tlas,
{Mercury}, the bearer of the Caduceus, having laid aside his wings. To a
thousand houses did they go, asking for lodging and for rest. A thousand
houses did the bolts fasten {against them}. Yet one received them,
a small one indeed, thatched with straw,[84] and the reeds of the marsh.
But a pious old woman {named} Baucis, and Philemon of a like age, were
united in their youthful years in that {cottage}, and in it, they grew
old together; and by owning their poverty, they rendered it light, and
not to be endured with discontented mind. It matters not, whether you
ask for the masters there, or for the servants; the whole family are but
two; the same persons both obey and command. When, therefore, the
inhabitants of heaven reached this little abode, and, bending their
necks, entered the humble door, the old man bade them rest their limbs
on a bench set {there}; upon which the attentive Baucis threw a coarse
cloth. Then she moves the warm embers on the hearth, and stirs up the
fire they had had the day before, and supplies it with leaves and dry
bark, and with her aged breath kindles it into a flame; and brings out
of the house faggots split into many pieces, and dry bits of branches,
and breaks them, and puts them beneath a small boiler. Some pot-herbs,
too, which her husband has gathered in the well-watered garden, she
strips of their leaves.

"With a two-pronged fork {Philemon} lifts down[85] a rusty side of
bacon, that hangs from a black beam; and cuts off a small portion from
the chine that has been kept so long; and when cut, softens it in
boiling water. In the meantime, with discourse they beguile the
intervening hours; and suffer not the length of time to be perceived.
There is a beechen trough there, that hangs on a peg by its crooked
handle; this is filled with warm water, and receives their limbs to
refresh them. On the middle of the couch, its feet and frame[86] being
made of willow, is placed a cushion of soft sedge. This they cover with
cloths, which they have not been accustomed to place there but on
festive occasions; but even these cloths are coarse and old, {though}
not unfitting for a couch of willow. The Gods seat themselves. The old
woman, wearing an apron, and shaking {with palsy}, sets the table
{before them}. But the third leg of the table is too short; a potsherd,
{placed beneath}, makes it equal. After this, being placed beneath, has
taken away the inequality, green mint rubs down the table {