They were only less beautiful than the lady who seemed to be their mistress . Yet Eurylochus fancied that one of them had sea-green hair , and that the close-fitting bodice of a second looked like the bark of a tree , and that both the others had something odd in their aspect , although he could not quite determine what it was , in the little while that he had to examine them . The folding doors swung quickly back , and left him standing behind the pillar , in the solitude of the outer hall . There Eurylochus waited until he was quite weary , and listened eagerly to every sound , but without hearing anything that could help him to guess what had become of his friends . Footsteps , it is true , seemed to be passing and repassing , in other parts of the palace . Then there was a clatter of silver dishes , or golden ones , which made him imagine a rich feast in a splendid banqueting hall . But by and by he heard a tremendous grunting and squealing , and then a sudden scampering , like that of small , hard hoofs over a marble floor , while the voices of the mistress and her four handmaidens were screaming all together , in tones of anger and derision . Eurylochus could not conceive what had happened , unless a drove of swine had broken into the palace , attracted by the smell of the feast . Chancing to cast his eyes at the fountain , he saw that it did not shift its shape , as formerly , nor looked either like a long-robed man , or a lion , a tiger , a wolf , or an ass . It looked like nothing but a hog , which lay wallowing in the marble basin , and filled it from brim to brim . But we must leave the prudent Eurylochus waiting in the outer hall , and follow his friends into the inner secrecy of the palace . As soon as the beautiful woman saw them , she arose from the loom , as I have told you , and came forward , smiling , and stretching out her hand . She took the hand of the foremost among them , and bade him and the whole party welcome . `` You have been long expected , my good friends , '' said she . `` I and my maidens are well acquainted with you , although you do not appear to recognize us . Look at this piece of tapestry , and judge if your faces must not have been familiar to us . '' So the voyagers examined the web of cloth which the beautiful woman had been weaving in her loom ; and , to their vast astonishment , they saw their own figures perfectly represented in different colored threads . It was a life-like picture of their recent adventures , showing them in the cave of Polyphemus , and how they had put out his one great moony eye ; while in another part of the tapestry they were untying the leathern bags , puffed out with contrary winds ; and farther on , they beheld themselves scampering away from the gigantic king of the Laestrygons , who had caught one of them by the leg . Lastly , there they were , sitting on the desolate shore of this very island , hungry and downcast , and looking ruefully at the bare bones of the stag which they devoured yesterday . This was as far as the work had yet proceeded ; but when the beautiful woman should again sit down at her loom , she would probably make a picture of what had since happened to the strangers , and of what was now going to happen .
`` You see , '' she said , `` XXXXX I know all about your troubles ; and you can not doubt that I desire to make you happy for as long a time as you may remain with me .
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