The Book of Three (The Chronicles of Prydain, #1)

by Lloyd Alexander

“It is not given to men to know the ends of their journeys,” Medwyn answered. “It may be that you will never return to the places dearest to you. But how can that matter, if what you must do is here and now?”

Nothing we do is ever done entirely alone. There is a part of us in everyone else—you, of all people, should know that.

I asked for nothing better than to be at home, and my heart rejoices. Yet it is a curious feeling. I have returned to the chamber I slept in and found it smaller than I remember. The fields are beautiful, yet not quite as I recalled them. And I am troubled, for I wonder now if I am to be a stranger in my own home.”

“No, that you shall never be. But it is not Caer Dallben which has grown smaller. You have grown bigger. That is the way of it.”

Most of us are called on to perform tasks far beyond what we can do. Our capabilities seldom match our aspirations, and we are often woefully unprepared. To this extent, we are all Assistant Pig-Keepers at heart.