods—such was his piety. From off the white-toothed victim first he sheared The bristles of the forehead, casting them Into the flames, and prayed to all the gods For wise Ulysses and his safe return. Next, with a fragment of the oaken trunk Which he had just then cleft, he smote the boar, And the life left it. Then they cut its throat, And, having singed it, quickly hewed the parts Asunder, while the swineherd took and laid, On the rich fat, raw portions from the limbs For sacrifice, and other parts he cast, Sprinkled with flour of meal, into the flames; The rest they duly sliced and fixed on spits, And roasted carefully, and drew it back, And heaped it on the board. And now arose The swineherd to divide the whole, for well He knew the duty of a host. He made Seven parts; and one he offered to the Nymphs, To Hermes, son of Maia, one, and both With prayer; the rest he set before the guests, But, honoring Ulysses, gave to him The white-toothed victim’s ample chine. The king, The wise Ulysses, was well pleased, and said:—